The Star. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1868.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 162, 18 November 1868, Page 2

The Star. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1868.

— — » — In a former article we pointed out the chief points in what may be called the political creed of the Constitutional Reform Association. "We intimated also that we were not prepared either to advocate the views embodied in that creed, or to condemn them, but that we intended to inquire, calmly and dispassionately, into the whole subject, with the object of assisting our readers to arrive afc a just, prudent, and practical conclusion. The first article in the manifesto of the Association declares that the state of public affairs in the colony is full of peril, and it is necessary that we should endeavour to find out whether this is really the case. At first sight ifc may appear that the only " peril " of the colony is the war now going on in the North Island, but a closer examination will reveal other circumstances whicli may have weighed with the members of the Constitutional Reform Association in arriving at the conclusion that they were justified in applying so strong a term to the condition of the colony*. The Maori war is undoubtedly the chief cause of all our troubles, as well as the actual " peril" which we have most to dread, but we believe it will be found that there are other things of hardly less importance. It is not necessary that we should dwell on the war itself. The public must be perfectly aware by thi3 time that, practically, the whole- of the North. Island is in a state of war, that this war was brought about by the mismanagement, incompetence, and neglect of the General Government, that it

must be now causing 'an expenditure of something like half a million per annum, and that there is no prospect of peace while tbe present system remains in force. No member of the Government can say with certainty, or even with moderate probability, when the war will cease, or whether there is a reasonable ground for believing that the Natives -will stop fighting while they are able to muster I fifty men to form a marauding party. In a word, it ia impossible to tell either the extent or the duration of our liability on account of war. No one can answer the questions — how long will it last, and how much will it cost ? If we turn to the financial condition of the colony, we are at once met with the ugly fact, that we owe more than seven millions, the annual charge on which swallows up about half our annual income. And we all know too well that, to raise this income, the colony is taxed to the very utmost possible extent. It is not alone the amount of taxes we have to pay that must be considered. "We must bear in mind also, that our heavy taxation prevents the influx of population, which is the very life-blood of a young country. With such a large number to choose from, ia it reasonable to suppose that prudent men, with or without capital, will select heavily-taxed New Zealand as a desirable place to emigrate to ? We are, then, in this position : Our taxes are already as much as we can bear ; we are incurring an expenditure which must be met somehow ; we cannot hope to attract fresh tax-payers to help us to bear our burdens. What is to be the end? National bankruptcy ? That/or natioual repudiation, which is the same thing under another and not leas ugly name. Is it possible to deny that the condition of the colony is full of peril ? We might, were it necessary, urge several other points to show that the colony is indeed in a perilous position ; we are unable, after the most dispassionate consideration, and with every desire to arrive at a hopeful view, to say that affairs are not so bad as they have been painted. We cannot see that it is possible for them to be worse, unless the colony files its schedule in the Bankruptcy Court.