ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1401, 27 January 1860, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

(To the Editor 0/ the Wellington Independent)

Grey Town, January 6, 1860. Sift, — ft devolves oa me to acquaint you that at a meeting held in Carterton this night, the following remonstrance to the Opposition iv the Provincial Council was unanimously adopted, and it is the Wish of the meeting that it should' be published in the Independent. As soon as a sufficient number of signatures is procured, the remonstrauce will be transmitted to tha leader of the Opposition, tho Hon. E. J. Wakefield. In the interim, we wish it to procure the widest circulation poisible, by publication ia your -journal; I am, Sir, Y'juv obedient servant, AtiKCUS CoLLISSON, •c : Secretary to the Meeting. A reiAonxlrmce on the part of the Working Mvn of Carterton, addressed to the Opposition in theFiooincial Council-. ' Gentlemen,— E/jiry one must. feel that our present political position is most unsatisfactory^ and the eril is aggravated because \l interferes with the material welfare of the Province. To,, the Working Classes especially, the present stute of things is peculiarly, disastrous ; beciiueej consequent on the suspension of the public works, there is created (as we have so often repeated) aa artifioi.il dearth of employment the supply oT- labour ia raised excessively aboVe Ihs actual deuiaud, the wages of all are depreciated, few can procure employment, except at irregular intervals, and some cannot obtain it at all. In view of the fiwts— that our potatoe and other crops have failed, owing to the protracted drought— that the winter is approaching wlieu there will belittle or no Employment horn, private sources; and that the accumulations i<f our industry which have hitherto, enalileJ us to contend with the iTifticullies of our position, are with. many of us completely ' exhausted,' we are naturally anxious that the present political complication should be promptly solved, with » view to the speedy resumption of tiie public., works, and thus some mitigation be sccui^.^idistress which appears. in6\i able. W^ respectfully -Mbcmt our views. as to the position/ of parties, and the line of condutt which we conceive the exigencies of the couulry demand ■ in the hope that laying aside all pmty considerations) you will consult for " the greatest hap. piness of the' greatest number," nejurdinir to the dictates ofa true \ atriotis>m.

The Government with its thrice-elected bead contend, that notwithstanding they are in a minority in the Provincial Council, they ate the true representatives of public opinion, and that if the opposition ever represented 3uch opinion, they have ceased to do so ; and they point to recent elections as confirmatory of their statement, all of which have been in favour of the Government party, with the single exception of( that for the city, which they declined to. con test, owing to a promise of dissolution held out by Mr. Stafford. You, the Opposition, on the other hand, as stoutly maintain, that you are the genuine representatives of the people, and in order to vindicate what you are pleased to call constitutional principle — to assert your power of control over the public purse, withhold those supplies which are necessary for the carrying on the public works. It cannot fail to strike every reflecting person, however, that so long as you vote the necessary supplies for the conduct of what the General Government calls the ordinary business of Government, and thus visit the sins, real or supposed, of the Government, not on the Government, but on the people at large, your mode of vindicating constitutional principle, is . perfectly preposterous ; nor can we at all acquiesce in tbe./loctriue insinuated by Ihe General Government, that the carrying on the public works does ijot fail within the ordinary business of the Provincial Government On the contrary, we consider the promotion of the material ' well-being of the people, as identified with such works, a principal FUNCTION OF ALL COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. Reverting, however, to the vindication of constitutional principle, if that be your object in stopping the supplies, surely constitutional principle as you understand it, has been sufficiently, and more than sufficiently, vindicated already, not only in the sufferings and priva tions of the working classes, but. in the general stagnation which prevails ; in the protracting of which none can be interested who would promote the general welfare of the Province. Tke " well being 1 of the people is the supreme law," one that should take precedence, not only of constitutional principle, but of every other theory, whether social or political. As practical men, therefore, and not political theorists, we urge you to adopt a more rational lino of conduct

We know it is the fashion of some to denounce the Superintendent as a despot, and he has even been compared by your leader to the Fiehch Emperor, but we never knew it proved that he exercised any power not conferred by the Constitution Act. However} if he be the despot you say, why not accord ' hfnii the power of dissolving the Council, and thereby extinguish himself. For if be be a despot, it cannot be that the people will endorse his policy by returning a co-operating Council, more especially as he has pledged himself to resign unconditionally, in the event of the people's verdict being adverse. It is true you Cannot formally invest the Superintendent with the power of dissolution, but surely when the same result can be attained by a simultaneous resignation on the part of all, whether government or opposition members of Council, you will not fail to close with the proposal of the Provincial Secretary. You say you are the true representatives of the people. Then why fear to face them at the hustings? Why appeal to the General Gorernment, when you have the.proper judge between you and the Executive at your door. Nor should it he lost sight of, that in case of a simultaneous resignation by both parties, the Government "risk a higher* stake, uamely r the honors and emoluments of office, than you do, whose' position' would be triumphant in the event of the government's defeat. We would further impress on you, that it is idle for any government, we care not what may be its composition, to expert of the immigrants payment of their proroissary notes for cost of passage to this country, so long as the public works are suspended. Were we otherwise able to discharge the obligation alluded to, we should feel ourselves exonerated therefrom,, so long as the public works are in abeyance. The obligation, as between the Government and the immigrants, is mutual; and if the former rescind their part of the contract by the stoppage of the public works, (whether such stoppage proceed from unwillingness or inability to prosecute them,) the latter are justified in retaliating by repudiating their half of the engagement, and accordingly we do repudiate it, and will pontir nue to do so, so long as the. public .work* are. suspended. We have come to this country from the United Kingdom and elsewhere, not as agriculturists nor capitalists, nor men of independent means, but as working-men under the auspices of the Provincial Government's Agents, and under an assurance from them that we should find abundance of employment from public ' and ' private sources, and that in the event of the latter failing, we should have the public works of the province as a resource. Owing, however, to the inadequacy of private employment to absorb our labour, and the 'public works being stopped to serve the purposes of party warfare, we find ourselves miserably deceived ; and 'are justified therefore in demanding that you will either realize the expectations held out, or supply such as desire it the means of rt»emigrating to the several ports whence they came to this country, in which pur position is wretched in the extreme, and our prospects still worse, and Where out just demands have been hitherto met by insulr and buffoonery. We are, Gentlemen, Your most obedient servants, The Wobkino Men op Cibtebton.