No. X.—Conclusion.—Feb. 13th, 1869.

In some of my former letters I have alluded to the undue influence exercised by members of Parliament on the Lands department, and the evasions of the act which consequently but too frequently take place. At the same time I have been careful to exonerate the officers of that branch of the service from any charge of corrupt influences. Indeed, I may go further, and I have no hesitation in saying that nearly all the officials with whom I became acquainted were almost enthusiastic in the performance of their duties, and appeared to take a personal interest in the success of the page 37 law which they had to administer. That they do not become corrupt is solely due to the high appreciation which they entertain of the responsibilities devolving upon them, and of their own official position. More that one complained to me of the manner in which they are interfered with by members of Parliament. In one case a very pretty swindle was attempted to be worked. A mining company was initiated which wished to obtain possession of a most valuable piece of Crown land, the adjoining lion having been sold but a short time before for several thousand pounds. The district surveyor of course reported against the grant, pointing out all the circumstances of the case, and by some hon. members of Parliament he was told that he had better mind the duties of his office and shut his eyes to what did not concern him. Is it too great a stretch of imagination to suppose that members who would act in this manner would also be prepared to purchase both blindness and silence ? Other cases also came under my notice in which officials were told to take things easy, and not bother the department with reports adverse to the wishes of certain parties or it might be worse for them. Under such circumstances, would it be surprising if the officers who are treated in this manner did neglect their duty or betray their trust I They can make no complaints; they must suffer all this browbeating as best they may, for they well know if they make enemies of some members of Parliament no effort will be spared to effect their removal. The offender in this respect will be most carefully watched, and the slightest error will be so magnified that the head of the department will be almost forced to believe that instead of a trustworthy official, he has a careless and utterly useless servant. There is no other department of the public service in which the officers are so worried, and at times so insulted, by members of Parliament and their friends, and no other which offers such great temptations to dishonest practices. Under these circumstances it is no little credit to these gentlemen that so few allegations have ever been brought against them. Prior to my tour through the country I heard a great deal of the manner in which the Land-office was worked, but was unable to discover the modus operandi. The following cases, however, for the facts of which I can vouch, materially enlightened me, and will, no doubt, prove interesting to the public.

The secretary of one of the most important public institutions on Ballarat desired to obtain possession of a certain portion of valuable land. In the interests of the public his application could not be granted, and it was, therefore, refused. Shortly afterwards a member of the Assembly—wholly unconnected with the district—went to the Land-office and was most persistent in his efforts to obtain for Mr. Secretary the piece of land upon which he had set his heart. The local officials were asked to again report upon the application, and one of them went to Mr. Secretary and asked him if he knew Mr.——, M.L.A., the gentleman who had so interested himself in his behalf. "No," replied Mr. Secretary; "never saw him to my knowledge." "Ah, then," said the acute civil servant," I suppose you employed Mr.——," mentioning a well known agent, thoroughly initiated in all the mysteries of Spargoism—in the matter. Mr. Secretary denied the soft impeachment, but it was afterwards discovered that he had given this agent a blank sheet of paper with his signature at the bottom, and confessed that had he obtained the land he should have had to pay him. Thus was this highly honourable M.L.A. set in motion. Now I suppose I shall be asked to believe that this conscientious representative of the people worried the Minister of Lands, or some of the officials, to do for page 38 Mr. Secretary—a man of whom he knew nothing—the thing they knew to be wrong, out of pure superabundant benevolence. It is satisfactory to know that the worthy trio—the secretary, the agent, and the M.L.A.—were unsuccessful. The department was proof against all their blandishments and they were sent empty away. The superabundant benevolence theory is open to these who choose to believe in it. I prefer the more uncharitable conclusion that even were the M.L.A. as generous as a publican, he would never have acted in such a manner unless he had received or been promised a very substantial quid pro quo. In this instance, had the local officials been remiss in their duties, a grievous wrong would have been inflicted on the public. This circnmstance will serve to illustrate one phase of the little game that at times goes on. Now for another:—

The holders of sawmill and some other licences have, under certain conditions, the right of purchasing a definite portion of land at the upset price, without auction. One of these licensees, residing not many hundred miles from Ballarat, was a short time since, waited upon by an M.L.A. and a notorious land agent, and asked for the loan of his licence or licences, being at the same time informed that anything done by means of them would not interfere with his individual right to select. Believing this statement, he handed over his licences. The M.L.A., and his friend the agent, at once took up a very valuable section of land, which in a short time they disposed of at a profit of some £340. They returned the licences to the owner giving him 40 as his share of the spoil. For the time he was well satisfied, but a month or two afterwards, wishing to select on his own account, he sent the licences in again, and made the necessary application, when to his great surprise, he was politely informed that his claim had been satisfied, and he found himself sold. Belying upon the honour of a member of Parliament, he found himself cruelly deceived, and deprived of the opportunity upon which he relied to procure a comfortable home. No doubt the man was a simpleton to imagine that his licences could be used twice for the same purpose, but this does not lessen the culpability of these who took advantage of his foolishness.

One more instance, of a character somewhat different from either of the two preceding cases, and I have finished with this extremely unpleasant subject. One of the great family of Mac's who is privileged to write J.P. after his name, applied in February, 1865, for a rural store licence for a section of land on Smeaton Plains. To entitle him to a licence of that description at that time it was necessary that he should have made substantial improvements on the allotment. This he had not done. There was no fencing, and only the skeleton of a hut—sans door, sans window, sans floor, sans everything. The licence was refused. In the following April the application was again made before a commission, of which Mr. Ligar was chairman, and again refused; but notwithstanding the refusal the persistent Mac fenced in the land. In August of the same year he again applied, was again refused, ordered to remove off the land, and in the following March was ejected by the police authorities. Shortly after some other persons who occupied a portion of the land by virtue of miners' rights applied for a part of it under the 42nd section. They were also refused, as it was thought the land would be required for the purposes of the water supply to the district, and in August, 1867, Mr. Mac—, J.P., obtained a rural store licence for the section, and in May, 1868, applied for the whole of it under the 42nd section. He was refused, and was page 39 reminded that whatever improvements he had placed on the land, he had put up in defiance of the Land department. At the same time the original applicants were given to understand that if the land was not required for the water supply, they would get it. It was subsequently found that the land was not so wanted, but instead of the original applicants under the 42nd clause obtaining it, Mr. Mac—, J.P., through the interference of a member of Parliament, procured the issue of the licence to himself direct from the department, without having advertised his application, or complied with any of the forms required by the regulation. Before obtaining the licence, this worthy J.P. said there was no objection at all to its issue upon the part of anyone, entirely concealing the fact that there was a cottage erected on the land worth some £250, belonging to one of the original applicants under the clause. Of course, as soon as the facts of the case became known, a vigorous protest was entered against the action of the department. An inquiry was instituted, and the result was adverse to this representative of the Mac's. He, however, still remains in possession, and has given the owners of the cottage notice to quit. Now, in this case, had it not been for the influence used by a member of Parliament, the licence would never have been issued in such an irregular way. I admit that the department may have been deceived by the M.L.A., who in return may have placed too much reliance on the statements of the J.P.; and of their truthfulness some idea may be formed, when he coolly asserts that there is no objection to his obtaining possession of a piece of land on which other persons are residing, and on which they have erected a cottage worth some £250. I trust that justice may soon be done in this matter, and at the same time I may ask, "Is a man who will condescend to such disreputable conduct as this J.P., fit to be intrusted with the commission of the peace?"

The whole system of members of Parliament going to the Land-office, pestering the Minister and badgering the officials, is radically bad. The Minister supposes that all members deal honourably with him, and make no representations the accuracy of which they cannot from their own personal knowledge guarantee, and thus he is sometimes led into mistakes which he would not otherwise commit. It would be a good thing for the colony were a board, with the inscription, "No members of Parliament admitted," placed over the entrance to the Lands-office. The large majority of members would rejoice were such the case, and only those would be dissatisfied who are afflicted with that kind of superabundant benevolence which yearns to expend itself in the manner I have already alluded to.

In conclusion, I beg to acknowledge the courtesy and cordial assistance which I received from every officer of the Lands department with whom during the course of my inquiry I was brought into contact.

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