The Southland Times. TUESDAY, MAT 17, 1870.

Southland Times, Issue 1252, 17 May 1870, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, MAT 17, 1870.

The addresses of Messrs Stafford and T?ox, recently delivered before large audiences in the South (that of the Premier at Dunedin, and of the former hon. gentleman at Timaru}, taken as expositions of the policy of the present and late governments of New Zealand, afford a fitting opportunity for reference to the matters therein respectively treated of. We may assume that each speaker has done his best to put the matters of public interest fairly before the public, to justify his own line of action, and virtually to , appeal to the people for a verdict thereon. The speech of. Mr Fox is somewhat inflated, and contains possibly more of self-laudation than is justified by the present aspect of colonial affairs. Being confined mainly to a review of the policy of the Government in reference to the Native War — other matters being but briefly touched on towards its close — the Premier addresses himself to the refutation of a charge made that they were but carrying out the policy of their predecessors in office. Whether or no he is successful in his refutation, a reference to the events of the war during the tenure of office of the present government will show. Without charging the Premier with inten•tional mis-statement, he has at least been guilty of a misrepresentation with respect to the announcements of his predecessors in office, which it is very difficult to explain as accidental. He says, "We find Mr Staffoed in the royal speech" (that is, the speech for 1869), saying, " it is now time the war was put down, -«jx,ijw«— mmi- now begin to fight ; and, in order to do so, we must effect another large loan." Eeference to Mr Staffosd's speech, aa reported hy Mansard, proves that no such words were uttered by him, nor, in fact, any that could bear aij/»h .». construction. Mr Staffoed says: — "Every means at the disposal of the colony have been employed in the prosecution of the war which has thus been forced upon us, and which has had to be encountered on both sides of the North Island at the same time. Large numbers of men have been raised and trained, and have been engaged in active operations in the field, and defensive works have been erected for the protection of places exposed to the attacks of the enemy. It will be your duly to consider how the efforts hitherto made may be sustained and strengthened ;" while with respect to the effecting of a loan, the actual words used by Mr Stafford were (quoting from the same authority) — " The conquest of a permanent peace will require an exceptional expenditure beyond what it is advisable to levy in the shape of annual revenue,. and a portion of it should be provided for by loan." The primary object of Mr Fox appears to have been to convince his auditors of the utterly desperate state of affairs when he took office, the widespread ruin and devastation which the consummate skill and tact of the present Government, in its policy of "capturing the single bee," has converted into a condition .of permanent security and prosperity. We are invited to infer that Mr Staffoed, at the time of Mr Eox's accession, was contemplating a general Maori war, regardless of consequences, which the conciliatory policy of the present Government, combined with the warm affection for, and the confidence in its members entertained by the distinguished Maori chiefs, have fortunately averted. The real facts of the case are either mis-stated by Mr !Pox, or grossly j exaggerated. At the time Mr Fox took office, the rebellion on the West Coast had been crushed. Tito Kowaeu was a fugitive, and Colonel Whitmoeb was actively engaged in endeavoring to pre- ! vent Te Kooti from leaguing with Tawhaio, which was just then the union from which most danger was to be apprehended. It has not, however, apparently suited Mr Fox's purpose to recall these events in his dealing with the course pursued by Colonel Whitmoee ; and in his reference to the employment of friendly natives, he. has assumed Colonel Whititobe's contempt of them, which assumption is directly contradicted by the Colonel's despatches. However this may be, it is gratifying" to know that, according to Mr Fox, the rebellion is now virtually at an end. We may perhaps be forgiven if we are sceptical on that point, the armed constabulary being successfully " demilitarised" notwithstanding. Without travelling over the events of the past months, which are unfortunately of so painful a nature as to render any reminiscence exceedingly undesirable, the assertion of the Premier that, " from the commencement of the war to the present time, we have not had a single disaster," appears so utterly irreconcilable with the facts, as to be unwarrantable. In dealing with the expendi-

ture of the colony under his government, Mr Fox pursues the same system; the fact being that during the eight months of the Fox Ministry, the sum of £200,000 has been spent by them, being far in excess of the rate of expenditure by the -Staffoed Government, notwithstanding that the war expenses under that administration- were materially increased by the fact that both the East and West Coasts were at the same time the scenes of warlike operations. The Premier, notwithstanding his well-known adroitness in concealing, or iv only partially revealing what may tend to convey the true idea of matters, has certainly failed to show the success of the present Government in reference to the war, except in those instances in which they have carried out the ideas originated by the late Ministry. Mr Fox, having disposed of the war question in his own way, refers to " the great question which has agitated the House of Representatives for two years back, that of Centralism versus Provincialism." Here, while he expresses himself most unequivocally as advocating the maintenance of provincial institutions, he scarcely does Mr Stafford justice in the inference he draws from that gentleman's speech at Timaru. Mr Fox says, " I will just read what he .(Mr Staffoed) says — '..-You must therefore be patient. You may have to try unsuccessfully half-a-dozen times before you succeed. [I suppose'he meant half-a-dozen Parliaments.] I do* not believe there ever was a man who made his mark in the world, who had not been beaten before he succeeded. My opinion is that success cannot be achieved until defeat has been experienced. Defeat is necessary to train the mind to success. [That is my opinion too.] Gentlemen, you certainly must not expect too much, you must not expect to see any immediate change, even if you were absolutely unanimous with respect to it, without a prolonged straggle, and without doing your best to enlist the sympathies of people outside your own district in support of it." From this quotation Mr Fox infers that he is justified in saying, "there is a great change in the tone of this gentleman," whereas" Mr Staffoed is simply assuring his auditors that the battle of Centralism against Provincialism will not be gained without hard struggling. Mr Fox, wisely for his purpose, stopped short in his quotation, and omitted to mention Mr Staffoed's expressed conviction that "it is one of the results of provincial legislation, to produce jealousy and discord, and this in consequence of the different interests involved."- Mr Siaf--foed further says, " I want to see a wider and much more general system than Provincialism. I want to see the General Legislature and Government of the colony take possession of the arterial works, and local affairs, such as branch roads, where local information is required, managed without going to any provincial centre or to the General Government. 1 ' Expressions o£ this definite character cortalhTynacriiofc indicate any vacillation* on the .part of Mr Staffo&d, or a probable change of his opinion of the rion- desirability of maintaining provincial institutions as at present constituted. Mr Fox's reference to. Auckland as an illustration of the advantages of the provincial system carries but little weight, the evidence adduced proving, if it prove anything at all, that it is only when a province is rich: and powerful that the power of selfgovernment is of any advantage. While disagreeing, for the reasons already assigned, with very much that Mr Fox has advanced in support of his policy, we are glad that he. has recognised the wisdom and necessity of thus publicly giving personal information of the course taken, and intended, by the Ministry. | ! !