The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1867.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 1, 2 January 1867, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1867.

It is customary with newspaper writers at the commencement of a new year to indulge in a brief review of the events of the old year, and descaut on the prospects of the future. We propose to follow the old usage to the extent that our space permits us. Two ideas of a painful and two of a pleasurable nature strike us as worthy of comment in the political history of the closing year. It is apparent that increased taxation has been forced upon the country without any considerable effort being made on the part of the people or their representatives to shake it off The representatives seem to have regarded it as an inevitable necessity, aud the people, with few exceptions, have submitted patiently aud with slight murmurs to the unpleasaut infliction. A load of debt, the consequence of the gross mismanagement of previous governments, is assigned as the reason why increased taxation must be submitted to ; and the energies of government have been directed rather to meet the difficulty by adding to the burdens of the people, than to overcome it by giving greater elasticity to the resourcesof the country and by a diminution of the admitted extravagant cost of conducting its affairs. It is to be feared that we now witness only the insertion of the thin end of the wedge of taxatiou, and that the burdens recently laid upon us are merely preliminary to taxation on a more enlarged scale, which shall further promote discontent and cripple the energies of the tax-paying portion of the community. The only remedy for this evil is the exercise of greater vigilance, on the part of the electoral body, the selection of men as representatives who will not submit to be mouthpieces of the miuister of the day, and the bringing of a wholesome public opinion to act on both representatives and government to prevent them from regarding the people as mere puppets who exist only to obey their caprice and will. The other most conspicuous evil, if it is an evil, is the dissatisfaction that is generally felt, and iu some provinces loudly expressed with the existing cousttution. It is evident that change of some kind will take place, although no one is wise enough to foresee its precise nature. A battle will shortly be fought between the advocates of a centralising and a decentralising policy, and where the antagonistic forces are so nicely balanced, and the arguments on both sides of the question so numerous and weighty, time alone can tell on which side shall be the preponderance. No doubt from a statesman's point of view the centralising policy is the most comfortable one and the best adapted for insuring prompt and efficient government. But the statesmen have not yet shown themselves in New Zealand, who ought to be trusted with this grave responsibility, if it is to include the abolition of provincial institutions, under which the country has slowly but surely arrived at its present prosperous state. If provincial institutions are to be abolished, let it not be till we have an adequate substitute in municipal institutions, and a sure guarantee that the change is not made to play into the hands of the reign iDg ministry, and enable them to control and spend, ad libitum, the resources of the country, without . consulting the people in the matter. In all probability the wholesome agitation which this subject is exciting in some of the more populous provinces, will be a check on the venturesome spirit of any colonial Bismarck, who may wish to celebrate his retention of office by the performance of a grand centralising , coup de'tat. Our sympathies are in favor of a Strong government, based on a full and fair representation of the popular willy but wewillnoteurrenderthe provincialsys-

tem with all itsdernerits, till an adequate substitute is furnished, and- the central government is composed not of mere dilettanti politicians, ambitious to be thought statesmen by the people of England, but of men of popular sympathies and anxious to subordinate private iuterests to the public good. We have no fear that the prevailing agitation on this question will result in any other than a beneficial one, or that the good sense of thecolouists will forsake them, however, warm and fierce the coutest. There is much that is pleasing to reflect upon in our political history, during the past year. The native opposition, if not absolutely subdued, and though entailing expense upon the country, is no louger of a kind to excite serious alarm or apprehension. The snake if not killed has been so effectually scotched as to inspire little fear that he will inflict material injury on the colonists. From the time that General Chute made his brilliant dash through the forests of Mount Egmont, every effort on the part of the natives has proved a signal failure. It has been abundantly shown both on the West and East Coasts of the northern island, that the colonial forces are well able not only to hold their own, but if necessary to drive into the sea the wretched fanatics who vainly attempt to try conclusions with a superior race. Doubtless so long as the superstition lingers in the island, there will be found some Hau-haus foolish enough to dispute our rule. But their number is continually diminishing and a judicious mixture of severity and kindness on the part of the Government, cannot fail ultimately to reduce to order and obedience the remnant of the fast fading race. Let us hope that this the seventh year of the costly insurrection will witness its close, and that henceforth the strife between both races will be one of good will and kindly offices, the tomahawk of discord being buried forever, and the calumet of peace universally assumed. The rapid extension of the gold-fields on the West Coast of the Middle Island is an event that may well gratify equally the statesman, the man of commerce, and the philanthropist. Within the space of little more than a year thriving towns, the bases of future populous communities, have sprung up in places which were previously solitudes unbroken by the human voice, and deserts tracked only by a few scattered aborigines. Hokitika, G-rey mouth, Westport, and other places are destined to be the seat of thriving populations, the results of whose industry will at once add to the wealth of the country and diffuse happiness through a thousand channels. With population will come an increase of wealth to the colony, and there caunot fail to follow in its train all those blessings of civilisation which make a country great aud prosperous. There is no fear that the representatives of the Anglo-Saxon race, who are populating the gold-fields of this island, will fail to reproduce the institutions of the mother country, or prove themselves unworthy scions of the stock from whence they sprang. Glancing at the part of the community among whom our lot is cast, it is impossible to deny that whilst there are some things to complain of there is much to make us thankful. The town is not a very populous one, but it is steadily increasing in numbers, and the social comfort and education of the youthful race are not uncared for. Unless when rushed by assassins from the hulks and gaols of other colonies our criminal calendar is an unimportant one; so much so, that the office of the Resident Magistrate is a sinecure as compared with that of some other towns. Large fortunes are not realised here it is true, except by a few favorites of the fickle goddess ; but then, on the other hand, trade is sound; there are few failures, and there is very little complaining in our streets. A development of greater energy on the part of the people, both in a political, commercial, and intellectual point of view, would be attended with results we are anxious to attain; Of the future it would be presumptuous to speak, further than to say that every man and woman has duties to perform, and that they are the best citizens who work with all their might. The past is gone. Of the future we know nothing. The present is that alone with which erring mortals have to deal. Both religion and sound philosophy counsel that we make the most of the day that now is. Trust no future, howe'er pleasant; Let the dead past bury its dead {- - - Act, act in the living present, Heart within and God o'er head.