Abolition of the Provinces, The

DESCRIPTION: "Does John ever look to the state of his till, With eight little senates to run up the bill? Does John ever think that the work might be done By eight little senates rolled into one?" The local legislatures make the country lean and officials fat
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1871 (Christchurch Press)
KEYWORDS: political nonballad money
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1876 - Campaign to abolish the various independently-governed provinces of New Zealand (source: Bailey/Roth-ShantiesByTheWay-NZ)
Nov 1, 1876 - Provincial system abolished by Premier Sir Harry Albert Atkinson (1831-1892). This led to a more unified government as well as the forming of true political parties (source: Keith Sinclair, _A History of New Zealand_, 1959, 1969, 1991 (I use the 1991 Penguin paperback edition), p. 163)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Bailey/Roth-ShantiesByTheWay-NZ, p. 32, "The Abolition of the Provinces" (1 short text)
ADDITIONAL: Assorted New Zealand newspapers, available at The National Library of New Zealand site:
August 4, 1871. [Christchurch] _The Press_
November 18, 1872. _Timaru Herald_
November 30, 1872, _The Evening Star_ [of Auckland, indexed as Auckland Star]
The Evening Star [of Auckland, indexed as Auckland Star],.
December 24, 1872. _North Otago Times_
January 15, 1873. _Marlborough Press_
January 25, 1873. [Dunedin] _Evening Star_
February 8, 1873. _West Coast Times_
NOTES [309 words]: [This] began as a satirical poem written by Captain Stanley Bullock, of Opawa, a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, and submitted by him to a newspaper, The Press, of Christchurch, which printed it on August 4, 1871 as part of a letter stating his political opinions.
The following year, he read the poem aloud at a political meeting at Temuka, NZ, which was reported in several other newspapers, which also reprinted the poem.
I don't know how the poem became a song (if it did). - JD
(I doubt it did become a song. A lot of the material in Bailey/Roth was derived from newspapers. This is probably an example. Interestingly, Bailey/Roth print only verses 2 and 3 of the poem; the full text can be found at the National Library of New Zealand site; it was also posted at Mudcat.org. - RBW)
[All the New Zealand newspapers] can be seen at The National Library of New Zealand:
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/
- JD
According to Keith Jackson and Alan McRobie, Historical Dictionary of New Zealand (Oceanian Historical Dictionaries #5), The Scarecrow Press, 1996, pp. 190-191, "The Constitution Act, 1852 established six provinces -- Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago -- each of which was governed by Superintendent and Provincial Council. These provinces, which were proclaimed by George Grey before he left New Zealand... in 1853 (and before the House of Representatives was elected), reflected the six main pockets of European settlement that had grown up during the previous 12 years. Between 1853 and their abolition in 1876, four more provinces were established -- Hawke's Bay (1858), Marlborough (1859), Southland (1861, but dissolved, 1870), and Westland (1873). Although the provinces were abolished in 1876, they continued to provide the basis for parochialism which is still evident today." - RBW
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File: BaRo032

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