PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1049, 18 May 1869, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Fbiday, Mat 14. The Speaker took the chair at 3 p.m. Reports. Mr. Eerabd, pursuant to notice, moved — That the Provincial Engineer's report' on roads, the report of Provincial Surveyor, and the Harbour-master's report be printed. The motion was seconded by Mr. M'Lean and agreed to. Slaughter House Act. Mr. Sutton, pursuant to notice, moved — That the Government will lay upon the table of this House a return of all feea paid by the Hawke's Bay Boiling-down Co. under the Slaughter-house Aot, and copy of any license issued by the Inspeotor of Slaughter" houses to that company, . — He said that it was a notorious fact that the company had been carrying on an extensive business as butchers. He considered it unjust that they should do so. The butchers were heavily taxed under the Slaughter House Act, the conditions of which Act he believed the company evaded. Mr. Pabsons seconded the motion, which was agreed to. Bridge at Waitaha OreeTc. Mr. Dolbel asked His Honor the Superintendent — Whether anything has been done toward the erection of a bridge over the Waitaha creek, in the district of Mohaka. — A sum of money had been more than once voted, and it appeared to. him there had been some neglect on the) part of somebody. Mr. McLean, in reply, said that the sum voted, was not, according to the Provincial Engineer, sufficient to defray the cost. A letter had been written home, to ascertain the price of iron bridges there. Mohaka Block-house. Mr. Dolbel, pursuant to notice, asked His Honor the Superintendent— Whether he could give the Counoil any information in reference to the removal of the blockhouse from the European settlement at Mohaka ; and, if so, if he has used his influence as Superintendent to prevent the said removal, -—He said that if the blockhouse was removed, there would be the settlers on 5300 acres of occupied land left without any protection. Mr. McLean, in reply, said : lam not aware that there is any intention on the part of the General Government to remove the blockhouse, but I will make the necessary enquiries. I think were the blockhouse to remain where it was, confidence would be inspired. Education Bates Act. Mr. Button got leave to introduce a Bill to repeal the Education Rates Act 1868. Leave granted ; Bill read a first time, and its second reading made an order for Tuesday. Grant of Land for Educational Pwposes. Mr. Rhodes, in moving that half an acre of land, near the Ngaruroro bridge, should be granted by the Government for educational purposes, strongly urged the claims of the petitioners. Mr. Sutton said he was sorry so small a reserve had been asked for. Where it was possible to grant reserves of land, he saw no better means of supporting education. Mr. Kennedy approved of the object, but thought half an acre sufficient. Mr. Tanner understood that the object in moving the school, was in order to obtain a more central position, thereby to get more children and more fees. No application had been made for a grant in aid of building ; all that was wanted was the land. He thought the request a very reasonable one. Mr. Carlyon was prepared to support the grant provided no power was given to lease. Most of the educational reserves were now virtually in the hands of private parties from having been leased for 21 years. Mr. Feeabd moved as an amendment " That the grant only be made after such time as sufficient money shall have been lodged in the Provincial Treasury to build a school-house." Mr. Rhodes had no objection to the amendment. Lieut.-Colonel Lambebt did not agree with the member for Clive, and would oppose the moving of the school. He thought that to move the school would be , unjust to the minority, who subscribed their money. Clive had been greatly favored ; it had both a school and a lockup. Mr. Rhodes explained that the other school might still be carried on. After some further discussion, in which Messrs. Ormond, Buchanan, and Carlyon took part, the first-named gentleman improving upon the motion, the Council divided, Mr. Carlyon being the only member who passed to the left of the Speaker. Telegraph Office at Wavpawa, Lieut.-Colonel Lambebt, pursuant to notice, moved — That His Honor the Superintendent will be pleased to lay before the Council all correspondence between the General Government and himself relative to the erection of a Telegraph office at Waipawa. There being no seconder to the motion, it was not put to the Council. Unauthorised Expenditure. Mr. Febabd asked the speaker if the unauthorized expenditure had been sent in on a separate sheet, as required by the Audit Act. He asked the question, as in last session there was a good deal of unauthorized expenditure which was not brought before the Council until the last moment. The Speaker said that he would have the account laid upon the table. Grant of Land to W. B. Bussell. Mr. Caelyon, pursuant to notice, moved the following : — That the Council will express their opinion, in the form of a resolution, as to the policy of the late Act passed by the General Assembly, granting 800 acres of ,'land to William Russell Russell, Esquire. — In doing so, he said : Sir, I have now to call the attention of this council to a recent enactment which has created the greatest astonishment in the mind of every person with whom I have conversed on the subject. My whole educational life has been more or less spent in acquiring historical information of tho systems of Government practised in the ancient and modern world ; but the last ten years of my life have been especially devoted to investigating the rise and watching the growth and progress of the laws and institutions of this colony in particular. I proceed to state, once for all, that a more exceptional enactment than tho one to which I am about to call your attention has never to my knowledge been passed by any deliberative assembly in the world. I of course do not use the term exceptional in its best sense ; on tho contrary, I moan that this act is so rank in character, so profligate in principle, and so pregnant with evil in the way of precedent to every province alike, that it requires more than ordinary vehemence of ianguago to denounce it in tho terms it deserves. It would be necessary to give a brief history of

the Naval and Military Waste Jjands Acjbs, under which Mr. W. R. Russell claimeclip usurp 800 acres of tbelandsofthis prbvimjie. Under the pretence of inducing^ili^ary* officers to leave the Queen's service in the army for settlement in New Zealand, certain bribes were put forth by a ministry who thereby hoped to captivate the in-, terests of a large section of voters. Practically, however, it was soon discovered that New Zealand had not gained, nor was likely to gain, a single immigrant through the inducements of this Act. The terms were— that every officer seeking a grant •of land under the, Act should reside for at least four years in Ne,w Zealand—not consecutively, but simply four years out of five years. Mr. Russell did not comply with this arrangement, but, so far from forfeiting any advantage thereby, he managed, by devices which I arn^bout to expose, to acquire a grant of 800 dcres in the place of 400 acres. It might well be tbat if any officer had been compelled to remain in England beyond the limited period, for the cure of wounds received in the colonial service, or even generally on the score of bad health, every consideration would have been allowed to his case. But that is not the present case; Mr. Russell's engagements were purely connubial. This gentleman never entered New Zealand with any other intention than to claim a matter of 400 acres of land for no military service whatsoever. He exchanged into a regiment on service in New Zealand, not for the purpose of fighting the battles of the colonists, but of obtaining a grant of land. What therefore were the .exceptionally meritorious services which shoulcLinduce the colonial legislature to look \fith peculiar favor on the claims of this gentleman. He commenced his career in New Zealand with outraging the law of the colony, by an illegal occupation of native land. Seeking for commiseration for himself, he had no scruples in selecting his 400 acres on the land of a brother officer. Ostensibly he selected this land at 10s. per acre, but he used his privilege so as to secure to himself virtually the worth of £1 an acre after seven years, with interest in the meantime. It follows that, of all the exceptional provisions created by the Acfc now in discussion, no greater tyranny or despotism could be maintained than the enacting clauses which deprived a subject of the realm of his natural right to urge his own position in the Supreme Court — yet such a provision was actually passed ! Now by what agency, by whose investigation, and by what influence ? At nearly the end of the session, when most members had left the General Assembly, Mr. M'Lean moved that a grant of land of 300 acres should be given to W. R. Russell. There are positions in society which are difficult to fulfil -with satisfaction to all parties concerned : you may be asked to be the " best man " at a wedding, or godfather at a christening, or, still worse, to please some old dowager, from whom you might reasonably expect something better, by swallowing a glass of home-made elderberry wine. All these jobs are perhaps very distasteful, but difficult, nevertheless, to get out off. We can only say of the Superintendent that he has been misled by blandishments of some sort to become a party to proceedings which, under further consideration, he would not have assented to. Mr. M'Lean, be it observed, only originally moved for a grant of 300 acres. He found a perishing patient in actual want of land, and could not charitably resist such a modest and moderate claim. He was, however, above the usual class of good Samaritans. He did not leave his patient at the house of a publican, and apparently he had neither oil nor pence in his havresack at that moment. He, however, carefully laid the sick man on the floor of v'the Legislative Council, and sought for a physician. He had not far to go. A gentleman had been watching the case throughout, fully expecting to be called in sooner or later. This was no quack ; but a soldier (Oh quej'aime les militaires.) Aye, and more, a courtier ; aye, an orator ; and, more than that, a statesman, one who, of all others, had undertaken to give an exact definition of the aptitudes of the whole Maori race without any distinction of sex, or regard to the delicacy of the subject. The godfather having disappeared from the scene, the real father in every sense took the conduct; of this case. Now, sir, if there be any attributes or qualifications more especially appertaining to a public man, whether he be called to the General Assembly by nomination of the Governor or by electoral vote, I hold it to be the highest function of public men to approach their legislative duties without any prejudice in favor of their own sons. If this bo the rule generally understood by impartial minds, it has been grossly violated in the present instance, where we find that 800 acres of land have been confiscated to the service of W. R. Russell, by virtually the casting vote of his own father, as against the votes of every other member of the Legislative Council representing this province (namely, Messrs. Stokes, Johnston, H. R. Russell, and Colonel Whitmore.) The preamble of the Act left it to be understood that the Provincial Council would certainly assent, if it had not already assented, to this grant. Sir, I lately read of a Maori prince, who had £1000 in the bank, being recently detected entering a charitable refectory in Wellington for the purpose of getting a bite or sup at the publio expense. I no longer think that the vice of insatiable avarice is confined to Maori families. 1 have purposely left the motion which is now before 3 r ou in a rather vague and indefinite form, in the hope of being guided by the tone of the Council as to framing a more positive resolution hereafter. The whole enactment is an infringement of the understanding that the waste lands of the provinces should be at the sole disposal of the several Councils thereof. When, however, I consider that the gentlemen in whose hands the destinies of the colony are now # wavering, deem themselves so superior "to ordinary ministers that they can afford to scorn and despise the;general opinion of their fellow settlers, to ignore reclamations of whole provinces, to set at nought for a time the usual etiquette of governments, — holding forth themselves to the world as possessing the quintessence of all knowledge from the days of Julius Caesar to the reign of Queen Victoria, and equally roady to undertake the construction of a bridge over Cook's Straits, or to drive a tandem over the Ruahine mountains, — when I consider all this, I at once perceive the futility of any expectation that such gentlemen will pay any attention to tho wishes of this Council. But the time may yet arrive when the majority of one can no longer be upheld, and the repeal of this most flagitious and contemptible act may be effected. Mr. Tanner said thathe ngreed with the opinions enunciated by the previous speaker. The gentleman who received land as a gift; from the province had nothing to complain of if he lost it on account of not having strictly complied with the conditions required by law. Tho meaning of grants to military officers was that, in tho event of any difficulty with the^ natives, the colony might have the benefit of their advice and assistance. Tho most objectionable point in this matter was the interference of the General Government with the land of the province, without any reference to the Council, who were the cus-

iodians o£|he Provincial estate. The *p« plic.ationiSbouldli&ve been referred to the Coiincjl. "He^oiild not agree with the rejta&rWp( |]^afr ember for Te Aute asregatds the servidlf rendered by Mr Russell. That gentleman had acted as a corporal in the militia, and drilled a company, notwithstanding his having previously held; a com- /remission in the Imperial Army., , He had also given all the information.ittlns power.' whenever, asked. (Criej.gf ; npijQp^ ; ,;. Mr. Febard could only call this act a most shameless one. The;actof,'sß clearly meant that Provincial Councils should be consulted about the waste lan^s of their province. The Council was very readyto vote confidence in the Superintendent and Executive. Captain Uussell's grant was not discussed in the Council, yet in the Assembly not a breath was heard to the contrary from either of their members. . He should like to know . if any enquiry was made by the Crown Lands Commissioner. Surely if Mr. Russell had complied with the legal conditions he would have got his land, and there would Ijiaye been no more trouble about it. The bill *| being a private one, the preamble ought to 1| have been strictly proved. He would conclude by moving the adjournment of the debate, and that the Speaker issue his warrant for the attendance of the Crown Lands Commissioner, in ' order to give evidence relative to the grant in question. The motion was agreed to. The Council went into committee on the Sheep and Scab Act, the consideration of which was advanced. The Council adjourned shortly before 10p.m. ■■■•■■-■ :,