PARLIAMENTARY ITEMS.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 404, 18 June 1880, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY ITEMS.

In the Legislative Council on Tuesday, after the presentation of papers and re- | ports, and the disposal of formal business, . The lion J. N. Wilson gave notice to bring up the question of J. P. moving—" That this Council is of that the Government should remove fwnn the Commission the nnmes nil insolvents and others unfit to be there." In moving the second reading of Gaming and Lotteries Bills, £| The Hon F. Whitaker gave notice of a new clause prohibiting the use of the totalisator, except by responsible Racing Clubs. The Bill was read a second time. This was all the business of the Council, and at 3.5 they adjourned. In the House of Representatives an unusually large number of questions were asked. The House went, into committee on the Regulations of Elections Bill, in which Mr Hutchison moved an amendment on clause 28, which empowers the Returning Officer to question the elector as to whether or not he had already voted in this electoral district. The amendment proposed was that the

clause should be made to read, "Have you already voted in this or any other electoral district?" , , , The discussion was interrupted by the 5.30 adjournment. At the evening sitting The Hon J. Bryce, in moving the second reading of the Native Lands Sales Bill, said the law at present was not in a satisfactory condition. The object of the Bill was to simplify these laws.

In the course of his speech the honorable gentleman made a severe attack on the system of purchase of Native Lands by agents. These agents scattered money amongst the Natives like dust, and asked them to take rum, and resorted to almost every species of demoralisation. They had not succeeded in getting the desired reward. One reason was these Government agents did not regard themselves purely as Government agents. They purchased land not only for Government, but also for themselves and their friends. The result was, Government got the bad land, and these parties nnd their friends the good land. He despaired almost of making the House •understand the terrible iniquities perpetrated by recent Native lands purchases. He would give them a few examples of these iniquitous transactions. The ad vance system had been the great feature of these transactions, and the particular mode of making these advances was something atrocious. He meant the system of giving orders on storekeepers. In Tauranga alone £11,000 had passed through one Government Agent's hands in the space of j eighteen months. The process of granting these orders was for amounts to be left blank in the vouchers. The Agent was supplied with Funds by an imprest, and when he was called upon to account for these Bume by the Auditor, he filled these vouchers up to suit the occasion. .A transaction took place some months ago which induced him to send up and examine a matter at Tauranga, and the result was something extraordinary. The Auditor reported that he had found that monies charged had never been paid at all, and where they had been paid the grossest irregularities had taken place. In connection with these payments two items were specified, one for £30 and the other for £150, as much as £77 of the Intter being for spirits and beer consumed at a tangi over the land agent's brother, the late Judge Young Then again it was etated that the negotiations with the Natives were conducted with Hie utmost irregularity. He had already said they had been guilty of iniquities but they had received no equivalent for their trouble. When they came to settle the negotiations connected with these vouchers on which advances were made, they would most undoubtedly be repudiated, and Government would stand to lose a large amount of money. Again this fund had never been closely scrutinised, and it was most grossly abused. If a Maori wanted an order to pay his expenses or to get rum it was charged to this fund. The rule was that any questionable payment wns charged to this fund. Especially he would refer to the West Coast. He did not think the Hystem of land vouchers obtained there, but all the other objectionable features of the system were observed. The agents there would agree on a price for land they had never seen and' which no white mail could tell them anything about. They had purchased land which the Surveyors now reported to be broken and worthless. The agents had to rely upon mere statements as to area. In one case the estimated area was 60.000 acres, and when it was surveyed it was found to- contain not more than 7000 acres. The result of this was that the money advanced was fur more than the total value of ■ the land. This was in and about Wanganui. Further up the coast a gentleman who had been treating with the Government got £1000 for his alleged interest in a block. That gentleman was then appointed Land Purchase Agent at £400 a year, to complete the purchase of that block, which had not been done yet. More than that, this gentleman was a storekeeper, and advances made to Maoris were paid through him, and buggies, harness, and other articles purchased from his store, having been supplied in lieu of die money. The payment of compensation for confiscated laud was next referred to. Payments to the chiefs were made secretly, and theywere ordered to sign fictitious names to hide the nature of the transactions. A suih of £1000, the expenses of a great Maori meeting at Waiter!,' was provided form a most extraordinary way. The Native agent at Waimate got that amount by imprest, and to satisfy the auditors he got those Maoris who did not possess an inch of land in the place to sign receipts for the money. What he would ■contend for was, that the whole system was demoralising, and that they would not reap the expected benefits from their efforts. They must do away with the old system. No system could possibly be devised that could work worse than the present one. He believed that the only valid system was that centamed in the Bill, the second reading of which he now proposed. The great object should be to settle these lands, and he contended that the Bill before the House was a step in that direction. It was, he thought, the best ?aw that could be devised under the circumstances.

Major Tβ Wheoro moved the adjournment of the debate.

Sir G. Grey said that the speech had been chiefly fin attack upon other persons, and it was only fair that the lnte Native Minister should be present before the debate was gone on with. The motion for adjournment was then put and agreed to, and the debate was adjourned till Friday. The Pharmacy Bill wae further con.eidered in Committee, and the House adjourned at 11.10. On Wednesday afternoon, the Council was engaged with the Gambling and Lotteries Bill; which was ordered to be recommitted. In the House of Representatives, Mr Pyke moved the second rending of the Party Processions Bill. After discussion, the Bill was thrown out on tbe voices. Sir G. Grey moved the second reading of the "Moorhouse Services- Recognition Bill-" What he asked was that a medal should be struck, and be, in the hands of Mr Moorhouse. his heirs, nnd their heirs, in all generations, recognised as a free pass on all railways. Mr Hall seconded the motion, and the Bill was read a second time. In. Committee, Mr Wewart moved— *'That "the words 'eldest heir in a direct

line for the time being ' be inserted instead of tjH word 4 descendants.'" The amendment was carriod, and the Bill reported, read a third time, and passed. Tin- ITnnsp then went into Committee on the Execution against Real Estates Bill, and on resinning the Bill was reported with amendments, and was ordered to be rotiMilered to-morrow. The Ilniine went into Committee on the Elections Petitions liill. The number of .lud-je* before whom petitions should be tried was altered from one to two. Other trifling amendments were made, after which the Bill was reported with amendments, and at 12.30 the House adjourned.