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New Zealand Mail, Issue 245, 29 July 1876, Page 13

The announcement we made on Saturday that the members for the province of Wellington had determined upon voting against the resolutions to be proposed by Mr. Whitaker has been fully confirmed, and their constituents have just reason to be proud of the representatives they have returned, when they find them sinking all minor differences of opinion, and joining together to preserve the unity of the colony. At a juncture like the present, a compact block of ten votes will he of material assistance to the Government, we say ten because there can be little doubt as to how the member for Wanganui (the Premier) will vote. It is true that the member for the Hutt did not attend the caucus ; occupying the high position of Speaker, it would not have been good taste on his part to have done so, but we think it most likely, if it came to a division and he had to vote, that Mr. Brandon and himself would be found in the same lobby in committee. Mr. Andrew is the only member we cannot answer for ; still, we can hardly think he would vote differently from the other nine members. The opponents of the Government lay great stress upon the financial position of the colony, and yet they wish to adopt a course which would utterly ruin its credit. It is useless attempting to disguise the fact : more money will have to be raised, or the works required to make the public works scheme a success will never be

completed. Unless the main trunk lines of railway can be finished, they will never produce sufficient revenue to pay the interest on the money borrowed to construct them, and this is a question which particularly affects the residents in the North Island, where, comparatively speaking, there has been less done than in the Middle Island. When the abolition question was under discussion great weight was laid on the assurance of Government that the land fund would be respected, and left to be expended under the supervision of the residents in the locality in which it was raised, and the Ministry have shown by the SDirit of the measures they have introduced that they intend to keep good faith. But what does Mr. Whitaker propose —he wants one purse, one land fund —the rich district to supply funds for the poorer to expend,—and he is weak enough to suppose that in order to spite the Government, and perhaps turn them out of office, he will be supported by members of the South Island. He will discover his mistake when it is too late, the division lists will tell a very different tale. We do not blame him; he is discharging what he conceives to be his duty towards his constituents. Auckland is a

poor province, and has very little land of sufficiently good quality to attract speculators, therefore, there is practically, and there has not been for many years past, any land revenue worth speaking about; hence the reason why Mr. Whitaker and his supporters wish for the change they advocate. But they ought to consider that destroying the credit of the colony will put a stop to the receipt of land revenue throughout New Zealand, and then there will be nothing to share or quarrel about. Auckland has, on account of the large number of natives residing in that province, special claims on the colony, and this has been admitted at different times and under various reasons, and if further assistance should be required we entertain no doubt it will be willingly afforded. Surely it would be a very easy matter to estimate what the province of Auckland would gain if the proceeds of all land sold formed a portion of the Consolidated Revenue, and then vote a corresponding sum. At present Wellington, Hawke's Bay, and New Plymouth appear satisfied with the professions of the Government ; Otago and Canterbury object to their land fund being interfered with, but approve of abolition. Nelson, Marlborough, and the West Coast districts seem also to prefer the measures intended to be carried out, feeling that if the colony were divided into two provinces they would sink into utter insignificance when placed under the control of their wealthier and more important neighbors residing in the provinces of Canterbury and Otago.