HAWKE'S BAY HEKALD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1861.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 5, Issue 225, 22 October 1861, Page 2

HAWKE'S BAY HEKALD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1861.

The Enlargement Act of last session of the Provincial Council came into force on the 15th inst., and on the following day writs were issued for the new elections. The electoral notice for the Town of Napier appears in this morning's issue, and those for the other Districts are shortly expected from the respective country Returning Officers. From time to time rumours have reached us of this person and of that purposing to come forward as candidates, but we have no reliable information except with regard to Mr. Triphook, who makes no secret of his intention to stand for one of the town aeats. ! Apathy in this matter is much to be deplored. • It may lead to the best men for the position being overlooked, and indifferent men elected upon the impulse of the moment. Long ere this the constituencies interested should have been looking around for suitable representatives, and they should not now be unprepared with the names of good men aud true. There is, however, a little time remaining, which might be employed to good advantage*. We submit that the new members should enter the Council Chamber with a determination to economise, and that they should possess the moral courage necessary to enable them io carry it out. The subject is an ungracious one to write about ; still more unpleasant is it to begin the actual work of retrench-

ment. But it must be done. The revenue derivable from the land fund of the province is rapidly falling off, and must continue to fail. Our public works are of necessity greatly diminr ished; yet' our public estabnshmehts remain pretty much as they were in the heyday of provincial prosperity. One or tw*o feeble attempts have from time to time been made to cut down the estimates, but they were generally abandoned after a. little talk; and indeed it is a difficult matter to know where to begin the work of economy. But we are quite persuaded that, before very long, the province, if it means to maintain its already existing roads and carry out new works, will have but two courses to pursue — retrenchment on the one hand ; direct taxation on the other. We do not say that extravagance has hitherto characterised our official expenditure, but we simply point out that impaired revenues necessitate curtailment of expenses — that we must %f cut our coat according to our cloth." We confess that we are strongly in favour of non-talking members. While no one should enter the chamber who cannot give tolerably free expression to his ideas, no one, on the other hand, is justified in consuming the time of the Council and unnecessarily prolonging its sittings, by the habit of making speeches. A succinct expression, of opinion is necessary — absolutely necessary upon many subjects, but that is a very different thing from a "set" oration, which is listened to at the time with impatience and is lost to the public through the inability of the press to report it. Perhaps, however, in this matter we are prejudiced, for we have a keen remembrance of many long weary hours spent elsewhere in the drudgery of taking notes of speeches and of afterwards extending the same into a form, fit for publication — which drudgery was not at all mitigated by the knowledge that hundreds of words were frequently employed where six would have answered the same purpose. We sincerely trust that none of the rabid anti-maori party will be of ijhe number of new members. The Provincial Council, theoretically, has nothing whatever to do with native affairs ; practically, its influence is considerable. Admitting to the full the charges that have been published against certain natives in this district, and feeling deeply for those who have, suffered througn the conduct of those men, we yet maintain that the natives have a sufficient number of good qualities to entitle them to be treated with consideration, and can see that violent tirades against them in the Council, or out of it on the part of any member, would greatly widen the breach that now exists. Our only chance of prosperity as a province lies in the continuance of harmonious relations with our Maori neighbours. War in this district might benefit the next generation of settlers, but would irretrievably ruin this. We despise servility on the one hand, in our intercourse with the natives, and bounce on the other ; but believe that much might be accomplished by pursuing a dignified medium course. We need not refer to the general qualifications of members, more especially since there is little chance of the constituencies having many amongst whom to choose. Our Council, Hitherto, has been one to contrast favorably with that of any other province — either as regards the education and status of its members, their anxiety ' for the public weal and attention to the public business, or their observance of those little amenities which seem to have been ignored in other quarters. Whether or not this character will be maintained, depends upon ihe quality of the ".fresh blood " which is about to be introtroduced. Let the electors see to it in time.

mmmimmSmmmmmmmSSmmmmmmmaXmm We call attention to the extracts from late Otago papers which appear in our issue of Saturday and of this morning.

From these it will be seen that abject want is likely to stare thousands in the face ; and that the Provincial Government was in deep anxiety at so, untoward a state of things — havinfl as a preliminary measure of relief, offered employment at ss. per diem. Indignation meetings were being held by the unemployed, at some of which very threatening language was used.