336
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

has to be brought into operation, and appointments
made under its provisions, that will exercise a per-
manent influence on the due administration of the
Act, and on the management of the waste lands of
the Crown in Otago. Second. A new Executive has
been chosen by your Honor, and of the views of its
members regarding the administration of the Land Act
we are ignorant. Third. It is of the utmost impor-
tance, we believe, that land should be set aside for
occupation by settlers on the deferred payments
system, and the Provincial Council ought to be con-
sulted as to the locality, character, and quantity of
the land so to be set aside. Your Honor and the
Executive Council have, moreover, no power to
open any land not at present open for sale
for settlement under this system. Fourth. There
is, we believe, an urgent necessity for at once
bringing the Highway Boards Empowering Act into
operation in the Province, and this can only be done
by a resolution of the Provincial Council. Fifth.
It was understood by the Council, last session, that a
meeting should be held immediately after the proro-
gation of the Assembly, so that in future the meetings
of the Council might always be held immediately
after the Assembly had been prorogued. Sixth. A
sum of money has been voted by the Assembly for
subsidies to the Road Boards: this was not calculated
on by the Provincial Council at its last sitting, and
consequently no resolutions were passed as to the
manner in which it should be distributed.

We are, &c.,

[C.]

Superintendent's Office,
Dunedin, 5th December, 1872.

SIR,-Referring to the request signed by yourself
and twenty-six members of the Provincial Council, to
the effect that I should convene an immediate meet-
ing of the Council, I have now to express my regret
that, after duly considering the reasons adduced by
you for such a step, I am unable to concur with you
in the matter. The considerations which influence
me in arriving at this decision, are embodied in general
terms in the correspondence which passed between
two of the members of the late Executive and myself,
a copy of which is hereto annexed. As regards the
specific reasons urged by you as demanding an
immediate meeting of the Council, I observe that
much stress is put on the initiation of the new Land
Act, which, it is presumed, means chiefly the appoint-
ment of the Waste Land Board. I venture to sub-
mit, however, that the appointment referred to is an
Executive function, and does not require the action of
the Provincial Council. You state that you are
ignorant of the views of my present responsible
advisers as to the administration of the Land Act.
I have much pleasure in expressing my assurance
that these gentlemen are fully alive to the responsi-
bility which devolves upon them in this matter, and
that, in advising the appointments in question, the
grand aim will be to select those who are most
likely to administer the Act unbiassed by party feel-
ing-men who will administer it in a spirit of fairness,
equity, and independence, without favour or affection
to any one particular class in the community more
than another. The following extract from the letter
of the Provincial Treasurer, defining the conditions
on which he agreed to join the Executive, may be
taken as an expression of the views of his colleagues
on the subject. Mr. Turnbull wrote as follows:-

"To give the new land law which will shortly come
into operation a fair trial, and to endeavour to get
the Waste Land Board composed of competent and
unprejudiced men, likely to administer the Act fairly
and impartially towards every interest throughout
the Province."

As regards the setting aside of land for occupa-
tion on deferred payments, which requires the joint
action of the Provincial Council and Executive, it is
obvious that no action on the subject can be taken
until the Statute comes into operation. You may
rely upon it that no unnecessary delay will intervene
before bringing the provisions of the Act into force.
Should it be found expedient to place land in the
market on deferred payments, before the Provincial
Council meets, there is an express provision in the
47th section of the Act whereby this can be done. I
am not aware that there is any such urgent necessity
for bringing the Highway Boards Empowering Act
into operation, as would warrant the convening of a
special session of the Provincial Council for that
purpose. It was competent for the Council,
at its last session, to have passed a resolution bring-
ing this Act into operation. With regard to alter-
ing the date of the annual session of the Provincial
Council, so as that it shall be held immediately after the
session of the General Assembly, I am not prepared
to say that such an arrangement might not be
advantageous. At the same time, it involves many
important considerations, both pro and con, and I
should not feel warranted in altering the exist-
ing arrangement, except upon a deliberate expres-
sion of opinion on the part of the Council. As
respects the distribution of the money voted by the
Assembly for subsidies to Road Boards, "The Pay-
ments to Provinces Act, 1872," provides for this.
(See sec. 11).

It is proposed during the present year to subsidize
local rates to the extent of two pounds to one under
similar regulations, with certain modifications, to
those which have hitherto been in force, a proposal
which, I venture to think, will be generally acceptable.
I have only further to express a hope that on re-
consideration, my action in this matter may com-
mend itself to your judgment, and that it will be
conceded that responsibilities attach to the Superin-
tendent as well as to the Provincial Council—
responsibilities which, in the present case, lead him
to the conclusion that it is inexpedient to convene the
Council much before the usual time, unless some
unforeseen emergency should occur.

I have, &c.,

J. MACANDREW,
Superintendent of Otago.

Memorandum for His Honor the Superintendent.

Provincial Secretary's Office,
15th November, 1872.

WE the undersigned members of your Executive
present our compliments to your Honor, and, in
consequence of the present unsatisfactory state of
affairs, advise your Honor to call a meeting of the
Provincial Council at the earliest possible date.

W. H. CUTTEN,
Acting Provincial Secretary and Treasurer.
J. B. BRADSHAW,
Secretary for Public Works and Gold Fields.

16th November, 1872.

GENTLEMEN,-In reply to your memorandum of
yesterday's date, in which you advise me to call a
meeting of the Provincial Council at the earliest
possible date, in consequence of "the present unsatis-
factory state of affairs," I have to observe that, in as
far as the public interests are concerned, affairs are
not more unsatisfactory than usual, but, on the con-
trary, the departmental business of the Province is
being promptly attended to. The Executive Go-
vernment, as you are aware, is using every exertion
to give effect to the votes and resolutions of the
Provincial Council at its last session; and, notwith-
standing the increasing demand for labour, will, I