LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 220, 6 December 1860, Page 3

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

December 5, 1860. Sir,—l was somewhat surprised at seeing, in a late number of the Wellington Advertiser, a list of penalties for bribery and corruption in the eleotion of members for, the General Assembly and Provincial Councils. At first reading they appear to be very strict, and one cannot-but admire the anxiety and care exer-. cised by the Stafford ministry to prevent the electors from falling into the various crimes they point out, although, as Dan O’Connell said of acts of Parliament, you may drive a coach and six through them; but it is not the less remarkable, that while they have been so anxious to preserve the morals of the people, they entirely neglect to use any precaution to protect theii own, trusting that their high position places them above suspicion, which no doubt it ought to do.. But I regret to say, for my part,, that I consider they are very far short of it, and have condescended to an amount of political, jobbery and bribery that the electors of our district would shrink from.

For the _ sake of illustration, let me call your attention to the doings of the ministry in our own locality with regard to the militia. In the first place they down a Major who is thoroughly imbued with their opinions, and takes every .opportunity of advocating them—thus acting more as their political agent than the servant of the. country ; and who, as soon, as lie makes himself sufficiently acquainted witli the opinions of the electors, selects and recommends for officers all those who are most disaffected towards Messrs. Featherston and Fox and provincialism; and of'course his iecommendatiou secures their appointment, and they become strong advocates of Stafford and centralism.

But while all this is going on, the privates are getting discontented at the loss of time and interruptions they experience from attending drill, and as the elections are drawing nigh, it is necessary to check this disaffection in the ranks, which to some extent is threatening to become serious, and just before it gets too strong, pay and rations are served out. with strong assurances that nothing but the immediate danger of the settlement is the cause of their being kept so close at their duties, while to nukd up for the loss of their labour to the settlement the officer commanding the troops is prevailed on to allow a number of his men to act as grooms and house servants to the Nobs. , This fills up the want at a cheaper rate, and is thus more satisfactory to many of the employers, who no, doubt would rather have a subseryieut soldier than an independent militiaman to, attend them. I am, sir, yours, ' , Back Rations. WELLINGTON.

(From our own Correspondent.) Monday morning, Dec. 3, 1860,

I was too late for post for what I bad written last week ; however, you bad nearly all the‘riews extracted from our local papers. Mr. Archibald Gillies, IFairarapa, has been fined by the Resident Magistrate, Grey town, ,£2OO for selling guns to the natives. I hear that other similar cases are to be tried, including /.P.’s both in Wellington and country. Mr. Sergeant-major Styles is dead; there are numerous applications for the situation, including several wild radicals, one of which is Mr. Frederick Aitcbeson. A wicked and cruel hoax, which has caused great indignation, was last week practised on our much respected Judge Johnstone. His Honor received a letter addressed to him, purporting to be from Dr. Mo'nteith, seating, that our worthy Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr. Strang, had an apoplectic fit, and was not expected to survive, and requesting to see him immediately. His Honor, who had a party of friends at the time, much to his credit, at once broke it up, hired a trap, and proceeded at once along with the It evident Magistrate to Mr. Strang’s residence, and to their astonishment, instead of finding a dying mnn, found Mr. -S', comfortably enjoying a cup of tea in company with his minister, the Rev. Mr. Kirton. We have had no later news from Taranaki or Auckland ; nothing in shipping, only coasting vessels (“ country built ships”). Now for politics, the all-absorbing topic. Mr. Carter has been at Grey town and Masterton, and addressed the electors, much to their satisfaction ; it would be worse tha n madness to attempt opposition. The Hutt constituency had two large meetings, and able speeches delivered by their late representatives ; the result was, the great majority of the electors, are well pleased; no fresh candidates yet brought forward, which'would be useless. Mr. Brandon is safe in the country districts; the Rowdies did not like the •'■’thrashing' Jemmy Mitchell gave Borlase last time. Contrary to expectation, three candidates have come forward for the city—-Wakefield, Bowler, and Robert Park (who is silly enough to. fancy that he will trot in on the hack's of his. n,ew acquaintances, having forsaken the auld). This announcement has caused both political parties to be on the <jui vive; there will be a severe

contest when the dajy of bpttleyromes ; thereis not a shadow of doubt blit’what the ston party will be triumphant. ~ Featherston and Rhodes called a ■•meeting of the electors, which was most numerously attended by both sides. The Rowdies tried a dodge- to prevent the Doctor being heard by proposing their own chairman, thinking that this would lead to a row ; they were mistaken, as it did good; the consequence was,'Featherston, during the whole of his eloquent was listened to attentively. There were some unseemly interruptions by Bowler, the opposing candidate/ which was bad taste/but lie" was rebuked ’by bis ; pet chairman, Mr. Taine. /Fakefield spoke, but be did not appear up to the mark. Park tried to speak, but could only badly read an address about a sixpenny governor and other trash ; it was pitiful to see him arranged on the platform- amongst liis former detested political opponents, whom ,he used to so heartily abuse, now joining hand in glove, to spite his old benefactor Dr. Featherston for loss of office ; the result of the meeting was a vote of confidence in the Jute members of over fifty,, although the Rowdies mustered all their strength, including lots, of boys; /That a revolution has ..takep , plage, in town ! The Rowdies called a meeting of their own /Fakefield spoke at length—the old tales over and over repeated, abusing Featherston and Co., with the addition of Bishop Selwyn and y/rcluleaeon Hadfield; he described the Bishop as when lie preached to Maories he considered himself the same as the apostle Paul preaching at Athens. Wakefield also pitched into iSfokesi and Hunter. Bowler made a speech, reported! in the Advertiser, which he never delivered, more than penning an address which was written for him by Carlyort,/- vPark stated he was unwell and could not speak, .so„that we have no means afforded.iis of knowing, his political views; it appears lie has but one opinion, that is the war. ~>«.s•£■ >: , v> .- “ Native Minister ” Weld 1 ha's" paid us a flying visit, settled some Native differences in the Wairarapa, and gone south', disgusted at the certainty of' nine members being, elected for this province to oppose the (Stafford ministry. You must be in error in stating that Mr. Fox was going to stand for y/uckland, as none of his former colleagues believe it, nothing of the kind being, couteuipluted \vhen they left. ; ' : /

Holloway s Ointment and Pills.- —Shortness of Breath .-.Colds, .Coughs.—Thousands of testimbnals can be produced to prove the powers possessed by these corrective remedies in asthma, incipient -consumption,; and all disorders oftlie cliest and lungs. ... The Ointment: well rubbed upon the chest and back' penetrating the skin, is .absorbed and carried directly to the lungs,, where, in immediate contact with the whole mass of circulating blood, it neutralises or expels any impurities which are the foundation of consumption, asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, &c. All pulmonary’' complaints are thus easily cured. TheJ asthmatic cliest, tightened to suffocatioiTin foggyydamp weather, is liberated by Holloway’s Ointment and'Pills, which alike cure the-shorty dry, consumptive cough, and the heavy expectoration attending bronchitis. 10 , HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

,}:Wednesday, Sept.-26. Dr. Featherston moved, that the Land /Revenue Appropriation Bill be read a second time. .He said—Sir, in moving the second reading of the Bill to repeal certain clauses of the Land Revenuelvfpprbjjjfi^tion/ Act of 1858, under which the Government is empowered to retain one-sixth of ’ the Land Revenue of the Provinces of thevNorthern Island, for the purpose of creating a fund for the purchase of native lands, when -the -sum allocated to each of the three provinces of Auckland, Wellington, and Taranaki out of the loan of ,£500,000 is exhausted, —I need not detain the house long ; for I can scarcely believe that any valid objection can be niadb; or any serious opposition offered to my proposal. Be, however, this as it may,' the case is one ; of such simple justice, that I feel assured that the appeal I shall make to this .house to retrace its steps, ami to reinstate Auckland, Wellington, and Taranaki in, the position in which they were placed under the financial’ arrangement of 1856, will not be made in vain. It will readily be admitted, that if there is one duty more incumbent upon, members than another, it is. to preserve tlte,publie;faith, arid, to preserve inviolate iany arrangement entered into by this house. Let it.be.once, understood that any compact, or even 4 untlerstanding, entered into by this house one session can be. set aside in a subsequent one; and it is not diffi cult to foresee the jealousies and enmities which will be engendered amongst the several provinces,,or the feeling of distrust-suid- insecurity which will be created in regard to'auy act and proceeding of this house. ; Let me now explain the clausesl propose to repeal—(Dr. F. read clauses 5 and 6.) The house, sir, will thus perceive that the Government is authorized to retain one-sixtli of the Land revenue, not from the 21st August, 1858, the day the act was passed, but from the Ist Jan.. 1858—nine months previous to the passing of the act—sb that it was made to have a retrospective action. What course did the government take to enforce this act ? They simply called pr^vinejal governments of this island to pay, or rather, I should say, they proceeded without any previous intimation,, to impound,. not one-sixth, but onethird, of the Land revenue,, untjl /the one-sixth raised by the provinces between the Ist of January a;ud the date of (he of this , act/Was paid back by themAiritb, the Colonial t chest. Sijcb w.as.the effect of the act—such

'the spirit iii which it was carried-out One third of the Land revenue of the provinces of this island was seized by the General Governraent without-any- previous notice of their intention, without any consultation with the provincial authorities, without the slightest regard to the financial requirements of the provinces, or the serious embarrassments which the sudden withdrawal of so large a portion of their revenue might entail upon them. : ;

And here. let me remind the house that Wellington was entirely unrepresented (except by yourself, sir) in the session'of 1858—that we never heard of this act until a considerable time after it was passed, or rather until we found one-third of our Land fund suddenly impounded. On this ground alone, sir, I submit I am entitled to a rehearing of the case —to call upon this house to reconsider the decision at which it arrived in' 1858, in the absence of all the Wellington members. . First, then, I object to this seizure of onesixth of our Land revenue, on the ground that it was a breach of faith, a violation of the compact of 1856—lliat it set aside the sole .ciindition wliereon the Northern island consented to. become a party to the financial scheme of the hon. member fur Christchurch — a scheme proposed not, merely for wiping out the then existing liabilities of the colony-, but for the final and permanent settlement of all differences, of all matters in dispute between the northern and middle islands. Every lion, member who was present and took part in the debate of 1856, upon the rival financial jpolicies of the hon. member for Wanganui and j the lion, member for Christchurch, will perjfect.ly well remember that the main, the essential, the vital difference between them was, that while my hon. friend the member for Wanganui proposed 'that the Land Fund of the colony should contribute.towards the expences of the General government, the member for

Christchurch insisted that it should be free of all charges, and should be made purely provincial revenue. Nor can lion, members have forgotten the principle upon which the proposal of the hon. member for Christchurch was based, or the arguments he adduced in support of. and by which,he carried it. //e pointed' out that we had two financial difficulties to encounter—the Company’s debt and the purchase of Native lands—and that these constituted the bone of contention between the northern and middle islands. He pointed out, and truly, that any financial scheme which did not enable us to get rid of these difficulties was valueless and unworthy of our consideration. He therefore suggested a compromise, which simply, amounted to this, that .they should buy each other off. His scheme was, that the middle island should be discharged from all liability to contribute towards the purchase of lands in this isiand, on condition of taking upon itself the Company’s debt; and that the northern should be exempted from all liability on account of the Company’s debt, on;condition of providing for the purchase of its own lands. He said to the northern island, Take upon yourself the cost of buying your o\Vn lands; to the middle island,. Take upon your shoulder the burden of the Company’s debt. Now. however simple in theory, the. scheme of m hon. friend the member for Christchurch.would have been utterly worthless and impracticable, unless be had devised means for carrying i - . out. He saw this, and he said (I believe 1 am quoting his very words), “ You shall start fair. We estimate the Company's debt at £200;000, and the cost of extinguishing the Native title"in this island at .£IBO,OOO. 'We will raise these-amounts by loan, charging the £200,000 and the £IBO,OOO on the middle and- northern islands resj ectively. But mind this, the-proposal is based upon the understand-

ing, that from the day on which this scheme is adopted, the Land revenue is to be purely provincial revenue, and is to be paid into tinprovincial chests without any deductions what ever.” 2'hat was the inducement held out to the provinces to agree to it. It was not merely the entire administration of the waste lands, but Jthe handing over to the provinces the whole of their Land revenue, that was held out as the chief advantage, the- great merit of the scheme, was repeated and harped upon by every one of the supporters of the scheme usque ad nauseam. Probably, notone of the provinces thought the scheme- perfectly, just, or. was quite satisfied with it, but the bait held out to them, of the whole of their Land revenue, was too tempting to be resisted, and accordingly the financial resolutions were adopted by the, house upon the avowed and repeatedly declared understanding, that henceforth Land revenue, was provincial- •revenue, was to be free of all charges, and was to be paid into the provincial chests without any deductions. Had it not been for the pledge then given, that the provinces were to receive the whole of the Land revenue, that the (?e neral government was not to be entitled to take any portion of it, or to interfere or in any way to control its disposal, not one of the members either of Auckland or Wellington would have agreed to the scheme, or ever entertained it. I submit, therefore, that the Land Revenue Appropriation act of 1858, under which the General government is authorized to take one-sixth of the Land fund .of the provinces of this island, is a breach ol faith, a violation of the compact of 1856, and that, therefore, I am entitled upon this ground alone to call upon this house to repeal the clauses giving such power, and also to cause a refund to the provinces of all sums retained under them. „ And let this House bear in mind, that if the agreement of 1856 can be broken with - impunity as far as the Northern Island is concerned, the Middle Island may rest assured that the time is not far distant when a similar inroad will be made, on their Land Fund. A].

ready hints have been thrown- out that the Revenue;. of the Colony, - ordinary andjerritorial, is close upon half-a-millionthat fact is prominently paraded upon the estimates; and the necessities of the Government are becoming every day more manifest, more urgent. If a portion of the Land Revenue of this Island can be seized, I care n<st for what purpose, in violation of the arrangement of 1856, there will be li - tie difficulty in'dealing with the Land Fund of the Middle Island in a similar way. /Fliile I utterly repudiate any infraction of the compact of 1856 between the two islands, still, let an act of justice to the North Island, such as I am protesting against,, be sanctioned and perpetuated by this H ouse, and no one can he surprised if a spirit of retaliation be evoked, 'winch it will be impossible to allay.

Not being present at the session of 185 f er and Wellington having been (except by yourself) entirely unrepresented, lam not aware of the’groujids upon which, these clauses, which I now propose to repeal, wt re insur ed. But most assuredly no necessity can have existed, or is likely to exist, as far as the" Provinces of Auckland and Wdington are'"concerned’, - "'for creating such a fund fur Native purchases;; and. even if fu: ds were now require d,vthen.?never could be any difficulty in providing them,, whenever wanted, without taking from us and locking up a large portion of our Revenue. Though unwilling to travel" over-the same ground, I must refer to the returns to which'

I alluded the other evening in the debate outlie Financial position of the Colony. Fromthese returns it will be seen that of the £9O, 000 for Land purchases allocated to the Province of Auckland, there remains an unexpended balance of £60,891. Now, Sir,, looking at the slow progress made during the last four years in acquiring lands—-to the little likelihood, in the present circumstances of the-’ Colony, of any large purchases being effected.. I think that it is perfectly clear that several' years will elapse befo.e the whole £60,000' is expended. With regard' to Taranaki, the case is still stronger. Not on’y has no land been purchased in that' Province, but there seems a moral certainty tl at no quantity, worth mentioning ever will le acquired in that, uistrict, and that, therefore its Land PurchaseFund, amounting to some £33,000, will.re--main iHe and unproductive for generations, unless it be employed (as I hope and trust it will bo) in purchasing lands for tlie unfortunate Taranaki set tin's, in other provinces?. and in locating them upon them. With respectto Wei ingt: n, . I admit that there is only a* small balance of some £7uoo unexpended of. the £54,000 allocated to it, which the Colonial Treasurer proposes to increase to £IO,OOO by a refund bom Hawke’s Bay of £3OOO. Well, Sir, (lie only lands worth having, to. which the Native title is unextinguished .in theprovince of Wellington are, the ManawatUi and the Waitotara. ( n the last, an instalmentof £SOO was paid some years ago, butthe natives have long since repudiated the trans.- - action, and insisted upon returning the money ;. and after the occurrences at Taranaki, connected as the Waitotara Natives are with the • Ngatiruanuis ami Taranakis, there is not the - ghost of a chance of completing the purchasefor- many years to come. The only lands, then, for. the. purchase of which funds may be required, are those between ti e Manawatu and Rangitikei rivers. There are two or three blocks-; the outer boundaries of .which have been already, surveyed, and purchase of*" which may possibly, if the Natives do not change-their-minds, as is far from improbable, be completed; but for this, a sum of£sooo or £6OOO will be sufficient, leaving a balance of the loan of some £4oo', which in the present aspect of aff .i s-will not be required < for any further purchases: for not only are the Natives, in consequence of the events, at; Taranaki, indisposed to aliona f e moie land, but I understand instructions have already been issued by the Gov- mm n-, or lit r> Chief," Land Purchase Commissioner, to suspend a!L attempts to make ju.chases. ,1 trust, Sir,, that I have now satisfied the House, that no -

necessity ever has existed for retaining onesixth of the Land Revenue of this Island for the purchase of iVative lands ; and. also, that .he funds at present on hand are amply sufficient to cover any purchases likely to be effected fur many years; and that, therefore*, on this-ground the provinces are fairly-entitled! to the redress I seek for them a: your hands.. But, Sir, I must go. a. stepdurther, and must assert, that under no conceivable circumstances can it be either neeest-ary or justifiable to create or reserve such a fund, for there never can be the slightest difficulty, in any province providing funds whenever a chance - of buying a bl.ck of land occurs. . It will be admitted on the one hand that the Government is not justified in purchasing from the Natives asy land at. a price,.which will not be more than refunded by. its resale. It be denied on the other hand, that the provinces are the parties most deeply interested, iu acquiring hinds, seeing how much they progess*. especially tlieir public works depend upon': their land fund. Nay, one of the complaints of the General Government against the provinces has always been, that the provinces are never satisfied with the slow progress of the land purchasing operations,' that 'tlieir cry ever,is “ more land.” It surely follows then, tluifr tire Provincial Governments must not only, be willing toluruish funds whenever required for the’ purchase of lands, but also that they never can have the slightest difficulty in doing so. It may be urged that the provincial chests are sometimes empty, and I am sorry to say there is no denying the accusation;; but still, inasmuch as any block of laud will (except in very rare cases) always yield a fargreater amount than the purchase money to.

the natives, no bank would ever dream of refusing to make advances, which it is certain the Provincial Goyernment would be enabled ] to repay the moment the block was thrown open to sale. 7’here are. Sir, some hon. members in this House, formerly connected with Nir George Grey’s Government, who will remember,«* that when Sir George wanted funds to effect the large purchases he made just before leaving Wellington, those funds were, to the tune of some £ 10,000 placedjaf their disposal by the Provincial Government of /Kellington | that they obtained those sums from the Union Bank, repaid the advance to the bank in the course of a month or two, and were then assured by the bank that whenever advances were required for similar purposes, they wouhl be ready to.make them : so that, even supposing that the loan should be found inadequate, or should become exhausted before all the lauds which the .Natives are •willing to alienate are acquired, there could not be the slightest fear that the Provincial Governments would be unable to provide whatever funds were required. It is upon these grounds then, Ist, that the retention of one-sixth of the land fund of the provinces of this island is a violation of the compact of 1856. 2nd, that the unexpended balances of the loan are amply sufficient for any of the purchases that may be effected in the three provinces of Auckland, Wellington, and 7'aranaki fur many years to come. 3rd, That in the event of further funds being required, the Provincial Governments having such a deep interest in acquiring land, will always -be both ready and able to provide them, that I now ask this House to consent to the second reading of this bill. Before sitting down, I may mention that since the passing of the Land Revenue Appropriation Act, there has been retained from the land receipts of Auckland between .£3OOO and £4OOO, from Wellington between £7OOO and £BOOO, and. from Hawke’s Bay some £IO,OOO. I need not point out that after the withdrawal of so large a portion of the revenue, and after defraying the expences of the Land and Survey departments, there is scarely any balance left for public works and undertakings. But •when I further remind this House that in addition to these sums the balances due to the provinces on account of the surplus ordinary revenue for the financial period ended the 30th of June, 1860 have also been withheld,—that in the case of Wellington there is a further sum of some £7OOO or £BOOO due to it under the New Provinces Act for interest on its debt from Hawke’s .Say,—that, in fact, during the last eighteen months the province of Wellington lias been mulcted by the present government or at any rate kept out of some £23,000 fully due to it, I think Sir, I have sufficiently illustrated my case, to entitle her to the interference and protection of this House.

The motion was agreed, to. by a majority of 21 to 13. Dr. Featherston then moved that it be committed;, upon which Mr. Stafford said, ministers would accept the decision of so full a house, and would offer no further opposition to the bill. The bill was reported, read a third time, and passed. Thursday, Sept. 27. On the motion of Mr. Fox, the report of the select committee on the Patents bill was adopted. The house went into committee on the Re ■ presentation bill, with the details of which it was occupied till its adjournment to Friday, Sept. 28, Mr. Richmond moved for a select committee to inquire and report whether it is expedient to refer to the law officers of the Crown, ques-i tions in difference between the Imperial and Colonial governments, respecting the liability of the colony to the discharge of certain liabilities arising out of transactions of the New Zealand company, including the sum, of £3675, secured by debentures issued to Mr. D. Scott, by Governor Nir Geo. Grey ; also,; to inquire and report on the adjustment of the! New Zealand Company’s Debt account., as settled by the Imperial Government. The committee to consist of Messis. Sewell, Bell, Monro, Ward, and Domett. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fox, who went into a charge made against him by Sir Geo. Grey, of having a personal interest in coming to an arrangement with Scott which had been made during Nir G. Grey’s government, and, showed that the charge was unfounded. The motion was agreed to.

The house went into committee on the Representation bill, and after some conversation as to details, progress was reported, and the house went into committee on the Land Registry bill.. The Anderson Pipe Patent bill was read a third time and passed. The Land for. Compensation (Nelson and Marlborough) bill was referred to a select committee. 7'lie Debtors’ and Creditors’' Composition bill passed through, committee. Dr. Featherston moved; for a, copy of all correspondence between the Imperial and Colonial governments relative, to the New Provinces act. Agreed to. Dr. Featherston moved, tjiat an address be presented to, the Governor, requesting nim to recommend to this house that provision be made for the payment by the Colonial Treasurer to the Provincial Treasuries of Auckland, Wellington, New Plymouth, and Hawke’s Bay respectively, of all sums paid by the receivers of Land Revenue in the said provinces under the provisions off the Turn! Revenue Appropriation act, 1858. After some discussion, the motion was carried by 21 to 10. The house then went into committee on the Representation bill.

Tuesday, October 2. I Mr. Fox brought up the report of the select committee on the petition of Messrs. Davis and Yates. It was to the effect that the decision of the magistrate was warranted by the evidence, but that the costs granted had been exorbitant, and it was recommended, considering the brief period between the issue of the summons and the trial, although no complaint of this had been made at the time by the defenders, and that it was the intention of the petitioners to appeal against the magistrate’s decision, which they were prevented from doing by the ignorance of the magistrate and the prosecutor as to the proper course of proceeding, that before levying the fine the government should investigate the case. The report was adopted. The English acts bill was read a third time and passed,

Mr. Fox then moved the resolutions on the New Zealand bill given iu our issue of 22nd ult. Wednesday, October 3. The hon. Mr. Stafford moved for leave to bring in a bill, entitled, “ an act for raising a Militia within the colony.” Mr. Gillies moved for leave to bring in a bill to repeal certain provisions of the New Provinces act, 1858. Motion agreed to. The Representation bill, the Land Registry bill, and the Land for Compensation (Nelson) bill, were read a third time and passed. Mr. Williamson moved, that Mr. Fox’s resolutions on the New Zealand bill be referred to a joint committee of both houses, and proposed Messrs. Fox, C. W. Richmond, and Sewell, to act for the house of Representatives. After some discussion the motion was agreed to..

Thursday, October 4,

Mi’. Carter moved, fora return of the names of all persons now holding appointments in the Native Land Purchase department in each province, with the amount of salary paid to each, the date of their appointment, and in what capacity and where now employed. Mr. Brandon, for Dr. Featherston, moved for leave to bring in a bill, “to provide for payment by the Colonial Treasurer fro the Provincial Treasuries of certain provinces, of sums paid to him under the Land Revenue Appropriation act for the extinguishment of Native title to lands in such province.” Motion agreed to. The Savings Banks act amendment bill was read a third time and passed. 1

Friday, October 5. This day was occupied in discussing various matters not of general interest. 7 t uesday, October 9. Mr. Stafford moved for leave to bring in a Dill entitled., “ an act to regulate the importation, sale, and other disposal of arms, gunpowder, ami other warlike stores.” Agreed to. Mr. Stafford moved for leave to bring in a bill entitled, •“ an act to improve the organization of the Civil Services in New Zealand.” The hon. Mr. Richmond moved the second reading of the Wellington ami Hawke’s Bay Debt Apportionment bill.

, Mr. FPz gerald did not entirely approve of; the bill, but lie thought the method it proposed of settling the differences (by arbitration) was good. So far as the creditor was concerned lie considered Hawke’s Bay equally liable with Wellington for tlie debt; but he thought; that Nawke’s Bay should not be called to pay any of it The debt was contracted when /ffawke’s Bay had no representative in the Wellington provincial council, and when it had intimated its intention to separate so soon as the increase of population would allow,. 7’hey were especially against the loan, because out of the £125,000 only £5,300 was to be expended in 1857 in 7/awke’s Bay. He believed that arbitrators would release them frem principal as well as interest. Because, before this Reparation they had objected so far as they; cun Id against any loan ; and while they were.,' jconnected with Wellington £30,000 had been 1 paid by them into tlie Wellington exchequerj after they had defrayed all their local expences;j and because, as only £75,000 of the loan was raised at the time of separation, and only about one-third of that sum would be allotted to Hawke’s Bay, even allowing its liability for a proportionate share of the loan, they had a set off'against this sum,of £25,000, which had been voted by the Wellington Provincial Council for the seventy mile bush road and tlie Ruatanhvha line in 1857, but had never been expended. Dr. Featherston said, that the city of Wellington had most reason for complaint as to the distribution of the loan, both Hawke’s Bay and Wanganui having received more than their proportion. He protested against the settlement of the Debt question being left to arbitrators. 77e would just as soon toss up heads or tails as to who should pay. It was not a question of mere account; but this house must lay down tlie principles on which it was to be settled. No regulation on this point was to be found in the New Provinces act. Their first! cave should be to keep entire the security 1 given to the public creditor, and they could! not allow one-third of that security to be j alienated. The Attorney General of Nngland . had given an opinion, that the Imperial government, by passing a bill separating Moreton Bay from New South Wales, had rendered itself liable for the debt of New South Wales. And this house would render itself liable for the Wellington debt if it allowed what the hon. member for Hawke’s Bay demanded. ! Another point, which must be decided by this house before the matter to arbitrators \yas, to what extent the new province was

chargeable with. the,.liabilities of the old.pro-.! viuce at the Time of separation; was the ap-p portionment of these liabilities to be regulated by-the territorial extent of each province, or by the amount of land bought from the natives, or of lands likely to be acquired, or by the value of tlie lands? He especially objected to the 15th clause of the bill, which is a virtual repeal of the 15th clause of the New Pro-j vinces act, which is tho only protection in the act to the public creditor or to the old province. Under that 15th clause it is declared, —“Eveiy province established under this act shall contribute from its revenues to the! payment of the interest and sinking fund, oni

such part of the loan raised under the act of Assembly intituled ‘ the New Zealand Loan act 1856,’ as shall be a special charge upon the revenues of the province of which such district shall have formed a part, and also to the payment of the interest on the amount, at, the time of the establishment of such new province, of the permanent debt of such original provinces rateably, according to the proportion which the annual aggregate of the sums payable to the treasurer of such new province under the acts of Assembly respect-, ively intituled ‘ the Surplus Revenues act 1858,’ and * the Land Revenue Appropriation act 1858,’, shall bear to the annual aggregate of the sums payable under the same acts to the treasurer of such original province, the year being reckoned as commencing on the first’day of July.” The equitableness of this clause would be generally admitted^—-appor-tioning as it did the payments of interest according to the respective revenues of the old and new provinces. Since the dismemberment of the province of Wellington, there had been paid about £17,000 on account of interest.

During the last two years the revenue of Hawke’s Bay had been greater than that of Wellington, so that Hawke’s Bay should contribute the larger proportion of the £17,000. But according ~to this bill, if the ai’bitration decided that Wellington should bear the whole dfcbt, she would have to refund the £2500 already received from Hawke’s Bay, and lose the amount of interest due from the new province, which is £7OOO or £BOOO. A more unjust and monstrous proposal was never suggested. He concluded by moving, that “ this bill be read this day six months.” Mr. Moorliouse, Mr. Dillon Bell, and some others, having also spoken on the bill, the jamendment of Dr. Featherston was carried, and the house adjourned.