THE HON. MR. BOWEN’S SPEECH ON SEPARATION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4802, 12 August 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE HON. MR. BOWEN’S SPEECH ON SEPARATION.

The following is the speech of the Hon. Mr. Bowen on the Separation resolutions, which wo were compelled to omit from our issue of Wednesday last : Mr. BOWEN.—At last, lam glad to say, the discussion on a great constitutional question has been raised out of the atmosphere of personalities in which it was launched when it was first introduced into this House. The honorable gentleman who has "just spoken, and who has always been a-steady -ftiilocate of separation, has, for the first tilde, glveu us something like a sketch of what is proposed by the Opposition. But I must say I do not think he had a right to complain that the honorable gentlemen who spoke before on this side of the House—the Hon. the Premier and the honorable member for Wanganui (Mr. Bryce) —had set up ninepins to knock them down. They had nothing else to knock clown; because no one had advanced a single proposal to take the place of the measures laid before the House by the Government. I would like, in the first place, to say a few words as to a taunt thrown out hr the honorable member for Dunedin (Mr. Stout) against the Government for not having replied to four or live hours of reckless accusations and reckless figures. Sir, the Government recomiize their share of responsibility for the manner in which. the business of this House is conducted, and I do not think honorable members would have liked to have heard members of the Government handy words with the honorable member for Auckland City East, Mr. Eees, about the matters which he discussed. I do not think it would have been right for us to have got up to discuss questions ns to the personal honor of Ministers ; to have got up to discuss threats of armed resistance against the decision of the representatives of the people sent here to decide on matters of public importance; nor do I think that it was necessary to discuss with the honorable gentleman matters which were never heard mentioned in this House before, and which I hope never will be heard again—comments upon the private hospitality of a lady The honorable gentleman favoured the House with some illustrations from Homer. Has he ever read the description in tho Iliad of a man, fluent of speech, unmeasured in language, who flung out shamelessly taunts against the chiefs in words unseemly and many and vain. He reserved his taunts, such ns they were, for men ; and yet the epithet applied to him by the poet was aiskislos. Ido not think the House expected that such a tirade as that whichjthe honorable gentleman delivered would be answered by tho Government. As I said before, tho first we have heard seriously of the proposal that has been brought down is from the honorable gentleman who-has last spoken. The honorable member for the Thames has over and over again promised, or rather threatened, the House that he would bring down some great policy—something that would bo infinitely better for the people than what the Government proposed. He appears to have allowed his anger at the Abolition Bill to have outrun his discretion, and we have become accustomed to the bewildered cry,— “ I will do such things; What they are yet I know not; hut they shall be The terrors of the earth.’*

Now, I do not think these resolutions in their naked form are likely to bo “terrors of the earth;” but Ido think that if they were likely to be carried out, they would be a terror to every man and woman who desires the greatness and future prosperity of New Zealand. The honorable member for Waikato has told us, that the proposal really is to have two Legislative bodies, two responsible Governments, a Governor and a Lieutenant-Governor. The honorable gentleman went on to tell us that Nature had made these islands into two provinces; that they were two provinces once; and that under that system of government the happiest state of things existed that had ever been experienced in the colony. Now, there is no analogy whatever between the state of things then and the state of things now. In the first place, the Government used to be in Auckland; and it was because the Government was so intolerable’ to the people of the South of this island that the country was divided into two provinces, and Wellington was included in the southern province. There was no analogy whatever between the two circumstances. And as to happiness, as-far as I have read the history of New Zealand, it was one chronic state of dissatisfaction —at least in the southern part of this island ; indeed lam not aware that when there was a Governor and a Lieutenant-Governor here, they got on so well together. I do not think the argument that we did very well before under this Proposed form of government will hold water, t must also be remembered that, at the time the honorable gentleman alluded to, there were only about 30,000 people in tho whole of the two islands.

Mr. STAFFORD.—I9,OOO. _ - Mr. BOWEN. —I was aware it was a very small number; and the Government that existed then would hot satisfy the people now. I was very much astonished to hear the honorable gentleman say lie thought it the best form of government we had ever lived under, seeing that it was simply a government by a Governor and a Nominee. Council.

Mr. WHITAKER. I bog tbe honorable gentleman’s pardon; I did not say it was tbs best form of government. I said that it was a bad form of government, but that we got on better than we did afterwards. Mr. BO WES'. —I did not hear the honorable gentleman say it was a bad form of government. He said it was a form of government under which the people lived more contentedly than they had lived since. I do not think that honorable members in this House would be satisfied to go back to such a system of government, or to such a division of .the islands. The honorable gentleman alluded to the federation of the Dominion of Canada. There is not the slightest ground for comparing the position of a country like this, which is not; as Jarge as either division of the Canadas, let alone the other parts of the Dominion, one of the greatest dominions in the whole world; and it must bo added that the form of government that has been given to this dominion is one not at all such as was sketched out by the honorable gentleman. There is a very much larger over-riding power given to the Dominion Legislature than the power which the honorable gentleman sketched out as proposed to be given to the principal Legislature of New Zealand j and all the most important powers of the inferior Legislatures may be overridden; so that I don’t think the'analogy holds good there. And again, I would say with regard to what the honorable gentleman stated as to the natural division of Now Zealand, that Cook Strait is rather a means of communication between the northern shore of the South Island and the southern shore of this island than a division which separates them more than the mountains separate other parts of these islands one from the other. "tVTII it bo for a moment contended that the people of Nelson and the people of Marlborough can communicate more readily with Christchurch" or' Dunedin than with Wellington ? Would any one maintain that the interests of Wellington are more antagonistic to the northern part of the South Island than to the interests of the Province of Auckland ? Why, Sir, history tells us that such is not the case. History t<*ll*, ns that from the very first the settlers on thd two sides of Cook Strait have been more intimately allied than the settlers of almost any other parts of the Colony. It is very hard for the Government to debate this question in the manner in which it was introduced at first. Every sort of question has been imported into it. Finance has been introduced in such a way, that the Colonial Treasurer, who had to follow the mover of the resolutions, will not be able to reply to any remarks that were made upon that subject. Until this evening wo have not heard the real question at issue discussed seriously by any honorable gentleman. Although tbe honorable member for Waikato just now commented upon it, I cannot conceive what the second resolution means.' Who has threatened the unity of the colony ? It looks as if the resolution was the offspring of a bad conscience. It is really like a remark that a man. might make who had on his conscience tbe feeling that ho was going to commit a murder, and who began to talk virtuously about the sin of murder. I cannot conceive myself, why otherwise it was introduced into these resolutions, especially when it is followed by resolutions which must mean disruption of the colony. Those resolutions do not mean local self-government; they do sot mean local adminiitratioa. We have

not heard, in the elaborate description winch the honorable member for Waikato gave us of what was intended, one word about local administration. We have heard that counties are an evil, hut we have not heard how otherwise this local administration is to bo provided. And certainly these resolutions do not mean Provincialism in the sense in which wo have hitherto understood Provincialism. If we are to have the provinces, let us have ihc old historical provinces; let us have provinces that had a meaning in them when they were established ; let us have provinces that were founded because they were a necessity when they were founded, and that are only now put an end to because wo have out-grown them ; but do not let us have a system that will really stamp out the very memory and history of those provinces. Do not let us attempt to erect Provinces by arbitrnrly grouping societies utterly different in their origin and interests under tho pretence of giving local self-government. I am surprised that honorable gentlemen opposite, who are so fond of their own provinces, and who talk with such affection of them, should countenance resolutions that are really calculated to wipe out the very memory of the provinces themselves. For years after these provinces cease, in the future history of Now Zealand they will be a tradition—a memory and an honourable memory ; but if they are to bo succeeded by the proposed insular provinces, there will be little chance of the memory of the old provinces being retained. In Franco there wore old provinces and old parliaments ; and though it would be an anachronism, I could understand patriotic Frenchmen wishing to restore those provinces and those parliaments; but I could not understand any patriotic Frenchman proposing to draw an arbitrary line through his country, and proposing to establish two separate Legislatures and two separate Governments. They might name two towns such as Toulouse and Nantes to bo the capitals of those divisions, and call on tho inhabitants to rejoice at being made the centres of government; but such an idea would be scouted by those very inhabitants, just as this proposal we are now considering will be scouted by the inhabitants of Christchurch. Sir, the Government policy adheres to the unity of the colony ; and whether honorable members agree with the proposals of the Government or not, no one can deny that there are distinct proposals before the House for local administration. Reasonable modification and amendment of details will make them acceptable to most honorable members; but tho policy of the Opposition cannot be acceptable, for its object is to destroy the unity of the colony, and not to make any provision’ whatever for local administration. The varied resources of these islands are really their strength. There is no reason that because different interests should be managed separately and locally, that therefore tlio colony should be separated into distinct Governments; because if we were once to separate these islands, I do not think that we could for years to come recover again the standing ground the colony has now reached, and which it would certainly recede from. Wo are now advancing almost faster than any colony in the South Sens —faster than any colony in the Empire ; and this scheme of the Opposition would give a check to our progress which this generation would not recover. The fourth resolution deals with the apportionment of tho debt. Now, if there is one thing more astounding than another in these resolutions, it is not only the apportionment itself, but tho silence of honorable members opposite as to how this apportionment has been arrived at. I have tried, and other honorable gentlemen have tried, various calculations to see whether it was based oh population, on revenue — to see on what these calculations were based. Mr. WHITAKER.—On Maoris.

Mr: BOWEN.—WeII, on Maoris. That is certainly a very vague calculation. The honorable gentleman stated that there were very few people who understood how the Maoris could be. calculated upon. The fact is, Sir, that I fancy the shrewd Northerners and the canny Southerners who met together to make this bargain ended by splitting the difference j for that is the only way that I can account for how these amounts of £190,000 and £625,000 were got at. There was a further exhibition of the mercenary character of the whole transaction in some remarks made by the honorable member for Franklin (Mr. Lusk) who turned round to the Canterbury members, and said, virtually, “Now, gentlemen, this is your last chance; here is a cheap article, it is going.” With a very lamentable voice he repeated, “ It is going, going dirt cheap; if you do not bid for it now, it will not be offered .again on the same terms, perhaps it is the last time it will be produced.” He was very much surprised that no bid was offered. The article will be withdrawn, and I hope it will never be heard of again in this House. I do not think that is the way to introduce a constitutional question of this sort, especially with that bribe—as I may term it —held out to Canterbury of proposing Christchurch as the seat of Government. We know very well that throughout the whole of this matter there are two knots of men or people interested in this question, that is, the people in the neighbourhood of Auckland City and some of the people of Otago. The people of Canterbury have not asked for this separation, and why 1 the seat of Government should be* proposed to be established at Christ-, church Ido not know. It appears to me like a bribe to the members from Canterbury to vote for these proposals, a bribe which they appear to estimate at its true value. The honorable gentleman who spoke last said that we should get rid of the whole financial difficulty—the whole difficulty of the' Land Fund—if we acceded to those proposals. Now there is again a very surprising thing connected with these resolutions; and that is, that honorable member# from Otago should vote for a scheme which puts an absolute end for ever to the compact of 1856. They talk a great deal about that compact; they say they wish to adhere to it. This is a scheme which the honorable member for the Waikato very consistently votes for, because he thinks it will put an end to that compact ; and yet the honorable members from Otago •are going to vote for the same thing. Now one of the great reasons for objecting to this scheme altogether, is that it interferes with the underlying principle which led to the compact of 1856. I believe that in the course of a few years there will be as much Land Fund in the North Island as in the South Island. Therefore Ido not think that the question of the localization of the land revenue is so important as that it should')bo specialized—that it should be devoted to special objects. The rear underlying principle of the resolutions of 1856 brought down by the Hon. Mr. Sewell, then Colonial Treasurer, in opposition to the half-crown proposal then made, was that the Land Fund should bo specially devoted to public works, to immigration, and to education—that is, to the opening up and settling of the land. Now the proposals of the Government distinctly had in view these objects: they hod in view the localization of the land revenue with a view to specialization of expenditure. The provinces had this duty intrusted to them, but in many cases they were not able to carry it out. Many Provincial Governments endeavoured to bring back the land revenue to what it was originally intended for; but they were not able to do it. Over and over again the land revenue has been spent on objects for which it was not intended—in a manner which was not its legitimate use ; and the Provincial Governments have shown themselves more and more incapable of restraining the uses of the land revenue to its proper objects. Sir, if wo were compelled to have a common Land Fund, I for one would rather it should bo spent for the credit of the whole colony, and not upon the general purposes of each of the islands separately. According to the proposal of the Opposition, the Land Fund will be made common within each island, and it will bo made common to the detriment of the credit of the colony ; whereas if it were made common for the whole colony it would at any rate bo for the benefit and credit of the whole colony. Therefore, I say, if it is to be made common at all, I would rather see it made common for the whole colony than that any such scheme os that now proposed should be adopted. It was said by the honorable member for Waikato, that ho did not understand what the Government meant by 2 per cent, of the interest on the Kailway Loan being taken —that if wo took 2 per cent, from the Land Fund to pay the interest on the loan, we might as well take the Land Fund altogether. There is no more legitimate charge on the land revenue, according to the original agreement in 1816, than railways, than road works for opening up the country; and if wo taken proportion of the interest that is required, the interest on the loan that has been expended for making railway swithin a prorinco from that prorinco, no

more legitimate charge can bo made upon the land revenue of that province ; and that is all that it is proposed by the Government to do. According to the principles of 1856 the whole of the railways might have been charged upon land revenue. It is only proposed to make the Land Fund bear a very small portion of the burden of works undertaken within the province in which it accrues. With regard to education, that was a charge upon land revenue originally ; and the Colonial Treasurer in 1856, when he introduced the financial resolutions, distinctly stated that education was to be one charge upon the land revenue. It has always been a charge on the land revenue in the largo southern provinces. The Government would prefer to see that charge thrown upon tho Consolidated Fund ; but they have not seen their way this year to do more than place one-third of that charge on tho Consolidated Revenue. So far, they have relieved tho land revenue from a charge that has always been placed upon it, and that was originally intended to be placed upon it. Sir, the old reason for separation, when the subject was brought before this House formerly, was tho Native difficulty ; the Northeners said that the war was brought on owing to tho ignorance of the South of Native affairs; and the people of the South said that their revenues were swallowed up by extravagant expenditure on Native wars. . How did the people of tho colony treat this question P They faced tho difficulties that were before them shoulder to shoulder, they closed up their ranks, they said there ought not to be a disruption of the colony ; and now, whatever difficulties this colony may have to face, certainly the same answer will be given by tho people of this colony. If there are difficulties, they do not believe that they will be got rid of by disunion or disruption. The honorable member for tho Clutha absolutely blamed tho Government, as far as I could understand, for having brought down their policy in detail. He said it was an insult to the House, to .force those details before tho country. Tho honorable member for the Waikato said, “If the Opposition did anything of the sort they would bo doing wrong, and would fall into a trap.” Tho House would have a right to blame the Government if they attempted to bring down any proposal for an alteration of the system of Government, without, laying fully in detail the whole of their scheme before the country at once. Ido not think it is necessary to remark at any length upon what was said about the United States and about Greece, because, after all, there is not the slightest possible analogy between sovereign States like those great States of America, each of which gave up n portion of its sovereign power for certain specific purposes, and provinces, which were created by statute within a dependency of the Crown. There cannot be any possible analogy between such differently constituted States. As to the States of Greece, wo have heard a great deal of their learning and of their power. Nobody doubts the learning and tho short-lived glory; but if we have one lesson to learn from their history, it is that the jealousies of a number of petty States brought about their downfall. Not all the learning of Athens, or tho stoicism of Sparta, not all the athletic training of the Olympic schools, or the disciplined phalanxes of Thebes or Macedonia, were able to save a people that preferred provincial jealousies to national life. It has been stated by some honorable gentleman, and reiterated over and over again, that tho change proposed is necessary in consequence of tho extravagance of the Government. That is a charge constantly brought against all Governments. It is a charge easily made ; it is one that is often accepted by thoughtless people, if there is constant reiteration ; and there is a’kind of questionable popularity to be gained by making these charges. But if honorable members will take the trouble of looking into what has been done with the money raised in this colony, they will find that there has been a larger amount of public work done in proportion' to the expenditure than has been done in any other country possessed of similar means. There will be something like 990 miles of railway completed within a year or two, at an average cost of about £6,000 a mile, including rolling stock.That, again, I say, is a thing that has not been accomplished in any other colony or in any other country that I have ever heard of, in tho same time and with the same means. As to departmental expenditure, the honorable member for, Franklin, Mr. Lusk, read some figures, in which he pretended to compare the expenditure at the Cape of Good Hope, New South Wales, and in Victoria, with the departmental expenditure here, and he professed to take out the reproductive departmental expenditure from those' calculations. I have gone into the matter, and it appeared to me that he had taken in the reproductive departmental expenditure in some cases, and left it out in others. My own inquiries show that it is impossible, without a great expenditure of time and trouble, to give d fair analysis of tho expenditure, because different departments in tho different colonies fake charge of different services. For instance, the Colonial Treasurer in Victoria has in his charge Marino and other departments which are under different Ministers here. I defy any honorable gentleman, without a great deal of labour—labour which I think the honorable member for Franklin has not taken —to come to anything like tho true state of the case in respect to departmental expenditure. I must add, however, that although I believe it is the case that the departmental expenditure is 1 much less than that in those other colonies, there is one cause why it ■ should be much larger in proportion herb if the Government were inclined to bo extravagant. There' is a constant pressure put upon the Government by every member of the House to increase the expenditure in all departments. It was only tho other day that we got a majority of only four to prevent the establishment of impressed Stamp Offices in every considerable town in the colony. Constant pressure has been put upon us also to open new Laud Transfer Offices, though in other colonies there is only one, whereas hero we have already nine or ten. ' It is tho same with regard to the 1 establishment of new post offices,, and to the appointment of new Resident Magistrates, so that it is half the business of tho Government to resist these constant claims for in--creased departmental expenditure. A great deal of this demand is owing to the. population being very much scattered ; but-whatever the Government may do; when times of difficulty come it is very easy to see that they will be held to blame. The real cause of the pressure that is beginning to be felt now is not, far- to seek. Wo have to bear the burden of several inoompleted railways: and other works, whereas if they wore in ,the hands, of companies, the interest, would be paid out of capital until they were completed, We have to bear this burden, too, during one of those over, recurring mercantile crises which has come about in the old country. We have a fall in tho price of wool of something like 30 per cent, in tho year, and I have heard it said that that will affect thq income of this colony to the extent of about threequarters of a million, of money, or.perhaps more. If you look at the fact that wo have at this moment very great pressure for interest on public works uncompleted which cannot therefore make, any return, and that there is very great mercantile depression, it is,not hard to account for the difficulties that may arise. But these difficulties are not insuperable. They cart bo easily met if honorable members would face them, instead of attempting to break up tho unity of the colony in order to fly to other and greater evils. One is almost tempted to ask whether, after all, the Government is not responsible for this fall in tho price of wool. I believe it has been attributed to tho Government; Who has caused tho rise in the rates of discount and the rates of exchange P Who has created all the evils that have now come upon this country ? - ,

Who makes the quartern loaf and luddites.rise, Who fills the butchers* shops with large blue flies ?

"Who but my 'honorable friend the Colonial Treasurer, with his railways arid his immigration, and his pestilent activity of mind. Ho has certainly some right to Complain. Ho has spent seven of the best, years ' of his life working bard in the interests of the colony, and only those associated with him know how hard ho has worked. I can speak freely upon the subject of the public works policy, because I was not in i the Government* when it was initiated, and, therefore am not entitled to any of the credit of its success; but everybody has benefited by it, although all do not acknowledge it j and fairweather friends, who hailed with acclamation the outset of the scheme, are prepared to turn\heir backs when the effort, which the Colonial Treasurer said would have to bo made, is first found necessary. On the other hand, there are honorable opponent# who, preferring their country to

faction, are prepared to assist in putting the Constitution and the finances of the country on the best possible footing ; and that ought to be a consolatory fact to my honorable colleague, who has met with undeserved treatment at the hands of many honorable members in this House. It is not long since, in order to obtain the funds which were voted by this House, he went home to England, and, though suffering from sickness, and in°great pain of body, dragged himself across Europe to defend the credit of the colony, which was then most basely attacked; and he did it so vigorously that he commanded the respect of business men in London, and all who were interested in the colonies. After having been successful in the work ho went Homo to do, he came out with a reputation for statesmanship, not only in England, but in the neighbouring colonies, and was received with acclamation by his fellow-countrymen on his return ; yet he has been assailed in this House with a persistent malignity which does not often fall to tho lot of public men. As X said before, he has tho consolation of knowing that he has helped to lift this colony at least one generation ahead in tho march of civilization. This policy of public works and immigration has united and peopled the fertile and isolated valleys and plains of New Zealand, and has given the inhabitants of tho country a prospect in life, which they would not have had if it had not been for this means of communication. Isolation too often means a life of mere eating, and drinking, and sleeping ; communication with our fellow-men means living in a higher state of intellectual activity and higher civilization. I have no desire to take up the time of the House at this late hour, but I would ask honorable members' whether these resolutions do not really mean an attempt to postpone the question of abolition ? It appeared to mo that that was the case when they were first crudely' and nakedly thrown down before the House ; and since the honorable member for Waikato has qpoken—and I have a thorough belief in his sincerity, because ho lias made the proposal before—but since he has spoken, it is clear what the result will be. There is no doubt that a Constitution such as he has sketched out would require Imperial legislation; and an attempt to obtain that would mean a considerable delay, and would probably bo met by- absolute refusal. Tho whole question of abolition was discussed in the House last session, and determined again at the ; hustings. Under these circumstances, I do not see how we are justified in incurring tho delay that would ensue if this resolution were carried. Then, Sir, I think there is something of the autocratic spirit peeping out through these resolutions —not in the resolutions themselves, but in the manner in which they were brought down a spirit which absolutely despises the constitutional rights of the people, and looks upon the House of Representatives as a body which interferes with the claims of cerlain cliques and persons to govern this colony. Ido not know what else those passionate appeals to outside pressure may be ; I do not know what else the constant complaints of the tyranny of a majority may be. I have always thought that constitutional government was based on the assumption that a minority should give way to a majority ; but now we have here a minority which objects to tolerate the ruling of tho majority. I think, Sir, that shows something like an autocratic spirit. Honorable gentlemen who claim to be the friends of the people and friends of humanity, might with advantage remember Berangor’s advice to certain professors of popular principles, who in his time paraded the streets of Paris. He advised them to hide away any linen they might indulge in, lest the patriots should say they had unfurled tho white flag. I think the authors of these resolutions have not succeeded in concealing all they wished to hide. It is too late now to. enter on other questions, but I must add one word ns to counties. Tho honorable member for Waikato had said that the counties scheme proposed by the Government will bo a very expensive one; but after all it will depend on the counties themselves. At first, the County Councils will not have much to do; and it will be their own fault if they spend much money on administration, for the first few years at least. Of course, they will gradually grow in importance, in usefulness, and in cost; but at first their expenditure need not be large. They will in time absorb the whole business of local administration, and an important part of their business will bo tho distribution of the laud revenue. The whole question of Counties can, however, better bo discussed when the Bill now before the House is under consideration. An honorable gentleman says there will be no land revenue'to distribute, but let me tell him that there Will bo a large amount of land .revenue to distribute in Canterbury and Otago at any rate ; and I am satisfied further, that there will be a great .deal more land revenue to distribute in tho North Island than is now imagined by the honorable gentleman. It has been the fashion, even amongst Northerners themselves, to disparage the land revenue of the North. lam surprised to hear honorable gentlemen speak as they do of the prospects of the North Island in that, respect. I know that there are one or two blocks likely to be sold soon in the Auckland Province that are likely to bring in a much larger revenue than has been realized for many years. ; Sir, I hope: that these resolutions, which I think it is oven injurious to the colony to entertain, will be thrown out by a very large majority. Our children are growing up now with a .natural affection for their native land, and it will depend upon us whether this storge— this natural affection, shall bo narrowing or 1 ennobling in its influences. The prospects of our children now depend upon us. -This colony; small as it is, has resources within 'its' thirteen degrees of latitude which may enable it to follow in the footsteps of tho old country itself; united, its enterprise and its aspirations as a nation may bo practically unlimited. Disunited, its power will be small, its energies'will be crippled, and its ambition confined within tile narrow limits of provincial life. I hope, Sir, the House will not allow things to come to such a consummation as that.

Debate adjourned. The House adjourned at half-past 12 o’clock.