The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1871. "Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 198, 16 November 1871, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1871. "Measures, not Men."

The report of the Select Committee appointed by the Legislative Council to enquire into the recent sale of 50,000 acres of land on Moa -Flat to Mr.' Clarke, discloses a curious state of affairs regarding j the conduct of public business by [the Provincial Executive. The witnesses examined, viz., the ! Superintendent, the Secretary for I Laud and. Works, the Provincial Treaßurer v and the Provincial [Solicit^ according to their testimpify," wei«a^blissfutly ignorant of ; tlie Inanfier ip: which the transaction f jp£s to confine 'their* replitfr. to attenipfe to evade ail responsibility in. connexion with, the matter. Their, evidence^ amounted, m fact, to an admission , >%it %ey deserted their posts as * ! conservators" of the public welfare,.! at a time when theit presence was j

\if gently deeded. If Mr. Cutten ever had a reputation .for business aptitude, his .queer" .proceedings while the negotiations for the sale were .pending must- effectually ruin it. His conduct seems a jxrixture of pusillanimity and temerity— one day telling Mr. Bradshaw that he did not like the responsibility, and would resign, and another time teleraphing to that gentleman that he had better not interfere in the matter. The more light is thrown i on the subject, the more discreditable appears, the conduct of all concerned in it. However, it seems certain that the sale will be cancelled — and upon the prospect Tof that pleasant termination to such discreditable proceedings, we heartily congratulate our Teviot friends. The following telegram on the subject was forwarded to us by the Colonial Treasurer : — In re sale to Clarke. — I have presented your-petitions, and had one of them read to the House. lam glad to tell you the Attorney-General inclines to believe that the sale of so much of the land as is within a goldneld is illegal, in which case, of course, so much of the sale would be invalid, if not the whole. Below is his opinion :—": — " If it be true that any part of the land is within a goldfield. then as to so much as is within a goldneld, the land cannot be sold in the manner contemplated. If the sale is made under a law authorising it, the Governor has no power to disallow it :' all he can do is to refuse to execute the conveyance. We may state that the whole of the 50,000 acres are within a goldfield, consequently, according to the Attorney-General, the sale is illegal, and cannot be completed. At the eleventh hour the General Government has yielded to the irrefutable testimony in favor of the construction of a railway from Tokomairiro to Tuapeka, and has included it in their schedule of main lines to bo commenced with all possible despatch. So conclusively was it demonstrated that this line would fulfil all the conditions which the Minister of Public Works announced would regulate the construction of main lines, that we must express unfeigned surprise that the Government should have persisted so long in ignoring it. Now that we have forced the General, Government to recognize our just- rights, we should redouble our efforts to secure them. We may be certain that if we rest content with a jnere resolution of the General Assembly to the effect that the Tuapeka line be included amongst those to be first commenced we will be in a no better position than if the General Government had adhered to its original idea of making it a branch line. We must bring pressure to bear, and keep agitating the matter, until we see the work fairly under way.