The Press. FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 1870.

Press, Volume XVI, Issue 2105, 14 January 1870, Page 2

The Press. FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 1870.

HAWKE'S BAY.

Hawke's Bat, as a province, has Dever made itself much known in New 7ealand. Its population is small, its interprovincial traffic not extensive, and as its representation in the General Assembly is confined to two members, it has never exercised that decisive influence upon public affairs which has been exerted by the larger provinces. But in native matters it has borne a prominent part for the last five or six years. It was the scene of the brilliant campaign of 1865, in which the colonial forces achieved such signal success; later too of the ravages of Te Kooti, of the massacre at Poverty Bay, of the siege and capture of Ngatapa, and other alarms and encounters too numerous to particularise. Throughout all these disturbances the Hawke's Bay settlers have been honorably distiuguished by their readiness to turn out for their own defence at the approach of danger, and by their gallantry in the field. "We have said that Hawke's Bay has only two members in the House of Representatives; but these two are in themselves a host. They are Mr. McLean and Mr Ormond, the former having been Superintendent of the province up to the close of last year, while the latter has filled the post of Provincial Secretary. Both have always been among the leading members of the House; though Mr. McLean has confined himself pretty closely to his specialty—Native business, while Mr. Ormond has taken an active part in debate in all questions of importance. If Mr. McLean is the Jupiter of Hawke's Bay, Mr Ormond may be styled the Mercurius, for he is the chief speaker. Bufc a notable change has taken place in their political views, analogous to that to which we called attention in the case of Auckland. Till last session (or his conversion may perhaps date from the session before), Mr Ormond was a principal member of the colonial party, and, being by nature of an aggressive temperament, was eminent for the vigour of his onslaughts oil the provincial system. Our readers will renumber his remarkable outburst during the session of 1867, when he reminded Mr Stafford that Mr Fox was on liis way back to New Zealand, and conjured him not to lose the chance of utterly demolishing the

provinces before their champion could arrive to the rescue. But both McLean and Orcnond have since crossed over to the other side. They have made no scruple about joining a Ministry of the strongest provincial tendencies. The one has taken office as Native and Defence Minister, while the other, who seems to have quite got over his dread of M»\ Fox, is the representative and agent of the General Government on the East Coast. Through all the last session Mr. Orinond was noted* for his bitterness against his quondam allies. He was put forward on all occasions when a slashing attack upon the Opposition was wanted, or when the Ministers had to be dragged out of a difficulty. Among other things they were indebted to his friendly offices for the device by which they committed the colony to a far more distinctively warlike policy than Mr. Fox himself dared to propose, and quite inconsistent with semi-pacific professions on his accession to office.

The chief cause of this defection, as with the anti-provincialists of Auckland, was their zeal for the interests of their own province. Mr Fox's highest merit in the eyes of the Hawke's Bay members was his pliability, ductility, or whatever the quality may be that renders him so entirely under the influence of those about him. With him as Premier, and Mr McLean in the Defence Office, they could rely upon the war being conducted, to a degree not to be hoped for under Mr Stafford, in the manner most desirable I for Hawke's Bay. Mr Stafford's plan j had been to establish a force at Lake Taupo, and to supply provisions by means of a dray road from Fort Galatea. The road was nearly completed, but Mr McLean preferred to abandon it, and while still advancing in the same direction to make Napier the base of his operations. This necessitated all supplies being packed at an immense expense over the mountainous country that lies between it and the open plains. Col. "Whitmore, who had had some practical experience in the matter, is said to have estimated the cost at £1 per mile for every ton carried. The large number of friendly Natives who had been taken on pay added greatly to the expense, for a Maori warrior is gifted with more than average powers of consumption, and will not put up with half rations. The utility of this change of base in a military point of view is questionable, but there can be no question of its being an excellent thing for Napier. Indeed, had it been Mr McLean's sole object to create a war expenditure for the express benefit of Napier he could not have adopted a better course. One can imagine what a roaring trade the storekeepers must have driven, how the warehouses must have been cleared, how prices must have risen. Horseflesh too was in great request. Any old screw could be made available for packing, and was readily bought by the Government. Prices rose higher and higher till, as one of our correspondents remarked, horse stock became as valuable a property as shares in the Long Drive. Hawke's Bay in short, in the old Auckland phrase, " has got a war" at last, and no doubt is making the most of it. We can well understand that the maintenance or abolition of provincial institutions is not the subject most eagerly discussed among the inhabitaats just at present. Any Government, no matter what its principles, would find favour among people who derived so much benefit from its practice.

But, after . all, this expenditure, though it may set money going and be a stimulus to trader will do no lasting good. It will cease with the cessation of hostilities, and meanwhile will benefit not so much the province as individual merchants or speculators. To judge of the position of the province we must look, not to temporary accidental circumstances, bui to its permanent resources. From the official returns of provincial revenue and expenditure during the year 1868 it appears that the income of Hawke's Bay during that year (including receipts from the consolidated fund, and crediting it with a sum of £2221 deducted by the Colonial Treasurer from the land revenue in payment of an old debt to the G-eneral Government) was £20,747. Its expenditure, omitting an extraordinary item of £5839 for purchase of land from the Natives, was £26,260 — being an excess of expenditure over income of about £5500. Matters could not have mended much in the following year, as instead of the province being entitled to receive anything from the consolidated fund during the year 1868-9, there was an estimated deficiency of £600, which would havp to be made good out of the land Fund. Of the local revenue of the province, other than that derived from customs, &c., nearly 80 per cent, is territorial; but the amount is not large; in 1868, a good year, it was a little under £15,000. Most of the land iv Hawke's Bay belongs to the natives, by whom a

good deal has been let on lease to Europeans for the purposes of sheepfarming. This practice has one good effect, that it gives the native chiefs a substantial interest in the maintenance of order, but it obviously tends to lock up the land and retard colonisation. For every piece of country leased from the "natives remains in the sole occupation of the tenant until the expiration of his term, instead of, as is the case where the land is held under depasturing license from the Crown, only until it is wanted for settlement. His lease, in fact, gives him an actual proprietorship in the soil for a term of years, not merely permission to occupy the land for certain purposes and on certain conditions. The system is a drawback to the progress of the province, since it throws the land into the hands of stockowners to the exclusion of agriculturists. The more land is taken up by the squatter the less room is there for the farmer. Nor does the province gain any present advantage by the transaction, since the rents do not come into the Provincial Treasury but are paid to the native proprietors. On the whole, Hawke's Bay does not seem likely to enjoy a prolonged existence as a province. It has always been more or less in difficulties, and on one occasion was extricated from embarrassments that threatened to be fatal only by the timely negotiation of a loan. There was a general feeling then that to try to go further would be to fare worse, and that the province had better give in before it was reduced to extremities. Things may look a little better now, but we doubt whether there is any substantial improvement. At all events, if any well considered scheme for the extinction of provincial institutions should be submitted to the public, there is nothing in the circumstances or prospects of Hawke's Bay to make it distasteful.