The New-Zealander. AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, MAR. 24, 1866. THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

New Zealander, Volume XXIV, Issue 2614, 24 March 1866, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, MAR. 24, 1866. THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou alm'st at, be thy Country's. Thy God's, and Truth's.

I The session which was brought | to a close on Wednesday last was perhaps the most remarkable of any of the score which preceded it. The quantity of work, solid useful work, accomplished in the time has not | been equalled; and it was reI markable for the maintenance i of a tone and temper which, | under the circumstances, it is hardly possible to applaud too I loudly. The revelation of the real financial condition of the Pro- | vince, which presented such j startling results, was in itself j nearly enough to overthrow the ! equanimity of a representative j body whose several constiI tuciicies had reasonable wants 1 to be provided for, or perhaps ' unreasonable expectations to be satisfied. It is undoubtedly vexatious to find an empty purse when there was no cxj ternal evidence of such vacuity, j and to see public works and | improvement suspended, whilst in the full swing of progress, j because the money which had | been voted for the carrying | them out had failed or been j devoted to other uses. The ! Council, we say, under these I circumstances, showed a temper highly creditable, and instead of wasting time in useless re- • criminations, or wailing over i spilt milk, addressed itself to ! the facts, and we think has made the best of a very difficult and embarassing position. It remains for the people of i the Province also to recognise the facts which have been made patent to their representatives ; , the days of reliance upon “ Go- ! vermnent,” as such, for the supply of every conceivable wanr, j from a pump up to a railway, have absolutely passed away ; the days of “ compensation ” J are very nearly their close also, as are, we hope, the habits of | dependence upon eleemosynary | aid which a mistaken beue- ' volence has fostered, and which I have done so much to demoralise the spiiit of a section of the people. But brighter days are not distant, when the old spirit of the men who have made Auckland what she is will take a new development, and show, as has been shown more than once in the course of the last twenty-five years, that whenever hard, earnest, selfdenying labour was needed, there were stout hearts and strong arms ready to meet the toil: there is no other way out of our present difficulties. That way, however, though long and ragged is open and definite, and we shall all do well to recognise these facts. For the drones who have been living upon the stores of a careless and wealthy community the future is certainly not of agreeable promise. They, also, will have to take some thought of their con-

tlition, for undoubtedly the honey will hereafter he kept caret ally under lock and key. Perhaps the philosophy of making the best of a had case, of which the Provincial Council has set so good an example, may find imitation or acceptance, amongst all those who may feel with undue severity the pressure of the times,”