New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4565, 6 November 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6.

Mr. Hugh Carleton occasionally favors the Auckland newspapers with his opinions on public questions, and as lie is spoken of as a probable candidate for a seat in the House of Representatives, it may not be altogether out of place to examine his electioneering programme. As most of our readers know, Mr. Carleton is one of the oldest public men in the colony; he was likewise among the more prominent for years, but of late he has been quite in thebackground,havingbeendefeatedatthe last general election by a nonentity, who has long since disappeared below the political horizon, never to rise again. It is doubtless a cause for regret that Mr. Carleton should have been out of the late Parliament; —we suppose we may speak of the Fifth Parliament of New Zealand in the past tense although it has not been dissolved ;—because, if he had been a member he could not possibly have given expression to the views which he has put upon record in the New Zea land Herald of the Ist instant. His letter is headed "Mr. Carleton and Separation," and is as follows: To the Editor of the Herald. Sir,—l had thought that my letter, concerning the means of putting an end to the unhappy and mischievous jealousy between North and South, was plain enough. It seems that it needs making plainer still. The best move by far, in my opinion, would be equalising the representation allotted to each island. The next best, separation of the revenues. I suggest nothing novel; but merely a reverting to things as they were (or nearly so) under Lord Grey's Constitution,—a division into two provinces, called New Ulster and Munster ; with this difference, that New Ulster should comprise the whole of the Northern Island; not merely Auckland and Taranaki. A Governor and a Lieutenant-Governor; this would restore a seat of Government to Auckland, though not the only one. Each province to administer the proceeds of its own taxation, subject, of course, to stoppages foa interest on debt. The Land Fund to go to the Central Government; the surplus, if any, to be divided proportionally. Two Houses to each Legislature, with increased powers. Local government to be carried out. Native affairs remitted to New Ulster. This would put a stop to the great expenditure in the Native Office. For the North would know how to govern the natives, instead of buying them At present the South, not knowing how to govern, is content to sanction that expenditure, as an insurance against war. The General Legislature to meet only when there is real business to transact; a great diminution in number; no expenses except passages allowed to members. The third alternative (pardon the bull), and by far the worst, is to revert to the provinces of New Ulster and New Munster, as defined, in the interests of the New Zealand Company, before the subdivision into six provinces under the last Constitution Act. This would be better than nothing; but only as a step in advance to the political division of the islands, which would inevitably follow ; for the two are as different, in feeling and circumstance, as Upper and Lower Canada. Of course, to this New Ulster, the management of the natives could not be conceded.

Such is my opinion, and has been for years past. I am open to conviction ; if fairly reasoned out of it, I will confess defeat; but let us have it out, in all good temper and sincerity. The matter is too serious to be squabbled over. I am told that I had better have kept silence,—that I have damaged myself with both parties ; with one, for going too far ; with the other, for not having gone far enough. But what if I deprecate the making it a party question at all ? At all events, I have adhered consistently to my rule of never disguising an opinion, never laying by for an afterthought. My own interest would have been to wait awhile, —to watch events in order to " see which way the cat jumps." But what I think I fear not to avow. It is well to be popular ; but to be trusted Is better still.—l am, &c, Hugh Carleton. Salona, Bay of Islands, October 27,1875. We reprint this letter that the colony may understand what it has to expect should Mr. Carleton be elected to a seat in the General Assembly. It is quite as remarkable in its otvn way as Sir George Grey's constitutional programme. But " the hermit of Kawau " has the advantage of the recluse of the Bay. Sir George Grey is at once behind and in advance of his time. He lives in the future and the past, so to speak, and ignores the present: Mr. Carleton lives wholly in the past. He is a genuine political fossil ; a man of one idea, who has not outlived his early antipathies, and thinks that the absurd and truly mischievous rivalry which once existed between the New Zealand Company's settlements and Auckland exists at the present time. Never was delusion more complete than this. It is the conception of a New Zealand Rip Van Winkle, who went to sleep years ago in the sweet seclusion of a mountain valley, and awoke to consciousness the other day without the knowledge that in the interval the seat of Government question had been determined finally by the concurrent policy of two Auckland prophets, Mr. Stafford and Sir Julius Vogel. In 1872 Mr. Stafford announced it as a cardinal point of the policy of his Government that Wellington should be the seat of Government; and in that Government the Superintendent of Auckland was Colonial Treasurer. In 1872, Mr. Vogel, who succeeded Mr. Stafford, eonfh'rned the seat of Government policy of his predecessor ; and in 1874, it was made part and parcel of the abolition policy by resolution. And Mr. Vogel, now Sir Julius, was then, as he is now, the representative of Auckland City East in the General Assembly, elected by general acclamation, and the one man of all others, in whom Auckland put its trust. Where has Mr. Carleton been when these things were done, for they were not done in a corner, but were proclaimed upon the housetops. It follows, therefore, that the seat of Government has been fixed : then why revive an irritating topic, which, by the declaration of Auckland's chosen leaders, and the assent, of both parties in the Assembly, has been finally settled. This may be a shrewd electioneering dodge by Mr. Carleton ; it is not, however, an honest political cry. Then, with regard to the Native policy, Mr. Carleton thinks that by carrying out his programme of separation, he would get rid of Sir Donald McLean. Put into plain English, this is what Mr. Carleton means. Now, does he imagine for a moment that by his clumsy plan of insular separation, with a LieutenantGovernor in Auckland, he will get rid of the overshadowing influence of Sir Donald McLean in Native affairs 1 If he does, ho is wofully mistaken. We care not where the seat of Government may be, so long as Sir Donald McLean resides in New Zealand his influence cannot be ignored, and he will practically control the Native policy. To write in the strain Mr. Carleton does is therefore simply to ignore patent facts ; but Mr. Carleton always affected to despise Sir Donald McLean's influence, and never failed, whan opportunity offered, to speak disparagingly of the man. With rogard to the Constitutional programme itself, it scarcely deserves notice. It contemplates, at the very best, a retrograde movement ; and progression backward, as Mr. Carleton knows, is not the outcome of constitutional government. We have already tried the twoprovinces scheme, with a Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, and rival seats of Government. That was superseded by the Constitution Act, with its General Assembly and Provincial Legislatures; —a decided improvement certainly, but found to be cumbrous and expensive in working. Last session, the Legislature, by an overwhelming majority, abolished provincial institutions, and suddenly Mr. Carleton awakeß from his slumbers at the Bay, and ignoring the political history of the past twenty-five years, " re- " verts to things as they were, or nearly " so, under Earl Grey's Constitution." Was ever proposal so absurd submitted to any community ? In his scheme ho

would .blot out the Cook, Strait settlementsj'he would ignore those commercial and political ties which bind Auckland and Wellington together, and go back again to the rude days of provincial ignorance and abuse of which we do not wish even to speak. Generally, we may say that Mr. Cableton agrees with Mr. Macandrkw and Sir George Grey on this fundamental question cf separation, and we can imagine the snorting of the gallant old war-horse as he prances into the lobby with these captains who, in his heart, he thoroughly despises. But politics accustom men to queer associates. There is only one point in the Salona programme, however, on which there would be any conflict of opinion between Mr. Macandrbw and Mr. Carleton. It is to be found in the dry-bones of the financial policy. Mr. Carleton writes:—"Each "" province to administer the proceeds of " its own taxation, subject, of course, to " stoppages for interest on debt. The " land fund to go the Central Govern- " ment; the surplus, if any, to be divided " proportionately." This financial policy is thorough at all events. It means the total absorbtion of the land fund by the General Government, leaving each island to pay its proportion of the public debt, and provide for local government out of local taxes. To state this proposition is to ensure its rejection. Mr. Carleton is not a financier ;—he never was any great hand at statistics, and he has just proved that he has completely lost the run of New Zealand politics. His appearance in the political arena at the present crisis is not an edifying spectacle. We respect him as a high-minded, honest gentleman ; but with regard to his political opinions, we have no respect for them whatever. The world has simply stood still with him since 1845 or thereby. He has learned nothing and forgotten nothing; and now he stands forth, a mere political anachronism, excitini' the pity and wonder of the present generation, to whom the old Shibboleths of party are meaningless, and who cannot understand what sensible men could ever find of potency in them.