THE Otago Daily Times. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1872.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3366, 19 November 1872, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1872.

That history lopeats itself, is a favourite Haying, and one as old as it is true, for it has its rise in the hidden springs of human nature. If such bo the case, the statesman, in lightly reading the past, lays up for himself a store of wisdom for practical development in time to come. The foundations of European society are now being shaken with an intensity with which they have never before been disturbed, though the direction may be the same as heretofore, and statesmen of renown are employing their whole thoughts in endeavouring to solve some of the greatest social problems of the day. We, on the other hand, seem to be engaged in administering nostrums, which may indeed for a while allay some annoying symptom, but which, unless judiciously applied, have an assured tendency to aggravate disease. We have been lod into this train of thought by dwelling on the political history of | New Zealand, contrasted with its present condition, and by reading the speeches in bygone days of some of our prominent statesmen, or rather politicians, before they had attained their present pre-eminence. And here, in passing, we would suggest the propriety of a mcml)er of Parliament, when .called to take part in the administration of the Government, appealing for re-elec-tion before the constituency of which he was the representative. Perhaps, as an aid to his success, and as evidencing his consistency, he might circulate a pamphlet, containing his speeches on the more important topics which had been under consideration, ko that he might explain his past conduct, and delineate his future course. So far as New Zealand is concerned, the narration of the present policy is but the history of the past. In proof of this it in not our intention to go so far back as the Treaty of Waitangi, for the very mention of the words induces a political nausea; but we take our starting point at the time when New Zealand was granted a Constitution. Nor do we intend to wado through all the strifes of part}*, for that would be a distasteful as well as an unprofitable pursuit, but -we desire to confine ourselves to the history of New Zealand colonisation and kindred subjects, in the hope tliat we may learn a useful lesson or two from the past.

On the 17th of next January New Zealand will have attained the twentieth year of its constitutional history. The funds which were from the first available for colonising purposes were mainly those derivable from the disposal of the waste lands, which were vested in the Crown for the benefit of the Colony ; butitwasonly thesurplus, after appropriations had been made by the General Assembly, which was divisible among the Provinces constituting the Colony, in proportion to the territorial revemie derived from each. On the 14th of May, 1856, there commenced a struggle for this revenue which has yet to come to an end. Mr Fox proposed that the Provinces should have, by appropriation, two thirds of the net Customs Revenue, and that the Colony should get 2s 6d per acre off all lands sold. He formed a Ministry on this basis, but in less than a month he was supplanted by Mr Stafford, and thereafter, on certain specified conditions, the Land Revenue of each Province became Provincial Revenue, while, at the same time, three-eighths of the Customs receipts was handed over to the Provinces. This appropriation of Land Revenue is still the same, and became law by the Act of 1858. Each Province under this system did what it liked with its

land and land revenue. Some parted with it at. a high figure, as in Canterbury ; some at a moderate sura, with grazing privileges over a specified' area, as in Otago; others at a mere nominal sum, as in Wellington and Kelson; and others by a free gift, as in Auckland. Each Province expressed through its constituted authorities it* wish to the General Assembly, which thereupon generally gave the fora* of Jaw to its resolutions.„ on a the, Cth July, 1801, the Ministiy which had held tlm sj»a!s of office for live years succumbed, and was replaced by the Minisliy of Air Fox, which, in its turn, in the July of 1802, was supplanted by that of Mr DoMirn*; which latter also gave place, in 18(>3, to a Ministry of which Mr Fox was Premier, and Messrs ' Whitakkii, Wood, Russell, MAKT£:LL,and Gillitks were members. Thus far theru was Ino disturbing element; colonisation, advanced safely" and soundly, if not quickly, under Provincial administration. The Colony was ut fiis time only in debt to the" extent 0f'£503,410, 1 laving a population of 114,930 souls, and an annual revenue of £519,316. Now it has double the [>opulation and revenue, and more than eleven times the debt. But the days of dulncss wen* ended. New Zealand had become a gold producing country, and it was considered that she might arise' and, appear in the Stock Exchange as a borrower of England's surplus cash, and commence a career of progression. Under this impulse, and with these views, we at once raised thive millions, viz., one million and a half for the suj>presston of the existing native rebellion ; £100,000 for arms; £900,000 for public works, such as roads, brMgos, location of scttlci-s, ttc. ; £300,000 for immigration ; and £200,000 for lighthouses and elect tic telegraphs..

Dazzled by the brillancy of the scheme, and jKirhapH seduced by the prospective benefits to How from it, the policy was adopted by :v majority of 33 to 11, the latter consisting of five Otago, two Canterbury, and four Wellington members. Who is there amongst us who cannot recall the pleasant fiction of the Loan Kill of 18G3, when we had pourtrayed to us the borrowing, for a short time only,of three millions of money, the introduction of from 15,000 to 20,000 adult immigrants, * who were not to be limited to families of simply one ot two,' for, a« it was naively said 'it is, of course, impossible to state the number of children each family should have? These. immigrants were to be located on 1,250,000 acres of confiscated land, selected out of 4,250,000, while there would still remain, after providing I. 1, million for reserves, loyal natives, and roads, another million and a half for sale, which it was shrewdly observed, 'economically dealt with and properly sold, "will realise, at the very least, £2 per acre. 1 Indeed, it was said ' that it is clear that there is every reasonable prospect of ,£2,500,000 being repaid, without any difficulty whatever, by the sale of land.' History records of this pleasant fiction — this ' reproductive investment,' at least so far as cash is concerned—the fatal words *no assets.' However, we must not complain ; the spending of the loan was a school of instruction in finance, and therefore not without its uses. Waikato and other rebel territory have been settled ; much indirect benefit has resulted; and the two Islands have been knit together by the electric cable. Looking, then, on the grand policy of 1870, with its million for Defence and other purposes, and its j millions for Immigration and Public Works, we see at once that the scheme was no new one, but the old one of 18G3, re-introduced when the money market was easy—gold in abundance— lenders frantic for investment, and peace universal. The rebel Maoris had been hunted and subdued beyond any chance of reunion and danger, and frontier settlements had been formed, and were self-defending, so that we had attained as nearly as could presently be, to that halcyon period when the Quern's writ should run unimpeded through the length and breadth of the land. The Suppression of Rebellion Act, 18G3, is the Defence and Other Purposes Act, 1870 ; and the New Zealand Settlements Act, 1863, is the Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870. By the Acts of 1863, there was certain expenditure to be charged against the Provinces in which it was incurred, but a sponge has been passed over the sheet, in a great measure, if not entirely. Under the scheme of 1870, a similar charge is to be made when the so-called reproductive works are finished. What will after history record as the amount , thus paid in for the interest and sinking fund on the accrued Provincial lia- i bilities ? It was well for the purpose . of suppressing a rebellion in one part • of New Zealand that the whole Colony ( should bear the burden ; but can the < same be said of the present scheme ? i Then, it was right that there should be '. only one purse; but now we have still ". one, though we are under the pleasing '> delusion, and may be for a few years, ' that there ai-e two. However, the J people and the people's representatives wish it so to be, and they have the safe ( keeping of the public revenue, and the! ' charge of the public credit. 1