RESPONSIBLE ADVISERS!

Westport Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1204, 21 August 1874, Page 2

RESPONSIBLE ADVISERS!

EITkB iKGTJS.] The perfunctory efforts of the Superintendent of Nelson to do the bidding of his Executive Council in introducing the Goldfields Act Amend, ment Bill and safely piloting it through the House of Eepresentatives, have been frustrated by the action, of the Legislative Council in rejecting the measure, aud what must seem the unkindest cut of all, the rejection of the Bill may be attributed to Mr Curtis's next door neighbor, the Superintendent of Westland. The Bill had for its object the delegation of the powers, conferred upon the Superintendent by the Groldfields Act of IS6l< to his responsible advisers, and from the tone of the debate in the Upper House it is clear that the great objection was not so much to the general principle of delegation contained in the Bill as to the personnel of the particular Executive whom it was proposed to invest with enlarged powers. The Hon. Dr Pollen thought it undesirable that an " ephemeral body of men" (such as the present Executivo of .Nelson) " who were placed by a majority of one or two, in a position of even greater power than the Superintendent should have such powers delegated to them" as the Bill would confer. Another lion member went further and much nearer the mark, when he said that "he did not think it _wise to trust such powers to anybody who carried all the interest lie held in the Province under his hat." Which of the members of the Nelson Executive this speaker had in his mind's eye when he made the above very pertinent remark, did not transpire, but anyone who is aware of the nature of the constituent element of the new aud " progressive" Nelson Government, will not find it difficult to nominate a head that would exactly fit the above-ineutioned hat. The object of Mr Curtis, in consenting to father the Bill in the Assembly, is transparent enough. He was evidently inwardly chuckling over the knowledge, that iu parting with so much of his power he would be placing his "re? sponsible advisers" in a fair position to make a spectacle of themselves, on the principle of the old adage about giving a dog rope enough and ha will hang himself. The Superintendent of Nelson has sufficient foresight to perceive that if his present Executive, or the ruling spirit of it, had the full authority the Bill would confer, responsible irresponsibility would be carried to such a length, that the Executive Council would become a laughingstock for the Colony. The actions of the Nelsou Government since the closg of the last session of the Provincial Council, have net been of such a nature as to make it safe or advisable to dele, gate extended powers to it There has not a single improvement on the old plan been made in the administration of public affairs, aud the real Government of the Province seems to be iu abeyance. Nobody appears to have any real authority to act for the Government, and iu the meantime, while the people are befooled with a bogus retrenchmeut scheme, the progress of the whole Province, and especially of the Goldfields, is retarded through au inefficient performance of the duties

which the Provincial Executive was placed in office to carry out. Complaints are coming from all parts of the disgraceful state of the roads, the consequent obstacles to traffic, and the resulting rise in prices; the civil service is disorganised, and half its efficiency destroyed by reason of the feeling of insecurity which has spread through the departments, because no officer, no matter what length of time he may have served the public, or how his duties have been performed in it, feels himself safe, if the responsible advisers or any of them should happen to " have a down" upon him. And yet while matters are notoriously in this state of confusion, the Executive forces the Superintendent to ask the Parliament for extended powers, so that its capability of working mischief might be further increased. Eortunately the design of the O'Conor Executive, although sufficiently well cloaked to pass the scrutiny of the House of Eepresentatives, was too clearly apparent to the Council, and the much-coveted authority was very properly withheld. The Bill was shelved on the motion of Mr Bonar, that it should be read that day six months. The New Zealand Times thus remarks on the Bill, on its origin, and on the manner in which it came to be brought before the Parliament. " Under no popular pressure, with no petitions before them, but simply on the crude statement of a solitary member, the present Council of the Province of Nelson, less delicate towards the Governor's delegate than their predecessors, passed a resolution that the Governor's powers should be diffused, not concentrated, by being conferred upon the Executive as well as his Honor, and his Honor, with a liberality in sentiment and sympathy with which he has not always been credited, approved of the proposal. Eortified by this unanimity on the part of tlie Provincial authorities and representatives, Dr Eenwick brought his motion forward, but, if he was desirous of seeing it carried, he had miscalculated the feeling of those best acquainted with the questions which it raised, and an amendment by the Hon. Mr Bonar, that the matter be dealt with that day six months, was without difficulty carried. Whichever may be the most convenient method of exercising the Governor's powers under delegation, the circumstances in Nelson were uot favorable for the introduction of the proposed change, seeing that the Superintendent himself, in word, if not in deed, has delegated to others his own responsibility, and seeing also that he and his advisers are not reputed to be in thorough accord ; and no one could well suffer by matters remaining in statu quo. Even if it were otherwise, there would have remained the anomaly that, in one division of the western goldfields, there would have been a Superintendent iu sole possession of the delegated powers, whlie' yet having the advantage or disadvantage of advisers, and in another division —namely, Nelson—a Superintendent who, because he has advisers, would have no share in the delegated powers, any more than according to his own arguments, he has in any other matters concerning the welfare of the Province."