THE AB JLITION OF THE PROVINCES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4174, 5 July 1875, Page 7

THE AB JLITION OF THE PROVINCES.

Christch'dhch, June 2otb.' The chief topic of conversation in political circles to-day is ,a leading article inthis moi uing's Press. "Suppose," they say, "that in the middle of the town there stood a, large building in the last stage of dilapidation ; sup-, pose that the architects-had exhausted all their resources to keep it upright, and that in spite of 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 fall, and threatening every moment to come down with a crash on the heads of passers by. What would a spectator say in Mich a case? Would he not cry out that it ought to be pulled down immediately. Would he not exclaim, against the authorities who left such an unsightly and dangerous old ruin untouched. He would not stop to calculate what percentage of profit might be gained by removal, or to argue about the style of building that might be erected in its place. The tiling, he would say, speaks for itself. What ever eke 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 ropair. 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. Noiy, 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 for several years, hopelessly insolvent. It has been 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. £25,000 voted by the 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. The Bank account is overdrawn, the Treasury empty, and the revenue but a drop in the bucket compared with the demands upon it. Already, the Superintendent has been obliged to make a large advance from bis own private means to stave off an open declaration of insolvency, and the Provincial Treasurer acknowledges in express terms that the case is beyond remedy. After using all the means his ingenuity can suggest, by scraping together every farthing of revenue, and reducing expenditure to the lowest 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 Go-Rernment, he cannot see. his way through the current financial year. With good luck he may struggle: along for six months, and then, he says,, the end must come, unless the General Assembly will undertake to make provision for Provincial departments. "Things 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 maintained at the expense of the Colony, but it rests with the advocates of Provincialism to show on what grounds, and with what prospect of advantage, the Colony can be invited to .assume so heavy a burden. Auckland is not a solitary instance. In ail New Zealand, the two great southern Provinces alone cm lay claim to more than a nominal existence. Taranaki, with its £7000 a year of revenue; is no better than'a Road Board District; aiid Hawke's Bay, though its income, Land Fund included, reaches some L 40,000, yet, as' a Province, it scarcely deserves consideration. Wellington, a few years ago,. actually went through the Insolvency Court, after being reduced to the most deplorable shifts for money. The Province^ in the words of the then Provincial Secretary, "threw up the cards," and made over its load of debts, to be defrayed by ,the General.Government. Since then, under the maaagement of Messrs Fitzherbert and Bunny, Wellington has. improved its position, partly through the stimulus afforded by profuse Colonial expenditure,' but mainly by_ dint of a series of successful raids on the Colonial Treasury. The exactions of Wellington in their frequency and magnitude have surpassed even the performances of its earlier days, much as they have brightened. The fortunes of -the Province have been a sore charge upon the rest of the Colony. Wellington seems to have definitely quartered itself upon the Colony of New Zealand. The exchequer is the Wellington oyster, and political pressure, opportunely and relentlessly applied, is the weapon with which Mr Fitzherbert opens it. :

Passing on to the Middle Island, Westland is an avowed.pensioner on the General Government, and must file its schedule whenever its patrons desert it, or the Assembly choose to stop supplies. Marlborough is a mere cypher. Even Taraualu is a thriving, energetic Province compared to it. It cannot do so much as bnild a bridge without begging money from the Consolidated Fund. Nelson has contrived to keep its head above water, thanks to a cautious abstinence frop debt, which has distinguished the policy of its rulers. Yet, even, with that advantage, it cannot quite make both, ends meet. It is obliged to ask for a. few thousands from the Colonial revenue to cover its ordinary expenditure, and for anything beyond in the way of public works it is entirely dependent on the same ever ready and; as it seems to be thought, inexhaustible resource. Canterbury and Otago are the. oidy Provinces that can^claim to be financially independent, arid their situation is precarious. They have both., committed themselves to liabilities largely in' excess of their present means in. a reliance on. future land sales; and should their expectations not be realised, they will be plunged into serious embarrassment. Thus, of nine Provinces, two are total and irreparable failures by their own. confession;' they have completely broken, down. —are incapable of being made self-supporting. The third has been rescued front the same fate only by a long course of outside assistance; and of the rest, all but two need to be helped along from year to year by donations from the General Government. The sums distributed among the Provinces during the current year in the shape of subsidies, advances, and grants in aid amount to no less than £194,000. It is scarcely a question then whether the Provinces should be abolished. Facts have already desided, to all intents and purposes, that the business is done. When we compare the Provinces as they were and were meant to be and- as they are, it is evident that though a formal sentence of abolition has yet to be pronounced, the system is at an end. As a. system of Government, Provincialism is extinct. It has worked out its own destruction. It has abolished itself.