The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JULY 16, 1883.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2749, 16 July 1883, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JULY 16, 1883.

The debate on Mr Montgomery's Resolutions against Centralism came to an end on Friday night, after occupying a whole week, m the idlest of idle talk ; and they were rejected by a majority of 10. Considering Mr Montgomery's singular incapacity as a leader, and the efforts that were used by the Government to make the issue a mere party

question, the smallness of the majority is remarkable. The fact is a large section of the House, — m all probability, the majority — are dissatisfied with the present system of Government, and m favor of a change m the direction vaguely indicated by the Resolutions. Anyone who remembers the assurances that were given by the Abolition Ministry m 1875 and 1876, and is acquainted with the course of politics ever since, tnust perforce admit the truth of Mr Montgomery's first Resolution, namely "That the existingsystetn of Central Government has failed to realise the results anticipated, and that the promises and engagements made at the time of the abolition of the Provinces, have not been fulfilled." The two main promises on the strength of which Abolition was assented to were, firstly, that the local administration would be as effectively performed as it bad been under the Provincial Governments ; and, secondly, that local affairs would entirely vanish from the proceedings of the colonial Legislature. Sir Julius "Yogel declared that the transition from one system to the othor would be imperceptible, because a complete and efficient mode of local government would bo substituted for Provincialism. He also declared that local finance would be so entirely separated from general finance, that " the words ' roads and bridges ' would never be beavd m the House again." Can any candid man say that these anticipations have been realised V Most certainly not. The County system has utterly failed to supply the place of Provincialism ; and though eight years have passed since the provinces were abolished, no proper provision has yet been made for several of the departments which they administered most effectively. The hospitals and charitable institutions of the country are m a worse position now than they ever were m before ; and the Government confess that they are not prepared with any plan for dealing with them. They recommend the people to resort to National Insurance as a means of doing away with poverty; though they hare not the courage to bring down their scheme as a Ministerial Measure ; and m the meantime they leave the hospitals and charities dependent on voluntary subscriptions or on grudging, precarious, and inequitable grants from the consolidated fund. The public domains have been neglected altogether, and the Domain Boards are at their wits' end to know how to discbarge their functions. It was not until the state of the gaols and lunatic asylums was too scandalous to be tolerated any longer, that the Government of the colony began to do their duty with respect to them. As to the second promise, that local affairs would be exclusively attended to by local bodies, and that roads and bridges would never be heavd of m Parliament again, the very reverse is the case. Parliament is occupied far more with local affairs now, than at any period prior to Abolition. The Order Paper at this moment is ludon with Bills and Notices of Motion connected with purely local affairs ; while the great struggle of every session takes place on the distribution of funds for roads and bridges. It was only last year, seven years after the abolition of the Provinces, that an Act was passed for organising a system of roads and bridges, and the only result of that Act, as far as can be seen at present, was to mix up general with local finance more hopelessly than before. Thus we find the Minister of Public Works inviting the House to approve, as main roads, of a host of small works which neither himself nor any of the Members except those locally concerned, can possibly know anything about. The subject of roads and bridges now occupies a great part of the Public Works Statement, and the consideration of the Estimates for roads and bridges forms an important feature m the business of the Committee of Supply. Candidates for election to the House of Representatives, openly rest their claims to support on their ability for doing local business. Mr Shaw told the electors of Inangahua the other day that they did not want a representative, but a " proxy." Mr McDonald, just before his election for Bruce, declared that colonial politics were " all moonshine," and that his object m going to Wellington was to get for his own district, " a share of the good things that ■were going." Mr Watt, the Member for Wanganui, when twitted with having displaced a better man, retorted that he was the better man, because he could get more for his district than the late Member. In short, the colonial Parliament has admittedly degenerated into a huge Road Board. How then, m the face of these notorious facts, can it be maintained that the system of central government has realised the results anticipated, or that the promises and engagements made at the time of the abolition of the provinces have been fulfilled? The Ministry know very well that this cannot be maintained, and that is why they refused to allow Mr Montgomery's Resolutions to be discussed on their merits as a political question, bnt insisted on treating them as a vote of want of confidence. The supporters of the Resolutions are charged with obstructing the business, and wasting a week with a debate the result of which was a foregone conclusion. But m reality, it was the Ministers who obstructed the business and wasted the time, by making the Resolutions a party question. They were afraid of the reßult, if a division should have been taken on the bare issue put forward by Mr Montgomery ; and they, therefore, changed that issue to one of whether they or Mr Montgomery should hold office. We cannot see anything m the Resolutions of a party character, and we think the Ministers are greatly to blame for insisting on their being dealt with as a party question. The present Ministry are m no wise responsible for Abolition. One of them, Mr Rolleston, was the bitterest opponent of that Measure. He denounced it m season and out of season. He perambulated the colony with Sir George Grey m 1875, making speeches against it. Long after other provincialist leaders had accepted the new order of things, he held out with gloomy obstinaoy j and he never ceased to decry the county system m bitter terms, or to predict the moat terrible and disastrous results from centralism. What he wanted, of course, waß office ; and now

that lie bas got it, be goes dead against bis former convictions, declares that any condemnation of the existing system is a vote of want of confidence m himself and bis colleagues, and cheerfully affirms that centralism and the county system are all that could be desired. Mr Montgouiery'sßesolutiona, rightly understood, were an appeal to the Legislature to fulfil the promises of the Abolition party by establishing a broad and effective system of local administration. No one, we believe, wants to see Provincialism restored m the form m which Mr Rolleston cherished its memory so long. But there is undoubtedly, from one end of the country to the other, a strong sense of dissatisfaction witb the miserable system of meddle, muddle and intrigue, which at present usurps the place of politics. There is a growing demand for local control over local affairs ; and, sooner or later, that demand will become irresistible. Tbe man who shall be tbe first to formulate that demand m such a manner as to concentrate tbe full force of public opinion, and at the same time devise a means of satisfying it, will deserve tbe gratitude of tbe people of New Zealand. He certainly is not among tbe present occupants of the Treasury Bench ; and we very much fear he is not among the Opposition either. — * It was welcome news to us to learn that bee culture bas already reached a stage of importance m New Zealand, where it requires a special organ devoted to its interests. That Ruch is tbe fact, however, is shown by tbe publication at Auckland of the New Zealand and Australian Bee Journal, a very nicely got up twelve page monthly magazine. We bave often heard it asked how it is tbat considerable quantities of boney are annually imported into New Zealand from America, when New Zealand bas all tbe requisite conditions for producing an inexhaustible supply of that commodity. We bave even seen it propoßed tbat a heavy customs duty should be levied on honey, m order to compel the public to use tbe native article. Meanwhile, it seems, tho only reason why New Zealand has not supplied itself with boney, was precisely the same which prevents so many other native industries from competing successfully witb foreign manufactures. The business of bee keeping was not conducted on business principles. The method of production was clumsy and wasteful, the quality of tho honey was inferior and the supply was both insufficient and precarious. There was always a good deal of honey, of a sort, produced m the colony, but it was poor stuff, and there was no depending on getting it regularly at a reasonable price. It was settlers' honey, raised m gin cases or tea-chests by rule of thumb, and sold to the storekeeper m greater or less quantities, just as it suited the convenience of the settlers to bring it m. This is still the position of the trade m many parts of New Zealand. At Timaru, for instance, it is impossible to get boney regularly. One Saturday, perhaps, it is to be bought very cheaply at the auction sales of produce and sundries, and then there will be no more for a month. The price is not fixed at all, but is just whatever anybody is disposed to pay, regardless of the quality of the honey. Now, while bee-keeping is conducted m this fashion, it is no wonder that American honey is imported m considerable quantities, and finds its way even into country places like Timaru. In America, bee-keeping is a settled industry of the most systematic and exact description. The bee farms are on a large scale, and are managed on principles of tbe strictest economy. None but the very best breed of bees are kept, tbe hives are of the most approved designs, and all the processes are followed out with tho most studious attention. The humbler class of beekeepers imitate this method as nearly as possible. The result is that the markets of the world are furnished witb an unfailing supply of the finest boney at the lowest possible price, prepared for sale m the moat attractive way. Bat there is nothing to prevent the same thing being done m New Zealand, and of late years, it seems, the settlers m tbe North have been making great advances towards the establishment of a large and properly organised trade m honey. Thus we read of one bee-keeper who produced last season 90001bs of clear honey, and 20001bs of comb honey, and sold it all without difficulty at a satisfactory price. At 3d per lb, this venture yielded £133 for the season, which, being nearly all profit, is a very comfortable addition to the income of a country settler. In this case, apparently, no artificial feeding was resorted to, the bees being required to " find their own tucker" from the white clover, dandelions, ti-tree, Scotch thistle and flax which grow m the neighborhood. But m other respects, the management was thoroughly scientific, as it must always be m order to be successful. The hives used were frame hives of the " Langstroth " pattern, and artificial " comb foundation," — a most ingenious invention for saving the bees labor — was used. The whole colony of bees consisted exclusively of the Ligurian speoies, which tbe best judges declare produce twice as much honey as the common bee, and of better quality. The bee-keeper alluded to reports that he got 450Jlbs of honey from one bive. He kept this hive on a scalo to see bow much was brought m daily, and on ono day the scale registered an addition of 191bs as the result of the bees' industry. Poverty Bay is one of the greatest honey districts of New Zealand. At the Roseland Apiary near Gisborne, there were 400 hives m profit last season, yielding about 4 tons of honey, and the proprietor is making preparations for exporting on a large scale. At another apiary at Te Arai there were 254 hives, yielding 2J tons of honey, a large proportion of wbich, we are interested to learn, was used for making various soils of wine, grape, peacb, elder and others. The value of the wine made last season is stated at £200, and it pays so well that m future the operations are to be greatly extended, and the boney applied almost exclusively to tbe manufacture of wine. There are many smaller, but growing establishments m the same district, and m all cases without exception, where the right eort of bees are kept, and only the most perfect appliances employed, they are making money

and laying the foundation of a valuable property. Experience shows that while the common flowers of New Zealand are not so rich m honey-bearing qualities as the white sage of America, yet the supply of honey m this tcolony is singularly even. In America, one season will be very good, producing an enormous yield, while the next will be very poor indeed ; but the record of ten years m New Zealand shows that, with some slight variations obviously caused by changes m the weather, one season is very much like another. This circumBtance is considered a great advantage, and is held sufficient to counterbalance the larger average yield m America, by enabling the beekeeper to make his arrangements with greater certainty, and also to dispense m a great measure with artificial feeding. On the whole, we are pleased to learn, tbe honey trade is already m a flourishing condition m the North, and its prospects are decidedly brilliant. The demand for honey is such that it sells readily m tins at 8s 3d per dozen wholesale, or lOd per lb retail ; while the price of American honey m glasses — a very knowing way of putting it vp — is 12s per dozen wholesale, or Is 3d per lb retail. The wonderful growth of this highly important industry m ■ America, is attributed mainly to the untiring efforts of enthusiasts m bee keeping to disseminate information on the subject. It was only by interchange of experience and the wide publication of the results of a multitude of observations, that it came to be realised how profitable a branch of domesticindustry this is. For years past there has been m existence quite a copious literature on bee keeping m tbe States. There are no fewer than six papers there devoted solely to the affairs of this pursuit, while there are about the same number m Europe. Beekeeping, m fact, is a business which mußt have journals of its own, because it is necessary to its progress that each person engaged m it should know what all the others are doing, m order that all may benefit by individual experience, or be warned by individual mishaps. Thus the appearance of a Bee Journal m New Zealand is nothing more than the natural result of the vigorous and eminently successful attempts that have been made m the North to establish this ancient, pleasant, lucrative and most useful industry on a broad and permanent footing. We sincerely wish both the industry and the Journal every Bort of good fortune.