The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1874

Evening Star, Issue 3537, 24 June 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1874

Comparing the questions put by Mr M‘Neil to Mr Reid, with the resolution arrived at by the Southland Waste Land Board, it will be seen that although Mr M'Neil pointed to two abuses of the power vested in them, there was one which he omitted to name—the increase of price for cutting timber for railway sleepers—precisely the purpose for which the license was applied for. i The subterfuge by which the resolution ; of the Board was attempted to be excused, and on which Mr Reid dwelt so emphatically, is one that is utterly untenable in a country having four hundred years’ supply of timber, a great! portion of which must necessarily be wasted by natural decay, if it is not , utilised. Mr Reid said : The Government were aware that the Waste ' Land Board at Invercargill did refuse to grant a saw mill license in, perhaps, one or two cases, , except under the conditions stated: that the timber in the forests, in which it was believed good timber was scarce, should not be cut for the purpose of sleepers for railways or export from the district. So far as he had heard, it was with the view of preserving the forest for the benefit of bona fide settlers in the district. The absurdity of such an excuse is manifest on the face of it, when it is considered that one or two men were willing to invest large capital in the construction of expensive machinery, the cost of which could only be recouped by years of profitable work. Is it to be supposed that they would select places where good timber was scarce 1 And is it to be tolerated that at least sixty families, who might have been directly employed at the saw-mills—-apart from the indefinite number who are indirectly interested in the industrial progress of the Province —should be debarred profitable employment for their labor because some half a score or a score bona fide settlers, not yet manifest in the flesh, may want posts and rails for fencing ? The very slabs cut off, or boughs not suitable for railway sleepers, that would not cut up into boards, might be utilised for purposes like that: apart from the consideration that as our railway system becomes developed, posts and rails for fencing will be procurable from any part of the country at reasonable prices. But the truth is that no such reason exists: the Woody Knoll, we are informed, is a part of the well-timbered forest of Winton, comprising about four square miles, and forms part of the vast area of forest land mentioned by the Inspector of Forests.

Apart from the illegality of their proceedings, to which we shall ultimately draw attention, two conclusions of very grave import must be arrived at from the action of the Southland Waste Land Board, First, they have undertaken to restrict the trade of the Colony, by determining that timber shall not be exported; secondly, they have taken steps that tend to raise the pripe of railway construction by throwing impediments in the way of sleepers being procured ; and as a corollary, as there are persons who have obtained licenses for cutting timber either for railway sleepers or export, they have virtually given a monopoly to certain favored individuals. We have thus the anomaly of the (General and Provincial Governments doing all they can to develop trade, to foster manufactures, to provide cheap modes of internal communication; and a conservative Waste Land Board endeavoring, as far as in them lies, to thwart their efforts. Referring to the Southland Waste Lands Act Amendment Act, 1867, not repealed by the Amendment Act, 1872, it appears that the Board is empowered to fix fees for cutting and sawing licenses, and from “time to time to make, alter, and repeal bye-laws for the more efficient management of timber land.” But those bye-laws are not u to take effect until after being published in the ‘General Go verm raent Gazette’ and in the Government Gazette’ of the Province of Southland. Accordingly, under date 6th December, 1872, a code was drawn up and gazetted in the ‘Provincial Gazette/ but there is no ap pearauce of it in-the ‘ General Government Gazette/ although Mr Reid, with fair show of reason, presumes ifc must i

have been published there. By those regulations ten acres of timber per horse power of the steam engine employed in working a saw-mill, with a reserve of four years* cutting, is to be granted to an applicant: the Waste Land Board is to determine the granting of the application within fourteen days after it is made, and the fee chargeable under the license is to be “ threepence for every hundred superficial feet cut during the term of the license.” The other conditions merely relate! to penalties through non-obedi-ence to prescribed regulations for cutting the timber fairly, without waste, and non-payment of the fees as agreed. Now, assuming Mr Reid to be right—that those regulations adopted in December, 1872, were gazetted regularly—there was an utterly unauthorised departure from them. The applications were not decided within fourteen days, but were postponed for months before being considered. The Board assumed the power to restrict the area to 340 acres, to prescribe the purposes for which the timber should not be applied, to threaten the cancellation of the license, if the licensees did what by law they have a perfect right to do—namely, to cut sleepers or timber for export —and to charge one shilling per hundred feet instead of threepence the rate fixed upon by their own regulations. The law is explicit: any change must be gazetted before it can become effectual, and unless by an oversight no public servants can be allowed to enact regulations in restraint of trade without the sanction of the Legislature. It is impossible that this flagrant exertion of arbitrary power' can be allowed to rest, and equally impossible that men whose knowledge of their duties is thus imperfect can be allowed to conduct affairs so important as the regulation of forests, the utilization of which is capable of affording employment to so large a population. Although we do not agree with Mr Reid in the opinion that the Council Chamber was not the place to discuss the action, of a Waste Laud Board—for where resolutions affecting land can be discussed, the action of those entrusted with its administration may surely be commented on—we quite coincide with him that it is a question for the General Government to investigate and deal with. We have no doubt whatever that, had the matter been referred to the Supreme Court, the applicants would have had redress ; but it cannot be expected that individuals will adopt such expensive remedies, even although the country were to pay the. costs of Court. Time, ; trouble, and intellectual energy are not ; the sole losses they would have to i encounter. Even if successful, they ; would have been harassed by official , annoyance, as the parties to the petition presented by Mr Reynolds have ex- . perienced. In one of Mr "Vogel’s financial statements, he pointed to the ' amount of our exports per head of the ■ population as a proof of the vast capabilities of the Colony, and of its power iof sustaining a large population. If, however, the fancied interests of a few : settlers in nubibus are to be jnade a barrier to its further development, the sooner our immigration ceases the better.