NEXT GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 3, Issue 112, 12 November 1859, Page 3

NEXT GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

To fhe of the HawJc£sJ3ay Herald. Sir, — What is to.be done at the next meeting of the General Assembly, many will ask ? Ah ! what indeed ! ! Many a thing for good or evil : some of which may cast their shadows before, and others, even the sharpest sighted politician dreams not of. Will the present Ministry stand or fall with the New Provinces Act ? Will sheepfarmers get leases instead of licenses for their runs ? Will the thousands of immigrants about to arrive in Auckland get their free grants of land in locations where a human being can gain a subsistence ? Will the District Judge, It. Hart Esq., meet his just desserts for his absurd dealings with the electoral roll ? Will the Home Government be urged by every constitutional means in the power of the Assembly, to maintain an efficient military force in this colony — sufficient even to enforce respect for the mere outline and shadow of British law and sovereignty ? Will the Militia Act be vigilantly enforced, that the bulk of Her Majesty's subjects in this Northern Island, (which of course means only the Europeans, as the Natives have mostly thrown off their allegiance,) may be trained to know one end of a musket from the other, and be reasonably expected to hit a hay stack at 50 yards distance ? Will the Province of Hawke's Bay be fairly and equitably dealt with, by a business-like settlement of her old accounts with the Province of Wellington, in the usual shape of Debtor and Creditor ; or will she be arbitrarily mulct, or jocosely diddled by Wellington eloquence, out ofsome £50,000, one half the sum the Wellington Government borrowed, viz.: — £100,000, for the re-payment of which it pledged the revenue of the then entire Province as security, but spent the whole at and around Wellington : poor Hawke's Bay never having benefitted by the expenditure of a single shilling of the said borrowed money ! All these subjects, and many more, will doubtless exercise the wits of our New Zealand Parliament at their next sittings, and keep them from rusting : and may they get through their multifarious and arduous duties with honor to themselves and advantage to the country -at large. Any one of these subjects might justly occupy more time and space than the limits of a newspaper will allow, so I shall select the las? as most nearly concerning ourselves, and leave the rest for the public and the General Assembly to ruminate over. It is rumoured on the best authority, that the Wellington Government are bent upon saddling us with the enormous debt of £50,000 — which would fatally cripple the energies of this infant Province, sadly mar our bright prospects and ardent hopes, and be such an example of .marvellous injustice as New Zealand has not yet recorded in her annals. If Wellington were bankrupt, perhaps the creditors might in law, (certainly not in equity,) come upon the lands of Hawke's Bay : but how caii Wellington, with a far larger area than this Province, ever plead poverty ? How much revenue can she not raise when she likes : or, when her present unhappy internal disputes are settled, by the sale of her vast extent of good coast grazing grounds, her alluvial plains and wooded valleys, her fertile river districts? I need, name but one of these, the Manawatu, which will take rank among the highest for agricultural capabilities, (as all those who know the district can testify to,) in the known world, and with judicious management will yield a princely revenue for years to come. Wellington is not bankrupt, nor likely to he so, then why should she not pay her own debts ? Had a tithe of the money borrowed ever been spent over Hawke's Bay, separation had never taken place, and this question never arisen ; but no, Napier and Napier folks were ignored : not a shilling of the borrowed money was ever spent over her : but, on the other hand, some £40,000 was drawn from her by sale of her lands, and when she humbly applied for her rights to have some of the proceeds of such sale spent in the districts where the money was derived from, a few pitiful hundreds were doled out, and when she urged her claim and rights" more energetically on the. Wellington Government, insult was added to injury. „:■•■■■_: . ;; . Wellington has no just claim on this Province, and in honesty is bound to refund the large suni she alienated h^nc^pid

applied to local purposes in her own neighbourhood, over such remarkably useful works, as the Nguanga road, and the marvellous Wanganui bridge. Further, if we are to be saddled with one half Wellington's debt, and our land must secure repayment to her creditors, — why, in common justice, the General Assembly must decree that Wellington shall duly hand over the principal to us : then we shall have no objection to pay both principal and interest duly to the lenders. This is the general rule in business, I believe, but the Wellington trio would like to apply the old saw —^ll n'y a regie si generate, qui n'ait son exception.' May there be no exception in this case. There can be no doubt that these, or similar views on this question will be taken by all unprejudiced persons. But, alas ! how many prejudiced and interested members will sit in the next House of Assembly ? And where will the Assembly be held? At Wellington — Wellington, the' very hot- bed of our political opponents: where, combined with the well-known eloquence of Featherston & Co., those powerful adjuncts of eloquence will be brought to bear — out-door influence — f mahogany witchery — good fellowship — good port and nuts, and those nameless little flatteries which cajole many a man into believing his black cow may be white. Now, with this combination of circumstances against us, it behoves us to look a little ahead, and weigh our chance. , For us, there will .be the Auckland members, a portion of whom j will likely not attend, being so far away { from their homes &nd families, and the Nelson Members also, we hope, but are by no means certain. Against us, will be ar-^ rayed most of the Southern members ; at all events those who are opposed to the New Provinces Act, and who are afraid of the dismemberment of their own Provinces, and any waverers amongst them may be secured against us, by the influences before spoken of, out of doors. In fact, it is highly probable that the parties will be pretty evenly balanced, and then how much will depend on the ability and exertion of our sole representative. ' This leads me to the question of who is our member of the General Assembly ? There seems to be a doubt if we have one ; but on this vital point there should be no uncertainty, as on the decision of the Assembly at the session next ensuing will depend the solution of the problem now before us, — whether we shall have to pay a ruinous amount away from the resources of the province or not. J. B. Ferguson Esq., of Clive, was put in nomination for Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay on the resignation of J. V. Smith Esq., of Castle Point, and was duly declared elected by the Returning Officer, no other candidate being present ; (many say illegally,) and if so, should the southern members vote his election illegal, or by any means unseat him, we shall be left without. a voice at the most critical time, and injury, may be inflicted that can't be repaired. This is a position which is by no means desirable for us - to be placed in, and the necessary steps must be at once taken to avoid it. ? As Mr. Ferguson was elected for Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay before Separation took place, there was little interest taken in the matter at the time ; as neither good nor harm could result to us from a joint representation. Therefore, if Mr. Ferguson is desirous of being our member in the next assembly he should by all means come before his constituents at once ; but as that gentlemen has just published in the "Herald" his old requisition before separation, and does evidently intend to stick like a limpet to his seat, the electors of Hawke r must without loss of time call upon him to resign, if only for the purpose of re-elect-ing him, and putting his position as our member beyond cavil, so that we may not run any unnecessary risk. If Mr. Ferguson could see the immense responsibility he is taking upon himself, and the grave consequences that may ensue to the Province at large, he would listen to his real and not his pretended friends ; and not compromise his position by delaying one hour longer his resignation of his trust, and again coming forward as a candidate, not for , Wairarapa, but for the New iPfovince ofHawke. In conclusion I; : Tnay add, that, whenever great public interests are at stake, no feeling.of private friendship, admiration of per-.' sonal qualities, "envy, : or '"an^p^— ?in fact nothing save fitness for the office, should I ever enter into the consideration of electors!" A stern sense' of what may be most beneficial

for the public generally should he his guiding star. He should exercise his judgment without fear or favor, and perform any painful thdugh necessary- duty without flinching j- and then the posterity of such men in&jrhope to possess as thriving and independent a home as ever descended from ■Great-Britain. • : ; , A painful duty I have considered this; but my unalterable conviction is, that if the electors of Hawke wish to avoid the sad chance of being saddled with £50,000 of debt to start with, they will take immediate steps to secure the services of one man in this community as their representative in the next and to us most important meeting of the General Assembly — a man whose financial knowledge of this province in all its bearing, past and present, from first to last, is of the most complete and intimate nature (and bear in miud this is the most important branch of knowledge to our present purpose and need) and whose nnwearied application and general ability is well known to all. Moreover, the gentlemen is well known and has many friends in Wellington, and would most ably cope against any undue out door influence. Mind, I don't know that we can be so fortunate as to secure his services at the coming crisis ; but an urgent public call I think could scarcely fail of arousing his sympathies and zeal for the welfare of this his adopted home, where his all is staked, and of which he is now the respected Superintendent; I am/ &c, HfcRCULANEUM. Napier, X Nov. 9, 1859. . . ■