New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4190, 25 August 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1874.

Where reasons are wanting, it is not unusual for a defeated controversialist to construct a trap, into which, his too logical opponent may be tempted, and then to rely upon the passions of his a\ulience to blind them to the conclusions of their understandings. Nicknames have had no inconsiderable influence in political history, and the inventor of an opprobious epithet has sometimes achieved a temporary success over those he abused but could not confute. The resolutions of Mr. Fitzherbert on the abolition of the North Island Provinces were skilfully compounded, with the design of enticing a powerful party into a false position, and at the same time of furnishing their adversaries with a term of reproach which would be most effective where it is least understood. It does not require an imagination bo lively as that of Mr. Fi'rzherbert to conjure up a delicious picture of vengeance, if his conquerors were so weak as to furnish him with'tho opportunity. How he must have gloated over the prospect of those who dared to think differently from what is just at the time convenient to him, being confronted at the hustings by some brawling elector, with the demand, "Are you prepared to support a Central Bureaii • cratic authority, and so rob the people of the rights and powers conferred on them by our most gracious Queen 1" He knows right well what a perfect specimen of vulgar claptrap he produced, and still he was and is quite ready to use that or any other weapon, to injure or annoy all who refuse to minister to his insatiate greed of power. The mere word "bureaucratic " constitutes a cry that would have gladdened the hearts of Tadpole and Taper, and, if an immediate dissolution could be obtained, would be heard from end to end of the Colony. Complete refutation of the implied charge would be perfectly easy, but the excitement of an eleclion is not conducive to the calm judgment required for its apprehension. Bureaucracy might with far greater justice be attributed to the Provincial than to the General Government. During his term of offico a Superintendent is placed for all practical purposes beyond popular control, and when he is surrounded by an irresponsible Executive, his nominees and the creatures of his will, Provincial Councils are all but powerless ; mainly for tho fatal facility with which they are induced to pass Estimates far in excess of possible income, thus virtually renouncing the power of the purse. During their short sessions Councils may talk and threaten, but as soon as they are prorogued, tho Superintendent and Executive become all powerful and distribute the revenue in the way best calculated to secure the permanence of their own offices, too often without regarding what is best for the general good. On the abolition of the Provinces, the right to deal with public funds will pass entirely into the hands of the representatives of the people, and their expenditure will bo committed to Ministers, whose tenure of office ceases as soon as the confidence of Parliament is withdrawn. This is exactly the position of affairs at homo, and it would require rare ingenuity to prove that while thirty millions of people can bo protected in their liberties by ono Parliament, tho ' handful inhabiting this Island will be oppressed when governed in like maimer. No ono can really be so simple as to entertain such a belief when timo for reflection is afforded, though inflammatory speeches might mislead a few impulsive and ill-informed voters. Tho wisdom of Parliament will refuse the opportunity for making the attempt. Important changes, when approved by a bare majority, may properly bo remitted to tho consideration of the constituencies ; but, when there is a general concurrence of parties in their favor, the interests of tho people would be sacrificed to spurious delicacy, by longer delay than is required for the careful preparation of measures. The Provincial partizans desiro to procrastinate, so as to secure a longer duration of power, and being now in a hopeless minority, they havo nothing to droad from a contest, which could not do more for their opponents than increase their number, while they hope much from tho skilful propagation of calumny. Selfishness is the characteristic of tho opposition, though not necessarily that coarso form which

seeks -monetary gain. Ambition is a stronger motive power than avarice, and the purity of Provincial rulers may be admitted as to the one, even while they are charged with pursuing the grati6cation of the master impulse without heeding the welfare of the people. The Premier proposes to use his great victory temperately, and to avail himself of the long interval before the Assembly is again summoned, to give full consideration to the form of Government which should replace Provincial institutions. Had he desired to secure a political advantage, he might readily have done so by pleading the gravity of the question as sufficient warrant for holding a special session. This course would have been quite within the terms of the resolutions passed by the House, and, in the absence of sincere conviction that the opinion of the country will become stronger when the whole case is fully discussed, might have been adopted, had the only object been success. Reliance is well placed in the good sense of the people. Already many misconceptions are vanishing, and when members meet their constituents, the danger will not be to those who have supported, but rather to those who have hastily committed themselves to obstructing a great reform. The denial of the right of this Parliament to deal with the question, because it is drawing to a close, and becauso it was elected on the Immigration and Public Works policy, has been repeated to woariness. Precedents will readily suggest themselves to the attentive student of political history. It is needless to mention more than what is furnished by the House of Commons, elected in 1841, distinctly to maintain the Corn Laws, and which repealed them before it was dissolved. The House of Representatives is the exponent of the views of the people, and it would be absurd to suppose that members should be insensible to the growth of opinion. But, in fact, it is from the policy members were sent to support, that such a change arises. Incompatibilities, constantly increasing, have developed between the General and Provincial Governments in administrative matters, and the existence of these disturbing influences, renders this concentration of power imperative. Merely speculative alterations in the forms of government would have been dismissed with slight consideration, as the dream of theoretical reformers. The question is not what is the best possible scheme that can be devised in the closet, but how the work of colonisation can be, in fact, most efficiently conducted. The North Island has a number of legislative and executive bodies, while one only provides for the settlement of the country. In every district, there has been conflict between the body finding all the money, and executing the greater work, and those desirous of attracting large sums, to be used at their own pleasure, without considering the harmony of the general plan. It is time to put an end to this wasteful mode of expenditure, which places the svfecess of the Public Works policy in danger. Talking about evil consequences from the discussion of what is chiefly an administrative question, is idle. Our credit is far more likely to be improved than injured, when capitalists see a determination to arrest waste, and obtain the full value in work for the money we borrow. The advocates of procrastination leave out of account the disturbance inseparable from a general election, the waste of time and money throughout the Colony, and the substantial danger that, pending the meeting of a Parliament to succeed one dissolved before its time, investors would pause till they had time to judge whether the same earnestness and resolute good faith prevailed with those returned, after our great policy has been for some years in operation. That Mr. Fitzherbert had the smallest hope of persuading the House to pray for its own dissolution, cannot for a moment be credited, and the amendment he obtained leave to make showed he had discovered his error when it was too late. Before a general election takes place, he will bo freed from Provincial trammels, and, for his consolation, we venture to predict that his influence in the next House will be much greater, should he be so fortunate as to again appear there as member for the Hutt, than it is now that he is also clothed with the dignity of Superintendent of Wellington.