New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4164, 25 July 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1874.

If Mr. Waterhouse can succeed in laying the flattering unction to his soul that, as stated by the Colonial Secretary, the Government intend asking Parliamentary sanction to all transactions in the leasing of Native lands during the recess, in consequenceof his motion yesterday—" That, in the opinion of this Council, no contract for the leasing of land, whether Native or otherwise, should he entered into by the Government, except under the sanction of the Parliament" —he may feel that he has won a sort of c?e>?u'-victory, as compared with the rout he received on the commencement of the session, when he tried to carry a resolution of a similar effect respecting the sale of lands. But there is no warrant for his belief. And still less was there for attempting to raise tho discussion to the dignity of one on a great constitutional question. The hon. member said, and quoted authorities to tha effect, that contracts which bind the country to a course of action for a lengthened period of term, cannot constitutionally be entered into without the consent of Parliament. Mr. Gladstone, said he, had declared that such contracts could not be binding, and that, if Parliamentary control wero departed from, the liberty of the subject would become a thing of the past. He instanced the contract for the conveyance of the Ocean Mail as one which required the ratification of Parliament. The reply to this is very easy. All Governments, constitutional or despotic, must be intrusted with a very large discretionary power. Does Mr. Waterhouse suppose that the Governments of,all the Colonies in Australia require to have Parliamentary sanction for every squatter's lease they issue 1 He knows they do not; and he would not contend that such an idea ever entered their comprehensions. In recess, English Governments have entered into far more important relations than the issuing of a lease of land. *Very recently, the authority he quoted, Mr. Gladstone, entered into the Gold Coast war without consulting Parliament. And if ever there was a case wherein the Government is bound Ho exercise discretionary power, it is in dealing with an important branch of the Native question of New Zealand. The attempt to elevate such a question as that of dealing with a simple lease into a constitutional one reminds of a more celebrated individual than Mr. Waterhouse, who tried to "catch a whale, though all the water he had got was in his mother's pail." It is difficult to understand what the policy or impolicy of leasing Native lands _ had to do with the matter, although it' was imported into the debate. The hon. member in doing this was singularly illogical. Tho contracts being illegal, the Natives, said he, might receive the rent and then take possession of the land. Even if they did this, it would merely affect the beneficial interest tho lessee had in his lease. He would have used the land, paidrent for it, and then have been forcibly dispossessed. Such an exhibition, we are prepared to grant, would not be very edifying ; but would it not be as much so as an hon. member of the Council pointing out to Maoris that they might break faith in this way if they chose 1 Further, we do not see what good could arise from bruiting it forth, oven if true, that the Government agents dealing with the Natives are not reliable men, and that they are only employed lest their influence should bo used against us. The fact may | be, as Mr. Waterhouse statod, that a certain gentleman leased a largo tract of land from Natives who claimed the right to so let it, that subsequently others claimed an interest in it, and that the upshot was Sullivan was murdered. This shows the delicacy of tho case, and the difficulty in which the Government is sometimes involved. This was never more clearly demonstrated than when Sullivan was murdered, and the Government resolved to treat the crime as merely that of an individual, who should be arrested in the ordinary course, if possible. But Mr. Waterhouse was most illogical when he asserted that the issue of leases rather prevented the acquisition of territory, which everybody admitted to be desirable, than otherwise. Then he proceeded to charge tho very undesirable agents he referred to with using their influence to cause the Natives to surrender the froohold, in tho interest of the lessees. It was natural, he said, that men who were daily improving property should desiie an interest in it. ' Granted. But then what becomes of tho previous pro-~ position that the leases prevented the acquisition of territory 1 Wo must not have hon. members blowing hot and cold in one breath. It is just to the hon. member to say that ho disclaimed any intent to imply that the Government, in the action taken, had any other objoct than tho common weal.

Tho reply of Mr. Harfc was, that if things wore as black as Mr. Watorhouse painted them, tho Council ought to act upon something more definito than general statements. But Dr. Pollen was fully prepared to stand by tho action of tho Government. Tho constitutional part of tho question ho ignored. Parliament had resolved upon a Public Works Policy

which was daily making land, both Native and otherwise, more valuable. Also immigrants were daily being introduced for whom there must be acquired territory to settle upon. This being so, the Government must try and get land in what way it could—either by purchase or lease. And the experience of the Department was not what Mr. Waterho.use believed. Generally, the procuration of a lease was getting the thin end of the wedge in towards the acquisition of the freehold. Land, once leased, seldom, reverted to its original owners. In the case instanced by Mr. Waterhouse, of the lease in Waikato, the Government stepped in when obliged to do so. Armed men, in bodies of one to two hundred strong, were on the land to prevent its survey, and the Government, to avoid bloodshed, ordered that this should be discontinued. Then the lessee was recouped his expenses, and a promise was made that should the freehold be obtained, his claim to purchase a portion of the land should receive consideration. The Colonial Secretary was emphatic in declaring that these rumors respecting the leasing and disposal of lands in the North were in the interests of capitalists and land sharks, with whom he had no sympathy. The policy of the Government would bo to acquire territory on the North Island, where, as yet, the Natives held so large a portion as compared with that held by white men. Moreover the leases complained of wero, not exactly illegal, as the Public Works Act gave the Government very large powers. However, Parliamentary sanction would be asked for, and with that assurance he hoped Mr. Waterhouse would withdraw his motion. This course the lion, member pursued.