New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1875.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4451, 25 June 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1875.

In the columns of a local print there appeared on Wednesday an article on provincialism of a very remarkable character. It bears throughout the impress of a line Roman hand, resembling nearly that of an astute local statesman, who, in a way that is "childlike and bland," is skilful in making tho worse appear the better reason. It is not often, however, that we meet with an article oven in this style so brazen and so regardless of facts as that now in question. The readers of the paper in question are invited to believe that tho settled policy of tho present Government "is to ruin certain provincial Governments, and to reduce certain " provinces to such a state of destitu- " tion as to justify their being held up " to public gaze as dreadful examples. " The process is first to beggar a pro- ',' vince. by every possible means, and "then abolish it, .because it won't do " what it has been deprived of the means " of doing." What the Colonial Govern-

ment has been doing, or "we should rather say, what '. the officers of the Colonial Treasury in discharge, of the duties imposed upon them have been doing, is to recover from the provinces certain payments for interest and sinking fund, required by law to be made upon the cost of completed railways within their respective borders. We know by experience in ordinary life that the views of the debtor and of the creditor as to the little matter of. a settlement are not always in accord, and that Smith who squanders his capital not without thought of to-morrow, nay, with a careful eye to the possibilities of to-morrow, is apt to be indignant if that " little bill," which has been so often melted and so often renewed, is no longer regarded as a valuable security, or if it is even suggested to him that it would not be unreasonable to expect him to pay current interest on his debt as a slight acknowledgment of the liability. Smith, having a strong disinclination to muddle away any portion of his capital in the payment of his debts, is then instantly sensible that the intention of the creditor is, and has all along been, to effect his ruin, and he calls heaven and earth to witness that he is the victim of oppression ; that in his person the rights of the "poorer classes" are invaded by the tyranny of capital, or the power of a sham aristocracy. He has altogether a good time of it on the stump, and if he be a smart man may secure a substantial testimonial from the admirers of his genius. The sentiments of " certain provinces " appear to resemble those of the hypothetical Smith. Property, provided it is not theirs, is, according to the advanced principles of communism, the proceeds of robbery, and the workman who saves is a traitor to his brethren. We need not weary our readers by tracing the shifting phases which the policy for distributing the charges for railway contributions has undergone since the great scheme was first launched. It is sufficient to say that now, under the provisions of the " Immi- " gration and Public Works Act Amend- " ment Act, 1871," the necessary amount for interest and sinking fund on completed railway works is charged provincially in each case, and that a monthly proportion of the yearly payment when determined "is chargeable against the " land fund of the province and moneys "payable to provinces under the 'Pay- " ments to Provinces Act, 1871,' as in " the case of the other provincial " charges." This is exactly what is now being done, not alone in the provinces of Auckland and Wellington, but- in all the provinces where completed railway lines exist. It may be urged, and with truth, that these charges ought to have been made in regard to Wellington and Auckland long ago ; but that can surely be no reason why there should not be a beginning of the recovery. It seems hardly reasonable to complain that there has been a long day of grace, but, as we have shown, Smith is usually difficult to please in the matter of payment. The writer of the article in question, if he did not know what the law of the case was, certainly ought to have informed himself. He might, by reference to published statements, have learned that the working account.of the Hutt railway was in credit. The statement, therefore, that the claim made upon the Provincial Government was to recoup losses on the working of the line, betrays inexcusable ignorance, or a deliberate intention to influence public opinion by misstatements. Some provinces clamor for railways and railway expenditure, and are ready to find fault with delay in their construction, with their management, with all and everything in connection with them, including the demand for payment for them. Somebody, however, must pay, and the law at present says that the provinces shall.