THE ELECTIONS.

Press, Volume XXIV, Issue 3203, 6 December 1875, Page 2

THE ELECTIONS.

» „ , MB. H. B._SSTEBB.AT LYTTEJiON. .. I sfc *I ] $f- f\ %. $ _[~ I I- Mrft B. "WWjb, one t>f tils candidktes fo/ the representation of Lyttelton in the General Slgsesjbly, addressed the electors of the Borongh at the Colonists' Hall, on Friday 6 l$?I a isr&LajfeiJaaislL tne nall Beingfilledin"e7ery part."" ' His Worship the Mayor (J. T. Bouse, Esq.) occupied ch&ix, in , ORftMTgr tiMK £|W 3389IjWi4JM»i take tie chair by Mr Webb. He did so, not .aeApactjfjaiMjl either side, but as one perhear]—and he felt "quietly and put their questions in a plaiftbg straightforward manner, might answer them similarly;"" f Hear, tiear.jf He thought Mr Webb was entitled to great, consideration at they hands, Rβ sented ttiem for some years, not bnljMirthe' General Assembly, but also in the Provincial Council, where he had eacoefided iif <obfoi&-; ing much? which had benefitied Lyttelton. fOheers.] He therefore did not , t necessary to say mow t&Mr to ask for MrJWebb a fairjand impartial %efe ing, Mr Webb, who was warmly greeted on rising, jaidtthat he had asked them to meet him that evening to give them as briefly as possible a statement of what he had done in the last session of the Assembly, and also to state what he intended to do in the fature. The last session had been one which would be marked in the annals of the history of the colony, because there had been introduced a Bill for the abolition.of the-pro--vinces, necessitating a change in their con* stitution. He should speak presently of this, giving them a short outline of its main provisions, and also tell them what Iris opinion was on the subject of the abolition of the province*—a subject which, as he had said, wasonefranght with interest to every one in the colony. He did not intend to dwell very lengthily upon this point, because they had heard and read so much about abolition that they must have had very nearly enough of it. [Hear, hear.] There was no doubt of one thing, and that was that throughout, the state of the colony was one of great prosperity, a result which no doubt might be attributed to the successful working of the public works and immigration policy of the Government by the opening up of the country by means of railways. Before speaking of railways generally throughout the colony .and their present condition as to time of completion, &c, he might %ay that the line in which they were most interested —viz, that which would connect Canterbury with her Southern neighbor Otago, would be opened for traffic through to Dunedin in about two years. The line from Christchurch to Timaru, a portion of which—that from Temuka to Timaru —had been opened recently, was expected to be complete in February of next year. The total appropriation made by the Assembly for railways amounted to £6,091,981,' which was estimated to complete 99' miles .of railway fully equipped. With three notable exceptions—one in the North, and two in the Middle Island —these railways would be constructed for an average cost of about £5600 peri mile, j The exceptions to which he referred were the Wellington to Featker-ston-in the North, and the Port Chalmers and Dunedin to Moeraki in" the Middle Island. The foimer of these would costabout £10,000, and the two latter £27,600' and £9000 per mile respectively. Of the 991 miles of railway which would ultimately form the railway estate of the colony, there were now open for traffic 278 miles; but during the next three months an additional length of 173 miles would be opened, and before the end of the year another lengilTof 116 miles, so that they might calculate on haying a total of 567 miles of railway opened at the end oi j tfie year 1875 [Hear, hear.] So far then he. thoaght they might very fairly cay that their railways were in a very satisfactory condition, a result which, he thought, was to a great extent due to the excellent manner in Syhich the works throughout the colorij Bad been Teamed out by the Public Works department under the very able superintendence-of the Hon B. Richardson.'.'['Cheers.] The practical knowledge and great business capabilities of that gentleman had been of the greatest possible service to the colony as a whole, —[hear, hear]—and he (Mr Webb) trusted that M* Richardson would again be returned as a representative in the new Parliament hear]— as if he was not so, he felt sure they and all the people of the colony would agree with him when he said that it would be a great public lose, [Cheere. J As regarded immigration, the next branch of the subject connected with the public works , and immigration policy, he might-say-that the Hon Major Atkinson had been 'com pigmented on both sides of the House for the admirable manner in which the .work had been earned out by his- department. The total number of immigrants introduced since ihe commencement of the policy had been 61,322 souls, equal to 50,747 adults. Of these, the number landed in this province had been 16,263 souls. There was, he be? lieved, during the past winter, no cases 6f absolute want, or excess of labour many, great degree, and the statement made i by/ Major Atkinson in the House had%iven great satisfaction. There was, _ therefore, no reason* to doubt that the immigration policy of the Government had „ been a success. [Hear, hear, and cheers,] He wonld now shortly refer to th 6 amount of the debt of the colony, and he might say , / he did not intend to weary them by reading a lot of figures, but would simply state in round numbers and as concisely as he cqald the amount of the debt, and the" annual charges on" the revenue of the colony.with, respect to it; The total debt of, the both colonial and provincial, wben all loans now authorised had been raised, would be £19,380,906, and the annual charge* in respect of the total prospective debt would bei for interest £925,140 10s, and for sinking fund, £110,635 ss, making a, total,charge in respect of the nineteen millions'6F-d€bt of £1,035.875158. He would now: read them a short extract from the Colonial Treasurer's statement, to show the-reiiuction likely to be made in the amount of lh<e debt:— r" The annual charges in respect of theHxrtal ' prospective public debt of £19 v 380,906 will be £925,140 lOe for interest, aiid £110j635 Rβ, rfor sinking fund, or in all l«a; < but I must remind the committee that on that amount of indebtedness being attained, i" i

and that anneal charge incurred, the whole of the cash balance aow available, plus the proceeds of the loans yet to raise, or in all a sum of £3,877,696, hag yet to be «sj»ndedS| and here I must again refer to the apart as sinking fund. The sum v|H| the colony ia now j&nually addingjto it^p|Teatyean to eS^s«^§'the Mlaa3??lf the several loans is sinking 30g. • Jane,. prospective debt or! wut have been practically reduced to £17,930,906." So far there was no donbt t£3£fshe financial condition of the colony was a sound one, and though the debt might be looked upon as a large one for a young country like this, he Jfeoui;hJj&ejKßJJ^ More tban counterbalance this. Besides, he might point out that the railways wft^i*oomf' pleted would be worth eight Tae loan in i England was carried satisfactorily, jraainly owwg-to-the- presence-in Bngjand~of~ JnliusYogeL asialeo the oompletidnof ;the maili conjract; I Now, spealang-of this 'coot}act) he might) say $hat many members ot the House aft welt - as himself had jbeen rather aurprieed at the step taken by Sir-JuliUe.LVSjgel in e&terisg into a 'airitractitt exc*aof tke Votes oi Parliament ([Hear, hear;} Besides i&is it waa objected fthat the laxge. steamers were not needed to ■come dowc the coaaJv as they had steamers of th,eir oWα quite able to carry oat the coastal part of the contract; but afc the esme time there was the point' to be conisidered that these steamers miight carry wool 'to America from the withont transbipment. A Bill was introduced during itne paat. eeseioa to remedy the present |aoonaaloue, state of the;law.r^feriingtojfej jgistration of votes. One of these, introduced iby Mr Steward, the member fof Waitaki, and •for^ioh 1 be deserved the thanks .of the provided that: the rate-' .rolls should be the basis of the electoral rolls, hence tl» present cambrous machinery now in force woHid te done away witfc XOhe|rs.l iThie Bill was taken up by the Qoverrtffiient and pasfeeii into law, but wopld not come. Into force in. time for the present elections.' iAnotheY ! -Bill~ ,, wßk' i «he> :! Lo^gen* ;y SVaiiofiise'; |BiH, of whiehr he 7 approved in t&d main, &1-. though he could bbt agree with the manhood suffrage, as he thought that; it would ndtbe of use to acommuriity, bat rather thereverse. •The presence of Sir Julias. Vogel in Bngland saleo expedited the arrangements fbt the laying of the electric telegraph between Austra-, ilia and New Zealand, which would be opened in April next. Another Bill was the Bankruptcy "Bill which had been'passed: A clause 1 was inserted in this Bill referring to future earnings of a debtor, which he Opposed, &s jhe did not tnink it fair. [Cheers. I In comniittee, however, tb.e*Minißter of Justice yielding to the expraued opinion of the House, struok but the claoee, and the Bill passed. Another Bill wbibh affected the electors of Lyttelton was the : Municipal CJorporation 'Act Amendment Act, under which the ratepayers had the privilege of electing, their oWn Mayor/ > { Cheers. ] This Bill was brought in at the request of the Christchurcb. City Council. Mr Biohardeori and he (Mr Webb) had received a communication from his Worship the Mayor and the Borough Council of Lyttelton, desiring to be brought under the Bill, which was done. Ultimately Mr Richardson, finding that many municipalities wished to come under it, made it general in its application, and the election of mayors would now be by the ratepayers throughout the colony. [Hear, hear.] There was one Bill for which he had voted, and which he was very sorry had not passed into law—viz, the Municipal Corporations Loan Bill. This, he thought, would have been a great boon to municipalities, and be hoped whoever was their representative in the nest Parliament would see that this was ultimately carried. [Hear, hear. J He now came to the Bill of the session, the Abolition Bill. When he addressed them on a former occasion he told them that he would support the abolition of the North Island provinces, which was then all that was proposed. Provincialism was all very well years back, when communication was uncertain and precarious, but now, with the telegraph running throughout the islands, and steamers on their coasts, the provinces could well cease. They had done their work, but now for financial reasons as well as others it was time their functions should cease. He would commend to their notice the remarks on this subject made by Mr Montgomery at Akaroa, who, when he went down to the Assembly, was a provincialiet, but changed his opinions after going there. To the Bill introduced by tbe Government there was determined opposition from a minority of the members of the House, but he would ask who were they ? Let them look at the division list of the Opposition, and they would find that it was made up of Superintendents, Provincial Secretaries, and Treasurers, and others depending npon the continuance of provincial institutions. As had been well said by one of the leading statesmen of New Zealand (the Hon B. W. Stafford) on the pecasion of the Bill being before the Houee, no doubt they must look at the question from a bread and butter point of view. Sir George Grey was the leader of the Opposition because he was the father of provincial institution's and the drafter, of the original Constitution; but he (Mr ,Webb) had reminded him in the House that the majority alike of the House and country demanded the abolition of the provinces. LCheere.. J The Abolition Bill provided that out of consolidated revenue,-after certain charges had been paid, there: should be paid £ I for £1 to municipalities on the rates raised, and also thatthedog taxes, licenses, &c, raised by themselves should be available as local revenue. The ratee of Lyttelton would amount —if all paid—to about £1100, so that they would get. £1100 from the Government in addition, which, with taxes, license fees, &c, would give them about £2700 per annum to carry 6n their-works with. [Hear, hear.] The Bill also provided for the payment of £2 for £1 to Road Boards; which he thought was a; fair arrangement. He might perhaps be asked what was to take the place of provincial* institutions. He replied in the words of the Colonial Secretary that nothing was quired. They had municipalities, Road Boards, &c, which were all doing good work, and quite able to supply the pi ice of provincial institutions, f Cheers.] The . Bill, though passed, did not. come into law until the end of the first session of the new Parliament. He conceived! that the Bill was one which gave them the greatest amount of self and local government, and he thought they would do better when limited, as they would be under it, than now. At present, under provincial institutions, they were divided, and a diversity of interests Would be created which would be swept away when" the Abolition Bill was an accomplished fact. The hospitals, gaote, po'ic!, &c, could be very much .better manege I under one head than by so many difteiettt authorities. Their telegraph and postal services were now under ode head,arid the success attendant on their management was a guarantee that if this were done with regard toothers no detriment to the public service would follow.. [Cheers.] The Opposition had tried all means to prevent this Bill passing, saying that they wished the people to be consulted, but he (Mr Webb) was of opinion that the people had been consulted before, and bad expressed their opinion most strongly Jβ favor of abolition. Altogether he thought ttie. conntxy would be benefitted by abolition, fCheers.] Another Bill passed was the Bepreaentatioa Bill, by which thefnumber of members of the House had been raised to or, including the ' Maori members, eighty-eight The role seemed to be that all odristituehcies with over 1000 electors should have another member added to them. Of ; course : Lytteltoni witb the small number of electors on' its roll, could" hardly expect to have*- another member, and he had tjot made :any. application for additional representation, as it would certainly. p.oV have been granted" id them. ' r Another Sill wbicH hadjbeen introduced, waa the Canterbury Board of Education Bill, winch, had bsfett* thrown out by tiw TJp|er L "House. He Mfr supported this/ becajngaT^e I *■:■:•.-: .*!,.. ■/; V..- 1., fc':- \ :■ ;

had heard that the present system wm not working well, and tJwt the reinstatemeat of the Board of Education would be of Dublin Bills passed by tke past eowion, and he wgflH now §a«d¥to the future. First then. jiihe pastoral leues in 1880 imfa nu &.' most important subject and oM f bichsssje>ved the most careful eonfiss3tßtion/|i His opinion of the way ia whicfe itHtifrld Wfrfab was that two yean befoS y the t&ag/tfejmns should be asstssed bYdX l%l«f«Bd'i>eTeone, and the ruoholder in* fortsed'-of the assessment. If he did nofe care to pay the amount, the time would afford him an opportunity to remove his etoek if necessary, without compelling him to sell at a ruinous sacrifice. This, he thought, wan the farest and most equitable mode of deaU important eabjees.. -All w the jj&mfaagpa the &*£*Sβ there couta'be no doubt aftatt of |this, thattlie reh©~""were now faftoo°la*r ; j [Cheers. \ They dfighfc terfget at least Iβ 6d per «ere-for the bulk o! the land now held by the peetorai; tenant* of the Crewih M this amount were reaUsed-r-andhe did'eoT ;eee;auy difficulty io o! it betas eo~I a.Very .large amount would come into the, Treasury, more than how. haS D 0 wlafc to he .hard on the equators, in f&m ife; was; to: ccc fair Heal* mgsswith. aIL because .fee was 1&1 io fevor of any one class. IHear.hettf Hβ only refer to *he geutlemi opposing him bo fas as squatter* *o<l connected with Bquattere, s he (Mr Webb) was not in any way oonneefea witb«quafting pursuits.r.; Aβ,fegafd.al ©lisa* tion, which was a.very.!im*pMtenteubj©!& he mighfe aay he was.ia iavor of fcheeohlSl buildings? being put ap ooM>f the revenue* instead , of the 6oet being oitarged oaM people. lOheersJ They made bridges, roads, &c out of the public money, and whs not erect schools? [Cheers.! Therefore, he ■was in faro;; of free edacation, as far ac elementary education was concerned, &ju|, Icompuleory, if it was free. [Qheej&l ■All parents wanted to see their ehildifca rise in the world, but there were eoash who would not fiefid their children to school, and he thought some -means should ba pr®. vided by which the Qovemmont would \gelak ; these 1 either by Sire or someothfcr way, : so as to compel, them to send tbsif children to school, because if they did sot, they would huVe getting up amongst $hea& iprolificeoarce'-of crime,)and" their gaols 'police courts would be lull of fhem. It might jbesaid that by adopting the course o£ payings :for" school bhildingß Sua making education Ifree they would to a great&s&ent be p&dper.! ing-the people, but they must recollsot tbat they all contributed indirectly to tho sevens*}, and ; that therefore they bad a right toea^. that the education of their children, and the erection of buildings -wherein initruction imighfc be given was a f aif j&tod legitimate charge- on the : consolidated revenue. These were his opinions on the euls* ject, and he should, if elected, port any legislation having for its object the carrying out of these views. [Cheers.]. Another eubject which had been referred t& was the'constitution of- the Upper. House; It wae too -much the faabioa to decry the Upper House, but he thought it was a great safeguard to have the Upper House constituted as it was now. It might be elects fora longer period, with anunderstandiag that it should not interfere with money isilte ■ sent up by the Lower House; but generally he might say he was in favor of the Upper House remaining as now. He himself has seen great good resulting from the Uppes House exercising a wholesome check ores hasty legislation in the Lower House, especially as regarded the Provincial Borrowing Bills, which he had voted for, because he thought it only right that other provinces should have the same oppostanity as Canterbury. Now, however, he was glad it had been thrown out by the Upper Eous& There wae this to be remembered also, th&i the Upper House could not be abolished Unless they did it themselves, or by appeal of the country to the Queen. The question of tbo Piako swamp had been spoken of by several candidates, and he would refer briefly to it.' This was a swamp in the Auckland province where the price of land was fixed at 59 per acre. The Government sold this,, swamp to a company of gentlemen with the understanding that 2s 6d per acre should be returned to those gentle* men on making a road through it to the eatss» * f action of the Government. The Opposition brought the matter up, and the Governraeatf consented to the appointment of a committee on the subject, before which a large number of witnesses had been examined, and the ' result bad been that the Government were exonerated from blame, the land beings proved not to have been worth more. He would juefc quote them a short extract from the Native Minister's speech on the question to show the facts of the case. Sir Donald McLean said:—"That,, in reference to the investigation'into the Waikato- Piako swamp question, alluded to by the hon member, it. was a fortunate thing that the Government' had a very distinct inquiry into that "Bale" The result, after very great care bestowed in the investigation—not hurried over, as stated by the hon member, end not; arrived at through Government followers appearingon the committee-rrafter > a thorough-in-vestigation, had shown that (that sale haa been one of very great advantage to t&e , colony, and that the price agreed upoa wa* its full value. Now, it had been stated that tbia was a matter where the Government bad sold the land greatly under its value—that it was worth 30s an acre; indeed some honorable members even spoke cf £4 an eore> Well, what did they find,?: They found that the opinion of the committee was that mc: full value bad been obtained for that lane; and not only that, but. thnfc also a political advantage was gained of very great and considerable benefit to the country, lor in-: stance, the construction of the road proposes to conneot the Waikato with the Thames river was of "such importance as itself to be worth the whole swamp, Wi when.compl^oj '-■ it would have the effect of enabling the Government to make a reductioa Oi-a sum W at least £6009 a year injthe defence expenditure alone; and thie would be only oae Of the beneficial results obtained. Eefereoce had been made -to the. giving away OS land at a low price, boi they maefc remember that the various provinces bad a el""*® ecale of price. The Aeaembly passed fte Bills which were brought in by the xepmsentatives of "the variona provinces, and ac would only cay on the matter tbat the rfttsntion,of the &2 per acre in Cantobosj had been the saving of the province. I Cheers. J Every cession there were Laasa Bills before the House from vimous pieviuces, but he was glad to say that on n» occaaion bad Canterbury had a Land dw brought before the Assembly. jHear, He would now pass on to something aos» personal. He saw that be was to be oppo.i«f» Be did not object to this, but he di* object to the way in which tnt emieeariee of hie opponents were fanotog up fer votes. Pi-eseure had been b«wght» bear upon, vctera to a great extent, even. far as to telL tradesmen that dealings wsSB& be token from them if they voted te haj (Mr Y«Tebb>. [A Voice—"Name, j would not say who it was- [Mr P. w» ningham4-"Th6u I think, Mr Webb, better not cay anythiog about it. I *& J"" only wiehfol to fight fairly, that if be could be would only be too napPf to do away with the touting for rotes, wJJ* be said, was a mistaken system. He was glad to see in Victoria that people had determined not ta have tna wn* ing for votes from aay d' the candatagj and no request except publicly. u*g heard the candidatea speak, and _«•"» np their minde accordingly, wrta»" B ny applicaUoa beiag made to ttJJJj, Now hlwae quite willing to aj *w had promised him if hie opponent woaw « ibe same. [Chaers.J Hβ nowwiebeew know what the people of ljttelW»f Bgaiost him. He had been accused oi heartednesa io coonestott wlth_ «o «w* ment for Ljttelton in the taG^\X &t & oil. Now he urgedit witb all his *W%Z is ho was only laughed at for hie pußbing the. elaiwa of tte j t^ c 3 B d it endowment wßen the House jfqr. : .fCß»eTO.V'te■W^

out it J* f° nwa-l<B«?iTnftt it IB ft«TlB»S* w done aJf •&%: Mmm. w and He T had the wafer Bbnieraelay. had taken" wai nolhis fault;%e hud got the |hem. '. [GhferaJh. Thetttawf l»lk. ll^K^-feen vfoixie&'bf Ms exertions, and public beae^ti -"HRftp &;|6t anything,iewas fanlt. He had done all he could ffT&esa. and he, waa at a Jasavtp4cno« why IS been same as nis ewo, particuthe sasbjectof aboli«ott. ( he *S of being- led by his family: JgPji k '^;,tlieraoß.>J e T. Peacock !^^%fX.B. r ßrowß,bpth of whomwererin Sg^gniDiyan«L? roTin^'l P withhimi itco happened that if they read the =SLe&'&«*«< would every gentlemen and ogposed. -: In the ted to , bring forward for Lytteltohvhe •wteriftbt? genflemen to'help hadLftlwajß doneea. fCheers.J anything againsthim (Mc Webb), them at once to say it out, and not oaheard. I Let Qieni take his into Gonaideratipn rj and. further thia his local reßidehce, which under. a^titf3Aula' T 'be a most important con- - 3 "06 asked tliem'to return him. ballot, and he earnestly hopedV -Iβ see the day when all' canvassing and; -teJife f(ftf votes would be given up. ;Jte ; . thank -tiient for the parent sn»tattntlW hearing they had givenhim .had been a. somewhat address, and fee aeked them now '■^^& r f or their votes. He ehould now- be ;fa^~'te- < answer -kqj questions. (.Loud ..sheers.] ■ ri - }t ,. : =■'• ; ~ J ' L '" l:; " — jjffepiy fo questions, , . wf £Webb said that lienad already told, •ihefe he was in , favor df education being On the matter of thf increase of the bmliii * children fee did not vote, was .JBtaßß?** xsommittees. • EChefttJ fKs> :SSb«" thafc to simplify mattere if the system was centinaed (which he did ife would), the household rate :£ailftr4»: uioatinnefl* n IThe 1 questipner: vote-foryou. , ' Laughter.] tojd-themeeting thathe was in favor of free education. His opponent, he.rtseSi&ed, was:' « - large -freeholder Ja well as a squatter. The amount con» tribated by the Government >nder the only be granted on the total amount of rates raised. He thought he fesst'Tot&d for the Education Bill of last ra^jM >>-m& be thought he should have voted JoiS school fees, and he The Executive had placed jjefoje-^hem-a-etatement, by which it-was iiaade oat that the increased rate was a aaaacisL- necessity ; now, was to be a change, he said that education -would be free. Under the old system the •charge woald be made on the land fund, but now it would be under the General and charged on the coneolidated land. If the Provincial Council were to meet again he believed edacabe free; at least the cost rof-tfae-buildings. If elected, he ehonld vote «4inst the large San Francisco boats coming iowa the coast. As regarded the question of a free wharf for Lyttelton, he might say that he had been on a committee which had recommended a free wharf for Lyttelton. He was therefore of opinion that the people •«! Lyttelton should have free access to the wEarf. He would do his best io get a free wa&i for people to go on without crossing -tlie- railway. He thought it very desirable ■f£a* some means ehould be taken to make ragreeraente with pupil teachers so as to 'Ibmd them for some term of years in order that their services might be utilised. He ieUeved this was going to be recommended by the Board of Education before the aboli•tion of it. He'was decidedly opposed to the opening of public houses on Sunday. Ah lekaxded pre-emptive rights _he was of pre«eißptiv«~rightßBaould be taken up, or the land revert to the Crown. No freah pre-emptive rights should l>B issued, as he was of opinion that the land Should be open for selection, as the other land was now. "Eegarding the question whether he was in favor of the cost of fire prevention being charged on special rate, instead of general rate, he was of opinion that when •the Borough Council got their £1 for *1, they would have sufficient funds to provide .for tWese expenses, without taxing the people .further. ' SlrH. Allwright moved—" That a vote of t&anks be given to Mr Webb for his explanation oi the business done during the last session of the Assembly. ,, This did not •commit any one, as he considered it would bo only fair to hear Mr Aypsley before • coming to any decision as to the man'in* they ehould vote. [Cheers.] • Mt 2. Cunningham would second the resolationwith pleasure. There was, however, oae question which he would like to ask Mr Webb, and it was this. He should like to kW the cost of raising the four million loan; Mr Webb had said that the arrangeJJQests made by Sir Julius Yogel in this were very satisfactory, and he (Mr Cauningbam) would like to ask if Mr Webb could give them the total charges for raising -tbe-money. V - : MrWebb could not at that: moment from memory state the amount, but would on another occasion give Mr Cunningham the .infQCSaUcp.'iie required. [Hear, hear. J " Jii.Graham .then .mounted., the. form; anaSespite the calling him to order by the chairman, persisted in delivering a.very -exciteo , and disconnected narrative of some- - thing which had taken place between Mr Webb and*-"himself at a vestry .meeting. on the ■ chairman refusing to . alUas'MrGraham to introduce matters foreign t&Jtfce resolution or the object of the meet? hadesisted. : ; , -Messrs Merson and Chalmers haying ad--leased those present in oppositiou to the :JeeeluMon, it was put and carried by a large v&fc of thanks to his Worship f or pre'hsving heen passed by acclamation, *-lll&d&sefcing dispersed. r iSIE -GSOEGE GBEY AT THE THAMES. .ii: .;; Telegraph.] fPER Pbess Agency. J i< • ,_ ■■'■:•'■-"■■ GRAHAMSTOWif,?December 4, "Wt George Grey spoke at the Theatre levening. "The building W&s and Sir George was received- with ycheers, the people Btandirig. " : ! ~ Br Kilgour and the: Mayor ware proposed tethecMir. Eond demands were made for p% Mayor, who responded to the caK. InBir George Grey he said he regfeSted that his arrival had not been made more favorable circumstances as he ■wdild hate been glad to have been present. be looked upon as able to fill . Uglier offices than he at present held. They &£l differed with him 00 one essential point, aa&lft might not expect such a reception as lie bM in Auckland. " BirX3eprge Grey, who wsls received again with , load cheers, said he appeared as SuperintenBptcially charged with their welfare. Whp asked to address them he had distinctly <Etplaiined that when asked to accept Office as Saperintendent he had ?fully explained his views. He now appeared - %gaiainthe character of Suptrintendent tc %plain what had been done, and also whal fee r conceived should be done with special %gsrd to this mining district. They, nol ■Sgm his constituents, had no claim upot for the former. He had seen th at th< t was ecandalously represented, ant he had given their one member every aesist aace to get this remedied; A difEeren« exjsted between him and their member, bu |wvet on any question concerning'the wel «ffiutihe.Thflmes, and it would have beei #!f*PpKJble to do more to prpnjpte their inte 1 MitiiML if* had done during^ iMi last β^b Or evert; more,iff«Ql : >e r been, givei, bat thoae in powe

-repreßeutattr«» etary ffiiW oinfides they :«*qtb* i«MUa«xi of . aboKtloD, aaft hie lino <jf cocioci Bβ contended that the coEsfitdticn (rod i£« W of t&e mpire required thsft eucu a should not take iplace apr)esl to ike constituencies. He and po<rttsriat friends had geitiag this, and the f ature destiny of the colony them. His own views aftersfflature sn* ct>n-' siderataoa witteimaster miads were: f*at it wafftliednty-Dfj*veryigogd citiseßi , to<fßS&t: that certain featares ehoold be preserved fe the coneftitationTand.kept steadilyinview; There ehoold be noeecreeyy Evteiyactioa of the-GovCTomentshonldbe beforetihe-ptifelic fullest iafoEjmatioa beiag , BSorded regarding every ■trftnaaetioa. o At-peeieat under the form of QoTOrbment sitting *t a distant locality,' and with a isswspepet press to die%]&iQ&£es iatbrma»: tion adeqoate to the public iequifßi 'tnente, thie was not done, tHere Sir #«o referred to the Tairne committee, -and the difficulty attending the circalaiion of the report* | In pursuance otiiheir own interests they ehonld try and obtain all information without delay. In other countries he had been in, every iufbrmMioii Mm 3ay.fo day had been afforded, 4nd cnleg&'they had that they coaldindt look after their own.interests. The Buperinteadett here could nofc" obtain that information, but it ehould be iraiated l upon. Atiother point was that of endowments. Seripnely, he would to aIL that taoee endowmenta were taxes to be taken from ihefr prpfite. He objected to this on general principles. Taking the. Kiddle Island, occupied by r farmera and large pastoral 'tenants, the Boad Boards were there oaly allowed to vote a certain amount; that wae, they were not allowed to lay hands hearily on the large proprietor. - fie hoped that additional powerao! taxation'trouldbe given, enabling Jheia. to get more from large pro-] prietors. When in the Middle Island they Taised " '£!'[ by taxation,. tjhey would receive £2 ' from, the general , reTenue, or .general 1 taxation.:' They (the people), in the inidet of. a PRtiys ipopulation, Would be" able to raise only a trifling sum. They would, consequently, get ( little from the £2. Their interest therefore depended much opon this being "aitered, aad this state .of .things might be altered by a tax - on "Re then referred to the good state of Reeling between- the Thames-people and the natives, and said very little had beea. expended on-railwayi, aod therefoje little of borrowed money had been epent there. Imagine a railway from thie to the Waikato, afad its influencjßjiipon portant districts; ita influence- upon the commerce of the Thames and the population 1 it would attract,.and how it would lessen the chance of a collision between the races.' That was why he said they had claims upon the sympathy of the rest of New Zealand. With regard to the gold duty, he had told them that he believed it should be taken off. He had been told that his proposal to do this was unpopular. ["No, no," and cheers.] He had been told so in--the Assembly, and the reason alleged in favor of its maintenance had been the two pound subsidy for public works. He might be wrong, but did not believe that it could have been paid for more than one year at most. He had ever regarded that tax as moat nnfair, and had never heard anything, .to the contrary. It was said that the tax was easily levied; the people were used to it, and the treasurer said that it only made ft difference to the miner of five pence a day.... He.(Sir George) replied that wag a loaf of bread, and then it was stated that a mistake had been made, the difference was only three halfpence, and that money enabled them to be employed during the winter, bo he concluded that that was equal to taking from them in the summer and giving it to them in the winter: fLaughter.] He had tried to get that tax taken off, aad proposed a tax of a half-peony per pound on wool, on which a gentleman engaged in pastoral pursuits said that hia (Sir George's) coming back to public life was the greatest misfortune that could have happened. He still believed the gold tax to be improper and injudicious. There was no excuse for such a tax, ifr had its origin in turbulent times and amongst juuxste laxg&pSm force was necessary. To continue this tax was almostiike giving them a bad name. He had also tried to have the taxes taken off the ' necessaries of life, for which they called him hard names,'but eminent statesmen in England held the same views. These taxes entailed large expenses in collection, and the more taxation was simplified the better. He was told that in asking these things he was rendering himself obnoxious to'the people of New ■ Zealand. If this taxation he had told them of were taken off, the difficulty could be easily met, Enormous reductions could be made in the expenditure, and the system of taxation assimilated to that exist' ing: in other portions of the Empire. A tax on property would bring in larger sums and be easier collected. In considering the future they ehould bear in mind that a necessity existed for a change ia the incidence of taxation, and with regard to the expenditure at present, they did not know what the expenditure was.' There was one amount of £8000 in the Native Department which could not be explained. When the estimates were passing, a question had been asked, and the reply had been that some officer required additional salary. This was one of the excuses offered. Block sums were voted, when full details should have been. given in the estimates, and everything made clear. If not, these things would grow on the < estimates, which were,, generally brought forward at an. early, hour in the morning, when members were wearied out. He then referred to the constitution of committees of the Assembly, and the-abuses which had led to -taking, power from Parlia-, mentary committees and giving it to the judges. In England, no minister, concerned with the inquiry would go on ithe committee, but here it was different, and committees were comprised of party men; Perhaps it was not possible to get men interested in party matters to give an impartial opinion, but some remedy should be conceived to obtain a thoroughly impartial tribunal to I consider such matters. They were well awaTe what they wanted, and could judge whether what he conceived should be done was beet for their interests. Gold had been 1 found in. variable quantities, and hie oonviction was that the best places for.gold had never been struck, and that the best finds : would be made in the next century oi- half century, The chance of making these finds would be greater according to the acquisition of population.. How were they to increase population ? They had no land I open, nor any labor.to offer for a large influx * of population, but everything might be done to make this a great place. They had ■ abnndant tracts of good lands, but if they ' did not look out every acre of that would pass into private hands, and if a railway to " the Waikato was not made every acre along 1 the route would pass into private hands, They " should insist upon the immediate construction 2 of that railway. If they were met with the i reply that there was no money there was another way. Survey the line, ' estimate the cost, and call for tenders, and '• guarantee six per cent on the cost, Go- * vernment resesving the right to see the works carried out. Government had. to 1 pay nothing at all, as the companies whicß * he had seen had made the works pay ; bul !; even if two- per cent cay had fexbe paid V the money would be well spent. Once thai

rai'way was made «id the back country I opened, he believed they wbuld see that the ! land was not wrongly aliesated. They would t want farme for themselves. He would advise I the people of the Thames to, aid him in k t carrying out such a plan as he had eug- „ geeted, and get the railway made f Cheers. ] Another point he would refer to. £ All over the colony people were bentoa harr bors in most impossible places. Hereun- . usoal marine facilities existed for harbor ": works. Hew they were to obtain harbor } works it was nob difficult to determine. A , real , endowment (not; taken from their jf poekete) would now be given to them. The " ipieehotQ was fo be given over for a harbor * and kiiidred works, which on being car* v ried _ out would employ a certain ™ number " of people in carrying Jout

- ££L c^ im *4 fancied ■ *#*?%»&«•(«■»* jmwvuflxwimmss :if;M* <M& W&.ii&mttvitaMe, fat do *& ffiSiene4€ |Q6 land mofasab? in tfc& wejr mdii cftted, wiss a 6i? Oreorge then said he Mad eaid what-wjaq nearest his heart,. ©ojsceived to be most nee their is following oat whicfe he believed «sald redoend to their Tcwjm welfare; He had iso desij* to etfrjp party mafctsis, ac& Ttithdiew amEfevgrcM applauie. i •■.•.•:.;..■ -,-.•? 'J -rx ' A-rote of thanks ana, moved, and, c twjtti*; eition numerously signed, asking Sir George erey to etand for the? proposedto be presented: Ihe tiaotiqir waaseooa&tK. Bagnall, presentation of [the requisition, char George after com* , «oafn9ion and cries against Mr- Sagnallroaaking, "waUefl rthem gebd higbt. *mid cheering; waeiiaade from > Temp of ids aapportera tha&berwouia stand Ibt the Thames. t: 1 -;i ; 2: ;: || We have been compelled- bo: -abrikauovA: .considerable portions of the stove dielfe: gram owing to the'careless maamtfia which - it ha» been: compiled.] shl-r; : |