OUR OBSTRUCTIVES.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 107, 29 October 1858, Page 3

OUR OBSTRUCTIVES.

(From the Otago Colonist.) Of all the scourges which can be inflicted upon a young and expanding colony, we know of none more galling, or more difficult to bear, than that of an obstructive Government, whose sense of duty seems to be that it should throw cold water and act as a drag upon everything in the shape of progress. Such is the Government which this fiiie province of Otago is content for the present to rejoice in. How long this is to last we cannot predict, although we think we can discover unmistakeable symptoms of a coming storm, which will make.a clean sweep of all the dead weight and lumber which at present act as an effectual barrier against improvement. Were we to search the wide range of free institutions all over the world, we do not believe that a similar state of things could be found to that which Otago now presents. A community, the whole genius of which in its individual capacity is expansive and progressive, full of life—of energetic vigorous action; and yet in its collective capacity, as represented by its Executive Government, this very community is dwarfish, shrivelled, and decrepit, distinguished by listless inertiae, and torpid inanity. This contrast between the individual and collective is so very anomalous, that a stranger would fiud it difficult to attribute our observations to.aught else than the keenness of political warfare. Would that there were no other foundation than this for outf remarks. We can assure our readers that we write more in sorrow than in anger. j We shall just glance very cursorily at the grounds on which our observations are based. And what, we would ask in the first place, has the Government done for the last six months, further than the mere ordinary routine of1 paying and-receiving .'their own salaries? What have they done to develop the resources of the country ? They have stopped the immigration movement, just at the time when thousands of industrious families were looking to this province as their future home, and when hundreds had actually arranged for their passage, and were all ready to start; at a time, moreover, when the demand for labor all over the country is greater than ever it has been; and, if rumor speaks truly, not only have they .nipped in the bud by far the most auspicious immigration movement that has yet set in from the mother country towards these shores, but they have prejudiced the public credit of the province by failing to provide the agents at' home with debentures to enable them to fulfil their engagements. What have they done towards steam navigation ? They have thrown cold water upon, or rather they have positively discarded, a steamer brought to ourvery doors, with a view to connect together the whole province with itself, as well as with Australia. Then as to roads, what has been done? They have upset the operations of the General Road Trustees, and put a stop to .the various works in progress under the direction of that body. Witness the line to Portobello, which had actually been contracted for; the line to .the north through the bush to Blueskin; and the improvement on the main south road past Captain Cargilt's farm. In fact, the General Road Board Jhas been turned into a farce—a mere piece of useless machinery, in consequence of the nbhv_6-bperatfda or jealousy of the Government and its officials; so much so that the sooner it is abolished the better.

We now turn to the administration of the Waste Lands of the Crown, a subject which entails burning sliame upon the Government as well as upon the province, and to which it is necessary simply to advert. The total want of system inthe conduct of the bu'siues3, and the sheer incapacity—aggravated as this is by the unscrupulous partisanship—of the head of the department, has brought the whole thing into such a mess, that every day is revealing cases of injustice and hardship which in many instances involve serious loss, if not absolute ruin to individuals. As a specimen of the injustice _to which we refer, we need only mention a case which came under our notice the other day. An individual applied for a run some months, ago, accompanying his application with a sketch ofthe country. He is refused, on the ground that some parties in Canterbury had applied for country in the same locality two years ago. He presses his appication, alleging that the parties in question having failed to stock the country should not be allowed to interfere with a bona fide applicant, he clearly shewing further that Iris application did not clash witli theirs in the slightest degree; that in fact it was a different country altogether; still he is refused. Our readers may judge of the astonishment of the individual, and of the fairness with which he was treated, at finding the identical run, which some months ago had been refused to him, publicly advertised in the name of a friend of the Chief Commissioner, being no other than the gentleman put forward by him as a candidate for the seat in the General Assembly now held by Mr. Taylor. We shall be somewhat surprised if the public of Otago will bear much longer with the evil consequences of his Honor having suffered himself to be guided, in appointing the head of the most important department of the Government, by motives of family necessity rather than by a consideration of the public welfare.

So much for deeds of commission. The most fertile theme however, upon which to descant, did space permit, would be the deeds of omission, their name being legion. There is no one thing which we might have expected to see accomplished at the hands of the Government which they ;have even ventured to tackle. Take for example the preservation of the public records. It is a disgraceful fact that tbe whole of the deeds affecting rights to property in this province are kept in a wooden press, in a wooden building, which a spark from the pipe of any passer by. may effectually dispose of any night. Our Provincial Legislature has not a space much larger than the black hole of Calcutta in which to hold its august deliberations; how or where it is to meet when three additional members are elected is more than we cm tell. This may appear a trifling matter; it is one, nevertheless, for which the Government deserves, and that most justly, to be severely censured, as they can neither plead the want of money nor material whereof to have made suitable provision for the next meeting of the Council. These are mere indications of the utter helplessness and the total absence of any influence for good which have distinguished our rulers, while their influence for evil, as being obstructive of progress—as regards everything that can tend to make the country, has been amply exemplified in their treatment of immigration, steam communication, road making, and the administration of the Waste Lands.