The Star. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1869.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 417, 15 September 1869, Page 2

The Star. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1869.

♦ Wp are sorry for the Press — really fcorry. And not without cause. The provinces won't amalgamate ; they won't be swept away ; and they will persist in looking after their own interests. This is very terrible, and as true as terrible. No wonder that our contemporary is angry ; no wonder that he is reduced to his very last resource •—quoting the late John Robert Grodley, &nd blubbering, boo-hoo-00-00. When a small boy cries because he can't get the moon, we are sorry for the little jman ; but our sorrow necessarily gives place to pity, and so it is in the case of the Press — we are sorry that our contemporary can't get his moon, but we pity him at the same time, and wonder why he should be so very childish. The colonisation of New Zealand, eaya the Press of this morning, was begun frora half a dozen separate . points, aud on as many different principles. With some obvious advantages, continues our contemporary, this system of colonisation had a serious drawback — the several settlements, widely separated as they were geographically speaking, differed still taore widely in sentiment and interests. Well, we all know the facts etated above, though we may not all agree about the drawback. Some of us, indeed^ may be of opinion |;ha(f/the^y/was no drawback at aH j F thafej^tie progress which New J^eaKnd ' -Bas made is due, in a great .-measure, to the fact that six separate Qpmmunities were planted on its shores, jßapfc Emulating the other and striving .' : Je.6 come up to or outstrip it in the race colonisation. Those of us who are s fiofc imbued with lofty notions, who not too good for thiß world and its petty troubles, who don't care much for " statesmanlike action " — whatever that may mean when applied. to New Zealand — who believe in the utterly vulgar and shoppy idea that competition is beneficial in most cases, are of opinion -that the provinces have done a great deal of good, and that it is quite - natural' they should object to the process of " clean sweep," even when it is proposed by an eminent financier. . But", says the Press, it was believed that time would remedy the evils of the Provincial system, would fuse into 'one whole the separate communities which began and have carried on the colonisation of the country. And so <t will, dear Endymion, but you shouldn't be in such a hurry, and kick up such a row because you can't have your own way all at once. Wait, my «retty little fellow, and let time have jits oral way ; don't you go and bluster, and blubber, and scold, and make yourself disagreeable, and behave in a " fatuous," futile way because you can't send the provinces a great deal farther than into tho middle of next! -week. Mr Godley'a steam and! electricity, the roads we have made and will make, the railways we have feonstrueted and will construct, the we have built and will build, tend the people we intend to bring in Ao cultivate the soil — if you'll give •fchem a' little protection against imported grain and breadstuffs — all these

things, my pretty, impatient Endymion, will bring about the consummation which your and your friends' senseless and sulky clamour is as likely as not fco prevent. Patience, and shuffle the cards again Endymion. Dou't be impracticable ; don't ask for things which you can't have ; don't form theories and try to bend circumstances into harmony with them, but take the circumstances round about you and fit your theories to them ; don't forget the real in your pursuit of the ideal ; remember that " half-a-loaf is better than no bread," and that " a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," with other bits of proverbial, homely wisdom. Take these things to heart, and you may become useful in your day and generation. Finally, don't, for goodness sake, run away with the idea that all knowledge and wisdom, &c, &c, &c, are concentrated in yourself. The public won't believe that you are a second Solomon or another Daniel come to judgment, and Provincial institutions won't tumble because you choose to blow your penny trumpet at them.