PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4147, 6 July 1874, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

DESPATCHES EBOM HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR Among the papers already laid on the table of the House are two schedules of despatches from the Governor to the Secretary of State, and from the Secretary of State to His Excellency. The former schedule contains thirty-two despatches between April, 1873, and April, 187-1 ; and the latter forty-one despatches, within about the same period. The following are extracts from some of the despatches forwarded by His Excellency ; and from the replies thereto :—- PHOrOSED TKAININO SHIP. His Excellency wrote on June 27, 1872 : " 1. I have been requested by my advisers to inform your Lordship that they are very anxious to establish a training ship for the education of boys for the New Zealand Mercantile Marine, and I have the honor to request that you mil have the goodness to bring their case to the favorable consideration oic the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, with a view to their Lordships granting to the Colony one of H.M. ships on similar terms to those upon which the Nelson was given to the Colony of Victoria, and is now used for a like purpose with great success. In supporting this request, my advisers would have me represent that the geographical features and position of New Zealand fit it for a maritime Colony, and that it is most desirable that, instead of its continuing to be a drain upon the stock of seamen at Home, a provision should be made for keeping up a supply by training the colonial youth, so that, in course of time, the Colony may hope to be able not only to provide for its own requirements, but even assist the mother country in time of need. "2. I am informed that the Agent-General of New Zealand in London has lately, by direction of this Government, been in communication with the Admiralty ; that he has suggested that H.M.S. Rosario, now stationed here, should, at the expiration of her present commission, be granted to the Colony as a training ship for boys ; and that he has been informed that, inasmuch as vessels of the Rosario class are much required, she will return to England on completing her present commission, and consequently that their Lordships were unable to comply with the request of the Colony in the matter. " 3. I am informed that the object which the Colony has in view was misunderstood by the Agent-Gereral, who represented it to the Admiralty as being for the training of naval volunteers and not of mercantile seamen.

"4. I beg to add that I believe that the grant even of a ship of an obsolete class would be gratefully accepted by the Colony, and that it would be usefully and beneficially applied." Earl Kimberley, on September 24, replied :—■ " I caused a copy of your Despatch No. 50, of the 30th June, to be communicated to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and I transmit to you a copy of a letter from their Lordships, expressing their regret that they are unable to comply with the request of your Government for the grant of one of Her Majesty's vessels as a training ship for the education of boys for the Colonial Mercantile Marine." THE PRECEDENCE OF EX-MINISTERS AND SUPERINTENDENTS. His Excellency wrote on June 30th, 1874 : "1. I regret to have to ask for instructions with regard to the precedency to be accorded to the Superintendents of the Provinces of New Zsaland, a question which has been brought bafore me immediately on my arrival. "2. I am informed that some difficulty has lately occurred in at least one instance, owing to the uncertainty of the right 3 in this particular of Superintendents of Provinces. " 3. In Mr. Labouchere's Despatch No. 27, of the 27th November, 1855, the then Governor was informed that 'at the Seat of Government, in Auckland, the rank of the Superintendent cannot be placed higher than that of the Commissioners or Government Agents of Provinces or districts in tho table contained in the Colonial Regulations. But in the other Provinces, there being no LieutenantGovernor, the Superintendent should have precedency overall other persons.'" " 4. The seat of Government now being at Wellington, the spirit of the above-mentioned despatch would imply that there the Superintendent of that Province would take rank as a Commissioner or Government Agent of a Province ; that is, in the words of the despatch already quoted, ' after the high officers of the General Government or Legislature.' But a portion of the General Government is still located at Auckland, the Chief Justice presiding over the Supreme Court there; and during a part of each year the Governor has continued to reside at the old Government House, and to hold Executive Councils there during such residence. It is therefore a question whether, during such residence, the Superintendent should not be placed after the high officers of the General Government there present, even although at other times he should have precedency 'of all other persons,' including the Chief Justice. " 5. A similar question might arise at Dunedin, where the Province of Otago has hired and furnished a residence for the Governor, which it is desirous that ho should occupy at some period of the year, necessarily performing there the functions of Government.

" 6. Members of the Ministry in many cases reside, during considerable portions of the year, in the Provinces to which they belong ; and when the General Assembly is in recess, it is often as easy to collect a quorum for an Executive Council in Provincial capitals as at Wellington, while tho occasional presence of the Governor in those capitals is desired both by his Ministers and by the inhabitants. "7. As such Provincial capitals increase in importance, it is hardly probable that the posision of Superintendents will diminish in consequence. But the question is one which tho Governor cannot determine acceptably in the altered circumstances of tho case, and I have therefore the honor to ask for your instructions with regard to it. "8. I would ask your Lordship to lay down a definite rule in this Colony as to the precedence of ex-Miuisters who have received from Her Majesty the permanent privilege of bearing the title of " honorable," and of wearing the uniform of their rank. That which was prescribed for gentlemen similarly distinguished in New South Wales in the Duko of Buckingham's (separate) Despatch of Ist January, 1808, viz., that ' they should take precedence according to the dates in order of the first appointment of each to tho Executive Council, after existing Executive Councillors,' would. I believe, be suitable to this Colony." His Excellency again writes on July 25th:- ' y

" Sinco I addressed you by the last mail, in my Despatch No. 51, of 30th June, 1873, with reference to certain doubtful points of precedency which had been brought to my notice by my advisers, it has been suggested to me that the rule laid down by His Grace the Duke of Buckingham, for the precedency, in the Colony of Now South Wales, of gontloI men who have received the permanent privi-

lege of bearing the title of ' honorable,' and of wearing the uuiform of their rank, viz., ' that they should take precedence according to the dates in order of the first appointment of each to the Executive Council, after existing Executive Councillors,' would not be entirely satisfactory, inasmuch as it might happen that a gentleman who had occvipied, at different times, some office in the Ministry, would, upon the completion on the whole of a period of three years' service and upon his retirement, become eligible for the permanent honorary distinction, and upon obtaining it would take precedence of any other who had previously obtained it, and whose service in the qualifying rauk had been continuous, it might be, in the office of Premier.

" I have therefore to 'ask your consideration whether it would not be more satisfactory to determine that gentlemen thus distinguished shall take precedence in the order in which the said privilege may have been conferred upon them." Earl Kimberley's reply was : " In reply to your Despatch No. 51, of the 30th June last, I have the honor to inform you that I am of opinion that the rule laid down in 1855, as to the precedence of the Superintendents of the Provinces of New Zealand, should be adhered to, and I have therefore to instruct you that during the presence of the Governor in any Province, the Superintendent of that Province should not be placed above other high officers of the Government who may be there with the Governor, but that in the absence of the Governor from the Province, the Superintendent should have precedence over all others in the Province, including any officer of the Government who may reside in the Province or happen to be there on a visit. " As regards ex-Ministers who have received Her Majesty's permission to retain the title of honorable within the Colony, I approve of the adoption of the rule prescribed for New South Wales, which gives them precedence according to the dates in the order of the first appointment of each to the Executive Council after the existing Executive Councillors."

THE RELEASE OP SULLIVAN. In a despatch dated February 25, His Excellency enters thus fully into the circumstances under which Sullivan was released : " 1. I have the honor to inform you that some littlo excitement has been caused in the Colony, and some strongly worded articles in newspapers have appeared with reference to [the pardon and embarkation for America of ono Sullivan, who was convicted of murder in the year lSofi. It has moreover been represented that the Government have shipped off this person to America in order that the Colony might be rid of him, and it has been stated in newspapers that some persons who disapproved of that course have telegraphed to America in order that his landing there might be prevented.

" 2. As a matter of fact, the man in question, who had embarked on board of the mail steamer from Dunedin for San Erancisco, having been recognized on board, quitted the vessel when bhe called at Auckland. But my advisers think it possible that some complaint, founded upon the allegation above mentioned, may reach her Majesty's Government, and desire that I should inform your Lordship of the facts of the case.

" 3. In 1860 a series of murders were committed upon travellers in the neighborhood of the goldfields in Westland and Nelson, and upon the disappearance of four persons near the town of Nelson, suspicion of their murder was attached to four men, who were arrested. But the bodies of the missing persona not having been found, a proclamation was issued by the Governor, promising a pardon to any one but the actual murderers who would give evidence leading to their conviction. A copy of this proclamation was placed within that part of the prison where the suspected men were confined. Accordingly, one of them made a full statement of the murder of the missing persons by the gang to which he belonged, and indicated the place at which the bodies would be found. Upon the trial of his three companions, they were convicted and subsequently executed. He was an important •witness for the Crown.

" 4. His confessions, however, were so unreserved, that he also detailed the circumstances of tho separate murders of two other persons by the same gang while he was connected with it; and with reference to one of these, he was himself put upon his trial upon his own confession, and sentenced to death, that sentence being commuted by the Governor to penal servitude for life. Upon his trial he made no defence, relying, apparently, on the proclaimed promise of pardon, although he was duly warned that it did not apply to other crimes than those expressly mentioned.

"5. Since the time »f his conviction, he has frequently petitioned the Governor for pardon on the faith of the proclamation, and some persons have constantly interested themselves on his behalf, especially those whose duty it was to prepare the case for the Crown against his accomplices. His petitions had not, however, during the seven years been entertained, chiefly, I believe, owing to the horror which had been caused to the public by the disclosure of the series of crimes in which he had been concerned.

"6. Upon Sullivan's addressing a fresh petition to myself, I made myself. acquainted with the facts, and referred the petition to the Executive Council, who recommended his pardon, which I granted, with an entire approval of their advice. I may mention the chief grounds for that opinion. All those who received or listened to Sullivan's confessions, were impressed with the belief that they were full and unreserved. They were confirmed in every particular, as far as could be ascertained. They resulted in the destruction of a most dangerous gang, and in the suppression of similar crimes. It did not appear that Sullivan actually killed any one, for his companions distrusted his resolution, and employed him to keep watch while they seized and despatched their victims. There was reason to believe that they had used their knowlege of his previous history, he having been a convict in Tasmania, to entrap him into joining their gang, and that he was an unintentional accomplice in the first murder that subsequently took place, being, possibly, thereafter retained by fear of discovery. Finally, there was much reason to fear that future promises of pardon would fail to induce confessions, if the spirit of the promise made to this man were permanently disregarded. "7. The pardon being granted, it became known to tho Government that Sullivan, if discharged in the Colony, would bo exposed to great danger from the friends of the criminals whom he had betrayed ; he entreated protection and assistance in leaving the Colony, and he continued for several months to reside in Dunedin Gaol, voluntarily performing hard labour, as formerly, with a view to disarm suspicion. He was of course, free to proceed to any other country, and desired to go to South America; but it was found impossible to procure for him a conveyance direct thither, and at last it was decided to send him by way of San Francisco. That attempt has been frustrated ; but I beg to assure your Lordship that there has been no condition attached to his pardon, of his proceeding to any particular country ; that the Government interfere with his movements solely from a needful regard to his personal safety ; and I may further state, that I am informed that tho man is a skilful tradesman, who, wherever he may go, is likely to seek and follow gladly industrial occupation for his own maintenance.

"8. It is not surprising that in the account of this man's crimes, given by irresponsible persons, great exaggerations should be made, and he may be represented in America, as ho has been here, as having been, in fact, tho worst of tho gang. His accomplices, whom his evidence contributed largely to bring to justice, not unnaturally endeavored to produce that effect, but, as I believe, without truth."

On the same subject His Excellency writes on Ajjril Bth : " 1. I have the honor to inform you that the convict Joseph Thomas Sullivan, the particulars of whose case were stated in my Despatch No. 10, of 20th February last, having received a pardon conditionally on his leaving and not

returning to New Zealand, embarked for London I on the 31st ultimo, as a passenger on board of the ship Hindostan. He has taken the name of ' Clark. I

"2. The prison authorities and the police, to whom this man is well known, consider that it is very unlikely that he will engage in any kind of crime, but that, arriving in London tmknown to any of the criminal class, he will either endeavor to find < industrial employment, or carry out his present desire of proceeding to the "Western States of Nerth America, where he would have gone from New Zealand but for his discovery when about to embark. " 3. The man has been furnished with money for his temporary subsistence or further journey."