The Westport Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1869.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 463, 9 February 1869, Page 2

The Westport Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1869.

So far as outward appearances justify us in arriving at a conclusion, we feel ; 1 ourselves safe in assuming that the ' question of Separation is almost in ; articulo mortis. Since the Chairman \ of the Progress Committee, who, we may almost say, originated the agitation, who strenuously supported It, j- and seemed determined to lead it to • a speedy eventuation of success, — j since, we say, Mr Tyler has sheathed i his sword, little seems to have been 1 done. I This is much to be regretted. In | many respects, it would have been better, far better, that the subject had 1 never been mooted, than to have been , introduced with so great a flourish of trumpets, and then so easiiy,not to say ignominiously, abandoned. If the necessity and the reason for Separation existed wheu it was proposed, it exists in equal degree now. If it be true that our contributions to tho revenue of the Province are so large, and our receipts, in the way of expenditure upou public works, so small as has been stated, no mere personal considerations should bealhuvedtoiriterpose and prevent the application of a remedy. The Nelson Government have in no way retreated from the solemn aspect of sovereign contempt with which they have regarded our every requirement. In no one way have they sought bv conciliation, or even by an affected spirit of enquiry into our wants, or our loudly asserted wrongs, to stem the torrent of what appeared united public opinion. And yet it would seem that notwithstanding all the iustice of our case, despite the wrongs we suffer, and the advantages we could obtain by the suggested organisation,—all is to be lost. With the veterans of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo, our quasi representative body cries " Sauve qui peu," and abandons the situation to the Nelson Government. We hope, however, that i the Progress Committee will not allow t judgment to go against them by 1 default in this way. Although they ! have no legal standing or legal puthority, they have accepted at the hands of their fellow eiti- , zens the position, with all its pow- £ ers, no matter how small, and all its capabilities for good, no matter how l minute. Having committed themselves to an unmistakably decided . opinion—having asserted over and over that investigation only confirmed the force of that opinion, they are \, bound by every principle of duty to s persevere in the enquiry unless ready t to admit that their premises were false r or their conclusions unsound. It is F ilmost childish to desertagoodcause for q fear of a misconception as to the actuat- t ; ng motives of the mcv.rs. Ererj I

Lan who aspires to a public position s mst expect his motives to be can- * assed, often to be misinterpreted, and I ftener still to be misrepresented. Jut no such consideration can justify , mblic men iu abandoning a position ] hey believe to be tenable, and assert i :o be fraught with undoubted ad- I ,'antage to the community. These remarks are made in no carpus spirit. We have watched with ' considerable interest, and we have through our columns sought to interest the public, in the doings of the Progress Committee. We have said before, and we repeat, that we regard that body as a foretaste of the more complete and perfect mechanism of I self government which is eminently neeessary to the full development of these rich and interesting districts. The human mind requires educating, as well in public matters, as in the ordinary subjects whieh demand and obtaiu special training. And judging from the evidence at our disposal we think that the liberty assumed by the commuuity in this instance, furnishes a good reason forinferring that extended powers would be discreetly and usefully exercised. Our only desire in what we have written is to induce those who are entrusted with the matter not to give it up unless under a conviction that it is untenable ; not to furnish against others who hereafter may agitate, so strong an obstructive argument as their present action would supply. Nothing is so destructive of claims to enlarged powers and expanded liberties as fitful, unconsidered, and readily abandoned attempts to assert those claims. The more frequently " wolf ! wolf!" is cried without reason, the less ready are those who have the power to afford relief to attend to the cry. Contempt for our representations is sooa engendered, and instead ofan effort ultimating in any beneficial results we become a target at which the finger of scorn may most properly be pointed. It is said too frequently—we hope with some exaggeration—that there is no public spirit existent in Westport. We should have little faith in the future of the place if this proposition were true. Without a proper sense of public duty, no community can hope to make permanent advances to greatness. There is doubtlera a great deal of the laisser-aller in our dealing with public questions, despite their importance or their pressing emergency. This is what we desire to eradicate from our system. It is a danger much to be apprehended in these days, and in these places, where money-hunt-ing is the predominant business of life. But even upon the low and merely material ground of pecuniary advantage, we venture to think that the temporary abstraction from one's business demanded by public obligations would conduce in a sensible degree to the greater diffusion of wealth and prosperity throughout the community. We shall await with some anxiety signs of vitality on the part of those iu charge of the interests of the place. If they are content to subside into a listless indifference, we at least shall be able to rest content with having attempted to do our duty by calling them to a proper sense of theirs. We shall leave the subject now to its own development, and say with Hector : " The end crowns all, And that old common arbitrator, Time, Will one day end it."