What a happy family the Nelson Provincial Executive must be. The Superintendent, the other day, took the Provincial Council into hia confidence, and let the public have a peep at this model Government seated round the executive board. It was not an edifying spectacle ; neither does the, exposure, raise Mr. Crmns in public estimation. He pledged himself to abide by the principles of responsible . government, but he made a boast of not consulting his Executive when preparing his speech for the Council. Perhaps Mr. Ctjktis was spurred to something akin to Belf-assertion by the incessant "chaff" to which he has been subjected, for 1 permitting Mr. Secretary O'Conoe to dictate to him in Mr. O'Conor's peculiarly suave manner ; or it may be that he could not bear the goad any longer without audible murmur. Anyhow, he has improved upon last session, when he told the House of Representatives that he signed papers placed before him, the contents of which he did not approve, leaving the responsibility with his responsible advisers ; for he informed the Provincial Council that on one occasion, whon ho differed from his advisers, he threatened: to dismiss thorn, and they forthwith submitted .to his judgment: What a pity Mr. Curtis did not, act in this- way on every occasion on which he differed from his Executive. He would then have reigned supreme, having his own despotic will obeyed in all
things, -with this difference, that', his advisers would have been held, responsible for whatever went wrong,, for _they_ are. far too well satisfied with iheir'position ever to quarrel seriously with a Superintendent who can * dispense with them by a stroke of his„pen. Clearly, Mr. Gurus has yet much to learn in the Superintendehtal line of business, but we fear the provincial affairs of Nelson will be wound up before he has an opportunity of acquiring the necessary skill in managing responsible advisers. The opening speech by Mr. Curtis to his Provincial Council was a mistake in more ways than one. We have already pointed out the misrepresentation of facts of which he was guilty in reference to" the Brunner railway. His Provincial Treasurer, the other day, regretted in the Council that the Superintendent should have thought it proper to misrepresent the state of the ordinary revenue of the province. Instead of showing any falling off, it had increased by several thousand pounds. This is a small matter certainly, but it is eminently suggestive. Which authority is to be believed 1 And does it not let in a flood of light upon the loose system of administration in Nelson ? How very much better it would be for the peace of mind of the denizens of the sunny little town at the bottom of Blind Bay to have done for ever with the endless bother of provincial politics, and be left to administer their own local affairs in their own quiet decorous way. It would save them a world of trouble, and their provincial leaders would be spared the humiliations to which they are now liable.
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4421, 21 May 1875, Page 2
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507Untitled New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4421, 21 May 1875, Page 2
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