THE NEW PROVINCES BILL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 2, Issue 54, 2 October 1858, Page 3

THE NEW PROVINCES BILL.

(From the Neteon Examiner, Sspt. W.J • I nt one particular, and that a very essential one, will the constitution of these new provinces differ from the present practice. It is provided, that the Surjerin ten dent shall be elected by the majority of the Council 5 but, as we understand it, not necessarily out of thsir own body,;- although we hope it may be so, as the Superintendent, if not previously elected a member, would, on constitutional principles, have no right to a vote, unless this contingency has been foreseen, and Specifically provided for ; whereas, being already a -member, he would take his seat in the council, having an assured-'*' majority.. -toy begin, with of those who elected him, and the power of introducing, explaining, and defending his own measures'; all which we ; look upon as decided improvements; on our present. style .of proceedings ; to. be adopted as soon as possible, we trust; by the older communities. -•': We shall then liar, spared the absurdity of a;Supeririten;dej?J| sending down measures which rare 'Tiotwa^p*/-.''.: ted, v-^Ugg^stidiis which are.djsregarSe^; : |kd ':'•',, ■amendments' which are- unanim©^^ife|fec-. V, ted ; ; or, ' which ii still ! -Sti|^rjn|en-. . ; ?€wjS^Trr^rr^^:^Tth i .^fexrC'^^^iefc. . . ; .';tai^n ; t^^,'o;]|;-g.|b'd;- 1 l^mmiio^^ojji:6^a^^

fofei^oE/gpyernment in tp deserved discredit;'. tonTrs^ckresti^ is/, these, -which upset '.d^prbseofi^^^l^Hb^^;j^'^iHhTsj^b^. Bsaros;aiid nbiieri'tities,': itt shall suit the' Superintendent and his advisers .to disregard their opinion, or to act in opposition to their judgment. The occurrences that have taken place at Auckland, which are now. passing in Wellington, confirm the opinion, entertained by very many persons : When our.Goristitution Act first came into operation, that an elective Superintendent wras ;a ! mistake, and that he should either be laminated by, the Council, or befl'an officer oilhe General Government ; thus, in the "first case^ ensuring a cordial co-operation between himself and his Council ; and, in the second, forming, a connecting link and bond of union between the Provincial and 'Colonial- authorities. For these-reasdns, we consider the alteration;ji most excellent one ; and should like to see still further innovations ; to get rid of theiigh sounding titles we are afflicted with, arid the consequent absurdities we occasionally, fall into in consequence. Instead of Councils, we might then have Boards, and Chairmen for Speakers ; we should have Clerks instead of Secretaries, and plain Notices instead of magniloquent Proclamations. We are glad to see that the Auckland Superintendent has set a good example in this- matter, and signs himself plain " John "Williamson" without caricaturing the forms or aping the expressions of royalty. But the measure, even setting aside those alterations and improvements, is a great advance on the path of real freedom and local self-government.. The provinces had already begun to display the inherent propensity of all men in power/ to use it for their own private purposes. It was found that to call the Provincial Government local self- government is a misnomer ; that without the ability and information, they had all the defects of what they were meant to. supersede and intended to replace ; that they were all in their way Central Governments, drawing money from their out settlements by their Customs and'the sale of their lands, and j laying it put to their own advantage ; " as in the case of Hawke's Bay, where they received £5*0,000 and promised to expend £5,000 ; or the Wairau, from which 70,000Z has been drawn, and a road laid out in return, which in the last freshet was found to be ten feet under water. Hawke's Bay, or Ahuriri, as we hear it is to be called, is j most probably now petitioning for separation from "Wellington : to be shortly followed by. Manawatu on the West Coast; whilst Wairau will most probably wait untill the Census is taken in December, to ascertain her chances in a similar adventure. It is very provoking, but we fear inevitable that we,, the settlers in Blind Bay, should lose ,the power of selling so many tens of thousands of acres one hundred or/one hun-dred-and fifty miles off", and spending the money at our own doors; hut we really can see no help for it ; and perhaps, when we can no longer fatten at our neighbour's expense, we may begin to think of turning our own natural advantages to some better account.