The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1870.

Southland Times, Issue 1342, 2 December 1870, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1870.

The result arrived at by the Provincial Council in the matter of the Public T^f -jf" n nrl TTHTwr^™ A, f "•■ T - T>nf hnsisted upon, it will increase that outward pressure which has brought the affairs of ih& Province to a.state bordering ou stagnation. Our liability for expenditure from which-no material advantage is derived, hitherto limited to an interminable Northern' war, will be increased in proportion to the magnitude of the scheme adopted by . the Assembly, A more suicidal policy could scarcely have been expounded. .The. most.. charitable view that can be taken- of it is that it was the offspring -of ' - a deliberative-, incapacity, j altogether ignorant . of- the effect of its own*- actions.-.. . Personal- -prejudices ' and legislative jealousies- did crop up; -during the debate, sjtill ,it is difficult- to imagine that these were- solely responsible for a dilemma'thalrcan hardly be distinguished from a wilful attempt to defeat the public interest. The policy of the General Government was one which, from its very nature, required to be approached with caution, at. the same time it was the act of a superior legislature, or rather the joint legislation of the colony, and as such it could not be rescinded by an lirferior power simply representing a seetionalpart of the community. The measure as~paß_ed" by the Assembly must become law, whatever the Provincial Council .of Otago, or any other Provincial Council, may say to the contrary. Indeed, one portion of the scheme has already been operated upon — the Payment of Provinces Act—whereby the capitation allowance of /_os is made to each province. For the loans provided by the scheme, the credit of the entire colony must be pledged, and Otago will be made equally responsible -with the rest of New Zealand lor their interest and liquidation. Such being the case, the Council has committed us to. an act of pettishness that can only recoil on our own heads. The province, from the very nature • of its constitution, is prevented from providing for itself, a fact pointedly alluded to by the Superintendent in his remarks — published in another column — and simply because the provision that has been made offends the official dignity of a few of our provincial magnates, our affairs are to be brought to a standstill — every incentive to material progress and development is - to be rejected. Otago is to provide liberally for others, and because its own provincial caterers have not been made provedores, we are to submit to voluntary starvation. Mr Donai/d Beid and his colleagues may be estimable men in their own way, but we can hardly imagine their claims strong enough' to warrant, such a species of materialistic' martyrdom as propitiation to their wounded vanity. The decision is one which we do not expect will be acted upon. It was evidently based on the assumption that it would- draw- sufficient sympathy from outside .the province to induce the new Parliament to alter the. policy. Of that hope the Council may now - disabuse, its mind. : The neighboring province of Can- ; terbury, as well as other provinces, are already in the field striving i to secure as large an appro pria- i

tion under the scheme as they possibly can. Nor would it be prudent to saddle the colony with the odiunv of repealing a measure of such importance within, twelve months of its adoption, and before ever its practical purposes had been tested. The comments by the Superintendent—a copy of which accompanies the Council resolution to the General Government— will to some extent clear up matters, the more so when it comes to be understood that these remarks are acquiesced in by the general public. , Meantime Otago must be content to suffer temporary inconvenience, inasmuchas this extraordinary proceeding will prevent ber securing that preference which belongs to first applicants.