The Daily Southern Cross.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 3887, 5 February 1870, Page 4

The Daily Southern Cross .

LUCEO, NOY URO. If I have been extinguished, yet there rise A thousand beacons from the spark I bore.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARYS, 1870.

It is difficult to ascertain exactly the position of the vote of £o,000 for the discovery of a payable goldfield in this province. The discussion in the Pro vincial Council, on the 27th ultimo, hardly helps us in the matter. It is quite true that, on the motion of Mr. Brookfield, a member of the Executive, a resolution was agreed to, requesting the Superintendent to appoint a Commission " for the purpose of ascertaining " what person or persons, if any, are " entitled to the rewai'd offered by the "late Superintendent, on the 14th of "April, 1867, for the discovery of a " payable gold field in the province of " Auckland, and the proportion in i "which that reward should be given ;" but the remarks by the mover of the ! resolution and several other members, would lead oue to suppose that the chance of any award being made is exceedingly slight. However that may be, the question has been advanced a stage since last year. The late Provincial Government submitted a resolution to the Council last year, similar in purport to that moved by Mr. Brookfield ; but the Opposition of that day would tiot agree to the proposal, and we think the Provincial i xecutive wisely refrained from deciding, on their own authority, who were entitled to the reward. Ihe present Executive appear to be actuated by pretty nearly similar motives ; and Ave are glad to find that the Piovincial Council resognised their propriety, and agreed to the nomination of a Commission. There are several circumstances in connection with this question %hB,i appear to be altogether lost sight of, or are unknown to many members of t^ie Council, which make an equitable decision a Blatter of extreme difficulty. And the form of the resolution adopted by the Council tends to increase the difficulty. This, we have no doubt, is the result of accident, for the Government, by placing the lapsed vote on the Estimates, give proof that they are sincere in seeking to apportion the reward. By the resolution, the Commission would simply confine itself to the inquiry — Who discovered a payable goldfield in the province of Auckland, in consequence of the late Superintendent's proclamation of the 13th of April, 1 867 % And the only report that could be made on this, after hearing evidence in regard to the gold discoveries in the prov,vinc©/iw!ould. bdAd the -'effect rtbat ,ao goldfield had been discovered in ponse-

quence of that proclamation, and therefore, that no one was entitled to any portion of the reward. Because it is a notorious fact that the Thames goldfield had been discovered long previous to 1867, and that it would have been developed from 10 to 15 years ago, if not earlier, if the native population had not been opposed to opening the land. In fact they would hardly allow a European to walk over the land now proclaimed within the goldfield, until very recently. But the existence of gold, in payable quantities, from Coromandel to the Kauwaeranga Creek was well known in Auckland, and had been reported to the authorities long before the proclamation of the goldfield in 1867. Therefore, when the Thames was thrown open to diggers, and rich reefs were struck, it was not a fresh discovery, but the verification of the report of the original discoverers. These finds were in a proclaimed goldfield, and not on unexplored ground. This is one feature of the case. There are others which must likewise be borne in. mind when considering who ought to be entitled to compete for the reward. The public faith has been pledged at various times to give a suitable reward for the discovery of a payable goldfield in Auckland province. The question, therefore, to be first settled, (assuming that an inquiry is to be made,) is this : "Which pledge is to be considered binding 1 Is it to be the latest, or any intermediate pledge ; or' is it to be the first ; or are we to take all the pledges together, and consider them as parts of one and the same transaction ? On the decision of this point a great deal will depend. If it be decided to bind the province only by the latest pledge, (as the resolution would appear to imply,) then, as we have shown, the reward can be claimed by no one. If we are to assume the intermediate pledges equally binding, there would be a chance — but only a chance — of an equitable decision being arrived at ; but if the offers of rewards for the discovery of a goldfield in Auckland, made from time to time, and the public inducements held out to prospectors from first to last, be taken together as parts of one single transaction, then we say the Commissioners can have little difficulty in deciding by whom, and under what conditions, the present goldfield was discovered, and in wliat proportion the reward should be given to the discoverers. We hope, at all events, that the Commissioners, whoever may be appointed, will not make any award without the fullest investigation; and we suggest that the inquiry should be open to the public. To hold a private inquiry, when so many claimants are in the field for the reward, would be highly injudicious. We have indicated a few of the points which appear to us to stand in the way of an equitable settlement, in view of the resolution of the Provincial Council. "We have no doubt, however, that the Superintendent will consider the question in all its bearings, and lay down for the Commissioners the principles which should guide them in making their award.

The discussion in the Provincial Council on Thursday last, on Mr. Philips' s motion regarding the police force, deserves some attention. If it be true, as Mr. Buckland asserted, (and we cannot doubt that gentleman's veracity,) a very serious state of things exists at the Thames. Mr, Buckland is reported j to have said, that "it had come to his " knowledge that between 500 and 600 " men had banded themselves together " by oath at the Thames — that they " had their leaders, and that they " meant to vindicate the law, believing 11 that the police could not, or would " not do it." Mr. Mackay, the same evening, when speaking on his own motion for handing over the control of the poliee to the General Government, " warned the Government that, if there " was nob supplied a better and more " efficient system of police on the " Thames, there would be Vigilance " Committees formed on those gold- " fields." It is clear, therefore, that whilst both gentlemen condemn the management of the police, one of them possesses more accurate information regarding the condition of society at the Thames than the other. This is all the more singular, inasmuch as Mr. Mackay, who appeai-3 to know least, is a resident on the gold field, and represents that district in the Provincial Council. The evil which Mr. Mackay anticipates as a probability, already exists on the goldfield, according to Mr. Buckland, in its very worst form. These statements having been made in the Provincial Council, it becomes the duty of the Government to inquire into their truth, and to ascertain, if possible, the nature and extent of the organisation in question. The Provincial Government are likewise bound to make the most searching inquiry into the conduct of the police at the Thames, on the occasion of the late election ; and generally, as to the efficiency of the force. There are precedents for this of late years When the Belfast municipal police force was charged with " party leanings," and encouraging the Orange mob during the riots which disgraced that towu, the Government appointed a commission of two barristers — one a Conservative, the other a Liberal — who took evidence in open court, and made a report to the authorities which led to a total change in the police organisation of the borough. If there be substantial grounds for the charges preferred against the police force, it is the duty of the Provincial Government to institute some such inquiry as this, which, from its openness and fairness, would satisfy all parties, and lead • to reforms, if necessary. But the existence of an illegal society, banded together by an illegal oath, ostensibly to vindicate the law, is a far more serious evil than any neglects of duty that have been urged against the police. It is fraught with the worst possible consequences to society, and should .be suppi-essed. In Amer,ip^, ? the organisation was' ostensibly designed to suppress rowdy-

am in the gi*eat cities, but very soon \t was demonstrated that it was by far the worst system of terrorism of the two, aod public sentiment put it down. We trust that in this new country we shall be spared the evils attending secret organisations ; and perhaps the most serious charge that could be brought against the police force is, that such a thing exists, and they are not aware of it. The law can and must be vindicated by the officers of the law. If those charged with the protection of life and preservation of order fail in thfir duty, let them be dismissed, and their places fiLJed with more deserving men ; but we trust that no person vested with judicial authority will ever sanction any assumption of the functions of the police by tha members of a secret and unlawful society.

The statement of income and expenditure, which the law requires the Government to furnish the Council when in session, has now been printed and circulated. The statement is for a I period of thirteen months, as the previous session commenced in December, , 1868, and the present session in Januarylast. At first sight one might suppose that the revenue for the thirteen months in question — that is, from the 1st December, 3SGS, to the 31st December, 1869— was £190,783; but a cursory examination of the items would satisfy any one familiar with accounts that this is not the actual amount. In fact, the statement of i*evenue and expenditure furnished to the Council is a copy of the ledger accounts ; but old members will have no difficulty whatever in analysing it The general result is, however, very satisfactory. It is now clearly estab lished that Auckland, although supposed to be bankrupt as a province in 1868, and treated as insolvent by Mr. Stafford's Government, had at that time justly owing to it a very considerable sum of money which it was extremely inconvenient for the General Government to part with. The sum taken to account as 1'evenue for the year 1869, to which we refer, is £28,387 16s. id. ; and, besides this amount, the balances of current revenue, about which there could be no dispute whatever, was likewise withheld for some time. "What the intention of the Ministry was, it is not for us to say ; but when we consider that their avowed policy was to destroy the Provincial system, of which Auckland was supposed to be the keystone, it is only fair to assume that their object was to abolish our local Government by first forcing it into a declaration of insolvency. This Auckland did not do. It insisted upon an investigation and settlement of accounts ; and this settlement, which was shirked by the Stafford Government, as the papers will prove, was assented to by their successors. The result of the investigation was the withdrawal of the unfounded charge against the province, that a sum of £23.000 odd, of the Waikato expenditure, had been unaccounted for, and [an award in favour of the province for the balance claimed. The sum of £9,503 5s. 4d., payment per Colonial Treasurer, on the general account, which appears amongst the heads of revenue for the past year, is the result of this investigation With lv-garrl to the old sinking fund, of which £18,884 7s. appears as revenue, it is only necessary to explain that that has been paid to the province as the result of last year's political action in the Assembly ; for we may safely assert that, if the Stafford Government had retained office, not one penny of it would have found its way back to this province. But, as this money was in excess of the sinking fund required to extinguish the half-million loan, when the debentures fell duo, owing to a miscalculation by the framers of the Loan Act, there was uo equitable pretence for its seizure by the Stafford Government. The balance of consolidated revenue which was paid to the province during the thirteen months under review was £33,107 4s. lid, and of land revenue £4,123 4s. Sd. The purely provincial revenue amounted to -£18,130 — considerably in excess of the estimate. Indeed, the estimate of revenue for 1869 was less than the aotual receipts under the various heads of revenue. We trust the Government will have an equally good balance-sheet to submit to the Council at the close of the present year as that which we have now briefly reviewed.