POLITICAL.

West Coast Times, Issue 630, 1 October 1867, Page 5

POLITICAL.

At the date of our last Summary we were in the thick of a contested election for the seat vacated by the resignation of Mr Bright, .one of the members for Hokitika in the Provincial Council. The two candidates were Mr James Bonar, the newly-appointed Secretary for the Goldfields, and Mr Evan Prosser, one cf the early representatives of the district of Westland, The poll was taken on the 2nd ult., and resulted as follows : — Bonar . . . . . . 155 Prosser 98 The issue had remained doubtful up to almost the last hour, and the largeness of the majority secured by Mr. Bonar took all parties by surprise. It was to be accounted for partly by the great personal favor m which Mr Bonar is held ; the respect he has won during his administration of the office of Mayor of Hokitika for the past year ; and the strong sense that prevailed amongst a large class of, the community, of the importance of securing any temporary reform until more material relief were obtainable from the mal-administrations of its affairs and its revenues under which the district has so long suffered. Mr Bonar was supported by many of the most earnest of the Separationists, partly as a proof" that their object was a practical one, and partly because Mr Prosser, his antagonist, had withdrawn from the League for reaspSs-^that were not deemed sufficient to justify his desertion of a movement with which in its first stages he had identified himself. There was t a feeling of loyalty also to the members of the Provincial Council for the district that had something to do vyith the decision arrived at. These gentlemen, a small band of five, had battled hard throughout two sessions to obtain the appointment of a responsible minister for Westland holding a seat in the Provincial Council. The object they sought was a local administration of Westland affairs under conditions of Parliamentary responsibility ; and i<certainly would have been most ungracious if, as soon as this concession had been gained after a gallant and sustained conflict the mere boon had been contemptuously thro wnbaokto those who had fought for it, even by those who had since seen reason to agitate for a more comprehensive and radical reform. So thought many. And such are the causes which combined to give Mr Bonar a majority on the poll, which, as we have said, was little anticipated either by his friends or by those who took an impartial view of the contest. With the issue of this election, what may be considered our personal politics have for the morr.ent ceased, to be renewed again in a few days, however, on the occasion of the choice of Councillors and Mayor for the town of Hokitika, to which we shall presently advert. In our last we brought the story of the Separation movement down to the preparations of the Council of the League for forwarding the great petition to Wellington, and securing its due presentation to the two Houses of Parliament. The petition was found, when the sheet 3 were called in, to have about tvo thousand seven hundred signatures attached to it in duplicate — a large number, considering the scattered nature of the population out of the towns, and the fact that the Council .employed no paid agency whatever in canvassing for signatures on the goldfields. Wiionthe question arose of selecting a mei&ber of each House to whom the Petition should be entrusted for presentation, considerable difficulty was felt;- and the reasons of the decision ultimately arrived at, viz., to request leading members of the Government to take charge of it, were well given in the following letter from the President and the Vice-President of the League, to the Hon. E. W. Stafford, the Premier — one of the ablest and most distinguished statesmen of New Zealand :—: — To the Hon. E. W. Stafkhid, Esq., &c, Colonial Secretary. SlE — We have the honor to forward to you a petition bearing the signatures of upwards of two thousand six hundred inhabitants of Weatlund, to the prayer of which we respeol* jfiYJte vow attention,

We have further the honor to request that you will be pleased to present this petition to the House of Eepresentatives, and take sucli further action upon it as may appear to you to be advisable, to ensure justice being done to the petitioners, by moving for the appointment of a Select Committee to enquire into the truth of the allegations of the petition, or otherwise. In venturing to solicit your good services to this extent, we have the honor to explain to you, that it is the anxious wish of the petitioners to bring their case under the consideration of the assembly without prejudice from any party complications ; and that they are precluded from asking the representative of the district in tlie House of Representatives to' take charge of their memorial, seeing that his Honor W. S. Moorhouse, Esq., is the Superintendent of the Province for whose dismemberment the petitioners pray. "{Jndor these circumstances it has been considered that the course most desirable to pursue, is respectfully to request the Premier of the Colony to bring under the consideration of the House of Eepresentatives the prayer of a district comprising a large portion of its population. With this explanation, we trust you will not misunderstand tho motive with which we most respectfully place this petition in your hands, in the hope that through your instrumentality it may obtain the early attention of the House. We have to request that on its presentation you will move that it be read and printed. We beg to mention for your information, that no paid agency whatever has been employed in canvassing for signatures amongst the widely-scattered population of the country districts of Westland, and that scarcely any expense whatever has been incurred in securing this expression of the strong desire that prevails throughout the district. We beg further to state that, whilst amongst a considerable section of the community, some difference of opinion prevails as to the most practicable measure of Separation to be adopted, the conviction is entirely unanimous that the Westland district of the Province of Canterbury can never hope for any just or equitable Government, so long as it remains politically connected with the settlements on the Eastern side of the dividing range. We beg, therefore, most respectfully to entrust the case of the petitioners to you, in the Jail confidence from your high character, and distinguished position as the head of His Excellency's advisers, that you will not fail to bring under the immediato attention of tho House of Eepresentatives, the prayer of thousands of the colonists of New Zealand as embodied in this document. We may state that a duplicate of the petition has been forwarded to the honorable J. Hyde Harris, Esq., M.L.C., with a request to him to present it to the Legislative Council. We have the honor, &c, Your obedient servants, S. 11. South, W. Shaw. Hokitika, September, 10, 1867. Since the reception of the petition in Wellington, there has been frequent telegraphic communication between the members of the Colonial Government and the Council of the League. The lion. John Hall telegraphed to the effect that the Government were most anxious to meet the case of Westland, whose positive grievances there has been from the first no disposition to dispute. The hon. Major Richardson telegraphed to explain that in the absence of the hon. Mr. Harris, he had taken charge of the petition as the representative of the Government in the Upper House, and enquiring whether/ some reform short of the actual erection of .Westland into a new pfbvince would not meet the views of tne petitioners — whose memorial we, may here state had in the meantime been presented to both Houses of Parliament, been ordered to be printed, and been referred to Select Committees. Major Richardson's telegram asked the question simply and directly, whether the local control of revenues and affairs would suffice, without legislative machinery. The creation of a new province would of course have involved the creation of a new provincial legislature, with power to the Superintendent to pass Ordinances " by and with the consent" of a Provincial Council. What the district really wanted was the administrative management of its affair?, and especially of its revenues ; not the right to make independent laws, A special emergency meeting of the League Council was called on the receipt of Major Richardson's message, and the following telegram was at once transmitted, in reply, by Mr Shaw, the vice-president : — " Legislation from the General Assembly preferred to [establishment of local legislative machinery.] Our material want is the absolute control of all local revenue, and management of local affairs by a popularly elected Board. We request explanation as to the powers proposed to be conferred on Local Board, its constitution, &c. We must be relieved from Christchurch domination." In commenting on this interchange of messages on the 20th ult. we observed, " when Major Richardson's reply is received we shall be in a better position to consider how far the material interests of Westland may be secured without its absolute erection into a new Province." After the exchange of several subsequent commuuieations, the following very important telegram was received from the Premier on the 25th ult. : — Mr Soura, Hokitika, Bill to establish the County of Westland, and to make temporary provision for the Government thereof, introduced by Mr Stafford to-day, second readiug on the 26th, count// to consist of Westland, south of the Grey. Present Canterbury laws to remain in force until other provision is made. < Powers of Superintendent to bo vested in Governor, witli power of delegation as he may think fit. Road Boards, with power to levy rates; to be elected for management of Public Works. Eoad9 and Public Works to be under the "icontrol of these Boards. [ All Revenues collected in Westland, fori inerly provincial, to belong to the County. 1 Colonial Treasurer to keep scparato accounts ' of Eevenucs. Provisional power to Colonial Treasurer to defray expenses of Local Government. Arbitrators to determine Westland shave of debt. After payment of local expenses of Government, surplus to be distributed to R^d. PMvipte a,nd;

Elective County Council to Advise as to administration of Goldfields, &c. These arrangements provisional until Westland Members take seats in the House of Eepresentatives. E. W. Staffoed. A subsequent telegram announced that the Elective Council promised in the measure, was to consist of nine members, of whom four were to represent the electoral district of Westland, meaning the goldfields ; two the capital town of Hokitika ; and two the town of Greymouth. This arrangement hag been accepted as satisfactory, and as fully meeting the substantive objects for which the League was formed. At a public meeting held on the evening of the 25th, a resolution, proposed by Mr Barff, M.P.C., was unanimously adopted, to the following effect — " That in the opinion of this meeting, the Bill about to be introduced in the House of Representatives is a measure calculated to benefit Westland, and this meeting desires to express its entire satisfaction at the prompt manner in which the complaints of the district have been attended to by the General Government." Several gentlemen were present, and took part in the proceedings, who had seceded from the League at au early stage of its history, and who now said: — "This .is the very thing we have been looking and striving for;" but it was justly pointed out, that until that moment there had appeared no prospect of this great reform, or anything approaching it in substance, being obtained by any means short of the creation of a new province. Mr Bright, one of the late members for Hokitika, put this point plainly. He said:— "With reference to the past agitation, his reason for objecting to any reform short of the creation of a new Province was that they would not have the control of the general revenues of Westland, as the establishment of Local Boards would still have left them at the mercy of the Provincial Council of Canterbury ; and from the experience of last session they all knew what mercy to expect from that source. The arrangement proposed by the General Government appeared, however, to have met the case, as under it they would receive their proper share of the Customs revenue and the whole of the Goldfields revenue, and iv obtaining this arrangement he thought that the object of the promoters of the Separation movement had been gained." This is really the correct view of the matter. The command .of our local revenue means the entire government of the district, with the exception solely of the power of making laws. Revenues, "hitherto Provincial," include the whole of our gold export duty ; the moiety of our import duties ; the proceeds of the land sales within the district ; and the fruits of all purely local taxation. With an elected or Council to regulate the cxpenditiifejsof this revenue, and to advise in the 'golpfields administration, we shall enjoy institutions, which — as has been very justly said — will confer on us all the advantages, without the drawback, of a separate. Provincial Government. The Westland County Bill was to be read a second fJnie last night, but we are of course witnbut telegraphic information as to the^?assue. It is known that the measure^will be vehemently opposed, especially', by Mr Moorhouse, the Superintendent^ of the Proviuoe> who will resist, what "must of course be admitted by all to be a dismemberment of Canterbury. But we believe the Government have confidence in their power to carry the Bill. The Petition of Westland is not the only protest that has been sent up to the General Assembly against tho centralising and despotic rule of the Christchurch Provincial Council. One of the southern districts on the other side, has obtained the enactment of a measure constitating a local Public Works Board, and securing to it a fixed appropriation out of the Provincial revenues. The completeness of the case made out by the Timaru people, greatly strengthens the appeal of the people of this district — although in our case the reform asked for is of a much more radical character, ainouuting to no less than a complete severance of Westland from the Canterbury Province. In other respects the legislation of the General Assembly during the present session promises to be attended with important results to the district — many of the more important measures engaging the attention of the two Houses having an immediate, although not a special, bearing upon our interests. The amendment of the bankruptcy law; the abolition of arrest for debt; the Bill to provide for the general establishment of Municipal Corporations on a uniform basis; and many other reforms which promise to mark session, will be of importance to the whole of the colony. It is anticipated that the session will terminate before the middle of the present month. On its close his Excellency Sir George Grey -will probably for tho last time address himself to a parliament with whose proceedings he has had so much to do during a long and distinguished career as her Majesty's representative in New Zealand. It is understood that his Excellency's retirement from the Governorship of the colony will be the occasion of his retirement also from the colonial service, aud that he will for the future take up his permanent abode on his estate on the island of Kawau. We have received no intimation at present of the name of his Excellency's successor, although several gentlemen have been mentioned; amongst them Lord Lyttolton, Lord Alfred Churchill, Mr Pope Hennessey, and Mr Kennedy, formerly Governor o(Vanoou.yoi<'s Is^ucl,