Page 2 Advertisements Column 4

Dunstan Times, Issue 234, 19 October 1866, Page 2

ton the Government would be practically irre- t sponsible, constantly changing, a mere exercise i of.so ina-ny thousand pounds a year pattonage, i Let us take an example. Supposing the Gold- i iield3 had been transferred to the General Go- -\ vcrmnent, a Minister of Mines, would have had to t be selected. From the uniform support which 1 he accords to every Government whilst in office, i a"d from the extent to which he favors the Gold- s fields by looking after their affairs, Mr Haugh- 1 ton would have had just cause of complaint, had 1 he not been selected for that position. When f this gentleman got together the unfortunate : Goldfields Committee, to which I shall pre- i gently refer, his first act was to summon a ju- ■ nior Warden to Wellington, to rive evidence 1 upon which to ground a new Bill, a personal 1 friend of his own, whose society he craved. I This is but.a sa'We of what Government from ' Wellington would be—an unmingled system of ' favori'ism. It would be the same with whoever was ' in office. A proper amount of suporvisi on could ' not. be exercised, the miners would groan under a despotism of iiicapaoifcft because promotiem ' would depend on favoritism, not merit. Consi- '• delations of this nature, determined me from lis tening for a moment to +he allegation that the residents of the GoldSeld's chsired to be transferred to the direct co ltrol of the Genera l Government. I should be sorry indeed to represent men who could allow themselves to be influenced into such an unwise and irrational desire. I perfectly understood that they had raised the cry just to bring a little pressure to bear on the Provincial Government, not with the serious intension of handing the Goldfiekls patronage over to the General Government. But during the whole Session this alleged wish of the Goldfields was used as an excuse for the an f i-l , rov j no j a i nolicv, with all the concomitant evils to which I have already allud el. It seems it is for the interest of the Goldoelds, if lam to believe what 1 am toll, that there should be Stamp Duties, inordinate Customs taxation, unlimited liability for native pari) >ses, and so on. You will very likely bo told the Stamp Duties were meant to relieve the Customs. The answer is that following the Stamp Duties the Tariff was increased, and that the promise to reduce it next year is as worthless as similar promises during previousyears have proved—nay, as the specific promise this very session of reduction proved. I took little interest in +ho Goldfields' Bill, and I will tell you why. When I first went to Wellington I intended introducing a Bill to repeal the 2Sth Clause. I allowed myself to be persuaded that the appointment of a S elect Com- j mittee was the best mode of effecting that ■ object. When the Committee'was formed I urged that the recommendation to repeal the 2Sth Clause was the first consideration. I was then told for the first time, there was to be a compromise. I found, too, that what you had been previously told about the 23th Olauso was an error. Instead of the Clause being forced into the Act, bv Dr Menkes, in violent opposition to the Goldfields' Members, that gentleman : was not in the Committee-Room when it passed ■ whilst the Goldfields' Members were. I soon | became convince 1 that the 23th Clause might be I made worse. The compromise which was at first determined on, was certainly infinitely j worse for the Goldfields and the Province. j Afterwards that compromise was modified upon Mr Pyke's arrival, and it now stands more'favorable than as at first proposed. Still, I be- ; lievc, the Province will be subjected to more , coat than it would have been put to under the i 23th Chun ' ■' - • '• of agrieult | was the nature of the compromise, 'i was un- • able to discover its policv or justness. I under- | stood you were promised the repeal of the 23th Clause, without subjecting ycuio a worse evil, j Upon other points, when your interests were at : stake, others who represented you were more ! willing to compromise than 1 was. In short, the whole affair disgusted me. Even when the | question arose of making olear and above dispnte a clause couched in a vague manner, providing for bringing portions of proclaimed Goldi fields under the operation of the ordinary Waste j Land Law. without companion, and when it , was explained on all sides that the Clause did not a>ow r the purpose f. r which it was designed, Mr Haughfcon, voted against the vagueness be ; n-» c'-e-a-'d The object of the Clause was unnistakeably to avoid c mipensation. Mr Be 1 aver-el that as it .was worded, bompens \Hor coull be obtaiieel. Mr Whittakr was of th sams opinion. The CVmmittPo had instruct" me to see the nerc--3i-y altera'i n "ale : but M Hvightou v itel for reto'n'"gt e ag .en S;. an the error had to be rectified in the uppjr Horn Iby the Attorney-General. Tan is a sample c :!many of what, to my mind, seemed asysterna+i II subordination of the interests of the minin j community in this Bill, aulas I have said, . was thoroughly dhgusted with it. I am much i | mistaken if von will not in course nf V.« th, j same. It is more or less a s! . Mining Board for the whole rrovmco, its twe • : blocks for agricultural le:ses, and the rest. Ir ;, one or two points there mav be some usefu i amendment, bat on the whole, I doubt you i: liking the Act. 11 Upon the Lands' Bill I was forced by my con ; victior.s to a course which disagreeably separatee me from those with whom personalty I shouh have desired to act. It serves no purpose t< keep up a controversy of this nature ; suffice i . I that I opposed the Lml A ct, because I did no- : think it in aeco { which it purpoltvu iu •>..: ~„m".vo, ri-.r:iu> : thought it was not in accordance with pnblii ! policy, and because I did not believe it woule ■ fulfil the expectations augured of it. My oppo : sition was not, successful, and 1 sinceroly'trust '. ' i may be found to have boon mistaken, and tha ' i the Act will work better than 1 anticipate. "\ I need not refer to fho indignity to whiel ' i Otago was subjected by the course pursued f ; regard to the fees and fines. I looked upc I the whole proceeding as a wanton attack unoi ' : the Province, and a signal blow aimed again ! I the Municipalities, which as you know I hai ! , some share in bringing Lit > existence. I oppisc " the Government strenuously i i the matter. ' I trust yet, that represent Vi >ns of the gross re • pudiation which distinguishes the Ac 1 , wi' induce the Secretary for the Colon;- s ;o u ov I I her M ijesty to d'sallow the me. s; e. " Another Act which it is to c honed IT 'Majesty will disallow is one ant'id i sing th '; payment of Customs' Duties by paper monxs--1 Treasury notes. . j I syent a great deal of time in endeavorin to get passed through a Bill for the establish , ment of District Municipalities. It woul have afforded to outlying districts, seeurit , against a too centralising disposition of th" Pr.i \ j vincial Revenues. I have seen a great d ;al o , nonsense written about its being an attack upo . i the Provinces. It is quite the contrary. Ever) , thing was required to be done by Provincial ins J chinery. lam no advocate f » Provincial mis management, and desire to see the outlying dis I triets receive proper consideration. Bat thi end effected, those districts will prove the mair [ stay of Provincialism, because their revenue will be derived through the Provinces. lai j certain the measure which I, in common wit other gentlemen, introduced, would hav I brought into existence staunch Provincial allie: just as town municipalities have proved the: J selves to bo. , I In conclusion I must candidly tall you th II though I esteem >' \ high honor to represent e , numerous, so pov rful, /me! so useful a comrc a nity as that of the Goldfilds, I think it is n r ! ther for their gain ] I tatives should sysi a ' sides. Such was the case 1 t i partly explained to you the reasons airnougn s j must add they are more or less conjectural, sim ;- I your other representatives nuroly Mmdescends