BRUCE ELECTION.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 68, 27 July 1865, Page 8

BRUCE ELECTION.

;'.'.. % '.',.. Tl^e Nomination of-Candidates iortithe; > o v Representation of ■ the County of Brucean. o the General Assembly, in place diMr. E. • '.^isCargiHy---:-»aßigned^i'.lQDkt:place-:!in.. i tiie ■ ■Gourt-hdu^e, ITokomairirO} ; on; Thursday ? .-;-: .last,* at noon;. > _ iThe > ReturningA Officer, o John' De we, : .lEsqii having read/ Jthe^vWrit; and> Notice :ef Election,' .called on:, the .Electors, to j . proceed,. with the Noxnination. ; Mr: James E. r^rown, proposed ; Mr. 'I jolm GargilLas a fa and^roper person., ; ' Mr jamesi Adam, M;P.C., .. seconded the nomination.", litri Capgill did not need to he introduced to therelectprsj for he , was . one' of .the oldest! settlers , in . . . the: district. V. mode o/jujiging of a candidate's fitness i was not % a .hustings speech,: ifor. . men often promised morethan they: had. power, or inclination- to ; perform afterwards, but by whathVKad done. They knew Mr Cargill, and -had known him for a long ; perr ,• iodofyears^ He was one. of those, who exiled t jiemseives from home for seven or nine : months to attend the first Assembly, and; by '.'■' whom, responsible goyernment; was estabtehed'in the Colony. It might be a humiliating fect,*lHit r it was a stubborn ope,, that a man's influence, in the Assembly •depended U a great extent, on his, position in theGolpnyy and in this way Mr. CareiniWas known over; the whple of New Zealand' and would-be able to take a good Ippsitionin the Assembly. Mr ; CJargill: had ." already /discharged : representative . duties to the satisfaction , of his, constituents, ' and, whatever might that day. be said, he . . (Mr Adam) had made, up: his ; mind, that : HJ^r: : - Cargill , was| the. bpst : representative ; they could get. . Mr ]>. : M'M%ster, proposed Mr .James ', „',MacandTe^ fit and proper person. . "There was- no need to say anything about ./^iMacandrew;, and of Mr Cargill he; • 'wfluld only, say that, he t knew him (laughter): .Mr : Macandrew's Return ; : would be an. -honor and a. credit to the district and the colony. '' .' " ['Mv k Gerrard seconded the ; prpM John L. Gillies proposed Mr W. J. • '■ . Dyer, >whp, from, wjiat he had done, and "the .character and! .position he bad taken 1 "in the Council, showed that the electors ■ ';■ would, be justified in-entrusiing to him the further honor of represeriting.them . iri the 'Assembly. As for' Mr: Macandrew, it would be fqr anything but the ,. credit . of the county .tp- .elect a maa .situated as. he was towards, the : Province. (Groans , and Hisses.) . ". ■ __■' " ' ?.J^r' ; ,'l4pi]Kpn,..^[,l*.C.,. seconded Mr Byer's "nprniaation j>mf&rma ' Mr 'Jqhn^argill admitted that he co- ■ ieted ! t&> honor 1 o;f representing tae largest '- in the Colony. On ■•'.'' •■ mostques^ohs' he ■ believeb: his opinions, ' ; ' Wn^titose of the JJlectors agreed, but there * r '' :I w^one'^Wipn;wbipH;tlier&- was a di.- --:) Mergence o-rdpiriipn. ■It was, on the subIpct of the Land-. Resolutions' introduced ' " 'iqtp the Council by his'ftiend. Mr Dick, : : put -for, which it, seemed they wished, to lipW him resppnsibie. He would speak '$rsiof the Seatof: Government, questions. ' ; ISe thpugiit the Seat in' Goyernment was ; n.ow' wliSiß it should;be, ior the promotion ftfgpod government of the Colony. Too ! iflucK credit not be giy^n the Weld^ , l Ministrv" for , tteir .persistence in carrying- ' \ oiitithe resolutions of the Asserhbly and ; removipg'tKe Government in the face of so sliglit difficuties. During the last three years, a great "change had come over so-, eietVin Otagb.' VBeforeJt&at it: was a staistical facVthat-a laboring man after being .three pr four years, in the Colony, became an. owner pf land. ' j:n' fact, 'there was a ■ ,'graplual .rising process going on in society. -■. ' l|ow> thLis! was changed, and there,w;ere ex;^iernal as-weir as. mternal, reasons. for the ■ "change. " Amongst .. .t he external . reaspn S 7 "'was The. War, in the North Island, which • has caused , a ' complete derangement of. ".'. finjiuces; and whipH: absorbed the large^' ; Jppriicwa; ot the ' Customs 'Revenue^ of; the " '. ferqypces^;. Provinces^ by ;their I, ferrp.w^g s^' larg^y',^^^ 'bentpre -marlsetl ahd had into conflict; ijo," the market Svi'tii the. (S^nerarGo.vernV- menU Tp whomever it was- owing it, was well known that ' the ' rival; attempts at , l!)orrow£ng mao^iby^e Colony.^and by the. , Prp^nces ;ha^ : seriously .depreciated the i '- :^^e <ai the ofjbbth'. long ■ - .?a^y jgetrii of the war, at least, . as, a ; jv ( ac if aggression^ Fr6^fi^t%]toi.tKeoS|a]t

had been/ a. great mistake,, and. as . f lpng, as tMe "ti^bpa remained, the .Maori's" natural ldye of fightinif would cause the war to cpntinue. The Colony, cbulii not afford the expense. The Home Qo.vernment had, arid properly had, the direction of the war, but this colony had to pay the cost, arid as a con- ; sequence it was most extrayag'antly conducted,'there was a continued conflict of authority, .and .affairs g ; ot into confusion. He did not wish to. blame the troops,* for they had been asjced'to do an impossibility,' to conduct a war, '.for which they were totally ■unfit. ' The se't tiers were able to manage 'the native^difficulty and should be let do so.^ On the East Coast the, Maories could not l afford to fight, they had let their 'lands to Europeans and could not afford to go tb:war. A great deal 'more might be done by. poacef ul arts than by war. A new. system was wanted, and he ' cordially agreed with that defined in Mr Weld's, memorandum. The Equalisation of Representation would probably engage, the attention, 'of the Assembly at its next sitting.: Otag-o was not at all fairly represented at present, but he would not vyish to increase the number of members of the Assembly. He would rather reduce the number of members in theother Provinces, so that the present number of , Otago representatives would, be a. fair proportion for this Province. To increase the number of representatives / would be expensive, and it was even now found verj difficult to get the small number that were at present . required. He considered that the fewer members there were in the Assembly the better. Speaking of Loans, the condition of Southland was a disgrace to the Cbldny-JT-a public scandal. People ,at a distance knew "nothingv of Provinces ,\ 'theyibbkei on all New .Zealand as bankrupt, becausie Southland was so, and thus 'the credit of the Colony suffered. As "regarded Southland, the conduct of the General Government had been blameworthy* They were morally responsible for lier' debts, for they had morally guaranteed her loans when they allowed her to ! contract them, and, gave the consent ..without' which' they could not have been raised. He thought that the General "Government should cover with their debentures* all "existing Provincial loans ; and that ' hereafter the General Government alone should borrow and allocate the money amongst the Provinces. Money would thus be far more easily and favorably raised". He would prefer allocating a, portion of the land revenue as security, rather than hypothecating a portion of the land itself. The L40Q,060 Loan; was called, when contracted, merely a forestalling of land revenue j and now it should be met out of the land revenue. He would go on to speak of the land question.: — (After alluding 1 to the various ;land , laws, from those of the New Zealand Company to those at present in force, Mr Cargill proceeded.) — The j resolutions passed last. Session ot Council might be looked at as a matter of finance, and as a matter of policy. They were in g-reat straits for want of money, and a small sum now was much better than a larger sum a few years hence. The debt of the Province at the present moment involved an annual expenditure of L50,0G0.; Oria of the sources of revenue was the pastoral land. There was a very large . quantity of stock on the pastora. 1 lands, do what they would, this stock had to be considered in legislating about the pastoral lands. The present occupiers of I the runs would not be entitled to -any exclusive privileges except as a kind of price ; for giving 1 up their present leases and at ; once contributing to the revenue.: It had to be considered whether it was ; desirable to. retain or to get rid of the present oc* ; cupiers of runs. He was - thoroughly of opinion that it was desirable to keep theni lin the country. He held the land resolutions of the 'last Council to be on the whole good, and- a fair settlement of a difficult question,- but he was stronoj-ly" opposed ; to giving any privileges to ruriholders unless (they. at; once came. under the resolutions. This would have to be attended to in the Assembly. ;He believed Separation to be one of- the greatest evils which could-hap-p'en to the Colony. There ?was^ no antagonistic interests between>th'e two Islands. The Province was not in a position to borrow :money for railways. In factj he thought that the introduction of foreign capital was one- of the greatest benefits that.could^be derived from railways. ;• In, r^eply-tp questions;, Mr^j Qa'rgill said he, thought j jbbjer^ would Y&^iptetifrx ok runs

in the market, and could be as; easily got. as under the. auction system. Any; purchaser who could g-ive a higher price than the present occupier must have the sheepj to put on the run. If npt, mere .specu--lators would bid on chance. He thought the existing* estimate of runs iquite wrong. ; j' Mr James Macand rew ! said .that... he might be pardoned if he said a few : words; of a personal nature. He did not; think" that the remarks made by, Mr , Qilli.es ; tended to edification, nor did he admire the taste which prompted them. - (Great cheers.) It might not be agreeable if the; antecedents of every one were strictly en-r quired into, but he deprecated such an enquiry. If, however, he was to be so strictly sifted it would be as well if the antecedents of other people were as strictlylooked into. Mr Adam also . had spoken; at him, if nut to him, but he could assure, them that all that gentleman had said abojit position Jn the colony ' was mere , bunkum and prunella. His position now was a changed one to whac it once was, but if he went to the Assembly he knew, for he had been there before, his position as a. private individual, would be but little looked at. His vote alone would be considered as the vote of the member for Bruce, and his brains, if he had anyj would also have their influence. He could assure the electors that the members, of. Assembly were men of. a very . different stamp to the majority of those of the Provincial Council. For rue last sixteen. years his prinsiple, ;the principle to which he had always striven to give effect, was progress : to. secure the. greatest possible happiness to the greatest possible number. He had been, consistently animated by an ambition to be an instrument in .forming the institutions of his adopted i home^-to influence, the destiny of that colony which, if not separated, was destintd, hebeiieyed, tp; attain a high position j, to- become a.j great maritime state, if. not a seat of em- i pire. It had been his earnest aim to assist in devising a policy conducive to the development of the capabilities of New Zealand: capabilities which would not be exhausted till the colony was filled ■ by millions of families enjoying all the ele•ments of health and enjoyment which the colony so freely afforded. "Is- was" to this object that all their legislation should tend, and to succeed they would have to cherish a sound public opinion^ One of the most serious pvils from which the colony had-lately suffered was the want oi a sound public opinion. Political in di+'-. ference had been too much the order of tha day, and sears in the Parliament of the Colony had too often gone a-begging". But' he hoped the present election was the commencement of a new epoch, what Mr- Grant would, call a movement of'the dry bones coming* to life. ' In the youn'ger ; days of'the Province the settlers took far- more in tere'st in politics than they, h.id lately. Since the discovery of the Gold Fields they had all been too busy in the acquisition of wealth. ■He could not say that he had, but j most of them had. Their representativeshad not been properly amenable to public opinion, and it was in a great measure owing to this that they had a Colonial debt of four millions, and nothing to show for it ; and a provincial debt of L600;000 -w-ith very Mttlft to show for it. Ini of the native. difficulty, they, would- remember that the war was^ 'primarily caused by the votes of the representatives of' the Middle Island. He cordially supported the proposal of withdrawing the troops and man r aging; the natives by the- settlers. l On this subject he agreed with most of 'what' Mr. Cargill had said. He thought the land resolutions the most important suhject which the Council had yet- been called on to legislate upon, and he thought it had,, been too ; lightly treated. The great fault, of the land laws of the Province was; that they had no stability, and the progress ; of the Province was retarded by their want:of fixity. The Land question should be settled on a-permanent basis, and the public mind should be afforded an opportunity ;of expression before final settlemerittookplace. It was a hustings question and .should be made So. In the Council he had moved ah amendment which if carried would have postponed the consideration of the land question until the public could have ex- : pressed an opinion regarding it. He demurred to the General Assembly dealing^ with theiprinciple ot the viand resolutions^ According to the constitution, they had 1 the ■right to< deabwith it, but/ the Assembly %ad' said;to the Councils in the various^ PrtS

vinces j you are the best ' judges of wha t is m;ost suitable- lor youri Province^ and we :will[ giyie legalr effects ta it.' THis -was a -gfeajtifpriyiilege, rand they 'ishbuld^'b^ very chary of'eparting with.it.!-It r be*was elected ■fewobld demure to; tbej Assembly' Saying anythingnbut yeaior nay>i6 tbte'resolutiona T.he,,Gouncil was :the.:areiiaf:in^ which, the ;dfStails; ; of Itheslaaid scheme should be fipn«rht,. and he: would; ask; thie i Assembly^ 'td^'md back; the] resolutions -to the douneilf^r ven-* ;tilatioii.< W;Thev simplification ofrth'e laws was, another* important* subject; l^ At present the State of affairs: was 'perfectly appalingj every man, ■woman,'anjd !: child was paying; abohit; Ii& a.' year r for ; law. ; A The temple ofijustice sh ad '- suielr a tall at the portal tharit' was impossible for a poor man;td;enferiit. ';:In.fact- ; with6atm6ney ; it was impossible to 'get. 'justice: - :He - believed there were naslmany Jaws -in' New Zealand asimonths inJa man'slife, and -yet in theory every one wa'ssupposedtb bekcquai'nted with ithie laws.-iiHe would like 'to see allthe ordiniances putintolthe fire anda thorough good lawyer got from home, paid! a-year and made independent of the profession, todraw up intelligible laws.- -'He Would very much: like to see idistillationt legalised, and, if the Government did , not, [he. would beprepared to introduce a . ,bill< for that purpose. The , laws as. r tOitransfer of land required ameifdment* : inhere was a useful measure on that r subject.passed, but it had never been put.iintp torde,,- probably because i: would trespass ; on':[ the;! lawyer'spockets if it .was. JHe : knew of ■ a' ) case where a man ! ; wished;jto ; ; -borrow,; ;£4:O on some land and it cost him— £ls, and it would cost him £6 " v mx»re: to. release it. This, too, on ; lan(i with a clear crown grant td.part and a title .withpujbthei grant to the rest of the land The tariff, wasabsurd, arbitrary, J and an abomination. Yeai-s ago it.might : have;be^n;.ppssible altogether, to. abolish, customs duties^^ and he (had tried to dp so. Now,- he' feared, it ' was no longer possible to do so. He wasopposed to Separation ; what vvras wanted vvas redress 'of grievances, ■; .it' this could not be had Separation, might be a rieces^ sity, but he would consider/ the dismemberment of the Golony, perfect folly.-/ Instead :of Separation, ke;- would like to welcome: Southland ; b.ack to. it's, mother's bosom, and perhaps ;the Assembly might be willing: to. accede.. to such a thing, even if proposed byri the member : for B.ruce. As to Eepreseritalion,-.; he did not like Mr Cargiirs plan. .;-, He rather wished to see the . size of . the: various; electoral districts lessened rand the •; number' of : members increased. Bruce, ipr' instance, might be. divided: into three ' districts,: each with one or >twb. members. : Lately ©Saga was furnishing half the .revenue of the whole Golony, • 1 and , .' possessed only, about a fifth of. the ireprqsentation. In the; present election he ;hQped ; the Electors iwould act as earnest men :performingia m»)st important duty as. citizen sof a iree, country; The present ; election of a: member of Assembly was even a more important matter than the choice of a i Superintendenfc.j} for,; if >he; was not .misiiK 4 formed, an attempt wottld::be,made'by%^ Fitzgei'ald. to, deprive! the Electors of the right of idecting : th<it officer. ' Sueb an attempt uhaci once: been made, 'and'was^ nearly successful ; next time it might be so, and .then the' Superintendent "would just be a ndminee<— the ; creature of'-.the men who for . the time might ■ be in. the : Ministry. To the: old settlers around: him he need scarcely speak of, 'the :associations connected with" nominieeism./Jlei held that it was necessary, in order, to maintain the integrity, of/the Colony, that ' the ,Seat oi Government sh'duld remain, at Wellington^ In reply to questions, Mr Macandrew saidhe was not in favor of doing away 3Mth Provincial Go vernmentSi although 1 ' he; believed ,such would he the ultimate result. He would gradually deprive them ;ot" . legislative. ; pqvvers^ and make thena, administrative bodies. , ; He would like to see the Province have the entire administration of its i "funds— ev_en of the Custoriis and Post Office ; But one- legislative body was enough. Even. Customs, and Post Office officers should be paid by' tne^ Proviuce, and be amenable to the-Province. He was bpposed to all , taxation, and. especialy,- to the postage on riewspkpers. , He wdiild' be 1 in favor of se]|ing thefe^nnple of the,runs n at ; once. This should realize -abtfut three millitihs of money; .with this all-debts might be-paid! o% and ; the balance invested ■ ;in Generals Go v!er n - ment debentures. He.i did; not JbelieYe. in the land tax, but he was;a. great believer in Hundreds. He was opposed, to. tW .Bdupatiofl rate. As, to the' Panama linei th*e : VVelUn'jton'^pep.ple l b;ad secured that, and tUey : *S^etVe^ it;fbV,.the Energy tljey had display W®u^^"'!% would not tbfe^fair -ho w e to 5 depri¥«P tire&Hitf 1 'it; btit 4 h«

would not object to su^ benefit Otago. As to raili* ays* he : would be willing to 8 per cent, on the cost" of bringing one to every man's door, if they could get anyone to make it. He waa hot averse to the introduction of Chinese. Mr Macandrew then sat down amidst great cheering. Mr Dyer said he had no intention of contesting tbe election, but he had been proposed in order to be able io make an explanation. At a public meeting on a; Saturdays he.:had been asked to come forward, and had c >nsented if no one else holding the same views could be gotj but he could only do so "at great -personal inconvenience. On Monday morning- a gentle\i)n came to him, and asked him if he held the same mind. He said he did; and- the ot^askedj him to retire in his fay r. He replied he could not do so, for he was not standing, t see those who were anxious , to support him and if they were willing to sup port the other, he would not come forward Mr Gillies had spoken of a numerously-signed requisition. It had never reached him, or be would have replied to it. There was some underhand work, and he had never got the requisition although he knew it had reached Tokomairiro. He hoped this would explain 1 his position and thanking those who would have supported him, he would retire. He also begged to thank Mr Gillies for the handsome terms he had spoken of his services in the Council, and he hoped that on some future occasion they might find him as useful and as anxious to be of use in the Patliament of the colony as he hoped he had been in that of the Province. (Cheers.) The Returning Officer calhd for a show of hands, and declared it to be — -CargilLTj; Mac-^ andrew, so many he really could not count them, Mr Macandrew had it. Mr Cargill demanded a poll, which was fixed to take place at the various polling places -on Wednesday next. The result to, be/; declared" at noon on Saturday, 29th, at noon. On the motion of. Mr Macandrew, a vote of thanks to the .Returning Officer concluded' the proceedings.