The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 21, 20 January 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1863.

Is- must be a miserable tiling for a man to lock back in after years to a time when he missed a great opportunity of being useful to bis fellows. It must be considerably worse for him to have (o contemplate the fact at his leisure, that be actually stood in the way of the advancement of a section of the community over which he once exercised a considerable degree of authority. To a man of good intentions, and rectitude altogether above suspicion, that thought would cause more regret than the whole of a deliberate career of wickedness to a criminal who finds himself suddenly in the hands of justice. The worst of the matter is, that these opportunities but seldom or never rot urn. The mischief occasioned by orre man's supineness or neglect may not be irretrievable, but he must ever regret a good opportunity lost for the useful display of his talents, poor as they may be. Englishmen iv authority in the colonies have not so much power for harm as they formerly possessed. In the present day, not only do liberal constitutions oj>erate either as a check or a spur, as the case requires, on those who occupy official positions, but the people arc so far advanced in civilization, aud are so keenly sensible of the nature and objects of Government, that they but rarely submit to have their wishes quietly ignored by those who ought to be the first to advance their interests ; the fact that all government is intended for the benefit of the governed, and not merely for the especial glorification of the rulers, is so firmly established in the popular mind, that ho who, either intentionally or otherwise, stands in the way of progress, must eventually yield place to those of a more enlightened mind, or, to use a common and expressive term, " give in" at last, with the satisfaction of knowing that he can never thoroughly regain the influeuce lost by too great confidence in his own powers of discriminating right from wrong. Men in this small Province of Southland are not far behind the rest of the world in a kuowledge of what ought and what ought not to be done. They have a fair idea of what will conduce to their interests. The question of advancing the Province, aud thereby acquiring the greatest amount of civilization and pounds, shillings, and pence, is as freely and justly discussed as by any community of British subjects in any part of the world; and Southland people have also, we fancy, as fair an idea of their duty to their neighbor and to themselves as most men have. At the present moment Southland appears to be in a "considerable fix." There is an opportunity fjr her to become within a shui't time a far more important place

than she has Hitherto been. She has an opportunity 'of raising herself to at least the second . place amongst the Provinces of the Middle Island. A good soil, and a country wellwatered and timbered, were always her's, but now the recent gold discoveries, the nearest route to which is through Southland, has given her the chance of a more speedy advancement — which should be grasped without a moment's delay. Everything seems to "be in her favor, but the very men [few honorable exceptions] who should be foremost in their endeavors to give the Province a shove in the right direction — the men who consider themselves the best qualified to govern in the whole community— arc those who deliberately stand in the way of advancement, and whilst, without doubt, scorning mean or paltry .actions [for are they not all honorable men ?] are doing as much or more injury than if, in the first place, they did their utmost to advance the interests of the colonists, and then deliberately helped themselves to the revenues they had, by a generous and far-seeing policy, so largely increased. There is a something tells us that all the obstinacy of the head of a Government, combined with all the blundering incapacity of self-sufficient subordinates, who mny have but a very small idea of the duties appertaining to their respective departments, cannot prevent a naturally good province from advancing. A good team will pull the waggon to the top of the rise, although heavily laden and with (he break on, but the team would do it more easily, and in a shorter time, if the load were lighter and the dnig not used till it was required. How many men are there south of the Boundary who will gainsay the truth of what we state? Perhaps the Government is doing all it can for the Province — perhaps the North Road is as good as the old Brighton? And the jetty — that wooden eccentricity of a most sublime genius, is capable, or likely to become capable, of doing a tithe of what it ought to do ' / Perhaps — but it is useless to go further. The north road and the jetty will give as much employment to our go-a-hcad Government as they are likely to require for some time to come, and tho?c two works arc of the utmost importance to the welfare of the Province. The summer is slipping away, the traffic is increasing daily, but still the Government give no sign, or, if they do give a sign, that is about the full extent of their herculean labors. Southland is in need of many things — more police, au Escort, Gold Receiver, &c. ; but, urgently as she requires these, the greatest of all, the one most generally acknowledged, aud the supply of which would conduce more than anything else to her speedy advancement, is the want of a power which would act as policeman to a " stand-still" Superintendent, and an Executive which seems to agree with him in a wonderfully delightful manner — a power, in fact, which would use and enforce the magic words : " Move on, you are obstructing a public thoroughfare.''