ABOLITION OF THE PROVINCES NORTH AND SOUTH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4306, 8 January 1875, Page 3

ABOLITION OF THE PROVINCES NORTH AND SOUTH.

(From the Canterbury Press.) In our article on Tuesday wo protested in strong terms against the partial abolition of the provinces. Merely on practical grounds such a proposal seemed to us in the highest degree objectionable. To draw a line between two parts of the colony, ani to establish on one side a political system wholly different from that which exists on the other, must lead to confusion and to a general disorganisation of government which would soon be found in-, tolerable. But we do not argue the question on these grounds only. Our objection lies deeper. Were the plan in every respect a practicable one, we should still oppose it none the less warmly on the score of its manifest inequity. Wo condemn the whole arrangement as baaed on a vicious principle, aud ns an act of gross injustice to the North Island. The Government proposal is to abolish tho provinces of the North Island. It is not proposed to abolish those of the Middle Island. The latter arc to bo left undisturbed. They are even encouraged to believe that tho downfall of provincialism in the North will bo a source of strength to them, and give them a new lease of life ; at tho most a prospect is suggested of their voluntarily choosing to come into the new arrangement at some indefinite future time. Birt tho Northern provinces meet with no forbearance, They are to be allowed no option and no breathing space. They, stand marked for destruction, aud their abolition is to be compulsory and-summary. Why is this difference ? If constitutional reform is needed, why confine it to one island ? If provincialism is an evil, why not make an end of it altogether ? Why should some provinces be abolished and others retained ? The answer is • that tho Northern provinces are poor. Mr. Vogel finds them in his way. They embarrass his schemes, and annoy him with for assistance ; so he wants to be rid of them. Thus the existence of provincial institutions is resolved into a question of money. Canterbury and Otago, because they are rich, are left in unmolested enjoyment of all their constitutional privileges, which are forcibly wrested from the North Island, because it happens to bo poor. The poverty of ,tho Northern provinces is made the standard of their political rights. The Government, in dealing with the provinces, pay implicit respect to the saying; “to him that hath shall be given.' 1

Their policy is a practical exemplification of the freebooters’ maxim That he shall take -who has the power. Anti ho shall keep who can. Let us suppose this design accomplished. Suppose the plan of partial abolition carried into effect, the Northern provinces swept away and those of the Middle Island left as they are. What would be the result ? Clearly that the North Island would be reduced to an inferior and most humiliating position. In the Middle Island, where the provincial system still flourished, the people would possess the right of local legislation, and the local management of theiraffairs,bymeansof provincial councils. But in the North Island, where the provinces had been destroyed, the people would be dependent for all legislation, and for the management of all affairs beyond the capacity of Hoad Boards, upon the General Assembly. That is to say, the affairs of the North would be regulated by a body in which Middle Island members sat and voted along with those of the North—nay, in which the Middle Island, by virtue of its larger representation, was predominant. And consequently, while as regards all matters that fall within the jurisdiction of Provincial Councils, the Middle Island would be absolutely exempt from any control or interference on the part of the North, the North would have to submit in exactly corresponding matters of its own, to continual interference by the Middle Island. In plain terms, the Southern' part of the colony would help to govern the North, when the North would not be allowed to take any part in governing the South. We must explain that the above remarks do not apply to the land fund. That question stands on a separate footing, and is entirely unconnected with the maintenance or abolition of the provinces. For this reason, that the regulation of the waste lauds is not within the power of Provincial Councils, being reserved for the exclusive legislation of the Assembly. All the land laws in the colony, for Canterbury and Otago as much as for Wellington or Auckland, are passed not by the local, but by the Colonial Legislature. The abolition of the local legislatures will, therefore, make no difference. Should any new law, or any amendment in the law, be required in either island, the process to be gone through will be the the same whether the provinces are in existence or not. It will be a colonial, not a local, question, and will be referred to and decided by the Colonial Parliament. So far as the land is concerned, then, it matters nothing whether the abolition of the provinces is complete or partial. But in many other matters there will be a very wide difference—all to the prejudice of the North Island. Take education for example. At present the provision for public education is among the functions of the Provincial Governments. In every province, some educational system is earned on, under a local ordinance, and subject to the directions of the Provincial Council. So it will continue to be (should “Mr; Vogel’s proposal be adopted) in the Middle Island.. Canter-, bury, Otago, and Nelson, still existing as provinces, will still have their separate systems, and the management of education in each province ■will still be a matter of purely provincial concern. But in the North Island it will be otherwise. There a new system will have to be framed, superintended by a Minister or a Central Board, and provided for by annual appropriations by the House of Representatives. In all these proceedings the representatives of the Middle Island will take their share. They will help to decide what system shall be established. They will give their opinions by whom or under what restrictions it shall be administered. They will determine how much money shall be expended. No northern member will have a word to say upon any of these subjects, as they affect the Middle Island; but every Middle Island member will have a perfect right—a right which he will freely exercise—to say how they should be disposed of in the North. As we said-above, the effect of partial abolition will be to set up a perpetual right of interference on one side only. The South will assist ad libitum in arranging the affairs of the North; but the North will have no voice in settling those of the South. We shall dictate how they ought to be educated ; but we shall not allow them to dictate to us.