The Star. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1869.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 432, 2 October 1869, Page 2

The Star. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1869.

"We believe it was Sydney Smith who said of Scotchmen, that it required a surgical operation to make them understand a joke The wittty divine may have been right, up to his lights, but his view of the subject was, we thiuk, somewhat contracted. Scotchmen, according to ouc experience, are not singular in' their density. There are men in all communities whose " visages do cream and mantle like a standing pool," who are always lugubrious and solemn, and who cannot or will not appreciate a joke. We don't say this with the intention of blaming such men. Nature has made them " prigs," and she beneficently inspires them with a belief that it is their mission to be for ever on stilts, overtopping their poor fellow creatures, to whom they throw occasional morsels of sublime wisdom, couched in the language of the gods. The Superintendent of Otago, who is member of the General Assembly for the electoral district of Clutha, met his constituents the other day, mainly, with the object of explaining his conduct in the Assembly in reference to a certain Hundreds Bill. This bill, or Act we ought rather to say, for it is now law, seems to haye displeased a section of the Ofcago electors, and Mr Macandrew took the very earliest opportunity of explaining its provisions. The result of his explanation was, that a large majority of

his constituents passed a vote of confidence in him as their representative. But other matters were brought before tbe meeting. Mr Macandrew "was asked to give his opinion about another bill brought before the Assembly — a bill for the re-union of Otago aud Southland. He did so, and the following is what he said : — The Bill is a permissive Bill, as I understand, not an imperative Bill, but one to save time, and to enable the two provinces, through their respective Provincial Councils, if they could arrange, to unite. If I had been in Wellington afc] the time I should have supported the Bill, because iv every respect, I think it is desirable that the two provinces should be united. I belive the Province of Southland has yet an estate which under judicious management is quite capable of meeting its obligations. The political and economical advan^ge of uniting them is obvious. It would be the first step towards one province in the Middle Island, and would no doubt lead to the annexation of a part of Canterbury in the first instance, and ultimately *of Canterbury, Nelson, and Westland. With regard to this debt, which ia a colonial obligation— assuming it will be a loss to the colony, which I do not believe — this province is responsiqle for a great portion of it, for really Otago is to a great extent, the colony. — (Applause and laughter.) We have not quoted the whole of Mr Macandrew's remarks on the bill, bub the above includes all that is really essential in what he said. Most people* when they read the above, will probably think that Mr Macandrew was simply indulging in a little harmless " tall talk," and that he spoko of "annexing" Canterbury, Nelson, aud "Westland in an entirely jocular strain. Indeed there is clear evidence in the report of what Mr Macandrew said that both he and his audience were in a merry mood. But our contemporary the Press, in this morning's issue, treats the whole affair iii a serious manner ; talks of the " Otago King movement" — as near an approach to a joke as the Press has been able to make of late — and makes silly insinuations about the arrogance of Otago politicians &c, &c. We daresay Mr Macandrew and the people of Otago generally, if they should happen to see the Press article, will enjoy a hearty laugh, without any surgical operation. At all events, we hope they will not take it as in anyseuse representing public opinion iv Canterbury. We don't think they will be so foolish, as we give them credit for the possession of that article in which our contemporary is so jvofully deficient — common sense. Nonsensical as the Press remarks on Mr Macandrew's speech are, there is a sense in which we may derive a considerable amount of instruction from them. The Press and some of ita friends are ardent worshippers at the shrine of Centralism. They talk grandly, on occasions, of New Zealand becoming a great and united nation. They sneer at what they call petty provincial feelings; and they would destroy the germ of what is really true patriotism by sweeping away all provincial distinctions at ouefell swoop. There are other men who caunot help recognising the circumstances around them, who see that provincialism is a great fact. These men have a theory, but they don't propose to bend facts to fit it ; they wish to adapt their theory to the facts. They wish to encourage and pave the way for the gradual fusion of the Middle Island provinces into one. The Press would knock all the provinces on the head as a preliminary step, parcel them out into goodness knows how many Boards, and graciously give the people a number of Governor's nominees to rule over them. The Press, as it seems to us, would mako what it calls a nation, by precipitating a resolution, by, in fact, a coup-d'etat. Mr Macandrew, and those who think with him, desire union, but they don't think they cau compel it. They desire to grow into union, not to force it. The Press is like those religionists who think there is no ' possibility of salvation beyond their own creed, no balm but in their own Gilead — a sort of political Mahomet, who says to those who differ from it : embrace our views, or be swept I away.