HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 637, 20 June 1876, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

The TLvisn net n f 2 pm. r l ha io loving members weio eworn in: — Messrs Ctitiinglori, 'Header Wood, Balliiace, Ghbb*, Kelly, J 3 Mnrfftrlanp, and Baigenfc. Petitions wero n'coived with respocfc to the F.nst Coast nml Thames, and tUo Ea»t Ooeut ; Maori electoral district. : A number of notice* of motion -vrero given and papers laid upon the table, and Sir R Doaglai pare notice that he would move the address im | reply. . i Mr Horaco'Brwtinga seconds it. >

"THE PIAKO SWAMP. Sir George Grey asked, that th» Standing Order* bs suspended, in order that the following motion might bo made, namely, " That the , Government be requested nob to sanction the sale of any lands, or take -any stops whatever' .under the Orders hi Council of the 12th June, 1576, published in the "New Zealand Gbzettt." making regulations for the sale of -certain lands, known as thePteko Svrauip, until the House had an opportunity of discussing the .said Orders in Council." ilt was not hia intention to discuss the lagality x>r illegality of the sale ; he merely wished to prorent a gr at public wrong being done beyond repair. . Mr Stout seconded. ! Sir Julius Vogel said it Tvas a most unusual time to make Buch a motion. There was no dosiro to evade discussion on the question, but there was plenty of time jtft. Mr Macandrew wanted an assurance from the Government that no action would be taken, .toward* completing tho stle for the pros nt. Sir Julius Vogol said tbo matter had been d»»It with by the Crown in tho ordinary court 3, and any tiling that could be said could not affect Jbhe matter. After some discussion, the moti n wa3 put and , carried by 37 ngaiusi 28. . Ayes, * 37: Messrs Biigcnt, Barff, Baslings, -Brandon, J 0. Brown, Bunny, Burns, Button, Curtis, Do'La Tour, Dignan, Jtt-her, Sir G<jorgo Gray, Messrs Hamltn, Joyce, Kennedy, Larnach, Lusk, 'Maoandrew, Mo Farlano, Mongomery, Nahe, O'Rorke, Bees, Kowo, So»ton, Shrimski, Stevens, Stout, Swanson, Tole, Thompson, Wakefield, Wason, E G Wood, and W^Wood. Noes, 28 : Messrs Andrew, Atkinson, J2allance,Bowen, Garrington, Cox,.3 Fitzroy, Gibbi, Henry Hunter, Hursthouso, Johnson, Kelly Maunders, Sir J)on»ld MeLenn, Messrs G McLean, -Moorehouse, Murray, Analoy Pyte, ltoynolds, Richardson, Richmond. Seymour, Sharp, Stafford, Tawuiti, Toschomakor, aud Sir ( Julius Vogol. Sir Goorgo Q-roy then -moved tho resolution itse'f. Mr Stout socon 3ed, Sir Julius Vogel s.iid there appeared to be a ruwunderstandmg in the mater. Tha Government were quito prepiroJ to go Into tha whole question, as they holii thcmiolves respoiuiblo for wLat had- been doiho; bin they wanted no unfair action to be taken. If defoated, they would be in the position usually occupied by Government who suffered defeat. He assured tho Home, h-vrover, there was no necessity for precipitancy, as tho question would ba in precisely tho same position it was now in ten days time. Mr Macnndr w regretted tho Premier bad not made this explanation before, OLho Hon C C Bowen said it wsa placing the j Ministry in an unfair position. It was in a man- 1 ncr like taking. a map thofc at them. J Mr W L Rees asked why should tho Govern- J ment attempt to smuggle the matter by a' •Gazette' that some of thtir-own suppjrters had not seen ? He maintained that every single, regulation in connection with this matter Ji id been deliberately viokto.l. Ho beliovod he wuscorrect in stating that o:ily within the last few weeks several thousands of acres of very valuable land, adjoining tho Pi»ko Swamp, had been dealt with. If th 3 arrangements wero just, no doubt both s'idea of the Hou 36 would join in affirming tho action of the Government, if not, they would set their foot upon it, even should it involvo the resignation nf the Ministers. ' Mi Button said ho hud heard such charges mulo agiinat the Government in the matter, that it w~a only fair to them th it 1 thorough investigation bo made. If the charges were well founded, the Government deaervod severe reprobation ; if no*-, those who made 'the chargoa merited tho keenest censure, lie felt certain tho Government could give au exp anation of th. iv conduct, but although a Government supporter ho would uot countenance anything tuat .ho 00 ild not sco the button of, and ho therefore desired Lhorc should be no hoodwiukitg, aud the irholo matter ventilated. Ho hoped Sir George Grey would accept the suggestion made, and po'tpone tho matter, as many of tho new arrivals in the Houso trere without uuy information on the point;. Tho Hon Major Atkinson siid (hut the remarks of tha last speaker justifiel tho attitude taken up by tho Premier. While adtmlting to a leaning towards tha Government, ho was yet so inlluenoed by tho lobby rumo.ir.*, th it ho, as woll as others other followers of the Government, believed tho wore ex parte statement of the leader of tho Opposition, and defeated theGovernment on tho imb diriaon of tiie session. Tliia motion atruck &t tlie vSiy foundation of the Ministry, and made tho question resolve itself into this : that the Ministry were, or were not, tit to administer the ordinary departmental affairs of the country. Though benraa m no way connected with ths tiuimotion, he had examined into it, and waa prepared to ei^thftt. no Government could under the ciruum&flEncea have made a better bargain. He wished tho House lo distinctly uud'r tand that he wo aid delay nothing in connection with the preparation of the Crown grant because of the motion' of tho leader of tho Opposition. Mr Wakefield entirely dißSontedjfrora the Tietr-' taken by the Minister for Immigranon-fehafc many o( tho membeis had voted Against the Ministry, because of what had been said in the lobbied or by tho leader of the Opposition. W.iafc really influence! them was the want of information, and had Government afforded at once tho information they had subiequontly given, the motion would not hare been put ; or, if put, the m»jo'ity would have been reversed. He hoped the motion would be withdrawn, as it was impossible they could get such a good discussion upon the uubjeofc at this point. m i Mr Joyoe hoped the motion, would ba pressed to a division, especially after the defiant attitude of the Minister of Immigration. i Mr Watson explained that he voted for tha motion solely because he -wanted moro information upon this matter, 'and "to which were attached tome grave' charges and very ugly rumours. 'Although*" lw would^bo found a Government supporter upon the main question of their policy, he 'still hoped thoy would gira an assurance that the matter'would not be gone on with for a few days nt uny rate! Messrs Fisher aud LMi&rch. spoke in favour of the motion. 1 Mr Sharp thought tha mod© in which tho I motion was put placed a false istua before tbo ! House. k i I Mr Seymour thought the las - spctAer hit the ! block properly, for the motion seemed to him to be putting Ministers upoirtheir trial, aad with avengeance. •If tho action of • the salo >were" illegal, there wero >ways of upsetting it, and making tho Ministry suffer for any misdoing, but it nas very <uuwiso to^bogiu intcrferlng'at that early period of the session with^wtat was , purely a departmental affair. I Mi* Swnnsou .quoted from the journals of the 'House to show that, tho Government had giveu the House the aesuranco they would bring down a bill to legalise the Piako nvamp sale. Mr Montgomery would not have voted far the motion if the Premier had given tho explanation when drat usked that ho did afterwards. He hoped the motion would ba withdrawal tax tho

nssnranco of the Premier that the milt -i wuitid be in the oame position ten or twelvo days liontc. '%k MrK 0. Wood said, occording to an understanding come to last session, tho m\rt t wna fo bo held. in abejonea mntil the new wir.ii'iioufc had an opportunity fur considering ll'2 whole 4 matter. '(Oh, oh! fiom theAlitustarti' Vv'i?,..) There wa? a case where Ihe-xno-iey na> 'mi I, >n i a Crown sjrant issued in a iortm^ut a f >c.', "W'no out of the many of thsm who bought Gjverument land had ever obtained a Crown grant, in a fortnight ? Nor did he think this Crown grant likely to bo issued in the time named, anp the member for for Auckland City West might make hh mind easy on that point, and withdraw hie motion. sjL_!3 Sir Donald McLean said that a -very wjSjßngh investigation was made last Boiiion/Htnd the report acquitted the Government of all blame,; *but, notwithstanding the severe and exhaustive investigation^ the Government were still prepared to face inquiry, and stand by erery action of theirs in connection with, thii transaction. Mr De La Tour referred to the report to ihoir that it wai susceptible of a very different inter* pretation to that put upon it by the Native Minister. 3ir K,Douglas laid it appeared to him the question w&a not the Piako Swamp at -all, but as to whether -the Minister*, should occupy .the Government benches. Mr E flamlin said he had come to the Hbute pledged to see the matter thoroughly sifted, and it was due to the House and the colony that the Government should not shirk any inqniry into the matter. TheHon Mr Reynolds' thought the line very- inopportune for tnbline; •nob. a mottoa, Mr Kowo thought Sir George Grey 'a request so reasonable 1 that he was surprised to eee~the Ministry opposed to it. Though very muoh inclined to support the Ministry generally, ie yet was most anxious to see this matter sifted bo the bottom. These doalingj-with the putlb lands were considered most important in the district ho carno from. 'Though he would regtet to see tho Ministcra leave the Government benches, jet no threat of that kind would influence him in this matter. "Mr Woolcock thought if when 'the land'wia sold the price was quite adequate, that oujtiL,to be suflic.ent reason that the transaction was' fnir and honourable. He hoped the motion would lie withdrawn on the assurance of Gorernmant. Sir George Grey said he underitood a positive pledgo was given last session that -the milter would not be dealt with by Orders in Council, bub that a bill would be brought down t>ojursse»s i on, so t hiit the new Parliament might r be enabled to discuss the whole question. Hi bod appealed to the community that the agis of the Crown might be thrown round him to enable him to legally test what he considered the most monitions wrong to the community, and wh \fc nniwer did he get tbut the audacious publiaatiaa of Onlera in C-juncil in Ui3 "Now Zealanl Ghzettc ?" They were told the price was adequ»te, bub what had that to do with the case? It was the illegality of tho transaction. They hai bcon placed as conservators of the public interests, a*d they pillaged the public. They were told tho land was unfit for settlement by small farmers, but had tho Government not money to ru-iko io ids, and how many roads had the made to the runa of friends of Government ? li e denie I ihe had any intention of shaking the position ot Ministers in bringing down this motion, and afl r tho assurance of the Premier, he begged to nit'idiaw his motion. Mr Andrew objected, and a division was cabled lor, ihe rosult being -29 for tho motion, and 29 against. Ayes, 29 : Messrs Bnrff, Brandon, J 0 Brown, Burnt, Button, Curtis, De La Tour, DUnap, Fislior, Sir Goorga Grey, Mesara Hatnlin, Joyce, Luik, Mao mdrow, Macfarlane, Montgom >ry Murray. Naho, O'Borke, &cci, Rowe, Sea ou, Slmjniki, Ittout, Snrancon, iColp, Thompsoa. li G Wood, and W Wool 'Noes, 29 •• Messrs Andrew, Atkinson, Ballvnce, Bewen, Carrington, Ojx, Douglas, Gibbs, Henry, Huntor, Hursthouse, Johnston, Kelly, Kennedj , Sir Donald McLean, Moorhouse, Murray, Aynsley, Pearce, Eiohardson, liiohmond, Srymour, StafFord, Tawhiti, Sir ■Julius Vogel,'&nd Mecsrs Willinms und Woolcock. r lhe Speaker ga»e.his casting . volo witli tho Noes, in order Io afford further 'Opportunity for discussion. Xhc House adjourned at 5,30 to. 7.30 p m.