The Westport Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1870.

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 695, 9 August 1870, Page 2

The Westport Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1870.

, Dueing the debate on Mr Creighton's motion that the General Government should forthwith resume the waste lands of the Colony in the respective Provinces, and administer them, subject to the control of Parliament, some very interesting figures were brought before the House, showing results at once startling, and it appear undeniable. It was shown that during the seventeen years ended 1869, the territorial revenue of the. Middle Island amounted to £4,925,822,' and the revenue similarly derived amounted in the North Islaud, for the same period, to £959,940. The General Government have also refunded to the Middle Island, as their share of the ordinary revenue, £1,392,591, and to the North Island £757,163. The various Provinces of the Middle Island have participated in the land and ordinary revenues in the following proportions—the period over which the calculations extend is from, 1853, to 1869, inclusive, excepting Marlborough, constituted a Province November Ist, 1869, and Southland founded in 1862. Province. Land Revenue. RefundsofOrdinary Revenue. Otago .£1,781,972 .£695,354 Canterbury 1,909,390 422,499 Nelson 580,578 167,121 Marlborough 197,705 8^531 Southland 456,177 99,086 Totals .£4,925,822 £1,392,591 The above amounts show a total received by the Middle Island, the County of Westland excepted, of £6,318,413. The question very naturally arises how has this enormous revenue been administered by the Provinces. How far have they been successful in colonising the country • what public works can be shown for the money, and have the funds raised from the land been expended by the Provinces in the various districts by which they have been contributed. There are few, we think, who believe that the management of the waste lands by the Provinces has been successful. From every outlying district there are bitter complaints that their land revenue has not been spent in their neighborhood, and that owing to the want of proper means of communication, the producing powers of large and fertile tracts of country are most injuriously curtailed. Although the subject has been shelved for the present, the previous ! question having been carried on the voices, there can be no doubt that it is the proper function of the House, i vyhenever the public property is as- J signed in any direction, to provide that J it shall be administered in accordance ] with the conditions of the agreement. t The fact of a large loan being about to I i

bo negotiated by the Colony would also render it desirable to consider what security the country would be able to offer capitalists for the sums borrowed. If the Colony propose going into the English market to raise six millions of money, there would be some difficulty in obtaining a loan of such magnitude, unless the Government had the control of its eutire resources, and more especially over the land fund, which is estimated'to yield to the Provinces from £300,000 to £-100,000 per annum. The Government, however, evinced an expressed desire to avoid any discussion on the matter. Mr Vogel considered the time inopportune, as he thought discussion was liable to arouse feelings of irritation, and be subversive of far more pressing measures. Sooner or later, however, the subject must force itself under consideration. If the Provinces, as it has been shown, have neglected thi-. task of immigration, and have failed to facilitate the settlement of the country, by means of roads, bridges, and railways ; and if they have expended five millions derived from the land for the main part in a useless direction—in the erection and adornment of buildings in towns, and maintenance of an unnecessarily costly and over numerous official staff—it is but fitting that the Colonial Government should interfere and effectually stop any f'uither alienation of the public property. The very purposes to which the proposed loan is to be devoted are sufficient answer to such as would contend that the Provinces have efficiently performed their allotted task. With the exception of the Christchurch and Hokitika road, which was certainly not paid for out of the land fund, there are no roads of any magnitude bevond those required for the purposes of comparatively thickly populated districts ; the constant loss of life entailed by the crossing of dangerous rivers bears testimony to the absence of bridges ; rail■ways there are none, with the exceptions of two short lines in Canterbury and Southland; immigration, asundertaken by the Provinces, bears but a most insignificant proportion to the increased population of the Colony; and the water supply to the Goldfieldshas been altogether ignored. To what purposes has this enormous revenue been directed becomes an indisputable subject of discussion, when it is proposed to double much of the taxation contributed by the working class, to relieve the richer class, and protect the agriculturist. Very possibly the motion, having in view the proposals of the Government to take over a large portion of the functions of the Provinces, may have been inopportune. The numerous supporters of the Provincial system are very likely to have become alarmed on perceiving the inevitable tendency of the Finan~:„,i ovheme, reuuereu plain to the dullest by a motion that the House should resume the control of the revenue derived from the waste lauds of the Colony; but all disinterested parties must think that, when the General Government assume the performance of those dutieswhich the Provinces have systematically neglected and undertake a great system of public tvorks, they have every right to see that they are executed with the residue of the public estate, and that this is administered in the proper direction, and for the specific object for which it had been assigned