Correspondence.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 295, 22 October 1864, Page 5

Correspondence.

**■« Our eorrespoartence columns bein'4 impartially opna tn sill shades of opinion, it must be umlerstooil tint we ilo not iiU-nlily nur.-olvcs with any opinions c.\prcs.M;il ll:civin. To the Editor of the Si:\v Zicai.a sd ] [ f.u.m.d. Sn;, —T had determined to remain silent upon the discussions now before the i'vovineial Council, beHcving tliat tlie truth would come to tlie surface, hut wlien 1 am attacked in a by 110 mean? gentle style bv a public journal, and my oiiice misrepresented, 1 think il is incumbent upon me to make a few remarks lest my silence should give a colouring of truth lo what lias been said. lam not very thinskinned, and perhaps when I have had a little morj political experience and :i lil tie more badgering T may be less mi, and may probably be abe to cultivate a political hide as thick as the shield of a wild pig, and that 1 know from experience is bullet proof. The Smilluiii t'/V/.w of yesterday say 3, that there is somcthim; " <p:eer about the olllce of Actitui-Com-misMoner for the sick and destitute " at a salary of .t'iUO per annum. The only queer part of the business is that. 1 here is plenty ol' work and '• no pay." So much has been said with so little truth that bavins; once broken the ice .1 must proceed to say a few words upon the whole case. Certain members of the Provincial Council, to ir/<o,:i I urn /'i l small!;/ ><>i!;m>H ii, have attacked me ;u:d mv appointments, and, it my memory M'r\"es me correellv, the tirM chat'io* made me was that it look'thive fourths ofthc !>-pu!y Waste Lands Commissioner's time to " roach me uii" in ..iv duties. mm.: t r.„. r ill,.

This must In' pure inventiun, for Tam quite sure tilt: Oeputv \Yast>- Lands Commissioner would not assert u tiling SO easily disproved. Xo one knows better than he does tint the correspondence I have had occasion to refer to him has heen exceedingly small, Cor, during the live months I have heen in oliiee, Ihave only" referred some eighteen letters or thereabouts to him. and they all were eonueeted more immediately with his department, and were for the most part on .-übjects commenced before I took otilee. J" cannot help hern remarking that it is more t han probable that 1 should have sought the deputy's help more than 1 have done, had he not himself put me on mv guard. I did expec. to find in yr. AN arner ail able and willing: coadjutor, but when he referred me for information concerning mv new duties (I had been in oliiee only a few davs) to a gentleman entirely unconnected with the Provincial Government, I did not think it wise to ask his udviee upon any thing except mere details and routine. I suppose it. will readily be admitted that it would hardly be expected thai any one would at onee comprehend all tho details of so important a.i oliiee ; at ali events, one of the most inilnential members of the Council, who held the oliiee Cor several years, most kindly, ami in the most gentlenianlv manner possible, oi'i'cred the benefit ol his advice and lotisr experience--he knew full well some little time would be'needed to get well into harness. The assert ion that I occupied three-fourths ot the deputv's time is. X doubt not, something hl.e the ftory 'of the " three black crows." ] t is very evident that somebodv envies me, and covets the appointment ; and ali wonder why the ."-uperintendent sent lor me. Certain it is that in domg so hejiad no political motive,no more so than ha 1 the late Superintendent who sent forme last year, and otl'ored me an appointment in his establish which, although oii'ered ill the kindest, maimer possible, mid, thcrelore, d-mandin" thankfulness on my part did not suit my views to aceep'; nevertheless, it will always be remembered bvme with gratitude. 1 am t |uite sure he had no 'srllish motive to "ratify, nor had Mr. (Iraham a selfish motive in sending for me m 3lav last, and after puttin- me through inv '• lacings, oH'ercd me the post of Waste Unds Commissioner. 1 had no political inltuei.co to bribe, and no political '■ l-attiiig " lo reward. Y\"hen 1 had llie honor to be called to the ehan to liVcsitle at tlie meeting convened to h; av M r. Graham s address to the electors (although there were two ma"btrales present and 1 had not then been put into the" Commission of the l'cace),so guarded and ruulioti.- wt'iv mv rvin:irks, Mint sonu» ot tlie ekvtoi> Ihi.u"ht 1 was altogether a Wnliamsonite, and others that! was a Grahaluite (they will pardon these distinctive expressions), and 1 I not vote lor either. Win". then, was I honored with the important |i'on of Waste l.amls Commissioner and the ollices which necessarily f..110u ? .Sh.Vil 1 he thought very viin if ii atlribnlc it in some measure to the same IV,-limr "which |.nnnpied mv. perhaps, too indulgent mi-dd'ours .Mid !ell;.u -. o!o,,;.-t - lo elect lueto lour honorary olliees. having »r their object: tho advunccmcnt of'onr M-ltlcmeut, and to the same kimUy leehng which induced nearly the whole of the settlers of tho sunounding districts to recommend the Attomev(icncral to submit my name to tlie Coventor as Resident Magistrate. Another til' mberof tlie Provincial Council voluntien d, when I could not be present to •defend myself, to say—"That, little had been done cilice my iiiauj;uiation, and that little htuL been done

bauiy." 3fay Tusk how i?ocs lie know flint. T'am> not aware that any complaints have been mad«" of the maimer in which I have performed! my duties. I may say riiy very responsible duties, f have not delayed the work of the office, and put settlers to inconvenience and gi'pehses by losingcorrespondence and panares referred to me for my opinion. The lalo Provincial Law Officer; when con-" ducting the case Warwick v. H.-uselden, referred to the Waste Lands Commissioner as an " inferior servant," &c., an assertion crrectc-d and rebuked by the gentleman who so ably pleaded the plaintiff s cause, and also by the Chief ,/ustice, when he ite-' livured his judgment; and now mark his consistency, when it suited bis purpose in Council, he found it convenient to Fay, "'the Waste Lands Commissioner was a portion higher than thist held by the Superintend ent. himself. The head of every department should be chosen from among the members of this House." What arc thy rebukes of such a man worth: ? 'I here is an old saying that the reproofs of some men an; to an honest man sweeter than their praise. IToir my part, I think the Superintendent acted wisely ill' not selecting a townsman or political partisan for the"ilice of Wa-te Lands Commissioner, and I may be permitted to say that the Waste Lands Act, ISSS. and the Waste Lands Act Amendment Act, 1862, aie | no; so dinicult to carry out, by any one wishing to doI right, r,r some persons suppose.

JI y sympathies nro with the conn try settlers, and' for them i will labor so long as I have the honor tohold my oilier, und when " the place is made too hot to hold me." I can retire again to my farm, ,'ind do' as I did hel'ijoin heart and hand with them in striving In turn this waste howling wilderness into ;v fruitful field. 1 have not much at stake in the city,, hut I have in tlie country, and desire to see many changes bf ur.t<iht about to help the country,-so thati*. may he made a bread-producing- eountiy, and an» cxp.-.viing iMi-.nitry, to ; it is impossible to go en for i-vit iiiij'i'.t rinu: all our food. Jlueh has been said' about tin- of the Sick and DestituteFuiui — -s.i l"ug an the Superintendent administered it, :,o fault was funnd, his valuable time was lunch taken up bv applicants for :o!:ef, and no wonder if he were -lad to be n-'.itjved from so painful and burdensome a chaigc ; and. because I have undertaken that duty, it i.-j visi', ii nji: a ln'm as an offence', and he i» charged, with making " a imig billet for a friend"—a snug; billet, tai'tl v, wlien no salary at all is attached to' the ofiicc. S"i-iously, the work is souTttinies fO ; severe that f am compelled to leave my correspondence until aft'T oflice hours, when the doors ara' eloscl, ;■''i 1 can L'et two or three hours of quiet, for I hold il.'-' hi txim that " what is worth doing-at all,is worth d.>i..qr well." i have tie passed too much upon your space, and have written more thin I intended:. I am, &c., GiiAia.Es TXasf.i.dek. Aucklaml, October 20, ISG4.