THE SUPERINTENDENCY.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 78, 29 November 1864, Page 3

THE SUPERINTE NDENCY.

I TO IHB EDITOR O* ' TJBS ■ iSQUTHIiAiri) TIMES. Sib, — In continuation of my subject, tiic true position Mr. Hcalo held while we had the good, fortune of numbering him amongst our citizens. I must advert to the oft-told and sickening talo — the " Lake Escort." A« there is a " turning point in every man's career, so is there with states : a tide which; if seized at the flood, leads to prosperity. The breaking out of the Lake diggings was the turning point for Invercargill. I need hardly say the opportunity was most recklessly thrown away, and the interests of a community sacrificed to a point of barren punctilio. Immediately* on the receipt of the news of the discovery of gold at tho Lake, Mr. Heale. with characteristic energy, ad\ ocated the adoption of immediate measures ior securing those advantages which Providence had not unexpectedly thrown at our foot— for Invercargill h&d grown to large in anticipation of some suoh ocourrenoo that it became absolutely necessary for it* weil-heina thai every opportunity should fee eagerly seined whjofy ceul 11 apW4 $n ouOei fof ■ \H m* M* HuM Witt wm iU% oat j V* r .

-■■'.■"■■ ■ ■: = R-fff '■■■■aff'T J^i ft W member of the^HExe'cutiyfr sHpuld, without.dMdy tW^de'splMtiSa'ftb^th^h'eart^ol^^^ [to open a Gpid^^ceiving. Qlfice,? while anothei ] should .pr.p.cee.9 i.-tcT^ Melbourne" to'oirer^su h a sub[sidy to Messrs. M'Meckan. & Black wood ."as' would [induce the^h "to J seriu J orie ' of thvif^steamers into 1 thetNew^ River,- so that'theigbld-brought jupjrjg.yby ! the -escort couldv have /been ' shipped^ direct Jo iLftstralia'^ /; ; 'Beale'ifepudiuted the.ideaTofour not^osaes^irig-juTifiiictioh on tK6;Lake»iaVgb<Ji^a v t the notion that court esy aemahdedi that we; shpuld th^b'# away* the; great opportunity ,'whidi presented itself. He was under ? the^ hnpresaionj thata.t)ie ' duty of the chief exequtije; officer in the Province was|:to-.4"ttgnd;to;>t^e^^^ intereaterpf^jthe-.cptn^munity who .hadjfentrusted^him rather than studj.depprtment at ii b e'spense. It-is lit'eclleas to say ■"i^t|-Mi?.i > Ho4« ls .^tlyicp^ iM wtt8 i; ][hrowu away.^ilt "wasrtbp-.-rsimple ~and^BtraigMfprwiir]l;; ottered no chance, ojf-icircunilp^ution.^^-rrh us, attep which wo\icTJVave r * f enßured'"the 'H^M' trade for I^vercargill, bi^^rid^the"possibility'6f"comj)etS.tion', was tlelajfed 'ror interchange of.l protocols until too late ; and when taken, was done ifra manner wliichi brought rliliciile loli^thelProvince, and served as. a theme for f the .poetical genius of, Mr, Thatcher". ' wm A 'n6t' .lqhg'*after that the! Trpvin'cial, Council ; was;. infprmedy for- the A '^first! tiinc^; that the Gbyernment' had '-^outrun the' con- i stuble, and' the Province' w^is in 'debt tbithe ex- ! tent'bf £40;00p. ;Tn ; the speech/ however,afforded the information; this was 'looked at as "a ; Very trilling matter. A great' deal was' said' about .prosperity, past and prpspectivei : some ; litJl'j'about \ -the tide wliich leads to fortune ;» large expenditure was suggested, but nothiug ataliof'hPw-wei were to pay oil' this £40,000 debt/ : The Council * deeming, '• I "presums, that it was the<ybice;of ai prophets which it heard, entered fully ; ; into -tiiei "spirit.of the speet-h, andvoted away by the hun-i| dred. if His ' Honor Ws . iesirous ; of entering iltlo | a large expenditure, he should liave the money..»Sj' j far as voting it went; - A preposterous Appro- f priation .Act wits ■. passed, ; and accepted by{ rhe head of ..the government. Q'hat-opcn-j ing speech' and " Appropriation i Act" tettledi the fate of the Province. .. Had the Supi»r-J inten dent's speiidi uqn tamed one word of warning; suggested economy . ins teada of eitrav^gan'je.ffehe 1 tide which had begun, to, ebb s owly, might.haye been arrested, arid by judicious i-etrenchiiu-ht,' our present decadence would have beeri'-'pre-rented. • : ' "'.* ' : ' ■'-". : i ■-''■■ -• v'^:c->- c..-;:/. •:..'. Against the whole of these pr9ceeding9 : Mr« HeaJe veliemently protested.^ He implored ."seve: ral.raembers both of the Gf-oyermne'nt a'ad Council io insist bri some* provision being^ mailed fop ttho liquidation -of the debfc : ; ..he. !pointed£s6"Ut >.th(j absurdity .of continuing the mad expenditure on roads when the tide of our prosperity had begurj to, ebbs He assured them that so fiir from our reverius increasing, it was almost Certain to decrease,"' and that ''rapidly. He prophesied ruin, foretold calamity when every one else -saw a cloudless akj. He asaured . them the General .G-pyernjnent would never assent to the •Lppropr:ation Aft; ai d that' 'if "it " was- a:i- . ticipa edto j a off thr -„« -t by a..l*a,i. such anticipations wouici prove faiiarious, a& 110 auch loan would be sanctibned. Every tittle of what he foretold hast cbmo true ; and yet this man is called "an enthiiaiast." When Government, Council, and people .wei-e all' ela'tej with 'tlieir fancied 'pros . ! jjdrityy When ifc was • tliotiglit erfodgh ini>riey could - 1 hot be spent in public worka, no .matter whethur I the treasury was empty or not; when "borrow, borrow, borrow," was the cant phrase for extrication from our embari-a«siaents, \lr.:Heale foretold disaster;, and yet we are informed he is ',' an en thusiast." It would have been well for the Prpvince of Southl&i. '. fortunate for all of us, had we had su-'h an- "enthusiast " at fclio hea J 01 tha i Government. At the last session of the General ABSwnbly, i&r. Heale b'einj in Auckland,' could nPt I 'resist the temptation of trying- toi get th© boundary of tho;Province eniarge.l, although he had no seat in., the Assembly. Personally acquainted -with-most of the leading men . of the -Assembly, carrying weight with his Opinions and arguments, and thorouglily trusted by tfce Whittaker Ministiy, he; exerted himself so .vreJl that he obtahiad a wrifcten guarantee from the mAJonty of tha Otago membt-rs not to oppose tha extension of the boundary, on the understanding that rioulhland would give up all claim .to, the east bank of the Mataur*. This extension wa-s tohavtbeen up to the foot of the Wakalipu Lake, following its west shore, an! thence in a north-west direction to the West Coast, an addition of territory which wouid have doubled the present size of Southland, and uiaJe a material did'eronce *in its commercial reiaiious witli the goldiiekls of Otago. So far all went well. Singular to say, Mr. Heaiu'e greatest didiculty lay in obtaining the relinquiahment on the part of Southland of its uaeios.-: claim to the east bank of the Mataura: The man who might have been reasonably supposed to have been the most anxious to secure an accession of territory for Southland was the impe.iiiueut to its accoinplialunent. All Mr. Heale's entreaties that the claim should be given up were met by the assurance thsit no such claim hail been made, and, c msequ<;ntlv, could uot, logically speaking, be given up. Much time was lost in meeting this quibble, and when at last the point was conceded, like most concessions from the same quarter, it came too late. The Assembly, tired of the length to which the session had boen prolonged by the debates on the Native question, determined that no fresh subjest likely 10 invite discussion should be introduced. The Ot»go members who' at one time had agreed to ct cL tho territory took advantage of this resolution, arid backed out of the agreement. Thus. what might have been secured by promptitude of action wa»i pefhapa, irrevocably lost, and Southland hail the satisfaction of being deprived of upwards of. three million acrea of territory by a point of logic. . This, however, does not lessen the credit due to Mr. Heale for his exertions, or weaken the evidences of his influence in the and ability to light Southland's battles for her with th* General Government, -When ihe New Land Act was passed for us, he begged Dr. Menzies, if an Act were passed at all, to accept the Otago Land Acts, by inserting in the short title the words, "and Southland," until the people of the Province could be consulted. But to this advice, as to much other which was good, i >r. Menzies turned a deaf ear. In the midst of our difficulties we had one gleam of hope, one chance of being able to /iniah the Northern jßailway. The General Government, refusing other loans, sanctioned the £40,000 one for railway purposes. Mr. Heale was consulted, and advised ' that the debentures should be made over in trust : to some person appointed by the Govern merit,-for the sole use of completing the* Northern Railway, ; no that it would be impossible to play ducks and. drakes with the money. Dr. Menzies listened, but determined to follow his own counsel ; the result being that he got £10,000. Ten thousand pounds in money, and the railway was not; cont pletedr ;•- „'■■• *'; :- -/ -r ?■-. - -"'■' -v \ ' "' Mr. Heale has been aroused of " deserting 'v the Province in its difficulties, but unjustly, tfor more than a year has passed since his resign-, ation was sent- in. He was talked out of it was talked out of it, until driven to desperation; by. the last glaring instance of the total disregard with wMchliis advice was treated, I mean the placing of the forty thousand pounds worth of railway debentures. .Feeling how unjustly he was blamed for the mismanagement he had tried his utmost -to; avert, he left the Pro vince Can any one blame him ? Powerleß> to effect -good, "constantly combating an obstinate will, loaded with undeserved odium,' ■it was -nott unnatural, that he left. ... ,But though absent froni the Province; to my knowledge he has used his every exertion in Auckland to obtain a favorable consideration of our case. ; It will perhaps .bo asserted that I take a partial view of his character. I have merely stated facts, and there are many men of undoubted integrity . who will bear me out in those statements—more f. particularly in the one regarding Mr. Heale's endeavors id induce the GbVornmentaiid Co'unoil'to retrench at the time when ovory one else was sanguine. If such conduct entitles a man- to bo termed "an enthusiast," the torm must? have Bcquired-lfttely «t now^Bigmficatiou. Ido not prb' tend that Mr. Heale i> without faults and has com- : n\itte4 no blunderp. To i^rgue tliis wouH > bo"rt6--♦wd. w.w H^iiwt ii, that juaging i'roui *-.;;. ■i ? «V?.-'i >%-X ?&fl&if sf f% % ' ' ■' .5-^ ,«

jkour ej^ritjjlicefof has provT(| himself ai £, ra^ a^an,A^.gqund^ Jaiilviser, a "'dieep ~; thinkw, „■ thoroughly couscaentibus man V'-th'e^nly'''o'nes""'u \\ my opiriibhV-- wKo^thaS theJpower". hi ektricaiing uf [• Irom-the position which,- in October, 1863. he pr& , dieted, : and used -his best endeavors, to avert. Ie . the Gazette, ;No. 6s, - pi- that , year, , tlie"; Superin- , t.endent'6.spßech opened with the^ollpwing :— if The , 'conti.ntfedtprpspcrity .of this- Province' is,: a. .source ; ofjnjiiich'gr.atiJicfl.tion.to thfe' Proyincial Gpvei'ii' inent.^ >; r, We iwere 'tlien; i4^6oO,iri i 'deb^-anii^ M^ Hg^le spredicted)^ ruin; unUsS'Some-proYision^'Was made for paying off that sum, and strict retrench- \ nient intrpduced, and.his opinion has '.proved.correct..!. Possessing iriorc'tlian ordinairy [abiut^, ' untiring 1 energy,' perfect singleness of purpose,'uhim- ; peachable integrity,,. and above all, the i^onfidence ; of the^ G;en*eral ' &o vernment, 'I*assert that "he is i the man wjio' ought : to J be choHeh as' bur Superinij tenderit if we" are to^ be eitricatedJfrom our 0MI culties. — lam, &C.7T— ,: I ~.~_.,.-,^: ..:.::;-: : -\^...:z;^, ;^ . .jiisTtcjE. ■Iny;ercargiU,T26thNby;,.lß6l. " . \