The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1866.

Southland Times, Issue 600, 5 December 1866, Page 2

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1866.

"Whex the difficulties of Southland aeeumulated to sucli an extent as to make thia Province the bye-word of the rest of the colony, and materially affected the credit of New Zealand in the home country, the General Q-overnment was ■olicited in the Assembly to assume the responsibility of guaranteeing our debts. The majority of the members of the House in advocating such a course waß impressed with the idea that a controlling power was necessary to be exercised in the affairs of thi3 Province — in fact in every Province — because at the time there were several Provinces in as equally a bad financial position as Southland — nay, some were in a worse condition Otago had contracted a debt of half a million, and spent as much more, in beautifying Dunedin and making a road to the Lake district. Canterbury borrowed Another half-million or more for railTray purposes, whilst Auckland, not to be outdone by her neighbors, spent, we are afraid to gay how much, on railways, wharves, jetties, and other works of colo-

tnre may be applied to other Provinces. "EWh was desirous of fostering every work calculated to advance its local interest, and each, to use a vulgarism, " outrun the constable." This in a great measure was the result of the anomaly of Provincialism, because the supreme Government was indifferent to the wants of the Southern Island in the days of the first discovery of gold, and the natural consequence was the creation of a very large debt on the part of those provinces that were more immediately interested in the auriferous development of their resources. Now, whatever may be said to the contrary, we contend that this very expenditure — although in some instances carried to ex- " cess through inability to cope with the altered state of things — has been the means of accomplishing great good. It has been the means of affording employment to thousands who have settled on the lands of the colony with the proceeds of labor thus created, and who have since in their turn become producers. It has been the means of developing the resources of New Zealand in every branch of industry, and placing this colony in a position which otherwise she would not occupy for at least a quarter of a century, and it has attracted to our shores a class of settlers from adjacent colonies, more numerous and more practically acquainted with the work of colonization than could be expected from the mother country in the ordinary course of immigration. Thus we see what expenditure in useful and reproductive works has done, and it will be a part of our duty to point out to the inhabitants of Southland what the stoppage of this expenditure has entailed, and in what position we are placed in our relations to the General Government. On the passing of the Southland Debt; Act it was stipulated that the whole of the land fund should be impounded until the debt was wiped out. Subsequently, however, we understood that His Honor the Superintendent arranged with Mr Staffobd that this Province should receive 25 per cent, of the gross sum realised, such amount to be devoted to the construction of all necessary public works. This amount, through the necppsities of the General Government, was afterwards disallowed, and every farthing of our income, with the exception of the customs' revenue, goes to Wellington. Now, we conceive this course of proceed ing neither just nor reasonable. We are debarred from continuing most useful public works 5 , yet we are unable to do away with the costly system of the Provincial Government, and thereby save the money which is grudgingly doled out to us in the shape of the threeeighths. Let us roughly glance at the position of this Province. We find we have available assets that but few of the other Provinces possess ; we find we have a magnificent agricultural country, the future home of hundreds of thousands of fellow-creatures, and with all these advantages, in the very face of large and important investments daily taking place, we are told that we can receive no aid from the General Government to repair and form our roads and railways. The following tables will show our assets and liabilities : —

LIABILITIES. "Under this heading, our debts may be set down as £350,000 Fhat is to say, we possess unsold and to the extent of 2,302,848 acres, • jesides two lines of railway, at the very < owest calculation, of the value of £300,000, and against the whole of ;hese assets our debts only amount i ;o some £350,000. It will thus ] )e seen that actually we are i n a more solvent state than any ■" >ther Province in JN"ew Zealand, and yet j

hostility or the General Government this Province is now placed in the position of a mendicant begging for alms, instead of receiving as a right a portion at least of its land fund to be devoted to works of colonization. We trust that a general interest on the part of all, without distinction of party, will be manifested on this subject, and that some active and energetic remonstrance will be made to alter for the better the present deplorable state of things. We will resume this subject.

assets. Acres. Area of sold land . . . 473,000 Estimated area of saleable land 719,626 Pit for pasturage only ... 431,441 Land reserved ... ... 68,913 Bush land 276,333 Peat bogs, barren mountains 205,400 Stewart's Island 500,935 2,775,848 Deduct land sold ... 473,000 Leaving a balance of ... 2,302,848 Present value of Bluff Harbor and Invercargill Baibvay, say £250,000 Do Oreti Bailway, say ... 50,000 £300,000