ABOLITION AND FEDERATION,

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4890, 23 November 1876, Page 3

ABOLITION AND FEDERATION,

(From the Sydney Morning Herald.) Our telegrams from Mew Zealand yesterday announce that the abolition of Provincial Government in that colony is now an accomplished fact. Sir George Grey’s almost fanatic -appeal to the British ‘authorities proved abortive, as much ,as did his resistance in the Legislature of his own colony, and' it is to be presumed that the federation of the. islands will meet with no further serious opposition. Sir Hercules Robinson very appropriately noticed, in his speech at Albury, the tendency of communities such as these of Australasia to disintegration previous to the possibility of a final union. We have shown ourselves admirably qualified to accomplish the former; it is now time for some indications to appear that we are competent for the latter. In the northern colony, at Rockhamp.on and Mary-, borough, they are still talking of separation. In Victoria, according to the organs which boast of being the representatives of the popular policy, the cry is for annexation, while South Australia still indulges the dream of a great Northern Territory, to be raised from; Adelaide. New South Wales seems well content with her own, only she is somewhat slow to annex it to her capital by intimate commercial relations, and to turn its rich and varied resources to the best account. But in New Zealand the inveteracy of local prejudices has at last been overcome, and for the most important purposes of government there will be henceforth something like autonomy. In some directions Sir Julius Vogel had to make important concessions. The management of the land revenue is still to be influenced by local accidents, and the question of education, now fast becoming a crucial one, is to be modified by local preferences. But it is not to be supposed that the policy of centralisation will spring into a perfect system all at once. " To introduce it in its present rudimentary form is no small gain, and with a wise administration it will become more real and beneficial year by year. Sir Hercules Robinson is right in saying that the federation of the colonies is only a question of time. Substantially we all live under the protection of the same law, as we do under the reign of the same Sovereign. We have almost identical representative institutions. We speak the same language, have the same social habits, domestic life, and national character. Our chief differences appear to be in the region of taxation, and again we think the Governor of this colony is right in claiming that the basis of agreement should be the essential principles of free trade. There will have to be concessions on all sides, and it will be as important for this colony tc recognize the necessity of a revenue adequate to the general expenditure, as it will be for Victoria to recognise the importance of leaving labor and capital free from artificial restrictions. Some of the provinces of New Zealand have been living on the land revenue more than any other colonists, and they have not gone the length of New South Wales in the direction of free trade. It is to be hoped that in both these respects, and in many more, the work of consolidation now achieved will prove a benefit both to themselves and to their neighbors. Such an event is a good omen, and it is worthy of repetition.