56

NELSON GOVERNMENT GAZETTE.

been my boast that I was a plain speaker, and on
this occasion I desire to speak plainly, and to be
plainly understood. When the present Government
took office, they knew they were so doing under a
Superintendent to whom they were politically unac-
ceptable. They knew they were taking office to
supplant an Executive superciliously chosen by the
Superintendent, to carry out a policy opposed to
his own views, and probably with good-will
from every Government officer who could oppose us
without departing from his ordinary line of duty by
showing it. We had to encounter an opposition
which was fermented from one end of the
Province to the other. Every attempt of ours
to advance the interests of the Province
was spoken of as an injury. To such an extent
was this done that some of the friends of the Execu-
tive, in the first instance, felt despondent, and
thought they could never succeed. Sir, the determi-
nation which bound the present Executive together
was a determination to act justly by the Province as
a whole, and to resist anything in the shape of oppo-
sition to the views of the Council, and above all to
carry forward a just and proper retrenchment in the
service. We knew the treasury, and we knew that,
if it were not done, we should not be in a position
financially to meet the views of the Council. I regret
that, owing to the misrepresentations with which we
had to contend, a bad feeling was engendered against
the Government. We had also to meet in Willing-
ton statements that were calculated to injure the
Province—statements which were calculated to injure
the Administration, and to forfeit the respect of
people at a distance. A statement was made by the
member for Nelson City (Mr Curtis) who is also
our Superintendent, to this effect:—"In his
opinion the reductions in the official department of
the Nelson Goldfields which had lately taken place,
were not consistent with the public good, and were
not calculated to the good of the Colony, because it
was certain that for every £1 that was saved at least
£2 would be lost from the Provincial revenue." Sir,
this is a plain statement, and a statement well worthy
the consideration of the Council. Certainly, if the
Executive were guilty of making statements that
would have so injurious an effect the Council should
sit in judgment upon them. But, sir, a statement of
this kind, coming from the Superintendent—the
head of the Executive establishment of the Province
—was calculated seriously to injure and impede the
actions of the Executive with respect to the Provin-
cial officers. We challenge proof for this statement
The time is now past when a statement of that kind
could be made without proof, but it must now either
be supported or fall contradicted to the ground. The
reductions of the Government under work were very
carefully and closely examined into. Those matters
were entrusted to me and I personally visited
every locality where reduction was contemplated,
and having made the necessary inquiries, and studied
the matter carefully, I consulted with the Superintend-
ent before coming to any decision. Sir, words of con-
demnation from people who were guided by personal
feelings only, should not weigh with men who have
the good of the Province at heart. Our action now
stands before the Council, and it is there to see
whether we have done right or wrong; whether we
are able to justify our action now, or whether our
accounts will be able to prove us in the wrong, has to be
settled. Sir, it is a matter that it is not here a
question of Responsible Government or Independent
Government, but a question as to whether the Execu-
tive have done wrong, which seriously affects
the public interests. The exact words of the Super-
intendent are "they were not consistent with the
public good, and were not conducive to the good of
the Colony." His honor explains that the reason
why he did not take action in this matter was because
in the administration of affairs ordinarily he left
matters to the Executive. Sir, he said that! I
think he should rather have waited the re-ult of
what action we spoke in condemnation of it. Of
course, it is well known to members of this Council
that, when taking office myself, I had a very great
difficulty to deal with, in consequence of a hotly con-
tested election in which I opposed the present
Superintendent; I determined to allow no party

feeling to disturb the administration of affairs.
But from the day on which I took office there was an
organization in existence in which both officials and
Superintendent were supposed to be the leading
men to work against us. Seeing that was the case, I
ask the Council to consider the difficulties of our
position. We acknowledged the high position
in which the Superintendent was placed, we treated
him with the respect that was due to his position,
always gave his position due weight, and when
matters came up for the consideration of the Execu-
tive the members took their seats there, not
with a view to party spirit, but with a view to hear
each other\'s opinion in that truth might
be arrived at. There was one occasion which has
been referred to, when the Executive are said
to have differed very much from the Superintendent.
It was in the matter of the expenditure of the
£50,000 advanced to the Province, in that matter
the position the Executive took is certainly the one
which the Province is at the present. The loan of
£50,000 was sanctioned by the General Assembly to be
expended on certain works in this Province. The
Executive took estimates of this work; they an-
sidered that a large number of unemployed people
were at the other end of the road line. It was
notified by the Executive that the work should be
commenced upon both ends, but the Superintendent
desired that it should not be so. He said
definitely that that course should be com-
menced only on the Nelson side. It was repre-
sented to him that this would be a return
to an old policy, and that Nelson had no right to
expect such unfair advantage, as that it apparently
would be all in Nelson and none in other parts of
the country; the present Executive were in office
to do even justice to all parts of the Province, and
besides, for the sake of economy such work must be
done to enable to commence operations on both sides
and proceed with the work vigorously. However,
after a display of authority the proposals
made in the first instance by the Executive
were carried out, and one of the members—the
in some way—was to the extent that the work
has been commenced at both ends, and in
order to show the desire of the Executive to be fair
(that Nelson and all parts of the Province should
receive equal benefit) a division was made by which
part of the money was to be expended on one side,
according to the Engineer\'s estimate, and part on the
other. That left no ground for grumbling, and yet I
was intimidated to hear that an accusation is made against
the Executive to the effect that they dealt unjustly
with the interests of Nelson. I think, sir, that the
capital of a Province such as Nelson may well rest its
future prosperity upon the advancement of the Pro-
vince, not upon the perpetual greed or selfishness that
would make it hateful to the rest; such
a policy shall never receive my support, nor
I believe, that of any other member of the
Executive. While referring to the expendi-
ture of this £50,000, I may inform the members of the
Council that the Loan Bill that was brought down
in the General Assembly last year was not carried,
but—thanks to the members of the House of Repre-
sentatives from this Nelson Province, thanks to the
General Assembly, thanks to the General Assembly
the—Province of Nelson was not entirely for-
gotten. Indeed, I think the Province of Nelson this
year has received more consideration than in any
previous year from the General Assembly. With
the £50,000 loan, the whole we have a plan to pay
to pay 5 per cent, interest and 1 per cent.
sinking fund, we have also had £8000 voted
for expenditure on road works in the Province. The
estimates for the expenditure of this money
were sent in by the Provincial Government, who
recommended that £1000 should be spent on a road
in the Takaka Valley. This was intended to assist the
settlers and the Road Board in that locality, to make
a road that would open out the Valley and enable
land proprietors to bring their timber to the market,
I am glad to say that that road is rapidly approaching
completion, and the benefits that will be derived
from it will be great. The expenditure of £2000
was also recommended on a road to connect Reefton
with the main road through the Grey Valley. This