The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1878.

Waikato Times, Volume XI, Issue 882, 16 February 1878, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1878.

y Equal and exact justice to aU men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. * r * * ■ * . * Here shaU the Press the Pkoplb's right maintain, ' . Unawed by influence and nnhribed by

What a marvelloua fiing m tho growi'u of systems of Gri>v<triirapnt. Lnc>»ti? a few Amrlo-Saxons opo-t nny conceivrtble part of the globe h nil tho first ining tha will stiike ibtfm is th« necessiiy uf «n >r<jrHt> ; z - tion br tho manage'!, t ;>f th^ir pub >c ..ffnrs. fu « fw p v-ons from most of 'h" oth r un ions of <-.he .eari h «l»on a (.erritor , a«id *'hc> indivi nal will em(e»vov to plac his npiahbt-nv »« a dwadv^n-a^, tvgnrd less of th*' c »n.mon good I <■ is this .raud chnr-»cterwtio «»f th« E lgliih"peaking r»ce which renders tltem ca-able of acting the part of,

lan Algeria? whala 'cw k'.a yl y\:d l^jMflßftfttaff ftnpe ? what ;\ S > <.-■'''•'. h j|HP^^^%inilitavy stronghold cv ■S^eika^lj^ison. Contrast (hum S^g^Ljistmlirt, a New Zealand^ £&a a^K^V'ly acquired couatry^UH ]Sp] . HBiH.peculiavifcy of our riffi^ hfW i Iqfpg been exemplified "ffif j rein|^«bfe manner m this colonel ?W^had a Constitution. We hav€P abolished it. Pfovinoinl institutions, which for many years auswered our *pus(Mse,^h4v&%^ cooJteut of tiie people, celled to exist. A crude imperfect system, kuowu as ''o<?uuties!!..haß.„b.eeu.,in»«w,. -■„«*,. .. ,„..,, , .^ I ..va.w^_^,^<M^y, l ß>ty^^^^>^vhwti(i__i troduced. That system was and is faulty, j almost ojttJSg^able. |tat marthow tho- spirit»-of-"S«if*g©Vf|rn~-tnent, w,]hidb always cx * Bt jk"Q^$ 0 " S.ixdn ©oriiraunifcieSt i&slisrtlw&if. Centralism, ySucl&^aß Wellington would desire, it will not have.. Therefore! to the dry*boiiie&ssshe Counties' and Mamcipal Corporations Acts musfc be given life. They are faulty, but they r; $rV- the ?only machinery available. They itatt^ he taken advan \ age of . to shield us from a centralisjq and bureaucratic despotism, aud that- vantage ground is taken. , The coherence, reported m .another column, is, to our mind j something far mote significant than- "the" mere combination, of local bodies for {the purpose of procuring the .execution of a jjjcevtain work. It is the practical assertion of the principle | of tbcal self-government «9 against Centralism. It is the first step towards buil ling up a system m place of defunctj obsolete Provincialism It means to say tbis to the Central Government — We, the representatives of the people m our respective localities desiie you to understand that we take an intelligent interest m your management ol our affairs* and desire and intend to exercise an influence m the direction that we consider .advisable. We are not aware that any suoh expession of piiblio feeling by a'pbmbinatio'n of local bodies has bofore taken place and. we note it »s marking an important /.era m,, the. .history of the colony. ''*"* 'Tb"* s lB ' ""tibt our intention for the present to comment upon the immediate. cause, of this gathering. We reserve it for a future occasion. The sermon we desire *o preach is this, that Icoal self government, the bulwark of real liberty, has iv this conference advanced itself another and a most important stage.. We congratulate onr Thames friends, who inaugurated the movement;