The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1878.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5483, 23 October 1878, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1878.

In August last we called attention to the fact that Mr. Whitaker had brought before the House of Representatives a question of privilege which seriously affected 1 -the position of sfbmoof the Ministers, as members of tho House, and left room for doubt -as' to the validity of administrative acts performed by them officially, if, as appeared)- they were not lawfully acting as members of the Lxecntive. Some of the facts, as detailed by Mr. Whitaker on tho occasion referred to, wo quote from the ‘’Hansard ’report as follows : I will state tho tacts ns concisely as l ean Hon gentlemen will remember that on the iJtli Octnlioi last the resignation of tho then Ministry was gazetted, ’ and appointments were made on tho same day of four gentlemen to tho office of Executive Councillors. They appeared, then, to have had no office conferred on ■ them of an administrative character such ns Secretary, Commissioner of Customs, and so on until the 15th October. Therefore, between tho 13th and loth October, they wore Executive Councillors merely, not holding any other office. This does not appear to mo to bo a .small matter, because it may involve those lion, gentlemen's scats in this House. It appears, also, that they did not properly receive salaries for those two (lays. I referjion. members to the Civil List Amendment Act, 1573, in which there is a special provision as to tho salaries of Executive Councillors. . • • • On the 15th October the honorable gentleman (the Premier) was right, so far as that point is concerned : but there would remain this fact: that lie received pay two days earlier than ha ought to have received it, , . . , • . That would apply to three of tho members of the then Executive Council beside, tho hon. gentleman—namely, the Hon. Mr. Macandrow, the lion. Mr. Sheehan, and the lion. Mr. Larnaoh. Sir Larnaoh has resigned, and in ids case the di ffloulty is removed. Further, it appears that there is a more serious breach of the law by the Premier in i his respect. On tho 16th October lie hold the offices of Colonial Secretary and Commissioner of Customs, and on the ISth lie resigned the office of Colonial Secretary, which was then conferred upon the Hon. Colonel Whitmore. The lion, gentleman wav within the law so far ; but on tho 12th of January he also resigned the office of Commissioner of Customs. lam not aware that ho held any other office mentioned in the third Schedule of tho Civil List ActiSOS Amendment Act 1573. so far as I can trace tiro matter in the Gazette. Therefore, holding the office of Executive Councillor only, he had come within the 4th section of tiie Disqualification Act IS7O, and would not be within the exemptions provided by the sth section. What drew my attention more particularly to tills matter was seeing a notice in the Gazette recently of the appointment of the Hon. tho Premier to tiro office of Commissioner of Customs : I believe it was on tho 12tli July last. These are the facts with regard to tour of the hon. members now sitting on tiro, Treasury benches. Then, which is rather curious,tho Attorney-General comes in. Ho is appointed on tiie 13th March to the office of Attorney-General, and must have been appointed under the Attorncy-Geno-ral’s Act. 1870. Having been appointed to this office, he would, I presume, be holding an office to which emoluments are attached, although there is no salary proscribed for tho Attorney - General, that officer not being in the Executive Council under tho Attorney-General’s Act. Tho peculiar part of the matter is, that his position is the exact reverse of tiro other gentlemen to whom I have mace reference. They were Executive Councillors first, and afterwards held office under the schedule of tire Civil List Act 1373, whereas lie first holds an otlice mentioned in that schedule, but does not become an Executive Councillor for five days afterwards. It is not for mo to say whether the fact’of his being up appointed would cu-e tho apparent previous defect. I am merely calling tire attention of tiro House and tho Government to what the consequences would be under tiie 10th section of tho Disqualification Act, IS7O. If he is unable to sit and vote in this House as provided for in that Act, there will be a penalty of £IOO a day recoverable for eacii day on which ho sits in this House When those lion, gentlemen consider what position they are placed in, they may consider some legislation necessary. If any such legislation is necessary, I shall render them tho host assistance I can in order to prevent any mischief arising, if there h is been any breach of tiioso statutes. Tho result of the consideration by Ministers was the bringing in a “ Bill instituted an Act to provide for the “ Purity of Parliament;” this has been passed by the House of Representatives, and agreed to with some amendments by the Legislative Council. Practically it may be said to be an Indemnity Act for the Ministers who have been disqualified. It repeals the Disqualification Act 1870, and the Disqualification Act 1870 Amendment Act 1877, and makes now and not dissimilar provisions in lieu; in addition to which there is the Ministenvl indemnity in danse 0, which provides that, “No iperson shall be liable to any “ forfeiture or penalty heretofore incurred “ under any Act repeated by this Act.” It is held by those whose opinions upon tho legal point are entitled to consideration that several of the present Ministry, tho law having been violated in tho manner of their appointment, were disqualified, and have been up to this time occupying seats in tho House of Representatives illegally.- For so doing, they have subjected themselves to heavy , pecuniary penalties, for the recovery of which they might have been sued by any person who desired to punish or make profit of them. The greatest official delinquent is, as is fitting, the Premier himself. It appears that he was first disqualified by having received pay from the 13th to the 15th October as a member of the Executive Council without at tho same time holding any Ministerial office, and ho was not long in putting himself in the wrong again. Oh the 12th ..January last, he resigned his portfolio as Commissioner of Customs, and was thou without any Ministerial office. In tho Civil List Act 18G3 Amendment Act 1873, the Ministerial offices are enumerated as : ’■ Colonial Secretary Attorney-General Colonial Treasurer Commissioner of Stamp Native Minister Duties Postmaster-General and SecrotaryforCrown Lands Commissioner of Tele- Minister for Immigration graphs . Minister for Mines Commissioner of Customs Minister for Agriculture It is there enacted that any seven persons being members of the Executive Cflunoil holding any one or more of the offices above mentioned shall, with two Maori members, be exempt from certain provisions of the existing Disqualification Act. Tho appropriation for the salary of the head of the responsible government is made in the Civil List Act as follows: —

The annual salary of a member of the Executive Council, being the Prime Minister, holding any one or more of the offices mentioned in the third schedule hereto .. .. £1,750 Tho Premier must Therefore hold a Ministerial office to entitle him to this salary according to law. No provision is made for the pay of Premier as a distinct office. In January, as wo have said, Sir George Grey resigned his office of Commissioner ®f Customs; in July ho was re-appointed to that, office. In the interval, for about six months, whilst ho was stumping tho country, lie was.drawing pay without holding any one of the offices for which pay is provided ; by so doing his seat in the House of Representatives was, it appears, vacated, and he himself made liable to bo sued for very heavy pecuniary penalties. InlB7G an addition was made to the Executive Counoilin thopersonof a gentleman, the Hon. Mr. Hall, who had a seat in tho Legislative Council. No pay was attached to the appointment, but as provision is made in tho Civil List Act for travelling allowance for members of the Executive Council, it was contended that Mr, Hall was “liable” to receive such allowance, and that as tho number of members of the Executive was in excess of the number (0) authorised, tho whole of the Ministry was disqualified by his appointment. Our readers will not have forgotten tho turbulent proceedings which ensued in the House of Representatives on tho part of tho Opposition, of which Sir Geoeob Grey was leader, or that tho term “ common informer ” was applied to him because ho had himself taken legal proceedings in tho Supreme Court against several members of the late Government. We mention these facts chiefly for tho purpose "of contrasting tho action taken “then” by Sir George Grey and his friends with the action taken “now” by the men whom ho on that occasion desired to damage. - Assuming that in the present instance tho law was not violated by the Premier knowingly and wilfully, but only ignorantly or carelessly, Sir George Grey’s opponents, with an infinitely stronger case against him than ho had against them, contented them Selves by pointing out tho unlawfulness of bis action, and tho danger in which it had placed him, offering at the same time i their assistance in getting him out of a '

difficulty so grave. That assistance was given prtiperly and gracefully, and we are glad to be able to chronicle the fact as an example for the future.