ATION OF THE LAKE TRICT TO SOUTHLAND.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 3, 16 November 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

ATION OF THE LAKE TRICT TO SOUTHLAND.

torn the Daily Times, Nov., 11.) ?ement is going on at Inver»nd we have reason to believe [ toe Wakatip, which this Province Lftord to ignore. This moveL for its aim nothing less than Ration of the Wakatip dishiet l\vince of Southland. . We de IJnoment believe that the object jgitation will be attained, and : e it not so much from regard to ibility of its being successful, as desire to call attention to' the r hicli have been at work to pro • J9 desire for separation on the the Lake inhabitants. Under &umstances there would have thing to excite surprise in this f the Southland people to annex f Otago's territory, any more ir e wouid be in the desire of a .particularly well off to acquire ierty of his neighbour. Fignra- i be Southland folks have long 1 nexed the Lake gold fields, and , of calling them " our Border ds " have managed to obtain a 3 roount of credit out of the s ir the possession of auriferous 5, It is not tbe covetousne.-s I land thatinTests the movements ■importance, and nothing that i can advance, will have so. a^lit as the disposition of the f the Lake district. We are not ' to --admit tfcat •either that singulctiofi, the petition for the with- ] fthe delegated powers under the' ields Act, or the resolution of Ircargill meeting are fair expo-' the public-feeling. We are 1 in that by far » the larger pro- ; of the subscribers ©f the* iffixd their signatures without' guate conception of the docu-t bmitted to them. Everyone' ow easy it is to get up an agiall the easier if the evils to be d arc imaginary, or utterly lent of ordinary control. -"So rs of the Lake district are told government of Otago is anfor the vicissitudes of an : [inter, and the sufferings of the of every kind and degree are ie door of the ..offending Got. A subordinate official is with the abuse of power Be I possess, and which he has never I — and .so on, the petition is of childish imbecile arguments icious statements. Ot course ers signed it— but did it ever them how an Executive located od miles off could remedy evils ey asserted the Otago Governis unable to prevent or cure ? ot deny that the inhabitants of ; district have many very just ■ for complaints against the ■overnment, but the petition ■jJEibody them. The misfortune mfk*k district is, that public ■is swayed more or less ■ping adventurers, who, to ■petty notoriety, leave no stone m to accomplish their object. . ■miners, as a body take a more, mi enlightened interest in their; Sal and political welfare, the - M these schemers would possess ; jw character. But the bulk of; jws do -not care to busy them- i 9th anything beyond their own: w concerns, and are only too So leave to the self-elected Advocates the disposal of public; ■ A -single moment's calm ■■would have sufficed to show: Hsible miner, that one- half the? Hs set forth -in the Wakatipi Bras made up of puerilities ; ; ■he other -half admits of recti- ; ' H ordinary means'. : Have said, we admit that the Hict has suffered a good deal, Bat the hands of the Provincial? Hut. There needs mo strongerHthis than ihe present sus-* Hof .communication between; Hand Dunedin. Pending the U of the arrangements for Bg the permanent means of Bation, the Government was Bfltford every encouragement B facilities as offered. But. Wadopiing this obviously wise |Be Government, by its refusal Moderate subsidy, was the, B cutting off the enly IBeans of regular communica-; ißat 'has-been the -consequence ; ' iftportion of -the passenger and ( pßchas been diverted tolnverIH circumstance of . -which the [Southland have not been slow We are to-day in ISnews from the Lake District, iflEargill, at least four <er 'five |m than by the route provided ißrernment. But this, and the ' ■■grounds of complaint to the |H>le, need only the prompt; ■■he Government to remedy. • 19'te aware that the subject of • K a good line of commsnicaHie Lake district is engaging IBs attention of the Go vernIBt something requires to be Hfte ; the Government should ■Bow a promptitude to remedy ■Sable camplai«ts of the Lake im but should betray a desire iWwhat extent and of what' ■He complaints are. We have ■Believe that the Government ■She district have not shown EH^ness to communicate the ■He district to head-quarters ■Bight have done. The GoldRHcnß have but feebly repre■Hactual state of the district ; ' BB cases the choice of officers kH^d 38 judicious as it might SB There appears to be a Ijßcct communication between ■jHneDt and the inhabitants, ■H think the Government KB wisely to despatch a to the Lake, BHirpose of enquiring and

reporting concerning the real wants of the district. We are quite sure that such a proceeding, showing as it would, the desire to become acquainted with the requirements of the district, would in a great measure silence the agitation now going on* Although both "movements — the recal of the delegated powers under the Gold Fields' Act and the Separation movement — will meet with certain defeat, they will not have been without their purpose, if they -be the means of inducing a more lively interest in the district cm the part of; the Government. j As for the annexation proposition the J people of Southland are agitating, we may dismiss it with the assurance to those sanguine individuals who have promoted it, that the New Provinces' Act is the farthest point provincialism will go, and that the General Assembly will never admit within the scope of that Act, the principle of annexation. Let the people of Southland be content with working out the prosperity of their own thriving Province. Otago does not fear the healthful competition of honorable rivalry, but will hotly contest the exercise of the ambition which seeks to enrich itself at the expense of its neighbor. The people of the Lake district we may recomend to address themselves boldly and legitimately to the proper channel for the redress of whatever they have to complain, and not lend themselves to agitations on the success of which a few designing adventurers seek to gratify their private