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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 181, 4 June 1891, Page 3

A well known farmer in this district (say 8 , the Wanganui Chronicle) the other day sen 15 j a consignment of 36 aaoke of potatoes to j Wellington for sale tbere by a looal house. The weight of the potatoes amounted to 2| tons, whiob realised £2 6s per tou, making the gross prooeeds of the consignment £6 3s dd. Account sales were duly rendered to the ooneignor of the shipment, Under the heading of oharges appeared the following items:— Commission aud guarantee at 5 por oent, Cs ld; wharf ogo, labour, reoeiving, delivery, and rent, say 6s per ton, 16s 2d; steamer freight from Wanganui, £2 Ub 6d; oartage, 8s; and disoount at 21 per oent, 3s Id; making a total of M 'is IOd; thus leaving net prooeeds, amounting to £2 0s lid (for nearly 3 tons of potatoes) to bo reoeived by the grower. Other expenses nnoh as dig. gleg and carriage from field—some distance in this case— to the port of Wangnnui have also to be deducted before the amouut whioh may be considered the net profits of the consignment, is arrived at, We Bhould think that after suoh a oase as tbat j vet referred to, it would be a sumoient reason to prohibit any future consignments of produoe from this distriot finding their way into tho Wellington market. A man named Pitman, not the father of phone tios, but an Amerioan of Cincinnati, has just been setting up what appears to be a unique olaim to conneotion with greatness, His link with the pact is that he onoe shook hands with tho poet Cratbe, and yet he does not olaim that there oozid from it any literary inspiration. But Crabbo had often Bhaken hands with John Wesley; and, argues Mr Pitman, triumphantly, "I am probably the only living man who haß ever shaken hands with a man who shook the hand of Wesley." THREE OENTURIEB have rolled by sinoe Baoon said " Ooffee oomforteth tbe brain and heart, and belpeth digestion," Use Gbeasb'b A. 1. Gom_. Bold ouly in lib, and 2lb, tins. For the seasonable, the attaaotive, tbe faeoinating in material, shapes, style, and the very latest fashions and novelties juet to hand per steamer Rimutaki, ladies should not fail to embraoe the opportunity now offered, and pay a visit to the mantle department, at Te Aro Bouse. We are now showing some marvellous '• oroa 1 ions" in ladies' sealette jackets, and i speoially note the following •—"The Melba," with deep beaver ftioiag, high Fife collar, whioh oan be worn in four distinot ways, and at prioes rangiog from 3 to 6 guineas : " Tbe Ramsay," faced with nutria fur. reversible oollar, oord ornaments, latest Btyles, from 2 I to 4 guineas t at Te Aro House. Au exceedingly handsome garment is " The j Douglas " sealette jaoket, faced witb Persian lamb and real astraohan, high reversible medioi oollar, lined Bilk throughout, from 2J to 6 guineiß. An equally obaimiDg sealette jaoket is "The Isle of Wight," with deep faoing and oollar of pure squirrel fur, prioe 5 . guineas, at Te Aro House. ' In plueb, seal, plushette, and sealette , J aok tta we have an immense variety, A finer assortment was never yet showa in the , oolony. The new stook is larger, better . selected, and more oomplete (ban we nave '. aver previously been able to exhibit, and we sre sure that auy lady requiring the latest fashions in jaokets of every desoription, \ ulsters, mackintoshes, fur-lined oloaks, *• travelling wraps, &0., will find everything \ lesirabie now on viow, at Te Aro House. 3

'TH*iuM Ihat -Vhaft rtdooed 1 the land offloe at Invar. ■ Oargill to less than an adequate staff ito tfttarfufti tta duties mojred pf it, fie woalo" vlmtia^Wtm to beat with Mm for. a few '■» minotw while he wye them a few figures fin eoMMUon with the Waste Lagds Qfflee 10 In^RWgill^wbioliLCOßld hot taU to convince __yonejhat the action he had taken was the right oae In'the inUrests Of the colony, fie hid a return prepared and sent to hon jtYitftroogh the heads ot the Lands Department for the colony, showing. the work done in tbe Inverojirgw Lands Office during the month pw 6l'l?wrnitry'l4B't, 1 whea peaoe and quietness reigned tfuprepoe in that oflioe, and before [it waß known that any redactions were to ps •aude (ty that shepherd from the hillside. (Load laughter and NPPlaase.) When he told .them what that return, was those present tJWottld asehow innoh dependence oonld be plaoed onthe st^teraejattpt Mr Spenoe with regard w the amount of work done in the offioe at invereargill. He found that the total lend revenue received for the month B^ou^tedto^fil^OefSdrbeingattiie rate oJ'|.6|si 6d per jaa£i The entries in the books amounted to .601, being a little over 1)0 entries peT day. There were about }4 worffetSgiVen per day, and barely four letters reoeived, and slightly over four letters dci* patched a day. Tbirtyaine persons applied tot. land, being at the rate, of about an applicant and a half per diam, In addition to thip, there were a few printed returns to fill in • foi. the month, and tbere was a monthly '*■' meeting df the Land Board, the minutes of /'■whioh wonld have to be kept; and tj do i thia work required a staff of officers at an , : expenditure of A 2223 per annum— (laughter) . —being at the rate of £185 6s per month, " or a percentage of 15 per oent on the gross takings, In order tbat he might not do an Injustice in this matter, or Bhow it in any . false oolours, he might say that the month , ot February did not quite oome up to the * average amount reoeived for the year, as the total revenue reoeived in tho South Island for the last year was £19,373 17b lOd. But, „ when taking that amount, the oost to the ' ' Oolony was at the rate of 12 per oent per ' ' annum. Taking these figures into consideration and the amount of wor h performed in "X the Inveroargill Land Ofiioe he did not think ' any other conclusion oonld be oome to thau that the retrenohment was necessary ; in faot it had been a matter of wonder to him as to.jjrbat tiie officers iv that branoh could possibly find to do from morning to night. , Jußt fanoy four letters per day reoeived by ; Mr Spenoe and his clerks, and fonr letters. ' per day despatched— (,langhter)--moßt bf * which were in print, and just imagine the : -__n Standing at the ledger of the Inveroargill offioe to reoeive £53 a day. He ventured to think they, oould. find a storeY keeper in Palmerston with a man and boy •who despatched and reoeived more letters • and dolleoted 'more money than was done in the Inveroargill Land Offioe. These were hard f aots, and oould be proved by documentary, evidence iv his roeeeseion. and that, so far as he was oon- ' owned, 1 wltf sufficient answer to the charges of having reduoed the Inveroargill oflioe to . ite detriment. (Applause,) Now the next crime he had been aooused of was of having issued a oiroular, aB he had «r already, stated, praotioally asking officers in ( i the various land distriots to declare that they had perjured themselves. He wonld proceed tq "read the contents of that oiroular, and leave 'to those present to judge. It was dated 13th Maroh, 1891. from the general .; -Crown: lands Offioe, Wellington, to this ' Commissioners pf Crown Lands, "Under instrßpfcipnß from the Hon Minister of Lands, I'have to request yon to ask each olerk in .'{your offioe if he ever got declarations under the Land Acts signed, by a *LP. in blank, which, were afterwarda, filed in or used for thef purpose of applioation under the Aot. TW* answer ! of ! eaoh olerk <to be aoted opposite, his name, WiU you, at the same fcjme, be good enough to state whether yob Chave aay personal knowledge of such 7, praotioe having been pursued in yonr l distriot, signed, W. J. H. Bliott. Under, i; Seoretary," Ths reason for issuing that A oiroular was that it had been reported to him cthab practices of; thia sort were oarried on, and to show that there were good grounds • for j such a, report, ; two of the officers had . jßtated in their replies that tbey had seen , puoh applications, His sole objeot in sendv lng, tljtat oiroular had been to asoerrain if a custom had prevailed amongst the „va_jpus officers, and if so to see that a stop ,' was put ,to it in future. The faot that it was ' found tp.exiat hi one oase proved the neces- , sity for the oiroular being written, (Loud •: Applause.) In connection' with the appoint- < tment of <y.i Campbell, that offioer was "neither a friend or relative of his ■ (Mr MoKenzie), ' • and he only knew him from the •' faot that on a previous occasion he was : aoting in the oapaoity of Orown Lands Ranger in Sooth, land, and that it had been reported to him tbat he was' an exoellent offioer ahd attended to bis work. He had also been told that the reason why Mr Campbell's ser \ lees were dispensed with was that he had performed his duty too faithfully, and that the Conservatives of Southland did not approve ef bis actions In forcing them to rigidly toe the mark. (Laughter,) Well, he asked Mr Campbell whether in the event of his being appointed Gr6wn Lands Ranger for Souths ,land; wonld' he alßo undertake the forest reserves duty. Mr Campbell replied tbat be wonld be quite able to undertake both offices by giving up his whole time to them, He (the Minister) then asked Mr Campbell if he oould produce any certificates from the Commissioner of. Crown Lands under whom W had served. He replied that he had he would forward to Welling;ton.- He (Mr MoKenzie) had seen these .oertifioates, and before the appointment , was made they were submitted to Mr Peroy Smith, the Surveyor-General of the oolony. ..[Re then proceeded to read two testimonials.] Tbe next certificate was from no less .person than Mr Spence himself , He had no doubt they would all be very ourious to hear what was Mr Spence's opinion of Mr Campbell Now this was ; what Mr Spence Midi with regard ta Mr, Campbell, "The •bearer, Mr Duncan-. Campbell, bas beeu .Crown landß ranger of Southland for a > number of years, and leaves the Seivice pwing to., the necessity of retrenohment .-.oa the part of -the Government. I have found Mr Campbell to be a willing, capable, .and, obliging offioer, and I trust that he will suooeed ia getting a situation, I wiH always be glad to hear of his success.— (Signed) J. Spence, Commissioner of Crown Lands," '(Loud and prolonged applause,) Now he (Mr MoKenzie) would go ao far as to My that tbe appointment of Mr Campbell was giving satisfaction to tbe mass of tbe people of Southland, and to plaoe that part beyond adonbthß would read a telegram whiQbbe had that day reoeived from the members for the -'Southland constituencies :--" Re your transfer of Mr Spepoe, Commissioner of Orown Lands, to Westland. We quite ap- { Prove of what, yen did in this matter, and Mueve that the change was in the best '-■mtetSsts of the oolony. Re Mr Campbell's '-appointment, we' are of .opinion tbat his removal from oflioe formerly wbb exceedingly ' inasmuch as he had been very aealouß " in the discharge of his duties, and had io consequence made many enemies. We conBider his. re-appointment by you only an aot of justice to Southland,' signed J. Kelly, J, Macintosh, and J. G, Ward. That he thought, would prove beybnd a doubt that the , appointment was approved ot by the people. (Loud apple use.) As. these three members who were responsible to large constituencies would not be likely to send a telegram of that sort withont rtgard to the feeling ofthe larger portion of their electorates. They had now the whole facts in conneotion with his great obarges, and it was for those present to decide whether the strictures passed npon him by Mr Spenoe and by the Conservative press cf the oolcny justified or not, He would £oint bnt, too, that Mr Spenoe was not speakig, when leaving tbe oolony, in tbe interests --'tl the colony, but he was speaking as a '- disappointed man— as one who had eni deavoured'to leave the service with a large •urn of money.: He\bad asked him ss Minister ot Lands to grant a retiring allow* ance out of the taxes paid by the people of the oolony. Mr, Spenoo was asked to remove to Westland, and not to leave the servioe, He thereupon asked leave to retire, and had he' (Mr MoKenzie) wished to be severe iiwifloqldbaVe ordered Mr Spenoe to West-' land, and bad he. resigned he would not have been .entitled to one sixpence. And what ••wa* the" retiring allowance that Mr Spenoe demanded?. Why, he asked to beooinpeniatedjfor Jlis, general, Government services, hfs'Profinoiai services; and at the same time "applied for six months' leave of absence on full pay, making a total bl £1180 ; and in =epnpectjCn with this he would read tbe Bptwyor-Genef ars memo of advice to himself on the subjeot. "Mr Spenoe aßks that he may retire on compensation rather than M removed to Weßtland, and that he may Jtave plx.montn.f'-JeaTe, ; Mr Spenoe would be entitled to' compensation for his servioes sinoe abolitipn ; This would amount to aboat £540, that is* for his General Government servioes ; hot heseemßto n?e to ask tbat his Provincial lervlee be inoluded.. This would mean about , . 4{}65 for both services. Tbe Civil Seivice AoiJ,' 1886, 'iimitd leave bf absence on ,Wth»ffliebt to three, month's leave.— J(Si«_ed); Peroy Smith. May 1 1891." He pWitnot mot his own aocord decide bs«|;BMM#« to*' he submitted it to his ooi .' jStgues 1 In the Cabinet, and be would read tbe AJffilwy^^f&ii in ,¥*- Spenoe ., will be

• ■T^ v/i..j :j „ y • i 1 oolony, the. man who asked for £1180 loi publio money, tut who only reoeived £540: and it he (M* r ' Senate) bad been guilty lot any enor ot judgment it was that he had been tbo' lsnient with Mr Spenoe. He Bad granted him £640 • whan he was in too ' Way compelled by law to do so. He did so on fee strength of the recommendation ol the head ot the department, and hs was glad to take tbat opportunity ot saying tbat the oolohy might be proud to have suoh a than lis Mr Percy Smith at the head of tbat departmant —a gentleman who had bean, during a most trying time, when dispensing with so many 'of the Oivil servants, a humane and kind ma,_.