NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR AND Cook's Strait Guardian. Wednesday, September 22, 1858. FEATHERSTON AND FOX BOTH BREAKING THE LAW AGAIN.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume XIII, Issue 1371, 22 September 1858, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR AND Cook's Strait Guardian. Wednesday, September 22, 1858. FEATHERSTON AND FOX BOTH BREAKING THE LAW AGAIN.

There appears to be little else for the Judge of the Southern District to do, than to condemn Dr. Featherston and his “colleagues’* for every act of lawlessness short of criminal oflences. It appears from a judgment delivered by Judge Gresson yesterday, and which we print at full length elsewhere, not only that Mr. Fox had grossly abused his office of Land Commissioner so as to injure two political opponents, but that he endeavoured to claim for his decisions complete exemption from any appeal to the Supreme Court or any other authority ; and, moreover, that his appointment by Dr. Featherston was so illegally made, that Mr. Fox was certainly not. Commissioner at the time ho decided to forfeit Mr. laine’s run, and perhaps never has hcen!

Mr. Tainf. and Mr. Hume would have boon seriously injured by Mr. Fox’s decision of the 12th May, 1857. They arc both opponents of Government in politics. Mr. Pjiarazyn, the partizan Auditor of tho public accounts, who publishes to the world his opinion that Dr. Featherston is perfection and Mr. Fox unrivalled as a Statesman, (although not worth

L‘uO u-yeiir us a Treasurer), thoucht b« ■■ , profit by tho decision ; and the run whenf J felted was knocked down to him at a rent ° r ' absurdly high as to show ho nover meant m occupy the run or pay the rent. nu t M Hume kept possession. Mr. Pharazyn tried to sell his chum to Mr. Hume ; fi rst £2OO, then coming down to £lOO. R t) ' n ® tried to make money by that very “trafl’ick'' lB inruns, as it marketable commodity," wh'f Mr. Fox declared the regulations were intend cd to prevent. Mr. Hume, however, was not to be taken in by the grasping Auditor of the public accounts, but, through Mr Tatv„ pealed to an impartial tribunal for j ustic and got it. ’

A pretty picture of these stuck-up, i rre , proacliable statesmen, who profess to'be the only upright as well as clever men in the Province ! Dr. Featherston, without an! right to do so, appoints his “ colleague" M,. Fox to that most important office ; the holder of which can, by his sole word and pen ruin the worldly prospects of any dealer in n occupier of the public lands. Mr. Fox ' known to be a violent political partizan whoso continually offensive personalities of both speech and writing prove his readiness to persecute, however meanly, a political oppon ent. He decides a case in a manner which would have ruined a political opponent on the ground that the regulations are intended to prevent trafficking in runs. But a brother official and red hot Featherstonite, the Audi tor of the public accounts, takes advantage of the decision to try, by trafficking in runs, to screw a considerable sum of money out of the opponent who would have been ruined. And Mr. Fox tries to prevent any appeal from his decision.

If this is not the only instance, and if the management of the public lands has been thus unjustly and arbitrarily used in many other cases during the last two jears, the public will not wonder at the reluctance of Dr. FeaTHEltsroN to see such a powerful engine re. moved out of the hands of his political accom'. plices. It is time, indeed, that this immense power should be taken away from those who use it with such monstrous injustice. The effect of the Judge’s decision is, certainly, that all acts done by Mr. Fox, as Land Commissioner, between his appointment in September, 1850, and the warrant appointing him in June, 1857, are illegal and invalid, It goes further. It expresses a doubt whether “ his powers as an acting Crown Land Com. missioner have ever existed." It is, therefore, quite likely that all acts done by him for the last two years, have been illegal and good-for-nothing. A pretty state of confusion is likely to ensue ! Nor, so far as we can judge, has Dr. Featherston now any means of remedy, ing his mistake. Mr. Bell, it appears, has never been removed from the office. The “ Waste Lands Act, 1850,” which gave Dr. Featherston power to remove Mr. Bell, and appoint Mr. Fox in his place, has been disallowed, and is no longer law. Now let the people look to it 1 There is no Council sitting, <o refuse Mr. Fox a salary for an office which he has never legally held. Dr. Featherston has prorogued it, finding such refusals likely to be inconvenient. Mr. Fox, although declared out of office by the Judge, has been receiving, and would still be able to receive, £5OO a year from the public chest by the hands of Dr. Featherston and Mr. Woodward, if no one interfered. It is to prevent such terrible wrongs to the public, that Mr. Wakefield has applied to the Supreme Court for an injunction to restrain Dr. Featherston from spending any more public money without the authority of law. We understand that the application will be heard to-morrow.

£5OO a year to a pretended Land Commissioner (Mr. Fox) who decides so as to injure political opponents and enable a political accomplice to ask them for money 1 £2OO a-year to ,* tho Auditor (Mr. Pharazyn) who tried to | profit by the transaction 1 £3OO a-ycar to the ! Lawyer(Mr Brandon) by whose “ responsible” advice one political accomplice was illegally appointee! to a pretended Commissionership by another ! £6OO a-year to the lighting, dodging Superintendent, whose boasted “policy” consists of these kind of manoeuvres ! All these salaries are put down in the Estimates, but have not been passed by the Council. If the Council were sitting, they would have to bo considered. Dr. Featherston prorogues the Council, and asks the Governor to dissolve it. In the meanwhile, it is by such “policy" as that described above, that he hopes to be reelected, and to get the Council filled with a majority of servile, greedy, lick-spittles, who would hold their tongues about such transactions, provided they picked up enough crumbs. Docs not all this want Radical Reform?