THE RECENT DISQUALIFICATION QUESTION.
The following is the report of the Disqualification Infringement Committee, recently appointed to inquire into alleged breaches of the Disqualification Act . ; '' ; The committee appointed to inquire into and report upon the circumstances under which agreements or transactions have been entered into between members of the Legislature and the Executive Government during the term of the present Parliament, and as to whether the provisions of the Disqualification Act have been thereby infringed, have the honor to report that they have had under consideration the following transactions, in which it has been alleged that members of- the Legislature have, during the term of the present Parliament, been concerned in contracts or agreements with the Executive Government : (1.) The proposed purchase from the Government of the Piako-Waikato swamp by Mr. Thomas Russell on behalf of a number of capitalists, in which the Hon. Mr. Taylor is said to have been interested. - (2.) The ..purchase from the... Government i of the Oroua block by Mr. Douglas and , i others, Of whom the Hon. Mr. Campbell is said to be one. (3.) The agreement with> regard to the Murimotu block, as detailed in parliamentery papers, C. No. C, page 2, in which Mr. John Studholme is said to be concerned.
(B) The purchase by the Government, from Mr. W. T. Buokland, member for Eranklin district, of his interest in certain lands in the Waikato district.
In the consideration of these questions they have had before them the original documents relating to the several transactions, and also the evidence taken with regard to them before a similar committee of the Legislative Council.
The proposed sale of the Piako-Waikato swamp to Mr. T. Russell acting on behalf of a number of capitalists, is not authorised by any existing regulations under tho New Zealand Settlements Acts.
The law provides that all lands taken under the authority of the New Zealand Settlements Act, 1863, and the New Zealand Settlements Amendment and Continuance Act, 1865, or either of them, and sold or disposed of under the authority of the said first recited Act, shall be sold, or disposed of under regulations to be made by the Governor iu Council, which regulations shall be published in the New Zealand Gazette. Under existing regrdatioua all lands must be sold by auction, and previously surveyed. Notice has also to be given of every intended sale for at least one month previously. It does not appear that these conditions have been complied with. It has been stated iu evidence that this land had been open for purchase for seven or eight years, but the committee have been unable to find any record of this. The facts as related iu the papers and evidence are these :
In tho month of February, 1573, Mr. T. Russell made proposals to the Native Minister, “on behalf of a number of capitalists,” for the purchase of the swamp and the construction of a road across it. After some correspondence, it was finally agreed in the month of April, 1873, that the land, some 80,000 acres, should be sold at the rate of ss. per acre, that the purchasers should construct a main .line of road over the laud to connect Hamilton aud Ngaruawahia with the head of tiro Piako navigation. On the completion of the road, or on the expiration of two years, the purchase money to be due, and on payment thereof the purchasers to be entitled to a grant of the land. As payment or part payment of the cost of the road, aud the necessary survey, drains, aud works connected therewith, an allowance to be made by the Government out of the purchase money, such allowance not to exceed 2s. 6d. per acre ; proof of the expenditure to be made to the Government, aud if the works cost less than 2s. 6d. per acre the purchasers to pay the Government the difference in cash ; the balance of the purchase money after this allowance to be paid iu cash on the issue of the Crown grant. It appears from the evidence that, subsequently to the conclusion of the arrangement, a member of the Legislature (the Hon. Mr. Taylor) became interested in the agreement, though it does not appear that the Government, until recently, were cognizant of the fact.
Your committee is of opinion that the issue of regulations under which it was intended to dispose of confiscated lands should have been precedent to any negotiations for the sale of such land, in order to place the public generally in a position to apply on equal terms to become purchasers ; and the sale of these lands otherwise than by public auction, and under regulations previously published, is in any case, where members of the Legislature are concerned, incompatible with the intention of the Disqualification Act. In the present instance, your committee is of opinion that the spirit, if not the letter, of the Disqualification Act has been infringed by Mr. Taylor’s participation in the contract ; but, as the circumstances are under the consideration of a committee of the other branch of the Legislature, they refrain from further comment.
The sale of the Oroua block purports to be under the provisions of The Wellington Settlements Act, 1871. A member of the Upper House (the Hon. Mr. Campbell) is interested in the purchase. The terms and conditions of the sale are described in the order in council issued on September 5, 1874, which appears in the New Zealand Gazette, September 11, 1874. The block of land which is agreed to be sold consists of about 22,000 acres, and the issue of the Crown grant is contingent upon the fulfilment of certain conditions over a period of years. The sale in this case is by the Superintendent of the province ; but, as the conditions have to be the subject of an order in council by the Governor, the remarks made with regard to the previous case, as to the issue of regulations framed by the Executive Government, where, members of the Legislature are concerned, apply to a great extent in this instance.
The transaction in which it appears, from evidence given by the Premier before a committee of the Legislative Council, that during tlie negotiations a member of the Legislature was concerned, and personally negotiating with the Executive Government as to the nature of the conditions to ho imposed is, in the opinion of your committee, inconsistent with the intention of the Disqualification Act, though in accordance with the provisions of the Wellington Special Settlements Act. The agreement with reference to the acquisition of the Murimoto block, said to be about 144,000 acres, in which Mr. John Studholme, lately member for Kaiapoi, was concerned, is set forth in a parliamentary paper, C. No. G, presented to both Houses of the General Assembly hy command of his Excellency during the present session. The. agreement is apparently without legal sanction. As the facts will come under the revision of the Legislature before any effect can be given to the arrangement, your committee do not consider it necessary to do more than report their opinion that the terms of the agreement, at the time it was made, involved an infraction of the spirit of the Act.
It appears, from Mr. Buokland’s statement to the committee and from documents placed before them, that towards the close of the session of 1873 Mr. Buckland made an offer to the Colonial Government to dispose of his interest in certain blocks of native lands for a specified sum, aud then understood from the Colonial Secretary that ins offer would be accepted upon his producing the necessary deeds. Subsequently, the matter having remained for some time in abeyance, a difference having arisen between Mr. Buckland and the Government about paying the 10 per cent, duty under the -Native Lands Act, the Government finally concluded arrangements by which, on the 2nd April, 1874, Mr. Buckland transferred to the Crown, for the sum of £2OOO, the deed of conveyance of 10,000 acres of the Oruanui block, bought by him from Hohepa Taruamutu and other natives; aud on the same date the lease of 20,142 acres, being the balance of the same (Oruanui) block, was transferred to the Crown for the sum of £SO.
By another arrangement the Government agreed to purchase Mr. Bucklaud’s interest in what is known as the Takavua block for the sura of £SOO. Your committee have taken the opinion of the Solicitor-General with reference to this and ether cases before them. It will be seen that the advice given by the Solicitor-General is that “ assuming that contracts for the sale of land to the Crown are within the Act (which, however, the SolicitorGeneral does not think was intended), then, if the sale or assignment was effected wliile the House was sitting, the member would be incapable of sitting or voting. If the House was not sitting, and if the contract was completed before the meeting of Parliament, the member would not bo disqualified from sitting or voting, because ho could not be said to bo concerned or interested in a contract which was wholly completed.” Your committee, after careful consideration of all the circumstances of this case, have to report their opinion that, whatever may be the correct view of the question in its legal and technical aspect, the spirit and intention of the provisions of the Disqualification Act have been departed from. They have further to report that there is such an uncertainty in the terms of the Act, especially in regard to transactions such as those with respect to laud, which do not appear to have been contemplated at the time the Act was framed, as to call for an immediate amendment of the law of disqualification. They are of opinion that such amendment should be so framed as indicated
in the resolution of the House of Representatives, of the Ist September, .1875,. as_ to prevent any agreements or transactions being entered into, either during, the recess or during the sitting of Parliament, between the Executive Government and members of the Legisturo, involving the payment of money or the granting of present or prospective pecuniary advantage to such members, except under the express sanction of the Legislature.
Wat. Eolleston, Chairman.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18751001.2.17
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4534, 1 October 1875, Page 3
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1,709THE RECENT DISQUALIFICATION QUESTION. New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4534, 1 October 1875, Page 3
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