The Westport Times. SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1869.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 510, 29 May 1869, Page 2

The Westport Times. SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1869.

By the brief report which we are as yet only able to give of proceedings in the Provincial Council on Tuesday last, it will be seen that a new principle in tbe government of tho Province has been enunciated by Mr Hennelly, and in a modified form adopted by tho Council. That principle is that in tbe Executive there should be one member who should be resident on tbe "West Coast, and who should distinctively represent its interests. Such, at least, is the principle sought to bo established by Mr Hennelly's original motion, and, although it happens not to be altogether expressed in the motion wbicb was ultimately adopted, it is, no doubt, tho principle which tbe majority of tho Council believe to bave been recognised. It is a principle which, wo have as little doubt, will be recognised as recommendable by a majority of the residents on the "West Coast, provided always that the still more recommendable principle—Separation —should fail to be reduced to practice. The chief difficulty is, how tbe spirit of the motion is to be carried out. The Government, we believe, are at least not avowedly averse to fulfilling, in the best way they can, tho intontions of the maiority by whom tbe motion was supported, but, if we are not misinformed, there is some question as to how that superlative degree of excellence can be achieved. At the time of the proposal being made, it was hinted in Nelson, outside of the sacred circle, that, in the event of its

being carried, our .Resident Magistrate and Warden, Dr Giles, would lie appointed to the office; but the probable benefit to the community of enhancing the already arduous duties of the Westport Warden is not very apparent. More than that, it would be importing into the constitution of responsible Executives a principle altogether novel, and, we should imagine, in an equal degree impracticable. On that ground alone we canuot believe that any appointment of such an anomalous character could ever have been contemplated by the Executive. It was not, apparently, in the remotest degree the intention of the mover that any new office, such as that of a Commissioner, should be created. Nor, apparently, was it the intention of the Council that the appointment, if appointment it may be called, should be outside of the membership of the Council itself. In fact they could not possibly contemplate anything of the kind. Necessarily, therefore, the Executive will be reduced to the alternative of adding to their number out of the Nelson members who may for a consideration become disposed to reside on the West Coast, or by a selection from the present representatives of the district. And these are alternatives which partake very much of the character of the horns of a dilemma. The selection of any Nelson member to reside on the West Coast, and to be paid for so doing, would be as obnoxious as would be the selection of an actual resident of Nelson to represent, in the Executive, the Goldfields interests. And with the only available raw material which the Government have at their disposal among the present representatives of the West Coast, we can well imagine the difficulty the Superintendent would have in supplementing his Executivo by a selection from their limited number. In saying this, we must not bo supposed to have any desire to reflect upon the character or ability of the West Coast members. It cannot bo denied that they have, during this session, fulfilled their duties faithfully, and, in all instances but one, " borne their faculties meekly." Still they are, as members of a representative body, so much raw material, whose possible excellence is as yet, to say the least, latent. The Superintendent, therefore, might well hesitate before ho would select one of them to an office which, in its as yet undefined form, might by implication be supposed to include in the range of its duties the supervision of all the officials on the West Coast—which might, iu fact, if not thoroughly defined, be moro the appointment of a second or sucking Superintendent than anything We should, indeed, be willing to allow the Superintendent to continue in this state of hesitancy until he really can, in the character of the office, and in the selection of the person, make the appointment as reasonably satisfactory to tho public as it is possible to do. It has to be remembered that there is at present one seat vacant, and, with tho principle of Mr Hennelly's motion fully recognised, it is quite possible that that election or others which may follow will induce men of the very best class to come forward, and induce also the constituencies to return only such men. Y/ith regard to the position of the proposed new member of the Executive we should think that, if it has ever for a moment been contemplated to make a selection from among either the Nelson or West Coast members of the Council, the preferable plau would be the appointment of one without a portfolio. Such members are in other Provinces not less active or useful than are those who are recognised as Secretaries and Treasurers, and the remuneration for their services usually takes the shape of honor rather than of hard cash. In the Province ef Otago, for instance, there has always been a representative of the Goldfields in the Executive, and the office has for a number of years been held by a practical miner, Mr John Hughes. Of course this or any suggestion is only made, subject to the condition that it is not the intention of the Superintendent to do what is shrewdly suspected—to revive, in name, the office of Commissioner—and subject also to the paramount condition that this patching up of the present form of government will only be necessary by Separation and the County System failing to be what we all hope they may be-—accomplished facts.