New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1875.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4470, 17 July 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1875.

Olk Lyttelton contemporary is accountable for Sir George Grey. It was the radiant morning beams of the Lyttelton Times of the 11th September last, as wo all know, that awakened the sleeper at Kawau to the danger in which the sacred Constitution itself, and the rights of the “poorer classes” were placed, by the action of the House of Representatives ; that lighted him to the “ stump,” and betrayed him into the bog in which he has since been floundering. ■ Although the faith of the Times in the new Avatar was greatly shaken by Sir George Grey’s heretical opinion as to the right of Auckland to share in the Canterbury land fund, and by the general state of mind shown by the "Wairarapa letter, it has seen fit, in the interests of theProvincialist party, to sustain the champion, and has done so on the. whole with a loyalty which, under the circumstances, may be said to be becoming if not respectable.

Of late, as the hour of the meeting of the Assembly and the rising of the parliamentary curtain for the drama of Abolition approached, the cat-calls, stamping of umbrellas, and shuffling of feet by the provincial claqueurs have been, as was to be expected, greatly intensified, and amongst the performers in that line none, Sir George Grey and Mr. Rees excepted, have been more demonstrative than the Lyttelton Times r. Our contemporary has on two occasions of late been very facetious over the Ohinemuri question, and desires to demonstrate the administrative incapacity of the General Government, by the statement that up to a certain time Sir George Grey had not been furnished with a copy of the agreement made with the natives for the cession of that land for gold mining purposes. Sir George Grey himself, in his interviews with deputations, has made capital out of Mr. Mackay’s “box,” in which this agreement was stored, and has been able to excuse his own ignorance of the law which he undertook to administer, and of the official routine of his office, by harping, in his old well-known style and according to his old habit, upon the circumstance that at a particular instant when he wished to see a copy of this agreement it was impossible to gratify him. This is what the J Lyttelton Times says : “Now it seems to us that in a properly “ regulated condition of official business, “ a Superintendent who exercises the “ powers delegated to him should be kept “ supplied with every necessary informa- “ tion. This Ohinemuri agreement was “ especially necessary to him, as it con- “ tamed the conditions upon which the “ Ohinemuri goldfield passed from the ‘ ‘ rule of natives to the Goldfields “ Department, of which he is the head. “ Without the agreement it was simply “ impossible for Sir George Grey to “ exercise his powers on the Ohinemuri “ block. The Government, nevertheless, “ did not seem to think it the least neces- “ sary to send him a copy of this agree- “ menf. As we showed in . a previous “ article, they did not even send him one “ when he represented ’the urgent need “ there was for it. Not only that, but ‘ ‘ they did not know where the document “ was; they had not even a copy of it “ themselves, and they were unaware of “ its provisions. The Warden was “ besieged by applications for agricultural “ leases, there were men spending money “ on certain blocks at the rate of £6O per “week, under the belief that the agree- “ ment provided for agricultural leases. “ Sir George was repeatedly appealed to “ for information, and asked to obtain “ security for those who had invested “ their money, and those who wished to “do so. The Government were aware of “ all this, and yet such was the system of “ work they have organised that nobody “ could give Sir George any satisfactory “ answer.”

Our contemporary, if it continue long to be a defender of Sir George Grey, will find it necessary to be cautious in accepting everything for gospel which Sir George Grey may choose to assert. A certain obliquity of view with regard to facts, and a hardihood in statements so based were, of old, alleged as characteristics of the great Proconsul. Now, the Lyttelton Times may perhaps be surprised to learn that the Superintendent of Auckland, exercising the delegated powers of the Governor under the Goldfields Act of 1866, had no concern whatever with the native agreement for the cession of the Ohinemuri lands ; that he had no functions in connection with that agreement, no duty imposed on him by it, and that, though the agreement had remained locked up in Mr. Mackay’s box to the day of abolition, if Sir George Grey and his responsible advisers had known their duty as administrators, or had taken the least trouble to ascertain it, no difficulty could have arisen. But then no complaints about the non-issue of agricultural leases could have been made and used so impudently as these have been for factious purposes. The facts are these : Ohinemuri was ceded by agreement to the Governor, for gold mining purposes, in the month of February. It is not material to the present argument, but we may state that the conditions of this agreement, which was publicly made, were communicated at once to the representatives of the Press then present, and were published in. the Thames Advertiser. By virtue of that agreement the lands became “ Crown Lands” for the purposes of the Goldfields Act, 1866, and Amendment Act, 1868. It was proclaimed to be a goldfield on the 3rd March ; the necessary regulations were made and published at the same time, and the field was opened and put into complete working order by the Colonial Secretary, who was then in Auckland, and to whom, upon the death of Mr. Williamson, the Governor’s power was delegated. The Goldfields Act was brought completely and effectively into operation, and became the sole guide of the administrator whoso duty was to work it; his authority was perfect, and his course clear. Sir George Grey was elected as Superintendent oil the 24th March. On the 25th the delegation of powers was offered to him. The telegrammiad which our readers will recollect ensued, and it was not until the 13th April that Sir George Grey could see his way to accept the delegation. There are certain clauses of the Goldfields Act of 1866 which provide for granting agricultural leases, and there is another clause, the 40th, which defines the mode of making those clauses operative. It is as follows ;

“Notwithstanding anything hereinbe- “ fore contained or expressed, the fifth “ part of this Act, including sections 33, “ 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39, and in sec- ‘ ‘ tion 52, and relating to agricultural ‘ ‘ leases, shall have no force or effect “ upon any goldfield until after the Go- “ vernor shall, by proclamation in the “ New Zealand Gazette, have proclaimed “ and extended the operation of the said ‘ ‘ part and sections to the province “ wherein such goldfield shall be situate. ‘ ‘ And such proclamation shall only be “ made upon the application of the Su- “ perintendent and Provincial Council of “ a province, and the said part and seo- “ tious of this Act shall thereafter be of “ force and effect within such province “ only.”

The Auckland Provincial Council met early in May, and having nothing to do, was prorogued, after having passed a resolution in favor of abolition, which it immediately rescinded at Sir George Grey’s command. Although the Thames and Coromandel goldfields had been proclaimed under the Goldfields of Act, 1866, the Superintendent and Provincial Council of had not, at any time, thought it necessary to bring the agricultural leases clauses of the Act into operation in the province, and as neither the Superintendent nor his advisers knew, apparently, anything .of the law which they had undertaken to administer, or of their duty in regard to it, nothing was done by the Provincial Council. Then came Mr. C. F. Mxxchell, of Ohinemuri,

at the head of a deputation to the Governor’s delegate, with an assurance that two hundred men wanted to lease land at Ohinemuri, and settle upon it. It was found that no leases could be legally issued, because the Superintendent and Provincial Council had never thought it necessary to bring the agricultural leases clauses of the Goldfields Act into operation in that province. , Here was an administrative mess. There was hope, however, in Mackay’s “ box,” and the want of the copy of the agreement, about which our contemporary the Lyttelton Times makes so merry, was invented as an excuse. It has been used by Sir George Grey to cover his own official ignorance and neglect, in a manner which, if we may believe his reported speeches is, to say the least of it, not creditable to one in his position. The present state of the Ohinemnri agricultural lease question will be shown by the following telegrams, which we have been permitted to publish :

Auckland, June 28, 1875. Hon. Colonial Secretary, Wellington. On 17th May. Sir D. McLean acquainted me, for the first time, that agricultural leases were included in the Ohinemuri goldfield agreement, and undertook that a copy of that agreement should be supplied without delay. It was not supplied to me until 11.45 on Friday, the 25th June. The Provincial Council, which met on the 10th of May,'adjourned on the 28th May. By Goldfields Act, 1860, clause 40, the Governor can only proclaim agricultural leases on a goldfield upon application from the Superintendent and Provincial Council. The Provincial Council cannot now conveniently meet before General Assembly. Will the General Government, under these circumstances, introduce into General Assembly Immediately it meets, a Bill to amend clause 40 in Goldfields Act of 1866, to enable Government at once to issue agricultural leases at Ohinemuri.—G. Grey.

Wellington, June 29. 1875. His Honor the Superintendent, Auckland. Re agricultural leases, Ohinemuri. The Government will be prepared, if necessary, to bring in a Bill to meet the difficulty caused by the failure of the Superintendent and Provincial Council of Auckland to make application to the Governor to bring the sections of the Goldfields Act. 1806, relating to agricultural leases into operation within their province, or will bring in a Bill to validate any leases which your Honor may in the meantime, with the advice and consent of your Executive Council, find it necessary to grant on the Ohinemuri goldfield. The latter would probably be the more constitutional course, and as such may commend Itself to your Honor. Daniel Pollen.