SEPTEMBER 28TH.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 194, 26 October 1871, Page 6

SEPTEMBER 28TH.

The TTon. Captain Fraser, in moving the motion standing in his name, had very little to add to what he stated the previous day, when he asked a question on the subject. Tt was with mingled feelings of shame and regret that the Province of Otago should, through the action of the Provincial Executive, be reduced to the position of l>eing place I in the hands of a merciless monpy lender, or having its Treasury closed. One feature of the case was, that when the Executive were all in Dnnedin there was a red line drawn across Moa Flat, marking out a block of 5,000 acres for settlement, which was surveyed, and which was never intended to be sold at all, but to be devoted to purposes of settlement. There was nearly a continuous settlement all the way from Tinipeka to Roxburgh, which was pi-o-bably one of the finest settlements in Otago, mining being combined with agriculture ; and it was the healthiest settlement he had seen in any part of New Zealand. The people were all doing remarkably well, and it was intended to continue the settlement, but the Provincial Executive, now in Dunedin, fearing 'the Treasury should be closed, allowed terms to be dictated to them by a monpy lender, and interrupted the settlement l>3 r selling 50,000 acres. He believed there was rio arrangement for making roads, and the whole of that country would be actually closed. He found there was" a. slight irregularity in his motion, and %he Hon. the Minister of .Justice vvonld probably toll him that, if it were carried, (he result would be. to do away altogether with provincial institutions. Tbe trans action was a very questionable one, and his object in bringing the matter forward was to plac? it before the Government, so that they might take steps to prevent the alienation of a largo tract of the waste lands of the Crown in the manner in which it was being done, and to have the matter thoroughly venfcikted.

Motion uiadn, and question proposed, "That the s.sle of bind ivjn>r!«d r.o have taken place in Otago bo defm-ed until the Colon i 1 (1-overninenh hnvp time to enquire into the matter." # * * # * # *

The Hon. MY. Holmes wished to make a faw observations on the question. The honour tbie member who had last spoken iiacl reioi-red to (.lie S3rd ehnzsii oi' the Y\ a&fce Lau<is Act. He was aware that the provincial authorities, or at any rate the Superintendent of Otago, wns of opinion that clause, interpi-eted as it was intended to be interpreted tit the time it was framed, did not enable the Government to sell land in any quantity to the runholders. To do so was to pervert the proper administration of the clause, and not to act in accordance with its legitimate meaning.. He would read a clause which referred to action taken under similar circumstances. Clause, $5 stated :—: — " The price at which rural lands shall be offered for sale shall beiweuty shillings per aero, and in the event of two or more applications for the same land beinaj made on the same diiv. the nuset price ai; which land snail be put up to auction, as hereinafter mentioned, s'vall be twenty shillings per acre: Provided that it shall be. lawful for the Board, with the approval of the Superintendent, first obtained, to sell at twenty shillings per acre, or such higher price as the Board may determine, rural laud, either within hundreds, or comprise! of any license or le:iso, to depasture stock, not exceeding fii'tv acres, to any person who may have improved the same." _ He understood that a condition of sale was, that the Superintendent should approve of it, and that that was laid down in the clause he had read. Now, what were the facts of the case with regard to the sale in question ? The Superintendent was in Wellington when the transaction was concluded, and a deputy was appointed, in every respect a suitable person, to represent the Superintendent during his absence ; but he was informed that instead of the Waste Land Board meeting on the day it was appointed to meet, it met a day previous, and, without the" prespnre of the Deputy Superintendent, completed the sale. Besides, the Chief Commissioner was on his way from Wellington to Otago at the very time the transaction took place, so that it was altogether irregular and indefensible. His honourable friend's criticisms of some of the items were perfectly correct. It was within the scope of the Act to allow 10 percent, for eurvevs, but were the Provincial Government at all worthy of the position they occupied, they would consider the advantage of the province and not that of the purchaser, and instead of paying £6,000 fpr the survey of the land, they could have had it done for less than 4d. an aero, which would have amounted to about £500. 'The nest item was that of compensation on the 50,000 acres. •It .would be in the recollection of honourable members who .assisted in papp.ing tbe Bill ju 18i3O\ or, at any rate topthoße who understood the working o? the Act Jn Otago, that agreement was .entered into U-y, almost every rupuoider I tha% in-order-.to th'e?settlem^Vof-'tbe

country without any expense to the province, they should give up, without compensation, laud on their runs free, for' purposes of promoting settlement. He understood that 11,000 out of the 50,000 acres of tbe land sold was land for which a covenant was entered into, whereby it-should be given to the Government free when it was required for <ettlement, and instead of the Government paying the compensation on only 39,000 a"crt>s, as they should have done, they paid on the 50,000 acres, so that they paid £1,375 more than they should have done. That was so much loss to the province and gain to the purchaser. It was an unusual thing for commission to be paid ou a transaction like tl ai. The Government frequently employed auctioneers, but not iv transactions of such magnitude, which should go direit through the 1 Government, and the commission be saved. Then thtrj was the very probable loss on tho sheep assessment. That assessment would be due in three days from the present date, and there was a loss in that respect of £1,450. Could it, therefore, be said by the most ardent supporters of provincial institutions that ci transaction of that kind should be submitted to ? Then there was the question of the sale on creditr He put it to his honourable friend Mr. Menzies, who supported the action of he Provincial Government, if there was anything to warrant the sale of the land on credit beyond a month. In fcKe ordinary course of sale, the" usual terms were one-tenth of tho purchase money to bo paid in' cash ot the lime of the sale, and the remainder within a, month. Now, in the present case, the three-fourths would not be payable until the survey was complete, which might be at loast four or six months. That involved a loss of £1000, considering the dilatory manlier in which surveys wove conducted, owing to the small staff. Ho had not intended to speak on tho question at all. The Of ago land laws had become so proverbial for the il!-feelinsj they created in the Hnu^e, that he did not wish" to have any tiling to say in the debate, but he felt that it was necessary for him to combat some of the statements of his honourable friend, because they were placing the matter in a light which was hardly the right one. 31V bad discussed the" matter with those who wave most interested — the members of the Govornmi'iit—and tlioy were of opinion that tho Ad. of 1803, testing it on its legitimate scope, would not warrant the saY of blocks of laud in t'.ie manner in which the present sale had been made. Besides, there was no necespitv for the sacrifice. Doubtless, the Provincial Govern moni", by its own act, incurred a dobfc of £l0b,0!.>0 overdraft *■•> the bank of i\c\v Zoalaixil, fuit that was ' simply the result of its own maladmmistralion. The Act of IS6'6, with the subsequent amendments, was not put into operation merely for political purposes. But, passing the question of maladministration altogether, fie •mere question at issue was, had the bank confidence in the administration of. public flffnirs by the Executive of the day ? If it had, £ 1 00,000 was nothing — a bank or any finincial house would give money on re i^miable terms ; it was a mere question of confidence in the Executive, and with the ample security of twelve million acres of unsold land, which there was in the province, there was no neee^sitv for eivaWno; sue'i a debb as £100,000. Doubtless, tho ban's it^if had bern blarna-ble ir. the matter. T.ic province under the Act, had powor to borrow to. the exteut of one-fifth of its revenue, and assuming that the revenue was £800,000, one-fifth would amount to £60,000, so tfiat the bank had overstepped its legitimate power of lending to the Provincial Government, and had no security for tho e.vess of £40,000 except t!ie .good faith of tlia G-urern-ment or the province. The province was not bound to pay the money. Supposing a change of Government had taken place, aud the incoming Government was pleased to say to the bank, "You have exceeded your powers with regard to lending to the province, and you have given the Government an opportunity of con;inuing to administer affairs longer than they should have done.' There was no doubt that some enquiry was necessary into the working of the lind laws in the province, He believed the present rystem was opposed to the public interest, and that the management of Crown lands should be separated filtogether from political influence, It was nearly time they made a move in that direction, because there was not the slightest doubt that political influence had been exercised with regard to tbe administration of the waste lands in a manner which was detrimental to the interests of the people.