MR. MACHNDREW ON THE SEPARATION QUESTION.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 79, 12 October 1865, Page 5

MR. MACHNDREW ON THE SEPARATION QUESTION.

i Bfr.. Macandrew said that if ever, there bad been a time in the history of the 1 cp- : lony when the future had been trembling' in the balance; that time is now. He regretted that the question before the House Had not been deferred until it had been seen whether or not there could be !any means found .whereby the catastrophe nbyr impending might have been averted. He called it -■&■. catastrophe, because the breakiug up of the colony would be the breaking up of all the aspirations which he, and .many others besides, had been fondly cherishing for years gone by. In Qtago they had done their best to" avert this catastrophe; they had been mfluehcad by the hope that the wisdom and patriotism of that assembly would have been devoted to upholding the unity of the colony— -that, a policy would have been initiated which would have stemmed the flood- tide of popular opinion which has been so strongly flowing towards the separation of these islands. To him it was a matter of the utmdst sorrow to find that from the general policy of the Government, they had been trusting to a . broken reed. . ■ . If that policy was persisted in, both the North and the South would be shut up to but bine conclusion; and that was— separation. For himself he had no alternative* but to vote for the resolution. If ; the Government intended to modify their policy, he thought that many" members were placed in a false position in bmhg called upon thfeh and there' to vote yea or;nay upon the ! resolution- of the hon. member for Auckland, Mr. Russell. For his own part he should vote on the \ assumption that the policy of the Government was stereotyped —that they had nailed their colors to the imast— that policy being a practical ignoring of the province of Auckland, the exclusion of its representatives from any voice or share in the administration of Native affairs, fresh taxation for the Middle Island for the purpose of carrying oh a Native war in the province of Auckland, and that in the face of the unanimous offer —he might say ,the earnest entreaties—of the representativ.es of that province to relieve the Middle Island from the management of the Natives, and from all further liability inerespect of them— that policy being, moreover j a reckless and profusive expenditure of the general resources of the colony. upon establishments of the General Government, establishments .some, of which might fairly be dispensed with under any circumstances, and , especially under the existing circumstances of the colony. On look-rig* over the estimates of expenditure for the current year, lie was struck with amazement at the prodigality jwiuclx was apparent in every directibri. tHe had no hesitation in saying that, in the hands of an economising Government, that .'expenditure could be reduced onefburthj or even one-half, without detriment to the public service. He found the enormous siim of upwards of LI 70,000 for the current year set down against the establishments of the General Government j arid this, too, exclusive of L 90,000 tor internal defence, exclusive of the steam postal subsidies, arid exclusive of the General Government establishments throughout the various provinces. And yet the House was soberly to be told that with such a margin on which to exercise retrenchment the country was to submit to fresh taxation. It <vas the duty of a prudent Goverariierit to reduce its establishments first, arid to resort to taxation as a last' resource. ! It was absurd to: talk of raising; L75,000> a year from , a stamp duty when that amount . might easily be cut off the proposed expenditure, an expenditure which, he ventured to say, was unparalleled in any other country in the world; As matters stood, if the policy to which he referred was persisted in, he .could see nothing for it but to go in for a substantial financial and political separation between the two islands. This appears to be. the only course left. On' the one hand, it would leave the administration of Native affairs in the hands of those who alone are conversant and competent toe deal; with t^hem j ; andy on the other hand; it would leave the Southern j Island in the enjoyment of its own resources, 1 subject : only to its fair" share pf the. existing debts of colony. He believed that % wise action on the part of the 'Government,; these obr ■jects could be attained without separation ; but as th& majority cof -the House did not 'look at the matter, hv the same light, : ther^

ri Was no, atternatijcls«tweeir isfeparatibn. on -the ope hand, and spoliatian^ fand £iar ltla«r---taxation on the other. Before sitting /down, he would allude shortly to the; explanation WHich 'had 1 fallen- from 1 • thY : Mon. the i "Native "Mmister-(MT. -Fit^erald) hk niost o unwarrantable attack bri; r A(uekTah(Jand Otago» However satis* factory that explan a tion might be to ■-> the hon.&eritleinan himself/ the 'mischief still •Teinain'ed.' A statement 1 : had :%eea • deliberately ! macfe by a Minister of the Grown, from; his 'place in tliat ; House, ; and subsequently reiterated by ; orie'- ol them in another plaee-^-ai statement which had' ok th» wings of the press to all thierends of ! the earth, and ; Wo*ild : be re- ; echoed in the exchange of the world's me-: tropolis-^vizl, that the commercial capital of the colony, irom, which, for the past: four years; one-third of^the whole revenue' has been derived, one-third of the cash 1 that has enabled the Government to icarvy ' on! this war— -when itJias been- promulgated from such -a Quarter, in language garr nisbed witl all the fervid pathos of. ' NeW: Zealandts greatest orator^ that the most important commercial city in the colonywas ! but a bubble, f an empty; bubble, which! would burst before 1 twelve ; months' are over-^then it Was not to be wondered at if men should pause to wonder at where they were; and what was the next step,: before committing themselves to any policy what ever. • If these were the sentiments regard-: ing either the - North- or the' South which were to be expressed by those who occupied the high places of the colony^ : who sat at' the helm of affairs, no explanation could palliate them, and it was high time that both the North and the South should be looking carefully out for the breakers a-head. He sincerely wished that the speech of tile hon. member for Nelson (Mr. Stafford) yesterday had struck the . same chord in the breast o! the hon. the Premier which it had done in his (Mr: Macandrew's). In this case, the unit}, of the colony would bo secured, beyond the possibility of being, disturbed before a week had passed/and the question of separation be sent to the tomb: of all the Capulets.-^r* lsunedin Herald.'