GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1301, 30 September 1872, Page 2

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

THF. COUNTY OF WESTLAND BILL;

In the House of Representatives, on September 37, Mr Stafford moved that the second reading of this Bill be postponed and made an order of the day for Friday next. Mr Yogel hoped the Government would come down with proposals dealing with this question in a satisfactory manner. He considered it a mere pretence, to say •.-'■.- that the' Go vernm ent were without the necessary information, for if any Government could claim a knowledge of subjects affecting the West Coast it was the present Government. Ho would do the honorable member at- the head of the Government the justice to say that there was scarcely a little village, in the country with, which he had not some acquaintance ; indeed, from his intimate knowledge of various parts of the country, he- might al most be considered; a walking gazetteer. He lived in a place where matters connected with the West Coast were constantly mentioned and discussed, so that the honorable gentleman possessed, as much knowledge on the subject as he was likely to have.. Then there was the,- lion. . member for Nelson city, the Commissioner of Customs (Mr Curtis), who, if he had no knowledge on the subject ought to have, and it was not to. his creditif he had no knowledge on the subject. Then there was .another gentleman, who filled the office of Colonial Secretary (Mr Sewell) who had made the West Coast, his, special study ; he had visited the place and came back perfectly full of it. That honorable gentleman would not attempt to say that he did not possess sufficient information on the subject. It wasj he would repeat, mere pretence to say that the Government had no knowledge on the subject. Without entering into the case, in speaking merely on the motion for postponement, he would say that the present position of the West Coast was one that required immediate attention. He* was aware of the fact that practical miners were how leaving the West Coast for * the neighboring Colonies; and that some measure was urgently required to meet the existing . ,circu instances of thatkmost important part of the Colony,, was bwpnd all doubt. The people were suffering real grievances; and if the Government was not prepared to deal with the question, he hoped there would be a sufficient number of members independent of the Government, to take the matter into their own hands, . , .. „.-...** Mr White wished to say a few words in reply to the remarks of ; the honorable .member for Auckland City East, who now seemed to appreciate the importance of the West Coast, and the substantiality of the grievances of that part of the country, He regretted that when it was in the honorable .- member's power to remedy those grievances, he did not lay himself out to do so. He (Mr White) was.- aware that political capital was being made out of the grievances on the West Coast. That was unmistakeable, and members on each side of the House understood it. : If so much interest was felt by the honorable gentleman, or those who acted with him, when he was. iv power, how came it that the Bill had not yet been circulated 1 With refereuce to the statement that the miners were leaving the West Coast, he had only to say they were not leaving on account of the Bill not passing.; Anxious as they were, no doubtj that some such Bill should pass, if they were leaving at all it was because of the supposed greater *> attractions offering elsewhere., He $saw it stated in a local paper the. other day, that one of the disastrous consequences, of a change of Government was the rush to the Roper River diggings. He dared say honorable members had read... the statement, and were probably, as, much tickted with it as. he was himself. An en- - deayor had been made to place him (My White) in a difficulty— in a false position with his constituents in reference to the Bill. He had given the late Government to understand, when consulted on the. matter, that he was heart and soul with them in any effort they might make to remedy the grievances on the Weat Gpajrt:, more especially in regard to the matter of placing the West Coast Gold Fields under one Government. He was prepared to keep his word, and support any Government. that' would attempt to bring about that desideratum. It had been attempted to make people believe that had the late Government remained; in power, the unification, as it wa3 caUe% would have been accomplished, and that in consequeuce of the new Government coming into, power, its prospects of success were gone. He took leave to denyboth propositions. He felt certain that the part of the country which he represented would get j ustice at the hands of the present Government, if itdidnotatthoseofthe late Government, aud that was one of the reasons why he had opposed them. Up to the last few: months of the existence of the late Ministry, their administration and management were disastrous to that part of the Colony, but he admitted 'that towards the end of their career they sought to do more justice to the West Coast, Two Ministers of the Crown visited it,, and ascertained its wants, and he believed that, so long as it did not jeopardise their position as Ministers, they were willing to render such aid i^ they could. He gave the late Government that credit, and he wished they * would be equally generous with him, and not by their instruments— by their instruments through the Press— make it appear . to his constituents— -though he thought his constituents would believe him as soon as they would .any newspaper or Government—that he had, from party purposes— and indeed it had been hinted he had some self-interest to' serve— voted againgi the interests qf his constituents He would never do that to serve any' patty whatever, for he sat in that House to do what he coald to forward the interests of hia constituents, while at the same time keeping a look out tor those of the Colony as a whole. He had not anticipated having to make any remarks that nighty and would not have spoken had it not been for the observations of the honorable member for Auckland City East, and he wished that members of the late Government should understand that, he was perfectly clear as to their efforts to make k political handle of this Bill. He knew that what he might say as to the handle mdde of the Bill was absolutely prpvable, and he would be prepared to prove it at the right time, that was, if at this late period of the session an attempt should be made to pass the Bill, which contained about 200 clauses. He would support this Bill, as if was his duty to ' do, provided he' was satisfied with it, but he had not had an,

opportunity of reading it, for he could not get a copy till yesterday, and had only succeeded in obtaining; one as an especial favor, and on an order, from a member of the Ministry. He had not ; had time to read the Bill through, but if he found it at all what he expected, he would support it if it were brought forward. |The honorable member must know that, at this period of the session, a Bill , making important constitutional changes, and containing 200 clauses,* would stand but little chance of becoming law, especi- . ally having regard to the Btato of the ' Order Paper ; at the same time, he would not allow any chance to slip of assisting in passing the measure. Before sitting down he would again express his gratification at finding that the late Colonial Treasurer had thoroughly realised tho importance of that part of the Colony from which he (Mr White) came, and a portion of which he had the honor to represent. Mr Fox said he felt himself in a rather difficult position in this. matter. The Bill had been in his hands, and it was ta'ien out of his hands without any intimation being given to him by the Government that they would adopt it. He thought the Hon. the Premier would have been acting with more courtesy if, on the transfer of a measure of that kind from his hands to that of the Government, be had been asked whether he wished to remain in charge of this Bill, or whether it should be in charge of the Government. However, he would be quite satisfied if the Government would place the Bill in nuch a position on the Order Paper as -would give a chance of a fair discussion, and would, if the House were in favor of the Bill, enable it to pass during the present session, or, if not, would at all events bring it under the notice of the public. He would not have risen to say •nything at all upon the subject had it not been for the remarks of the honorable member for Hokitika, but he was not going to discuss the Bill, or go into its general merits. He must, however, allude to the honorable member's Very ungenerous remarks towards the late Government, and the accusation that they had only brought in this measure as a mere political handle. Mr White : I did not say the Bill was brought forward for any auch purpose ; I said it was made a handle of now. Mr Fox : The honorable member asked why the Bill was not brought forward sooner, if the late Government had been in earnest in the matter If the honorable member's remarks did not mean the measure had been brought in as apolitical handle, what did they mean 1 Mr White ; I said I gave the late Government credit for bringing in the Bill with the best of intentions ; but they would not risk their seats for it, and had latterly used it for political purposes. Mr Fox said the honorable member had insinuated that the Government had not been in earnest in bringing in the Bill ; but whether he meant that or not, his words were calculated to convey that impression, and he (Mr Fox) was justified in clearing it away from the minds of hon. members, and from the minds of the honorable member's constituents, to whom he supposed the honorable member would have to render an account of his conduct in Hub matter. He would tell why the measure had not been circulated, and was late in being brought down to the House. The West Coast members were themselves the cause of that Bill not being brought in earlier. When a discussion took place last year on the state of affairs on the West Coast, the honorable member for Grey Valley said that district had been neglected by the Nelson Government, and that only three miles of road had been made on the. West Coast by them. The honorable member for Kelson asserted ■ that 600 miles of road had been made. He (Mr Fox) said to the honorable member for the Buller, "One or the other muit be immensely wrong : I will go down and see the country for myself, judge for myself, and report to my colleagues upon -the subject." He did, as honorable memberg knew, go there, visited all parts of the district, and consulted miners, mer- : chants, settlers, and all classes. He went into parts where residents of the district had not themselves been, and he believed he had Been more of the country as a whole than any resident on the West Coast. He labored hard, and collected all the information it was possible to get. He came back after two months, pretty . well prepared to express an opinion as to ." what the state and condition of things were, and as to the political problem that bad to be solved. Not long after his return the session commenced, and before ' that he had to satisfy his colleagues of the necessity for taking so important a step as he felt it was his duty to propose to them. He then had to undertake the framing of a measure to carry out the intentions of the Government on the subject, and he lost no time in doing so. He labored assiduously, and wrote a long memorandum to submit to his colleagues, and after he had received their concurrence, the matter was put into the hands of the law advisers for the preparation of a measure. The law advisers furnished him with the Bill a. short time before the session opened, and then the members from the West Coast arrived, and he had interviews with them individually, fand on two occasions collectively, respecting the measure that had been prepared, and any alterations in it that might be thought - desirable. The sesaion by that time had made some little progress, and when about three weeks of it had passed, the Government found/ there was considerable difference of opinion among the honorable members for the West Coast themnelves as to the" form in which the proposed changes should be made — whether in the direction of establishing a new Province, or of extending the existing County institutions. The Bill when prepared, did not agree with the more settled views of honorable members for the West Coast, and was not in accordance with the views of an honorable gentleman who had a large experience of that part of the country, Mr Hall, who had lately' then joined the Ministry. Instructions had to be sent to the Attorney-General to prepare another Bill, and some time necessarily elapsed before a Bill containing some 200 clauses could be prepared and brought into the House. The very day on which he was sure th,e Bill would be laid upon the table" of the House, he tsok the tfep eH moving the first reading. Well, he thought there was no delay up to that stage, tie could assure honorable members that the late Government went into that Bill with as much heart as ever they went into any Bill. He found no slackness or hanging back on the part oj his colleagues, It wa* a subject of great

interest to them all. His colleagues took away his memorandum with them and studied it closely, and when the Bill was printed they compared the two measures, and gave as much consideration to the subject as they had to any measure he had known brought before the House, hardly even excepting the great public works measures. Certainly, in proportion to the magnitude of the subject, it waß given the greatest possible consideration. Thenthe hon. gentleman said, "Why has it not yet been distributed?" He would tell him, and the reply was a very simple one. When the late Government wont out of office, or a day or two before—he believed the very day — the final proof of the Bill was brought to him for directions from the Government as to the distribution. There was not time to give the Bill its final corrections before they were turned out of office, and as the Clerk of the House never distributed Bills without instructions from the Government, the Bill had stood over until the present time. When he this day applied to the Clerk of the House, not knowing previously what was the real reason of the delay, he received that explanation why, since the time the Bill was actually in print and ready to be struck off, it had not been struck off and distributed. Now he thought the honorable member would see that whatever insinuations it might please him to throw out, and however little gratitude he might feel on behalf of his constituents, or on his own account, for the part which the Government had taken in the matter, their motives were none but the moat disinterested, aud they had taken the course which they did at the risk of offending some of their

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Btaiinchost supporters, who were menibera from tto Province from which it was proposed to take a largo territory, and ' who were not favorable to the measure, and bad never been understood to be favorable; to it. Tho honorable member ought to,! have the generosity and the fairness to refraiu from making such insinuations as he had thrown out with reference to the jnstice and the honor of the 1 late Government in respect to the Bill He would not longer continue the discussion on tho. subject. He' had explained all that it was necessary to explain. He quite concuirod with the proposition of the Hon. the Premier to put the Bill down for Friday, undwheneverthehonorablemerabermoved the second reading of the Bill, which he ft resumed he would do on that occasion, te would be prepared to give to the House what he "conceived to be substantial reasons for the proposals which were contained in the Bill for the constitutional change which the late Government thought it their duty to suggest to the House with reference to the South« West Gold Fie Ms. Mr White rose in explanation. He said distinctly that in anything he had just stated, or in anything he had ever said in the House or out of it, he had never expressed any doubt of the sincerity of the late Government in bringing in the Bill. What he had said was, that it was latterly, during the recent discussion on the. resolutions of the Premie:, which had resulted in the chaDge of Ministry, njade a political handle of. That was what he sail, and what ho was quite prepared to substantiate and to prove at the proper, time. Mr Reynolds thought the honorable member for Hokitika had shown great ingratitude townrds tho late Government. The honorable member for Nelson City brought forward a resolution on the 7th of August last, to the effect that there should be no alteration of the boundaries of the Provinces. The honorable member for Rangitikei, in reply to the honorable member, stated, "And I have only to add, without wishing to assume anything on the part of tho Government, that even if the honorable member's resolution is carried, it will not prevent the Government bringing in a Bill for the unification of the VVest Coast Gold Fields." He thought it must be evident that the late Government were very anxious to do justice to the West Coast. [We shall give the remarks of Mr Stafford and others m next issue.]