THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE OF THE COLONY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 299, 23 October 1873, Page 8

THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE OF THE COLONY.

Perhaps the most trite but true aphQrjsm ever uttered is, " That it is easier to destroy than to create." No ' man ever yet entered the lists against $he prejudices,' superstitions, and errors which grow in settled communities, but he was met with this. G-alTleo in bis prison, Pitt and Peel in Parliament, sacon and Newton reading the secrets ; of philosophy, Luther and Knox, destroying ancient theologic dogmas, Harvey and^Jenner* 'overthrowing the recognised rules of medical science, ans Columbus combating the belief of the people of his day as to geography — all testify to its truth. A man has only to expose the folly or the unsoundness of a theory or a practice, and straightway all who are interested in preserving the old order of things, and'all who know no better, cry out at o.unce, "They that have turned the world upside down are come hither also." This profound truth is easy to announce. It reqnires no great stretch of intellectual vigor thus to speak. Like that pleasant sentence which folJowa 80 frequently some mishap or accident, " There, I told you so," it gives, at anyrate to tbe person who utters it, a great 3ense of his own wisdom. We recognise the truth quite equally with those who are so ready to mouth it but it was with the intention of simply destoying that this series of articles was commenced. The work of true iconoclast is but half completed when the images are broken. To complete bis work there must b° a setting up of the true to worship in place of |he false castdown. And the reformer will use the words of Elijah, "How long halt ye between two opinions ? If the Lord be God, follow him : and if Baal, then follo,\y him." It was indeed necessary that the present position of affairs should be faithfully pourtrayed before the necessities or possibilities of tbe future co.u.ld be predicted. And no stronger testimony could be borne to the truth of the sketch which we have attempted than the evident auger and alarm displayed by the powers that be, even at tbe first of this series of articles. <{ I*et the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung." We are challenged to support the truth of our statements. We will state one or two of the things which come most readily to mind. Mr. GHsborne, lately Colonial Secretary, before his appointment, held position for years as civil servant. He drew 56700 a-year from his ComTQissionership, and was nothing more nor less than a clerk in the civil service. 3»fcr. Yogel thought that Mr. Grisborne would be useful to Mtn, and he w.\a made Cqlonjal Secretary. When we ! say be was made Colonial Secretary, we mean that he merely shifted his position from, one office to another. True, he gat a far superior salary, and enjoyed the exalted station, but he was in no s.ense whatever a responsible officer of the Crown. His Commissionership Was kept open for him t and the salary ©very yean voted. He did not, indeed, ctra^ the salary, because he. was getting far. more aa a Cabinet Minister. Mr. Ctis.bome thought it time to retire to his former comfortable position, and he did so, and his three years of Colonial Spcrefcuy/ship actually counts as three I yc.irs of civil serviee to entitle Mm to his pension. In no other country speaking our language^ would such a travesty upon, so-called Eesponsible Government be permitted. But it is equalled by the cool audacity ofthe present premier, |£r. Yogel, who, white he tells the l protectionists that he is anxious to \ foster native industry, actually becausehe likes to have the Lord Mayor of London as a friend, ha 9 "the telegraph ftyrms. fbr New Ztealand telegraphs, and the yery forms that fasten the official ' orrespondence from Wellington, direct from, Waterlow and son, of London, jn the appointment of immigration and other agents, and in a thousand other instances we s,ee the same case pursued. Messrs. Thomas and O'Neill hold subcontracts from Messrs. Brogden and Soil They fail in their contracts, goes, through the Bankruptcy Court leaving the wages of the men unpaid. O'Neill stilt keeps bis place in the House, and votes for Yogel. Will tbe Cross, or the gentleman who writes in the WeMing-toa Independent, tell us that in regard to the unflinchin«j: support of one partner the contracts b.aye not been again, let to the same parties, though under other names ? |f we would ask the names of- all the Instances oi' this we should receive the &o£w.er, '.' Our name is iegion." It may b.e a graad, thing to strut about J^ew T'ork, with "Webb on one side Jldmd Broaden upon the other, but the 'pQpr st&rviniy thousands, who hare to pay for a braken-dowri mail service io onf, and ten jfer cent, apon all Governments, made through him. to tbe pther, m#y perchance think that it is a long price for the purchase of so pgipujiar a luxury. Do Mr. Yogel and his " tail w wish us further to point out the unfi-tness of the Ministry and premier for their position ? The first ••care of any Government should be the lives of it's citiz.eus, hut to this day the bipod of Todd and Sntltvan cries from, the ground- iv. vain for vengeance. TVom their silent resting places they, fypWZ dead, yet speak, and they will Speax- in vain ti'H another race of l^'ajstera risea up. When poor w_as brutally murdered, great tfere the threatuiugs of the G-overn-men-f^ d;sep the joy of the people that $t fc&t the invader of our countryman tfOAW be avenged. Great preparations

marched to the front, native contingents were thrown into the most accessible positions, tons of ammunition and long long traius of supplies poured into the Wailtato but The King of France, with forty thousand men, Marohed up the hill, and then— marohed down again The Government, -like a turkey cock with expanded tail, strutted to the admiration qf all spectators, but suddenly up came an old black pig and grunted fiercely at it, and 4own went the brilliant plumes, and with fear as real as it was disgraceful, the bragging bird hid its cowardly head in the bushes. Thus we have shown the limits of the power by Mr, Vogel's Government. It can be harsh enough ' with any one or two poor wretches who violate its laws, but if the violator- be backed up by a few hundred halfarmed savages, then they will let him alone to encourage others to fresh schemes of crime aud murder. We have been accused of dealing in generalities ;we will now be specific. We say that if the present or any other Ministry neglects to enforce the laws, permit laxity in the administration of justice, squander the money of the people, perpetuate all the evils of the existing system, and under false pretences of nonliability to the colony sanction the obtaining of the money of strangers, they are worthy oi impeach- j ment aa traitqra to tbeir country. We shall not again notice tbe comments — at any rate in passing — of Mr. Yogel and his benehinen. We shall leave ourselves and thorn to the impartial judgment of the community. Space will not now permit more than to sketrh out the course which will be taken in future articles. We propose to examine tbe system of Government and the constitution, and to suggest various improvements. First, as to the constitution of the two Houses of Legislature, taking each in its turn ; then as to the provincial institutions at present existing. We hope, then, to pass on to the consideration of the public works, the public debt, and the borrowing and expenditure of money, to the subject of payment of members, of triennial Parliaments, of the administration of justice and the constitution of the inferior courts of judicature, of liquor laws, of the education of the people, ofthe franchise and its exercise, of the ammendment and consolidation of the laws, and all the alteration of the present scheme of taxation, with suggestions for the introduction of a new principle. Thus ifc will be seen that we desire not only to blame but to pull down. We may be iadeed unable to accomplish much that we desire. Against us will be arrayed the selfishness, the ignorance, the interest, and the prejudices of great numbers ; but equal to either fate, we intend to enunciate tho&e ideas which we have, believing them to be true in themselves, and likely to benefit the people. We may be mistaken ; then we shail be glad to be set right. We may in some parts fail , in those we will ask the indulgence of a people whose interests are very clear to us, aa tbe interests of our adopted home. But to same extent we must succeed. It is morally impossible that men can read a series of propositions and theories, and enter closely into the. thoughts of another without gaming something. In faith, then, we will sow the seed,. A^e shall not see it fail. In the home, on the counter, in the field, on the deep, in the busy marts of commerce, aud the quiet study ofthe scholar, it will sink and in due time grow. Husband $uu , wife, parents and children, all equally j citizens, all equally interested in the future of our lovely land, will in ten thousand unseen places read our thoughts and judge them., To the judgment of our fellow-countrymep we commend our plans. Look not at them, 0, friend, through the mists of prejudice, or party. Sincere on our behalf they will be. L"t thy tnind he sincere also ; then shall we two^-be mutually joyful that at such a crisis we nave met.

No wider range of experiments in systems of Government was ever made , than in the colonies of Great Britain. In some a pure despotism was established, everything depending solely on the wilt of the Governmeat — as in most of the Crown colonies. In others an almost perfect oligarchy, as in India in the days of Warren Hastings. In others a limited monarchy, and in few, as Victoria, the model of an almost complete democracy. New Z.ealajad belongs to no distinct class, but is rather a mingling of all. The difference be tween even the most liberally governed colony and England herag this, that the Constitution of the colony is the thing created by statute, its metes and bounds set out by positive inactraent, and, in most cases, easily marked, while the Constitution of' England is the slow . growth, of ages, unmarked by distinct boundaries, undefine/1 by the words of a written law. an/1 to be gathered from the history of thirty generations, struggling for liberty. It is, indeed, easy enough to talk about the British Constitution, but it is not so ea&y to define it. .In making experiments as to constitutions it was scarcely possible that steps should not be taken which would have- to be retraced. Indeed the wonder is that in any (vse, it could be hoped that to suit the new and varied circumstances of life incident to colon j ization, any given system of rujes of Government or constitution of political j society coulefc be sp framed as to admit of

a day nor in a year that any defects would probably be discussed. As time fell \ipon and various and diverse strains flowed on each and every portion of such complex machinery, then and then only could the weak places be found out. The, gallant ship starts upon her voyage with flying streamers and genial winds. No weak spot can be detected, and in her proud audjperfect symmetry she bids defiance to the elements, and v walks the waters like a thing of life." But the tempest overtakes her, and amid thunder and storm and surging waves the head of some timber starts or some rotten bolt gives way. Then rings from sea to sky the wild farewell, Then shriek the timid and stand still the braveIt was only after many conflicts that the fatal arrow found its way to the unguarded , heel q£ Achilles. It is not therefore wonderful that we are only now discovering the faults and blem-. ishes'of the constitution of New Zealand, Nor should we yet perceive them were it not that a new state of things has arisen since the Constitution Act was passed, At that, time the whice population of the colony was small and scattered in distant places, some of which were as inaccessible to the others as Moscow is from London. The colonists in the different parts of these islands were as utter strangers to each other as the Canadians are to the people of Victoria, or the inhabitants of New South Wales to the people of Jamacia. There | were, in truth, half-a-doz< 3 n little colonies in New Zealand. The means of communication were few and far beween. Months often passed without a single presage of thought or information from one part' of the colony to the others. . Each of these little isolated communities was a world of itself, and thus the provinces of New Zealand were naturally formed at the time when she received a constitutionally independent position. The different portions have never yet lost their individuality or selfishness in the existence of the colony as a whole. The little antagonisms, the petty rivalries, the small jealousies, which, mean in themselves, degrade the spiiit and utterance of most of our public men, too plainly show that as yet the provinces are all and the colony nothing' The provinces squabble over the seat of Government, they fight as to which shall be the home of the Colonial University, they strive iv no geutle manner* "as to which shall reap the benefits of being- the first or last port of call and departure for any and every steam service from foreign lands.There is no one province in New -Zealand at this time, if' we can trust to the reports of Parliamentary proceedings, which would not sacrifice the colony at any moment for its own welfare or advantage. This feeling is kept alive mainly by two causes. First, ' Provincial Council Legislation. Second possession of great landed provincial estates^ This latter is a great mistake and a mistake fruitful of bad results. No province should have any landed estates ,unless indeed it " were endow mente for schools or other public purposes. The reason is obvious. All the waste lands in New Zealand beloncr, and ought to the Crown in trust for the colony at large. We are told that a compact was mada many years since by which it was arranged that the waste lands of the Crown should thus be disposed of. But the Crown is a trustee of these lands for the whole of the people, not only those who were then in New Zealand, but for those who might become colonists in after years. It was unconstitutional, therefore, and beyond the power of the parties who mnde the agreement thus to dispose of public property. But it is n,ot only wrong in itself, it. is unjust to the public creditors. How many of the persons who, hare lent money %o the Government of New Zealand are there who did not believe that their money was secured primarily- upon our wide public lands, more especially since the old provincial debts nave been taken over by the colony at lar^e ? There is, moreover, another very stroug argument against this system. The possession of these eatates as provincial property iscalculated, not only to Dreserve, but increase the feeling of antagonism between the different provinces. The breaches between them will become wider, the sympathies between them fewer, until at last we shall see province set against province, in a way and manner that will effectually destroy the prosperity, perhaps the existence, of the colony. Tndepd, so far lins this feeling aWa'ly grown, that it has been mooted that the products of the Canterbury farmer 1 ' and the cattle of ■the settlers of Napier, should not be allowed to come into^'ie province of Auckland duty free I We behold the same feeh'ng working in the Houses of r Assembly in relation to insular separation. Were the two islands separated, and the provincial distinctions still retained, we should soon see Otago at war with Cantebury, and Nelson ' with Westland in the South, while in "the North the same discord would obtain. and the two Islands would ultimately become distinct find separate colonies, each filled with discord^ The existence and' working of provincial - institutions, as at present existing, is .inimical to. the welfare of the general community. Tho^e institutions themselves are anomalies. They are not like the States of America, or the : Cantons of Switzerland. They are not like the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. England, Ireland, Scotland,

tures, with conflicting law-makings, for ever creating conflicting interests. There we behold with pride that country, in the eloquent words of Burke. " The envy of surrounding nations, and the admiration of the world." Its foundations are* laid deep in the hearts of thirty .millions of loyal subjects, nnd its summit is crowned by a loved aud loving Q,ueen. Like some tall cliff, that lifts its awful farm, I Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm, * Tho' clouds and darkness round its .bosom spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head. The bare idea of nine or ten little Legislatures, each passing its petty enactments, with the everlasting questions as to their power to do this or that, is in itself sufficiently ridicu- 1 lous. But when we remember the tremendous number of laws, provincial and general, with which our statute books are being year after year flooded, it becomes a question of importance, and threatens at no distant date to become a burden too grievous to be borne. To have ten different sets of statute laws in a place like this might raise the shades of Coke and Blackstone. And so many of thesp laws are ultra vires , so many have to be made the subject of Validation" Acts in the General Assembly, that it would be a positive saving in the time of Parliament if all the powers of provincial legislation were taken away, and necessary Acts, although local*, were passed through the General Assembly. The inconvenieuce, too, will be felt more and more as time goes on. People will not endure the constant change of laws as they ' move from province to province, and ultimately they will be compelled to do in this respect, with a vast amount- of trouble, what could now be done with ease. As bodies, to which might be entrusted local expenditure, and even for administrative purposes generally, provincial institutions might be, perhaps for a long time, usefully preserved ; but their legislative functions should be at once taken away, and the existing; provincial laws codified, and made general The land, too, already alluded to, should be also taken from the provinces, and declared general property. But neither of these reforms will be worked by any of the present ruling classes as such. The love of power is too strong in the hearts of those who usually wield it in Provincial Councils and offices to be relinquished wifcbput a sfcru^le j and the public estate held by the provinces is not thus held for the benefit of the poor but of the comparatively wealthy. The poor would reap more benefit, and be dealt with more liberally if the* General Government had the "control of these reserves, for the petty influence of local magnates wouldnotbeso strongly felt, and besides all this, the weakest position now occupied by o\\r politicians would be abandoned. No reasonable man can have looked on at the proceedings during the session now closing without being struck with the threat inducements held out to any clever rogue or schemer to play North v. South, province against province, so as to bring the weight into any scale he likes. Certainly the weakest and most vulnerable point in the New Zealand Parliament is that which, through provincial ambitions, destroy the unity of colonial counsels^ and he wili be a good friend to this young country who aims a determined blow at the provincial institutions as they now are. In the present they are dangerous, in the future they will be, unless altered, destructive.