CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5490, 21 June 1879, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

« EEPORT OF THE BAY OF ISLANDS KOLL COMMISSION. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Ton have done good service in publishing the above important report. I hope that yon will give us extracts from the "evidence," so as to enable ns to form a judgment on Mr. Bryce's decisions. He seems, as you say, to make them all equally *' black." Yet I fancy that I can see strong lines of difference. Against Mr. Williams he alleges that although his objectionßhad really a broad and bolid foundation, yet he does not seem to have realised the extent of that foundation. Secondly—That '* though his character for honour and integrity stands high, yet he had allowed his judgment to become warped, and his official acts influenced by his personal or political antipathies to his brother's opponent." Of this no evidence has been as yet been supplied, while a lamentable picture is drawn of the state of things against which Mr. Williams had set his face. " It is clear," says Mr. Bryce, " that from his (Mr. Lundon's) own statement the questions whether claimants were qualified, or whether they signed the claims, or whether the claims were duly attested, were matters of complete indifference to him, so long as the supreme object was gained. He permitted a native in his presence to sign the names of 20 absent persons, and caused the forms so prepared to be taken to a distance to be signed by another person as attesting witness." Thus, "very many of the claims referred to (four-fifths) were certainly never signed by persons purporting to have signed them." Mr. Williamß, he thinks, may have been " unconsciously influenced by his political sympathies." The other was a series of plain, palpable, and intentional acts of falsehold—a difgraco to the party that put Mr. Lundon forward, and to the Government which, at such a crisis, gave ear to Mr. Lundon's statements, and, indeed, played into his hands (no doubt unintentionally) in a manner so " inconsiderate, so injudicious, and so objectionable."—l am, tc,, Elector.

[No doubt the evidence and report will be fully discussed, and the most ample materials laid before the public for a judgment. We may remark here, however, that in running his."lines of difference" between the conduck of Mr. Williams and Mr. Lundon, our correspondence loses sight of one important distinctioD. As cordially as " Elector," or as the Commissioner, do we reprobate Buch disgraceful and Ecandalous practices as Mr. Lundon was guilty of. But the distinction between bis position and that of Mr. Williams is this, that Mr. Williams was a judicial officer, who was bound up by his official position to see that justice was done to the electors. His brother was the sitting member, and he was therefore . especially bound to be careful that no shadow of partizanship Bhould rest upon his proceedings. What then did • Commissioner says that Mr. Williams "in rejecting native claims based on Crown grants," is wrong. Mr. Bryce further says that Mr. Williams is ".open to grave censure," and proceeds to give his reasons, which it seems to us are quite convincing. Of all the objections made by nim, the examination shewed that in only -twenty-two caseß : were they founded on personal knowledge. In every other '■' ¥* e l- he went on the maxim avowed ■ by himself, "repeatedly and deliberately," to his evidence—" I objected to aU names I had a doubt upon." Mr. Bryce points out that as the burden of proof rests upon the person objected to, and costs cannot be .recovered against the Registration Officer, l Bucn conduct s a breach of hia duty, and a -•great wrong i on the part of a salaried omcer o£ the Government, for whose acts the Government are responsible. The report then shows that objections were made by Mr. Williams to claims on the authority of memoranda furnished by other parties one of these "containing the strongest internal

evidence that it was the production of a political partisan." Mr. Bryce also says that this Registration Officer " became the instrument to forward the objects of a local boriy or faction." And again, " There is no doubt that maujr names have been left on the roil or persons whose qualifications were similar to those objtatcd to, and it happens that the persons so left on the roll resided, for the mostpartyn districts overwhich the lnfluenca of Mr. Williams'* family mi«htbe exercised to any extent." What would " Elector ■ have done if he had been a Minister, and these facts had come to his knowledge respecting a Government officer, for whose acta he was responsible? We are quite sure he wou.d have dismissed him at once. Would it have been possible for a Registration Officer to have continued such a course of conduct in Auckland ? No Government would have dared to maintain him in office. It is absurd to make any parallel between Mr. Williams and Mr. Lundon. The Registration Officer was bound to do his utmost to see that tho roll was not corrupted, but he was not entitled to enter into the lists as an opponent of Mr. London in making the roll a party one. It is not sufficient tliat it should be shown that Mr. Williams was not so black as Mr. Lundon. His conduct ought to be abovo tmspicion of partizanship. Let what j may be said about the Bay of Islands Roll affair, no one can justify Mr. Williams iu doing what he did as a salaried officer of the Government. Our correspondent assumes that the Government were responsible for Mr. Lundon's acts, in attempting to stuff the roll. We say nothing about that; we are not defending them, or apologising for them ; but at all events, they were officially responsible for Mr. Williams's acts, who objected to 400 names, while, according to Mr. Bryce's showing, ho had no knowledge entitling him to object to more than 22. If the Williams's party desired to ftustrato the nefarious practices of their opponents, they ought to have found some other person than the Registration Officer, who was bound not to act as a partizan. Wo confess we had no idea that matters would turn out so badly for Mr. Williams. At the same time, and while the matter was under discussion in the House, we strongly reprobated tho action of the Government, which, at all events, laid them open to tho suspicion of acting in collusion with the Lundon party, who were endeavouring to stuff tho roll, and we quite concur now in what the Commissioner say« on that point.—Ed.] POWERS OP SHAREHOLDERS. TO THS EDIT/OK. Sir, —The article from the A ustrahuian, (reprinted in Thursday's Herald,) contains several facts (supposed) which are of interest to shareholders in other public companies besides the bauks which have c me to grief lately in Victoria ; but it also contains an opinion which is fallacious. 1 allude to the sentence " the most ordinary watchfulness must have prevented such a state of things." Permit me to express the most unqualified dissent from the above opinion. The shareholders of a public compauy— banking, railroad, insurance, steamboat, &c, &c. —have no power whatever to find ont and check anything that may be either wrong or injudicious in the management; they are in the hands of their servants (?), their directors, and depend on their prudence and honesty, with only the slight and nominal check of the auditors, who are almost invariably the nominees of the directors. The auditors alone could, if tbey tried, find out unpleasant facts ; but in general, tbey undisgnißedly swim in tho same boat with the directors ; if one body goes astray, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the other follows or acquiesces.—lam, &c, • June 20, 1579. F. C. ADVANCEMENT OF THE AUCKLAND POTTERIES. TO THE EDITOR. Sib, —Being a constant reader of the Weekly News, I noticed an article in your issue of May 10, giving a description of the advancement of the Auckland potteries; but that description falls very short of my expectation of what the potteries would be at the present date. Judging from the notices which have appeared in your columus from time to time, referring to various productions in pottery that have been on exhibition, led me to conclude that a pottery manufactory was about to be established for tbe preparation of goods of a totally different class to that which appears to be produced at the Auckland potteries. But to my thinking we are doomed to disappointment—knowing, as I do, that the requisite machinery was brought to this province nineteen years ago—and to be no further advanced now than we apparently are bespeaks some great deficiency, not in material, but in practical knowledge or enterprise. Of course the Hobsonville potteries are a welcome acquisition to our several other industries, but they cannot possibly be expected to meet our every-day requirements from any production of surface earth clay. Ido not hesitate to say that, had there been any inducement offered by the Government, a proper manufactory would have been established long before now, that would have produced articles which wonld compare favourably with any imported ; for I have no hesitation in stating that the very same class of material that is in every-day use in tho Staffordshire potteries is obtainable in this island in great abundance, and of a pure quality. I have been occupied in the milliog department of a pottery for more than 25 years, and for many years had the superintendence of one of the largest mills in the Staffordshire potteries, which was exclusively occupied in the preparation of every material that is in use in the manufacture of stoneware of every description. Therefore, my past experience and general practical knowledge of the requirements of successful crockery manufacture, has led me to make these few remarks, seeing the apparent lack of knowledge and enterprise which exists. —lam, 4c, W.W. Maungaturoto, June 12, 1579. Llf our correspondent will exert himself in arranging* the details of a pottery manufactory in this province, we shall aid him in giving publicity to his views on the subject of obtaining supply of materia], coot of production, profit to be derived, extent of local trade, &c, so that the attention of capitalists may be fairly enlisted in his scheme.—Ed.] CONDITION OP APPROACH TO QUEEN-STREET WHARF. TO THE EDITOR. SIK, —Sour strictures on the Harbour Board re the condition of tbe approach to Queenstreet Wharf, are not wanted when the facts arc known, which are these: A month or six weeks ago, this, and other streets, were arranged to be put into good condition by the Borough authorities, the Harbour Board agreeing to pay half the cost. The Council gave immediate instructions to the Surveyor to get the work done, so that if there is any blame at all for the delay in the work, it does not rest either with the Board or the Council, but with the servants who have been entrusted with the carrying out of their instructions. —Yours, &.c, Pro Bono Pdblico. WAITAKEREI EAST AND WEST ANNUAL MEETINGS. TO THE .EDITOR. Sin, —That was a smart action of Mr. T. B. Hannaford, secretary of tho Waitakerei West Highway Board. After finding by the Weekly News, under date June 27, that the Waitakerei East land-owners would hold their annual meeting at Henderson's Mill, on the 4th of July next, to fix the same day and hour for the annual meeting of the Board he represents in Auckland, and gazette it in the News of June 14 (the following week's issue). Now, many of the Waitakerei East land-owners possess land (and consequently votes) in Waitakerei West. How can they attend both meetings at places 12 miles apart 1 If Mr. T. B. H. has done this of bis own accord, and without the authority of his trustees, he may get his knuckle 3 rapped on the 4th of July next at 1 o'clock sharp.—l am, &c.. A Land-owner. Auckland, June 19, 1879.

_ A Seasonable Hint.—A valuable suggestion is made in an agricultural journal, which may well be repeated for the benefit of our farmers, especially, as agricultural machinery has lately come so much iu vogue. It is, after the machine as beon carefully cleaned, before storing it away until the next harvest, overlook it carefully to see what parts have become worn or chafed, and will require renewing before the implement will be in order to suocessf ully pass through the next call upon its capabilities. After this has been seen to, send at once to the manufacturer .or agents and obtain the parts or duplicates needed. By ordering at onoe, yon give the makers or agent sufficient time to either make or obtain them, should they not be in stock, and thus not only will a great probable loss bo obviated, but much disappointment and troble übe avoided. To neglect is not giving the importer a fair change,