Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5212, 5 December 1877, Page 2

Mr. Macandkkw has misgivings as to the provincial districts being able to retain 20 per cent, of the land revenue, as provided in the financial proposals of the Government, and last night he proposed in Parliament a provision which is somewhat unique in its way. It was to the effect that the law setting apart 20 per cent of the Land Fund should not be repealed, except by an Act of the Imperial Parliament. Mr. Macandrew strove hard to convince colonists that the action of the representatives of some 50.000 people in 1856 was binding on the 400.000 of 1876; and failing that, makes a futile attempt to bind the million of, say, 1896; that is, if there is a land fund left by that time, which is a matter for speculation. The Government of Mr. Macandrew has set an example by taking four-fifths of the Laud Fund, despite the “ solemn” compact of 1856, which Mr. Macandrew has often flung at the heads of those who dared to hint at laying a finger on the hereditary perquisites of the great and wealthy provinces of Otago and Canterbury. An increasing reverence for the actions of those who have gone before, is not a characteristic of the rising generation. But, setting that aside, it could hardly be expected of another Parliament that it would refrain from taking the remaining portion of the Land Fund, seeing that their predecessors of 1877 did not hesitate by an overwhelming majority to take the lion’s share. There is neither logic nor law in Mr. Macandrew’s proposal. In fact, it is utterly silly, for the Parliament of to-day could no more bind the Parliaments of the future than it could the General Assembly of Victoria or New South Vales. The power of entail is not conferred upon the General Assembly of New Zealand, and it is not advisable that it should possess such power. It is only natural to suppose that the future legislators of the colony will be wiser in their generation than their predecessors. They will have a wider experience, and be chosen from a larger circle. Should it be deemed necessary in the interests of the country that the moiety of 20 per cent, of the Laud Fund should go into the general purse, they will not scruple to take it ; and let us hope that it will not be done by surprise by any Ministry, for the sake of pclitical support, and at the sacrifice of what were deemed the most chrished convictions of a prominent member of that Ministry. A previous Government in New Zealand had been noted for its self-reliant policy, but the present Ministry might justly be called the non-self-reliaut. They absolutely refuse to make any provision for the defence of the colony, as shown by the correspondence read the other day _in relation to the proposed visit of Sir William .Tervois, and have sent it forth to the world that New Zealand is in a defenceless state, will remain so, and depend upon Great Britain to protect its shores from foreign aggression, for the reason that the people of the colony are too poor to expend any money for defences. Such a statement is not only damaging to our credit, but it is a positive invitation to any Power which may bo at war with Great Britain to send ships of war to these waters. And again, Mr. Macandrew actually had the nerve to get up in the House and propose that the Imperial Parliament should protect the people of one part of New Zealand from the dishonest legislation of those of another part. It is sincerely to be desired that those who legislate for the colony in the future will be actuated with higher ideas of political virtue and consistency than the Minister who, on the flimsiest excuse ever given by a public man, abandoned the political convictions of half his lifetime.