Mr McKenzie at Palmerston South.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 4 June 1891, Page 2

Mr McKenzie at Palmerston South.

In this isue we publish Mr McKenzie's replies to the criticisms on his conduct, in the administration of the departments placed in his charge, as made to his constituents at Palmerston South on Monday. It is abridged from the very full report published in the N. Z. Times. In our next issue we will publish his exposition of his Government's policy. MB SPENCE. He now came to the statements made by Mr Spence at Invercargill, and tak.n up by the Conservative : press throughout the length and breadth of the Colony, with regard to his own actions as Minister of i Lands in the South'and district. On i his tour of inspection throughout the Colony he got as far as Invercargill, but he might say before he left Wellington on that tour he had documents sent to him containing complaints of the manner in which the administration of the Crown lands and forest reserves in Southland were being conducted, and one of his objects in visiting Southland was to generally enquire into these matters. No sooner did he reach Invercargill than numbers of people waited upon him for the purpose of drawing attention to the defective administration of the Land Department, and the

svay in which the forest reserves . ere being dealt with. One of these gentlemen who had interviewed him cnade such startling accusations .gainst Mr Spence that he (Mr McKenzie) had decided not to bear fchem unless he was prepared to sign his name to the accusations he was making. This he agreed to do, and Mr Gore, his secretary, took down bis statement in short hand, wrote it out that evening, and the gentleman in question called next day, read the statement over and signed his name to it. He (Mr McKenzie) took that statement to Mr Spence himself, and asked him to reply to it, which he did, and sent it on to Wellington ; but the reply was not satisfactory to him (the Minister), so he decided that the gentleman who bad made the statement should again be written to from Wellington and asked if he had any further proof of the charges he had made against Mr Spence. Another letter was received from that gentleman, emphasising what he had previously stated and giving dates for some of the statements he had made, at the same time giving the names of other people in Southland who could prove his accusations. But before this inquiry could be completed Mr Spence left the service. A great number of other complaints had been made to him, too numerous for him to menthai evening, but he had documents in his possession wnich would bear out every word he was now saying. One gentleman in particular, he was informed when in Invercargill, could obtain anything he asked for at the hands of the Southland Land Board. Another statement made to him when in Southland, was that land with timber upon it to the value oi, £8 per acre, had been sold for the sum of 12s 6d per acre, for cash. Into this he had made personal enquiry and found it to be true. Taking all these things into consideration he could only come to the one conclusion, and that was that it would be in the interests of the colony of New Zealand, and taMr Snenqejbimse-f, that he should be removed fi^^_b place where he had been fqrliach ia length of time. ; : '- : ME MUSSEN. •'■:- The reason for Mr Mussen's removal to Canterbury was that after consultation with Mr Spence himself in Southland they came to the conclusion that it was necessary to have a forest ranger in Southland. Mr Spence strongly recommended him as Minister to leave Mr Mussen in charge of the Crown Lands, and to appoint a special ranger for the forests. Mr Mussen was an elderly man of about 60 years of age, and unable to make long journeys on horseback. While there was nothing to be said against Mr Mussen, whatever, still in [the Minister's opinion, be was totally unsuitable to perform both duties, He, therefore, as an act of kindness to Mr Mussen, asked him to remove to Canterbury, where he could do most of his travelling by train. He had not the least desire to transfer Mr Mussen from Southland if he could perform both the duties of Crown lands ranger and forest ranger. QUESTIONING HONESTY OP CIVIIi SERSEEVANTS. Now the next crime he had been accused of was of having issued a circular, as he had already stated, practically asking officers in the various land districts to declare that they had perjured themselves. That circular was dated 18th March, 1891 from the general Crown Lands Office, Wellington, to the Commissioners of Crown Lands, " Under instructions from the Hon Minister of Lands, I have to request you to ask each clerk in your office if he ever got declarations under the Land- Aot signed by a J.P. in blank, which were afterwards filled in or used for the purposes of application under the Act. The answer of each clerk to be noted opposite to his name. Will you, at the same time, be good enough to state whether you have any personal knowledge of such practice baying been pursued in your district, signed, W. J. H. ; .EliQtt, Under-Secretary." The reason for issuing that circular was that it had been reported to him that practices ' of this sort were carried on, ' and to show that there were good grounds for such a report, two of the officers had stated in their replies that they bad seen such applications. His sole object in sending that circular bad been to ascertain if such a custom had prevailed amongst the various officers, and if so to see that a stop was put to in future. The fact that it was found to exist in one case proved the necessity for the circular being written ! ! 1