The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1868.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2280, 14 April 1868, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1868.

Tiie proposal to elect to the office of Superintendent a gentleman who possetmed the confidence of all parties, and who would have secured the suffrages of an overwhelming majority had a contest ensued, has fallen through. But this has been by no fault of the candidate invited to ntatid, Mr Bowen has not by declining disappointed his friends, but has, on the contrary, shewu that respect for the dignity of the office he was asked to fill which he would certainly have maintained had his friends' wishes been gratified. Prom among those who may now aspire to the Superintendency it is to be hoped a wise selection will be made. But there are various public questions on which it is but right that prospective candidates should make their opinions known previous to demanding pledges of support. We should be sorry to see the,office go'a-begging, even under the unwise restrictions with which it has been attempted to fetter it, The

position of Superintendent in Cantorbury ig one of too much influence to make it a matter ot indifference who shall fill it. Let us hope, then, that a distinct expression of opinion will be given forth by those who wish to fill the office, and that each candidate will state at some length that particular line of policy which he means to pursue,

Foremost among public questions of interest at the present moment stands the connection between the General and the Provincial Governments. There are Borne who would surrender all power into the hands of the former, and substitute for the latter a Bystem of counties, shires, and municipal institutions. We have often pointed out the evils connected with such a scheme, The people of Canterbury are upon the whole satisfied with their present system of Town Councils and Road Boards, and wish neither to see them swept away, nor left helpless and dependent upon the Ministry at Wellington. Were it only as a common rallying ground, where they might combine for the defence of their land fund and other local interests, the members of these various bodies wish for a Provincial Council and Provincial Executive. One of the chief dangers to which Canterbury is in present circumstances exposed, is that of placing in the Superintendency some enemy to Provincialism, who will use his influence, it may be to his own special advancement, but to the entire abolition of the institutions of which he is made the nominal head. Eight upward from iu& advocacy of Centralism to that of Ultra-provincial-ism, there is a marked gradation of opinions. The opinions which, upon the whole, seem to find favour in Canterbury are those which were announced by the Provincial Council in reply to the Superintendent's Second Message of the last Session. Upon the ground then assumed we hope to see a firm stand made. The Resolutions passed by the Council proposed neither to extend the powers of provincial authorities nor to extinguish them; assented to the surrender of purely legislative functions into the hands of the General Assembly, but insisted on the control of the land fund and of local institutions. It will not be creditable to the Council nor to its individual members, if, on the very first opportunity afforded of testing their sincerity, they cast themselves adrift. On one special subject the Council gave forth a cautious but independent opinion, which we believe to be very generally entertained throughout the province. It is that Separation is one means of solving the difficulty caused by the complexities of Central and Provincial Governments. The note of warning thus sounded proclaims the measure which the people of Canterbury are prepared to Bupport in face of any threatened danger to* their land fund, or of any attempt to charge upon them fresh expenditure for native affairs, or to saddle them with the maintenance of the local institutions—the hospitals, gaols, or Superintendents of the North Island. On this point, therefore, it were well that any candidates for the Superintendency should give forth no uncertain sound.

A very important principle in regard to taxation has been of late almost entirely OTerlooked in the allocation of public revenue. It is that the power which levies a tax should be also the power to expend it. "Were this principle at length fully recognised and carried out, it would go further than any legislative arrangement we know of to reduce taxation, and to enforce economy. No doubt it throws upon the provinces the necessity of imposing direct taxes for the maintenance of police, hospitals, and schools. But that necessity we regard as a fitting and well-timed corrective upon the method hitherto adopted for obtaining the requisite expenditure upon these institutions. "We could not willingly see the power put into the hands of the General Government of levying direct taxes for the general support of police, hospitals, or other like institutions, throughout the colony. The dislike entertained to direct taiation will secure the exercise of a sufficiently watchful control over the provincial authorities in disbursing the proceeds; while no such control would be practicable in the case of the General Government.

And, omitting any further reference to subjects of importance to the colony as a whole, we consider that whoever bids for the office of Superintendent should give forth a clear view ot the line of policy, which he proposes to follow in regard to our Provincial affairs. The discussions during the recent session of the Provincial Council have brought many of these so prominently before the public, that we need not now specify them. But there are not a few which even then are hardly touched. The three candidates for public favour at the last election were sufficiently explicit, One advocated the development of the material resources of the country by means of trunk lines of railway constructed by loans. A secood advocated a policy the reverse of this, and implying caution and delay. The third proposed to modify our land regulations, and bring large districts of the couutry into the market at a reduced rate. Let our new candidates be as explicit, and let those who invite them to stand, or promise to support them, do so only after they have learned their views, or else conditionally upon those views proving sound and acceptable. "We deprecate any hasty pledges irrespective of these conditions, for we know of no men now likely to come forward whose public career entitles them to any higher confidence.