WELLINGTON.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1958, 14 August 1869, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

{Fi •om an occasional Correspondent.) 11th Augugt, 18(59. In compliance with your desire that I should give yon an occasional stave as to my impressions of men and things in the Empire city, and in fulfilment of my promise to do so, 1 now take up my pen to say—so far as I am able to judge- that among all the political blunders which were ever perpetrated in the history of New Zealand, the New Zealand parliament, as now constituted, is the greatest. I used to hear a great deal in Otago about the sins and shortcomings of the Provincial Council, and I was not slow to join in the cry of “Away with it,” believing that in the General Assembly we had all that was needful for the good government of the Province. I confess, however, now that I have seen the working of the Assembly that “ 'twas distance lent enchantment to the view,” and that the sooner Otago and .Southland unite and become a distinct colony untrammelled by any connection with the General Assembly of New Zealand, the better will it be for all of you. To my mind anything more unsatisfactory and rotten than the spectacle exhibited by the Assembly, it is difficult to conceive. Instead of a small convention of practical and rational men meeting for a week, or at most a fortnight in the year, to deal with those matters which affect the Colony as a whole we have a Legislature consisting of two chambers, with all the forms and paraphernalia of the British Houses of Lords and Commons. A Legislature which involves the expenditure of as much time and money in making laws for 200,000 people, as would be necessary were the population as many thousands as it is hundreds. There arc in Wellington now upwards of 100 men, collected from all parts of the Colony. The session has already extended over ten weeks, with httle or no real work done, with the exception, perhaps, of the Otago West Coast Settlement Bill and one or two other Acts, the whole of which did not occupy many hours, while the cost to the country is somewhere about LI, 200 a-week. You are no doubt aware that the whole of our senatois are paid 20s per diem by way of honorarium ; and while 1 believe the great majority of them spend this and more, yet there are not a few who make money by it. My impression is that the LI a-day is the weak point of our representative institutions, and that, while there may perhaps be some good ground for its payment in the case of elected members, its payment to members of the Upper House, or the Lords, as they are termed, is simply a scandal and disgrace to the Colony. The Legislative Council, or Upper House, be it remembered, is composed of men nominated by the Crown, the great qualification being that its memba’-s are supposed to be men of wealthy and position, to whom the honor and dignity • f the office are sufficient to cover the expense of a residence in the Empire City. As it is, the Upper House is composed to a considerable extent of .men who have no great stake in the country and whose patriotism, it is to be feared, would not lead them to leave their farms and their merchandise but for the potential pound. Nor does the stamp of men who are occasionally pitchforked into the Lords add greatly to its dig. ity. In many cases it has been used as a refuge for the politically destitute. Men who cannot get into the !• gislature by the suffrages of the people, or who having been elected, have subsequently sold their constituents to the Government of the day, have been frequently called to the Upper House. As to the complexion of the Lower House, it is about as heterogenous as are the elements from which it springs—a conglomeration of men representing districts, many of which have few or no interests in common —men, most of whom have little or no knowledge of the position, the wants, and requirements of any portion of tho Colony, other than the particular province or county in which they reside. Altogether, I defy any man whe calmly watches the proceedings of the House ef Representatives not to be struck with the incongruity of its material. There are Southern Island members voiing upon questions of native policy with which they have no practical acquaintance. Northern Island men deciding upon Land and Goldfields Regulations for the Province of Otago—questions which few nun out of Otago know anything about practically. County of Westland men, who know nothing, and care as little about tho concerns of any other portion of the Colony than their own, Goldfields members who as a rule, but with few exceptions may be designated as hangers on of Providence, and last and least Maori members who do not comprehend one word that passes, but whose vote nevertheless may change the whole destiny of tho colony Verily, we shall look in vain for such another olla podrida as the House of Hepresentatives of the Colony of New Zealand I do not know that there is anything in tho proceedings of the Assembly which would interest the people of Otago, that you

may not be able to gather as clearly from Hansard as from any tiling that I can say. The Otago members have, as a rule, been remarkably silent this session. In this lam disposed to think that they have acted wisely and set a good example. The besettim; sin of the Assembly is talk, talk, talk ; everlasting talking ; a perfect rhapsody of words ; having no practical bearing or issue of any kind, excepting that of rah istering to the personal glorification of those who delight to see themselves figuring in Hansard, and of adding some LIO.OOO to L 15,000 a year to the burdens of the Colony in the shape of that interesting periodical, and the cost of the time wasted in parliamentary utterances. During the past week, the great question has been the sending Commissioners to England to endeavor to solder up matters with the Mother country, by arranging to have a regiment of Imperial troops stationed in the Colony,—said troops to be paid for by the Colonial Government at the rate of L4O to LSO a man—the cost of the so-called Colonial levies of the late Government being 1,150 per man The policy of the present Government is to train a thoroughly "disciplined constabulary force, consisting of picked men, and while this is being done, to retain an Imperial regiment, such regiment to be dispensed with so soon as the Constabulary is in effective working order. You will see by Hansard that the Ministerial propssal has been carried by a majority of four, after an endless amount of talk by the members of the late Government, who thought by defeating the Ministry in this question to regain the reins of power. Any thing more wearying than this debate, it is difficult to conceive. Mr Richmond and Mr Hall spoke for upwards of five hours without. I would venture to say, influencing a single vote, I see that considerable excitement seems to prevail in Otago with respect lo the Acts which have been passed respecting the Waste Lands in your Province. As it is evident that neither the Newspaper Press nor its correspondent understood the question, or if they do, that they are woefully misrepresenting it in order to prejudice the Otago members in the eyes of their constituents. I have taken the trouble to inquire minutely into how the matter really stands. The state of the case, then, is simply as follows : —The Provincial Council of Otago at its last fitting, passed resolutions respecting the administration of the waste lands of the Crown within proclaimed Hundreds; an Act "was introduced into the House of Representatives by Mr Macandrew founded upon those resolutions, and embodying them verbatim. This Act was supported by all the Otago members, with the exception of Mr Graham and Mr Mervyn, who moved and seconded that it should be read a second time in six months. The Act has now pass d both houses and become law, precisely in accordance with the Provinc’al Council’s resolutions. So much for Mr Macandrew’s Act; and now for the other Act, which seems to be confounded with the one in question. It appears that the Superintendent of Otago has been urging the Governor to proclaim certain new Hundreds as recommended by the Provincial Council ; against these Hundreds various petitions have been sent both to the Governor and the General Assembly. These petitions together with the Superintendent’s application for Hundreds were referred to the Waste Lands Committee, which is a body comprised of some twenty members of both Houses to which all questions affecting Waste Lands are referred. Pending the report of the Committee the Government declined to give effect to the Superintendent’s application In due time the Waste Lands Committee, after having discussed and considered the whole of the circumstances as set forth in the Superintendent's application, in the opposing petitions, a d on the report of the Commissioners appointed during the recess, to inquire into t e working of the Otago Waste Lands Act, the Waste Lands Committee passed certain resolutions, defining the terms and conditions up>m which the Govern r shall proclaim additional Hundreds. These terms and conditions were chiefly to the effect that no new Hundreds shall exceed 15,000 acres ; that one-half of the area shall be land fitted for agriculture; that th- question of compensation shall be determined by three arbiters to be nominated by the Governor ; the covenants securing from the ruuholders certain blocks without compensation to he legalised, and that Hundreds might be declared within the limit of proclaimed goldfields. The resolution concludes by recommending that the Government shall introduce a Bill to give effect to these, on the report of the Waste Lands Committees of both Houses being adopted by the House. Mr Dillon Bell, on behalf of the Government, introduced the Otago Hundreds Regulations Bill. The Bill was read a second time, and supported by the whole of the Otago members, without exception : a most wonderful instance of unanimity. When the Bill went into coiumitt e, Mr Mr Macandrew proposed the insertion of provisions limiting the amount of compensation to he paid innholders in respect of the loss of their lease, and providing that no compensation shall be paid in respect of improvements, other than fencing land in crop, land down in English grasses, an-1 drainage. The great fight, of which so much was said, took place over these amendments. Wih respect to the maximum amount of c mp nsation which shall be paid, this was ultimately fixed, at not exceeding 2s 6d an acre, when a small portion of the run is taken, and Is 6d an acre, in the case of the whole nm being taken. Such is the actual history of the case upon which so ranch dirt is being thrown into the eyes of the public in Otago. The principle of the bill was agreed to by all the Otago members, and its practical effect, I am told, will be to enable the Superintendent to get all the Hundreds proclaimed which he has applied for, and greatly to facilitate the future proclamation of Hundreds when required, and the settlement of the country.