The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DEC. 23, 1864.

Southland Times, Issue 85, 23 December 1864, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DEC. 23, 1864.

The seizure of the Southland Provincial ! Government property will in a short time be known and commented on throughout the Colony, and our folly and extravagance, not to say dishonesty, will be made the foundation of many a homily for the benefit of the inhabitants of those more favored, jjortions of New Zealand which have' hitherto contrived to avoid such a mournful catastrophe. It wanted but this to complete "the degradation of -the Province, and it was permitted to happen without an effort on the part of the General Government to' avert' it. We. cannot here stay to consider at any great length the causes which have gradually led to the present state of things — which, have reduced .a Province, seemingly possessing within itself all the elements of prosperity,, to Ji, state of temporary bankruptcy. ' We have repeatedly had occasion to notice those causes, and by this time they are known -and understood by almost every man in Southland. What _we wish particularly to draw attention to is the anomaly of a private individual, no matter on what grounds, having the power seriously to embarrass the Government, by the seizure of the property of the Province, and at a time when,notwithstanding the depressed state of the Colony, the General Government could easily 'have made a temporary advance, or otherwise have rendered such assistance as would have prevented this disgrace, falling on the Province, and indeed, on the Colony at large. It must be admitted that it has hitherto been in the power of provincial Governments-' to enter on a bourse of extravagance, regardless of consequences, and it certainly does not at first sight seem fair to those _ Provinces which have exercised due Caution hi the: expenditure of their finances, that those which have acted in a different manner, and thereby plunged themselves into difficulties, -should-. 7 receive assistance 'drawn from -the resources of all — in other words— that- Colonial funds, derived either from all parts . of the Colony, 01' raised on the credit of New Zealand generally, should be used to avert the consequences of reckless expenditure on the part of any one Province. On the other hand it seems clear enough that so long as the Colony continues as a whole and" the General Government has a power over the revenue derived from all sources ; so long as each Provincial Government occupies the subordinate position which it does at the present time, it must be the duty of that General Government to maintain as far as possible the public credit of every section oyer' which its power extends. Leaving the abstract question^ let us look into the case which more'r-artieularly concei'ns ourselves. Southland is in certain difficulties from which _' it seems impossible she can extricate herself without assistance from the General' 'Government.* We contend it was the" duty of the General Government as soon as the fact became known that those -difficulties wore of a pressing nature, to have come forward and rendered what assistance was. necessary. It is well-known. that some time since, when Messrs. M'Kenzie and Cain commenced proceedings .against the Superintendent

of Southland, the authorities in. Auckland were apprit»ed of tho circumstance at once. Will it be believed that no .notice was taken' of tbe communication, though .the credit- of the Pi-ovince, and -many thousand pounds worth of valuable.plant, etc., were a! stake ! Things were allowed to take their course, until a writ '^of Fi. Fa. * -issued to the Sheriff of Southland, and that officer in the execution -of his duty took possession of the whole of the Provincial G-overnment offices, the Bail way plant, and in fact almost all Provincial - Government -Property. There must, we repeat, he something radically, wrong" in a law which allows any such course of. proceeding. General Government property cannot "be seized, hut under the Provincial Law -Suit Act, 1853. a Superintendent may sue and be sued, and writs of execution may issue. Thus the entire machinery of the Provincial Government may in a moment be disorganised, and the population of a whole Province put to incalculable inconvenience. _To place the matter in a stronger light we may mention that had not the Sheriff exercised a most laudablo discretion, ■ the Police Barracks' would have been ■ entered, ■ and the arms, accoutrements, horses, etc., of the Constabulary seized and perhaps sold to satisfy the execution. ' Those, therefore, who maintain that a Province in difficulties should be left to extricate itself as best it may able, must, under existing laws, be prepared to see tlie people of such a "Province deprived of police protection, and a total stop put to the machinery of Government. Greally as we should deplore seeing Southland blotted out ns a Province from the map of New Zeahu'd, and confident as we are 'that her difficulties are only of a temporary nature, we, in common we believe with the majority of our fellow-citizons would infinitely prefer to give over the struggle — to see the Writs for the Provincial Council elections garded, and the whole Provincial Government machinery - stopped— than witness this gross disregard Jto, -the . welfare of a large body of colonists on -the part of the General Government. If the necessary assistance can 1 be obtained oii no other terms, let us surrender our -rights as a Province. We do ; not forget that soine time ago the WniT.-v.KEii 7 Ministry did' make Southland a : temporary advance of £60,000, but tlie whole of the land revenue was impounded to secure its re-payment, and the security was at oiiee made use of, and two-third's of the debt has by. that means been already repaid.