AUCKLAND CITY WEST.

ELECTION OF SIR GEORGE GREY. Tnu nomination of candidates for the scat in the House of Ucpiesentatives for A\k kland City West, lendcied \. leant by the elevation to a ludgeship of the Supicme Comt ol Mi T IS. (Jilhes, tlic f turner lepiesentativ e, took place on Satin day at noon m the large i oom of the Young Men's Chi istian Association. Thei e weic about 200 persons pi cs.cn t. At 12 o'clock the Returning Officer (Colonel Balneavis) read the mi it and the adveitisement, and then called upon the electois to noiuinatc candidates. Mi. Ar rvvxDnu Black came forward and said : Mi K chiming Officer, and cloctnis ol Cit> West,— We h,iM! met hcie to day todav to select a gentleman to lepiescnt us m the House of Repiesentatives. It is not bo \eiy long since 1 had the honor of pioposmg a gentleman for your suffrages who u lately deceased, and I then little thought that 1 should be called upon so soon to again pcifoim a similar duty. I am veiy glad that I have to pioposo a gentlcmau ot such standing as Sir George Grey — a statesman and a man who can lead us out ofthe difficulties we aic so lapidly duftmg into (Chceis ) I have known New Zealand horn its infancy to the present time. I was a icsident betoie the airival of a Governoi, and since then we have had a great many misloitunes. But the greatest downfall of all appeal s to be imminent at the piescnt time, and they are going to take away our institutions. Theietore, t am veiy glad that a gentleman of Sir George Grey's abilities has come forward at this critical iunctuie to take the province into his hands and say " 1 will give vou the measuies and you must guide them." It is like the captain of a vessel that has been upon a lee shoi e. The captain know s how to w ork his vessel into safety, if his hands Mill only assist him He biaccs his \ aids, makes evciy thing snug and taut, and sav^ "Out of tins we must come. ' So it is with us. Out of our present political difficulty i\e must come. If we aie to do away with rrovmciahsin, as Sir Geoigc Giey said, let us see w hat we are going to get instead. If they gi\ c us something better, well and good It is unnecessary for me to leter to the qualifications of the candidate w horn I am about to nominate, and I will, theiefoic, piopose Sir Geoige Grey as a lit and pioper person to lepiesent the District of Auckland City West in the House of Representatives (Loud cheers ) Mr. W.C.Wilso-V, in seconding the nomination, said : Fellow electors ot Auckland City West, the pleasant duty derive* upon me of seconding the nomination of Sir Geoige Grey as your repi esentativ o in the House of Repiesentatives, and I think that cvoiy elector of City West ought to be proud of ] Sir Geoige Grey's nomination. (Cheeis ) I feel that a gieat thing was achio\ ed w hen »Sn (xeoige Grey accepted the Supemiteiidency, but T consider this a much moie impoi taut position. I ha\ e great pleasiu c m seconding the proposal that Sn Geoige Gicy is a (it and proper pel son to represent the electois ot Auckland City AN est m tin- House of Representatives. (Chceis ) The Returning Olhcei hav ing inv itcd other nominations -without response, declued— " Theie being only one candidate, I hereby dcclaio elector Sir George Giey, K C.B., trceholdei, Kawau, to be tho duly elected niembci foi Auckland City West m the House of Representatives." (Chceis.) Sn GioKun Grey, on rising, was recei\ ed w lth cheers. Ho said : Gentlemen, oleetois of Auckland City West, I letuin you my beat and heaitfelt thanks for the honor w Inch you have conferred upon me. I succeed a lemaikable man, and a good man, whose death 1 shall always dcploie— a man who I admired whilst living, and whose memoiy 1 shall alw ay& reverence ; who appeal ed'to me, as he giow in cxpeiicnce of public life, to grow m prudence and wisdom. And rininl.v believe that, if I had him to help me m the piesent insis, and his counsel to icly upon, I should have a gieafc .siippoit, which \ want now m hav my lost him. 1 feel that any points m my conduct which lequiro expla-» nation should be mentioned to \ ou--th.it I should not mciely gi\e >ou my thanks, but lemaik upon anything that might have been said w ith lefcruiee to the views I hold, and explain aiij biil")cofc which seems to i online some ob-,ei\ ations trom me. Amongst other things, I ob-,eivo that it is said that I ha\e ddinf wiong in stilling up Piovinual ]ealoiwcs. 1 could not help thinking of the hib'o of the limb and the wolf dunking at tho same sti cam. (Liughter andcheeis.) The wolf is at the highest pait ot the sti cam, and the lamb below, and tho wolt says " what do you mean by &tunng up the dn t and muddying the stream 9 "—the intention ot the wolf being to quairel with the lamb. Now it is the wolf that has stmed up the question of Pi ovincialisin. (Laughter and cheers ) Good Heavens ! they come to us and say, "We, one set of Provinces, aie going to take away i epresentative institution^ fiom \ou in Auckland;" and am I to hold mv, toiigue and to iaiso no Piouneial jealousies' upon that sublet ? I presume that what, thc\ really mean is tins : that I explained to the elcetois of the province the lights that they possess under the Constitution Act w ith regard to the place where the Genoial Assembly is to bo held. Those lights aie not only their own, but were gneii as rights to last for all tune in Now Zealand— the same rights that c\eiy counti y possesses in order to preserve fiecdom ol debate. The head of the Government for the time being has the liberty of assembling, at such poition of the colony, and at siuh time as ho may please, the General Legislatm e of this country. It is distinctly stated that the General Assembly has no pow ci to make any law to take that right ti oin the inhabitants of New Zealand, and I announced that. What harm did I do in tolling the people what their just rights are » We ought to protect that libeity. I hold this question of where the General Assembly sits to be a mere matter of nonsense ; Wellington must be a great city in spite of c\eiythmgit has done. It has a magnificent haibour - the only harbour on an immense extent of coast to the east and to west— and when the lailroads are completed over those futile districts, one ot which, that betw cen Wellington and Taianaki, I b^liov c to be the most fertile in the w mid— ccitamlyit is the most fertile I have e\ei seen When those railroards aic completed "WVllmi^toii must be a. yreat commeiciil empoi mm : and the question of whether a Go\ ci noi is occasionally to reside there,andan Assembly to meet there, is a mere matter of nonsense mas far as the importance and the w eltai c of the place is concerned. Tho same way in regard to Auckland ; what is it to us"> If the people of Auckland had taken up the sii""estion that I warmly suppoitcd when the Assembly left this place— if Auckland had then become constituted a separate colony, as it might have been, it would have had a Government of its own equal in nnpoitame to anything that can assemble m Wellington (Cheeis.) I-t is all nonsense to undei value this province in the way it is undei valued. It nearly approaches tho colony of Victoria in size, and it possesses this pccuhaiity : That there is no poition of | the pio\ nice of Auckland, which being cleared, will not carry a considerable uuinboi of sheep to the acre -I say at least two oi thiec The vciyw oust land m the pio- \ nice so improves horn nheop feeding on it that it can suppoit ultimately Luge and most impoitant Hooks. Ami not only that, but the sheep bid in fjthis province arc amongst the veiy best in tho woild It is admitted that the wool tint conies fiom ViuUand, and trom a part of the pro\ nice of Taranaki, is the best wool tli.it eiiteis the maikcts at home. (Cheeis ) In Viotona and all the other Austialian colonies there arc enormous districts of bad land which can never carry English grass at all, and, in fact, will carry nothing ; w hereas there is no portion whatever of the Piovmce of Auckland, that I am acquainted with that is not capable of carrying a population, and in many instaiicea a very dense one, and you might of youi delves become a very important country. * I do not point that out to > on as a thing which should be done, but it must be held" in view. If the worst comes to the

woi,t theic \^ thai fate which would not be a\ei> bail one, \/e can ccitiuil^ obtain. (Cheeis ) llemembu when the people in Australia cho^e to )>c split up into separate colonies wli.it a distui banco theie na\ New South Wales said that Victoiu should not be taken from them, but the Homo Government would not allow the wishes of the people of A ictoiia to be tianipled on by a moie poweiiul aid distant n\al, and they wuo eonstituted a colony without any diilieulty ; and the same thing could at any time be done hcio if such a necessity aiose (Cheers ) Anothoi ob]ection made to what I hme done is this, they \<jiy much 1 egret, 01 do not thank me tor h.umg laised the questions I have done. Now I ha\e not laised any questions at all. In June, 1852, a Constitution Act was passed, confemng ceitam lights and pi hilegcs on the people of this eountiy, and I think since that time about 23 \cais have elapsed, and no one has explained to the people w hat those pnvilegcs weie. Now, leilcet for one moment. You don't hold those pnvileges for youisclf alone; jou and 1 hold themastiustcesforthe futuie generations that aic to come in this coimtiy. (Chccis ) That is our position, and when I come ioiwaid into public life, and as one of } our lepiesentativcs here, am I not to tell youthe lights you have, and instinct you what those lights aie? (L'heeis ) It was the Aigument of thego\einiug classes, I leeollcet, in my youth — and many of you must leeollect the same — when they said, "Don't educate the people at all. We shall have no end of tiouble. Education is the woist thing \ou can give them." (Laughter and ehcci.s ) Am I not to educate the people here now ? Am I not to say that m 1S32, the Queen, Loids, and Commons of (heat Biitain, in piOMdmg for the futuie of New Zealand placed in your hands, the electoi s of this, country as trustees, certain pow ei s to be exei ciscd for your own beneht, and not for that alone, but for the beneht of all who weie to follow you. I will not hold my tongue on such subjects for anybody. (Cheeis ) And what is more, I hoj^e none of j ou w ill hold j our tongues either — (renew cd cheei mg) — that you will &ee that the men you will icturn will be like me, and not hold then tongues ; that they will nuthei be afiaid of those m olnce, or be anxious to obtain favois fiom them Stick to those points and we shall get our lights. I sec nothing myself veiy adinnable in the pie^ent system to those who have the Government l'esidcnt with them. It may be a delightful thing to see a soit of procession maich down to the House of Assembly, and a mock imitation of what goes on m Great J3i itain pi oduccd — (laughter) —which Dickens said, w hen he went out to Nova Scotia, put I him in mind of sitting at home, watching I the piocecdings of the English Pai liainent through the wiong end of a telescope (Laughter.) To me thcie is nothing .so grand or fascinating in th.it that we should pay cnoimous sums to obtain it 1 have seen some giand sights in New r Zealand — as giand as weie evci seen by any man I have seen a body of your own Yolunteeis and jour fellow colonists oideied oil upon a duty of vciy gieat danger, and I saw the young olhceis, one aftei the other, come up and shake hands with me as I w ished them good luck, and I .saw tens st.ut up m young eyes — tcais not of appi ehcnsion, but of gladiK ss, that a noble and dangeious 'duty was given them to peiioim. (Cheeis ) That is what I call a giand sight. Those aie the men who should get great l ewai ds. They got no gicat incomes or lewaids whatever. In the same way I lie.u it remaikcd by good men and clever men "Oh, but after all, Auckland is a petty place, you can't eompai e it with Melbourne, and places of that kind. Auckland has no magmlicent public library, no veiy great buildings, no memoiies or associations, whieh attach people to it It is not like Melbourne in that respect.'' I tell you Auckland has memoiies and associations 'which futuie lnstoiians will pinidei over with delight, which futuie gcneiations will lead with adnmation and pleasuie, and set up as an example to thenisehes (Cheeis) I tell you that here a few people — men, w omen, and children — set themselves down in the vciy midst of baibaious tubes — tiibes to the Noi th, to the South, to the East, and to the West — m hourly, in momentaiy, danger of I being destroyed ; and neither man, woman, nor child quailed. Is that a great memoiy ? (Cheeis.) Is that an association attaching to thi». place of which we ought to be proud'' And 1 will tell you finther. I will gnc \ou one instance of my belief m the people ot Auckland in those l expects. When 1 eime heic In st, it must bo in the memoiy ot muiy of you, we weie selling amis andammunition to oui foes, who wcic about to destioy us, and people feared to put an end to that : sj'steui lest they should raise other tubes against them. It wat, the (list subject to which I dnected my attention, and the vciy da y I was about to give my assent to the Act I brought in to prevent tor the futuie aims and ammunition being sold to the natives, a letter was laid on the table befoic me warning me not to consent to that Act, foi, if 1 did, many tubes who weie then fnendly to us in our immediate neighbouihood weie likely to join the otheis against us In a few minutes I argued m my mind, "Shall I inn this nsk ? Shall 1 sul>|eet the people ot Auckland, their wives and their ehiklicn, to the dangers which I am told will beset them if this Act is passed ?" T said " Yes, we will not be slaves We w ill no longer sell arms and ammunition to om enemies to destroy our countiyinen in other puts flf New Zealand. I will uui the nsk I believe the people of Auckland will stand by me if the danger does aiisc. I behe\e they will come tuumphantly out of it. If they do not I behe\ e they w ill pcus.li, as would become men who would desneabo\e all things tp do their duty." And 1 assented to the Act. (Loud cheei & ) I say, then, that, being a people who have done these things, gieat memories and great associations do linger aiound them andtheeitj which they occupy ; and I ask them, now, in these coming times of stiuggle, to feel m no respect behind those who have pieceded them — to let, still, memories and associations cling lound them ; to let, it possible, this be said: Auckland was the piovinecth.it was not only to be tianipled out as a piovince, but w r as to lose its lquoscntative institutions, and yet Auckland is the piownce fiom which those measures h.n e come, which h.n e sccuied hbeity foi all New Zealand foi the futuie. (Loud eheeis) Let u-> all act together to attain that end See th it youi l epi esentatives ai e kopt up to the point It 1 do not do my duty m it ie]oet me Reject any one who will not do what he ought in this question. (Cheeis) One other subject I will allude to : ft'incc I h.Pi c been in office, I have been able to look into the finances of the piovince, and 1 liud that laige sums of money ha\ e been ino-.t uupistly withheld fioinus It we get oiu lights — what we aie fanly and justly entitled to— we have still the means of going on with vigour, carrying on our public w oiks and doing all that is neccssaiy for the prosperity and welf.ue of the people. And I say that it is wrong that a distant authonty should withold from us money that we aie entitled to spend oui selves. I do not only speak of the funds for purchasing land, but J letei to a sum of. t'UO.OOO which was M>ted for public woiks to the north ot the Waitcmata— those are the express term-* — and which sum has been misapplied by a distautand n responsible authouty. (Cheeis). I ask yon is it light that a Premier, abaudoiung Ins duties heie, should take a peioou elected by no constituency, responsible to no single individual m the colony, and th it m\ - selt, now r ieturnedbyaconstituencvof maily 14,000 pei sons unauiuiously, should not be thought worthy to spend' the sums which weie entrusted tons? (Ohecis\ Is it light th.it a single individual unknown to us m any repiesentative capacity, at his ow n eaplic'e, should have the power of dealing with these moneys as he pleases, and give us no account upon the subject ' I say no That is one thing whieh must be alteied, and my firm belief is that it the Governor of this eountiy does his duty he will allow the Geneial Assembly twrthw lth to meet, and hew ill do that that the J'lovinee ot Auckland may obtain that justice and those funds, to which it is instancy entitled. (Loud cheers ) For by no other means can we get them. What is the kind '

of answer that is made to me ? Oh, it is a plausible thing that, but what can be clone? The pi c^ent I k>\ eminent can do nothing without Mi \ ogcl ; they would fall to pieces instantly (Laughter ) They are incapable of conducting the business of the countiy. No govei 1101 will subject them to such a nsk as that ' If that is true, are we tor months to be put undei the Government and contiol of individuals of that kind ? Aic all our interests to be sacrificed to people \\ ho cannot meet the Assembly because they are unable to manage or conduet the public business ? I say no, let the Assembly forthwith meet ; let this question of the funds that Auckland is entitled to, be instantly settled. If it weie done within the ne\t six w etks, or tw o months, I gualantce that in tlnee months fioin the present date Auckland would be in the full career of piobpentym eveiy bianch, and would be e\ei using that milueiico over the council's and the destiny of the colony, over the future happiness of all in New Zealand, which its population, its suffeiings foimerly undergone, and I will say its intellect, and, I hope I may add, its daring, entitle it to. (Loud cheers ) Those are the things that I ■wish to sec attained hist. I have not shrunk from making a full exposition of them to you ; and you w ill find that I will never fehuu meeting you, and telling you what I ha\ e done \ ou will Hnd that 1 shall never sin ink fioin huaung youi advice. I won't say I Awll always take it— (laughter)— but if the gicat majoiity of the electors at any time conceive that I am acting adverse to their interests I have no wish to hold the position which j ou have this day conferred upon me for one hour after you ha\ e come to that conclusion. (Sn Geoige resumed his seat amidst great cheering ) A vote of thanks to the Returning Officer, proposed by tho newly elected member, was passed by acclamation, and the proceedings tei initiated.