POLICY OF THE NEW MINISTRY

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 64, 26 September 1872, Page 2

POLICY OF THE NEW MINISTRY

Mr Stafford, in his statement to 'WTc House of Represent at ived on Friday evening, of thejmain points of the polii'v of the new Ministry, said that they would enquire into tho cause of insular separation,, and "would carefully consider whether such administrative machinery could be devised as- would rcmovo the causes- far such feeling." We scarcely know whether Mr Stafford intended to convoy to the country tho impression that during tho recess the G-overnment would boldly face the great question of Constitutional lielbrm, or whether he meant that they would again endeavour tomumd and patch provincialism, by supplementing it by other representative bodies, still further localising the , powers of Government, but still retaining the provinces with all their exjH-nsive and cumbrous machinery, as tho administration under Mr Stafford endeavoured to patch them in ISO 7, by the introduction of the 1 vocal (rovernment Act. Mr Vogel, it. will bo remembered, made a promise last year similar in nature to that now given bv Mr Stafford- —he promised to consider , the question of reforming and amending the Constitution oft he eolony —but no one felt very much disappointed when a paltry and impotent excuse was trumped up by him as a reason for the non-fullilment of the pledge.' Mr Vogel probably appreciated tho dangerous nature of the experiment, and long- before the meeting of Parliament he no doubt repented of the rash promise given. He must, however, havn known that the country at. large was ripe for tho change, but tacitly admitted his inability to bring forward a measure satisfactory to a majority in the House, and so allowed matters to drift- on, hoping, perhaps, to pull through the session behind tho shelter of his public works policy. And yet no statesman ever had a more fnvouroblo opportunity of peeing friends and foes alike at his back, united to do away with an old and obsolete form of government, no longer suited to the varied necessities and requirements "of Now Zealand- It is a great question, and one which Mr Vogel' would 'haw been-pleased to take up, had lie felt confidence in himself to deal with if. The great bulk of tho people of New Zealand will ho "lad to poo that Mr Sl-alfoid has made a distinct p'edge to the Hou-e of Representatives that the new Ministry will give this question consideration during " the recess, for they know that he will' keep his promise: They know that he docs not love the provinces, and that he will embrace the fir.-t favourable opportunity for wiping, them from t);e Constitution.. Should the present Ministry come down to the House next year with a comprehensive scheme for parcelling out the country into shires counties and municipalities, and for abolishing provincialism, and should they be defea/cd' ill the House—,is is exceedingly probable —they would then be able to go to the country with a scheme which would undoubtedly secure for them an overwhelming majority, despite all the efforts of tho Superintendents and their tails, and all the endeavours of the present Opposition. And such an appeal to the electors will be made ere long , , for the country alone must be allowed to settle this question once and for ever. Most of our readers know the history of the local government agitation of 18(i7 and 183S, when thousands of electors petitioned tho , (Icneral Assembly praying that some general se.he.nio for granting local self-government to new and rising districts might be passed. They probably remember that during the former year the West Coast goldfields were separated from Canterbury and were given a bastard constitution because the residents of Westland were determined to govern themselves, and would not be under the domination of the Superintendent of Canterbury. Since that period there have been constant complaints in different parts of the colony and constant appeals for local government,, but Mr Stafford retired from office in 18G ( J with a general scheme in his pocket, which never saw the light, and no further action was taken until Mr Vogel made, last year, the promise we have referred to. It is really surprising, when we carefully examine this question, to sec the amount of evil inflicted on the colony by provincialism, and how quietly the electors tolerate the evil. An able writer on tho subject some time ago pointed out that there were about 320 legislators to a population of about 270,000 souls. At the present moment we have, exclusive of the county of Westland, eight provinces, eight provincial councils, eight superintendents, eight executive governments, to say nothing of the General Assembly with its 120 members, and the municipal corporations, road, harbour, and education boards,, constituting :i machinery equal, to the demand of a second rate European power. We find some of the provinces in a state of collapse, whilst others are floating along with [their heads just above water by the aid of their land fund or gold fields revenue, tho bulk of which is fritted away in the cost of government, instead of being spent on good and useful public works. But still the advocates of provincialism point with complacency to what the provinces have done in the past, ignoring the fact that they have had thirteen or fourteen millions of money to do tho little that has been done, and forgetting that the colony has changed since the time the provinces were first created. They forget that new districts have grown up, rivalling in population and wealth some of the old original provincial centres, and they overlook the fact that these new districts have as much right and claim to local self-government now, as thesix original provinces had in the early days of thecolony. We hope the day is not far off when we shall see the provinces abolished, the executive governments and superintendents memories of the past, and a general system of local self-government, acting under some strong central government, substituted. We may slumber on for a time, perhaps as we are —playing. the ins and outs of office in our provincial parliaments —but that time will be short. Something like a national feeling is springing up, nad it will eventually weld into one all the units that now form responsible government in the colony.— Tluimi& Advertiser.