New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4205, 11 September 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1874.

Already, whilst we are Ruder the shadow of the session that has passed away, the question of Provincialism or not has been put to the electors by several members of Parliament who have hastened to address their constituencies. A perusal of these extra-Parliamentary speeches fully justifies the action hon. members took when they refused to listen to the voice from the Mutt asking them to pray the Governor for a dissolution, in order that the opinion of the country might be taken before any organic change should take place in the Constitution. We then pointed out that, in the opinion of many men holding sound but moderate views, one great merit of the proposition of .the Premier was that the question would be before the country nearly twelve months, during which time a decision would be arrived at. The meetings of electors that have taken place almost daily, prove the accuracy of this view. There will bo a very great deal said on the subject between now and the meeting of Parliament. It will be discussed as a whole, and in every detail. Before .long we shall know what is the exact feeling in the country, not only as to the abolition of the institution in one island, and what would be the result if an attempt were made to get rid of it altogether. Ministers will easily be able to form an idea what change to propose, and what would be the result if an appeal to the country should Parliament not endorse their views. Quite certainly, it may be inferred from what has taken place, that the people, as they are educated to the idea of the proposed change, and familiarised with it, become more and more reconciled to it. And not improbably this may happen in respect to the idea of extending the change to the Middle Island, which, if Mr. Reader Wood be an authority, would not have been popular in Parliament during the past session. Such, we gather from a reference to several portions of Hansard, was the opinion of the Premier. In his Financial Statement he drew a marked contrast between the position of some wealthy Provinces in the South and poor ones in the North. When in Committee of Supply, referring to the question of Survey, he said that in “the Provinces of Canterbury and Otago there were organised systems, and the work was carried on, under well-defined rules, by the Provincial authorities ; but in the Provinces of the North Island it was widely different. ” The speeches that were made by several hon. members, whilst the session was young, showed that they had an idea a change was impending. On the question of a Surveyor-General being appointed, member after member urged that the General Government should take the whole of the surveys of the Colony into its own hands. The reasons put forward for this were numerous. The surveys made, it was stated by various speakers, were notoriously inaccurate, and also very expensive. Mr. "Vogel said, that “ all the experience they hacf showed that a great saving would be made if a Surveyor-General wore appointed. A gteat deal of the surveying in the North Island was really done by the General Government, in connection with the opening-up of roads and other public works, and in connection with Native matters, surveys of Native lands, of waste lands, of confiscated lands, and so on ; and if the General Government sought to obtain information from the Provincial authorities they were constantly met with difficulties through the jealousy existing between the different Provinces, and through the jealousy exhibited with regard to any action by the GeneralGovernment.” Again, “in Auckland a great deal of the work done by the Superintendent was not done by him in his capacity as representative of the Provincial Council, but as agent of the General Government. In Taranaki, although the local Government was doing all in its power to settle the country, it was impossible to do so without the assistance of the General Government.” Several speakers pointed out that if a Surveyor General were appointed, the General Government must take over control of tho waste lands of the Colony, and some replied that if such should bo the result they would support the appointment for that very reason. Yery much the same feeling was manifested when tho vote for the Resident Magistrate’s Court was taken. Mr. Pox thought it would bo a very good thing if the Government would take over the management of the police, as had already been °dono in the case of Auckland. “ Such a stop,” said he, “ would effect an immense saving from a financial point of view, there would bo a more efficient servjee and ho hoped that tho fiovonunent would consider his proposition.” Mr. O’Rorke denied that in Auckland tho Provincial Council wished tho General Government to have control over the police, but Mr. Wood protested that the feeling in the Council was very strongly in favor of tho present arrangement being continued, and ho argued in favor of Mr. Pox’s suggestion. Mr. Sheohan_ made some remarks about the Provincial and Colonial police in tho Province, but there was evidently a strong feeling that the state of things in Auckland might bo maintained with, advantage throughout the North Island. Certainly tho Province gets its police force cheaply enough, as it pays but a very modest contribution to the cost of the Armed Constabulary. But the remarks made in respect to both tho surveys and

the police, ought to have been sufficient to prepare the minds of hon. members for the change that has been proposed. There is one view of the case which has not yet been put forward, but which deserves attention. Granting, as we all do, tha,t Provincial institutions have been good servants in their day, we cannot say that the position some of the Councils of the North Island occupy is a dignified one. Some are pensioners on the General Government. The action taken by the Executive of one, if not rendering it liable to ignominy and contempt, scarcely can be said to have placed it in the position an Executive should he. As the power of veto rests with the General Government, no Provincial Councils really have authority to carry their decrees into execution. They virtually can declare anything, and do nothing. They have a total want of coercive authority, and without this no Government can be respected as it should be. Theirs is but a sort of power of recommendation. The Councils’ pass Acts which may or may not be merely dead letters. Is it not, we ask, in the very nature of things that such institutions must, in process of time,’ fall 1 They almost certainly must totter under their own weight. They expire from mere debility unless they receive extraneous assistance and relief. Are not their friends, we ask, whilst clinging to them as drowning persons cling to a plank, seeking to retain a shadow rather than a substance a form of power without the reality 1 If it be so, and there is much to warrant the belief, they must be trying to maintain what is not a dignified position. It is impossible to argue that the assertion the Provincial Governments cannot carry on their proper work, out of their own revenues, without assistance from the General Government, does not imply reproach. This is proved by the indignant denial that is given to it, when circumstances permit. But there will be found persons who will maintain that the North Island would occupy a higher and prouder position without Provinces receiving pecuniary aid than with—if it could present the appearance of one strong and united Province with a revenue sufficient for its requirements. ,