THE CONSTITUTION OF THE COLONY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4175, 7 August 1874, Page 3

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE COLONY.

TO THE EDITOE. Sir, — It appears likely that a motion will shortly be made in tho House, raising the ques-. tion of the consolidation of this country into one homogeneous whole ; and for the credit of our rulers and the people at large, it is to be hoped that such motion may bo successful. To a stranger this little country must present a rather ridiculous aspect. Just starting into life, one would' think it would naturally occur to all concerned and interested that unity was the one essential thing ; unity of purpose and action in small as well as great things—without which there can be no substantial progress ; with which even a. weak country can produce more effect than the disconnected efforts of individualities, which, in the aggregate, may have immensely superior strength, as witness tho Napoleonic wars. The Continental powers, divided, were conquered ; truly and heartily united, they conquered. And this is true in matters of polity as well as in warfare. < New Zealand should be one single State, not a bundle of Provinces, connected by no one tie or bond, except the purely legal one of common submission to the General Government. (What the law makes it can break.) Such is my proposition ; and I venture to state that such a form of Government as is.now established is not only, anomalous and ridiculous, but mischievous, as tending to prolong local jealousies and • ; foster “Provincial”. instead of “ Imperial” ideas in political matters, to say nothing of high'State matters. Ever since youthful Wellington began to sneer at “boy” Kussell and “baby” Auckland, the same spirit of petty jealousy and spite has been apparent, culminating in the—to disinterested persons—ineffably selfish and ridiculously suicidal proposition of . a separation between the two islands, on account of tho expenses incurred in repressing the Maoris in tho Northern Island. ’ It really seems that to the minds of many (I hope not all) who have resided long, or have been bom in the Colony, these Provincial institutions have something sacred in them, and are regarded (much as incipient orators at the Union regard Magna Charta) as “ the Palladium of our liberties ;” or as convivial gentlemen regard the toast of “The Queen” or “The Navy,” with a sentimental boisterousness truly touching. But to an outsider it must be confessed they savour too much of Little Poddlington ; indeed, the comparison is almost an insult to the latter. ' 1 ' Sir, here is a country, about the size of Great Britain, containing a population of—not thirty millions, but —say 300,000 whites and

50.000 Maoris. Its capital contains about 10.000 souls; ' its largest town, less than 20,000. What is the machinery by which this country is governed ? It surely need not be very elaborate, one would think, There is a General Government, consisting of Governor, Legislative Council, Kesponsible Ministers, and a House of Eepresentatives containing 78 members, of whom four are Maoris, representing their own race. Taking the total population at 350,000, there is one member for every 4600 souls in the country. Kefer to the mother country ; we find the proportion there to be about one member to 50.000 souls. The New Zealander ■ has some little advantage here, if talk be an advantage. But one Parliament does not suffice the New Zealander ; nor one Government ; nor one set of Kesponsible Ministers. He has divided his country into ten distinct Provinces, each of which has its oyn Constitutional Government, its Superintendent, Council, Kespohsible Minister's, opening speeches, votes of want of confidence, “cheers” and “laughter,” and all the other paraphernalia appurtenant to constitutional assemblies. For what I know, they may have mace - bearers and ushers of the black rod, to say nothing of a wee little imitation of Bellamy’s. Who knows ? And I really don’t see why they should stop short of all these dignified and desirable things. This is the New Zealander’s method of showing his freedom and independence. A. Wardsays,every one has a right to make a darned fool of himself subject to the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution here completes the be-foolment.

These Provincial Councils do some good in passing local measures, which (it maybe said), in the press of business of a more general character, may be slurred over and delayed in the House of Eepresentatives. And so far I would be the first to give my meed of praise, and even be content to see them stand, were there not objections to them of so grave a nature. But even this argument is not very strong. It is and has been the subject of constant complaint in the House of Commons, that the local Bills are slurred over - , delayed, and even when passed, never duly considered, so that frequently much mischief and injustice is done ; and proposals have been made for some better and more expeditious method of dealing with local measures. But is there such a press of business in the House of Eepresentatives that they cannot attend to all the legislation that occurs in Provincial Councils ? It must be remembered that, in proportion, our House is far more numerous than the House of Commons, and that every little district is therein represented. Local Bills, if there introduced, could be discussed by the local members, who, if not quite so numerous, are usually men of ability, and of quite as much local knowledge (and far more,- comparatively speaking, than members of Parliament) as the members of the Provincial Councils. Indeed, very many of the latter sit. in the House, and there is no M.H.E. but has local knowledge, and could give the House ample information of his own district. But the Provincial Councils deal with other than purely local matters. They are permitted to trifle with subjects of real general interest, which should be reserved for the House of Eepresentatives. To enter into details would prolong this letter too much ; but an amusing instance of the Provincial mind occurred the other day in the debate on the Forests Bill, when an honorable member proposed that the Superintendents should be left to deal with the forests of their respective Provinces ! It would be utterly useless to attempt to convey to the honorable member an idea of the feeling such a proposition would raise in the mind of any person even 'moderately conversant with the subject ; it shows such a deplorable incapacity in the honorable member to grasp the principle of the Bill and the reasons thereof. This Bill affords a good illustration of the effects of the disintegration of the country. A cry was raised that it attacked Provincial institutions ; it must be opposed tooth-and-nail, and shall not pass, is the idea of every honorable member who prides himself on the political institutions of his—Province ! I accept Mr. Stafford’s verdict that the Bill required amendment in Committee, but think that honorable gentleman deserves great thanks for the able and eloquent speech in support of the principle of the Bill, and his untiring efforts to instil into the minds of other hon. members a notion of what was really meant by it; in which effort, if he failed, it was owing to a more than bucolic thickness of head. He deserves credit for his bold assertion that, if the principle of the Bill was opposed to Provincial institutions, the sooner the latter disappeared the better. To all appearance, different reasons for their opposition impelled the different opponents of the Bill ; but it is probable that the “ Provincial fever ” was on them all, though only a few had the courage of their convictions and were bold enough to speak them out. The others concealed their real object under a cloud of sol dtsant reasons (without reason), and arguments (without logic). For instance, I cannot find it in my heart to believe that the honorable member, who “ considered that the best means of conserving forests was to sell them to private individuals, who might make more of them, commercially, than the Government,” really meant what he said, I would rather think that, he is not a great admirer of Provincial institutions, and wanted to give his assistance to the passing of the Bill, by throwing contempt on the opposition. Or else, what a simple child of Nature he must be ! Can there be a subject in which the perfect unity of superintendence is more requisite, than that of conserving the forests of a country? Is it not perfectly evident that if the forests were handed over to the Superintendents, they would be dealt with on, probably, totally contrary principles; and, most certainly, would be used, not in tho General, but rather in the Provincial interest; and therefore that the most would not be made of the natural wealth of the country; that one Province would export while another was importing; that one would starve while another would fatten. Is it not so now? Wealthy Canterbury sneers at overstrained Auckland, and talks of a divorce since the latter has got so poor. And all of them have a little snarl ready for any one of their neighbors. It is the Provincialism which threatens to be the curse of tho country; nay it is so now, with its little spites, and absurd parodies of things really to be revered. This state of things is anomalous. There is no other country in the world in such a state. 'The, United .States are really independent States, bound by a common tie of self-defence. And so of British America, Switzerland, and the German Confederation. In India only do we see anything like it. The LieutenantGovernor of Bengal has a Legislative Council of which he is the Chairman. The Acts passed by it reqiure the sanction of the GovernorGeneral in Council. Do we find there anything like the conduct of business in the New Zealand Provincial Councils ? No 1 And yet this Council legislates for sixty millions of Natives, for great European enterprises, for cities with a greater population than all New Zealand. And tins is merely a local legislature. The line bounding its power is drawn hard and fast. All measures involving Imperial questions, are reserved for tho Legislative Council of India, which is not tho case in this country. But this is a nominee, and our's a. free • Council, through which the voice of the people is heard, &c., &o. However, the one does its work quietly and well, without “ messages ” or votes of want of confidence ; its to tho other—well, become a member of one and you will be reported in the local papers, and have the privilege of writing M.P.C. after your name, and uttering any amount of nonsense, so long as the Superintendent will let you ! Mr. Vogel, in his papers on the Polynesian Question, if never before, has shown himself an enligditened statesman, and one of whom no country need be ashamed. It is to be hoped that he and his Government will see fit to strain every nerve in order to conquer this old man of. the sea, this dull mass of stupidity, envy, hatred, and malice, and all uucharitableness, called by the name of Provincial Institutions, which is threatening to paralyse the whole future of this country. To summarise : Provincial Government should be abolished, because—--Ist. It tends to create Provincial rather than Imperial ideas on polity and statesmanship.

2nd. It creates and fosters petty jealousy and spite between the Provinces. 3rd. It creates selfish and opposing ideas of policy between different parts of the country, which tend to the complete disintegration of the country. 4th. It is unnecessary, - there being local Boards, such as Town Councils, Highway Boards, Benches of Magistrates, &c., as in England (where no intermediate legislature has been found, necessary); and members of the House of Representatives being often also members of the Provincial Council, and having in all cases an extraordinary amount of local experience, as compared with members of Parliament, all local questions could be quite as well settled in such House, which has not so much business as to make this inconvenient. sth. They deal with many subjects, by the local treatment of which the general interest of the country is sacrificed. 6th. The constitutional nature of these Governments, udth their formalities, as parodying really important Governments, are absurd. — I am, &c., Hew Chum. August 3.