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Story: Southland region

Southland indebted

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Southland indebted

The financial crisis that forced Southland to reunify with Otago is the topic of this 1870 newspaper clipping, which refers to a report by the colonial secretary, William Gisborne. There was no money to run the administration or to build public works. Gisborne went on to explain the merits of Southland uniting with Otago – which it did.

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National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: Otago Witness, 15 October 1870, p. 6

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

David Grant, Southland region – Government, education and health, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/20129/southland-indebted (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by David Grant, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 May 2015.