SIR F. BELL ON THE ABOLITION QUESTION.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 1199, 5 May 1875, Page 3 (Supplement)

SIR F. BELL ON THE ABOLITION QUESTION.

Sir Francis Bell, M.ILR. for Mataura, addrrssnd liia constituents nt the Theatre Boyal, li.Torcargill on tho 13th April. The Mnyor oucupind tho chair. Sir Francis said that ha was struck frith the improvements which had taken place m TnverCHr^ill. Thoy were more marked here than any whore else. : He would confiue his remarks chiefly to ono lubject which wa* fraught with great consequence, namely, the abolition of tho pi-o»inc««. Jivery other question pnled before this. Worn thoy to have a fundamental chango m the system of government P The onuses' of tho Q-DTornmonfc taking up that qunstion vrcro not'undorstood. It was not a party question. „Mr Vogol was quito securo m his position. There wore many reasons why a strong Government should refrain from touching tho question. One thing forcod it on the attoution of tho House, the question, namely, of finance. The course of the Government had been attributed, firstly, to the reception accordod to tho State Forest Bill} Bocondiy, to the quarrel with Mr Fitzhorborfc. No bucli paltry motive [ influenced Mr Stafford and Mr Vogol to decide on the question. For ten years the Colonial Treasurer's difficulties hud been growing. Tho unauthorised expenditure reachod £400,000. Tho Treasurer had to manago tho finaneo of the colony and ilnance of tho provinces, and Cnnnco could not be proporly done and tho provinces satisfied. It was the impossibility of inducing the legislative Assembly to nllow the provincial borrowing, wbioh precipitated Ihe question. In Otago and Canterbury they could not realise tho diffioul-: tioa of tho provincos m straits. The failure of tho attomipt to pass tho Provincial Borrowing Acts of the previous year, drove Mr Yogel into this course. Last session £500,000 had been granted to the Provincial Governments. It was not fair that the rich should pay for the poor provinces. The £8,000,000 borrowed for railways had been reduced to £6,500,000, owing to the necessity of buying the support of tha provinces. No government; could last an hour without tho support of tho provinces. The proposal laid by Mr Yogel before the House was not new. For the lust few yeara a feeling of unoasinoss had boon felt at the greatness of the burdens, and at the prospect that more had been growing. Mr Curtis hid proposed to take away the provincial powers, really meaning the abolition of the provinces. Mr Stafford pointed out that it had before 1870 been a question as to continuing the provinces, but afterwards an attempt was made to put the provinces on their legs whioh was hopeless. Sir Francis had not changed hia opinion, but circumstances had changed. When m the Provincial Council of Otago he had warned the Council that its day was done, and that only municipal powers and action would by and bye belong to it. But it was no nee thinking of I>a6t opinions, they must look at tho question as it stood now. Mr Vogel's proposal took tho House by surprise. It was not a revolutionary measure. When Mr Fithherbert wanted the opinion of the country the answer was, au appeal was unnecessary. No one had any sentiment about the provinces. The public were apathetic because prosperous. The popular verdict had been m favor of abolition. The Thames, Hawko's Bay, Taranaki, and Canterbury wore all m favor of it. In Wellington au opinion was expressed m strong terms that Wellington would return a candidate m favor of abolition. No attempt had been made m the public journals to treat the subject philosophically except by the Canterbury press. Me (Mr Bell) would vindicate his strong opiuion ■m favor of Mr Vogel's plans. Few made themselves masters of finance. The whole consolidated revenue for the calendar year of 1874 was £1,518,000. OUgo's contribution was about £500,000, or .32 per cent; of this. The Customs amounted to £1.205,000. of which . Otago contributed £•17,000. The total revenue of Btamps was £105.000, of which Otago contributed £36,000. Thus it became a Southern question. Compare Ofcauo'a contributions to the whole revenue with that of the North Island, Ai\d the. result was that the North Island Customs amounted to £445,000. and Otago to £407,000. Otago contributed to the conRfilidated fund within £52,000 of the whole Norbh Island. Take Otago and Canterbury together, tho Customs of Canterbury and Otago amounted to £006,000. Of all sources of consolidated revenue, Otago and- Canterbury contributed upwards of £200,000 more than the whole North' lsland. It was not a political but a financial question. The wholo land revenue for 1874 was £1.051,000, of which Ota»o' contributed £278,000, and Canterbury £593,000, leaving as a contributionof thoi estof the colony £ 168000. Eveu little Southland gave £116,000 last year, or within £50,000 of what was contributed by the whole colony outside of Otago and Canterbery. What became of the money? The projects brought forward by the provinces were quite monstrous. ' They necessitated a oheck such as was proposed by abolition. As to the land fund, the magnitude of the figures threatened danger to the funds. A proposal was made to put all into colonial revenue, but Otago ana Canterbury did not want any change, and the latter course would fight against such a proposal. A threat had been made to burst up the oompaot of 1856. Sir George Grey was of that opinion. Mr Yogel gave a distinct pledge that the compact was to be held aaored, and Mr Vocel was to be depended upon. He (Sir F-. Bell) would pledge his word for him. Tho Bill to abolish the provinces would contain the ratification of the arrangement for securing the land from Otago and Canterbury. Unless Mr Vogel'a position was altogether changed, the land fund would be held sacred. The Bubsidio* called for by the provinoes were causing the real difficulties. Soma.. subsidies could not be refused. The greatest difficulties came from Auckland.. Auckland stood, next to Otago m contributions to the consolidated revenuo. They could not say to Auoki land that its necessities Bhould not, be met. They must -provide for .her m some shape. They were willing to give her money, but would not give it to be scrambled for by Provincial Councils. Their first duty was to see to the safety of colonial finance. They had come to an end of, and could, not go on without borrowing more. According to Sir Donald McLean's figures, the total public debt to 30 Juue last was^.SOO.'QOO. In the two islands, under the public works scheme, £3,750.000 had been spent or contracted for. It was Veil Mr Yogel went i home and through Rothschilds araanged a loan. £19,500,000 would be the total debt. The bucket was about full, They could not j?o any more into the money market, and must not spend any more. He (Sir F.Bell) tried to restrain the expenditure. It would not •' do to hnrry the public works, Uy hurry they could not have the work properly supervised. The colony

was fortunate iv having Mr Richardson' a services, but miifit not hurry him. Another evil was that the money might be all a|tcnt and immigrants not settled. They must take time to settle them. Ho (Sir Francis Bell) was no alarmist. The expenditure would bo reproductive. They had only to look to Victoria and New South Wales, where the railway systom was prospering. The saving m New South Wales was e»timated at £200,000 per annum. Our railways were costing less than the Viotorian. Ours would pay their working expenses, interest, aud a largo sum over. He (Sir Franois Bell) took a very cheering view of tho future of the railways m New Zealand. Thi>y must bavo an economical substitute for the Provincial Governments. Mr Vogcl's first proposal was simply to abolish tho province* of the North Island, but he (Mr Yogel) hinted that the change might extend beyond the North Island. Mr Stafford said plainly that he did not believe the proposal final. It would not be confined to the North Island. Mr Stafford was always against the provinces. Ho (Sir Francis Dillon Bell) thought it impossible to abolish the provinces m the North and not m tho South. A vivisccture of the North was useless unloss it extended to the South. Whnt Mr Yogel meant to do, and what will certainly be done whether we liko it, or not, is to abolish the provinces north and south. If v now theory of Constitution was to be sot up instead of Provincialism, he (Sir Francis Dillon Bell) would have nothing to do with it. Barring Mr Macandrew and Mr Rollenton, there were not six mmi m the House who would iet up a different political system from that wo had already. General legislatiou had becu so taken up by the Colonial Government, that the Provincial Councils were municipal only. The, whole feeling of the Houaa waa represented by Mr Reader Wood, who said, "nobody wants to put anything m place of Provincial Couucils." Mr Yogel said that there would be no new style of Government. Mr Vot;el would only supplement the organisation at present existing, and it would be good if it proved that the Government themselves "happily despatch," instead of waiting to bo abolished, what would happen if Otago wrro abolished ? Tako & test of money. Last quarter the Provincial revenuo was £151,312, the real revenue £113,000. What would become of the money if there was no Provincial Government ? Under the new scheme everything would have gono to tho Road Boards. What difference would there be if only £200 was left to be expended by the General Government ? Under Mr Vogel's plan there would be one treasury, but the money would find its way m the right direction. Road boards proporly organised were quite able to do all the duties. The Timaru and Gladstone Board of Workß undertook largo operations, and did the work well. A system of .Road Boards waa established m Victoria, railwaya only being exoluded from their jurisdiction. In the Canadian Dominions they were about to abolish the provincial institutions, and m England the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed to organise local authorities, to give men large powers and large means, just as New Zealand was going to- do. The essence of self-government- was to give tho people the real management of their own affairs, and the moans of doing it. They did not want a revolution a violent end to the prexent system. The powers should be distinctly defined, and revenues secured to local bodies. The work of change m that matter would be done sharply, and it would be bagun but not completed next session. Tho system of representatives must be revised, and districts extended. Tho Thames miners and others must be represented. The colonists if united, would complete the work that had been begun, aud when the day of completion came, the country would be iound rich and prosperous, and the abode of a happy and contented people. Several questions having been put and answered, a vote of thanks and unabated confidence was passed unanimously