PROVINCIAL. INSTITUTIONS.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 45, 13 September 1864, Page 3

PROVINCIAL . INSTITUTIONS.

! Holding .the: opinion,, as, we do, that provincial I institutions hi New Zealand have produced more i harm that good, we certainly look upon the niovemeht in Wariganrii, for separation- from r Willing. ; ton; with regret; -We : do not pretend tb-urge that : thofWanganui settlers have received anything, like the attention thoy 'ought to have had froth Vthe j Wellington Government ; but we do say this, that I separation will" only weakeh"tlie province, without ' benefiting- Wanganui. •• If the .< separation; agitation, be. clamed, to a successful issue,, there will- be |a : heavy permanent .outlay, incurred, by- the., new Government, .wilicn must be bornbby theTdiatrict, 'arid "which willWentually crush out its life". \ Besides this, the new province' must undertake ; thefrepayrrierit of a'fairf proportion 'of; the public Sdebt ofthe parent province; -arid, if we ;may form ' a judgment of the' nature of this settlement by. the. example .; afforded by 7; Hawke's Bay. ■•.-.. and S Wellington, we should say it would be better for ; both parties 'td allow -matters to rest as they i ? are. \ It may be, and doubtless is, a proper thirig:tb en--1 deavour, as far as possible, to enjoy the benefit of ' local self-government. But when that boon comes in the shape of the expensive and cumbrous machinery. of the i Government of a New Zealand ; province, it is a question whether the cost does mot over-run the profit. Some persons will profit by it, no doubt. The Superintendent and the ; staff, of officials will have h:ndsone salaries; and whether the income of the new province is on the increase, or whether there is an annual deficit, i these officials must be paid. If the Wanganui malcontents were to look at Southland at this moment, thoy would see enough to warn them against separation, -, and the multiplication of public bffices arid useless expenditure. In that latent constituted province, we find that the cost of Government swallows up more than the total income, and a statement in our issue of yesterday appeared tb the effect that the estimated expenditure was 50 per cent, in excess ofthe estimated income. For a time Southland had quite a run of prosperity. The had separated from Otago, and was growing important on the skirts of her parent; but the causes which only brought temporary embarrasinenfc on Otago have completely paralysed Southland. We may be told that this was caused ! by reckless expendeture • and so it was • but then, the prosperity before alluded to was chiefly the immediate effect of that very recklessness which has destroyed the public credit of the province. The progress of Southland was forced. Its prosperity, to a very large degree, was fictitious ; and the first adverse gale blew down the qretty houso of cards which the new Government had built. We say this was the fault of the Government of Southland, for we firmly believe in the resouaces of that province ; but we contend that it would have been better for the district included in the Southland province to have remained united to Otago, although somewhat overlooked, than to have aimed at independence and a leading position, with the humiliating failure which has attended its efforts. The Southland settlers have had their wish. They have incurred heavy liabilities, which they have no meane of meeting ; they have a cumbrous aud costly machinery of Government to maintain ; and they are, as a province, in a state of bankruptcy. They might wish to bo once moro united to Otago, but this may not be. j They can't have their cako and eat it ; and ' unquestionably Southland has swallowed all that it cotdd mako away with of the public estate at its command. Why do we hold. up Southland as an example to Wanganui ? Surely we can never suppose that the practical and thriving settlers of the Wanganui district would bo anything half so foolish as the more speculative inhabitants of Southland! We should hope not; but yet we cannot withhold the warning. The new provinces have all started off in tho same direction. It io a natural tendency for children to run a-head of their more staid aud decorous parents ; and the only difference between Southland and her sisters in youth and folly is that she has run to ruin a little faster than they. But it is not a whitlcss true that Hawke's Bay is in anything but a prosperous condition. If that province has thriven, as she has undoubtedly, it has been in spite of her local Government. The whole course of Government there has been to live upon the public estate, to gamble away the waste lands, and while the land revenue remained available, to give no thought for the future. The Provincial Government of Hawke's Bay lived very much the life of a butterfly. They fluttered in the sunshine of prosperity while they had lands to sell to themselves and friends at ss. an acre, to pay their own official salaries ; but when there were no more lands to sell, and no more could be had from the Maories, they were forced to lament their want of foresight. The new province was no longer a butterfly; it was suddenly transformed to a chrysalis, without a wing to fly with, and so it will remain unless the present Superintendent can manage to furnish a pair by means of the provincial loan he wishes to raise. Now, practically, the error of Hawke's Bay has been the error of Southland. The difference is in degree, not in principle ; and so it will be found in Marlborough also. The crisis may be averted in tho off-shoot of Nelson, by the influx of population owing to the gold discoveries ; but that the Wairau was on the road to ruin as a province, no one can doubt. The waste lands wero sold by the Government — (of sheep) — to the flockmasters about thorn, and so long as this source of income lasted everything went on smoothly. We will do it the justice of saving that Marlborough was not so " fast" as either Southland or Hawke's Bay. The discovery of gold, and the creation of a direct revenue may save her, however ; and so the friends of separation may have Marlborough to quote in proof of the wisdom of the New Provinces' Act. We would have the settlers of Wanganui to consider their position carefully and dispassionately. We don't doubt they have just cause to grumble at their district being overlooked by the Government at Wellington ; but instead of separating, aud creating the machinery of Government at their own cost, suppose they agitate to remove the seat of Government from Wellington to Wanganui. If they succeed, they will secure all tho advantage they seek for at no additional expense, and the province will be kept Btrong and intact. For political reasons, we should be sorry if Wellington were a second time dismembered. Now the Cook's Straits province is a power in the Assembly ; then it would be a cypher. The members from the various sections of tho original province would bo eaten up by petty local jealousies and conflicting interests, and they would lose much of their politcal influence in consequence. Moreover, we do not think the best men would be chosen. On all points, therefore, we would counsel tho Wanganui separationists to desist from thoir agitation, and turn their attention to having a distinct understanding with the Wellington Government, for the better government of their district. We cannot suppose that any reasonable request would be refused, or that the present growing importance of Wanganui would be intentionally overlooked by the Wellingtou executive. The enemies of provincial institutions encouraged the formation of new provinces, in order to let the evils of the system be more generally felt, and thus, by the increase of what they believed to be bad in itsfelf, lead to its final abolition. It was an ingenious plan, but we think it was not based on sound reason. People become accustomed even to evil ; and although the disunited many might desire to subvert provincial institutions, the uriitedfew, having a purpose to serve, contrive to work- them in such a way as to render themselves more powerful in tho State than the numerical majority. Arid thus the evil, instead of being cured, is cbriserved. Patronage 'is increased, 'corruption flourishes, and the public credit is hnperilled. With the experience we have of provincial institutions, we desire to see no more provincas created iri New Zealand. — " Daily Southern Cross, Aug. 26th. '-'■'■ '-*-\