(From the Daily Times, Sept. 11.)

Otago Witness, Issue 824, 13 September 1867, Page 1

(From the Daily Times, Sept. 11.)

The present session nf the General Assembly is likely to have a more than usually important bearing . upon the future of the Colony. The unwarrantable proposal, in Committee of Supply, to raise, in round figures, £200,000 additional, under the Three Million Loan' Act, and to add this sum to. the present debt of the Colony, should of itself be sufficient to rouse the Colonists from their apathy, and to lead them to use their privileges to express their disapproval of so objectionable a proceeding. All the logic of which Mr. Fitzherbert i 3 master, can never alter the fact that when the Bill authorising that Loan was passed, it was intended that the Colony should not incur a greater liability than £3,000,000. No one acquainted with finance ever anticipated that the Stock could be negotiated at par. It was expected that a discount must be submitted to. The very purpose for which the Loan was raised, rendered it inevitable ; and the surprise is, not that- so heavy a discount was necessary, but that the loan was negotiated on terms so favorable. Thi3 was undoubtedly owing to the good, opinion of people at Home of the prospects and financial condition of the Colony, and of the integrity of the Government. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that a reputation for honor and integrity should be maintained; and this is just what is likely to be endangered by placing const uctions upon an Act of Parliament that, on the face of it, it was never intended to bear. The lenders under the Three Million Loan Act advanced the money in confidence that the Stock represented that amount, and no more ; and we have before shown that if, instead, three millions and a quarter are raised, however technically an excuse for' such a procedure may be found in the Act, the Government adopting that course is guilty of a breach of faith, and proves itself capable of taking every advantage that suits the purpose of the moment. If a new Loan were needed, it should have been the subject of a special Act, and have stood on its own moiits. It is surprising that so obviously plain a principle should not have commended itself to the Treasurer, who, for his own sake as well as to sustain the reputation of the Colony, should not have stooped to so crooked a policy as that to which he has committed himself.

Unfortunately for Mr Fitzherbert's reputation as a statesman, the session of ISG7 will be damaging to it. There is no denying that his Financial Scheme is ingenious, but none can assert that it is not glaringly unjust. The proposal to remit tie debt due by the Northern Provinces ; i ie extraordinary plan of adjustment of the alleged debt due \.y the Provinces to the Colony ; and lastly, raising the wind by acting upon a legal quibble, prove that expediency is his ruling principle, and that he is ready to adopt any plan that seems lilcely to fix the Ministry tirmly in their seats. He has now secured a majority in the House of Representatives — a majority paid for at a high price, and who, to obtain the advantages he holds out to them, are subservient enough. The telegram we received, announcing the termination of the debate, showed, that although, energetically opposed, there was no chance whatever of successfully making head against the Ministerial supporters, and so the debate ended without adivision. So far, then, a,s the House of Representatives is concerned, there is little change of dealing advantageously , with the Government. But the people ; ; should not hold their perce. Some of the- - propositions in the Financial Statement ■require special Acts for their sanction, and the House ought to know that, however submissive the majority may be, the people outside are not so well contented.. The majority is . not composed of members representing the Northern Provinces only. It includes several from

"She Middle Island, and these might 1 1» taught, by energetic remonstrances from their constituents) that the support given by them to.the Ministry is antagp- , rustic to the best interests of the Island, j There is also another dagger. Should no «xpression.of opinion be^iven on .< these: subjects, the Ministry will triumphantly point to the silence of the country, and •constaie it into approval of their policy ; "while the Middle Island representatives -who lend their aid to cany it into effect, xnay also fairly aay that Mr. Fitzherbert'a JFinancial Statement was published and circulated, and that, as no public ex- j pression of disapproval of it was given, and no request made that they should oppose it, they had a right to suppose j that their constituencies either acquiesced in or were indifferent to it, and therefore they felt under no obligation to op- j pose it. But assuming that there is a convic- , "turn that it is no use remonstrating with, i or petitioning, the present House of there are still methods open by which the measure might be successfully defeated. There is, perhaps, i»o great an inclination in the Colony to overlook the functions of the Upper House, I partly becaxise they are not a representative body, and, therefore, seldom come prominently before the people, and partly because it is not often that it is neca■sary to ask their aid to averta danger from 4he proceedings in the Houseof Repretatives. But the present crisis is peculiar. The bribe accepted by the Auckland members, by means of which the Ministerial majority has been secured, and the injustice to which it is proposed to subject the Middle Island, from good grounds for petitioning the Legislative Council not to pass the Appropriation Bill. Such a course may have it 3 inconveniences ; but it will also have its ad•rantages. It will prove that the people are not indifferent to what is passing in the legislature, but are determined constitutionally to assert their right to evenhanded justice. As a last resource, the Governor should be appealed to, and requested to withhold his assent to the appropriations until it is clearly proved that the interests of one island are not "being sacrificed to those of another ; nor should the people rost until they have exlausted every constitutional means of defeating plans so glaringly and manifestly unjust.