The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, JAN. 23, 1868.

New Zealand Herald, Volume V, Issue 1306, 23 January 1868, Page 3

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, JAN. 23, 1868.

sri-:<~i'KMrr. aokndh. •■ Ciivo even v. n t'.iim , ear. but few thy voice : Take <:(di .i-.auV ans.i.e. lmt reserve thy judgment, ■this :il.ove nil.—To tliiiie >«a s. If In- true 4iul it uiiKt f«.1i..»- us the nii-'ht the ilay. Thou c;tti?t not then l>e false to any man."

TuEoroiioi'T Xow Zealand there is a feelinc; of uneasiness ami unrest —the consequence of mis-covornment. Men's minds seem to be perplexed, but it' they cannot readily, come to any very unanimous conclusion as to whriT is the most suitable form of Government, on one point all are agreed — namely, that a change is needed. Soon we shall doubtless see them come to the root of the matter, and looking upon the question no longer as one between Centralism and Provincialism—between oligarchy and local self-go-vernment —join issue with the home authorities, and denounce the Constitution itself of Jfew Zealand as the cause of our present misgovernment and political discord. We are apt to compare the manner of conducting the Government of the country here with that pursued at home, to compare the proportionate cost of the one with the other, and we are also apt to try and assimilate the administration of Government as much as possible with the system pursued in Great Britain. We fail, nor need we wonder that we fail, for our form of Government is not modelled upon that of Great Britain, but it is a sort of bastard form of republicanism, modelled after that of the States of America. The truth is we have been made an illustration of the experiment urn vile in corpore vili, just as new and unproved remedies, which may either kill or cure, are tried on the bodies of malefactors. The mother country has tried how a democratic form of Government works in New Zealand, and our public debts, our miserable attempts, with clashing General and Provincial Governments, to govern the colony satisfactorily axe the answer.

The Southland Council, like that of Auckland, it seems, has been engaged in discussing tlie question of amended Government, but without coming to any decision, the following set of resolutions after three days' debate being withdrawn by the mover, Mr. Pearson :— That tLo form of Government at present existing in New Zealand, viz, by Provincial Government, controlled by a General Ooveri ment, is no longer suited lo the circumstances and requirements of the Coiony, anidemands immediate modification. That a Central Government and legislature for the two islands wouid greatly conduce to the efficient performance of the functions of government, the financial credit of the Colony, and the general goi d of the community. That to t-flee! such a chancre, the Colony should be divided into count es, and sub-divided into road district'. That the purely municipal administration of affairs in each cuur.ty should be vpsred in a Board, the members of which should be elected in a manner similar to thnt prescribed for the eJec ion of Superintendents under ' laueu 4 of the Constitution Act. 'ihat the police, gaol, and harbor, land and survey departments, should be under the en.,ire control of the (-:<:? eral Government. i ha: our representatives in the A be requestei to use their utmost influence for the attainment jf such a change in the present form of Government. Southern files received by the Wellington also show that the Provinces are awakening to the ruinous effect which General Government profligate expenditure is exerting towards their ruin anddestruction. The Wanganui Times, in an article headed " Hints for the consideration of Provincial Governments," thus speaks of a very pretty sinecure which has previously been brought before the notice of the public :— " 'giin, does Mr. W. S. Atkinson's pay and allowu:,cis, amounting to £1043 a year for doing next to nothing, form ono of tho heme deducted by thn General Government from tho three eight- s customs revenue of this province ? In November last we showed that this fortunate member of a lo7tuii>it<: family, us " Crown -'gent " in connection wththe Native Lind* ■ ourt in thi» district, was in tlio receipt of—salary, per annum, £769 10s ; travelling expose*, £273 15s; mukifig a yearly income of £1013 5s for doing absolutely next to nothing. At all events the duties might be performed by Mr. Booth or many other gsmlemen here who could find time to attend the sittugs of the Native Lands C»urte. A month after commenting on that sinecure appointment, we read with astonishment a speech delivered at Taranaki by Major Atkinson on his endeavours in the House of Kepresentatives to cut down exorbitant salaries, irhilst the appointment held bj hi§ own brother was one of thu most shamefully ovtrpaid sinecures in the colony. Since then the paym-nt has fallen, we understand, upon this province, an (if eo, it should be at once inquired into." Nearly two years ago the General Grant left Melbourne from London, her complement of crew and passengers being 83 souls. 3N'o tidings had been heard of her, and it was concluded that the vessel and all on board had perished. "Within the last three weeks a whaling ship arriving at the Bluff, Invercargill, announces tlie discovery of the wreck at the Auckland Isles, and of nine men and one woman saved, who have lived on thoee islands

for more than eighteen months past. The Captain ami seventy-three other persons were drowned —the vessel was loaded with wool, hides, and gold. We learn from elsewhere that the Government intends sending a steamer io the Auckland Islands to recover the cargo of the General Grant, and that in future a permanent establishment will be maintained on the island. Sir Geo. Bowan, it seems, left Brisbane by the City of Brisbane, steamer, for Sydney, en route for jS t cw Zealand on the -ith

iust. We learn from the Wellington papers that the tenders sent in for the Inter-Provincial mails have been opened, and that that oftho N.Z.S.N. Company lias been accepted for the following services :—From jMauukau to Wellington, from Auckland to Port Chalmers, and from Port Chalmers to Mannkau. The tender oftho Panama Company has been accepted for the conveyance i> t" tho mails from Wellington to the BluiV, from tho Bluif to AVeliiiigton. and from Wellington to Auckland. There was a great ilourisli of trumpets made lately with regard to the establishment of a scientific society in Wellington, to be called the New Zealand Society. The oiler t seems to havcended miserably. Artandscience are not represented in so young a Colony, and without such representatives there can no such society exist as that it was lately sought to establish. We have a few Governmentpaid pseudo dilettanti professors, and some equally clever amateurs, who know as much concerning the formation of marble as the former do of geoloay ; but wo need some-thing-more to render a society like that estnblisiicd at Wellington anything other than a mere pretentious sham. We are not, therefore, surprised to find the following in the Jju/,j):h,/.■'}>/ -. —'-The revived New Zea- " land Society bids lair to become as useless "as its predecessor. Its resurrection was ' : announced with a good deal of parade: and 5, inasmuch as art and science are almost to- '• tally neglected in t he colony, all true lovers "of knowledge looked forward with much " pleasure to the firm establishment: of an in"stiiution which, if properly couducted, " could in if fail to be of groat benefit to the " cause of science. Biit its members, having "met two or three times in order to take the " necessary steps for giving the Society a '■ legal status, seem io consider they have " done all that is necessary for them to do, ; ' and that, having acquired the power to put " such an harmonious combination of letters - as ' M.N.Z.S.' after their names, they may " well be excused from any further labors in " the cause of science."