GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 679, 23 August 1876, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

{Per Press Agency,, HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. Tuesday, August 22. Sill GEORGE GREY’S AMENDMENT LOST. SECOND READING COUNTIES BILL CARRIED. The House met at 2.30. EAST COAST ELECTION. The report on the East Coast election was read. It states that Captain Read is not elected, and Captain Morris should take the seat, LEAVE OP ABSENCE,. Leave of absence was granted to Mr Bastings and Mr Larnach, SCABIn reply to a question on the notice paper, the Native Minister announced that Government would place a sum of money on the supplementary estimates, with a view to the eradication of scab in the East Coast district, native lands purchase. The Native Minister, read a statement of the operations of the Native Lands Purchase Commissioners in the North Island, which went to show that a very large quantity of land—rover eight hundred thousand acres—had been purchased at about 2s 5d an acre, including surveys. These lands had been acquired since 1872, in connection with the public works scheme. ADJOURNED DEBATE ON COUNTY COUNCILS BILL. Mr Rowe fully endorsed every statement made regarding the Bill by the Super in-

teodent of Nelson. He considered the position of the Thames was analogous to that of Nelson as depicted by her Superintendent, A good deal had been said about the country districts working out their own destinies under the Bill, but it was not right to expect districts that had no land fund to work out their own destinies. When there were a great many districts that had a magnificent land fund it was no trouble for the latter to work out their destinies. In common justice all the out districts should fare alike. As for the Bill itself, he approved of its principles, but thought it would require to be made very elastic, so as to meet the requirements of many parts of the country—his own amongst them ; that the Bill in its present shape did not suit. He believed that if the thirty-nine counties were called into operation, the machinery would be found much more expensive than provincialism. The requirements of the outlying districts of the colony should be considered in mapping out the counties. There should be no arbitrary proceedings. Very large counties, he was afraid, would be but a modification of provincialism, and no more acceptable than what it was intended to replace. Mr Macandbew thought every hour spent on this discussion was so much time wastsd. It was more than probable that the Bill would go into committee, and if so it would be many hours before it came out again. When it did come out it would be like Dean Swift’s stocking—the original would not be known for the darning. If the Bill were to be permissive, no district in the colony would take advantage of its provisions. As regarded that section of the colony with which he was best acquainted, he was persuaded that the Act would remain a dead letter on the Statute-Book. As an instance of this, he read a resolution recently passed by the South Clutha Road Board, Even the Wakatip district, whose representative was so enamoured with the idea of counties, would fight shy of the Bill when it came to be practically put before them. The people of Wakatip would not thank their representative for his action in depriving them of the revenue they had hitherto enjoyed, and of the power of being created into a county with a substantial endowment out of the land fund, that fund which, in as far as Otago was concerned, would, under the Government proposal, becomea vanishing quantity—small by degrees and beautifully less—in fact, nil. He then went on to show that the Provincial Government had expended in the Wakatip county during the past year £2O, on objects which would, under the new arrangement, have to be provided for by the county. Of this the Colonial Government was to find one-half, leaving £IO,OOO a year to be raised by the county in the shape of rates. The people in the district would have been far better to have borne the ills they bear than have fled to others that they knew not of. The hon gentleman then showed what would be the effect on Otago as a whole, which would have to rate itself to the extent £IOO,OOO a year, irrespective of rates by district Road Boards, in order to enable the outlying districts to do for themselves what had hitherto been done for them, and would continue to be done were Otago left to manage itself as heretofore. This was the great boon to the people in the South which would be received through abolition. A more cool piece of effrontery than to tell the 100.000 people on the south of the Waitaki that abolition was a benefit, and would put money in their purse, he could not conceive. He went on to tell hon members that, in forcing abolition in Otago, they knew not what they were doing. They were exhibiting a recklessness and tyranny unworthy of Englishmen and repugnant to the giving of free institutions. The natural outlet of the policy now in question would be to sever the extremities from the centre, The hon gentleman went on to show that the thirtysix members who voted for the so-called separation resolutions, really represented as many of the population of the colony as did the fifty-two members who voted against them. He showed that the Otago members who voted in the minority represented 88.000 of the people of that province, while those who voted with the majority represented 13,000. Had the latter been true to their hustings pledges, the province would have been wholly in one boat. Was it fair or just that Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, and Marlborough, with a population of 24.000 should have eight votes on a question of this kind, while Dunedin with 25,000 has only three votes. They must not suppose that even if abolition were accomplished, they could destroy home rule in those districts where the people were content with and preferred home rule. The hon gentleman then went on to show the folly of attempting to destroy those political institutions under which the colony had made such progress. He alluded to the speech of Mr Moorhouse last week, in which he compared the colony to a stately oak, aud proceeded to ask if the roots of Auckland and Otago were cut off from the stem, where then would be the stately tree ? If Otago was deprived of its land revenue, they might depend upon it that the root would bud forth into a separate and distinct tree. It must not be supposed that the 100,000 of the bone and sinew of the colony would be coerced into any form of government, or deprived of their hard-earned substance, against their will. It was no tall talk, but the words of truth and soberness when he warned them that the moment abolition as now proposed was ushered into life, that moment would ring the death knell of the unity of the colony. He would no doubt be charged with narrow minded Otago views. Why? Because he would be no party to that political communism which seemed to be the Alpha and Omega of colonial statesmanship. Were he to act upon the advice of an old farmer to the late Sir George Sinclair on the occasion of a dinner when he was elected for the county of Caithness, he should be regarded as a most generous, a most liberal and large minded representative of the colony. Sir, the advice was as follows;—“Noo, Maister George, since ye are a Parliament man I have ae advice to gie you ; ye aye tak whac ye can get, and aye keep seeking till ye get mair.” This seemed the view which commended itself to the House, or what the hon members on the Ministerial benches would call rising to the occasion. Otago wanted nothing from the colony but the management of its own affairs and the use of its own revenues within its own territory, and for this privilege it was willing to pay sweetly. Was it to be wondered at that, afttr having spent upwards of half a century of the beat years of his life in the interests of New Zealand —after seeing that section of the colony in which his lot had been cast advance to an extent unparalleled in the history of the

colony—that he should feel keenly its progress crippled and retarded, as would undoubtedly be the case under this policy. He confessed he felt keenly to think that the province of Otago should be despoiled through the instrumentailty of one of its own children; one to whom, politically speaking, it had given birth. Had it been an enemy that had done this, they could have borne it, but it was a friend, ore whom they had trusted and honored. His was the dagger which had sent them to perdition. Depend upon it no policy formed upon injustice, as the Government policy was, could ultimately prosper, and although the constitutional party was at present a minority in this House it was otherwise in the country. As it was, they might rely upon it that the weak would become the strong, and that heaven would defend the right. He would vote against the second reading of the Bill.

Mr W. Wood also opposed the second reading, Sir G. Grey’s amendment was then put, and negatived on the voices, and the second reading was put, and the Premier not being in his seat at the time, the second reading was carried without any reply or division. A good deal of discussion ensued upon the appointment of a committee to settle the boundaries for the South Island under the Counties Bill. Ultimately the debate was adjourned until 7.30, to enable some understanding to be come to as to the composition of the committee. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS BILL.

In committee on the Municipal Corporations Bill, clause 309, all the intervening clauses up to 319 inclusive, were passed without any material amendment, and the House rose at 6.30. The House resumed at 7.30, when a good deal of discussion took place as to how the committee to define the county boundaries for the South Island should be composed. It was proposed that nine select committees should be appointed to decide upon the subdivision into counties of the nine different provincial divisions of the colony, but this was opposed by the Government, who were afraid under this arrangement small sections of country would be out-voted by. larger ones, and probably be made to join their districts to others, against their wish. The question was eventually adjourned till that day week. The House went into committee upon the Municipal Bill, and went through the remaining clauses, when was reported. The schedule is to be considered on Friday next. The Eating Bill was similarly dealt with. The rest of the sitting was in committee upon the Building Societies Bill. All the clauses were gone through, the only alterations being, that in clause 3, the registrars of joint stock companies are to be registrars of building societies. Clauses 9 and 10 were struck out; clause 16 amended so as not to apply to societies already constituted. Clause 37 was amended to permit minors eighteen years of age to vote. The House adjourned at 1.30. LAND PURCHASE OPERATIONS. The following is a precis of the statement by Sir Donald McLean of the land purchase operations during 1875-6, After referring to the former difficulty Government had to contend with in acquiring Native land consequent on superior advantages offered by capitalists and speculators, he said that during the past year the Government agents had not been less exposed to the same difficulty. To the north of Auckland 413,856 acres have been acquired, at a cost of £43,895, or 2s per acre. The surveyors report that it is well adapted for settlement, and appeals have been made by the natives to have these lands peopled by Europeans. Of the above purchases 229,559 acres have been handed to the province of Auckland, to be be dealt with by the province under its existing land laws. The Government doubt if it is desirable to acquire more land after the present negotiations are completed. In the Coromandel and Thames district some 119,000 acres were purchased, on which payments have been made of £16,000, at the urgent request of the Superintendent, in the belief that the land was auriferous. The total area purchased in the Thames district was 145,441, at a cost of £26,231. About 200,000 acres in the Upper Thames and Piako districts are under negotiation. Owing to the difficulties raised by certain sections of the Arawa tribes, the land purchases have been discontinued in the Bay of Plenty district. In the Taupo district about 100,000 acres have been purchased, at a cost of £14.258, or about 2s lOd per acre. On the East Coast very few purchases have been completed. In the Upper Wairoa 146,000 acres have been acquired. The late hostile Urewera tribe joined in the sale. The total purchases in the province of Auckland since June, 1875, are 335,860 ; the total since 1872 amount to 835,628, at a total cost of £103,009, or the average price 2s s£d per acre. No purchases have been made in Hawke’s Bay during the past year. The total in Wellington province since 1875 amounts to 58,425 ; the total purchases 440,927 acres, at a cost of 2s 8d per acre. In Taranaki purchases have been completed of 82.381, making a total for Taranaki of 252,886 acres, at a cost of about 2s per acre. Large blocks are now under negotiation. Total purchases completed in the North Island 1,769,972 acres ; total incompleted transactions 2,695,867 acres.