THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1882.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6565, 1 December 1882, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1882.

Tiieke is a good deal in the address recently delivered by Mr. Macandrew to his constituents of special interest to us iu Auckland. Of all Southern politicians, Mr. Ma can drew is the man whose utterances it is most important for us to notice. He has been in polities for many years, and he knows Otago and its settlers as does no other wan. lie is not the leader of a political party, and so has no special call to conciliate any part of the country for political purposes. Naturally, indeed, he is incapable of disguising his sentiments, and when he addresses the people amongst whom his life has been spent, for whom he has laboured and ■schemed and devised, the sentiments of his heart cannot be suppressed. Ailegianco to a party goes for little with him. lie thinks no part of 2v.?w Zealand so important as Otago. Jfe. believes that it has carried tho colony along with it ; indeed, he is convinced now that the rest of the colony is simply a drag oil the progress of Otago. Mr. Maeandrew was nev«r in a more awkward and embarrassing position than when I he was a Minister, and had to pose as a colonial statesman, anxious to advance the interests of all parts of the country, professing to consider that all were equally important, and that the districts which were behind had a claim to assistance on tho road of progress. He felt his position to be unnatural, and we believe will never seek to occupy such a place again. Naturally, Mr. Macandrew occupies a more influential position than any other Southern politician. The settlers of Otago know that he is deroted to their interests, and that lie has no political ties which prevent him from saying and doing what he believes to be for their benefit. 1

?or all these reasons it follows that vhat Mr. Macandrew says is worthy of ittentive consideration. The sentinents he speaks ars certain to 3e in the minds of not a lew n the South, and are likely to je extensively adopted owing to his xdvocacy. His proposed course of action may be brielly stated. He wants to stop borrowing for public works, his reason, plainly being that Otago is already well furnished with roads and railways; he thinks that each locality should provide for its own roads and bridges, the reason again being that Otago is supplied with roads and bridges ; he thinks New Zealand ought to have a first-class direct steam service, whatever might be the cost, at the sacrifice of the San Francisco line, and that that service should have its terminus at Port Chalmers. There is very much in all this which seems inconsistent with Mr. Macandrew's previous conduct, but the contradiction is only in appearance, and like all thoroughly earnest men, who keep one object in view all their lives, he is really quite consistent. Take his opinion as to borrowing, for example, j While he was Superintendent ot Otago he borrowed as deeply as possible, and resorted to every expedient to raise money for expenditure on public works. His recklessness in incurring debts and obligations has passed into a by-word. He has loose notions on the subject of money, and it has been said only wants a printing press and a bale of paper to create millions, lie now says :— The taxing power of the Colonial 1 ailiameiit should be confined to providing foi* th* services I have indicated, and for the payment of the public creditor—in which case, of course, there would be no more coloxiia borrowing, and the existing colonial taxatior would be very largely diminished. Itwouk res>c with those who required loans to vaisi them at their own cost, and upon their owi security, in which case, you may tiepem upon it, the money would go inuoh favthe and be more economically expended in th future than ic has been in the past. He referred to his action last session and said :— I may say that I voted against the Loai Bills in all their stages—not that I am op posed to the completion or extension of ou railways, but because I am of opinion tha the existing drain of £4000 every day in th year tent out of the colony is as much as ou surplus earnings can stand, and because I at convinced that, with the vast resources an labour-supporting elements of this colony the people of New Zealand can, by a wis and prudent exercise of the public credil constiuct all necessary reproductive work as. fast as the circumstances of the colon warrant, without the intervention of foreig capital. The reason of this vast change is c course quite plain. In farmer time Mr. Macandrew saw that Otago wouL get the lion's share of the borrowe money, and therefore he was an enthi siastic borrower ; now, the money in us go to parts of the country which hav hitherto been shut up, but which ar beginning to make progress, and h wishes borrowing at once to cease, an can only see that the payment of th interest is a serious drain on the colon] Here is his frank statement in his ow •words :— I hold that the State is exceeding its fun tions when it borrows money at vourexpens and mine, entailing upon us and those wli come after us heavy burdens for the construi tion of loads and bridges in localities < which we know nothing, in which we hav no personal interest, and from which we ca derive no possible benefit." During his famous Midlothian cam paign, Mr. Gladstone made a speech i: which he declared, in fervid eloquence that every drop of blood in his vein was intensely Scotch, and that h claimed kinship with no other people and Punch had a cartoon in which a English John Bull was seen exclaiming with amazement at such expression: " Can it be William ?" In like manne those who remember the sentiments am acts of Ills former life will be teinptei to exclaim on reading our extracts l - Can this be James Macandrew'] But the whole secret of the matte is, as we have already remarked that he sees things in quite a diffcren light when a proportion of the boi rowed money is to go to the Nortl Island. Not only is this view impressed upoi his hearers when he refers to the boi rowing, but he desires to mould tin political constitution of New Zealand s ! that Otago shall hold all she has ol tained, while other districts shall hav no assistance from the rest of the colon; to come up to her level. He says :— My own opinion is that each locality shouli provide for its own roads and bridges, an< thut the Colonial Government should hav nothing to do with either. That would no doubt suit Otago ver well now, when 2ier roads and bridge are fully made by colonial money, o money borrowed on the credit of thi colony, but Mr. Macandrewdid not pu forward such a theory when the publii works scheme was propounded. Mr Macandrew is very strong on the injuri which has been done to Otago bj the want of a direct steam service, anc says : — Why, for example, should Otago anc Canterbury be deprived of the benefit ol direct steam with England, if they arc willing and able to piy for it, and it should be for their interest so to do—benefits which would undoubtedly extend themselves to all New Zealand Why, I ask, should they be deprived of such benefits simply because tlie people of Auckland object? And yet this is one of the results of the system which I desire to see altered. But for the jealousy of .Auckland direct steam would ere now have been an accomplished fact—a very different service, from any that is likely to be initiated by the resolution of last session. I should and ought to have had the finest serj vice in the world —quite equal to the Orient | Hue. There were only two Auckland memj bers, it I recollect rightly, who rose superior I to this jealousy, and dealt with the question j on colonial grounds. I would go further, and ask, Why should tile people o: Auckland be deprived cf the benefits ol the Califoraiaij service, which they prize so highly—benefits I which, to the rest of the colony, are ve;v I small indeed—why should dicy be deprived of these simply because the people ot tlxSouth might object—which they might well do, seeing that upv. .rds of three-fourths of the subsidy is contributed by them Hither- | to, however, tiie .■South has not objected, nor is it likely to do so unless provoked by the selfish action to which I Ik.yc referred. Well, a direct service is to bo instituted, and although it is not of the proportions to please .Mr. Macandrew, the colonycould not safely have attempted anything of the kind at an earlier period. As to Mr. Macandrew saying that if he had had his way some years ago he would have had l: the finest service in the world—quite equal to tha Orient line,'" that is simply nonsense. The Auckland people are not opposed to a direct service, but may be excused for having considerable doubts about it, j when they find that it will be useless as a mail service, and that it will not : bring light goods more cheaply or more ! speedily than we can now have them * by transhipment from the numerous steamers coming to Melbourne and a Sydney. i

We may conclude by simple proposal to Mr. Macandrew. him follow out the legitimate conclu aions of his arguments, and commence an agitation for insular separation The South Island would then " provi(j for its own roads and bridges," an j> could go in for as many mail ser _ vices as it chose. We in the North could contemplate the prospeot witW calmness. The colonial debt would of course, be fairly adjusted, and the South Island would be respon sible for much the larger share. Bnfc it would find that, compared 'with the North, it was stagnant. This island 6 on the other hand, would be onlv commencing its career of colonisation, and I could go on borrowing for public works We would soon outstrip the South ia wealth and in population. At all events, we object being talked of the contemptuous tone adopted by Mr Macandrew. The bulk of the borrowed money has been spent in the South and in this island we shall have to con-* trive to do with such scanty remains as we can now contrive to pick up.