The Otago Witness. DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, MARCH 13.

Otago Witness, Issue 902, 13 March 1869, Page 13

The Otago Witness. DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, MARCH 13.

There can b,e no mincing the matter in speaking of the recent intelligence from the North Island. Possibly the threatened general rising may not occur, but we do not need any such aggravation of our troubles to render them most serious, not only for those settlers whose persons and property are placed in immediate peril, but for every colonist of JN'ew Zealand. Here in Otago, whilst the. deepest sympathy and the most painful anxiety are awakened in our minds on account of our fellow-colonists who dwell in the midst of these alarms, we cannot regard the present position of the colony -without a sort of dismay on our account. There is no risk for ourselves of murdei's and desolated homesteads, but the mischief is none the less real because it touches our pockets as taxpayers, and our interests as settlers, by its continual drain upon revenues which should be expended for the material advancement of the province which we have chosen for our home. Having by voluntary choice settled in a land where there is no native race disposed, or able, to interfere with our peaceable possession of the soil, it is simply exasperating to be made to contribute enormous sums towards the defence of men who have preferred to settle down amidst a hostile population, and to run risks which we have purposely avoided. If the contributions thus demanded from us were light, or even moderate in amount, the spirit of humanity — a fellow-feeling for our brother-settlers who are in trouble — might have led us to yield to the impost willingly, and without a thought of murmuring-. Exit, in fact, the burden put upon us is more than we can bear without wincing 1 . It is sufficient to interfere in the most serious manner with the otherwise certain progress of this province. We have already been made to feel this in many ways ; but there is every reason to fear that it will make itself more sensibly felt in the future than it has ever yet been.

Out of the enormous revenue raised from the population by Customs Duties — a revenue by far larger than any that is, or ever has been, raised in a similar manner from like numbers — there used in former days to be a very considerable sum available for what ,we may call local purposes. Three-eighths of the whole Customs Revenues, and sundry good round sums in the "way of surpluses, found their way into the hands of the Provincial Treasui'er, and were appropriated by the Council for strictly provincial purposes. This, let it be remembered, was over and above the provision for those public services which are kept under the control of the General Government, and before the additional impost of Stamp Duties was thought of. A few years of war, with an interval of what may be called armed peace, have made a sad difference in all this. It is time that the province has itself cut off some of its share of the Customs Revenue, by anticipating it. The interest and sinking funds of its loans now absorb a considerable percentage of that revenue. And by temporary and very unsatisfactory arrangements, moneys have still to bo paid over to the local

authorities for local purposes. But itis impossible to believe that any such arrangements can be continued in the face of the present condition of affairs* A new war loan is not a thing likely to find much favour, either with the people of New Zealand or with the moneyed men, from whom it would have to beinvited. How, then, is 'the present rate of expenditure to be kept up? And on the other hand, how is it to be dispensed with ? The ready answer to the first of these questions is, that the ordinary revenue of the colony must no longer be charged with expenses of a strictly local character. To use the current phraseology, the colony must have the Customs and the Stamp Duties, and the provinces must shift for themselves. As to reducing the expenditure, the idea appears at the present time to be simply preposterous. [ Far more likely is it that it must, perforce, be increased. The threat of the Maori King to join our foes may, if it be a fact, revive Mr Stafford's old threat of an Income Tax; and we shall be very much surprised indeed if we escape without some such an addition to our existing burdens. It is even quite probable that as the lands of the province must lie considered to be the ultimate security to which the holders of our debentures look, the provision for the interest and sinking funds in connection with t.hem is just as likely as not in the end to be thrown upon our territorial revenue.

It is well that we should consider what the results of all this must be to Otago. There never was a time in our history when it was more desirable that ample means for public works and other purposes should be available for us. The province, full of all the elements of prosperity, must suffer a check to its progress if such means cannot be found ; and the inevitable result of the present state of things must be that we shall neither obtain these means from ordinary revenue, nor be in a position to raise them by further loans. Local rates will have to be depended upon for almost every purpose which is now cared for at the expense of that common purse which the province still retains. This picture of the future is no exaggeration of the probabilities of the case. It is mere folly to think of it as an impossibility, or even as a remote contingency. "We have no details of the war expenditure now going on in the North Island, but the loosest estimate of it will fix it at a figure which must very quickly lead to the realization of all our forebodings. How will this suit Otago? From every part of the country there is a cry for expensive works, or still more expensive rectifications of the mischief which our land lav/s are working 1 . Oamaru needs a heavy sum for Harbour Improvements, and Moeraki and Waikouaiti put in claims for proportionate shares of the public money. Tuapeka asks for commonages, which, according to the Superintendent's calculation, it will cost £20,000 to provide, and other districts very naturally follow her example. A bridge is needed to span the "Waitaki; a huge dam at Tuapeka will, according to the local authorities, be the salvation of the district ; whilst Naseby will be content with a sludge channel, if it can also have its own way about commonage and certain agricultural lease reserves. 'It is impossible to doubt that the majority of these demands are, in the strictest sense of the word, legitimate. Were Otago an independent State, or even a distinct colony, they would all have the serious attention of its government, and might ere long be all fairly satisfied, if the enormous taxes we pay were spent amongst ourselves, and for our purposes only. Reflecting upon all these things, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the prospects and position of Otago are in danger of being sacrificed. If any one appeared to reap any advantage, there might be some consolation in that. But it cannot be doubted that the North Island would lose nothing by all we should gain from a complete Separation j a fact which thousands of our fellow colonists there have long since seen, and of which they

have not been slow to declare their conviction. It is time that the people of Otago took some pains to let their minds on this subject make known.