To the Editor of the Hawke's Bay Herald.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 1, Issue 31, 24 April 1858, Page 4

To the Editor of the Hawke's Bay Herald.

Sir, — I am an old horse, and hare been many years in New Zealand, have seen much of men and manners, have roamed over many a fine track of rich grass land, and have rolled by sleek and -well 4d sides, or raw and miserable hack — as the case may be, (for you must know we are subject to strange vicissitudes of fortune) and in many a verdant sport, and have in these places, fallen in with, strange fellows, and curious companions, and gathered from each some bit of news they have picked up about you bipeds. It so chanced, the other day, while travelling under a terribly heavy pack (my poor back ache 3at the very thought) I met a young friend of mine, a Surveyor. Ah ! and a fine horse he is too, and an honest ; and as our masters chatted, so did we. Amongst amours, duns, and other gossip, he told me of what a "flare up" (that was 7iis expression, not mine) there had been in the Survey Office. I pricked up my ears at this, as everything in connection with the Land Department has reference somehow or other with grass, and feed generally ; in fact we are all more or less interested in the Waste Lands and Fencing Ordinances. "Flare up eh," quoth I, ,'what's that ?" "Why," he said, "charges of maladministration, and perversion of the duties of his office, as Sub-Commissioner of Waste Lands, have been brought against Mr. Tiffen ; and the fellows in the office are as much interested in a fair and honest inquiry, as Mr. Tiffen himself, or the public ;" "but," he continued, "there's not one of them 'game' to say a word about it ; will you give

them a lift ?" "Well," I replied, "when I was young and active, and could top a six-railed fence, without flinching, I was rather fond of handling a pen, but of late years, what with hard work, change of masters, and uncertainty of the run question, I have not written anything, but in consideration of my friendship to you, and interest in your Department, I will drop a line to the Editor of that pleasant little journal, the 'Hawke's Bay Herald,' who will, I am sure, from his known courtesy, give it an insertion. I am quite sure the subordinate members of the Survey Department at ]S T apier, as a body, do not attribute to Mr. Tiffen any irregularities, but being themselves dependent for their bread upon the irreproachability of their characters and conduct, as much as upon their professional ability, in the discharge of their individual duties, such an enquiry as^ suggested by my friend, would lead to a proper sifting of the circumstances and control under which they have been working.

'Like master,. like man,' I recollect hearing my poor old mother say, when both master and man ■were ill-using an unfortunate animal, and to the case before us, that old and trite saying may be disagreeably applied by the ill natured. An enquiry would determine its application for good or bad, and if any one in particular is culpable, he will no doubt share the fate of that iniquitous candlemakei', whose epitaph you may have read or heard of, which states, that "All his works were wicked, and all his wicked works were brought to light."

The Land Department has ever been a target at which the "opposition" has thrown its shafts. Throughout the administration of the Waste Lands under the General Government and now under that of the Provincial Government, Surveyors and Land Commissioners have been placed in a kind of pillory, and divers dirty things said of, and thrown at them. It is a branch of the public service, unquestionably essential, and must ahvnys exist in some form or another. The important interest at stake in the honesty and integrity of its members, the vital necessity of the greatest impartiality and singlemindness on the part of those individuals, whether principals or subordinates, is too apparent to need comment. What powers of self aggrandisement and special regard for particular friencb are in the hands of the Land Department. What a wide field is opened up for bribery and corruption to the unprincipled, and of hard work and no favour to the honest, is only too well known, too obvious, too manifest, to call for spe cial remark ; and I on behalf of the fellows belonging to that Department do trust that a careful, full enquiry be mads into the affair, hoping that it will lead to prove beyond a doubt that their duties have been faithfully fulfilled and the interests of the public carefully considered in everything, and that this much maligned Department may come out of the fiery furnace, which should be heated sevenfold, like Shadrac, Meshac, and Abednigo, with their hats on, unscathed by the ordeal. I am, Sir, Your humble Servant, An old Hokse. Napier, April 4, 1858.