THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JULY 11, 1873.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 227, 11 July 1873, Page 4

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JULY 11, 1873.

If there could have been one person doubtful as to the bad principle contained in a non-political Waste Lands Board, he must now, -we think, be converted by the action taken in selling the Otekaike block—unless, indeed, he takes the view that we incline to, that the sale was in its latter stages inevitable. The Provincial Council just elected by the people—if on' any principle at all, on that of the administration of the Waste Lands Actunanimously and heartily agreed to recommend tliat the sale-be not concluded—that an opportunity be first afforded to a Select Committee to enquire fully whether tin e application; had been entertained so far as to make it necessary to conclude the purchase. The Board asserting—what no doubt they possess—theirindependence, would not entertain the protest of the Council, and went so far as to say, through Mr Butter worth (at least,. Mr :worth, said; and no one contradicted), -that if they had received such protest •they would have disregarded it. At the same time, the head of the (xoveriiinent (Mr Tolmie) says in'the Council that so" long as he holds his seat at the head of the Executive,- he holds it as his right to maintain his seat at the Waste Lands Board. How so, if there is no connection between the Board's administration and the Government ? It in said, in defence of the taction taken by Mr Tolmie at the Board in supporting the sale, that it showed an honorable intention, because it would have been, and indeed was, concluded without his action. If, however, Mr Tolmie could not conscientiously oppose the sale, he should not, as a member of the . Provincial Council,- have agreed to the unanimous' adoption of opinion - moved by the member for Waiiaki against the sale. " Be that as it-may, the absurdity of blending the judicial and- political can hardly be shown clearer. .

"Wo hardly know that it ia to be hoped that any fresh change will again be made in the constitution of°the Board. It is a quasi satisfaction, at any rate, to know that the idea of this judicial Board first- arose from the party, of which Mr Reid is the leader.' Mr iieid, in bringing down his Bill.as passed by the Lower House of Assembly in 1872, advocated that the Council should pass it without debate, as there was no material alteration—pro-1 posing, however, one" slight amend-'! ment. ..Then Dr Menzies got up and advocated the change of' the constitution. of the Board, talcing away -the political .tone and proposing to make it entirely and solely a judicial body. This was followed up by an amendment of Mr Barton's, which was carried, over-riding for the time the member for the Mataura's ideal judicial Board. The Bill then %ent to the Legislative Council, and after a great deal of difficulty a? compromise was agreed to, that one member of the Executive, should be on the Waste Lands Board, th'Uß introducing the misea eiexneiit—-very much against the I wish of Mr Ma can drew and Mr Keid i —winch leaves .toe Government always open vo the imputation of guiding the Waste lands Board, while the Board is really quite indypendent of the Executive. - The .real; solution of the difficulty will not probably be found till the -waste lands' are " made away With into the hands of capitalists, for" there fee nothing. to prevent any runholder agreeing; to the cancellation of I his lease, and at once applying to pur-

: chase 10,000, 15,000, or 20,000 acres, (government have no power to stop it. The Board knows now its | own power, and snaps its fingers against interference from any quarter* ■ whatever. From the papers laid on the table of the House it is evident that, from the 10th July, 1872, the Maerewhenua block has been to all intents and purposes sold to Mr Campbell. On that j day the following offer and consent was sent by the Government of the day:— .'Provincial Secretary's Office, Dunedin, 10th Juiy, 1872. i The Hon. Robert Campbell, Dunedin. Sir, —The Government having agreed to your offer to allow the sale of' acres of your Runs, 17 and 28, on condition that compensation at the, rate of •'is. per acre be paid for the land actually sold, and having elected to open for sale the area on tracing herewith, it will now be necessary, to suspend your lease over the area, and I have to request that rf 1 ? i terms of the 16th. section ot the i Goldfields Act, 1868, be good enough to intimate your concurrence. ! I have, &c., 1 D. Keid, . Provincial Secretary. i" The Government having agreed to " your offer to allow the sale." Those i are the words, and the only condition ris that the compensation of 23. be paid f©r the land. Beyond that the: offer is i entirely unconditional, and is as bind- ! ing on a Government as it would be on i a private individual. How gross, then, | is the action of the Opposition of which i Mr Reid is the leader, in bringina forj. ward a- vote of want of confidence bej cause the Waste Jjands Board carried | out at last the sale begun and, legally j speaking, concluded by Mr. Eeid himI self.

The members of the Waste Lands Board appear to" have had this alte. native to ; face : Either they must refuse to sell-. >at once, or be in a few months compelled to sell, and,' in addition to such enforced sale, have to make the country pay very heavy law -expenses. A private individual would not, unless a-madman, go to law against the opinion of his legal advisers;, Still, if he did, Ire, would only be risking his own property A Government, whether it be an Executive or a Judicial Board, should be much more chary of such speculative action, because the funds they would be'gambling with would be the country's. It i 3 very much to be regretted that the Provincial Secretary, in his 'place in the Council, did not, when Mr Sumpter's motion was unanimously carried, state that the Council had no power to "influence the Waste Lands Board, and*-also that the sale was so far consented to that it was impossible, if Mr Campbell stuck to his pound of - flesh, to "draw back. This was a tactical blunder that a more astute politician would not have committed, "We are of opinion that in our Councils we have too many of the astute politician class, and too few practical administrators. The Government should be judged, whoever may compose the elements .of its Executive, on the administrative measures-they may bring before the House and the country. So far, two: votes of want of confidence have been tabled, and time taken up in useless debate, without the Government having been allowed to bring forward any practical business at all. Every independent member in the Council should set his face against unfair and obstructive, action of this sort, and refuse to be led away by his Goldfield predilections, to condemn tlie Government for the combined action of its predecessors and the Waste Lands Board.