The Star. TUESDAY, MAY 18, 1869.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 315, 18 May 1869, Page 2

The Star. TUESDAY, MAY 18, 1869.

♦ — ; — Tbe Press, having tried persuasion find failed fco make the Council believe that it is right to hand over the privilege of regulating the representation of the province to hia Honor the Superintendent, gets angry, and threatens the members with all sorts of remote pains and penalties. As is usual "wbpn the Press loses its temper, it is sure to write a great deal of nonsense. In its article this morning it commences by assuming that those whom ifc ia pleased to term ' rabid ' pro▼incialists do not wish to see reform and retrenchment exercised in the management of provincial affairs. Now the men who oppose the unconstitutional stretch of power nttempted by the Government in forcing the Representation Bill «Sown the throats of the Council are thoae whom the Press calls rabid proTuncialists. But these are the very __aen who, a short time ago, initiated and carried through, the vigorous reforms which really saved the province irom a most pressing financial danger. Yet these are -the men, according *o the Press, who hate reform, and wbo are endangering the existence of provincial institutions, by standing out against thi3 bill. Tbe truth ia exactly opposite to what is stated in the Press. It was uot tiie Provincial Government that put its fcouse in order, but the Council that made it do so. If the public had been forced to wait till' the Government y&formed itself, it would have had to wait till now without seeing the reform carried out. It wa : & the Council that larong-hfc pressure to bear upon the Government, and the reform that followed was mainly due to the exertions cf the gentleman to whom we suppose the Press alludes as the leading oppo^ ] jftßnt of the present bill. Mr Montgomery, with the help of the Council, carried out the reform which the Press attributes to the late Government, and he now opposes the unconstitutional attempt of the Government to deprive the Council of one of ita moat important privileges. He is as right now as iho was then, and \ye hope the Council Taiil give him the support he deserves. Tlie advice of the Press may be very disinterested, but tho public cannot forget that our contemporary Jeans continually towajr.4? Wellington. It «alls upon the Council to submit itseli -patiently into tho frauds of the Executive, lest it should find itself suddenly swept away altogether by the Central

Government. This appeals to us to be a very childish threat. It rn.ans, in effect, that if the Council does not yield up its privileges of its own accord, they will certainly be taken from ifc by force. The obvious answer to \ such advice is, that there can be no surer inducement for the General Governmeut to interfere than for the Council to shew that it is too weak to resist the pressure of its own Executive. When this state of things comes to pass, then the Council will indeed bo ripe for destruction. "Wheu il ceases to be able and willing to reform itself, it will cease to deserve public consideration. ■*"—^— -™^*-* »■*■■ ' Mi-mmwtm-t^— w— ■ _— «—■ —_——__■__— ■__■