PETITION FOR SEPARATION.

West Coast Times, Issue 591, 16 August 1867, Page 4

PETITION FOR SEPARATION.

TO THE HONORABLE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN THE COLONY OF NEW ZEALAND, IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED.

The Humble 'Petition of the Undersigned Registered Electors, Electors, and other Inhabitants of the District of Westland, in the Province of Canterbury, Respectfully Sheweth :

That the Westland District of tho Province of Cantei'bury, extending from the Dividing Range to the ocean, and bounded on the North by the River Grey, and on the South by the boundary of the Province of Otago, comprises a computed area of Tno Millions Seven Hundred Thousand Acres, having a coast lino two hundred and ten miles in length, and

an average breadth of twenty miles,

That tho District contains nine navigable rivers, and twenty-nine reserved townships, amongst which may bo named as the most important JSoMtiJca, G-reymouth, Waimea, Stafford Town, Ross, Kanieri, Rutlitrglen, and Okarita, at which sittings of Wardens and Resident Magistrate's Courts are regularly held.

That Westland has been constituted a Judicial District, in which sittings of tho Supreme Court of the Colony are held three times in the year ; and that a Resident District Judge has also been appointed to it, and that regular sittings of the District Court are held at Hokitika and Greymouth.

That the District of Westland was fh\-t practically opened to settlement on the discovery, iti the year 1864, of rich auriferous deposits ; and that it has since continued to support a large mining and trading population.

That the present population of tho District is estimated by your Petitioners, aftor due enquiry, in the absence of official census returns, at not less than fifty thousand persons.

That since the opening up of the Goldfields in such District, the total value of the exports from the two ports of Hokitika and Greymouth, which have been regularly cleared at the Custom House up to the 30th June last, amounted to £4,085,512 sterling, yielding a revenue in tho shape of export duty of £127,694; the quantity of gold shipped being 1,021,553 ozs., or forty-two-and-a-half tons weight. That the Import duties for the same period amounted to £322,592.

That tho Registered Tonnage of Vessels, entered in at tiie two ports within the same period, was 283,665 tons. That up to the 30th June last, the gross sum paid into tho Treasury in the shape of Fees for Btisiness Licenses, Miners' Rights, Publicans Licenses, Spirit and Auctioneers' Licenses, Sfc, amounted to £76,403 os.

That the, total amount of moneys contributed by Westland to the Public Revenues of the Colony from all sources, up to the present time, cannot be set down at less than £600,000.

That the town of Hokitika, which has beou created a Municipality, with a Mayor and Corporation, has a rateable property of the assessed value of £93,204.

That the town of Greymouth, inhabited by v large, energetic and thriving population, depends for its prosperity, not entirely upon the large amount of gold raised in that district, having a seam of the finest coal in its immediate vicinity, for the working of -jvhiuh a company has-reeently been formed with a capital of £30,000 ; and that in all probability the working of this coal mine will not only prove a remunerative speculation to the company, but will likewise afford profitable employment to a large number of persons, and will contribute very greatly to increase tho trade of the district.

That with the exception of cattle and sheep driven overland from East Canterbury, the whole of tho supplies necessary for tho consumption of the largo population of Westland are received by the seaboard, being brought from the Australian colonies and the neighboring provinces of New Zealand to the two ports of Hokitika and Greymouth ; and that the largo shipmonts of stock constantly arriving by sea reuder tho district to a great extent independent in that particular also of the eastern part of tho province. That mining for gold, although the most important, has ceased to be tho only industrial pursuit in Wes>tland, tho oonstant opening up of extensive and prosperous diggings having stimulated manufacturing enterprise, whilst a large extent of laud ha 3 been already brought under cultivation, with results which fully establish the fertility of tho soil, and its capability of bearing crops equal, if not superior, to those of any other district of the colony ;

and your petitioners are convinced that the adoption of a system of Land Regulations that shall provide for the sale of Crown Lands on conditions effectually protecting the interests of the minor, is alone necessary to secure a large population of settlers permanently attached to the soil.

That making every allowance for the migratory habits of a mining population, a very largo proportion of the inhabitants of the District have permanently settled in it, and a strong desire is, and has been for a length of time, manifested to purchase both town and agricultural lands.

That the long "delay which has taken place in the sale of tho town lands of Hokitika, Greymouth, and Okarita, has been a source of great complaint and dissatisfaction, and that, had the opportunity of purchase been afforded, the lands in the whole of these towns would have been occupied as freeholds.

That large and costly buildings have been erected by men of business, whose interests are permanently identified with the District, and that a large amount of capital is lying idle owing to the want of the opportunity of investment in freehold security. That the Revenues of Westland, derived from sources hereinbefore specified, have hitherto defrayed, ar.d are amply sufficient to continue to defray, all the costs and charges of Local Administration, and of all necessary Public Works within the District.

That Hokitika, the local seat of administration in Westland, is distant from Christchurch, the capital of tho Province, by the mountain road connecting the two towns, one hundred and fifty miles ; the through-journey occupying two days under favorable circumstances. And this road is frequently rendered impassable for many days together, by the flooded state of the rivers, by violent' snow-storms, and by the interruptions arising from the falling of trees and other accidents ; whilst telegraphic communication is often interrupted from the same causes, and tho whole District of Westland consequently becomes completely isolated, for the time being, from the present seat of Government.

That Eastland and Westland are separated by a lofty mountain range, which extends from the Northern to the Southern Boundary of the Province, forming a natural barrier between the two Districts, wholly debarring the inhabitants of either side of the range from carrying on any ovei-land traffic in home produce or general merchandise with those of the other side ; whilst the great facilities possessed by Westla nd for easy and constant communication with the different parts of New Zealand and of the Auotralian Colonies, render it utterly impracticable for the inhabitants of Eastland to compete with tho intersolonial and interprovincial trade caeried on with the port above alluded to.

That the interests and resources of the Eastern and Western portions of the Province are in evcy respect dissimilar ; the prosperity of Eastland depending upon the success of its pastoral and agricultural interests ; its chief wealth consisting of sheep and cattle, which are for the greater part the property of Inrge stockowners ; the principal export of Eastland being wool.

That Westland, on the other hand, must at least for a considerable time to come, depend mainly upon the apparently eshaustless mineral resources of the country, and upon the export of gi LI.

That this complete diversity of interests has on all occasions bpen recognised by the Provincial Council of Canterbury ; as iv a majority of cases distinct legislation has been found necessary to meet the exigencies of cases daily arising in Westland, for the requirements of which District the Canterbury Provincial Ordinances are generally found to be utterly unsuited and inapplicable. Your petitioners \i ould refer to the " Westland Public House Ordinance," the "Westland Board of Education Ordinance," and others, the action of which is limited by special provision to the Western portion of the Province, whilst many othei-3 are so admittedly inapplicable to Westland, that special clauses have been introduced in them, limiting their ojjeratious to " that part of the Province of Canterbury situate to tho east; of the Dividing Range."

That the Provincial Council have further acknowledged the peculiar and exceptional position of Westland, by establishing and upholding the principle of keeping tho accounts of Eastland and Westland distinct-and separate — tho Westland Estimates during three sessions having been considered and passed, entirely distinct and apart from those of Eastland. That the present representation of the district of Westland, in the Provincial Council of Canterbury, is utterly disproportioned to its comparative population, resources, and contributions to the Revenue ; Westland sending only five Members to represent a population estimated at 50,000, a large majority of whom are male adults ; while Eastland with a population scarcely if at all superior, returns thirty-nine members.

That as a further proof of the undue proportion of Enstland Members, your petitioners would call the attention of your Honorable House to the fact, that five Members representing Easlland constituencies — a number equal to the total representation of Westland — are elected by the aggregate votes of 233 Electors only ; and that from the nature of the miners' qualification for voting, ' a very large proportion of the entire population of Westland possesses the Electoral Franchise — no miner being allowed to pursue his calling or to hare any standing in a Court of Law ■where mining interests and disputes are adjudicated upon, unless he is the holder of a miner's right, the possession of which for a period of six months constitutes Ins electoral qualification.

That tho very great ignorance in regard to the exceptional position and peculiar requirements of the District displayed by the majority of the representatives of Eastern constituencies, on aLI occasions when any measures affecting the special interests of Westland are under discussion in the Council, has not only produced a considerable amount of confusion, but as your Petitioners believe, has caused many Members to vote against measured which, had they been better informed, they would in all probability have supported.

That owing to this disproportionate representation, the Westland Estimates have been mutilated to such an extent, that thero is little possibility of the Government of the District being curriod on during the next nine months, unless by an evasion of the Audit Act. '

That all votes for Public "Works, the construction of Roads, &c, which in a newly settled country are matters of vital importance to its progress, have been reduced aud cut Jown in a manner which justifies youi? Petitioners in anticipating the' wo<*se results. That these votes were reduced under the pretext that a rigid economy was necessary, in consequence of the existing financial depression of the Province; and that your Petitioners are fully justified in stating that this depression exists in the Eastern side of tho Province only, and has beeu caused to a great extent by tho lavish and useless expenditure in that part of the Province, on certain of tho Public Works thero, which when completed, have been found to bo for the greater part entirely unsuilud to the purpose for which they were intended.

That the estimated Revenues of Westlund for the present yoar were fully sufficient to cover the expenditure asked for by the representatives of the District in the Provincial Council, notwithstanding which fact the Pro-

vincial Council, after reducing by one-half the original vote proposed of L 30.000 for Public Roads and Tracks for Westland, refused to place upon the Supplementary Estimates the sum of LIO.OOO for that purpose in Westland, although they inconsistently passed two sums, representing in the aggregate L 23,000, for Eastland, in addition to other sums previously granted during tho same Session for similar purposes; thus improperly and unjustly depriving Westlaad of its own sources of Rovenue for the pui-pose of expending the same on works for the benefit of Eastland.

That the administration of the local Revenues of Westland could be much more economically effected under the supervision of a local Government — the present system, so antagonistic to the true interests of the District, having involved a loss of many thousands of pounds of public money. That the departmental expenses on the West Coast amount to no less than seventyfive per cent of the total sum voted on the Estimates for the public service of the District, and that your Petitioners believe that the only means of effectually checking such an undue proportion of expenditure is the local administration of the Revenues.

That whilst no portion whatever of the proceeds of the Provincial Loans has been exponded on this part of the Province, a very undue proportion of the cost of constructing the overland road between Christchurch and Hokitika has been debited to the Westland District.

That the construction of this road, which was formed without tenders being called for, was never asked for, but on the other hand, always protested against by the people of this District, and that any benefits conferred by it have been altogether disproportioned to the share of the cost that has been charged against Westland.

That the Provincial Government, in consequence of the failure to dispose of their Debentures on terms which it was deemed prudent to accept, have largely overdrawn their account at the Bank of New Zealand, and that it has been erroneously alleged that a sum bearing a large proportion to the overdraft is due by Westland as a debt to the Provincial chest. That the representatives of this District have repeatedly and persistently protested against the equity of this charge against the District, at the same time avowing the desire of the people of Westland to bear any fair proportion of the alleged debt that may be allocated to the District, after due and impartial investigation That the Provincial Council have repeatedly been urged to take the proper measures to get tins long disputed question finally adjusted but without effect.

That during tho last session of Council a resolution was carried to the purport that it was expedient that an adjustment should be made, but that no subsequent action was taken upon this motion. , That the General Estimates of Expenditure for the nine months ending the 31st March next, originally submitted to the House by the Provincial Government, contained an item of L7OOO as interest upon the bank overdraft ; and that by a subsequent vote of the House, on division, in which your petitioners' representatives were in a very small minority, the gross siun of interest on the overdraft was inconsistently and improperly transferred to the Estimates for Westland. That your petitioners verily believe that that vote was adopted, not from the conviction of the majority of the Council that it was equitable, but from a spirit of hostility to the district, which leaves no hope for the future of its interests being equitably dealt with.

That a further instance of the gross injustice to which Westland has been subjected, is to be seen in the establishment, some time since, of an overland Escort between Hokitika and Christchurch, against the expressed wish of the inhabitants of this district, who from the first saw such a measure to be absurdly impracticable and useless, and which escort never carried a single ounco of gold. A vote of the Council, however, made Westland alone responsible for tho entire cost thereof, viz., LIO.OOO.

That the utter indifference shown ou all occasions by the Provincial Government to the repeated requests of the people of Westland for protection to private enterprise in the prosecution of Public Works, such as Tramways, has been accompanied by the most disastrous results, inasmuoh as the absence of all protection has prevented the investment of a large amount of Capital in the construction of such works, which if carried out would be of immense benefit to the district, and upon the prosecution of which the development of its interests very greatly depends.*

That, as indicating the hostile feeling of the Provincial Council towards the District, your Petitioners would direct the attention of your Honorable House, not only to the mischievous reduction in tho Estimates for Public Works and Roads to which they have already referred, but, further, to the resolution adopted by the Council absolutely prohibiting the Miner from a right of entry upon any Rural or Suburban Lands alienated from the •Crown. And your Petitioners woidd submit that a reservation in favor of Mining, similar to that of the present Land Act of Victoria, *would, without interfering with the title to the land, or with the interests of the owner, largely tend to developo the resources of the country, and at the same time prevent that ! decrease of the Revenue, which must inevitably occur in the event of the lands being sold without the reservation referred to. Your Petitioners would further call the attention of your Honorable House to the fact, that a Commission appointed by his Honor the Superintendent of Canterbury, strongly recommended in their Report, that a reservation in favor of Mining should be made in connection with all lands sold in Westland, whiuh recommendation was entirely ignored by the Provincial Council.

That the recent appointment of a Goldfields Secretary — which appointment has not yet been gazetted — cannot alter due consideration by your Petitioners, be accepted as a measure calculated to afford them redress of the grievances of which they compltin; inasmuch as there is no provision made in the " Executive Council Ordinance, 1864," which Ordinance is still in operation, for any Officer entitled a Goldfields Secretary, as a Member of the Executive, the Ordinance distinctly stating that all thn salaried officers, holding a seat in the Executive, shall be — Ist. A Provincial Secretary — 2nd. A Secretary of Public Works — 3rd. A. Provincial Solicitor, and 4th. A Provincial Treasurer. The Goldfields Secretary cannot therefore take his seat in the Executive.

That the Representatives of your Petitioners attempted to overcome the difficulty alluded to, by , the introduction of an " Incentive Council Ordinance, 1864," Amendment Bill 1867 ; which Bill contained provisions for the GoldfielJs Secretary holding a seat in tho Executive, and a seat on the Government Benches. That this Bill the members of the Government declared their intention of opposing in all its stages, the result being that the Bill was by vote of the Council not allowed to bo read a first timo. Your Petitioners are therefore justified iv arriving at the conclusion that the Government do not intend to mako the Goldfields Secretary a Responsible Officer.

That even did not such legal difficulty stand in the way, tho appointment of such an Officer would still bo most unsatisfactory to your Petitioners, no security being afforded them that he will be a Member of the Provincial Council ; or that if he be-

he can do any more than any other Member of the Exetutive Council; and your Petitioners firmly believing that no Ministry would receive the confidence of the Provincial Council, which included a Secretary for the Goldfields, whose policy was favorable to the interests of this District. That, indeed, tho manifestations of a fixed hostility towards Westland on the part of the Provincial Council of Canterbury have become so marked, that your Petitioners are porsuaded that the maintenance in office of a responsible Goldfields Secretary would prove impracticable. That your Petitioners have hitherto re- x framed from petitioning your Honorable House for , Separation from the Province of Canterbury from a hope that the rising importance of the District would secure for it a more just, honorable, and equitable legislation ; and from a faith long clung to, in the promises of just and consistent government made to your Petitioners, especially in the pledge often repeated, that the whole of the revenues raised within the District should be expended within it, in pursuance of the 53rd, 54th, and 55th sections of the " Goldfields' Act, 1866," and of section 3 of the " Gold Duty Act, 1858." That the experience of your petitioners has convinced them that no such expectations can be longer entertained, and that no. resource is left to this District but absolute and immediate Separation. That by section 3, of the " Gold Duty Act, 1858," it is provided. "That the revenues arising from such duty shall not be deemed to be Customs Revenue within the meaning of the 'Ordinary Revenue Act, 1858 j' but ifc shall be lawful for the Governor to defray thereout all the expenses authorised for the Government of the Goldfields, and the surplus if any, shall be deemed and taken to be revenue arising from the disposal aad occupa--tion of the Waste Lands of the Crown within the province in which such Goldfields are situated. And by sections 53, 54, and 55, of the ' Goldfields Act, 1866,' it is further provided that all rents, royalties, and Fees receivable under the latter Act, shall for all purposes be deemed to be revenue and receipts arising from the sale, letting, disposal, aud occupation of the Waste Lands of the Crown, and shall be chargeable in the first instance with all the costs, charges, and expenses of carrying the Act into execution." That on making his Financial Statement to the Provincial Council, on bringing down the Estimates of Expenditure for the nine months ending 31st March, 1868, the Provincial Secretary announced the intention of the Go* vernment to be, to deal with the whole Goldfields revenue of the district -of Westland as Territorial Revenue, and to appropriate twofifths of it to the Railway and Harbor Works Account of the province, under the provisions of the " Railway and Harbor Works Fund Ordinace, 1864." That it was distinctly shown to the satisfaction of the Provincial Council, that such an alteration of the Gold Revenue was absolutely illegal, under the clauses of the " Gold Duty Act, 1858," and the " Goldfields Act, 1866," above recited. That in consequence of its pi'oved illegality the proposal was abandoned. That your Petitioners verily believe that the main purpose of the large and most disastrous reductions made in the votes set down in the Estimates under the head of Public Works and Roads, to which the attention of your honorable house has already been respectfully called, was improperly to create a surplus of revenue over expenditure, within the meaning of section 3 of the " Gold Duty Act, 1858," to be treated as Territorial Revenue, out of which two-fifths (estimated to amount for the current financial year to no less a sum than £26,000) might be transferred to the Railway and Harbor Works Account.

That in the Estimates, either as originally submitted, or as finally passed by the Provincial Council, no item appears of any public work to be constructed in Westland, to be paid for out of the said Harbor and Railway Works Fund.

That your Petitioners respectfully submit that they have just cause of complaint at the forced application, for selfish, purposes by the majority of the Provincial Council of Canterbury, of provisions of Acts passed by your honorable House which were never intended to bear such an interpretation. Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that your honorable House will cause an Act of the General Assembly to be passed in pursuance of the " New Provinces Act, 1865," establishing a new Province in the District of Westland, to be named the Province of Westland, on the ground that all and every the conditions prescribed by the " New Provinces Act, 1858," are fulfilled in manner following, that is to say — First, — That the memorial of your Petitioners is signed by at least one hundred and fifty registered electors, being not less than three-fifths of the registered electors, and a vast number of persons entitled to vote for members of the Provincial Council of Christchui'ch, inclusive of persons of the native race. Second — That a sufficient description of the boundaries of the District proposed to be comprised within such new Province is contained in the said petition. Third — That there is at the present time a population of hona fide residents -within the limits of the proclaimed boundaries of Hokitika alone (being within an area of not exceeding one million of acres, as prescribed by ths said Act at least three thousand five hundred souls, exclu-. sive of aboriginal natives, or of any military serving in the colony of New Zealand. Fourth — That there is'also within the limits of such district a town, being the Town of Hokitika, which can be constituted the capital of the said Province, as well as a port appertaining thereto, from which the greater part in value of the exported produce of the district is shipped for exportation beyond the seas, and also shipped coastwise, and into which port of Hokitika the greater part (with the exception of cattle driven overland, from the Christchurch district) of the imported commodities consumed within such district, are brought into the same coastwise, or imported from beyond the seas. Fifth — That no point of the boundary of the said district is within Sixty miles measured in a right line, from the capital town of the Province, being the city of Christchurch in the Province of Canterbury. Sixth — That the area of tho said district contains by computation about two millions seven hundred thousand acres, and

does not exceed three millions of acres.

Seventh — That the said district does not comprise any part of more than one Province.

Your Petitioners therefore earnestly and respectfully pray that your honorable House will, in pursuance of the "New Provinces Act, 1865," without delay, cause an Act of tho General Assembly to be passed, declaring the said district to be n m v w Province as aforesaid, for the purpose of i-clioving your petitioners from the gross injustice and numex'ous vexatious liinrlr.iiiccs under which your petitioners arc, and h i\c been for a longtime past, laboring, and n hich alone have retarded the District of Westland from becoming oue of the most, if not the most prosperous district of Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand. And your Petitioners, a* in duty bound, will ever pray.