SOUTHLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 94

SOUTHLAND.

SEPARATED AND RE-UNITED. Dr Hocken wittily remarks in fci6 "Contributions to the Early History of New Zealand" that "the history of Southland has points of .resemblance to the story of the Prodigal Son." Smarting under the disabilities which handicapped them at such a distance from Dunedin, unfair treatment in the expenditure of revenue, and other grievances, the people of Murihiku in March^ 1857, petitioned the Governor praying for separation and for inquiry into the proceedings of the Waste Land Board. Dr Menzies was the prime mover, and, aided by the New Provuicee Act of 1858, the electors of Murihiku secured their "portion" on April 1, 1861, when the population of Invercar,gill i_umbe_ecl about- 400 souls and that of the new province about 1500. The population of Otago then numbered 15,000. The career of the new province was meteoric, and serious embarrassments ensued. The council complained of reckless expenditure on public 1 works, and within four years after it 6 secession the province was prostrate under a debt of £400,000. A return to the parent province pointed t<he way to a solution of difficulties. The only other alternative was direct taxation, which, considering the sparseness of population, depleted by the rush to the West Coast goldfields, could not be entertained. Reunion was. advocated by a large majority, and Southland "came back" on November 8, 1870.