The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1870. "Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 138, 29 September 1870, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1870. "Measures, not Men."

The; Provincial Government of Otago has not, so far as we are aware, ever been very much famed for wisdom either in its councils or its administration. From time to time many flagrant absurdities have cropped up; many giant abuses of petty power have manifested themselves ; many horrible injustices have been brought before the public, and by these the littleness of our Provincial State has been thoroughly demun&trated. It is not, however, our intention to " try back " on oli grievances ; goodness knows, and so unhappily do the people of Ota^o, there is no occasion for that — every day presenting fresh instances of governmental incompetency, so numerous, indeed, that wore they worth critique our columns might be tilled, with stenographic exposure of the system, or want of system, under which this fine province is fast being driven to the devil. An instance of governmental littleness, absurdity, and utter childishness, has just come under our notice, which is so racy, that for the ver} 7 fun of the thing we cannot help giving our readers the beneh't of it But at the same time, as it is a serious matter — affecting as it does the liberty of the subject; while we laugh at it, we must also point to it seriously ; and while holding it up to ridicule, we must warn our readers to watch with sober eirn3>tness this thin edge of the wedge — this attempted invasion of tha rights j which every loyal citizen possesses, and to defend which, much valuable blood has been shed. The circumstances of the case we refer to are as follows. Some months since, a resident in the Tuapeka district became possessed by purchase from the original lessee, of two agricultural leases, the rent upon which had been paid, and the necessary improvements made. After holding the property for a short time — the assignment from the original lessee having been properly made, and the consent of the Executive duly given — the assignee sold the leases to another person. The assignment was duly drawn, executed, and presented to the Government for the " consent." Fifty pounds, the consideration money, was paid to the seller, and the buyer immediately spent a considerable sum iv improvements. To the astonishment of both parties, a few days ago the assignment was returned to the buyer, with a refusal from the Government to sanction the transfer for the following reason, viz., th-it the purchaser was a Government servant, and already held the amount of land which Government servants are allowed to hold. I Now, in order to lay thit> matter j properly before our readers, wei must expLiin that Government servants, as original applicants for agricultural leases, are only -allowed to tiks up a very liinite-1 nre-i, an 1/ in this we think:" tha G)Vd:\rjnn; is quite right, because Government

officers have opportunities of kno.ving earlier than the general public, what land is to be le.isud — what are the best s'tjs — and thus might secure tit bits without danger of competition. To deprive them of such chances is perfectly right. But in the name of reason, of equity, aye and of law, what shadow of right can the Government claim f>r denying to a man the right to enter the market and to buy a chattel -(it is nothing else) the owner of which offers it to the highest bidder ? Ths thing is so preposterous — so utterly devoid of common sense, that it i 3 with the greatest difficulty we can maintain our temper while dealin 0 * with such twaddle. A servant is paid a salary, generally not very large,. If he is extravagant, he is held to be a very bad person indeed, If he saves money he is debarred ( or would be, if his employers had their way) from investing it in the ordinary every day channels. A piece of land onca leased under the regulations to A, may surely be sold by A to B, C. D or to any person who will give the price which A wants for it. A pretty thing indeed, that because a man happens to be in the Government employ, he is to be denied the right of investing his private means in any manner he may think fit We cannot think what the Provincial Government is about in attempting to start such a monstrous doctrine. Have they gone mid ? It would appear like it, but if they have, they cannot plead that they have any reason or method in their madness. Have they become idiots ? we think not ; for any man having once posse sed reason could hardly act as the/ are now doing. If idiocy is th 3 excuse, it must be in-, nate an J not acquired. We are glad to hear that the seller of the property will put up with no nonsense, but will take it to the Supreme Court if necessary, to compel thß Government to give the required t.tls. and in so doing we are sure that hj will be supported by ths opinion of every rational individual. So fir as the Gv>vernm3iit servants ara concerned, we apprehend thay fe^l themsolves highly co.nphm2nt3i and most justly dealt with as free born man. Free bo/v mjn, did we say — serfs, mare correctly, it' they put n|> w fch such oppression as this ; with sal iri3.s which, as reciat legishtion h-is shown, ca-n bd reda^e4 at the caprice of every button-holing j ictvass who cm contrive by any means to get huns-sk' pitchforke-l into a represent ifcive a-->3in ! ..)ly ; with appointments hardly more secure, being to some extent at the merjy of the sa:ns cLus of me i ; with a constant call irxm tluir energies in cirryinj oat the vagtri?s of thiir employers, and bat litule ta k>}k forward to after years of tail, unless inJeed they save in)m^, which alter all thjy ai*3 rut all ) -vel to invest. Wi&h all thase dls idvantages we fail t) see why public? servants sh)uid all.nv thiin -selves ta be ddpiived of the rights claimed undispatedly by other nun ; an 1 after tli s m itter is over »ye hjpa to hear nj more of any such noasensij.il, such childish attempts to infringe the liberties of a wjil deserving class of Her Mrjest/s su'jjaots.

The fats of the petition of the cigricnlfcui'.il iea^ehoUrfr.-i can scarcely have exciteJ mjch surpriss. Its raj action h-v* only been ot" a piece with the tajhlition t> which tin residents on fchj Goldrieids have now beco.ue accustoaiaJ. We cannot recall any measure passe 1 by the Asssinbly for the ro:nov:il of one of tli3 many spaciil of the ininar.s or sjtslars on th-2 <li^gin^s. The g.)ld exp.»rt dut, T may oe taken as an inst.inne. This tax the Provincixl Couucil has agun and again i-ecornmeadei to be abolished ; politicians of all shiJes of opinion have ad.nittsi th it it te indefensible in principle and oppresive in practice, bat all attempts ta do away with it have utterly failed. This session it was endea\ oured to obtain for the Provinces the option of raising the tax or dispernin:? with it. As the revenue produced by the tax is paid to tha Pirovhici-d. Treasurers, it is only reasonablo that the Provinces should have power to deal with it Such, however is not the case ; tha power of remitting the tax was refused, and it still remains, and probably will' long remain a proof of our partial and unjust Legislature. The i-ejec-tion of the petitions of the agricultural leaseholders is therefore no great matter of surprise. The petitioners may, however, feel indignant at the manner in which it was attempted to get rid of the petitions. The petition from Mount .Beiif,^ -w-is p'wticvjVyly unfortunate,' b-vi-died ah >vt;h it was fro n thj O )' )- lii! I-; Ci a nlt r od fcj the Waste iLa < (Joaiailtijo, a:i.l nv>_i chit rcjferro .,

back again, neither of them wishing to take the odium of slaughtering the innocent, though both evidently wished that to be done. We congratulate Mr. Macandrew upon the change in his opinion as shown by his motion referring the petition to the Provincial Council for its consideration. It is a thousand pities that he did not hold the same views as to the right of Provincial Councils to initiate legislation on the waste lands of the Province, when he supported the Hundreds Regulations Bill of 1569. Strange that when a me isure of such vast consequence to the Province as that act proposed, it never occurred to him that the provincial Council might have something to say to it. Strange that he should be the most strenuous advocate of the Bill — the most earnest in deprecating opposition or postponement. Had he taken the same stand then that he now appears to have done, what a vast amount of discussion would have been obvi ited ; the land sales of the Province would not have been virtually interrupted, and public works and S3ttlement woald not have been brought to a standstill, as has in a great me; s ire been the case for the last eighteen months. While we congratulate Mr. Macandrew on the change in his views, we confess that a certain amount of suspicion attaches to sudden conversions and death -bed repentances, and we have some misgivings whether the assumed deference to the Provincial Council may not be a subterfuge for the postponement of a measure it might be dangerous to oppose in the face of the coming elections. If again Superintendent, we fear, ".Richard himself again," will, without fear or disguise play into the hands of the squatters as before. This mode of shirking the matter does not appear to have satisfied the House, and the petition, on the motion of Mr. Brown, was returned to the Waste Land Committee, apparently for an expression of opinion on its merits. The result was a still more extraordinary evasion of the subject of the petition. The Committee is of opinion that the only remedy for the evils complained of by the petitioners is the adoption of the principle of free selection in the disposition of the waste lands of the Province. Was there ever a more incongruous and irrelevant deliverance ? The petitioners ask that sundry half crowns paid for rent may be placed to their ere lib as part of the purchase money of lands selected, fenced, and cultivated, and, in most instances, a couple of years ago. The Waste Land Commictee as an answer to their request, recommend free selection. Was the Committee drunk?