THE NO-CONFIDENCE DEBATE

Evening Star, Issue 3002, 2 October 1872, Page 4

THE NO-CONFIDENCE DEBATE

We continue Mr Ormond’s speech : MESSRS COLLINS AND GILLIES ANSWERED, I come now to the honorable member for Collimiwood, who in his speech—which was made up principally of personalities—indulged in a little | ersonality with regard to myself; but I will tell the House what foundation there was for his statements. fter the st itement with regard to my honor - rable colleague the Colonial Treasurer —for which it is a matter of regret to everybody in this House that he has not apologized—he went on to state that he had something to say about a railway in Hawke’s Bay from Napier to Paki Paki, and he told the House that this railway went through my property. The honorable gentleman simply made an absolutely incorrect statement, and in my own justification, and in order to show what foundation there was for his assertion, I will trouble the House with a description of that piece of railway, and its position with regard to my property. In the middle of the Napier Plains, which comprise about 100,000 acres, I have a piece of land of 1,000 acres. The railway runs for twenty miles through these plains. The land is some of the richest in the country, and by far the richest I have sen in the North Island, and it will eventually have a very largo population upon it, and bfe one of the great feeders of this railway. When the engineers surveyed the railway, three lines were laid out. I may say 1 never interfered in the slightest degree with the labors of these engineers. These lines which were laid out by them were all leading from Napier to Paki Paki. One line, the most expensive, did go through my property, and would have very largely increased its value if adopted. The second line went within two miles of my land, and would have been very much better for mo than the third. The third line went a little more than three miles from my property, and that is the one which has been selected. That is the only answer I have to the statement the honorable member made, and which is of a character not calculated to reflect credit upon him or this House. I should say, also, perhaps, that the Engineer-in-Chief has been in the district, that he has visited these respective lines, and it is on his advice, and for the obvious reason of the comparative cheapness of the line, that that which has been selected was adopted. The next honorable member of whom I have to sp;ak is the honorable member for Wanganui, who went so far back with bis complaints as the year 18(59. That honorable gentleman is looked upon by all sides of the House as one whose statements can be relied upon, and I believe so too ; but he has in this instance referred to matters of detail which he could not have been properly informed upon, and, which 1 hear from honorable members have had weight with them, and, therefore, I am bound to state what is the truth with regard to them. He first went back to 18<59, and referred to the old road to Patea, and two bridges, which, he said, were abandoned, I find, upon inquiry, that that is perfectly true, but it was before the Public Works department was organized, Mr Blackett, the officer in charge of roads, was sent to the West Coast to inspect the line, and he said it was not the proper line, and the present road, which is a very excellent one, was made. Therefore, so far as the abandonment of those bridges is concerned, the statement is correct, but they were commenced before public works were fairly entered upon. He then referred to the Wanganui and Wait ra Hailway, and very i roperly advocated the claims of his district. Government fully recognise the importance of that part of the country, and are doing all they can to settle the confiscated land question within its boundaries ; and when that question is settled, and the matter is in such a position that the work of colonization and railway works eap. be entered upon, the Government believe the district is ope in which they should be carried out. But the main grievance of the hou. gentleman was that the Go- | vernment had begun at the wrong end in having a survey made of the railway from New Plymouth to Waitara, and that that had shaken his confidence in the Government more than anything else that had taken place. 1 think 1 have already stated that the Government have not had time to consider the reports of the engineers upon this line, and have made no distinct statement with regard to it. There is no question that the Wanganui and Waitara line will be part of the main line leading down to the West Coast, and wiil bo one of the most valuable railways in the country. 'The honorable member then questioned the accuracy of a paragraph iu the public works statement which I made to the House. He asserted that in that statement I bad spoken of these bridges as large bridges, the Puketotera, the Okehu, and the Ifai Iwi, and indicated that I had misled the House with regard to them. He said they could not be called large bridges, that their spans were 16 feet, 15 feet, and 60 feet respectively. Now I find, on reference to plans in the Public Works Office, that tho Puketotara Bridge has a span of 61 feet; the Okehu 52 feet 6 inches; and the Kai-Iwi, the span of which the honorable member said was 60 feet, I find is 140 feet. Those are facts, and I regret very much that an honorable gentleman for whom 1 always had a great respect, should have allowed himself to make spoh staieraents as those which 1 have sbowu to be incorrect. I now come to the remarks of tbe honorable member for Auckland City West, and the sensational statements of tho honorable member for Rodney, all of which 1 can ah solutely disprove, and which it is my bounden duty to disprove. I will take these two speeches together. They were very much in one groove, and they treated upon subjects very much akiu to each other. I must say that it is rather gratifying to see those two honorable gentlemen pulling together. They have ordinarily been in that position towards each other which is common to Provincial Executives and their Superintendents, but apparently they are now united to support the honorable member for Timaru, as far, at least, as this motion is concerned. The honorable member for Rodney was not at all complimentary, and did not express much confidence in the honorable member for Timaru, and he led honorable members to believe that he was distrustful; and if many other honorable members on that side of the House are of the same way of thinking, the honorable gentleman will certainly have a very troublesome band under his rule. The first question was raised by the honorable member for Auckland City West (Mr Gillies), who referred to the powers which had been given to other Superintendents, and stated, as one of his complaints against the Government, that he had applied to them for powers which had been refused, especially with regard to the purchase of land at Coromandel, in the Province of Auckland. I have looked up this

question, and I find that long ago, when my friend the Colonial Treasurer was in Auckland, the honorable member made application to have delegated to him the power of purchasing a large tract of country at Coromandel. TLe Colonial Treasurer replied that the Government would like to bo informed what particular blocks of land it was proposed to purchase, what amount was to be given, and what agents he was going to employ. 1 should explain to the House that the Coromandel Peninsula, connected as it is with the Ohinemuri country, is a very ticklish and very difficult native district, and the Government were absolutely bound, before giving any such powers to the Superintendent, to ascertain through what channel he was going to conduct these negotiations. A very angry correspondence took place ; the honorable member declined to specify the blocks he was going to purchase, or to name the agents whom he was going to employ ; and the Government, I think very properly, refused to delegate the powers. If they had delegated the powers, and if the Superintendent had employed some person who was not very judicious in his proceedings, the country might have been embroiled in difficulties through the action of an individual who was in no way responsible to this House. The case is not one which can be urged in this House as a just ground of complaint against the Government. My honorable colleague did offer that the General Government Agent, Or Pollen, and Mr Puckey, the Native officer, should act in concord with the Superintendent of Auckland in these purchases, but that proposal was not accepted I may say that since I have been Minister for Public Works I employed an officer in the Thames district, who has successfully conducted the negotiations. That gentleman is well known to be a thorough opponent of this Government, but it was urged upon me that his services could be made serviceable to the Colony, and I did not hesitate to employ him, and with the entire consent of the Superintendent of Auckland. He has also been engaged in purchasing land at the Thames, and some very large blocks are now in course of negotiation. I understand that the subject of land purchases was referred to, to-day, by an honorable gentleman, aftd I will state that the cost of the blocks under negotiation, as estimated by Mr Mackav, is LIOB,OOO. He was informed that his attention should be specially directed to those lands which were suitable for settlement under the provisions of the Immigration and Public Works Act. There has been expended altogether in the Province of Auckland upon land purchases the sum of 1.15,687, and authority has been given frr the expenditure of a sum of 108,000. All these purchases are in course of negotiation at the present time. They include many districts in respect to whi hj it would not be advisable to explain particularly what negotions are going on. The honorable member for Auckland City West then went on to speak of the water supply at the Thames, and he complained that plans had long ago been prepared, and promises made to the people of the Thames that a water supply would be provided. I have stated to the House on a previous occasion that if the Government had rushed hastily into that matter, and had adopted what was desired twelve months ago by the inhabitants there, they would have incurred an expenditure of L120 ; 000. Last summer was an exceptionally dry season, and it was ascertained that there was not then sufficient water in the stream from which it was proposed to obtain the supply, to have kept two stampers going. The Government has waited patiently, and has caused every inquiry to be made, and has now authorised works to be carried out at a cost of L 47.600, which will meet all the requirements of the place. This is one of the cases in respect to which, if the Government had yielded to the undue pressure which was brought to bear upon them, they would have sacrificed the interests of the country, and they certainly deserve praise rather than blame for the action they have taken in that matter. The honorable member went on to speak of a Provincial water supply. I was astonished to hear tlie honorable gentleman refer to that matter in this House, because the work in question is really nob of much greater importance than an artesian well upon private property. The present supply to the Thapies is about equal to a six inch pipe, and that is the great provincial woik to which the honorable gentleman refers, (To be continued.)