PECULIAR BUSINESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3006, 25 October 1911, Page 32

PECULIAR BUSINESS.

PUBLIC MONEY IN SOUTHLAND. FOR PRIVATE BENEFITS. MR MASSEY RIGHT AGAIN. CFeom Otjb Own Cobrespondent.) WELLINGTON, October 20. A peaceful discussion upon the Public Works Estimates was interrupted at an early hour this morning, when Mr Massey 'advanced a charge that three items of* expenditure would benefit private individuals and not the public. The Minister in charge of the Estimates admitted the validity of the charge, and stated that expenditure on the items mentioned had been stopped. The votes mentioned by Mr Massey were : —Black Creek channel (Southland), £200; Winton., block 111, eection 12, outfall drain (Southland), £SO; Winton Hundred, sections 1 and 7, outfall drain, Mallard's (Southland), £SO. The Hon. R. M'Kenzie admitted that there was a certain amount of truth in the statement made by Mr Massey. He must have been well informed, because two of these works had been stopped. Representations had been made to him that this money was being spent on private property. The matter was under investigation at the present time, and work had been stopped in both ca«es._ Mi Massey remarked that some, inquiries were required as to the engineer or the officer who had recommended that these items should be placed on the Estimates. These were two votes which, according to his information, were placed on the Public Works Estimates for the purpose of benefiting private individuals, and not for the public benefit at all. Mr Massey next asked what about the Black Creek vote (£200). The Minister said that had been stopped .too. Sir Joseph Ward remarked that he understood that the. Opposition candidate in Awarua had been in communication with Mr . Massey. He had said so. Mr Massey : I won't contradict Mr Hamilton's statement. '.;

The Prime Minister added that on receiving a communication about this matter he J?*d immediately taken steps as member for the district to have the vote struck off. 1 One of them had not been applied for from his district at.all, but from another district, by another member. In the, other case he had been advised that what was called a public vote, was for a private road. On learning this he took immediate steps to have it struck off. He had not at any time applied for public money to be used for the benefit of any man's private property. He would take an opportunity of dealing with the matter when he was on the spot. He added that the gentleman who had notified the Leader of the Opposition had taken round Mr Massey's letter to a number of people and shown it to them, although it was marked private. Mr Massey said he was not going to give away the name of his informant, but it was perfectly evident that .the information was correct.

The Prime Minister replied that he had asked the department to stop the votes immediately. To a remark by the Prime Minister that the Leader of the Opposition had visited his electorate, Mi Massey replied that if the Prime Minister suggested that he (Mr Massey) had gone about his electorate looking for trouble of this sort he had done nothing of the kind; When he was passing through from Riverton to Invercargill he was informed that public money was being spent on a private drain. Information came to him later in regard to thethree votes. He knew nothing of how they came to be placed on the Estimates, but when there were three votes for the. purpose of benefiting private property in one district it proved conclusively that there was something wrong with the whole system. Nothing would have been heard of the matter if information had not come to him from Southland. It showed that the amendment moved by the member for Wellington North earlier in the evening was justified. If this was going on in one district why not "in every other in the country? There should be some record, something to show that when money was placed on the Estimates for a particular purpose it was used for that purpose. If any engineer recommended votes such as these, then he was not fit for the position which he occupied. The Hon. R M'Kenzie : That is where you are wrong. . Sir Joseph Ward said that the Leader of the Opposition had a perfect right to do what he liked in matters of the kind, but on the face of it it did not look quite too well. He had never at any time endeavoured to have a vote expended in benefiting any man's' private land in his own electorate or anybody else's. Mr Massey : Did the application come from the County Council ?

Sir Joseph Ward : I cannot say. Mr Massey : My information is that it did not. Sir Joseph Ward indicated that possibly the application bad been improperly made by the County Council, of which Mr Massey's informant was a member. In his original remark the Leader of the Opposition had tried to create '' a little scandal."

Mr Massey remarked that letters came to him in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition from all over the- country in regard to irregularities. Scores of letters came to him every week. A vote ha-d been placed on the Estimates for his own electorate of Franklin, not at his request, or at the request of the district local body, but on the application of the Government candidate. The whole system seemed to him to be scandalous. The whole country should be made aware of what was going on. Sir Joseph Ward repeated that inquiries had been made by the Opposition candidate in his district, presumably with

a view to injuring him as a candidate for the district for party purposes. Luckily he had happened to hear of it. As to the Franklin vote, he had been interviewed by a deputation. Anyone in this country had a perfect right to apply to the Government for expenditure in any portion of New Zealand. The Hon. R. M'Kenzie etated that one of his best engineers, in whom he had every trust, had recommended one of these works —a drain. He was confident that this particular item was straigthforward. He had correspondence proving that the Franklin vote, which had been mentioned, had been asked for by a deputation to the Prime Minister, which was introduced by the gentleman who stood against the Leader of the Opposition at last election.

With this the discussion terminated