The Southland Times. PUBLISHED DAILY. Luco Non Uro. FRIDAY, 8th AUGUST, 1879.

Southland Times, Issue 3473, 8 August 1879, Page 2

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED DAILY. Luco Non Uro. FRIDAY, Bth AUGUST, 1879.

I We imagine that Mr Matthew Holmes 1 ni'ust have labored under a- misappre'l hension when he indited his letter to the , Harbor Board, in"reply to the respectful request made to him by that body relative to the foreshore endowment. That he .thought proper to refuse is nqt to be cavilled at. Mr Holmes has a perfect right to enjoy Jiis own opinion, albeit that opinion is open to exception ;. it is . not every one that would view the question from his standpoint; *we certainly do not, and would point out that ( the T Government/having divested itself of all responsibility in connection with harbor management, is bound in equity to provide those-, upon whom it permitted the i responsibility to devolve, with the ways and means of properly sustaining it, especially such ways and means -that form part of what may be regarded as national endowment. After depth of , water and, shelter the foreshore of a harbor is its next most valuable feature, and something 1 that is rightly regarded as a liberal source of future revenue. Mr Holmes ' is of opinion that " the "Government i! should not, on 'any account," divest itself of the sole right"— to the foreshore of harbors. , „ Nsw. what, we should, like ; to Know, could be the object of "any gofverning body in- its dealings with the foreshore of a harbor but to benefit that harbor. ■ ' It ; matters' not whether the right is vested in a_ central 1 government or in a local government, providing it is not misused/ and we would with I all due' respect tp^tHe central Government, that probabilities are more in favor of careful equitable administration of the estate toy the: hands* of %cal? trusfees:ithan I by a far-removed ; government, inclined to take greater cognisance' of general principles than mere local details. Considering the promising future that: is before it, and - the imperative necessity alreadyfelt of apply ing art to .the improvement of its natural good parts, the Bluff Harbor has been,— by. no means, too liberally endowed' by^-thV 'Government. About £50,000 is the value of that endowment, and : what 4 s that, sum compared, cwiihvibb^atvwjiich lias to be done in the immediate^ future tp render the port suitable :ibr , the vvess.els wihichj already resort to it.. —The- Bluff- Harbpr Board, the local -governing body, perceives what is'-beforo at, andi makes timelylrequisition for. that which, will ere Ipng become a pressing' 'requirements r ] Th^^Bpard ' is appealing by bill to Parliament, and 1 - entrusted' ; : the ■> bill to a gentleman than •• whom thftre is no -one : that we know -of ; who holds the interests of" Southland more i dear. Mr Holmes' co-operation in the matter was also sought for because, we presume, he is largely; in terr ested in the district, and might therefore be expected to regard^with favor any attempt to. permanently improve its chief port. "It is a very great pity that appliI cation-i.ad not .been made. -in ..another quarter,' for the Board would then have been spared the ungracious rebuff it *has xeceivecl from Mr Holmes.

. We, have, said that Mr. Holmes misapprehended the position ; either that, or he has been guilty of wilful impertinence and an exhibition of autocracy, , which was perhaps not so surprising, but which had 'better have been suppressed. What, in the name of all that is remarkable, had the Bluff Harbor 'Board to do with -the rejection of Dr Menzies as one of its' members ? The Board is, in the main, an elective body, and,' according to the new Act, four-fifths of the members are elected by certain 'public bodies, of which .the Southland County .Council is one, and privileged to return one member to the Board. Just one, 1 and no more ; and of the ; two candidates proposed, Dr Menzies was rejected. We are quite sure the selection made by the Council was prompted by sufficient reason. We have !"no desire to draw comparisons, but we _say that the member s'elepted had, by long service, proved tiis: capacity f and was by all -regarded as 'a worthy choice. We believe that ' choree was' also induced

by the fact of Dr Menzies a being in Parliament, and- therefore absent several months of the year. The Council's representative had also been long associated with the Council as one of its most able members ; what, then, more natural that the choice should have fallen upon him, Mr Mitchell? W & 'certainly fail to see in "> an evil following upon popular elections, sach as js certainly" implied by Mr Holmes — a free, choice^, befitting a free institution' and a .free people ."was made, and a worthy choice to Boot.' What, then does .Mr Holmes meauiby the slur -he ' casts upon popular repre- { sentation in' stating, in so many words, ' that it is not fit to be entrusted with i .extensive powers. Mr Holme.B, has ,been I guilty^ 'of -a 'paltry, narrow-minded splenetic exhibition, and ' the feeling that prompted 'it is that -which tends^ above all else to bring the order, to which he ' belongs into public contempt, 1 and under public i-eprobation. It js^the.expressjon I of such: sentiments that puts arms *in the hands of the enemies of constitutional Government' to be used against' it. s 'lt is not £y wrapping themselves" ia""tfie toga of overweening autocracy that Xegislative councillors. will gain the' esteem and confidence of the country, and we mustsay Mr Holmes" lias inctineft to guiltiness in

! this reßpect in his 'recent communication with the Bluff Harbor Board. What a i contrast between the attitude he has assumed and the friendly, politic, manly i bearing of Dr Menzies. A. true* gentle--1 man, he accepted his rejection at the j ! hands of the County Council in a proper and philosophical spirit, and we have no doubt that in his innermost heart he i 1 rather rejoiced, inasmuch that the views ' he advocated T in providing more liberal I representation [in the constitution of the | Board were being so freely >and' iide-" I pendently expressed. We very much , ! mistake Dr Menzies if he was in the slightest degree chagrined by his rejection by the County Council, If he was, it has long since passed away, and now as ever, he is not only ready, but sincerely desirous to do all in his power to forward : the interests of Bluff Harbor, and every | other section of the district. He sees | nothing objectionable in the proposition , relative to the foreshore endowment, and ' nothing in the behavior of the Board calling for rebuke, especially such a ' rebuke as that administered by Mr Holmes, and which Councillor McArdell was quite in order in terming " impertinent."