HAWKE’S BAY.

Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 16, 21 April 1860, Page 3

HAWKE’S BAY.

[ Hawke's Bay Herald.’] PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. Tuesday, March 6. The following motion was put and passed: — That this council is of opinion it is desirable for the public interests, and would,;greatly facilitate the acquisition of native lands by the Crown that the provisions of the Native Land Purchase Ordinance relating to the illegal occupation of those lands by Europeans should be strictly enforced.” In the debate on the above, Mr. Colenso said that he was sorry to see that they had not hit upon the line of demarcation between arguing for a thing as private individuals on the one hand, or as members of Council on the other. On the contrary, he feared there was a tendency to advocate private interests, and to let the public weal go—anywhere. Was it not notorious that every stranger who came to Napier'; 1 the moment he got on a hill or borrowed a horse, put the question, To whom do these plains belong ? Aiid when told that they were the property of the natives, was it not the uniform exclamation, until you get these plains, or a them, you will never go ahead ? Mr. Fitzgerald, pursuant to notice, moved—- “ For the appointment of a select committee to inquire into and report upon the various acts of the Provincial Council of Wellington, now in force in this province, with a view to the repeal of those that are inapplicable or unsuited to the circumstances of Hawke’sßay, and the republication of the rest in a single blue book.” Such committee to consist of Messrs. Carter, Ormond, Alexander, Colenso, Tucker, and the mover. Report to be brought up on Tuesday, March 13. The motion was agreed to. Wednesday, March 7. Mr. Colenso, pursuant to notice, rose to ask his Honour the Superintendent whether any steps had been taken to procure a geographical map of the province on a large scale, and if so, when such is likely to be complete.—Mr. FitzGerald replied that he had conferred with Mr. Tilfen on the subject, and they had agreed as to its size and scale; but the work, from pressure of business in the Survey Office, had not yet been commenced. . The map would be on a scale of forty chains to an inch, and would, when completed, be four times as large as the map usually shown. He thought that in two or three months t would be ready for public use. Mr. Colenso, pursuant to notice, rose to move that the Superintendent be requested to procure the geographical map of the province to be finished as early as possible : and that it be hung up for public inspection in the entrance passage leading to the new Government Offices. —Mr. Fitz Gerald might state that the Chief Surveyor and himself had determined that the map would be as comprehensive as possible; and that every Monday morning the land sold during the week would be marked off upon it. The Government would have much pleasure in acting upon the suggestion of Mr. Colenso —an arrangement which the public would appreciate, and which, he felt assured, they would not in any way abuse. —The motion was agreed to. The following motion was agreed to : —“ That in the opinion of this Council it is desirable to obtain an act of the General Assembly, enabling the Provincial Government; to purchase up the rights of the present owners of the swamp sections on the west side of Hastings-strect, with a view to enabling measures to be taken to reclaim what is at present a most unhealthy nuisance.” The following motion was also agreed to: — “ That in the opinion of this Council it is desirable to obtain from the General Assembly at its next session an act to authorise the sale or leasing of the educational reserves in this province.” Mr. Colenso, pursuant to notice, moved — “ That a memorial to the House of Representatives be drawn up and adopted by this Council, that an increase to the number of representatives for the Province of Hawke’s Bay be graciously and speedily granted.” He thought there could be no question that Hawke’s Bay was most inadequately represented. He found that Auckland had 13 members, New Plymouth 3, Wellington 8, Nelson 5, Canterbury 5, Otago 5, Hawke’s Bay 1, Upon every principle of justice Hawke’s Bay was entitled to additional members. Tuesday, March 12. Mr. Fitz Gerald moved for the appointment of a select committee to which the accounts of the receipts and disbursements for the past financial year may be referred, in conformity with the third section of the Audit Act; and that such committee do consist of Messrs. Alexander, Ormond, Tucker, Carter, and Rhodes.—Mr. Colenso said, in his opinion the accounts could not be checked more; too much check, perhaps, was exercised. The road accounts were first carefully examined by the Paymaster, who was responsible for any error: then certified to by the Provincial Engineer; then strictly examined by him (Mr. Colenso); then handed to the Superintendent for his signature. The other accounts were first certified to by heads of departments; then examined by him; then signed by the Superintendent; then forwarded to the Treasurer, who in turn examined them. All the vouchers then came back to him (Mr. Colenso, the. auditor), by whom they were again gone through to see that no more had been paid than the sum authorised. On every account there were from four to six checks.—Mr. Fitz Gerald, in reply, said that the select committee could not appoint auditors, but certainly could, if not satisfied with the accounts, employ some compe-

tent person as accountant. He was sorry to see so much misconception as to the auditing of the accounts. The system-of audit was infinitely better here than in Wellington. In the latter it was a mere form; for, long after the money had been paid, the accounts in the mass were audited in an off-hand manner—the process occupying but a few hours. Here, they were examined at once—in detail; and payment was stopped if anything was found to be wrong—a Very different thing from seeking to recover money after it had been paid away in error. The only real question that had arisen was as regards the,, auditors having a seat in the Council; but he (Mr. F.) could not understand how this should be an objection. As a member of that Council, the auditor was much more independent of the Government than if he simply held a paid office under it.—Tlie motion was then agreed to.

Thursday, March 15. . The resolutions adopted by the Council as to the leasing and sale of Crown Lands, piovide for leases of fourteen years, to apply to non-agricul-tural land only ; that the leaseholder have right of purchase of whatever land on his iun he may improve by fencing and sowing with English grasses, at 10s. an acre; that a board of three members decide cases of application, &c.; that the rent of the leaseholder be, for first class lands, lid. an acre for the first seven years, and 3d. for remaining seven; for second class, sd. for first seven years, and 2d. tor remainder, that agricultural reserves be set apart in good localities, to be divided into sections of 40 to 100 acres each, and offered to the heads of families on condition of actual occupation, subject to the payment of interest at the rate of ten per cent, on the value of the land, which they should have the right of purchasing at any time during a period of ten years, at the rate of 10s. per acre. The following are extracts from the discussion of the resolutions Mr. Fitzgerald said that he had for a long time given attention to the subject of the disposal and letting of the waste lands He had at heart the interests of the agriculturists quite as much as those of the sheep-farmer ; but, from conviction, lie believed the regulations embodied in the report to be well suited°to the requirements of the province. A great deal of misconception prevailed with regard to the merits of this question. That it was right and proper to issue licenses to the runholder in the first instance, no one would be found to deny. It bad been done in every other colony, and the system had invariably conduced to the increase of population, and to the general development of the resources of the country. Had this no been done in the case of New South Wales, it would never have arrived at its present position —it would not, but for the squatting system, have had one-eighth of its present population. And ill New Zealand, the fruits of the original regulations were to be seen every day, in ahnost every province—wool forming the mam staple ot moK them. In a financial point of anew he felt much dissatisfied with the present system He saw large tracts of country only yielding a nominal rent-scareely worth, in fact, the trouble of collecting; whereas, under the proposed regulations there was the certainty of a considerable return—probably four or five thousand pounds during the first term with the prospect of a considerable increase during the second. Under the present system, on the other hand, not £IOOO was received. He did not think that should these regulations become law, any great difference in the amount realised from land sales would result; a great deal of back land included in the leases was land that would f LIJVS many years. His colleague seemed to have torgotten in his remarks that no right of purchas was proposed to be given, save over such portions as might be improved. Such right of purchase was, he would submit, reasonable and fair- for if the runholder had., no such protection he would have no inducement to expend money or to employ labour. His whole object, on the contrary, would be to get as much as he could out of his run, without spending more on it than he could possibly help. The regulations of 1853 would remain unaltered; and those now Proposed would be supplementary to the additional regulations of Wellington. The new clauses could be acted upon or not, at the option of those already licensed under the old system. .The; proposed system, he contended, was a fair one to both parties; while, at the expiration of the term, a valuable property would revert to the province, which it could sell or lease as it thought fit. A small portion only of the original estate would by that time have been alienated; for the improvements could not he so extensive as to render the extent of purchases very great. His only fear with regard to these regulations was that they would not be taken advantage of by the license-holder. He feared they would be disposed to say—“ No, we hold under a license, and have now power to buy ss. land; if we once accept a lease we lose that right. All the agri? cultural, or ten shilling land would be open as hitherto; and the lands to he leased would .be those that were fit for nothing else than grazing purposes. He believed that no injustice whatever would be done to new-comers or the public. At Canterbury and Otago the lands had been shut up much more effectually than was proposed to be done here. Everything, even to the agricultural portions of the runs, were secured by lease. Yet both were large growers of agncultural produce, and there was no lack of land tor that purpose. With regard to the board consisting- of paid commissioners, it could not well he otherwise. No unpaid officers would be found to travel over hundreds of miles of country every month. All were agreed, he thought, as to the usefulness and necessity of having centres of population in different parts of the province; and he had no doubt of the success of ‘such settlements if land of good quality and in a good situation was procured for the purpose. It had been often said that a family could not exist upon 40 acres, but he thought this was answered by a reference to the Hutt, when large families made a living out of 10 acres highly cultivated. He thought that 40 acres, highly cultivated, would be quite sufficient for the support, of a family at the poorer class. A good deal had been said about the ten per cent, interest to be charged the small holder upon the value of his land. The clause was not very carefully worded, hut few could misunderstand it unless they did so wilfully. It was simply one shilling per acre per annum of interest, or 40s. upon the whole holding, with a right of purchase at the end often years, at £2O. Surely these terms did not involve any great hardship; and the case of the small holder, it should not he forgotten, was different from that of the leaseholder, who had no right of purchase over the land he improved, whereas the farmer had a right of pre-emption over the whole lot he occupied.—Mr. Ormond moved that the report, as amended, be adopted, which was agreed to, and gave notice that, at next sitting, he would bring forward a memorial to the General Governmentembodying the resolutions now passed. .