The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3649, 24 March 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1883.

One of the cries of the Liberal party during the last general elections was " Elective Land Boards." And last session of Parliament a short Bill Avas introduced to carry that cry into effect. It Avas passed almost without opposition in the Lower House, but Avas throAvn out by the " Lords " on its second reading on a division of eight to twenty. Tho Hon. J. N. Wilson had charge of the Bill in the Upper House, and in moA-ing its second reading said the object of the measure was to give the people in the different districts tho opportunity of choosing the Board which Avas to administer the Avastc lands of the CroAAii. The Bill embraced the principle of local government. Education Boards, Licensing Committees, &c., Avere all elective bodies, in fact the administration of the waste lands was the only important function left to persons nominated by the Government. As the Bill Avas throAvn out Aye need not now discuss its pi-OA-isions, but tho Hon. Sir G. S Whitmore's remarks upon the measure have as much force at the present time as they had Avhcn it Avas before the House. He held that the responsibility for the administration of the Avaste lands of the colony should be the direct responsibility of the Ministry of the day. The existence of a Land Board, either nominated or elected, is entirely incompatible Avith such responsibility. " The Land Board is either a buffer between the Government and its responsibility, or it is a hindrance to the Government in carrying out duties that it is supposed to carry out in tho interests of the colony. Sir George stud that the colony depends to a certain extent for certain purposes upon the land fund, Avhich depends to a large extent upon the sales of land ; and it is in the power of a AYastc Lands Board to obstruct the Government in raising funds. On the other hand, he continued, there are many times when a very strong feeling exists about the administration of the lands of the colony and the Government find it A-ery convenient to shift the responsibility they ought to bear on to the shoulders of the Board. The Board, as is Avell kiiOAA'ii, is a body that has neither a hand to shake nor anything to kick. He maintained that where the Qoxommeut has a responsibility, that responsibility should not be hampered by anything. He Avished the control of the Government to be complete, without the intervention of any Board. He was in favor of the appointment of a Commissioner of Waste Lauds, responsible directly to the Government, as the Government should be to the people through the General Assembly. If the Board is held to be responsible to whom, he asked, is it responsible ? The Government appoints the members, but who can call them to account ? They are as absolutely independent of anybody as any ono can be made by Act of Parliament Sir George continued in these Avords :— If these nominated members who arc appointed by the Government are able to defy the Government, I think an elective Board will be still more able to do so. By handing over the AA-hole of the administration of the Avastc lands to elective local bodies we should deprive the Government of a large part of their responsibility. The administration of the Avastc lands has been until uoav one of the chief points upon which a Government has been judged by Parliament, I think the nominative sj-stem should no longer bo continued. A nominated body like the present Land Board may often use its poAver against the public interest. A Board elected as proposed by this Bill may also use its large poAvers against tho public interest, but the mode in Avliich a nominated Pjoard is constituted deprives it of the respect which a purely elected body might .have. The only reason I can sco Avhy a nominated Board is better than an elective one is that tho former is not so well able to resist the Government as the latter Avould be. Noav, considering the extent to Avhich the finances of the colony ;are dependent on the rcA'enuo accruing from land, I think it is outrageous that it should be iv the power of an irresponsible Waste Lands Board to say they Avill not sell land, or will only sell it in certain blocks and at certain times, Avhen it may be a matter of the very greatest importance to the country to be able to realize a certain amount by a given period. sThat may be quite possible, and I guarantee that I could show instauccs Avhoro the Land Boards haA'o deprived tho Government of the funds which it might otherwise have realized. Ido not think any Government ought to object to the abolition of the Land Boards, and I think no true statesman Avould advocate for one moment the principle of the Land Boards. They arc entirely indefensible bodies ; they have no true functions and no true responsibility ; and yet they stand betAveen the people and the Government as a Avail, made use of as a protection or borne as a nuisance.