TO THE ELECTORS OF THE BULLER DISTRICT.

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 703, 27 August 1870, Page 2

TO THE ELECTORS OF THE BULLER DISTRICT.

GENTLEMEN,— As one of your represervatives in the Provincial Council of Nelson, I comply with the custom of members addressing their constituents at the earliest convenient opportunity after the close of a session. lam not without misgivings that it is a custom which might, occasionally, he more houored in the breach than the observance. To judge by iU observance towards, at least, one West Coast constituency, it is a custom as liable to abuse as Provincial Councillors unfortunately are collectively, and as, I regret to say, they sometimes are individually even among themselves. I can only hope that, in the observance of what is customary, I may not fail in observing what is correct in point of propriety. The presumed object of the practice, I imagine, is more to explain to the electors addressed the part taken in the proceedings of the Council by the individual addressing them, than to animadvert, with little or no regard for the law of libel, upon the motives and conduct of those who, as fellow-coun-cillors, have shared in the work or the waste of the session. In giving thus such explanations as are due to you, I shall be satisfied if you are satisfied that they possess no more merit than mere fidelity to facts. For the preseut I prefer to address you in print, instead of by speech, because what I may have to state will thereby be made less discursive, and will bo more readily diffused among a scattered constituency than if it were to be indifferently expressed at the one meeting which it would only be convenient for me at present to hold. Opportunities will arise, if I remain in the district, for inflicting upon you as many more explanations relative to Provincial Council proceedings aa you may he solicitous of receiving, or for you inflicting upon me as many questions and comments, with regard to these matters of exaggerated importance, as your spirit of approbation or condemnation may suggest.

When you did mo tlio so-called honor of electing me a member of the Nelson Council, I became one of five West Coast members, only one of whom (Mr George Donne) had had any personal practical experience in Provincial Council proceedings, or had any credentials as to conduct in a representative capacity. I was one of the ignorant, if not the simple,, four. In " politics " it was the period of my maidenhood, and I proceeded to Nelson confiding in the correctness of some day-dreams and delusions which, I am sorry to say, were very speedily dissipated. Among a number of novices there were naturally somewhat crude notions ; and probably I enjoyed my share. It is most to bo regretted that, among the West Coast members, there was not, even in its crudest form, cohesion. Indeed, on the place of one of the four being taken by a person not less ignorant than the rest of us, there was rather rude disruption. These two circumstances account, in a great degree, for the session being so much more one of promise than of performance.

In some of the previous sessions of the Council, West Coast members had, as a rule, sat or spoken as sulky Separationists. In joining the Council this session, I was in spirit a Unionist, desiring that, as it was the only alternative that the Province should continue as a Province, it should be governed as a harmouious whole, and not as a house divided against itself. Acquaintance with the Provincial system elsewhere imbued me with the belief that it was —as I believe, in modified form, it might still be made—the best system that, under the circumstances of the country, could have been devised for its colonisation and development; and acomparison of the personnel of Provincial Governments in Nelson and elsewhere convinced me that its failure in these respects, in Nelson, was due partially to the much-to-be-regret-ted want on the part of His Honor the Superintendent, of that provincial sympathy, of that outgoing energy, and of that executive zeal which have been the characteristics of those Superintendents under whom Canterbury and Otago have thriven, and which are essential in the government of a fresh expanding country. With this feeling as to the unity of the Province, and this belief that the real agency, if not also the spirit, of Separation exists not here but in Nelson, it was some gratification that, towards the beginning of the session, an apparent concession in the direction of unity was made by the proposed re-appoint-ment of a Commissioner, that Commissioner being,Mr Kynnersley. Of Mr Kynnersley I knew little. I certainly had not heard about any man more toadying twaddle than I had heard about him. I had heard also what I believed to bo honest, intelligent, favorable opinion, and, of course, some unfavorable opinion as honest and intelligent. If popularity is ever the ambition or the reward of a public servant, he is a happy man who has the cast of the baulk in his favor, and I think Mr Kynnersley enjoys that rare gratification. Sympathising with what I believed to be the general sentiment, and recognising, not the propriety of a Commissionership per se, but its necessity so long as the district suffered from the perpetuation in office of an absentee Superintendent, I went to the Council prepared to vote for Mr Kynnersley's appointment, and avowing my intention to do so.

Another intention I had was to agitate, or to assist in, the modification of the Executive from a group of civil officers—some of them occupying unassailable seats in the Council, and others holding judicial and General Government appointmeHts—into something more reconcilable with Provincial and popular rule. In no particular, perhaps, more than in the particular of adjusting the relations between the Council and the Executive is the construction of the Provincial system at fault—a responsible Executive in a small and ill-conditioned Council beingnot less faulty, I fear, than an irresponsible one ; but the Nelson Executive of the past was certainly more aggravated in anomalies than is the present one—still anomalous—and I Delieved then, as yet, that a change was justifiable. It is unnecessary to add that all the West Coast members —including Mr W. N. Franklyn—were returned by their constituencies as unmitigated grumblers against the Curtis administration ; and while not thwarting the Government in any malicious spirit, or endeavoring to do injustice to other parts of the Province, I was as ready as anyone to join with an opposition which should make felt the power of the Council and the constituencies, and which should secure, by the application of either an alterative or an irritant, a change in the spirit of the Government towards the Goldfields. The experience of a journey overland to Nelson confirmed me as to the propriety of some of these various panacea for district complaints, and gave me an acquaintance with the district itself which was most desirable to possess. The Council, at its opening, was decidedly rebellious and eruptive—those who were disposed to be complimentary designated it " vigorous." The transient popularity which Superintendents "enjoy had subsided in the case of Mr Curtis, in consequence of the Waugapeka dispute, and the feeling was shared by a number of the Councillors. Not only before the session, but at its opening, enthusiasts, recognising in the Superintendent the " head and front of the offence" of the Government, debated the project of petitioning the Governor for his removal ; others urged the only available alternative—the stopping of either individual or general supplies. The harshness and the rarity of a petition for removal made it undesirable, if it was at all attainable ; and the anticipation of a stoppage of the supplies was apparently contemplated with such an amount of seriousness that one would have been justified in supposing that Nelson subsisted on the Government, instead of, in the natural order of things, the Government being maintained by Nelson. A motion of "No confidence" -was adopted as the traditional, but, under the circumstances, unmeaning expedient, because, to the Superintendent, it was literally a motion of no consequence. It was simply an expression of sentiment, as innocuous as th 9 writing on the wall by small boys of the words "No Popery." On the suggestion of Mr M'Mahon, I think, words were inserted to the effect that the Council had no confidence in the Government "as at present constituted." To this perfectly safe expression the Superin tendent gave the safest rendering. His Honor became " conciliatory," as it was called, and he made the following proposal, " to secure more cordial relations between the Council and the elected head of the Province, and at the same time to promote a more satisfactory understanding between the goldfields and the more settled districts :"

That he should appoint to two of the present scats in the Executive Council two members of the Provincial Council indicated by resolution of the Council—one of them to be a representative for the South-West Goldfields j and that such two members should resign their seats in the Executive, upon the passing of a resolution of the Provincial Council calling upon them to do so.

So much excusable misapprehension, and so much utterly inexcusable misrepresentation, have existed with regard to the position which I accepted under the Act of which this was the germ, that I should like you to give me indulgence to refer to the matter somewhat in detail. Whatever the conception of the Superintendent may have been in proposing this representative of the Goldfields in the Executive, it was palpable that he could not mean him to be a substitute for a Commissioner. Mr Kynnersley at that very moment held the office of Commissioner, apparently enjoying the confidence, as he had received the commendation, of his Honor. In fact, along with the message containing this proposal camo a letter from Mr Kynnersley soliciting an early answer as to the confirmation of his appointment, in anticipation of his adopting the alternative of entering the General Assembly in the event of his appointment not being maintained; and no expression was given by the Council as to its maintenance until some days afterwards. Nor could it bo that his Honor meant that this " representative " was to be a Q-oldfields Secretary, which has been so glibly talked about, in addition to the existing Commissionership; or, if ho did mean it, he is a gentleman of much better intentions towards the Q-oldfields than he ever got credit for. It was upon this paragraph, then, (but more with the effect of amending the Executive Act as a whole than with any regard to the Q-oldfields), that a Select Committee sat, that deputations waited, that alterations were framed, that reports were made, that a Bill was drafted, that an Act was passed, that

a responsible Treasurer was created, and that your humble servant had the distinguished honor of being for once in his life " gazetted;" and the words of the Act and the Gazette precisely repeated the proposal of the Superintendent as quoted above—that in the Executive Council there should be a representative of Goldfields interests. No doubt, in the interval of this trifle becoming law, Mr Kynnersley's appointment failed to be confirmed, and the idea grew in the minds, if not in the hearts of some, but under an obviously mistaken notion, that this appointment was the one to be substituted for his. At the solicitation of the newly appointed Treasurer—not without considerable reluctance and persuasion, and more with a view to seeing him securely seated than with any reference to myself—l agreed to occupy this undefined position ; and I defined it, according to the circumstances stated and the text quoted, as an honorary position of very small utility indeed, and chiefly useful as a salve or a protection to the Council in such a case as the granting to a Commissioner such large powers as had been asked for by Mr Kynnersley. No explanation of the Message was ever given by the Superintendent, and the representatives of the Government in the Council, forgetting whence the idea emanated, pleaded perfect ignorance of what was meant by the reference to the Goldfields in the Act. My suggestion to the Executive, in connection with the Estimates, was that if this Goldfields representative were, in any case, a resident of Nelson, a very small bonus would suffice for his loss of time by attending Executive meetings, but that if anyone resident on the Goldfields were to hold the position, it would be impossible to expect him to do so without an allowance for his expenses either as a regular visitant to Nelson or as an occasional representative of matters affecting the general interests of the Goldfields. For this purpose I proposed as a contingency the modest sum of £IOO. The Executive made it £l5O, and thus it passed, not without a struggle worthy of a greater cause. As to the practical value of the thing, I had quite as lively a sense of its smallness as anyone of those who have spoken very largely and loudly on the matter and on other matters therewith associated. But what I had to do was, not to exercise the ordinary human appetite for office, or even to do justice to my sympathies as to seeing the Goldfields supervised by some one, but to do as I literally did—to " take what was set before me" namely, his Honor's Message and the Executive Act—- " asking no questions for conscience sake."

Mr Donne differed from me, overlooking, I think, the meaning of the Superintendent's suggestion, if judged —as judged it had to be—by the time at which it was received. -Rather, he excelled me in his earnestness to make the suggested appointment of some substantial worth to the Coast; and, as a Commissionership on Mr Kynnersley's terms had not been assented to, while there was a general agreement that some responsible person should be appointed, he was probably justified in the effort he made in that direction. As an independent member he proposed an official position with a salary of £SOO. I believe the honest sympathy of the full Council was with him, and ultimately his motion was carried, although by my arguments I had diminished the chances of its success. Had the Estimates been so passed, according to my distinct promise, the office would have been at once open to the best man, or to any other man; and the Superintendent would have been at liberty to have exercised the vote to the best purpose he could within the meaning of the words " Official G-oldfields Eepresentative," without any considerations as to my presence in the Council, or even aa to my existence. I would not have accepted the position. But, as it happened, in the thinnest Council of the session, and on one of the last days of the session, two Goldfields representatives, one of whom had denounced the smaller vote as " inadequate provision," and a "lamentable misconception " of the Act, and the other of whom had voted for the £SOO, voted for no provision being made whatever; and with the assistance of three or four other members who had voted on the same question all round the compass,the sublime utterances with which the session had been opened subsided into the ridiculous resultof "Two Nonofficial Members, £150," or at the rate of £75 for the expenses of a representative of Q-oldfields interests during the year! So much for "Goldfields representation !"

Excuse me for having referred at such length to a matter comparatively trivial, and of so much personal reference. I have, I think, ample grounds for excuse. _ It is the misfortune of constituencies, in returning the members of even so small a body as the Nelson Council, to be limited or misled in their choice; and it is the misfortune of their fellows to have their actions misrepresented as grossly as are occasionally the interests of the electors. Fortunately the exceptions are rare and marked, otherwise popular representation or all personal selfrespect must necessarily cease. It is quite enough for a man to give his time to public affairs; it is not more than he need expect to have his course of conduct criticized or misunderstood; but it is an outrage upon the courtesies of life, and a double outrage upon the courtesies of councillorship,

to have persons enjoying the privilege and the name of members, while yet the Council is in session, or again after its close, not only mis-stating facts from a position in which they ought to be as faithful as if they were in the witness-box, but traducing the character of others with a license in lying and language which would not even pass unnoticed under the easy privileges of a pot-house. More than one member has sufferer! from this sort of thing, and in one o -:-- i! instance, my name, as one oi yoar representatives, in conjunction with that of Mr Donne of Charleston —than whom no more honorable or earnest man ever entered a Provincial Council—has been used with a grossness of reference to our united or separate action, and as to the price for which we "sold" ourselves, exceeding anything which even my lowest estimate of its perpetrator had warranted. I refer to the Grey district. In justice to Mr Donne, against whom and myself it is basely insinuated that we acted in collusion in regard to the matter to which I havo alluded, I can only say thac it was the one subject of the session upon which we were at variance—to such an extent that, in daily and friendly interwas a tabooed subject between us for ten days, except in open discussions in the Council, each having his own different harmless crotchets as to Groldfields management. On most other subjects, I am glad to say, we happened to be harmonious, nor did we consider it necessary, because we were chosen to represent similar but distinct districts, that each should fly at the other's throat. I had not wished to write so warmly as I have done, but the honor of a constituency is intimately allied with that of its representative, and, without being ultrasensitive, I cannot but feel that, if all of you had read, as I have had opportunities of doing, the observations of inconsiderate associates, you would conclude that any desire to have a man's character thoroughly well damned is, of all ways, most easily gratified by returning him as a member of a Provincial Council.

With regard to the Commissionership which the Superintendent proposed to renew by the appointment of Mr Kynnersley, and to which the Council declined to accede on that gentleman's terms, I have to confess that I literally drifted from a strong and avowed intention of voting for it, until I was found in the majority of thirteen who voted against it. Ido not say it in any apologetic way, but I repeat what I said at the time, that I did so with very "mixed feelings." There was, on the one side, the popular clamour and my own conviction as to the necessity for " superintendence " in the active sense ; on the other what then appeared to he Mr Kynnersley's extravagant,dictatorial demands. These demands, viewed in the light of experience, do not occur to me to have been so extravagant as they seemed—if the Superintendent chose to grant them. Technically he was the Superintendent's Commissioner, not the Council'*, and it was putting the Council in an unfair position to ask or expect it to say whether or not any gentleman holding his Honor's authoritative commission was to have full power over all officials on the goldfields, including Eesident Magistrates and Wardens, or in any way to define his duties. If, as contended, the Superintendent is or should be the sole source of Executive authority, and if he chooses to remit any portion of his powers to another, the matter is between him and his commissioner; under the Goldfields delegation it is especially so; and all that the Council might claim would bo that his Honor should show cause why such commissioner was required. It may have been the more candid way to proceed, but Mr Kynnersley's submission of his terms was unfortunate for himself, if not also, in a temporary way, for the interests of the Goldfields; and as to that there may be diversity of opinion. Without fathoming [any other feelings that Councillors may have had, it precipitated the Council to its decision. As one of the majority I shall not conceal that, rightly or wrongly, I permitted my sense of duty as an elector for Westland North to affect my vote with reference to him in my capacity as a member of the Council, and I did it the less hesitatingly as my single vote could in no way alter the obvious result. When Mr Kynnersley declared his contingent intention of becoming a candidate for election to the General Assembly, I felt it incumbent upon me, under the peculiar circumstances, to favor the accomplishment of what might not be any personal advantage to him, but what presented itself as the only alternative if any regard was to be had to the interests or credit of the district as a whole. That I was justified in doing bo has been sufficiently illustrated, not, perhaps, by the characteristics of Mr Kynnersley's candidature, but, at any rate, by the one fact alone of the Colonial Treasurer's statement in the House that, mainly to his and others' representations, was due the amendment of the Government scheme of public works by the increase of the amount for Goldfields water-supply to £300,000.

Were it not that one of the original members for the Grey, Mr Franklyn, has, in a quixotic way, rushed occasionally into print, and that Mr Kynnersley has, in print and speech, figuratively thrown his mantle over him, I should not think of resuscitating an episode in the Council proceedings which was certainly not agreeable to anyone. But, as it is, refer-

encemust be made to Mr Franklyn before concluding with matters personal. And let me at once say that, although convinced that, technically and morally, those who moved in his exclusion from the Council were thoroughly justified in the steps taßen, there was undoubtedly a misapprehension as to the extent to which either the Superintendent or Mr Kynnersley were associated with his then incomprehensible conduct. At least h is my individual opinion, and to t.ie Superintendent especially I must express my great regret, not for statements in the Council, but for deductions hastily formed and otherwise made public for what they were worth. I have already, and perhaps too readily, for any generous appreciation of the fact, or for the facts themselves, repeatedly dissociated Mr Kynnersley, so far as my humble belief went, from the sudden and surprising conversion of Mr Franklyn's creed. What I now refer to is Mr Kynnersley's patronising of Mr Franklyn as a prophet as to the revelation of impure motives on the part of those in the Council who strove, as opponents of the Government, to do their duty—that Government which Mr Pranklyn so wildly abused up to the moment of rising from his seat in tho Council chamber', and which Mr Kynnersley has since condemned as the embodiment of inefficiency and imbecility. Mr Kynnersley, with a respect for the opinions of the people of Nelson which, coming from him, is exceedingly refreshing, believed that they now would cheer in earnest, as they ironically did before, the prophetic utterances of Mr Pranklyn, because they bad been fulfilled by a "place-hunting Opposition," this Opposition consisting, up to the time Mr Franklyn had "prophesied," of the other member for the Buller, of the member for Nelson (Mr Luckie,) of the member for Charleston, and others who had not, and sought not, even the fortune which I had, of—exhibiting an indifferent appreciation of the value of five hundred a year. From among the whole Council not one has been selected to office but the very fittest man for it—the present Treasurer, who, though following the degrading occupation of a "farmer" in the Waimeas, and though not "approved of" by one of the West Coast members, is one of the few educated political economists who are to bo found settled in the remote corners of these Colonies. If his appointment to the Treasurership, responsible as he is to an unsatiable and unconscionable Council, is not preferable to the occupation of that office by a judicial officer—a judge occasionally of Executive suits, yet who sat and took his active part in proceedings which might, at any time, in the chapter of accidents, bring the Government into court —if this appointment is not preferable, there must be a strange conversion of ordinary order in the fitness of things. Quitting this subject, I may say that, in a reference by Mr Kynnersley in his speech at Sheahan's Hotel, he entirely mistook the allusion of the correspondent of the West-port Times to the meeting at which, as a sensation got up by Mr Pranklyn, some residents of Westport were said to have been " had." It had not the slightest association with the public welcome given to Mr Kynnersley, but had reference entirely to a memorable meeting which had long preceded it. And, concluding with this matter, to which I did not mean to refer, I repeat that Mr Franklyn's past and present relations to the Government altogether precluded him from taking a seat in the Council as he did, and, to put it in the very mildest form, he ought to be extremely thankful that he lost that seat under circumstances imposing no great discredit upon himself. Having undone so much, you will probably desire to know what your representative has done. There are two ways of proceeding in the Council—to appear to do, and to do. I asked for no returns —I proposed but few committees. I cared not always to support motions which I knew would only result in having my name recorded with a minority. As to district public works, it fell to me to propose the purchase of the Orawaiti bridge. The bridge has been purchased, and I presume will be open to the public in a few days. The purchase price leaves £6OO out of the joint vote under which it was passed, for the repair and formation of roads to the Northern Terraces, but how much of that amount may have been already expended I am unable to say. If it can be spared, part might, perhaps, be profitably given in aid of the construction of an Orawaiti tramway, but I fear the necessities of the terraces are too urgent. The Government anticipated me with regard to the proposal of a road up the Lyell and a punt at the Lyell ferry, but the amount for the first work, I am sorry to know, is found utterly inadequate for the construction of the line of road proposed by the Engineer. It would require £9OO. The vote was only £3OO, but this sum spent on the most difficult part of the track would make the reef more accessible, and I believe instructions for such expenditure have been given by the Government. I think I procured, in Committee of Supply, an addition to the Upper Buller votes, but I am not assured that, by being expended on the Mangles or South Eoad, the vote will be most judiciously applied. I took part in committees on goldfields watersupply and prospecting—not enthusiastically, I confess, recognising the poverty of Provincial resources with regard to works for water-supply.

£SOO were appropriated in aid of prospecting. With £300,000 at command, and Provincial Councils to dispense it, as is not impossible next sossinn, I can anticipate a higher degree of enthusiasm; and it is satisfactory to know that, aa at Addison's Flat, miners are themselves beginning to move in tho matter. I supported Mr Donne in his recommendation of increased representation of Westland North, and drafted the petition which was subsequently signed in tho district, and presented in the Assembly by Mr Kynnersley. The result of this joint action has been the allocation of another member for the district in the new Parliament. I did not this session, and at the period of the session at which it was proposed, heartily support increased representation of the Coast in the Council, for the simple reason that the Council was in no humor for tinkering at any more Acts, and the motion would obviously have been lost. I proposed, as the shadow of a substitute, an increase of polling-places, giving the Lyell and Upper Buller residents a chance of voting at any contingent election. I venture to hold the opinion that, if no serious liability is involved to tho Province, the best increase to the representation that can be made would be made by the annexation of the town of Greymouth and the district of the Teremakau. With past pecuniary liabilities of the district satisfactorily arranged, I believe that to be a consummation which would be highly beneficial to the interests of the West Coast, without detriment to what is courteously called the agricultural part of the Province. The best improvement that can be made at present, in the event of vacancies, is for the electors to be most jealous and careful as to the character of the men they return, and let mining representation be mining representation in fact as well as in name. I do not exclude myself from this reference. One improvement which I aided in effecting was the very natural one that civil officers should cease to hold their office on election to the Provincial Council, or even on their becoming candidates. This was embodied in a set of resolutions substituted for another " gravely censuring " the Superintendent for his goodnature —which, perhaps, it was—towards the first member for the Grey. A Licensing Ordinance which cost a Committee a great deal of work, and the Solicitor some anxious care, came into the Council without a friend to say anything for it; and, having faint faith as to its good effects, I made no opposition to its being shelved. Beform in the matter of licenses is nevertheless necessary in the interests both, of the revenue and the trade. The very slight researches of a Committee moved for by the other member for the Buller, and of which I was one, resulted in the discovery that the Mount Bochfort coalfield is at present alienated to any railway company which may be formed, and which, I hope, will be formed, and speedily. Ultimately advantageous as it may be, this railway reservation is really interfering, not seriously, but still to an appreciable extent, with tho settlement of the country. Another subject which was referred to in the Superintendent's address—the improvement of the accommodation for lunatics—unfortunately did not receive that attention which, in a more quiet session, it would have done; and having been the person who moved for a committee in the matter, and who failed to call that committee together until the opportunity had gone, I have to reflect upon myself for the neglect of a duty the importance and urgency of which justify its being one of the first to be discharged by the Council next session. Though entertaining no hope as to its results, I did ask for a Committee to consider the question of compensation to property-holders in Westport; and I felt justified in doing so, notwithstanding the ridicule of those who affected learning as to the rights of property, because I feel it to be fair that, if the Government were put into Court by claimants," an opinion as to the position in which the Council felt it occupied in relation to such claims, should be ascertained and recorded. When I say that there were forty-three Select Committees, and thirty-five private and other petitions, .you will understand that I musb have omitted many matters in regard to which, as one of your representatives, I took part. Beferring as I have done at random, from memory, and without the aid of any record of votes and proceedings, this statement maybe incomplete, and possibly, by a charitable stretch of the imagination, unjust towards myself; but I conceive that by the extreme length of this address to you, I have already exhausted your capacity of attention. I only trust that, by these present words or by previous action, I have not exhausted your confidence.

la conclusion, let me say that, although the very modest intrusion upon the counsels of his Honor which I proposed, and the regularly recognised official position which the representative of Charleston proposed, were nullified and negatived mainly by the action of "West Coast members, I did not conceive it my duty at once to resign. "While in Nelson I attended a few of the Executive meetings, and, if I can say so without breach of etiquette, I dare to say that the slight experience thereby gained convinces me that not only is there no impropriety, but that there is extreme propriety, in Borne one member of the

Council being present with the Executive during the recess, as a simple source of suggestion to them in their consult utious upon Goldfields matters. If it is not worth the money I proposed us the probable expenses of a West Coast rcsi lent to and fro, I can only say that 1 have seen much more money thrown away upon worse objects, with a great deal less noise about it. The substitute which I have ventured to suggest to individual members of the Executive iB that to the West Coast they must come, both early and often; and lam confident that, if the Superintendent would but concede a little of his opinion as to the situation and manner of discharging his duties, the "West Coast and the other parts of the Province would be greatly consolidated in sympathy and interest. With an alteration in the Engineering Department, by which the heads of that department would receive good salaries, free from the reservation of the words " including expenses," which is literally a premium upon the non-discharge of duties, there would be no necessity for a Commissionership and the possible heartburnings which, on such terms as were proposed, it was calculated to create. Otherwise, a Commissionership, Secretaryship, or whatever it may be, will obviously have to be reverted to, and much more will this be the case if the annexation of the Teremakau district be accomplished. These are my humble opinions; and I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, Tour Obedient Servant, ALEXANDEE HEID.