The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1864.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1194, 9 February 1864, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1864.

It must be a bad case in which no redeeming feature can be found. We hold that in the case of the present Superintendent of this province one such feature presents itself. When Mr. Bealey determined not to resign he took a step -which was doubtless the best for his own interest. That is not the point, however, of our present argument. "Whether it were for his own interest or not, it was clearly the best for the interest of the province. Having lost his Executive Council or body of Cabinet Ministers, he fell back on the theory of responsible government, and endeavored to find materials out of which he might form another ministry, in conjunction with whom the business of the province might be carried on. The result was that the late ministry were replaced by another Our object being to illustrate a principle— not to indulge in a critique on personal character and capacity, we say no more on the comparison that might be instituted between these two sets of gentlemen than this, that the second may very well stand side by side with the first without appearing at a disadvantage. The fact that it has been found possible to fill up the places of those who resigned in the way in which this has been done, so far belies the ideas that the province is unable to meet the changes which must occur from time to time in the composition of responsible ministers. "What shall we do for a secretary if Mr. Maude resigns ?" was a very common question in and out of the Council during last session. If we are right in classing Mr. Maude among those who had given up the idea of responsible government as hopeless, he has some claim to credit for remaining at his post to do the work of the country at a time when his position could not have been an agreeable one. But the fears, public or private, as to the impossibility of forming a new Executive, were groundless. Mr. Maude might have resigned long before he did with a clear conscience, aiid many others might have been better employed than in proclaiming that the pro-

vince stood in the contemptible position of having worked up all that it possessed in the shape of a ministry, and of being bankrupt in the materials for carrying on responsible government.

We believe that when the day comes for the resignation of the present ministry, from whatever cause that resignation may arise, it will still be found that we are not so poorly furnished with men of liberal education and practical ability as to be obliged to give up responsible government on the ground that it is, amongst its, an impracticable scheme. Year by year the inconveniences connected with its maintenance will diminish, and it would be at once a most mistaken and selfish policy to deprive the province of it altogether through indolent unwillingness to bear the extra trouble of its earlier stages.

Not only has the course which the Superintendent was compelled to take brought to light the fact that we are not so absolutely dependent on one set of men as some would fain have us believe, but the circumstances connected with the late political disturbance, apart altogether from the merits or demerits of the individuals directly concerned in it, suggest considerations of great importance to us at the present juncture. The great fault of the position in which we now stand is that we do not realise the rapidly increasing importance of our Provincial affairs. Our affairs have hitherto been small—our community small —our interests small, and with the natural instinct, and may we not add good taste, if Englishmen in practical matters, we have felt a dislike to the elaborate forms of responsible government when the end to be attained appeared disproportionately small compared with the means employed. But whatever justification there may have been for such feelings hitherto, all reasonable cause for them is rapidly passing away. It should now be our most earnest endeavour to call into the field all that the province possesses of education and talent. All that we have in this way we shall need to steer the ship of the State safely through the strong tide of prosperity, on which she is at present borne onward. Many, we are well aware, act on the notion that a time of prosperity is just the time to lay aside fear and caution. We confess we are of a very different opinion. In less prosperous days if we had fewer advantages to count upon, we had at the same time less to lose. Any disturbing force which should upset our present provincial prosperity, would be much more disastrous and destructive in its effects.

Some years ago we might have failed to obtain the loans necessary for entering on the great public works in which we are now engaged. Had we failed in doing this, the progress of the province would have been seriously retarded. But it is easy to see that far greater evils may arise from the wasteful and injudicious expenditure of borrowed capital which has been placed to our credit. Without credit to obtain needful funds we might be like sailors whistling for a wind. But borrowed money wasted may be a stone round our necks to sink us outright. We can see, too, that men who were the most skilful negotiators to borrow, may be by no means the safest stewards to superintend expenditure. It therefore appears to us that the safe course for the province is to put its policy and its government on the widest possible basis. It is not safe for us to place the management of our affairs in the hands of Ministers who are treated as head clerks of departments, and who may therefore be fairly excused if they do their best to disown political responsibility. We need to have a considerable number of able men ready to take up the work of the province when their services are required, and all of them impressed with a sense of the grave responsibility involved in taking office. Such men, we believe, might be found, if they were properly looked for. But if they have the political knowledge and character to be what we should desire, they will not relish taking part in a responsible government stripped of its responsibility and reducing themselves to the rank of government clerks. Similar remarks would apply to the Superintendency. If we would have the office properly filled we must bend our energies to bring about a state of things very different from that which now exists. "We do not now wish to say a single word as to the qualifications of the two gentlemen whose names have been so often mentioned of late in connection with the office of Superintendent. But we would point out the lamentable and mischievous absurdity of the office being made a subject of private arrangement between two individuals—as if there were only two men in the province fit to be Superintendents, or as if the province had abdicated the right to seek the best of its citizens to fill the post of Chief Magistrate. We shall never be safe from a repetition of this unseemly absurdity if more of the educated men in the province do not put themselves forward as candidates for the Superintendency. We cannot see why they should not do so. Not a few of the colonists in this province are so far at ease in their circumstances as to be able, at least for a time, to entrust the management of their private affairs to others, and the emoluments now connected with the office of Superintendent are not so insignificant as to render such arrangements difficult or altogether impracticable.

When we see a greater number of competent men ready to undertake the duties of the office, we are sure that the office itself will gain in dignity and usefulness. Such men as Mr. Moorhouse and Mr/ Bealey will then stand in a more advantageous

position both for themselves and the public. Their capacity or incapacity will be more fairly tested. Talent, where it is possessed, will not be depreciated by the certain absence of competition, and incapacity will not be at a premium for want of candidates.

As one further suggestion for the maintenance of responsible government, and as a defence against the encroachments of that irresponsible oligarchy of the chosen managing men to whom we recently alluded, we would point out the expediency of urging the due registration of all persons entitled to vote in the return of members of Council. At the late Heathcote Election, it came out that there were about three hundred persons registered out of six or seven hundred possessing the proper qualifications.

If we want to prevent an undesirable class of politicians from having undue weight in the management of public affairs, we cannot do better than make the constituencies as numerous and powerful as possible. They will then be least manageable by common political agitators. Besides which we should not forget that the very trouble we take in the registration of all who are entitled to vote, has of itself a tendency to promote the political education of the people, drawing their attention to political rights which they had previpusly neglected, and leading to some consideration, however slight, of the proper way of using the vote which they claim.