The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 168, 25 March 1854, Page 6

The Lyttelton Times.

March 25, 1854. In the Government Gazette of the 21st inst. there appears a letter from the Colonial Secretary of New Zealand, notifying the disallowance by His Excellency the Officer administering the Government, of the Empowering Ordinance of the last session of the Provincial Council of this Province. We are certainly disposed to alow that on the whole the reasons given by. His Excellency are weighty enough to justify his decision : yet we cannot refrain from remarking on a portion of the Colonial Secretary's letter. We cannot, for instance, conceive it possible how any officer deriving power from laws enactesl under the express authority of the Constitution act can in any way be said to be " unknown to the Constitution of New Zealand." Nor can we understand how

the Governor can consistently ignore the existence of any person so constituted an Executive functionary, if he but considers for a moment that the Superintendents themselves, as chief Executive officers' of the respective provinces, are, as far as anyexpress words can be found, in an equal degree "unknown to the Constitution." It appears to us that every lawful development of the Constitution act cannot by any possibility remain unknown to it; that every law enacted under its authority necessarily and ipse facto, be oraes on the instant known' to it; and if this be so, then—as a logical and legitimate consequence, —no officer holding office under that law can be ignored in any way by that power from which it is itself evolved. That the " name, character, and qualification" of the President of any Executive Council "may be Avholly unknown to the Government of the Colony" is by no means an alarmingly wonderful improbability. Considering where that Government is established, it is likely to know equally much of the elected Superintendent as of the officer he appoints, whether by name, qualification, or any thing else. We can conceive no cogent cause for alarm if an officer, selected from among the members of the Provincial Council by the Supecintendent, who necessarily [enjoys the confidence of the people which the" Government of the colony" does not necessarily, do, should, during a temporary absence, or in case of death, conduct the affairs of the Province. There is nothing extraordinary or unheard of in this. The postal communication between Canterbury and Auckland now averages from sto 6 months. For that space of time at least this Province, were the Superintendent suddenly to die, must be without an administration. We conceive that it becomes the dv.ty of the General Government, either itself to make immediate provision against such an evil, or to leave it to the Province to do so. The only Provincial officer who enjoys the honor, upon which such very great stress seems to be laid, of a special introduction to the Constitution, is the Speaker of the Provincial Council. He is the only person, who, according to the Colonial Secretary, or rather and more truly, the Attorney. General's idea, could be selected to fill the office of President in case of death or absence. Such an anomaly, however, as that of the same person filling the chief Executive and chief Legislative offices is one which we trust will long remain very much "unknown to the Constitution. In bringing in a bill to make the Judge of the Supreme Court, (a mere chance resident at Wellington,) chief Executive officer in the absence of the Superintendent, the Government of the Province of Wellington have, we conceive, committed an error in principle. It may be, however, that the having ascertained that the officer administering the Government would sanction the appointment of no other deputy, their practice has been forced into conflict with their theories: and they have wisely bent to circumstances and to a superior authority, which they cannot control.

As some Public Work for facilitating access, and the transit of goods between the Port and the Plains, will probably result from the enquiries of the Commission which has been appointed to report on the subject, it may be worth while to enquire how the labourers necessary for any such work may be most economically paid, and how an inducement may be held out to them to remain in the colony after the work is finished. An idea on this subject has been broached at Wellington which may help us to a

practicable plan, something eimilar to one we ourselves suggested in a former article when d.scussing the formation of a tramway Company- The plan we now to allude is that of making part of the payment to the laborers in land. For instance, it is suggested, we believe, at Wellington, to give each workman who shall have served three years on the public works, forty acres of land at the expiration of that term. The value of this is, of course, reckoned in the rate of wages paid in money. We see many advantages in this measure. Less capital is thus required to * undertake any given work, whilst the state disposes of its land to a most useful class of purchasers, and the workman on the other hand becomes possessed of more land than his savings in those years might have otherwise enabled him to acquire. The workman also acquires a fixed interest in the Province, which he will probably not be easily induced to relinquish, in crder to remove to any other^settlement, or to try his luck at the diggings. It is another advantage suggested by the advocates of the measuie at Wellington, that if several of these small farmers were located together, it would tend to give the land in their vicinity additional value. Thus if a number of these forty-acre farms were laid off on one side of a main line of road, the land on the opposite side would probably be soon taken up and occupied also. One possible impediment we can conceive to this scheme is, that the sort of workman who would be the most valuable for p lblic works, might not be found to appreciate the payment of his wages partly in land, Many of these men, we fear, only,desire a command of money for present enjoyment, and have not the habits of prudence and self-restraint which would lead them to estimate a remote investment at its own true value. Still there probably are many exceptions, and those who had the providtnce to value a future provision in land, would form just the most eligible class both as labourers and colonists. We cannot then but hope that sonic such plari as the one we. have indicated may be found feasible, and may be adopted whenever any extensive public work is undertaken in this Province. „ g

We publish this week the Resolutions adopted by the members of the House of Representatives for Wellington. They involve principles of the deepest importance to New Zealand, and we are glad to see them unanimously agroed to by our friends on the other side of Cook's Straits. We have no doubt that our own members will pursue the same policy; above all, that they will insist upon the transfer of the entire administration of the public lands within each Province to its own Provincial Legislature, and the establishment of Ministerial Responsibility in the conduct of the General Government. Let us once obtain these boons and we have no fear of the future. The evils of th» present management of the waste lands are too generally felt all over New Zealand to allow us to fear that the old system will be continued. This Province has had plenty of recent proofs of .its utter rottenness. We are sick of centralization and its concomitant evils—irresponsible commissioners and maladministered funds. The people of New Zealand have borne with such things till they can bear them no longer ; —they have determined that the system shall fall, and they will carry out what they have determined. The establishment of Ministerial Responsibility will be a sure guarantee that no such secret Government as that carried on by Sir George Grey will again flourish in this country. A ministry can keep nothing secret that should be made public. It cannot rule in spite of a people.

• *j k°Pe tnafc tne Various constituencies in New Zealand will insist upon the attendance of their Representatives at this most important first Session of the General Assembly ; and that they will be slow to forgive those who, 'though unable to go to Auckland ' themselves, do not .resign to make room for who are able and willing to do so.

A Coroner's Inquest was holden on Monday at Kaiapoi on the bodies of two men named Henry Wakefield, and John Summerland, who were drowned the previous Thursday in attempting to cross the river in a small punt. It appeared in evidence that the men with three others took the punt without the owner's permission, and having to pass under the ferry rope all stooped together and overbalanced the punt. The other three escaped to the shore. It appeared probable that Summerland, who was an excellent swimmer, lost his life in attempting to save the other. There was a strong fresh in the river, and the water was said to be unusually cold. Verdict, " Accidental Death." Summerland is said to have leaped from the deck of the " John Taylor," and swam ashore, a distance of more than a mile. Regina v. Watson.—From our Wellington Correspondent we learn that on the 7th instant, Mr. King moved before the Supreme Court for a mandamus to the returning officer of Akaroa to replace Col. Campbell's name on the Electoral Roll. The result of the application is, that the case will be referred to a Jury at the next Sittings, some six months hence, to decide whether the evidence originally sent in by Colonel Cf mpbell to prove his claim to be placed on the Electoral Roll of Akaroa was sufficient to entitle him to be so placed.

Lyttei/ton Resident Magistrate's Court. March 13. Taylor v. Wormald. —This was an action brought by plaintiff (or the recovery of certain5 monies collected by the defendant, as Attorney for Taylor and Crawford. The defendant refused to pay this over, and produced as an off set a bill for law expenses against Taylor. Tt appeared that this case was brought before the Resident Magistrate's Court in December last, and was postponed by the consent of both parties that this bill should be sent to Wellington to be taxed, which it appears has not been done. Judgment for plaintiff with costs. March 20. Eades v. Addams. — : lnformation was laid by order of the Collector of Customs against John Addams, commander of the Waterwitch, for delaying1 to report inwards at the Custom House, beyond twenty-four hours after arrival in the colony. The penalty incurred amounted to £100. The Collector of Customs stated that he did not intend to press the case. It was not one calling for the infliction of so heavy a penalty as £100. He had directed the information to be laid because masters of vessel? from the Australian colonies had latterly become very dilatory in reporting inwards at the Custom House/ He chiefly had to complain in -regard of vessels bringing cattle and sheep, which were allowed to be landed in Gollan's Bay, where ships were not under the eye of the waterside officer. Almost all cattle ships had on board other cargo liable to duty in New Zealand,hilt which did not appear on their outward clearance from Australian Ports. This made it necessary as a general rule on their arrival, at once to place a tide-waiter on board at an expeuse to the revenue. It would not become clear till after the Captain had reported inwards, that this expense need no longer be incurred. Now in the course of a twelvemonth tide-waiter's pay ran up to a. considerable sum. The object therefore of requiring early report inwards was evident; on public grounds the information had been laid, and to make it generally known that a more punctual compliance with regulations would in future be strictly enforced, especially in the case of cargo not entered on the ship's papers. A Captain might have good reasons for delaying to report inwards, aud could not leave his

ship ; but if he could contrive to land his stock at Gollan's Bay, he could equally well contrive to send a message through his agents to the Custom House. What the Collector would insist on was that the hare courtesy should not he neglected of letting it he known what the ship was about, and why there was delay in giving account of her to the proper officers. As Captain Atldams, since the information was laid, had given satisfactory reasons for not coming up to Lyttelton, the Collector requested that costs might not be charged against him.— The case was not gone into. March 20. Taylor v. Wormald.— The plaintiff sought to recover an amount due to him by the defendant. The defendant produced a bill for drawing up ,some conveyances as an off-set. Taylor denied having ever given the order for these conveyances to Mr. Wormald, and produced evidence to prove that he Lad given the order to Mr. Dampier. Judgment for plaintiff with costs.

Our Prospect of Obtaining Labofr from Australia.—;'At a meeting held at Lyttelton in November, on the subject of the scarcity of labour, it was determined to endeavour to obtain a sufficient number of labourers from Australia to get in the harvest of wool and grain for the year!! The Committee appointed at the meeting finally determined to advertise in the Sydney and Melbourne papers the inducements held out by the settlement to labourers who could pay their own passage hither !!! The Lyttelton Times says it ' doubts whether the money might not as well have been thrown away.' The writer (as well as the Committee) must know very little of Australia, else he would be certain on the point."— S. M. Herald.

By the " Clutlia," we have the English mail brought out by the " Stately," hut the intelligence received has been anticipated by vessels arriving via Australia. This vessel brings also Otago papers to the 4th of the present month. The "Gazelle" brings Sydney papers to the 3rd of March, containing English News to the 3rd of December. Extracts from the English and Colonial papers are given below, and on p. 10. The Sydney Umpire of the 21s>t February contains*the following additional statements respecting the war. The extracts are mostly copied from the English Times of Nov. 30th. It appears that tbe Turkish Divan has refused to take into consideration the last project of arrangement proposed by Russia, and annuls ail the existing treaties extorted by the Russians during late years. The divan was unfavourable to suspend hostilities from an impressiou that the object of the emperor was only to obtain the necessary time for the geuing up of his reserves, while the Turkish troops were already prepared and eager for action. The Sultan had presented Omer Pacha with a favourite horse, magnificently caparisoned, as a reward for the victory at Oltemitza ; Arab Aga (who it is said killed a Muscovite general in the same engagement) was promoted on the field of battle, and afterwards named Lieu-tenant-Colonel by the Sultan. Fresh contingents to the Turkish army daily arrive ; and another body of 10,000 soldiers were daily expected from Egypt. Russian merchantmen were ordered to quit the Turkish ports before the 20th. The Russian battles with the Circassians seem equally with the Turkish engagements disastrous to - the Russian troops. Prince Schamyl had destroyed an army of 20,000 Russians, those escaping slaughter becoming captive to the Circassians and Ossetes : while a large body of the mountaineers had besiejred the Russian fortress of Daviel, situate in Circassia, and with every probability, it is said, of capturing it. The Afghans also are at war with Russia, and disturbances are reported on the Persian frontier; so that disquiet pervades on every side ot the boundary line of this over-striding empire. '.•Uneasiness prevails in Vienna respecting the state of Hungary, though from what cause h;is not been stated, and several corps have left Austria for the Hungarian territory. Rumours were prevalent that the coronation of the Emperor of France was to be celebratt-d on his marriage day, the 291h January, by the Archbishop of Paris, who was to receive a Cardinal's hat previous to the ceremony. The condiiion of France is reported as reverting to its usual state of discontent.

To the Editor of the Lyttelton Times. Sir, —Never in the whole course of my life, have I more regretted the want of ability to handle in a suitable manner a subject of such vital importance as that referred to in the recent correspondence between His Honor the Superintendent of this Province and the Commissioner of Crown Lands, as at the present moment. Interests of paramount importance to the public weal are involved in this controversy, and which will be decided in favour of the defunct Association, supported as it is by His Honor, and the influence he is able to exercise over our present inefficient Provincial Council, unless a champion shall arise, to do battle in support of the public welfare by protesting to the utmost against the proposed transfer of the Association's liabilities, until every fact shall have been fully and fairly sifted. How stands the case as regards Town Lands? In that erudite and immaculate work styled " The Canterbury Papers," published under the sanction and authority of the said Association, we find upon referring to Nos. 5 and 6, page 135, under the head -of" amended terms of purchase," the 6th clause to set forth, " That the sum to be paid for a half acre allotment in the capital, was to be £24," and page 136, clause 18, to contain the following words. " The capital will contain, besides streets and other reserves for public purposes, 1000 acres of land, open to selection by the first purchasers, thus clearly shewing, that 1000 acres of land were to be appropriated for this capital town. A map (under the authority of the Canterbury Association) was published, which comprised nearly this quantity of ]and, of which a portion only was set out in sections, the residue being styled Toivn Reserves, and supposed, till recently, to be intended for the future extension and completion of the capital, in accordance with the terms of purchase above referred to. Now it seems, the Association, pretends to claim these reserves as its private property, purchased as rural land, at £3 per acre! Surely such a violation of the above terms of purchase, will not be sanctioned ; or what faith are we to put in pledges so publicly put forth? what protection or compensation is to be afforded to those %ho supposed their town sections to be of the upset value of £24 per half acre : the act of Parliament also provides, that all town lands must be sold by public auction. Trustees to property are amenable to the law, for any breach, or unfair administration of their trust; and it comes with very bad grace from His Honor, to assert that the Association's malpractices have been sanctioned by Government, and that therefore they cannot be compelled to disgorge these town lands, so dishonestly appropriated as rural land. The simplest man of business is always prepared to except error from the settlement of any transaction he may be engaged in, as no bar to his future claim for a restoration of his due ; so must we insist upon this, as well as all other matters connected with the Association, being fully sifted, ere settled ; and not allow the plea of the Government Auditor bavins? signed these mysterious accounts, to be any obstacle to our obtaining all that we are entitled to claim. A\ ith respect to the correspondence, I would remark that officials generally use terms of almost obsequious courtesy when addressing- each other; but the tone of His Honor's last epistle to the Commissioner betrays more of the imperious diction of a # Dominie to a schoolboy. At the same time it must not hi forgotten, the subject in question is entirely beyond the control of His Honor, and that the Commissioner's instructions are derived from an authority to which even the Superintendent himself must. bow. J ACOE F AIXHPUL