The New zealand Herald AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 1867.

New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1122, 19 June 1867, Page 4

The New zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 1867.

SPECTEMUR AGENDO. " Give every man thine ear, bnt fewthy voice : Talce each man's consare, but reserve thy judgment. Thl* atove all, —To thine own self be true A nd it mnst follow, as tho night the day, Thon canst not then he falsa to any man."

Tiie discussion on the address in reply to his Honor's speech to the Council did not pass without a considerable amount of wordy opposition, though unanimously carried on the voices. The foremost members of the opposition, Messrs. James O'Neill, Creigliton, and Wynn, lost no opportunity of finding fault witli tlie speech. One cavilled with that which it contained, and another with that which it did not contain. It is clear, "however, that these general cases of grumbling find 110 favour with the Council, and the mover of the amendment, Mr. Wynn, was glad enough to retire from

tho conflict and withdraw his amendment, on tho plea that it had fully answered his purpose in drawing the Government out. As far as that goes, the attack was made before the Executive had an opportunity of expressing their individual opinions. There was a very fair exemplification of this, in regard to the question of responsible Government. More than one member, in opposition, twitted the Executive with having turned tlieii' coats, as having been in previous sessions favourably disposed towards tho introduction of responsible Government, but now—llis Honor' 3 speech containing no allusion, to the subject— opposing that measure. This charge, when they had an opportunity of speaking, the members of the Executive rebutted, Mr. Kowo declaring himself, now as ever, a supporter of tho measure, and ably defending tho Superintendent against the charge of insincerity on this head brought against him by the more violent leader of the opposition. Mr. "Williamson expressed clearly his views on this matter, and as Mr. Eowe very justly remarked, it rests with the Council itself whether responsible Government shall bo established or not.

The two great objections taken to his Honor's speech -were, that it contained — firstly, no allusion to the destitution existing in Auckland, and to the utilisation of the trust funds for the maintenance of orphans ; and, secondly, no allusion to responsible Government. Those members who urged these grounds of opposition seem to have forgotten the exceptional nature of tho session—that it was a special session, limited to time, as having necessarily to be closed in order that the Superintendent and members of Council who are members also of the Assembly could be in their places at the General Assembly at "Wellington—l and moreover that it was called together expressly for the purpose of taking the opinion of tho Council on matters which it would be the duty of the Superintendent, as it was his desire also, to bring forward for the sanction of the Assembly. The questions relating to the "Waste Lands alterations and the construction of a dry dock, and that of enabling the Superintendent to cement the relations of peace between the two races, are matters which can only be decided in tho Assembly, and in each case it was desirable that the Superintendent and the Auckland members should go to the Assembly strengthened by the approving voice of the Council. Had a longer period of time been at the disposal of the .Council, other matters would doubtless have been

urged upon their notice by his Honor, but to have done so under present circumstances would have been impolitic. If the Council chose to set aside one, two, or three of the few available days to the discussion of the question of responsible Government, to the reconstruction of the estimates, and to a variety of questions which would crop out of such discussions, they could of course do so, but in that case the responsibility would rest with them that they had frittered away time that should have been devoted to a specific purpose which needs instant and immediate consideration. It would, we think, have been more than impolitic, it would have been a stupid blunder on the part of his lienor had he fallen into the error oi introducing what really, under the circumstances would have been business extraneous to that properly belonging to this special session.

Then, again, with regard to the destitution existing in Auckland. It is well known, and the Council were afterwards informed by the head of the Executive, that the Government is doing all it can to provide work for those who can work, in order that there may be more to be distributed between those who arc physically uuable to obtain a living for themselves. The question, too, politically, is involved in the main subject brought before the Council for consideration—the proposed alterations in the Waste Land Acts. These alterations, if carried, would, it is hoped and confidently expected, go to the root of the evil, and not merely relieve destitution, but remove its cause.

The question of these proposed alterations in the "Waste Lands Act led also to a desultory discussion, in the coursc of which, however, besides showing the current of opinion, many interesting ideas were brought forward. There is a party in the Council—a small party it is true, but a very active one —which is jealous of the small capitalist, and would desire to see the titles to land pass, in large estates, direct from the native owners to tlie muniment chests of the wealthy capitalist. Willi them any land scheme which gives a freehold to the man of moderate means is obnoxious, and they would tain make the present depressed state of the provincial revenue and the cry for retrenchment the cover under which they would work out their own interested views. Do away, they say, with the A\ r aste Lauds Office and the salaries. Lot the Government have no more to do with the sale aud purchase of land. The object is not to save the expenses of the department, but by destroying the machinery which provides land for the smaller capitalist and the working settler, to leave the sole monopoly of the purchase of land in their own and in t hehandsof tlieirparty.

The alterations which tlic Government proposes to make in the "Waste Ivands Act are almost identical with those which from time to time we have recommended in this journal during the past two3 r ears as the true policy on which our land laws should be administered. As explained by the Provincial Secretary to the Council they areas follows: —The free grants are to be extended not only to immigrants arriving from. Great Britain bnt to those arriving from elsewhere. The orders are to he presented within three months after arrival in the Province, instead of within one year of being granted, as heretofore. No agent, but only the person to whom the order is granted will be allowed to use it, and the land order must bo exercised within six months of the immigrant's arrival. The selection is to bo by priority of choice—that is, without competition by auction, and the survey is to be made at the expense of the selector. There is also anotlie 1 ' feature introduced, that of granting one acre lor every ten pounds of capital which the immigrant can show himself possessed of—the title to the laud, however bein< r given only after a certain specified bona fide occupation. "W"e believe in this that the Government has erred. The amount of land given is insufficient, and its beinu given only to now arrivals is a mistalvo. Any man in anv business in Auckland allowing himself possessed of so much capital, aud being' prepared to go into the country,

should receive land for settlement, and in larger quantity than tliat proposed by tlie Government. For instance, what man having ! a thousand pounds to invest would care to settle down for life on a hundred acres of land. The thing is absurd. There is no business in which he could not better invest it than in reclaiming and making a small farm of one hundred acres. If he devote his life to the work, and he must do so if he undertake the work at all, he will look for some better return, and the least quantity of land which a man with that amount of capital would dream of going upon would be from three to five hundred acres. He is not forced to bring it all into cultivation at once, and if a man in fifteen C"' twenty years brings his whole estate into cultivation, it is as much as can be expected—as much as lias been done in any colony, or in America. It would be a poor prospect for a man with a thousand pounds to devote his capital and the best of his life to the reclamation of a hundred acres only.

A great deal was said by one or two members against tlie forty acre system, arid Mr. Buck land again reiterated liis most unfounded charges against the results of that measure. It is not true that the forty-acre system, as carried out, up to the end of Mr. "Williamson's former superintendency, brought paupers and worthless settlers, as a rule, to the province. The reverse is well known to be the case. It is due to the systems of immigration since then introduced, and not to the forty-acre system, that our labour market has been overstocked, as well as to the breach of faith with, the men of the "Waikato regiments which has been shown on the part of the General Government. It is the General Government and those who squandered the provincial halfmillion loan, to whom is chiefly due the present depressed condition of Auckland, and the want of employment. No better proof of the falsity of the statement that the fortyacre system has been a failure could be found than in taking one by one our country settlements in the North, and setting aside the settlers who are forty-acre men. "Where, we ask, would our Northern settlements be then ? "Waipu and the districts round "Wangarei would be altogether depopulated. There is not a single settlement which would not be a mere skeleton of what it now is. It must be also remembered that the forty-acre scheme, which did much, and but for the war would have done so much more for Auckland, was persistently attempted to be baulked by the very men and their party who now oppose the proposed alterations. Another great argument against attracting further immigration under an improved "Waste Land Act, was that we had not land to offer those who would come. Mr. Creigh. ton endeavoured to show that we had only half a million of acres, and he stated that these were the refuse of all the blocks that had been sold for years. The evidence oJ members, however, more practically acquainted with the soils of the province, went to contradict this opinion of the member for Newton. Another thing, too, seems to have been forgotten—that the Government are "now in treaty for large blocks, and that, if these alterations are approved by the Council, it is more than possible that the Auckland members may obtain from the Stafford Government the unsold lauds in "Waikato tc apply to such purposes of settlement. As we are now writing, we learn that the principle of " responsible Government" ha; been carried by a majority of 17 to 6.