AUCKLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 1129, 19 July 1873, Page 5

AUCKLAND.

(from our our correspondent.) The approaching session of the Assembly is expected here to be stormy. The calculations are in favour of a majority for the Government, and the Opposition is neither popular nor trusted. Every one now admits the perils of the policy of public works and immigration, and few doubt that it will end in very serious trouble for the Colony. But the reaction against the Opposition is strong. Why did they not stop the scheme at the beginning '? Why lend the willing ear which alone gained for it a status, and threw people off their guard in its consideration ? These are the questions asked, and. I fear, not easily answered. It is useless to object merely to the administration, for ifc is admitted on both sides that faithful, honest administration is impracticable by any party in a scheme so indefinite, and with .sums so large at the disposal of a body like the Assembly. It is one of the faults inherent in the scheme, but it is a fault which the Opposition must have foreseen, and which it is now held should have induced them to object to it at starting. Jt would be an error, however, to suppose there is any confidence in the Government, either in its administration or in Native affairs. In the latter they have sustained a rude shock, There is a lull for the moment on the frontier, but none the less of grave anxiety, as it is felt the Government are neither strong nor ready, and that we are dependent on the forbearance of the King party — a frail reliance, when it is known that a thousand men are assembled in the neighbourhood of Te Kuiti, and that they are well supplied with arms, food, and ammunition. The King has so far given us assurapce that in future white men ■will not be murdered, But the assurance }3 accompanied with the information that Maoris who sell their land, or who allow roads or telegraphs through it, will be dealt with in a very summary way. In other words, we shall escape but our allies will suffer, and unless we are prepared to protect them — which means war — they are to feel their helplessness and the futility of reliance upon us. Many of them have already suffered severely in this way during Te Kooti's rebellion. They have been left to endure the slaughter of relatives unavenged, and have seen the slaughterers petted and paid on the least show of submission. This is one of the grievances they have against us, and one cause of the apathy and in some cases the open antipathy they have recently shown. The Ngapuhis, upon whose support much reliance has been placed, are not so unanimous as was at first expected. Many of them are united by family ties to the King party, and would not act wgainst them. It is questionable how far the Colony will gain by delay. Settlement cannot extend in the present state of affairs, our expenditure is nearly up to war point, and the blow may come upon us when the credit of the Colony, sure under any circumstances to be severely strained, may be exhausted. The Native question is therefore certain to occupy a considerable space in the debates of the session. The condition of this Province will also foroe attention. Its indirect revenue is entirely absorbed by the General Government, and it has no land or other revenue of moment to fall back upon. The public works carried on are of comparatively trifling character, and the only one of consequence, the Waikato Railway, is diagging along very slowly. The actual revenue is not more than £40,000 to £45,000, of which the best part is from goldfields, and to be expended locally. There ia no room for retrenchment, and there is nothing for education or for any progressive purpose. Something must be done, or the institutions of the Province will collapse. The general feeling at present is in favour of their abolition, and of handing over the administration to the General Government. But the feeling is baßed on the delusion that the General Government has funds which the Province has not. Of course those acquainted with the real condition of afiairs are aware that this is not the case. But the public generally will not appreciate it till it is forced upon them by the cessation of the loans — a contingency unlikely to influence politics during the coming session at all events. It is expected also that Napier affairs will occupy a good deal of attention. The report of the Lands Alienation Commission will be brought up, and the complaints of the influential, but now penniless, chiefs of that district will require investigation. Nothing is yet known here of the view taken of this and other Native matters by the Maori Representatives, but their votes will become of increasing value as the session advances, and as these questions come under notice. Mr M'Lean, , Mr Ormond, and other leading men being personally interested in the Napier question, it will be ©dd if it do not become one of the most acrimonious

of the session. It is also likely that a stand will be made against the persistent alienation of the Crown Lands by the system of endowment which is being so largely adopted in your Province. Not to put too fine a point upon it, there will probably be in this respect an unprecedented amount of loif-rolling. Wellington wants a loan of £210,000. You want your lands secured, and Auckland has one or two necessities which, cannot be overlooked. A very strong claim will be made for tho completion and extension, as rapidly as possible, of tho Waikato Kailway, but that can scarcely be called an Auckland affair. It is a just claim of the Waikato settlers, who have been induced to expend great sums of money and risk their lives on the security of Crown grants. So far as the Province is concerned, the people in its Northern districts, and those on the East Cnast, are no more interested in this work than you are in the South. The city of course will benefit by and strongly support the claim, but it is one that will receive support independently of any local considerations. Such are a few of the leading subjects one hears of as likely to come before the Assembly.

It is not to be expected that Otago at present will take the same vie v in Colonial finance as Auckland. You have public works on the most extensive scale being executed on the credit of the consolidated revenue, and you have a large land and goldfields revenue thus left free for other purposes. Auckland, with nearly the same population, would last year have been unable to make ends meet but for a fortuitous grant from the loans of £20,000. Her goldfields revenue goes largely to the Maoris who own the land, and her territorial revenue is nil. The day however, must come when the borrowing power is exhausted, and the Colony and the Provinces be left to face their difficulties, with, it is to be fearfid, their powers and duties still conflicting and undefined. It is scarcely to be thought that, in case of such disaster, the Provinces without land would submit to additional taxation to meet interest on the Colonial debt, while those with land were left serenely to enjoy it. The landless Provinces would have quite enough difficulty in supporting their internal institutions, which they could only do by the obnoxious means of direct taxation. The only chance of the question in its constitutional aspect as affecting the relation of the Provinces to the General Government cropping up in the session, will be on the motion to secure to Provincial Governments the management of the railways when constructed — a motion to which it is said the Government are quite ready to accede. So far as our members are concerned, their party relations are not likely to differ much from those of last session. The resignation of Mr M'Leod loses the Government a supporter, but his successor is not yet known.