The Press. SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1869.

Press, Volume XIV, Issue 1886, 1 May 1869, Page 2

The Press. SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1869.

The first thing to be noticed in the Colonisation Act is the constitution of the Board by whom the system of immigration it establishes is to be carried out. This of course is a most important point. It strikes, as it were, the key note of the Bill. Prom this one clause we may form at the outset a pretty correct estimate of the spirit in which the author of the scheme has approached his task and the degree of statesmanship displayed in its execution. "We have already mentioned the principles that should be kept in view in the formation of such a Board. The work to be done is colonial, not provincial, and must be carried out for the advantage 6i the colony as a whole without regard to the special interests of its several parts. By the "provinces immigration has been conducted solely with a view to their own interests (we do not impute this as any blame to them —the case was necessarily so) • and the Provincial Governments pushed on, relaxed or siispendedbperations according to the funds at their disposal or the temporary requirements of the' province. Ts6b that one province entirely failed to derive advantage from another's expenditure. Labour, like any other commodity, will find its way to where it is wanted ; and we have i no doubt that Canterbury, for instance, has, greatly benefited the neighboring provinces by ; ;the money she has expended in .the introduction of immigrants. But this result was indirect and ..^y,-^h^^

fouiid'. .j£o>lexist onr atfy scale, it h£S been held a grie\ancekand been met by an immediate suspension of immigration. SFow a system ot; immigration conducted by a Board of Commissioners, acting on behalfofthe whole colony and\ responsible-• only to the General Assembly, would be free from these imperfections, because provincial or other sectional distinctions would be no longer recognised. But for that purpose it is essential that the Commissioners themselves should be entirely unconnected with, and uninfluenced by these distinctions. That is one condition, another is that they should have nothing to do with politics. They should be kept lously aloof from anything of the kind; should be perfectly proof against any outside pressure, and independent of popular caprice or outcry. In short, they should occupy a position analagous to that, of the AuditorGeneral or Comptroller. Now let us see what sort of Board is contemplated by the Bill before us. The third clause runs thus : —" The Cplpnial Secretary for the time being, and one other member of the Executive Council of the Colony for the time being, and the respective Superintendents of Provinces, and Chairmen, Presidents, and Heads of Counties within the Colony shall be ex officio Commissioners for carrying this Act into effect." The Governor may appoint additional Commissioners to an extent not defined —the number being left blank—but those named are ex officio and irremovable. The first thing that must strike every one wjth reference to such a Board as this is, that its meetings would afford to a Minister of the Fitzherbert school rare opportunities for those " unusually pretty transactions" in which the Government, assuming the attitude of an indulgent ; Paterfamilias, hushes the clamor of his [ nine children by a judicious distribution of the Treasury sweetmeats. It is plain, too, that a Board thus conj stituted would not be independent — that it would be keenly susceptible to political or popular influences. The two members of the Executive, closeted with the Superintendents and heads of counties to deliberate on the expenditure - of £100,000, would never forget —or, if they did forget, would assuredly be reminded-r-that the gentlemen round them bad and could command votes in the House. The recollectioh of that fact would animate all their proposals and govern all their decisions. It could not possibly be j otherwise. There would be a tacit but perfectly intelligible reference to possible contingencies in " another place " to which no Ministry could afford to be indifferent. Imagine, for example, a Superintendent like Mr Whitaker urging on the two members of the Government, not without a hint at the sixteen votes lie carried in his pocket, the expediency of spending £50,000 for the benefit of Auckland. Thus the political element, instead of being rigorously excluded, would be inextricably mixed up with all the proceedings of the Boardvand sway them at every turn. So again with the Superintendents. While each would be primarily solicitous for the interests of his own province—and so far, therefore, less regardful of those of the colony—all would be aware that they were amenable to popular criticism, and liable to be called to account on the hustings for their conduct as Commissioners. Any action which was unacceptable to the populace (and to import labour in order to bring down an exorbitant rate of wages would be of all things the most unacceptable) might be visited on them by a public demonstration. We have not been without some experiencies of the kind in Christchurch. He would be a bold man who on the eve of re-election ventured to run thus directly counter to the prejudices of a large portion of his constituency; and might well shrink from incurring such damaging personal unpopularity among those on whose suffrages he was dependent. The composition of the Immigration Board, as prescribed in the Act, is therefore in the highest degree objectionable. It is utterly impossible that a duty which demands the most unbiassed attention to tbe circumstances of the colony at large, and the most complete independence of local or political influences, can be satisfactorily discharged by men who at every step must take into account the effect it may have on the next ! or %hose political existence may be cut short if their conduct as Commissioners happens to give offence to their constituents. In connection with this subject we must call attention to the fourth clause, which provides that three of the Commissioners shall form a quorum. Considering that, besides any members who may be appointed by the Governor, there are no less than twelve ex officio members, it is monstrous that the quorum should be fixed so low. It must further be remembered that of the'ftr (fficidmembers two are menibers of the General Government, so that - (three Constituting a quorum) the

have only to secure the ! a.ssisiance of a single other member to form a Board and adopt what measures they choose, all of which would be legal and valid. By this clause therefore tho whole management of immigration is virtually placed in the hands of the Ministry of the day.