PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 142, 15 June 1872, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

WESTPORT LAND PURCHASE,

On the Council meeting yesterday morning, Mr. O'Conor was called upon to move the resolution standing in his name, " That the resolution moved by the Provincial Solicitor, reflecting upon Mr. O'Conor for the purchase of certain sections in Westport, be rescinded." Mr. O'Conor said that he regretted that owing to his not haviog got the evidence taken before the Select Committee until yesterday afternoon, he was not in such a position as he hoped to have been to show that the report of that committee was not in accordance with the evidence, and, consequently, was wrongful and injurious to him. It was, however, on a par wilh the rest of the proceedings of the Council. Mr. Donne here rose to a poiot of order, as he considered that Mr. O'Conor had do right to make such assertions. "The Speaker ruled that Mr. O'Conor was decidedly out of order, and trusted that he would refrain from passing such reflections upon the Couucil. For his own part, he had taken every pains to get the evidence printed as soon as possible, and he could not sit quietly and listen to such statements. Mr. O'Conor said that he desired to confine himself strictly to such statements as were necessary to show the wrong that bad been done him, and he trusted, under the circumstances, to be allowed a little more than ordinary latitude. Before entering upon the subject of the enquiry he would ask members to look back on his past conduct and say whether he could be accused of self-seeking in his position as a legislator, but rather whether he had not always studied the interests of his constituents acd the public to his own disadvantage, and yet in the face of his antecedents it had been sought to cast a grave stigma upon him. To proceed, he must state that the inquiry had not been so searching as it should have been, and important evidence had been suppressed. Mr. Luckie was - sorry to offer any interuption, but he considered that such a charge was highly derogatory to the committee, and should not be allowed by the Council, especially after the lengthy and careful examination, that had been made by the committee. He must object to such false accusations. Mr. O'Conor wished to know whether it was in order for one member to accuse another of making false accusations. Mr. Speaker : Certainly riot, but you brought it upon yourself by your conduct. Mr. O'Conor was sorry that he w,as not allowed to prove the wrong done to him. His complaint was that the report of the committee was one-sided anJ contrary to evidence, and unless he was allowed to state and to prove this, he could not ask to have the vote of censure passed upon him rescinded. The report had been drawn up and the decision of the Council arrived at hastily. Mr. Macmahon could not listen quietly to such reflections on the Council. He for one had acted upon a strict sense of justice. Mr. O'Conor: The resolution was unjust, as he could *how by evidence that had since come to his hand. Mr. Donne wished to know whether the Speaker's ruling was repeatedly to be set at defiance in such a manner. The Speaker could not leave the chair so long as there was a house, but the motion itself was so extraordinary and unheard of, that he scarcely knew how to act. For a member to get up and attempt to rescind a vote of censure upon himself was something quite novel. Literally, it Was within the Standing Orders, and therefore he allowed the matter to proceed, but he could not see .how Mr;:O"Gonor could speak to the motion at all without jbeing guilty of disorderly language, as it could

scarcely be discussed within the limits of order. Mr. O'Conor would endeavor to reach the minds of those who desired to see justice done in this matter, and there were some present who had- acquainted him, since the resolution was passed, that they, should like to see it rescinded.. Mr. Guinness: Name. Mr. O'Conoe could not he guilty of such a breach of confidence. He first woul<i call attention to the fact that the charge was originally based upon a wrong idea, as it was thought that the facts of his being in the room and of making the purchase wero sufficiently connected to show that he had been guilty of a dishonorable action, whereas the evidence taken before the committee showed that, this was not the case. Mr, O'Conor was proceeding to read a newspaper report of what Mr. Doune had said in a previous debate when Mr. >Donne again rose to a point of order. The Speaker said that the whole affair was so novel and unprecedented that it was impossible to keep the discussion within ordinary limits. As Speaker, he was hound to remain iv the chair, but he could not conceive how members who had the option of withdrawing could retain their seats under the circumstances. Mr. Collins thought Mr. O'Conor, having been allowed to commence, should be permitted to go on. Whether it was fight or not that he should enter on such a question he could not say, but having begun he should be suffered to procee 1 without such frequent interruptions. Mr. O'Conor was determined to be heard, if not in the Council, at- least elsewhere, and would spend the last shilling f>e possessed, and the last drop of blood in his veins in removing the stigma that it was sought to attach to him. It could uot, be clearly shown that he was aware of the decision of the committee, as the furthest point to which his accusers could 20 was that he had been in the room reading a newspaper during a part of the discussion, and when, in addition to this, he stated that by purchasing the land he had not been putting money into his pocket, but rather out of it, he thought the complexion of the affair would be entirely altered, Mr. O'Connr then went on to state that certain evidence he bad wished to adduce before the committee with regard to the value of the land had not been taken down as being irrelevant, and therefore he considered himself justi fled in saying that a portion of the evidence had been suppressed, and Ihnt the enquiry had not been so searching as was necessary under the circumstances. The report too was adopted too hurriedly, within five minutes after the evidence was completed, and read by the chairman in such a manner that no one present, could possibly attach due weight to the numerous minor points. He could prove that he had spoken to Mr. Stafford some time previously about these sections and urged him fo purchase some of them as being a desirable investment, as the Government Buildings must be removed to that part of the town. This was afterwards recommended by Mr. Dobson, aud if his recommendations were carried out, the value of the laud in the neighborhood must be greatly enhanced, whereas if those embodied in Mr. Kyonersley's report were adopted it would use its value altogether. If he could show that the report he was charged with having heard would make the sections he had purchased utterly worthless, surely that was the best proof he could adduce that he did not hear it ; if he could prove that what passed in the committee-room would make it directly opposed to bis interest to become the purchaser, then the charge must fall to the ground. [Mr. O'Conor then proceeded to point out on the plan the position of the sections, and the way iv which their value was likely to be affected by the adoption of Mr. Dobsou's report on the one hand, and Mr. Kynners-ley's on the other.] Was it likely that he woulJ be such an idiot as to purchase land that he knew the committee were about to render worthless; or, again, if these were to be withdrawn from sale for the purpose of dividing them among the losers, would he, the loser of £400 a-year, far more than all the rest put together, be such a fool as to pay £100 an acre, in order to prevent the Government giving him the sections for nothing. Did the committee enquire into all these particulars ? Did the Council take care to ascertain the value of the property he had lost ? No, but he was an obnoxious member, one who had at various times brought forward objectionable measures The Speaker: — You are altogether out of order, and I cannot allow you to impute improper motives. Mr. O'Conor then proceeded to criticise the report of the committee. It had been clearly shown by the evidence that he had fully determined, some time previous to the 4th June, to purchase the sections

named. Was it placing a proper construction upon the evidence merely to say that it appeared. that he had " contemplated " making the purchase ? In paragraph No. 2, where reference was made to the decision of the committee to recommend the withdrawal of the land from sale, it should, in justice to him, have been stated that he was owner of at least threequarters of (he land washed away. This was not stated, and therefore it was not a fair representation of the facts. Paragraph No. 3 stated that he was present when the decision was arrived at. Mr. Macmahon stated that he was not in the room at the time, therefore this was contrary to the evidence. He then went on to say that he had refused twice to act on the Westport Committee, because his own interests were too deeply involved in the questions that would come before them, and was that, he would ask, the conduct of a man who would stoop to so low an action as that of which he had been accused. On the 4th. of June, the day in question, he was leaving the room when he met Mr. Macmahon, who put a paper into bis bands containing a most interesting debate. This he took to one end of the room, sat down with it before his eyes, and became absorbed in its contents. It was impossible for any other member to say that he must have beard what was j>oing on, and his explanation of having made use of the expression " must have heard " with regard to himself was that if the proposition to withdraw the lands had been read in the ordinary solemn manner in which such resolutions are put it would have startled him into hearing it. All he wanted was to have a fair and complete enquiry into this matter, and that, he felt, the Council had not accorded him, but he would insist upon having it elsewhere, and he Vrould never take his seat in the House of Repre-

For remainder of news see fourth, page.

eentatives and expose himself to the scorn with which he might be there treated unless this matter were, cleared up, and he had had 'it most thoronghly investigated. Then it would be seen that the Council had branded him unjustly and without cause, and to whose disgrace, he would ask, would that be ? Certainly not to his. He bitterly complained of the manifest injustice and one-sidedness of the report, and he was there to defend himself because he felt a grievous wrong had been inflicted upon him. This business had affected him more than anything he had ever experienced, far more than the loss of his property. He walked , the streets at night utterly unable to sleep or rest, and his friends feared for his mind. He felt that he was wronged, and yet he knew that first appearances were altogether against him. It was a strange and extraordinary coincidence that the telegram should have been put into his hand, and he leave the room just when he did, but too much weight had been given to this circumstance which in itself was surely not sufficient to establish his guilt. We all knew how prone we were when having a grievance against another to be too ready to discover his faults, and to believe everything that told against him, while we could not bring ourselves to see his perfections. ,For his own part, he could say, and he hoped he would not be considered sacrilegious in doing so, that he could see a parallel between bis present treatment and that of our Saviour when surrounded by a condemning crowd of Jews who, instead of listening to reason, cried " Crucify him, crucify him." All must admit, both friends and foes, that the case did not now appear so strong against him as at first, when by many of those who did not know the mainspring of his life he was thought to be incontrovertibly in the wrong, and he would yet prove on the testimony of documents and by the evidence of the highest in the land that he was innocent. But he would go further. He would assume that he had heard everything that took place in the room, and would put it whether, if he had for some time previous to the meeting of the Council been in correspondence with another person with reference to the purchase of this land, and the telegram empowering ; him to purchase were put in his hand just at the time the committee came to the decision, would he not be bound to act upon that communication, and, even if he knew that their decision would increase the value of that land, to act independently of his position as member of the Council, and to conclude the purchase. Any man of honor would have done so. But supposing that he himself had been a sharer in that purchase, he thought he had clearly shown that in buying that land he had injured his own pocket, and that it was perfectly clear that had he known of the decision he would have been foolish to a degree to lay out his money so wastefully. To err was human, and what we were all prone to j but to persist in error knowing that we were wroDg was — it would perhaps be unparliamentary to say what. He had not brought forward the resolution with a view to carrying it, but merely to obtain a hearing, and he would now sufler the matter to drop for the present. The Speaker ruled that he must consider the resolution as before the Council. Mr. Collins seconded the resolution. He felt that in doing so he placed himself in a most disagreeable position, one that would give h'.s enemies every facility for attacking him, and might perhaps cause his friends to grieve. It was still more disagreeable because he had been a member I of the Enquiry Committee on whose report the resolution of censure was based. At the time he agreed to that report he felt perfectly convinced of its justice and correctness ; now he owned to very grave doubts of Mr. O'Conor's guilt, and felt desirous of undoing that which he had assisted in doing. He could scarcely yet agree to a verdict of " not guilty," but felt that it should rather be l! not proven." He confessed to having been a little hurried, and perhaps prejudiced, when agreeing to the report of the committee, and that he might have been influenced by the general conduct of the accused which, was exceedingly irritating. However, he had acted conscientiously in giving his verdict,, and in retracting and modyfying it, he was actuated by an equally conscientious feeling. Mr. O'Conor here left the Council Chamber. The Pbovtnoial Secbbtabt said that, notwithstanding the Speaker's expression of astonishment that members could I remain in their seats while Mr. O'Conor was making his extraordinary speech, be had determined to sit there, and submit to all the abuse that had been so plentifully showered on the Council, rather thhn allow Mr. O'Conor to go away, and, say that they had refused to listen to him. Still he was opt convinced; He entirely differed from Mr. O'Conor, , f when he eaid the value of the sections; was determined

by the decision arrived at by the committee; on the contrary, he felt certain, as one who knew the locality, that it would be greatly enhanced. Mr. Donne thought that the speech to which they had just listened was the most transparent sham that he badever heard, the bulk of the statements consisting of mere allegations utterly unsupported by facts. Mr O'Conor had stated that ho had been by far the heaviest loser, and that, as the land was proposed to be distributed, be would receive the greater portion of it, whereas, the fact was that he owned but one quarter of an acre out of the twenty acres that had been washed away. That would have been his relative position as » claimant for compensation. Mr. Dobson's report had conferred no particular value upon the sections until the committee had decided upon recommending the removal of the Government Builings, and thf withdrawal of the land from sale. He (Mr. Donne) had declined to give evidence before the committep, but after what had fallen from Mr. O'Conor, he had no hesitation in saying that if any telegram had been received by that gentleman, it was before the committee commenced its deliberations. If it was of such importance, why did he not act upon it at once, instead of waiting until the committee had arrived at a definite conclusion, and then going immediately to the Land Office, with £150 in cash in his pocket (for there was no evidence tn prove thai he went to the Bank) and purchasing the land. Mr. O'Conor said that it was noi his interest to buy, as he would get land given him for that, he bad lost, but he still had that advantage, in addition to having purchased the sections. Mr. Reid had not intended to take part in this discussion, but the strange speech of Mr. O'Conor, containing, as it did, such an extraordinary fabric of shoddy and tinsel, invited criticism. On every single point the real facts were against him, and a careful examination of his statements would show that he had omitted snch fact* as told against him, accumulated half facts in his favor, and generally assumed to be facts what he well knew were not so. He denied that he was in the committep room at his own request. He (Mr. Reid) positively stated that it was in direct, compliance with his expressed request that he was allowed to be present. He said he was invited there to give evidence. That assertion was entirely opposed to the facts. His plausible and specious arguments relative to the value of the land were altogether erroneous, as it was Mr. Kynuersiey's rather than Mr. Dobson's report that caused the land to be valuable. The telegrams and letters to which he referred were all received and transmitted after the event, not before it. In fact he had entirely misrepresented facts and the effects of facts, and anyone who was acquainted with them must see that such was toe case. He (Mr. Reid) was thoroughly unshaken with regard to the resolution to which the Council had agreed, and unless a far better case were made out, he must adhere to it to the end of time. Mr. Ltjckie said that Mr. O'Conor had accused the committee of refusing to take I evidence, but this was only done in the case of some that it was proposed to adduce with regard to the value of the land which the committee agreed was irrelevant. . They now heard of Mr. Stafford for the first time ; for the evidence of the telegraph messenger the committee had adjourned for a long time ; and in fact every facility was afforded him for proving evidence, but Mr. O'Conor seemed to think that it was their duty to get up his case for him. With reference to the supposititious case put by Mr. O'Conor, he must say it contained a strange idea of honor. The Council were trustees for the public, he was one of thooe trustees, and yethe assured them that he would be guilty of a breach of trust with the public in order to keep his credit with his partner. His whole speech was bounce and braggadocia from beginning to end , and only made matters ten times worse, as he merely attempted to establish his case by contradictory statements and misrepresentations., He (Mr. Luckie) was certainly greatly surprised at the action taken by Mr. Collins, who, a few days ago, completely agreed with the report of the committee, and now turned round and opposed it. This was conduct he could not understand. Mr. Guinness thought that if any evidence confirmatory of the charge brought against Mr. O'Conor had been wanting, Jie himself had supplied it in what purported to be a supposititious case that he bad placed .before .the Council. Out of his own mouth.he bad committed himself, and the telegram business to which he had alluded waß most conclusive evidence against him. The resolution was then put with the following result :— Ayes 2, Messrs. Collins and] Gibbs. Noes. 12, the Provincial Solicitor, the Provincial Secretary, the Provincial Treasure,^ Messrs.. Luckie, C. Kelliri& -F. Selling, Donne, Guinness,' Reid, Tarrant 1 Baigent, Waatney.