THE New Zealand Herald SPECTEMUR AGENDO. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1874.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 3998, 4 September 1874, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald SPECTEMUR AGENDO. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1874.

One of the most serious difficulties in the way of a. contral Legislature in Wellington lias always been that of letting tlio colony know from day to day what is being done. Members make speeches and subjects are fully debated, but the public lose the benefit of the debates—excepting perhaps the few enthusiasts who read the Parliamentary Hansard, and even tliey get it after the interest in the subject has passed away. Telegrams are necessarily meagre, while there is no Wellington newspaper large enough, nor with stall' enough to perform the functions usually expected from a metropolitan Press. In the recent debates on the abolition of the North Island provinces these peculiarities of our system are brought out in the strongest light. The speaking on the Government side was contemptuously brief as if members did not think it worth while to waste timo in giving to their constituents the reasons on which they voted for a fundamental change quite as serious as the old so-called compact of 1856, under which we still groan. The Opposition spoke more fully, and it is to be regretted that their speeches could not have been made available in c.i-fcnso at the time. Among them were many that would have commanded public attention, but none strike us as more forcible in argument, nor more aptly illustrated than the speech of the member for Newton, Mr. Swanson, which we have in the Hansard now before us. The Herald is no admirer of Provincial Institutions as they exist, and has often spoken out freely against them. But the subject is one that should be raised as much as possible above party feeling or personal prejudice, and we regret that our space does not permit us to give more than a very brief abstract of the utterances of the member for Newton on that occasion.

Mr. Swanson began by saying that lie could sue there was no use in debating the question so farastlieHor.se was concerned. Ministers wanted the tiling done and done it would bo accordingly, but he for one would not be blindly led by any Ministry and was ready to give the reasons for the vote he intended to give. The foundation of the new movement was finance. Fresh revenue would soon be needed, and unless the land fund was appropriated to the uses of the colony that revenue could only be obtained by direct taxation. They were asked formally to re-appropriate the Land Revenue to particular provinces. The wool-growers and squatters would never consent to a tax on wool, and a good many of the present representatives would as strongly oppose an income and property tax, though for his own part he looked upon all these as very proper ways of raising the money required. He drew a strong contrast between the proceedings of the Assembly and t ! iose of Provincial Councils. Where w>.s the Education Bill so solemnly promised for successive sessions, and actually printed and circulated two years ago ? Then there was the £00,000 promised to be spent in the north of Auckland at the rate of £15,000 a-year. He doubted if fifteen pence had been spent for the purpose during that year. Then there was the solemn and positive decision of the House to hold a session in Dunedin. This was entirely disregarded. Then there was another but a more important and explicit promise to introduce a bill " defining the powers of the provinces." Where was the bill, and what reliance could be placed 011 any promises when these and so many others had been broken almost as soon as made ? Such conduct was significant and would be impossible with any Provincial Government. The men who conducted Provincial Institutions were to be found among the people, and they were in every respect equal as a rule to the members of the Assembly, while they were from their position more easily watched and more constantly under the direct control of public opinion. Where are we to find, asked the honorable member, the immaculate men who are to carry 011 the business, if the Jfortli Island provinces are swept away and the people placed in the hands of a Central Government ? Who are to be the agents, and will they be free of political influence or bound to do their utmost for the Ministers by whom they are appointed I Are they to exercise all the powers of Superintendents without election and without the control of Provincial Councils ! If so, any abuses now existing would be increased tenfold for the simple reason that they would not be brought to light. The legislation of the Assembly was disgracefully conducted They had the 118 bills before themj and not a dozen of these were on purely general subjects. It would be well if the greater part of them had been left to Provincial Councils. Sewerage, gas-works, burial-grounds, and a host of similar subjects would be better dealt with by Provincial Councils, and would leave the Assembly more time for its proper business. There w as the ative Lands Act, passed last session with hardly a quorum of members present for its consideration They did just what the Native Minister told them, and the only argument was Ring the bell, 1 when some fifty members would come rushing in from Bellamy's, look on which side the Native Minister stood and go to that side accordingly. This could never happen m Provinca Councils and, Mr. Swanson might have u'lded, there is no instance known of any Council being so influenced by any one rnun or by any body of Ministers in any province of the colony. The same men who wield such despotic power now in the Assembly, have all been at the head of, or component parts of Provincial Governments in their day, and have alwa,ys found a strong, steady, and consistent opposition ready to watch every act . and debate fully every measure of any importance. The political demoralisation of any Council acting otherwise, would soon have be-

come a public scandal and a radical change have been effected among its members at the first election. As Mr. Swanson forcibly put the case, it would be infinitely better to leave to such Ministers the sole control and to hold them alone and personally responsible. Again, it was impossible to check abuses ®r to control extravagant expenditure in the Assembly. Object to anything, and the objector was at once sat upon. A Minister gets up and reproaches the member with want of good taste, insinuates that there is some personal pique and warns him with a solemn air not to bring private animosities into the House. The Government have the House completely at their mercy in such cases and it is no earthly use opposing them. There was the job perpetrated last year in the appointment of a District Judge at Napier who has himself since written to say that he had n» thing to do. These and any number of similar cases could not, according to Mr. Swanson, occur in Provincial Councils without speedy detection and amendment.

We reg/et that we cannot go at greater length into this well-considered speech, which fully and admirably expresses what Provincialists have to say on their side of the question. Doubtless Mr. Swanson will take an opportunity of meeting his constituents at an early date and will give them the opportunity of hearing what so few have seen in print. He forcibly shewed the dangers to be apprehended from too great a centralisation of patronage and power in a country of such peculiar configuration as New Zealand. He repudiated the cliargc of centralising tendencies in Provincial Governments and contrasted their readiness to part with power, as exhibited in the Road Boards, Harbour Boards and Municipalities they had created, with the grasping tendencies of the General Government in its attacks on Provincial Institutions. He contrasted the treatment of the weak by the Assembly, with its behaviour to the strong, and spoke of a man " who had defended a redoubt in the war like a hero" having to petition the Assembly to get a miserable eightpence per day, while in other cases, where aid was less needed, everything was carried with a high hand, and liberality, generosity, and grand sentiments were the order of the day. The conduct of immigration by the General Government was another discreditable contrast when compared with that under the provinces. The Ministry were afraid of Dr. Featlierston because he had made and, if he returned, could unmake them. No such condition could be; possible with any Superintendent or Provincial Government and any agent they might appoint anywhere. The conduct of public works and of contracts was denounced as equally prejudicial. Native affairs had been more completely handled and a better expose made by one member of the Auckland Provincial Council last session, Mr. Roche, than they would hear in the Assembly in any number of sessions under the present system. In the one case members had local knowledge. Facts were soon known generally and not confined to a few behind the scenes. Then there were the Panama mail failure and the San Francisco mail failures and lots of others of which the Assembly need not be proud, while as to money matters, he had seen hundreds of thousands of pounds voted away without a dozen members being present or a question asked, except by one or two impertinent people who soon got tired of doing what was of no avail. The honorable member concluded with a vigorous denunciation of the so-called compact of 1850 and of the manner in which the legislation of the House had been ruining his province. It had spoilt its native trade by ill-timed declarations of war, created animosity between whites and natives where none previously existed, robbed it of a fair share of its own hardly-earned revenue., and now threatened it with deprival of local government and the political training which that government afford ed to the people, while the South was to enjoy all its privileges and revenues intact. A change of some kind was inevitable, but not such a change as this, which meant special taxation by the Assembly on the North Island for education, for charitable institutions, for hospitals, gaols, police, lunatic asylums, and for all the every day wants necessary to the progress and the happiness of a people. The telegram told us at the time that Mr. Swanson sat down amid applause, and on reading his speech we are not astonished at the effect. It seems to us one of the best from the Provincialist side of the question, and we shall look with interest to hoar what those of our members who voted with the Government have to say in opposition to it, and in support of the views they hold on these very important resolutions, which for good or for ill, undoubtedly mark a turning point in New Zealand politics and in the career of this province especially.

Now that our representatives have returned from Wellington, we think the whole of them should, in all fairness to their constituents, do as Mr. Header Wood and Mr. Gillies have done, which is to allow of as little delay as possible before giving an account of their stewardship. We shall require to know why our members were divided among themselves upon all rital questions which involved the interests of Auckland or compromised its integrity as a province. '1 he pages of Hansard will inform those who care to read them what was spoken in tlie House, but we do not through these reports arrive at any understanding as to the real motives which actuated members in voting, some of them for and others against Mr. Vogel's "Resolutions" which have for their object the dismemberment of the provinces of tho North Island, while the Southern provinces are not to be interfered with. We clearly understand why it was members went with the "noes," because they have with tolei-able clearness explained tlifcir reasons, but weare altogether in the dark as to the object sought to be obtained by those who 011 the division list were found among the "ayes." The platform is where we must look for explanations, so that much of what at present is obscure may be made clear-, while that which may have been misunderstood should be explained. We must not overlook the fact that there are two strong and evenly-balanced parties in the province, the one known as Centralists, and the other as Provineialists. The one for a Central Government, from wliicli all political representation shall radiate. The other who consider that Provincial Governments still continue the best form of legislature for a country with such a geographical configuration as we possess. Both of these parties can find ample arguments to support their opinions. But we have not been able to learn that there is any section of politicians outside the House of Representatives who consider that a Central Government will be good for the North Island, while it will be bad for the South. None that we have listened to in discussing the question of Mr. Vogel's, resolutions have had the hardihood to declare that if acted upon they would work satisfactorily. Canterbury, i Otago, Westland, Nelson, and Marlborough, each within their own areas govern themselves through their repre- J

Bentative institutions, while Auckland, Hawke'a Bay, Taranaki, and Wellington are to be dealt with at the latter city. In" other words, the North Island is to be legislated for and dictated to by the South. Such an anomalous system of government could not live through a year. Probably no one knows this so well as the Premier, who has proposed the measure. It will, perhaps, be urged by those who went for the resolutions that they did so in the full belief that the abolition of the provinces of the North Island would lead to the same result in the South. But a belief is very far short of a conviction. If Mr. Vogel's proposals were not sincere—if he meant they should in no long time include the South Island, he did not say so, and we do not believe in carrying any measure by a ruse. What we most desire to know is, why did not the whole of our representatives either vote against the resolutions, or insist that the South Island should be included I It is this that must be explained if our representatives look forward to facing their constituents in the hope of being returned to a new Parliament. We are confident in our own mind that Mr. Vogel's promised bill, if it merely embodies his resolutions, and goes no further, will be thrown out almost as soon as it conies before the House. But there is very little time to be lost, for we are far from feeling certain but that the Premier, upon the plea of declining health, or upon some specious pretence, will call Parliament together in a few weeks for the purpose of submitting liis bill. Mr. Vogel has already learned how great a success frequently follows upon a "surprise." Do not allow people time to think. Divert their attention from the object directly in view, as a conjuror diverts the attention of his audience to something else while he executes a clever trick. This is Mr. Vogel's peculiar, which has so frequently answered lus purpose during the past few sessions. It is right, then, that we should bo prepared against an emergency, or before we begin to understand what our position should be we shall suddenly discover it has already been determined for us by some clever bit of strategy. We desire, then, to be informed by members the reasons within them for the way they voted, 110 matter whether it was for or against the resolutions. We shall then require the openlyexpressed opinions of the electors throughout the province, and, indeed, if it be practicable, throughout the whole of the provinces of the North Island. It will not fee until this has been done that any united action can be arrived at. Much that passes in both Parliaments does not come before the public, either by telegrams or through tlio public prints. Only our members who have worked out the session can give us information which it is right we should be in possession of. There is much hidden, for instance, as to what is intended by the State Forests Act, which the clauses do not discover. What shall we say of an Act which admits of a proviso that land shall only be used for the forest purposes when offered to the General Government on the motion of any Provincial Council when it is proposed to abolish the provinces of the North Island \ The wealth of our richly-timbered land would then be virtually dealt with by the South, which is not what it is likely for an instant we shall tolerate. Here we have an Act and a set of resolutions upon which an Act shall be passed which nullify each other. The alienation of forests is to meet with the sanction of Provincial Councils, while there are to be no Provincial Councils to give them sanction ! Was ever legislation so crudely formed and so hastily digested as these two important measures ? Whether it be desirable to inaugurate some kind of league for the mutual protection of the North Island provinces, and to bring an influence to bear which will check such wild, rash legislation, will be better understood when our representatives have spoken, and the sooner this comes to pass the more satisfactory it will be for the electorates.

Some time back we called attention to the inconvenience, and not imfrcqucntly the serious loss and mental distress, caused by a very arbitrary Post-office regulation, owing to which a letter short-stamped is not delivered to its address, but is allowed to remain in the possession of the Post-oiiice authorities. "We observe that both the Taranaki Herald and tlie Otcigo Daily Times animadvert upon the same subject. Our Southern morning contemporary of a late issue has the following:—"ln the Duncdin Post-oflice, on the right-hand side of the entrance to the private box department, there is a notice-board devoted to the purpose of indicating such letters as are ' detained for postages,' and giving the names of the persons to whom they are addressed. Among these latter there appeared till within a day or two, ' James Maeandrew, Esq.,' but whether -Mr. Macandrew happened to examine this board for himself, or some kind friend on his behalf, and so became first possessed of the information, and then of his letter, wc know not, but as the name has disappeared, we presume the letter has gone also. Among the names or addresses still remaining, we observe, intj-.r alia, 'The Pro. Society,' 'Editor Daily Times,' &c., &c. "We understand that the whole of such letters aro detained strictly in accordance with the regulations, and therefore in due form, but we would suggest for the consideration of the authorities whether or not some slight relaxation of the cast-iron rule might not be made in favour of persons whose residences or places of business are well known, and who are undoubtedly ' good marks' for the amount of the postage due. If not, it would be well for persons in the habit of receiving letters to pay a diurnal visit to the board ill question, as letters of much importance 111 a}' be detained, and thereby annoyance, expense, or loss sustained. We know, at least, of one case in which such results accrued from the detention of a letter, and one, moreover, that was actually stamped to the full amount required, one penny; but unfortunately, newspaper stamps were used instead of letter stamps. This opens up a new feature of the ease, and we call special attention to it." We are aware that in the Postal Guide it is stated that newspaper stamps are not available for letters. But has one person in a hundred acquainted himself with this regulation? He naturally gives the Postoffice authorities credit for common sense at least, by which he brings himself to believe that stamps serving for a newspaper to pass through the post will do also for a letter, if only sufficient value is allowed for. The Olarjo Daily Times, referring to this matter, says :—"We are utterly at a loss to imagine why it should be insisted upon at all. Hut should there really beany occult and justifiable reason for its being retained, some prominent notice of the fact should be made for general information."

The Melbourne Argus discourses on our public works and immigration policy. It tells us that some of .Mr. Vogel's critics in Victoria lift up tlieir hauds and tlieir eyes in amazement at the fact of New Zealand having incurred a national debt as large as that of Victoria. But, says our Melbourne contemporary, if the Treasurer of that colony can quadruple the population of those islands during the next few years, the pressure of their financial obligations will be no greater than our own ; and New Zealand, bisected from north to south by a main trunk line of railway, bringing the produce of every district into direct communication with all the principal seaports, will have a magnificent future before her. We, however, are to be contented, it seems, with the natural increase of our population; end a

young country which is thus situated is, of necessity, heavily handicapped when brought into competition ■with rivals which are buildin,; up their strength from without. In the fo.'mer case fourteen or fifteen years must el-ipse before each accession to the population can become, though in ever so slight a degree, a bread-winner and a tax-payer; while a large per-centage of the children born in the country die before they are ten years old. But in the latter case every industrious adult landing in a British colony, or in the United States, becomes a producer and a contributor to the revenue forthwith. Viewed merely as a machine, we might assess the cost to the mother country of every able-bodied man who emigrated from her shores at something like £200. And as he is confessedly the most valuable of all machines, beeause his physical strength and acquired skill or experience are supplemented by an active intelligence, it might be imagined that any community of practical Englishmen settled in a new country would reaaril his acquisition as dirt cheap if it involved an outlay of only one-tenth of that amount.

Mr.. Luckie, the member for Nelson for the House of Representatives, addressed a meeting of his constituents, on Wednesday evening. In his speech Mr. Luckie said it was time all the provinces were swept away, and the laud fund made colonial revenue. Can Mr. Luckie explain why, when in the House he considered only the North Island provinces should be abolished, and now, when before his constituents, he has come to the conclusion that all the provinces of both Islands should be consolidated under one Government? Mr. Luckio may be quite right; but how was it he did not make known his sentiments when speaking in the presence of the Premier ? Mr. Luckie spoke of Wellington and Auckland as rotten in the extreme. Such an expression will scarcely accord with what Mr. Luckie has given out through the columns of that portion of the provincial Press over whicli he has had the editorial control. Through .these we have learned that Auckland is not only the fairest, but intrinsically, from its vast resources, developed and undeveloped, the richest province in Jfew Zealand. Now Mr. Luckie tells a large audience that Auckland is rotten, and calls for the interference of the General Government. By what means, or from what source, has Mr. Luckie only just made so singular a discovery ? Has this gentleman forgotten how, iu a large array of figures, he shewed what an immense revenue Auckland yielded the General Government through her Custom-houses ?

The Melbourne Press, without exception, praises the Peninsular and Oriental Company for the regularity of the "within time" arrival of their steamships with the English mail bags. It is, says a Melbourne contemporary, the surest service in the world, although it must not be forgotten that in comparison with all the other great steamship companies, it is the slowest. For twenty years past the company's vessels have gone at the same contract rate, and during that time a knot per hour, and more than that, has been added to the speed of oceangoing steamers. It is thought, however, that there should be no difficulty in the speed of this company's boats being increased to compete with these running in the Atlantic Ocean. Were this the case, it is considered that the P. and O. Company could, unaided, accomplish a double service, which has heretofore been considered must be the contract of two conrpanies. In other words, it is implied that there is nothing to prevent this old and wealthy company from performing a mail service for New Zealand and Australia via San Francisco, as it now does for Victoria and New South Wales via Suez.

To-njght the electors will have an opportunity of hearing Mr. Reader Wood, and of being made acquainted with the reasons that influence him in supporting the resolutions by which the North Island provinces would be abolished. No one will question Mr. Wood's motives, or doubt that his vote was conscientiously recorded, and it -will therefore be the more interesting to hear the grounds on which that vote was given. With members of the Opposition speaking out on the one side, and Mr. Reader Wood and others who think with him speaking on the other, the public will be in a position to give to these resolutions the consideration they deserve. Of course our other members will soon follow, and will, we feel sure, receive a patient hearing. The questions with which they deal concern no particular party, but the whole of the people, to whose interests a wise decision will be of the gravest importance for many years to come.

The Supreme Court Site Act is, we understand on good authority, disallowed by the Governor as ultra viren. In that case its disposal will be again a matter for the consideration of the Provincial Council at its next session.