THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1975, 4 May 1875, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1875.

The Auckland Provincial- Council willmeet in a few days, though ; the ; Council are going to. do wheathey do; meet seems rather problematicaL Itis admitted that the Provincial Treasury is bare, and that the newly elected Superintendent only recently saved the credit of the Province by drawing on; his own resources,to meet certain payments becoming due, but which, could; not otherwise have been retired as the; Provincial bankers dishonored the Treasury cheque. This state of -im-j pecunibsity appears to be due chiefly toi the exaggerated estimates of revenue; .submitted'to the Council at'last session, which induced members to pass votes; for purposes which could very well have, stood over. The whole expe-! rience of Provincial administration since last session of the Council has; shown, that the estimates submitted^ were of the ■ most visionary character,! and in no instance has the amount set; down been reached. Land, goldfields, education; General Government special grants —air have fallen short of the Treasurers anticipations, and many of the projected works provided for in the Appropriation Act have had to be; abandoned or only partially accom-; plished. The Provincial account is now overdrawn considerably, so that Sir

George Grey and his advisers will have a difficult task to prepare^policy which shall have even the smallest'pretensions to the confidence of the Council, simply because it must necessarily be founded on expectations, which have proved so delusive in the past, and will, it 'is feared, in the future. It is no fault of Sir George Grey's that he. finds l\ the, Province in a bankrupt condition, 'but! it will certainly redound to? his credit if he can meet the Council with some scheme by which the business of the province can be carried on decently unfifthe• resulFof'thejabolftion proposal is known. The position appears to be this. The Province of Auckland has got to :that: state at^ which the revenue from ordinary sources is barely sufficient to maintain existing ' establish-j ments. The land fund is mortgaged to the Colonial Government as: security for "special" grants; the goldfields revenue/. cahnot.. Ibe /".diverted from its; legitimate source even if the holder of the delegated powers so; wished it; 1 and: there is no prospect of; any ,further ; special grants-being obtained frorii the General Government, until the abolition ; question (has. been: disposed of at least. All that the Council can do,.therefore,, in the coming session is to provide fox the carrying qn ( .of .Prpyincialisni;,until, after next meeting of the ColoniaLPak liament,- and tdo :: a . little patchwork legislation, ■> repairing: some of- the slipshod law-making of last session. The Highways Act will, haye T to. ; be,further. jbker&cL.to. _ren^_ey,'-i^yeh^%er^tiv(e;. so tar as the provisions introduced last session :is-^6^eeme^;?s6^ie blunder having arisen which rendered nugatory the amended Act. Then the Educa-r ; tiori nquestidri" r-must 1 command attention. It failedinits infancy >id accomplish. the 1 ehds^'fdr which;'it was,, framed,, r and ; .in, its .youch -it 'wasrendered" still Jmdfe" objectionable and;• \ inoperative, v,by the -prentice hands which took charge of it. The TO&ehdld;-aiid ■■capifatibn; taxes of the first. Act were, obnoxious, .a,.bachelor's tax 5 rendered it moirel dbjectidriable.. All sorts of difficulties.: hay©-;b,een [met with in collecting the taxes, and this' year's experience has shown that'the deficiency- of-'revenue ls?'greater than before, so that the Government.have; had to -make large advances to the Central- Board; of Education .in order to' keep the'system of "education in force. .• This, it" will f be remembered, has' been /dqne in a very insufficient manner. The scheme -has not extended,- but existing establishments have been barely maintained. The* education question will' therefore be one of the most prominent and most important subjects to be dealt with by the i Provincial Council. during the coming session, and, if they fail in placing education on amoresatisfactory footing, wecannot seeinwhatother direction their deliberations are to be beneficially directed. No form of government can be carried' out properly without means, andleastof all Provincialism, with its routine and departmental expenditure and its legislative powers. We are curious to hear Sir George Grey's views on the situation, and how he proposes to give that new vitality to Provincialism of which we have heard so much. It seems to be pretty well understood that the Council will be called upon to express an opinion regarding the proposal to abolish Provincialism. Whence this understanding has arisen we cannot say, neither does it appear that Provincial Councils have anything to do with the question, which is, as we take it, one between the people and their representatives in the Assembly. But as Sir George has very decided views on the matter, and as lie has been called upon to take office in consequence of holding those views, we cannot expect but that he will invite some expression'of opinion from the Council as a guide to his own, action in the future. Whatever the /Council may do or say,: however, fit does not follow; that they will represent the Province^ ,■ The people elected representatives 'to the Council before the abolition resolution was mooted 1, and those repre sentatives, except in a few instances, have;: been careful .to conceal "their opinions ori this great Colonial question, doubtless from a desire to be on the popular side' when the real tug of war shall take place. We see no objection to the Council debating the abolition; policy. They do any ; harm even^ifj they ; condemn .the proposal, and they may do good by impelling the inhabitants to a general expression of opinion on the question in order to strengthen the hands of the General Government. The corning session of Council should be a.short one. With very little money to vote there will be little to do. New legislation will scarcely be attempted, as it will be easy for Sir George to call a special session, if the .abolition of Provinces should not be resolved upon at the next meeting of the Assembly in July.. If Provincial Councillors are disposed to get through the business quickly, they could not do better than revoke the honorarium or payment to members bill, an act of self-sacrifice which would expedite .business immensely, and leave our worthy Superintendent with a sum which; might be useful in maintaining; some necessary establishment of the Government until Provincialism is: numbered with the institutions of the past, or placed upon a-different footing to that on which it is based at the present time. - -