The Invercargill Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUABY 10, 1864.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 41, 10 February 1864, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUABY 10, 1864.

The next meeting of the Provincial Council will be one of the most important which has yet been held; but not so much from the amount of work they are required *to do as from the nature of that work. The Dunedin Telegraph, writing about the success of Provincial institutions, remarks, in its issue of the 22nd nit.: " Nor have the general results of the Provincial Governments within the Provinces themselves been sufficiently satisfactory to lead the majority of colonists to desire that their powers should be increased and their dignity and importance augmented. After ten years experience, and innumerable struggles and party fights, nowhere but in Otago, so far as we know, have the relations of the Superintendent and Council been satisfactorily adjusted. Nowhere but amongst ourselves has the system of Responsible G-overn-ment — the only system suited to the temper of the present age, and of our own race — been at all satisfactorily developed, Nelson and Wellington, and more lately, the little Province of Marlborough, have been convulsed by violent political warfare, occasioned by the peculiarities and anomalies of the form of Provincial Grovernment established by the Constitution Act. "Wise arrangements, made in the early days of our Provincial institutions and since steadily "developed, have rendered us more fortunate than our neighbors." By this timely precaution on the part of the Provincial Council of Otago — which the good sense of its present Superintendent, Mr. Harris, acknowledges and gives effect to — the system of Responsible G-overnment is seen in its integrity, and works harmoniously. Tears ago, when Mr. M'Axdrew wielded the sceptre of power in Otago, and, for reasons best known to himself, was anxious to limit the powers of the ProAdncial Council and exalt those of the Superintendent, he was also desirous of inculcating the theory that the " kingcan do no wrong," under a new and unconstitutional phase. Then the Provisional Council of Otago felt it necessary to assert its rights, and define the position of Superintendents under the Constitution Act. The course they adopted was a very simple one. All the business of the session was over, the Appropriation Act was all but passed, when the Council took its stand, and passed a resolution somewhat' to the following effect : — " This Council is of opinion that afe the representatives of this Province, obligations are devolved upon them which require the distinct recognition of the duties of responsible -jGhpv .eminent, and therefore respectfully-request that His Honor the Superintendent will cause ; the Appropriation Bill to -be ■introduced to ifchis Council by an' Executive having their full confidence." This resolution was carried. The Superintendent intimated that the Council would probably be detained a week if they continued contumacious ; they replied that a fortnight was no object under the circumstances. His Honor/ finally succumbed. " The results, as it proved, were disagreeable to himself, though, beneficialto the -Province. ' ■ The late Superintendent of Otago, Major Richardson, wh'ile^ a very different man. *to his predecessor, tooli equally high grounds ; being inclined

to autocracy, he found, the Council unmanageable, and after trying to fight it, had to succumb and consent to a dissolution, which resulted in his j losing the Superintendency. The present Superintendent of Otago, Mr. Habbis, with that strong good sense which has marked his career in private life, on accepting the office, accepted the; interpretation of the Council— attends to his own business, and leaves the Executive to their legitimate duties.: In Canterbury lately, this question of constitutional Grovernmeht ; has been mooted. The Superintendent of that Province^ having been 'seized: with the 'same mania for playing the despot which it would appear is one of the idiosyncracies appertaining to the office,' interfered with the duties of his Executive. They immediately resigned. His Honor Was -in extremis ; resignation stared him in the face, ! He only got out of the difficulty by i promising to be good in future, and not to do so any more. In Canterbury, " they manage these things better." i They have no relish for despotism. It is on this account principally that, notwithstanding his acknowledged ability, Mb. Fitzgebald has ?ittle. chance of again sitting in the superintendental chair of Canterbury. The principle duty which will devolve on the Provincial Council of this Province, at its present sitting, will be the final settlement of this vexed question. If there is any misunderstanding as to the relative position of the Superintendent and the Provincial Council — and there appears to be a very grave one at present — it is their d uty to settle the matter finally, and place it on a satisfactory footing. So long as the present sJate of things lasts the Province suffers, not merely in its internal administration, but its credit — not only politically, but financially. The opportunity afforded the Council is a good one. The Appropriation Act having been disallowed, it will be necessaiy to pass another ; not merely to legalise the expenditure of the past, but to enable the machinery of Government to be carried on for the future. They are, therefore, masters of the situation. No constitutional government — no money. This is exactly the same position in which the Provincial Council of Otago found itself when, taking a proper stand, it secured constitutional government for that Province, by defining the relations between the Superintendent and themselves. We have no doubt His Honor is perfectly sincere in his belief that he is responsible to no one, not bound to govern constitutionally, and, in fact, more independent than the Czar of Russia. As we have before said, there seems to be some deleterious quality inherent in the office which turns the heads of the recipients. As those bitten by the Spanish spider feel an insane desire to dance about in the most fantastic manner, so, no sooner is a man elected as Superintendent than he seems to be under the impression that he is a species of cross between a Grrand Lama and a Czar. jWe have heard of an instance where a gentleman was elected Superintendent principally because, while thoroughly respectable, he had j not too brilliant an intellect, and was consequently believed to be more likely to govern constitutionally. No sooner, however, was he elected, than he showed symptoms of the disorder. Setting- aside the probability that the ordinary interests of the Province and its business would be better carried on by a responsible Executive than an irresponsible Superintendent — that probably there is some truth in the proverb that " two heads are better than one ;" as a safeguard against malversation, it is necessary that there should be certain checks imrosed on the office of Superintendent. So long as Dr. Me:s t zies is Superintendent of Southland, there cannot be much fear of malversation ; but the time may come when we may have at the head of the Government some gentleman holding peculiar views on this point. The duty of the Council is to establish a general principle — to meet all, not individual cases. The position of Superintendent and Provincial Council are clearly enough .defined in the Provincial G-overnment Ordinance, whatever it may be in the Constitution Act. His Honor is bound to have an Executive. If the Executive take certain action objectionable to the Superintendent, he vetos their wishes, and they resign. If he can get another Executive which will command a majority in the Council, well and good; if not, a dissolution becomes necessary. In the older Provinces he appeals directly to the people ; under the New Provinces Act. indirectly — through the representatives they return to the Council, who in their turn elect him. Under any circumstances, anExecutive he must have. : -r* ■ — • The news from the seat of war is still of preparation. As the G-eneral advances farther ; into the; heart of , the enemy's country, the want of roads and the entire absence of supplies on thespbt''interpose great difficulties in the commissariat .Much, time, -and a very large number of men; ■ are required for keeping • the troops suppHed" with provisions and military stores. Nothing so plainly shows the enormous difficulties that have to be contended against in a. war with a, semi-civilized race, in a country equally with its native inhabitants, devoid of the usual conditions of .civilization, as the very disproportionate force which has to be employed. ' With all his reinforcements and alTthe modern ap- 1 pliances of' warfare,' G-ekeratj Gaimeron cannot muster more than about 1000 men at his .head-quarters. He has not only to protect his rear by defensive posts which require garrisons, but he has to

transport'Ms supplies from a great "distance through an » almost' impassable country. Besides, forces have to^be 1 detached for the purpose of overawing I the various tribes' who might, but for such demonstrations, be inclined to take active part in the struggle. The exnense of the mere transport: of -''supplies is} something enormous^ imdestimatfd" at nearly £1000; a day.* 'And -all r this' costly expenditure,, all these bodies of trained soldiers,:! lahdnn. all £ the organization of a - stilled GJ-eneral, with boundless resource's at command, are necessary for the ! -reduction of; a ' rudely edristructed,fort, garrisoned -by a few hundred savages! There is I something akin to humiliation in this condition ■ of ' things,^-but f still experience has shown that' G^ekeral Cameron is right in adopting such measures as will render a defeat impossible, and victory -certain. ■ • ; We may safely assume that this is the last stand the natives will make. Inch by inch they have, .contested the inroad of invasion ; when the conditions of battle were too much against them, they have skilfully retreated, and where a chance of successful re-; sistance presented itself, they have fought — and foiight bravely- and desperately too, as Rangariri testifies. \ It may be that the engagement, which may at this moment; be raging, .will, partake less of the character of battle with a chance of victory, than a struggle of desperation. We can , scarcely imagine that the natives have any hopes of defeating the British J troops. The steady onward march of the G-eneral, and the continued reinforcements he is receiving, must have convinced them of the futility of resistance. But they, like a gambler playing his last stake, are evidently determined to have one more throw. The chances are a thousand to one against them ; but still with a dogged spirit of courage, worthy of a better cause and a better reward, they will risk them rather than quietly submit. There is something in the present attitude of the Waikato which must enlist sympathy and admiration ; we may call it blind infatuation, but then we know the full extent of the resources that are at our disposal. Possibly the Maories may be partially aware of the extensive and powerful arrangements for their conquest ; but that knowledge must necessarily be of a limited character ; besides they are blinded by the intense feeling of nationality which actuates them. They are fighting for life, land, and reputation. All that can nerve a human being to a last desperate struggle inspires the Maories at this moment, and we may safely predict that the impending battle will be a sanguinary one. " Of course we shall conquer, and the conquest will be the conquest of the tomb," as Mr. Fitzgerald eloquently said when depicting the result of such a Avar as the one in which we are now engaged. The chivalry of Maoridom must fall like the scattered leaves of autumn. Chiefs, whose ancestral fame and personal prowess are sung in the poesy of a poetical people, will bite the dust, or, what to tli em is worse than death in the battlefield, be ignominiously imprisoned by the Paiteha. It is a melancholy picture, but one that the insatiable conditions of colonisation require. So has it ever been where the foot of civilisation has been planted amongst a savage race. The onward surge of the wave sweeps down all obstacles. It may be driven back for a time, or it may quietly and imperceptibly — like the rising tide — pursue its encroachments ; but on it must go, and all in its path must disappear. It has been so in America, in Australia, and the fragrant isles of the. Pacific. In the first, the white man had to battle for his supremacy, and his invasion was contested foot by foot ; in the second he drove hi 3 savage brethren ruthlessly before him, and ceased not until they were conquered or destroyed ; in Tahiti and the Sandwich Islands the conquest has been a silent and mysterious one; but still the result in each case has been the saihe, he gradual extinction of the aboriginal race. And so it will be in New i Zealand. Philanthropists may mourn at the picture, and may propound studies and. promising plans for pre 7 serving the remnant of the first sons of the soil, — but, we fear, in vain. There seems to b 3 some inscrutable and irresistible agency at' work for the predominance of the white man. We cannot prove its existence, nor as there an apparent impossibility in the idea of preserving the Maoris or of merging them into the European ; element ; but , , still we . see this agency , in its results, one ; of which is the .infatuation'; which prompts the Maoris to their doggedresistancetoEuropeanaiithority. ; All that we can do is= to postpone the extinction of a noble race, and to' ; endeavor to preserve the remnant that, survives: It "may be that we may succeed, but the force of- experience is the? hope; H; j. '■ ■■ ■. „;;