The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 655, 1 August 1876, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

TUhSDAY. AUQUbTI, 1876.

Eqmil and exact justice to all men, Oi whatever utatu or iiorsiuisian, .religious or political • * * « * Here »hall the Prcn tha People's right maintain, Unawcil by influence and unbribed by gain.

At length, through the " darkness that may be felt," which has hitherto enshrouded the politics of the Colony, comes a small ray of light. JVoni out of tli9 chaos of party strife, it tangible policy begins to take form. Gaum es have sat almost duily,and, on every BUsh occasion, the «orrespondents bf the raviolis journals havo confidently announced a diff.-r.mt line bf policy as the course certain to be pursued. Now Canterbury was to join Auckland on a basis of insular separation. .Next, it was beyond a doubt that the l»hree great Provinces — Aucklaud, Otago, and Canterbury — had agreed upon a > common Opposition Policy, and the political grave of the Ministry had been dug by the unnatural allies. At one time the Opposition were certain of a majority, at another time the Government were to swoep everything before them. At last the

newspaper piophets g»ive np ii) dis,pnir; the .situation became too cornplicett'd ev«n for them ; the fniat glimmer of lisrht; th.it was being thruwti oa the situation went out, <iud all was profound darkness and uncertainty. Then came the famous land fund resojuiions, which surprised and delighted the real friends of th<* north. Still, it w.is frared that, although honest and statein mlikp, they must fail to be carried, and telegrams hinting at Opposition amendments rained in upon us. But still nothing authentic wag known.. The announcement, however, which we publish in another column, gives us the ouo to the labyrinth. The Ofcago Members will probably agioe with Auckland to financial separation, upon u basis which, at first «sighfc, appears to afford some reasonable ho»pe of settlement. The South is to take over ihree-fonrths of the liabilities 6f the Colony, and the North Tsland one fourth. ' We must premise that the proposition under consideration does not involve Insular Separation, which, as meaning* a dis-integration of tha Colony, we • shall 'always stronuorisly oppose. The coorse which would be followed in. case ot such an understanding being arrived at, "would probably bo this. The Aboli tion'o fProvin ces th ronghout'tb c Colony would be-proceeded with, and the constitution of two large districts or counties snbstitated "for the proposed Local Government Bill. Each of •these'clwtricts would have its own Parliament, tax itself, and, subject to a> contribution towards a Federal Government, spend the .revenue raised' within it, in'sudi manner-as might be deemed advisable. The .first charge to be paid to the Federal Government would be interest on •loans. Taking the Colonial Debt in round'iiumbersat Jg2o,ooo>ooo, and supposing 1 the interest, at 5 per cent., to amount to J£1,000;000 per annum, the North Island would have to deduct • from the amount raised by taxation within its limits, a sum of J8230,000, to meet this charge. At tho end of 1874, the amount of revenue i-aised in tho four Provinces of the Worth was £765,000. It will probably amount during the year 1875-76 to £900,000, in both cases, inclusive of territorial revenue. This would leave vth« earn of £650,000 .available for administrative and public works purposes. Iv the South, the Revenue, General and Provincial, ' from all sources, amounted in 1874 to £2,303,612. Probably, during the past financial year, this would be increased to £2,500;000. 'Oat of this, the sum of ,£750,000 will be required by the Federal Government, ior interest on Colonial debt, leaving a balance of £1,750,000 to be locally applied. Of course, the South • will theoretically be responsible for the £15,000,000, representing threefourths of the \T~uole debt, but, j practically, ws in the North cannot release 'ourselves from the liability to the English creditors. The wholo thing simply Amounts to this : that the South gives us about -£250,000 per annum to cub the painter, and allow them to retain their land fund. Well, it'nfay, perhaps, suit," but with such scant means of information we c.umot at present speak •decidedly. Tho South has received fourteen or 'fifteen millions from its land, and j must have considerably' exhausted its resources iv that direction. Upon the other hand, the moneys now and hereafter receivable for pastoral leases arisiug out of lands not alienated for ever-, will amount to a large sum per annum. But -we in the North havo scarcely began, to -touch Jour i lauded estate, and wo make a present considerable gain of cash, -which will .go a long -way towards obtaining an alienation of large tracts of country from the natives every year. We are afraid the Norhh cannot carry the land fund resolutions. 'Are we <to wait-indefinitely for a 'Settlement with our more powerful brothers in the Soath. Would it not bo raoro advisable for us -to 'take any advantage we may now be able to obtain, and thereby strengthen our* Helves for the competition between North and South. The latter portion of the Colony is already much further developed than we are. They have uufolded all their sources of wealth ;'wehave scarcely touched ours. Our territorial possessions are . as nothing compared to the rich tracts of which we must be the-ulti-mate heirs. Our mineral resources are dwarfed by restrictions which must soou pass away"for ever, and leave the rich gold-bearing districts in the interior of thtt inland open to the -onterprise of our uniners, and in cliraato and natural btauty of scenery, with which to nllure visitors and sottlers to our island, we can compare favourably'with any country in the habitable globe. Let us not 1)0 misunderstood. Unity of the Colony has been with .us a cherished idea, which v/e shall never forsake. Insular Separation — that is, the absolute division into two Colonies of these islands — we shall always oppose to the end. We would rejoico exceedingly if the Land Fund reiolutions could bs carried, and oven tho mild form of disintegration called " Financial Separation," avoided. We are of those who look to fcho futtare of this magnificent couritry, and endeavonr to forget present party bitterness, in order to provide tho most stable institutions for those who come after us. And, if the people of the North -are unable, after using every exertion, to wrest from Otago and Canterbury the whole of their ill-gotten spoils, it may possibly bo that the wisest course will be that referred to in the

~clo.rmins of our Wt llin". on dire-s-pondent. Pending fui'Lh* :■ mf'Min.vtion, we suspend, our final judgiuenfc on the m titter.