Sir Julius Voxel's Reply to Mr Macandrew.

Bruce Herald, Volume IX, Issue 807, 30 May 1876, Page 6

Sir Julius Voxel's Reply to Mr Macandrew.

The following reply lias been sent by Sir Julius Yogel to Mr Macandrew : — May 25. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 13th May, in repl) to mine of the 3rd insfc. Whilst I desire to bring this correspondence to a conclusion, I feel it necessary to explicitly explain certain points concerning which you clearly misunderstood me. I did not say, or desire to say, that there were never any able engineers in O:n>o. I meant no more than the vrorda I used implied ; that the Province has Buffered, — which does not mean alwayV

i suffered — from in experienced engineers. If t the Government are correctly informed, stme of the branch railways in Otago amply t corroborate this statement. The memory oi the pas engineering talent is no substitute g for present iuexpsrience. You still fail to y see tho views of tho Government about the n land sale?. They have not expressed any opinion aa to whwthi r or not it was desirable • o anil the particular pieces of land. Their d objection has been to thf manner of the proposed sale — usinj; a power delegated by the je Governor. It was contrived to give certain persons an exclusive privilege of purchase. To this the Government objected, suid seeing . that your II nor :nd your Executive were iictuig undor a delegated authority, the it Government has ckarly the right to object. They did not, however, attempt, as you suppose, to coerce or guide the Board ; they obtained information, which was patent in to Duuedin, as to the supposed feelings of le members of the Board, and they were glad to be able to think that there was no necesi) sity for interference. If your Honor will 1, only give proper notice, the Government il have no objection to (he lands in question being sold ; indeed, they are quite at a loss '- to understand why the lands have been given back to the runholders. instead of the latter being compensated and the land properly . submitted for sale. The estimates for the > six months now current were prepared c by your Honor before the land sale was y stopped, and you have represented that the very large land revenue there set d down was because of expected sales in v Hundreds, not because of- the sdes of s mountain tops. I have not objected to - branch railways ; the objection I Btated - was that you constructed them without the means to pay for them. The logical position it is this— You incur expenditure ; to meet it, you propose large land sales. On one [. occasion you tell us you look to the sales of „ land in Hundreds for the necessary means, ie on another occasion (vide memo, to Waste Lands Board) such sales are condemned, and you state that you rely for expenditure on. IS the sales of mountain tops, and that works . will have to be suspended in consequence of the sales having been stopped. SubI sequently you write that you still consider your estimate of revenue reasonable, and p0 rely upon obtaining the amount, whilst at r the same time you send, as in the copy of your memo, to the Waste Lands Board, i what conveys quite an opposite impression. Amidst this labyrinth, the Government can. , find no path excepting'that of upholding the ,f law and deprecating its violations. I n subjoin extracts from the correspondence showing the contradictions to which I refer. Notwithstanding your Honor's ejaculatory remarks, I am unable to discover any breach of faith from which Otago will suffer. At the time tiie Colony, under the Public Works t p >lioy, began to perform Provincial works, it s was stated that if the provinces proved to o be inconsistent with that policy they must give way. That policy has done for Otago o what Provincialism failed to do, and could not have done in a much longer period. I „ have already expressed the opinion that the idea ot making Otago a separate Colony is ,t purely chimerical. Sunn a step is altogether opposed to the received policy of the day — o to make a miniature Victoria and New South 0 Wales out of Otago and Canterbury, with a a border duty question on the Waitaki, would be as injudicious as it is impossible. The J notion of a separate colony for one Island is now equally chimerical, and, let me say, excepting to Otago, would be wholly distasteful to the rest of the Middle Island. 1 Apart from the wholly chimerical nature of t your Honor's views as to isolating Otago, I ■' am constrained to point out that such isolation would not benefit Otago, nor be in ' accordance with the large business connections which have grown into existence be- ■ 'ween it and the other Provinces. If Otago has made wonderful progress, so has the rest of New Zealand, and the people of Otago 1 have just as much reason to be proud of the ' advancement of the whole Colony as of their particular portion of it. lam of opinion that there exists in Otag^, together with a desire to manage locally local affairs, a much larger 1 Colonial pride and spirit than your Honor appears to recognise. I thank your Honor for the courtesy you have displayed throughout this correspondence, and, T reiterato my feelings of personal regret at the want of agreement between us on the points which have been raised. I hops, lowever as the proposed measures assume shape and form, that your Honor's objections will yield to your convictions of their suitability to the wants and wishes of the country. lam also indebted to your Honor for the use this correspondence has been to tho Government in enabling them to place before the people much information it was desirable they s-hould possess, even before Parliament meets, in order to counteract the effects of the misconconception which previously existed. Freed from the prejudices those misconceptions excited, thousands of, thoughtful people in. Otago will form their own opinions and regret their previous hasty reliance on the statements of those in opposition to the Government. Julius Yogel. fnclosurfs. Extract f'om'elegrarn, Colonial Secretary to Mr Macandrew, 24th April : — I s>iall therefore be obliged if your Honor will furnish me with full information upon the following points. 2nd. The data np-»n which the very large estimates of Laud Eevenue have been formed. Extract from telegra n Mr Macandrew to Colonial Secretary, 3rd Vay, re Provincial estimates. The data on which such land revenue is founded is the large extent of new Hundred^ coming j a tg the market.

Colonial Secretary to Mr Macandrew :— Telegram (10th May re estimates). The position your Honor takes up is inexplica ble. You telegraph Government that in proposing estimates you calculated on sale of land in Hundreds, and. that the receipts for the half year will equal the amount estimated. On the other hand, .you re-write to Government calling urgent attention to your memo, to the Waste Lands Board, in which you inform that body that its action in stopping the sale of pastoral lands upsets your calculations, deprives you of expected revenue, has compelled you to refuse tenders for necessary works, and that probably you will have to abandon existing contracts. The estimates sent up were prepared before the Board refused the sale. The position then is this — You tell the Government the estimates were prepared in reliance on sale of land in Hundreds, and that you still expect the revenue. On the other hand, you tell the Waste Lands Board (and call our attention to your memo.) that all jour calculations are upset, and that you cannot get the revenue as anticipated, and that you must stop the very works you now ask us to approve. We now desire to put it distinctly to your Honor whether under existing circumstances you have good grounds for adhering to your original estimates of receipts from land sales.- Bowen. for Colonial Secretary. Mr Macandrew to the Colonial Secretary (telegram), lHh May, Provincial Estimates. In reply to last part of your telegram, yes Provincial' Government put the alternative to your Government, reduce the revenue, reduce also the expenditure, specifying the items. The other portion of your telegram raises the waste lands question, which is being discussed between myself and the Premier in another correspondence. Colonial Secretary to Mr Macandrew, May 12th, re Estimates. — We leave it distinctly to your Honor whether, under existing circumstances, you have good grounds for adhering to ycur original estimate of receipts from land sales. To this you reply yes, and therefore the Governxnenh will ad rise the Governor to approve your estimates . The responsibility of providing the money required will still rest with your Honor. Extract from letter Mr Macandrew to the Colonial Secretary.— l must regret while you neither admit nor deny the rumor alluded fco, you express your approval of the action of the Waste Lands Board in declining to grant, and, as a necessary inference, your approval of the serious consequences which the action involves. The consequences are concisely set forth in a memo, addressed by me to the Board, a copy of which i 3 forwarded herewith. I need scarcely say that the reault of the Board's action will have a most injurious effect upon the labor market during the ensuing winter, if, indeed, it does not throw thousands out of employment. Extract from memo, from Superintendent to the Board.— In the faco of the Board's decision, the Government has very reluctantly been compelled to abstain from accepting tenders for various works which are absolutely necessary, and which otherwise would have been gone on with at once, and it is probable that Bteps may have to be taken to suspend or abandon existing contracts.