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find that, although the return is to a large extent of sums such as I have mentioned —7s. 6c1., lis. Bd., £2 45., £13 6s. —there are some of considerable magnitude. I see one of the first items in the return is, " Main roads in Thames County, £4,450." Mr. Macandreav.—Patea County ? Mr Bryce.—l shall have occasion to refer to the county again. I shall have to repeat tlie name several times; so the honorable gentleman aa"ill be sure to remember it. A similar item occurs in reference to a neighbouring county, the County of Coromandel; and there Avas also an expenditure of £465 in an adjoining county —I forget the name, and the amount Avas so small that I did not think it Avorth while to make a note of it. The sum expended from the vote for roads in Native districts in the County of Coromandel Avas £1,400. That is only a small sum; but to the Thames County there has been paid from the same vote —that is, for roads in Native districts—the sum I have already referred to— namely, £4,450. A little further doAvn, I see another sum of £500 for the Thames County; further down still is another sum for the same Thames County —I hope the honorable gentleman has caught the name by this time —of £4,000. Proceeding onwards, I find another item, " Thames County roads, £500," and another small item of £50 for Avork which lam not sure is in the county. But I notice, also, that there are liabilities for the same county —absolute liabilities, inasmuch as everything is in writing and in proper form —there are liabilities of this kind to the extent of £2,600. That makes a total —not within the last year exactly, because these liabilities extend outside the year 1878-79—of £12,050 for the Thames County. I ought to mention that a sum of £500 Avas paid over to the Thames Borough Council; but that is a small sum, hardly worth mentioning. lam not sure Avhether this county can fairly be called a Native district —I understand that it is to some extent a gold fields district; but Avhat I Avish to say is this: that it is impossible that the Native Minister can understand of his OAvn knoAvdeclgc the particular necessity for these special grants for these special purposes, and he is precluded, by the system A\ Thich the management of this department has fallen into, from taking the advice of responsible officers. He has to take the advice of the persons who are soliciting the money. Noav, I ask whether this is a desirable sort of thing. lam referring to these things mainly for the purpose of shoAving that the expenditure of a very large sum of money has passed aAvay most effectually —as effectual^ as it is possible to pass aAvay —from the control of this House. Of course the House votes the money in a lump sum; but it has no control Avhatever over the departmental distribution of the amount. I will noAV go through the expenditure of the department, and slioav that these items are in the same category —that is to say, that they are dependent upon the will of the Native Minister. There are in this colony Native pensioners to the number of 157, avlio receive an aA rerage pension of £36 each; there are also 81 assessors, Avho are mixed up to some extent with the pensioners, and the aA rera»c annual salary of each of these assessors is £43 155.: the total of these two sums is £9,211. There are 81 Native policemen who receive an annual average salary of £16, Avhich gives a total of £1,313; the three items together —for pensioners, assessors, and policemen—making a grand total of £10,524. Noav, I would point out to the House that these pensioners, assessors, and policemen are dependent upon the personal supervision— may I call it ? —of the Native Minister. Although the pensioners are provided for by laAV under the Civil List Act, yet they have been changed about at the will of the Native Minister—that is to say, he can remove one man and put another in, and so on; and it is the same with the assessors. And I would call the attention of the House to the fact that this is a thing that is growing. When Native members are returned to this House they very naturally make requests for the appointment of pensioners, assessors, and policemen; and, so long as the government of this department is continuously dependent upon the personal influence of the Native Minister with the Maoris, such requests cannot be resisted. Ido not care who he is—if a man Avishes to retain his influence with the Maoris he must yield, as a matter of necessity, to such requests. But I put it to the House whether it is desirable that this system should continue. I have slioavu that in