THE Marlborough Express. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1868.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 99, 1 February 1868, Page 3

THE Marlborough Express.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1868.

“ Givr me the liberty to know, to utter, ami to argue freely according to conscience, above all other liberties.” —Milton.

The assumed impecuniosity of poor Marlborough—plundered as she no doubt is, and has been, of her fair share of Customs’ Revenue—seems to have afforded the writer of an article in the News unqualified pleasure ; nay, he actually dances with joy over the wretched state to which he and his kind fondly hope she has arrived. Having sucked the egg, they throw away the shell. He calls on the people to “rejoice and be merry,” tells us that Auckland is dead, and the other Provinces will follow suit! Well, it may be so, and that Auckland —although far from dead as yet —may have to succumb, and this, with other Provinces share her fate ! But how shall we as a community, or as individuals, derive a benefit from the process ? This is where we seek to be enlightened, and if the writer would show us this- —giving us, not mere assertions, but good authority for what he says, he may gain over the “ few,” who at present do not see how anarchy, ruin of the provincial system, and the stoppage of all funds for Public Works, or salaries of any kind, is to “ make Marlborough proud to be the first” to—go through, the mill. Taking the last statement of Expenditure published, we find that a sum of £4,27 4 had been spent in various ways within the Province, by the Provincial Government during the Quarter ending September last, thus :—Departmental, (which includes the “ army of officials” throughout the Province) £599 ; Gaol and Police, £490 ; and on Public Works and purposes, £2,540. How, had this sum not been expended,

does this simple writer mean to assert that the public would have been so much better otn The working-men of Marlborough will hardly appreciate such an argument. He excepts from those rejoicing at the pleasant prospect, “ those few who derive emolument from the establishment.” Pray who are these few—-has he not derived any 1 And who does not ?—He positively gloats over the way in which he paints the General Government absorbing even the unsold lands of the Province, in addition to her revenue, and then enquires with the utmost simplicity, “ Who will cause the money to be spent on roads and improvements And well he may. The “ tender care” ox the General Government, as displayed by the Stafford Ministry, may well induce the question. The fact is, the artless and enthusiastic writer imagines that the Government will disgorge after absorbtion ! From this display of patriotism, we turn to our Picton contemporary, who, also considering the Provincial system defunct, says—“ Few will regret it, while many will rejoice. The great bar to progress is, or soon will be removed, and it will remain with the people whether they will put a shoulder to the wheel, and help the vehicle of improvement out of the mire into which it has been driven by the action of its (!) rulers.” By the infliction of local taxes we presume, to make up the deficiency consequent upon handing over their revenue to the Government. We are in favor of any improvement whatever, that can be shown to be such, but in respect to this question there are two sides to be considered. Ever since the present Ministry came into office, there has been a constant encroachment on local powers, and legislation has been coerced in the same direction. Taking office under the guise of economy and retrenchment, What have they effected 1 Has any district outside Wellington been considered 1 The so-called economy has been the paring of the salaries of minor officers—a saving of pence—the collecting into one focus all the funds previously at the disposal of the heads of departments, and the absorbtion of the Territorial Revenue to its credit, so as to get a month’s intei’est thereon, while charging the Provinces with interest on their debts. Their retrenchment has been by the creation of numerous officials at high salaries such as the Atkinsons, Ward, Fitzgerald, Prendergast, Hall, and others. And now they seek to gx-asp by their centralisixxg policy, the x'evenxxes of the provinces. It is not by our past experience at any x-atc that we are to expect much from them in the future.

We shall pass ovei' the false and inconclusive attempt to crush oxxt the “ sick man’s ” life, although we might well, by a coui’se of figures, put a different complexion on the articles alluded to ; we admire the conscientiousness displayed by the remarks x’elative to the “ reckless extravagance ” of former days in “ bolstering up ” one town at the expense of another. Picton has good reason to remember the way money was squandered upon its interests' some three or four years ago, when the expenditure for the year reached the trifling sum of £58,919! But bo'th these writers have jumped too suddenly to conclusions. It does not follow that because we are £2,000 in debt, that we are either dead or beyond redemption, and it would be well if no other province was in a wox*se position as to her finance. We are greatly mistaken indeed if the General Government are able by law to detain our Land fund beyond the thirty days after the end of the month, nor do we see how they propose to get over the difficulty of their own Audit Act before the next Session of the Provincial Council. The Public Revenues Act does not give them the power to , deduct from the Revenue any old debts beyond what may have accrued during the pi’evioxxs month. We have not been able to learn what x-esult his Honor has arrived at in Wellington, but, as we have before said, we trust it will be a favourable one.