New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4120, 4 June 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1874.

Although the Province of Westland contains a less area than some of its neighbors, it is nevertheless one of groat importance, and the speech of the Superintendent at the opening of the session of the Provincial Council is as worthy of perusal, for more than one reason, as wore those of tho Superintendents of Auckland and Canterbury. In Westland the minors aro steadily getting gold, and will probably do so for many years to como. There may bo lights and shades in their course of luck, and the yield may fluctuate, but this is only what has happened on goldfields in all times and all places. This is the experience in Victoria. A few years ago tho mining world at Ballarat was thrown into commotion by tho discovery of a marvellously rich wash of gold in tho Sir William Don claim, at a level beneath which tho company’s men had been working for years. Tho discovery had been made a long time previously, but it was carefully cushioned over lest the shareholders should imagine that tho men had “bottomed too soon,” and there should bo a panic in tho share market in consequence. Then, at Sandhurst, where mining shares had long been at a discount, wonderful discoveries wore made about two years ago, and great was.

the excitement. The history, of goldmining in Now Zealand is also a chequered one. Again and again has there been fever and a relapse. Six months ago the pi’ospcct on the Thames goldfields vas nothing like so good as it is at the present time. "Therefore, when the Superintendent of Westland alluded in his speech to the probability of fresh discoveries of gold being made, we_ opine that he shadowed forth what is very likely to occur. This, however, was not the most valuable feature in his speech. It, taken as a whole, seems to show an exact appreciation and estimation of the duties of the Provincial Council. There is not the slightest question that the various works he alludes to, as cither commenced or recommended, of a purely local character, can be best undertaken by men with the local knowledge that the members of the Council have. If those had to be referred to the General Government, authority for them would have to bo obtained from Parliament, and there might be men from Auckland or Taranaki voting against measures affecting the welfare of a Province they had never seen, whilst other members wiio were conversant with every detail of tho proposed reforms wore placed in the minority. T r ice versa, Otago and Westland representatives might be called upon to decide matters which arc very much better left to the Auckland Provincial Council. Such a proceeding would bo very much like a Londoner giving his vote upon a question that tho Town Council of Edinburgh was much better qualified to decide upon. So long as Provincial Governments confine themselves to their proper sphere, a» wo gather from the speech of the Superintendent of Westland it is his intention his Government shall, they will meet with able and willing assistance from the General Government. This assistance, tho Superintendent told the Council, ho had to acknowledge. If money were wanted he had only to ask and it was supplied. The Treasurer had assisted him in tho ncgociation of a considerable loan. When ho required the services of a professional man of high standing to report upon the alterations of the Hokitika River, it was intimated to him that tho Enginoer-in-Chief would visit him in tho course of a few days. The General Government lias tho welfare of the Province of Westland and of other Provinces as much at heart as tho Superintendents, and cordially co-operates with them to secure,this. The principal business tho Superintendent had to submit to the Council was that of the construction and formation of roads and railways. Highways of communication are wanted, in order that valuable portions of territory now lying waste may be utilized, and the settlement of tho country induced. More population means more revenue for both the Provincial and the General Treasury, and therefore tho Superintendent urged tho consideration upon the Council of tho best way of attracting a portion of the stream of emigrants now on the way to Now Zealand. And in respect to a; other question he was equally discreet in his utterances. Owing, ho believes to tho Licensing Act of last session, by which he had not tho power to license now public-houses, this being vested in tho hands of Commissioners, the number had boon reduced to such an extent that the revenue suffered in the sum of £IOOO. But the Superintendent did not suppose this had caused any diminution of tho trade. The houses, said he, that remained, would have their trade increased proportionately. Ho is, we presume, of the opinion of the London Times, which said, in a recent issue—- “ Experience has shown sufficiently how vain it is to try and make men sober by Act of Parliament. They may be compelled, indeed, not to annoy others by their excess, but we can do little by direct legislation to advance tho cause of temperance, nor, indeed, if we could, would one section of the community have a right to endeavor in this way to impose its views upon tho rest. If wo close publichouses and establish a Maine Liquor Law, as the United Kingdom Alliance would advocate—wo do not attain our object, as is shown sufficiently by the experience of the United States, and we do succeed in making men habitual law-breakers, and in rousing a deep indignation against the law itself and its ministers, and against the handful of fanatics by whose will the obnoxious restriction has been imposed.” The Westland Superintendent looks forward to seeing a better class of houses established in tho Province, and, should his expectations bo well founded, the result cannot fail to be of value in tho social life of tho population of the Province.