The Superitendent on the Abolition Question.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 43, 6 May 1875, Page 6

The Superitendent on the Abolition Question.

f The Superintendent in ' his opening address to the Provincial Council- made the following- allusion to the abolition of the provinces' question :— lt is proposed} as you are aWarerfbrlhwith -to abolish the" North Island provinces, on the plea that they can no loDger perform "the. . functions assigned to them by the Constitutiob Act-f that is to saiy, that they are unable, jwitfeput the aid of tbe eploriy,' t o pr6^idefoylti&^ maintenance of peace, order, is'nd pood :eibvernmenfc within their borders., ; If this be^sti— Which I' deny— -the Sause is'riot'far id seek. The present condition *of i the ! provinces might be very aptly illustrated by-compar-ing them to a man who jhas been bound :hand and; foot by one stronger than himself, and ; tfeen told. that, because i he cannot walk, he is a cumberer of the' grburid. O'f > one thing I am certain, and /that is, that i there can ;^e 0 no ' partial • : abolition ; ' ' but that, so long as New Zealand'is one colony, the provinces; bfath North and South, must stand or fall together, unless in so far as they may, mutually agree, to, a.Tolnntary fusion as in the case of Ot ago and Southland. ' It is Ito .disgiiise from' purselves' the 'fact thatabolition of; the pr 6' vinces ' implies that .the revenue of the colony Is! to be appropriated iby the' • Colonial Legislature, and . that Canterbury and Otago, Which now. contribute the lion's: share of the consolidated revenue, jare to be called upon to supply still, more., '. It im«: plifjsthat the resource*;! 'wfcfch T: will"bb de-' rived from; ( bur railways^rftttways " the' whole"df l Which "are 5 being 1 "constructed at the ' cost ot the prOvibce—shall > become colonial reVenue,to be appropriated by the General Assembly. ;, It yiil not belong before .this, item , figures ( very lafgely in the annual balance 's Met." It implies", l moreover," that the administration of the waste land s • arid • the ] ' settlement ' of ' the bounty "will be' : uritfer" the"coatrbl % of >a power inticn less directly -responsible to. arid under the eye of the people than at ; present; Although np : ; doubt .thifif piuit. tjbe iia-i terests of some, it is doubtful whether, in this province at least," if Would b'e i coftd'iicive tp the public interest. ■ Tn * the course of two 6? three year's, the" 'existing leases* of extensive ' areas' lof c&tttitry, > now held as grazing rtins, will begin :ta!terininatk.i; If properly dealt with^thepe rnnsiwill .yield a considerable' permanent ..revenue, •-. which will be increasing, annually for the next ten years, arid Which' Will go far towards keening db wn taxatipu '; 'they f will ; ; also carry' a large agricultural and pastoral population i therefore ;> becomes t us $0 guard most watchfully; sgainst an organic change in the. Constitution,; which lanji persuaded : will pxoye,, ,ip be' as jhe letting : in of. water ..as* respects tW future disposition of the provincial estate, 'Therje; can ' be no doubt that/ a radical (Jharige is required in the politic^ f rameiwork: lof tfiecblbnyias it :now exists, /tuid,"fif • ith?s; change would only take the right di?ection, :happy would it be for all concerned. >. It' was a disastrous day lor New Zealand when the policy which i dictated the" 'Ne;#'PWvirice Act, 1858, presided pVer'its des times, and. l am p6rsuadigd ; even nb'Wj difficult although it : may dppeai? to > be, that the wisest thing' tKafr could be^ dbne to fall back upon the Constitution and allow the respective ;provinces; to rely upon them--B(elve9; limit the central .(rPyerhtrienV to purely federal action ;, lei province have the uncbntroHed disposal of its public' revientte, frbm' 'wbatever source* derived/ cptftnKutirig i^ r share 1 towards the maintenance bf the central power, and to- : wards the payment' of the ; debt > for whidh the colony as a whole is nowliable. Were this policy adopted, the prpviiices' iri : eaih if land would gradually arid spotttarieodsly merge into each 1 otWerj arid the ■ apparently 1 irreconcilable idea bf a' great and united colony; -and ,^t the same time; practidal financial separation: • between the . two \ islands, would: be - realised i \ We r shouldj moreover berelieved 1 to a large extent of that enormous: departmental expenditure whi6h is. yearly assuming more and more, gigantic proportions, and swallowing 1 Up resources Which might be more benefioially applied — e'xpeaditure':Whicb,rin' ai great .measure; , is at present practically beyond the cpntro) ,of:the representatives; of, the people. . It -may be said .that these views, are, nqw irii-; practicable, and that, ft is top, late to Idntertfiin.them; Iyeu^ufe to think 1 ,- however^ that nothing i 9 either too 1 late or im>~ practicable if the ;«e i opleoiwlll'. it.> J It should not be lost • sight > 'of ithafe n^'ost bf absolutely necessary and pripxaryfunc- : tiond of government ;areiipw r bejng ; .carried . on, by , the prpvjn©ef. I purely if is.' only . reasonable that, jbefbfecpmfaiitting pblitical suicide and reluiquishin2 the' poWers which they now posset by meailfl Of the 7 existing provincial brgsnisaWßi the' people bf the colony' should know into 'Whbsehanoeithdse functions j are to ibe ! hefeafter, [entrusted. If 'they to tywfjXye^ wnoni \ Uie r Pientral Government, rail : jeip.er|ericpr goes ; to prove 'eebnomiißal|y .nerfbrmed^tliaW 1 0 Afieiit. If thbyare 'to; be entrusted tbßbid Boards, not Gpiy will' tbd cost ofrddraidiHtratioa be ftnormoasly 1 increased} but it willt end in cbnfusion; ! wowc confounded, o t ij^pu o inay depend upon i^ itha^ tbe real Question with which the colony ought to grapple, is not r aopKtion of pfoymcei, but the of janarice^i more e^riablfe of the public , ; reieripe 1 ; ahibng those b^whdm ifciß ; c6nlribiite«-tthe.re<i«ctidmo«;ithe:Gdgt of admihistratioh (\ Without?: impairing ! its eflicienoyi v,&>mm\l Sflsurcid |ftat f . judder ithd ipecidf4r cireuai^tanpes^N^^eftlaßJd, cplomal ad^mimstratiQn iwiil g?ye, us, neither. gi;es pTOb&m^Kic^We^rthe^ttf ' have "to "solve is'b.ow < b4yt'tb t nßld'ou^Mwri, eiW tne'lbcSl^seifi^vetntaenibotebte we Govenraient^ Abstracted nipouihOtago f^™s.Sf,^ hlc^teS^^p|«aefmtbin ,Ae-proymce,.,attd'it isibeqlmse tKe aboWion > of4M!|ir6r^-Ited'%vinM&u^i^ a my B^inibn, ke^^type tse^Htuiu'atice 6f ' end rSttder 1 worse ; thi9" etaw oP^ing^finit! I express myself ebetronglylnpoitt^tie gubiett, >mdou|.fcJSsHaUil!Hjiibed;s&a^/{,grfi4t-{lasthej^ymagof^the-J^eg^J^^rif^ , th^3l^t dSy c&yobfKci^'esißfae T /it^e « Jopmkme now tespressfedljarari those whibli would be honestly held by me.