THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1880.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5756, 29 April 1880, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1880.

It is always difficult to predict the course which events will take in any session of the Assembly. The elements of the problem are too numerous, and the events which transpire from day to day so greatly influence the parties in the Legislature, that probably nothing is so certain as that the unexpected will occur. "When the Assembly met in 1870 the then Government were not in very high favour, and its guiding spirit, Vogel, was not supposed to hold the front rank as a statesman, oven on the score of respectability. By his talents as a Parliamentary tactician, and by his manner, he had acquired an influence in the House of Representatives which he was far from having in the country, where he was generally termed and considered a mere Parliamentary adyenturer. But tho great Public Works policy changed the current of history, and though we will certainly have no repetition of that, something may occur to alter the whole position of the parties. It is, however, aB nearly certain as it can be, ihat during next session we will have no great constitutional change or alteration in the system of government. There will be present in the minds of our legislators the fact that we are, as it were, under severe penalties to keep the peace. We cannot set to work as if we had the world before us where to choose, and could alter our Constitution just how we liked, and without reference to the opinions of any persons outside of New Zealand. We have heard it stated as possible that the question of insular separation was to be raised. We can hardly suppose such a thing to be possible. There might have been a time for such a word, but that time is long pa3t now. The time may indeed arrive again, but we have to deal with the present. A division of the Islands, with a separate Government for each, and a Federal Government at Wellington, might conduce to efficiency of administration, and even, perhaps, in the course of time to economy, but in the first instance, and for several years to come, it would be attended with enormous expense, which at the present the colony cannot afford. Separation could not be effected without a shock to our credit of such magnitude as at present it cannot stand. And even if separation could be decreed by a unanimous vote of the Assembly, the mere difficulty of arranging the details, and the time that would be occupied in doing that, would make it an impossibility. We think it may be confidently anticipated, therefore, that whatever does occur next session, the question of separation will not be even seriously debated. As to anything resembling a return to the provincial form of Government, that is quite as completely out of the question. Any change made will simply be administrative, and will be in the direction of conferring more extensive powers on local bodies, especially on the counties. What is to be done in this direction will simply be a question of detail. The Government will indeed be more anxious to confer these powers than the local bodies will be to accept them, for getting quit of powers means getting quit of a certain amount of expense. And besides it has been made abundantly evident that the attempt to administer all the institutions of the country from the centre at Wellington is a failure. But what is done in this way must be done gradually, and there is no room in it for anything which can be termed a constitutional change. The country will scarcely tolerate during next session, prolonged, costly, and barren discussions which are simply Parliamentary manoeuvring for place. If there is an opposition, and the members of it make up their minds to oust the Government, speedy action will have to be taken on a distinct issue. Merely vague want of confidence motions will hardly be tolerated. We have had so many of them of late years that we cannot afford any more at least during next session. One thing, however, will have to be done. The Assembly must take stock of the Public Works scheme ; it must limit and define what is to be done under it in the future. The coat must now be cut according to the cloth, as we find we have not, as we once thought we had, an absolutely unlimited quantity of cloth to work upon. The railways must, if possible, be made strictly profitable, and what is still to be done in the way of construction must be devoted to those parts of the colony which still remain to be opened up. Otherwise a very strong agitation will arise that those districts which remain unaided by railways, or which have to undertake public works at their own cost, should escape from the taxation rendered necessary by the waste on more favoured parts. In this view the question of separation may arise, Both sides of the House will have to strive zealously for economy in the administration, and the most popular and successful "card" for the Opposition would be to take up economy, to harass the Government by accusing them of a desire to waste money, and to favour their friends in the expenditure. If the result of this were to be a sensible reduction of expenditure, the Opposition would deserve well_ of the country. The most difficult piece of legislation which the Government will be compelled to undertake is the Bill for the regulation of sales of native land and the ascertainment of native title. That is now being drawn, but we presume that its provisions will not be made known till after Parliament meets. Whatever theße may be, the Bill

will-undoubtedly interfere with the plana and schemes'of many who are anxious to become possessed of native land, and who' will therefore oppose it; and as.this.subject is complicated and difficult, there will always be many weak points for attack on the subject. Still, the' fact that something must be done will aid the Government most materially. Next, the Electoral Bill, dealing with the proportion of representatives to different parts of the country, will infallibly give the Government trouble. They will have difficulties not only from the Opposition but from their own supporters, and probably will have thanks from nobody. It Beems to us that the safest party tactics for the Opposition to adopt would be not to organise themselves into a party at all with a recognised leader. The Government, in the absence of ;,n organised Opposition, will be certain; to get into difficulties with sections of their own supporters, and thus there will be quite enough opportunities to inflict humiliation and annoyance. The country has no expectation of obtaining from the ranks of the Opposition better administrators than at present hold office, and the attempt to form a party for the purpose of effecting any constitutional change must, in the present state of affairs, end in failure.