THE ABOLITION OF THE PROVINCES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4167, 26 June 1875, Page 2

THE ABOLITION OF THE PROVINCES.

[Bvr Telegraph.] (fKOM OUR OWX COUUESPOXDEXr.) . Chuistchi:uch, June 25th. The chief topic of conversation' in political circles to-day is a leading article in this morning's Press. " Suxiiiose," they say, "that in the middle of the town there stood a large building in the last stage of dilapidation ; suppose that the architects had exhausted all their resources to keep it upright, and that in spite ot all their props and buttresses its condition was evidently desperate ; its foundation settled its walls overhanging and gaping with cracks' and the whole structure plainly tottering to its tall, and threatening every moment to come down with a crash on the heads of passers by w ?iT° ul<l a sl)ectatl)r say in «»ch a case? Would he not cry out that it ought to be pulled down immediately. Would lie not exclaim against the authorities who left such an unsightly and dangerous old ruin untouched He would not stop to calculate what percenta-e of profit might be gained by removal or to argue about the style of building that might be erected in its place. The thinne would say, speaks for itself. What ever else may be done, it is necessary for the convenience and safety of the public that this building should be cleared away. It is past all hope of repair. It cannot at any cost be kept standing much longer. In the meantime no use can be made of it. It cumbers the ground to no purpose. It is an eyesore to the town and a public nuisance. Down let it come at once Now this is very much the case with the Provincial system in New Zealand. It is a literal description of the .state of the Province of Auckland. Auckland is in exactly the condition of our supposed building. The Province is, and has been or several years, hopelessly insolvent. It has weii repeatedly lifted out of the mire by the helping hand of the General Government, and things have at last reached a point where even that assistance is unavailing. £23,000 voted by ■he Assembly as a special allowance to Auckland is insufficient for its necessities. The Provincial Government are bewildered by their embarrassments, and know not which way to turn, lhe Bank account is overdrawn the lreasury empty, and the revenue but a drop in the bucket compared with the demands upon ii- -V rea!ly, tlie Superintendent has been obliged to make a large advance from his own private means to stave off an open declaration of insolvency, and the Provincial lreasurer acknowledges iv express terms that the case is beyond remedy. After using all the means his ingenuity can'sivest, by scraping together every farthin-- of revenue, and reducing expenditure to the low-est-possible point, by leaving the overdraft unsatisfied and education unprovided for, and taxing credit for such aid as he expects to obtain from the General .Government, he cannot see his way through the current financial year. W itu good luck he may struggle along for six months, and then, he says, the end must come unless the General Assembly will undertake to mUn*• Prov'sio» fur Provincial departments. 1 lungs must come to a stand." Thus, as regares Auckland, abolition is only a matter of form. To all practical purpose, to all but outward appearance, the Province is abolished. It may be resuscitated, and maintamed at the expense of the Colony, but it rests with the advocates of Provincialism to show on. what grounds, and with what prospect of adj vantage, the Colony can be invited to assume so heavy a burden. Auckland is not a solitary instance. In all New Zealand, the two great southern Provinces alone can lay claim to more ti^tf 21olniIlal existence. Tafauaki, with its i/UOO a year of revenue, is no better than a Koad Board District; and Hawke's Bay thou-h its income, . Land Fund included, reaches some L4n 000, yet, as a Province, it i scarcely deserves consideration. Wellim* | ton, a> few years ago, actually went

through s .the Insolvency Court, after bein* reduced itoSitbe most deplorable shifts formoney;-; The^ovince, in the words of thT then, Provincial* Secretary, "threw up the cards, and made over its load of debts to he.' defrayed by the General Government. Since then, under the management of Messrs Fitz-iierbei-t and Bunny, Wellington has improve:! I i3f^ lon > P*rtlv through the stimulus afforded by profuse Colonial expenditure, but mainly by dint o f a Berie » of successful raids O tt the Colonial Treasury. The exactions of Wellington in their frequency and magnitude havesurpassed even the performances of its eariier days, much as they have brightened. TVfortunes of the Province have been a sorl charge upon the rest of the Colon}-. Welling chequer is the Wellington oyster,, and political pressure, opportunely and 'xelentfesly applied is the weapon with which Mr l4znerberfc . Passing on tothe-MMdle Island, Westlaad is an avowed pensioner on the General Government, and must file its. schedule~w,henevpr its p^rons-desert it or: the Assemb^chooseto.topsupplies. ,Marlboi-oughis aSSrecypheiT Even raranakiis a tluivirig/energetic Pr*. vii.cc compared toi it. It cannotdo-soWkas bmlda bridge without begging money from the Consolidated Fund. Nelson-lias cbntrivedto keep its head above water, thanks tffatautiousabstinence from debt; which has distinguished the policy of its rulers. Yet; even': with tha£ advantage, it; cannot quite make -both ends meet. It B obliged to - ask ■■ for* a fev^ thousands from the Colonial revenue to cover its ordinary expenditure, and f<£ anything beyond in the way of public works it » entirely dependent oir the c e v£ hSfll"*' be thought^ im£ hau*tible resource. Canterbury and ?Otaffo are the only Provides that,can claim to be^fkian! 11^'^ *"**■ situation is^reto if^-'yr h% haV, e h- oth committed tliems^vL to liabilities largely i n excess of theirt)reseat SIS 1. »*»*» ?n future land sal^and Iwm i T exP, ec.tafci()ns not l3e realised, thw T,L ~e F lu?-ed™t0 embarrassment I llms,-of nine Provinces, two are .-total an^ irreparable failures by-their o^coSionthey have con^iletely broken down-are incTnl able of being miule self-supporting. The trn^ has been rescued from the saiS fate ontyW a long couree of outside assistance;" and of tS rest, all but two need to 'be helped aW from year to year by donations from the GeS Government , The sums distributed among tl^ J rS- dun?S tv« year iuiKe shape of .subsidies, advances, and grants'inaid.amounfe to uoless than £194,000.' It is scarclyT^^! t\ on,.? le 1 Q- ether the ProvinceOTkdTte f,W FaCtS hav\«fready desidfdiT all intents and purposes, that the business fs done? men we compare the Provinces as they wew ". and were meaut to be and as they are it is evident that though a formal sentence of' abocL tion has yet to be pronounced, the system is afc an end. As a system of Government Proviuciabsm is extinct. It has worked out its owk. destruction. It has abolished itself. -