THE ELECTIONS.

Press, Volume XXXVI, Issue 5062, 28 November 1881, Page 2

THE ELECTIONS.

MB BOLLESTON AT PAPANUi

I Mr BoUeston addressed a meeting of 4fe» electors of Avon in the Papairal Town WM e® Saturday night. These w*s a large attentase, and the chair was occupied by J>3r WiUiara. Norman, who briefly satxadaeed the speaJcar. Mr Bolleaton, who oa eomhsg forward w» received with cheers, s«a r-Senteseß, Mcra proceeding with (She business of tbaeTenisg I should like to tnske a few remarks of a personal charaoter, Tfhicb will not occupy much of yoar tine. I would first make *Uauon toa very hamorouß letter whMi >•» |><w> t"**?*™, *? the Avon efectew, ai'«tt* Iwrtmtotok. while it speaks in a j<*»*«WMi»« * confiideraWflanioimt o!truth. -M* Metsoawas irood ecoo«h in that letter to tpwfc of ma s» the sitting member-*»«»*£• X as a" s A old sbafthowe.;* Mr ito» had a ? ood deal of expert*"*'" ** ™««,?, & f which he draws bia w&frf ,ttjI fJnak* has only done mc jastiee in lificetions as these of » man who will aoi ntttt bit in hie teeth and bolt or kick over the trace*, and generally he bae giren mc a character wladJ I am not at dl unwilfing to bear. Bat I mw* deeUne altogether-and I em very && to ■» that my friend is present-to have It wm<* far one moment that I am prepared »tP»«»V? be turned ont tograse [LaughtereisaappraiAJ I have represented this consSteeney to »* ber of years, and I am quite sensible tfefit I tew received at its hands great indnlceocfl. I «| eensibla of the merits of the conetitneise?, ses l have no reason for the present to Bnw«et» they ara not sensible of the merits of tbe» tn»* eeiitative I feel, however, gentlemen, mm apart, that I have to aiake a porao^ 1 . 62 turn to the electors, end to crave tneirfflK* geneefor what I think I can afford a eola®* apology — the fast that I *««■*? been able e'nce the year 1879 to stitaents here. When I last «»» was on the eve of the general eleeite^e*J thim, as you are aware, I have held ifeo «©«* Minietorof tbe Crown, acd the wW been pnt upon mc nnwt to a conßiambleewg be wy excuse for not having met yen es t eM*» have done. At the same time I think foa. w» recognise that the position I occapya osji *wjS in itael! carries with it eosne excttse. 1»'"" is that Ministers acting tagethar s J body ore, ia matters of maca represeated by their chief, «w *f Prasiier haa oa every occasion ■ ™S* JE of Parliament addressed h!e omwjg* and through them the colony generally. » i»«r ooarse the Government propoeed to W^' * liament. The time of a general efeefe«*» I™ which certainly demands from whether he is a Uiouter or not, *»*»'*¥ t render an account of hie BtewaiSmft, «c■* etand before youthie evening rsto to account of the history of the lest ft*"? and my actions theiein than as a new ing fresh election. In the otoenjbpwwf*. ahaU offer to-night I am awere itfca* *»« certain subjectß which yon will « the with specially, particularly tte* departments wi!A which I bare b^' Lands,«>a^^ h & 3 and also the general adtateistf^ J p B B u, I have dealt. Thoavh I stall. *f» JJ»2M& to with thoee matters, I think it **"«"* f tks say that I appear hera bs a »«"?£ "tiers Government j ac of j the Government of which I em • «gf2»«fc appear h«e becatiae.l teiiave tt»ttito Government duricg the time it k« bMdoMitßdutyfaitMtiUy 5 beca^W^^ the people generally are **»&£*£ »• » of the Government, end he<ause_ i ft the colony generally will renew■ the[ «ff j aa placed ia us threo yensuo. fora one of those who bctfevo »h» of govoramentdoesßOt ge« '^if'fueftasenot ba carried on 88 ., tb wffci & which fairly critidm its «*»gv."s itt

-too* ia that xespecL I do not think the other firf the Hoase is that organised body, injh head i. tbePremi«r. I to ade—the Opposition-should have ite f as there ie an Opposition there is Sxbt tbl most prominent »emberof that fJr h Sir Georee Grey. ana in thei observstwna ffiwfei to make it will be impossible for meto IKrwise than associate Sir George Grey with t°Sof members of the Opposition with 82it will be tny duty to some extent to deal; Slehallinanomber of my remarksbeboundto to the speech that Sir Oeone SS, has recently made to the electors of Auck. kslCifcy East. Sir George Urey appears to think Sat there is an opinion on the Government aide iatbe House that it is all nonsense to say there Sβ two parties in New Zealand. Now, I agree Sμ, Mm that there are two parties in the -Miitry, and I believe there is an essential differhscb is their way of conducting business, and laesaeo-.ial difference also in ttwir principles ; sad it is because there is that difference, and tasaara I believe we represent th« country more folly than Sir George Grey and his party, that I •firaSy aad confidently appeal to the electors of Sjecolony to support the present Government. fAosfanee.l Sir George Gre/ ia his ppeechthe ItfcSnight said he intended to fight- ,. As long 2IK« I shall fight." I tell you, gentlemen. that that also is my feeling. [Applause ] I believe that principles are established by fighting. «3 I believe that none bnt men who feel ifcrecgth enough to fight earnestly and aealously Sato believe in themselves, will be worthy of vXding a place in the Government of the colony. I And I will tell you another thing: iXllfight-vou know I have been a fighting san-*ad won't run away when questions come hSors Parliament on whicn a man ought to exSsss his opinions. I shall not, for instance, be Snaa,like the present nominal leader of the Opposition, on such a question asthat of educaSeTshirking the giving of my vote. Neither 221 be found doing so on a question like that Stka leasehold qualification. Wβ want men j who have strong convictions, » a ™X oeuef is , tot the working men of the country,, the indusfens classes, and the whole community, respect Swifh whom they differ if those differences , are expressed honestly and fimly.. They believe fcrach men infinitely better than in people who are uncertain in their convictions, who are utter- j isg uncertain sounds, and who, as I am sorry to , »is the ewe with a large number of candidates ■Ttbe present time, never express one eteong eninicn without giving themselves some bapk Swjriby which to escaoe from carrying it to its asteiral conclusion. [Applause] I have said SWe hold office because we have common jtjjgesi objects, and because we believe we are aSja ear duty, ana we shall hold office until the Ssrtfee people, through the elections, has fafeied that we are no longer fit to do 57 It is my belief that that tune has set rat come. When we took office, after fl» tot general election, we were put there by fa people to accomplish certain objects; we yen pat then to effect a reform in the finance d tbe eonafay. and to effect large retrenchments tad t reorganisation of the Civil Service : We cere put tnsre to open np the country, and to devise schemes for the settlement of the people on the land; we were put there to do vhat our predecessors talked about doing, but did not do —to carry out a system of electoral reform, Which is BOW for the first time coming into play ; wewerapnt there t« cleanse the Native office. End to te*eh the Katives the supremacy of the Queen's law. And, gentfemen, I maintain that npon these bro&a points we have, on the whole, done em duty as fully as the people of the colony could expect, if not as fully ac we csrselves wished, and as, I believe, we shall in the future be able to do. [Loud applause.] I have caM first, that we were placed in power to effest a financial reform in the colony—to bring j ebont retrenchment, and to place the finances j ia such a position that the outside world would hare confidence in the determination of the people to bear their burdens fairly, and in euch a my that the credit of the colony should be reestablished. Well, I think the lab; Parliament did its duty in that respect. [A. Voice—" I don't tMnk so."] I think we have. I think that the result of the last Statement of the Colonial Treasurer was such as could not fail to be satisfeetory to the colony at large. We effected retrenchment to the extent of £300,000 upon the previous Estimates, and we were able to rednce taxation. Whatever may be said to the contrary, I am firmly convinced that a more equitable tax thai the property tax was aever imposed upon any people. Changes in *J&t" l ax may still be found necessary, bnt what «& irfected !ast session in bringing within its scope foreign capital to the extent of some deves millions, has mnch improved it. [Hear, hear.] It has been said that this tax is doing an injury to the country. It certainly, is not the working cUssee who have to complain of it. I heve is my hand a statement of_ the number of people who pay the tax. It ia on the whole something like 21,000 oat of a population of ebont balf a million. The facts, as they appear in the tables to the Financial Statement, show tist the bulk of this tax does not fall upon those who axe unable to pay it. I have said that one of the principal works we had before us was to open cp the l&nds. And here I may be allowed to refer for a moment to the speech of the gentleman who may be regarded aa the leader of the Opposition, in which he said with regard to iha lacd system that New Zealand was situated none than any other country in the world. Now I entirely fail to see that. It is certainly far better utoated than any of the Australian eateries, and the number of settlers on the land ia New Zealand in proportion to its population I bears favorable comparison with that in any ; of&er country in the world. There are something Bke 60,000 freeholders in New Zealand OBi of a population of half a million. As I am gpsßg into this question of the administration of tbe lands, of whioh I am in charge, I feel bound to reiterate my denial of the statements made neeatiy and en previous occasions by Sir G. Grey eil&regard to whathaa taken place in this province arfeularly, and the action of myself and others Sβ nspeot to the administration of the lands here. Vnn stood before you as a publio man for the M thirteen years, and my acts are known to mud I say that the statement of.Sir George «Snnfch regard to the pre-emptive right systea Canterbury, as dealt with by myself parfeMy, is absolutely erroneous. Iβ the year 1812 that question came prominently before the Pttrincial Government. I took office aa SuperOtecdeiit in 1868. At that time the land sales leS eearly ceased, and they only began again in 1869. In 1872 we found that the system of preemptire rights—the system of spotting, and what is called gridironing^—was injuriously iffe&Bg the settlement of the country, and I net down to the Piovincial Council at that tiate * memorandum in which I pointed out whsi these evils were. I obtained the consent of the Cotmcil to my introducing a Bill into the General AHtsnbly which, haa for its object the raaedfiiag of those evils, and that measure was Sseseo into law at my instance. Therefore I do sot thick thai the present Government, myself base b charge of. the administration of lands, » lßt% to aeglect its duty in that respect, Wa the eofcny has no grosnd whatever » Qaak that the policy of land administraWα m jay hands will be otherwise than liberally oauiwiQi. r&pplause.] How, gentlemen, there is »oatte the North Island, to which eg Gaage Qaay referred in very marked teas. It is -with reference to what was « one time a household word—to a large («eek of land near the Waikato known Jβ Bitetere, He saya with regard to that /«eb % case of blocks of land purchased «os Katives upon which large emus of your awosy have been expended towards acquiring a fesSef<B the public generally. The Government not to purchase. When they came to that determination, did they notify this intention sot to purchase to mc or to you? «oi a bit of it. They nut a proclamation over li forbidding everybody; but, efter a while «>6? told some few persona, you may go in and ccaplete the piirchase; we will give yon a feSe. That, I say, they bad no right to do." * f. tta ?ot hesitate to cay that in that statement tnere m not one word of truth. The facts are taese:— When the present Government came wo officei that Patetere block was a matter of Jwy considerable difficulty in the negotiation of sKiftß with the Natives, The' Government. with tee approval of the H?use, determined as far as 503aMe"fo do away with the system of Native tod purchase, and there were provided by law »wo w&ys in which the Government could abanemi such purchase. One was by absolutely Abandoning ike purchase, in which case the | wsndonment could only take effect two months $ncr the date of the proclamation; and the other was that where, as is distinctly referred to by Sir George Grey, and as particularly sjpli?d to this block, the Government had paid eonaderabie sums of mosey on account of the S&rcaase, and desired, in return for that money, tohave land apportioned to them in the block, ■ they should apply under the existing law for the EWBsMg&tion and ascertainment of their title, ?M the deteraicing of the amount of interest xa the bod which was represented by the money "My had spent. The application to the Court *M made on November 25th, two f nil months jetee the advertised time of the sitting of the Court, namely, the 25th January. The applica- '..; ooawas in this form:—"That the Court is * Rqmrod to ascertain the title of the GovernJKnfc, and notice is given that, as goon as the "*»of the Government is ascertained, the reffiamder of the land thst is not awarded to the wvemment by the Court shall be open for «a to the public" Well, is it true to !*f»M B& George Grey has aone, that jeewreay informed a few people of what we going to do, and gave no [general notice to "jjjMwtuc? Such an assertion is abeolntely and jMEjy ÜBtme. This notice was gazetted and «m«Uacncbonttbe colony to everybody to was open. It was also, I ™«»ve» pabbehed in the newspapers, and when &IS? ce * a l** t the Gowmment interest was **»«, everybody had as fall an opportunity of

purchasing land in Ihot Woe* as it it had been abandoned under the clauses of the other Act. I hope k gentlemen, I am sot -wearying you in Riving this explanation, bnt epeaking as I was 3ns* now of the check which ™ £pvoa*™ should be upon a Government, and of the hea-thy criticism that ought to be exercised m "*i«ct to the action* of a Government, I do tonkthftt when men so signally fail that they absolutely and entirely misrepresent the actions of a Government they do a great wrong tothe form of government we have in this country. ■ [Applause ] Then Sir George Grey naively tells us. " There is no community between myself and men who have such a disregard for the law.' Well, I say in reply to that, there is no community between myself and men who have auch an ntter disregard for the truth as is conveyed in that sentence. [ Applause.] Sir G. Grey says again:— " When I was in effiee with my friends I was given to understand that if my Government did not agree to what was then proposed, the persons interested were very powerful, had vast sums of money, and would truEt to a change cf Government. I knew to a certain extent what that meant. It meant that our doom was sealed, and that a change of Government was to take place." Now what is conveyed in that? That the body of gentlemen who were engaged in the purchase of Patetere had sufficient political power to ail»ct the elections and that the elee-

tions were so affected by them. I say again that co far as I know that is absolutely antrne. It might be that those gentlemen thought that with a change of Government they would have more practical men dealing with the business of the country, and that it would be more for their interest, bnt that they affected the elections in this matter, so far aa the Government is aware, is absolutely incorrect. What was it that turned Sir George Grey ont cf power? It was not Patetere. Jt was the voice of the people, who said they wonld have the maladministration cease, to which the country had been subjected for the past two years. [Applanse, and a voice " No."] What was the case with regard to this very Patetere conntry ? Why thousands of arrea next door to Patetere were negotiated in favor*of an individual who was being assisted by surveyors connected with the Government of that day. Why shcu d one party be dealt with in one way, and another party in a different way ? Then, I ask you to consider what has been the result of this Patatere business? What did we hear of it last session ? First, however, I must take yon back to a time before last session, because there waa not a word said about it last session. During the previous session we had a great deal of vaporing about this Patatere block, and my colleague Mr Bryce challenged Sir G. Grey to have a committee of inquiry into it. He gave notice of a conmittee, and I believe one was summoned. Bnt did the committee eit ? Not a bit of it. It did not suit Sir George Grey's purpose to have the matter thoroughly sifted as it might have been by a committee. And if this thing was bo wrong, as he now on the huetings says it was, why in the world did he not bring it up last session P It was never mentioned so far as I

What waa it that turned Sir George

know. Well, gentlemen, that is enongh as far as the.criticism of Sir George Grey is concerned. I hope" yon will bear with mc for a few minutes wnile I tell yon what have been the operations of the Land Department daring the past year. I may say that there could be no more healthy sign than the general demand which exists tKroughout the country at the present time for land for tona fide occupation. During the past year ending in March more hona fide settlement by email holders took plaoe than was the case during the previous two and a half years. [Applanse.J I do not speak only of the freah settlement that has been effected on the Wei-'

mate Plains, than which Ifcannot conceive that anything could be more satisfactory. To one who, like myself, bat recently saw the Plains withont a stick upon them, it in perfectly marvellous to see the homesteads and the farms, the fences and the cattle, and the comfort that is now prevailing there. The Department has adopted a system by which the plans of lands to be sold are distributed at the various land

offices throughout the colony, and at railway stations and other public places, and most of yon must be aware that the system which has been adopted by the Government—a jadicions mixture of land for cash payments ondland for deferred payments—has been most satisfactory to the public at large. All I can say ie that the land has' gone off wherever it has been put up, and that for tome time to come there will be held in that part of the country monthly sales, which I believe will result in an amount of settlement which could hardly have been anticipated. I think it will be interesting to yon to know— because it is said we are a Government that favor large settlement—that upon that coast 180 settlers hold 22,426 acres, or something like 125 acres to each farm. I am not one of those who believe that a man is a land ehark, and is to be regarded as an individual who ought to be suppressed, when he owns more than forty acres. I believe that these things work themselves right, and I believe that the system we have adopted, and which admits of a man obtaining a fair amount of land according to his means, is working most beneficially for the 'country. I may say that the system which has been adopted on the West Coast is tfcie: Every six miles there is laid out a village settlement. When I took office in the year 18801 introduced an amending I*nd Bill, which provided for tie eatabHabmenk of village settlements. They begin with quarter, acre flections for people who only wish for enough land to build a hou»e upon, but they widen out into larger sections of three, four, five, and up to ten acres, which allow of the prosecution by the settlers of other pursuits than farming, and this system has been found to work exceedingly well. These settlements, as I say, exist every six miles, and, therefore, there will practically be no place on these blocke of country which have been opened that will be more than three miles from the village school, the village blacksmith, the church, and the store. I have in this province carried out td some extent this system of village settlements, and I think very successfully. Yon will see it in operation in a small way at the South Bskaia and at the Orari, and it is the intention of the Government to further apply the system in the case of blocks of land which remain unsettled in this province. Then again it may be of some interest to you to know that in May, 1882, when the Act provides for a different system in respect to pastoral lands coming into existence, the Government will be prepared to cut up land 3 and Bell them on pastoral deferred payments. Already instructions for the survey of such lands as ate considered suitable have been given, and a fair beginning of the sale of land on pastoral deferred payments will be made -a3 toon aa the law allows. I may cay ala? that in Otttgo some 3.000,000 acres of land will soon be cnt up and opened for sale, either for small agricultural settlement or for deferred payment pastoral lands, or for email runs capable of carrying sheep to the extent of 5000 npon each ; and that the necessary plans have been prepare* and are now being lithographed. I now come to the question of electoral reform. The late Parliament will be conspicuous for the changes it has brought about in respect to the representation of the colony. The three principal measures on this subject are the Qualification of Electors Act, the Triennial Parliaments Act, and the Bepresentation Act. "With regard to the first, you will recollect that the previous Parliament bad a measure before it which failed to become law because the Upper House, having made an alteration in the Bill with jespect to Maori representation, reverting to the Bui as originally brought down, the Government of the day determined .to drop it, becauee they did not get their own way in the matter. I may say that that course deprived the South for the whdleof the last ParUament of the additional representation to which it was entitled. This measure is some•what remarkable, because, from the speech ol the leader of the Opposition to whioh I have referred, we find that the Bill which was brought in by hie Government wasnotoneof wnicnbenimself approved, but oneinrespectto which it would seem that he * had been hampered by his colleagues, snd which did tot represent his own riem. The fact was that the Bill as it came down" provided for the franchise being given to ratepayers, and, therefore, to leaseholders, and gfo George Grey declares that that Bill was not his own. It is rather a remarkable admiseionto make, considering tfcatin the speech delivered by the representative of the Crown it was spoken of in connection with the other electoral BiHs ac one of a series of measures that wonld give to the people of New Zealand one of «»&«*.•»£ best constitutions that could possibly be devised. The Triennial Parliaments Act is one which was passed by the late Parliament. I have one word tosay about that. When I spoke to you upon £ before, I said that my own feelings personally had sot been in favor of * Triennial Parha. ments Bill, but that I was quitei satisfied it was thTwish of the people that it should be earned. utiTfied that the Act is one of advantage to the and repealing measures which we have once imtktedTwtthout giving them a faff tmL One of the greatest curses in new «"»*"£ »• *£ position on the part of the I^g°* M £ b X &ution ß .anatnentoact « ch^S™ n ? 9 * \l put plants'in their gardens, «**£?! w£ see how they are growing. In ******** to this subject I do not wish to be nndVjntoodto be expressing more than my individual «P"°»- * appeal before you previously «* "g* °| thHßfflaia private member, and w«f£?V* think I am entitled to state my »4 l^f B TfS Z, it. If yoa ask mc if I think it is ataU Sble or probable that the Government of the Saywill propose a return to *£ liamentef I cay Ido not think it v. It m *f *?• It will be a matter for ""»M« e * , ££ B £f e S this I wish distinctly to be ***!***!*££. presaing my own opinion only— v aßywwe"

feas to come, whether that chsnge will cot be an onward one in the direction of annual instead of triennial Pnrliamente. I now come to what was really the Bill of last session, and for which the late Parliament ia principally remarkable—the £epresentation Bill. By that measure we, in this part of the colony, have at last got the righta which fairly belong to us as one of the most populous and most industrious, as well as one of tte largest wealth-producing districts of the colony. W«j had very considerable trouble over that measure, and I think the Government of the colony deserves well of the people of this island for fighting as we did to obtain what we thonghttobetherighteof the people. [AppUuse.J Gentleicen, I am afraid the time is getting on, and I must be briefer in my remarks than I had wished to be. There were a large number of eubjeets on which I would like to have tone* cd. I may mestion as one of ihem the qnestionof local government, about which we have heard a good deal, fcir George Grey defines local rovernment as providing that the people shall hive the power over their own lands and triages, and we hear a gwat deal about the necessity for a separation of local and general finance, various schemes having been placed before us for securing what different people think is a better form of local government than the colony at present enjoys. You are well aware that it is not my disposition to run hurriedly into constitutional changes. I was ore of those who opposed most strenuously, and I believe I did right in so doing, the abolition of the provinces. [Hear, hear.] But, as I said before, we have advisedly, and after mature consideration, adopted a system of oountiee and Road Boards, and I think we ought to give that system a fair trial. The history of Constitutions and of Governments is like that of nature—continuous.

We mast try to improve upon what we ha7e got and to develop out of it something better, instead of deing violence by the way of sudden abolition, or attempts to do what in the case of nature is abhorrent, namely, go back again to that which we have left. " Nature brings not

back the Mastodon." The fact is that the real cry, as it developed itself in the General Assembly last session, was one that arose out of a want of money on the part of the local bodies. Their diagnosis of the complaiat by those who brought down new schemes was not the right one. What they really wanted was money, and no change such as any of those which were embodied in the different

schemes that were proposed would hare satisfied the requirements of the people. Now, gentlemen, I am coming to a matter of great importance, one in which the people of this province have shown considerable interest, and on which

I may be supposed to speak with some authority—the Native question. Since the Government have been in office, under the able administration of Mr Bryce very large reductions have been made in the Native department, and the whole administration has been reduced to a more commonsense form. The last Native Lands Act which was brought in Iβ tending very much more to the settlement of the country than anything that went before, and whon we think of what has taken place xb the Waikato, and of the general temper of the Natives throughout the colony, we have great reason at the present time to congratulate ourselves. [Applause.] Now, with regard to affaire on the West Coaet. It is a matter of great gratification to the Government to feel, as they are justified in doing, that they have the sapport and sympathy of the people and in the main of the Press of the colony, in undertaking to suppress the difficulties that have arisen at Parihaka. The Government have had a very trying and anxious time in that matter. They have had to take what;is coneidered, and what so doubt is, to some extent, abnormal action, to meet on abnormal state of circumstances, and throughout the country tley have had, what has been most encouraging to them, an expression of sympathy from the people. Not only has that come from people on their own side and of their own following, but the question has been very much divested of party feeling, and felt to be a national danger which had to be met in a national spirit, and

every encouragement has been held out to the Government to deal, as they have done, firmly and strongly with the difficulty. > [Applause.] I may mention with great satisfaction that men like Mr Sheehan, even Sir George Grey himself, and other members in opposition to ne have spoken of the course we have taken as one deterring of support. It has been somewhat strange to mc that men like Mr Stout—men who fcave had experience in pnblic affairs — should have lushed wildly into print and written as Mr Stout did with regard to the action of the Government on the Coast. Be is, I think yon will admit, a man of a somewhat eccentric character. He is a man who on many accounts is to be respected. He is a man of considerable ability. But I think that in the letter he has written on this matter he has shown that he has not fully appreciated the responsibility that attaches to a man who has once held office, as he has done, of an important character. Nor did he, I think, when he wrote as he did, appreciate tbe fact that he himeelf was AttorneyGeneral and Minister of Lands in the Government which initiated the survey on the West Coast before any attempt had been made to settle the difficulty and to define the reserves. [Applause.] I think the letter he wrote was entirely unworthy of a public) man dealing with a question so serious as this. The Government had upon it at the time the very heaviest responsibility. At any moment there might have been bloodshed, and the whole of that coast might have been desolated, and have become the scene of a desultory war for yeare. I do not think it is right for a c an in Mr Stout's poeition towrite in this strain* " I suppose, amidst the general rejoicings at the prospect of a Maori war, it is useless for anyone to raise his voice against the present Native policy. I do so more ac a protect than with any hope that any one colonist can ever aid in preventing the murder of the Maorie, on which, it seems, we, as a colony, are beDt. The race is dying, and if we were at all affected with tbe love of humanity we should strive to preserve it, or make its dying moments ac happy as.possible. To this end I think we ought to have given Tβ Whiti and his people a Crown grant of the Pariheka block, and allowed them to remain there unmolested. If they disturbed settlers on other lands, why not treat them as we treat European disturbers of the peace—bring them before our Courts of Justice?' Now I ask you what have we done ? "Why we have prevented the murder of the Maoris. The courso we followed was taken, alike in the interests of the Maoris and of the Europeans to prevent bloodshed, and I thank God we have succeeded in doing, so. (Applause.) He says at the end of this letter—" We are powerful and they are weak, and that is the only explanation that the future hietorian will give of our conduct." I think, geutlemen, if it had not been for the way in which the volunteers of the colony came forward—if it had not been for the steady and active determination of the Government to bring together sufficient force to prevent a dieturbance, we should have had bloodshed on the coast. It seems to mc as if there are people in the colony who expected bloodshed, and who do not know what to make of it that there was not bloodshed. My belief is that the cour6e we took was a reasonable one, and that it was in consequence of that course that there was not bloodshed. [Applauie.l Now, gentlemen, I wish you to listen to what I am about to from what Sir George Grey eaid on the subject. As I said before I think in this matter be has expressed an opinion that is well worth listening to. It is curiously put, but it is very instructive, and I think contains a great deal of truth. He says— " I was brought up in my youth partly by a very clever but rather curious man. Hβ afterwards rose to great eminence. Hβ held this idea which was very early impressed on my mind. His belief was that a great danger threatened the community, particularly a barbarous community, from false prophets arising. Hβ said there is tm> telling when a man saye he is a prophet, whether he is a true prophet or a false one. He believed there had been true prophets, and if a man said he was a prophet, he would be sorry to believe he was not so, but if he was not a true prophet he might do much miechief to a community. Now, he would shut such a person up. If he were a true prophet shutting him up could not do him much harm, for an argel, perhaps, might come to deliver him. or Borne interposition of Providence would take place on his behalf. My friend bslieved that the matter would be righted in some such way as that. But if he waa a false prophet, it would be a great profit to the community to shut him up. [Laughter.] Such a person must be either a maniac or an im poster. If he is a maniac, it is proper he should be put under restraint. If he is an imposter, shutting him up is what be deserves. Now I am in favour of shutting up the false prophet, but I think the false prophet should have been shut up long aeo. The most fitting time was when the false prophet was willing to be shut up himself." You will see from this that Sir GeoTge Grey does not at all disagree with Te Whiti being shut up, but regards that step as one in the interests of the community at large, as well as in the interests of the prophet himself. However, after this he proceeds rather curiously. I may say that during last session, when it was my dnty to tell the House that I thousht would be be necessary to make some provision for preventing a Native outbreak on the West Coast, Sir George Grey expressed himself in away that I thought did him great credit. He said that whatever we did we should do strongly and firmly—that to act decisively, and to make the Natives feel our power, waa the most merciful way in which we could deal with this difficulty. In that rwpect we have followed Sir George Grey's advice. But he makes one statement wmcn I think you would like to bear, because with tbt exception perhaps of that wonderful letter to the "-Wai. £r»pa Standard" as to the bombardment v. Anekland. it seems to mc to be one of the most curious statements that this gentleman has ever Beferring to the downfall of the Koman Empire, he compared the Government to a Roman Senate which determined who were to be consuls, who were to be tribunes who were to have the eatatei and to fill tbe public offices; aad then he went

on to cay that in order te do this the more effectually they felt it necessary to fill men's minds with excitement. He said the Romans liked war; they liked shows of gladiators; they liked shows in the arena, where numbers of persons were killed. These things were done invariably before an election too* plice. At such times they tried to engage the public mind in some disturbance of the tanaPeople forgot their true interests; they thought nothing of their lands, or of their revenue, or or their representation. Let us then, I say, keep our minds studiously clear from such things. It is curious te mc to thick that there could be any connection between the action taken u> the establishment of gladiatorial showe and public exhibitions on the eye of elections and the danger of an outbreak which existed just previous to this election. It seems to mc perfectly monstrous to suppose that the Government could have been in any way privy toTe White's speech of the 17th September, wbieh had the effect of frightening the settlers from one end of the coast to the other. Ihe supposition that the Goyernmett had anything to do with bringing this on before the elections would imply that Tβ Whiti j and the Government were in collueion in the matter. I think you will ccc, gentlemen, that there could be no more dangerous or difficult position for a Government to be in before an

election, than a position which involved the poeBibility of a disaster occurring such as would result from an ontbreak of the Natives. Sir

Geo.. Grey is not the only person who has ventured to throw oat a hint of this kind. Hβ has done it openly and in the coarse of political warfare. Bat there are at the present time I am grieved to find, and I have heard it in several quarters, a knot of people who in the name of philanthropy, and justice, and truth, are imputing motives of this kind to the Government, which I need not say are absolutely falee and without foundation. [Applause] I think those paragraphs 1 have read from Sir George Grey's speech are very instructive I have in my hand something on the came point which ii sot only instructive but amusing. We have heard a good deal from one section of the Press in Canterbury about the wrons-doing of the Government in respect to the West Coast. They have talked of justice, of mercy, and of everything that was right being set at nought by the Government. They have talked of our cruelty, of our wrong doing, and no expressions which they could pen were strong enough to convey the abhorrence they would have the _ public believe they felt at the course of action the Government were taking. I don't wish, to beat about the bush, gentlemen. I dm speaking of the articles that have appeared in the " Lyttelton Times," and I crave your attention to what lam going to say. I should not have taken notice of the matter except for reasons that will appear when you hear what I am going to read to you. During the year 1879, when the late Government were in office, that newspaper, in common with every newspaper in the colony, wrote its opinions on the state of Native affaire on the West Coast. The general tenor of the articles in the "Lyttelton "limes"—you will find them in the files of May, June,' and July, 1879—was to this effect:—" Do not fight, whatever you do; it does not pay. The flour and sugar policy is infinitely better than fighting. The land must come into our hands Booeer or later." That was the general tone and the impreetion that they conveyed by the articles that appeared in this branch of the Press at that time. In the month of July news came that a chief called Wheteri, a Mokau Native, had come in to the Government, and that the Maoris in that part of the country were determined to follow a peaceful coarse and abstain from helping Tβ Whiti, or any operations that might take place—that they did not at all sympathise with Xc Whiti, and might be relied on to stand aloof. Now comes an article, to a portion of which I crave your attention. It appeared on the 4th of July, 1879, aad rune as follows:— ' "The main point to be noted is, that activediaaff ection does not now exist at the Mokau. We may infer that it will be confined to the Waimate plains: at all events, the attempts on the part of Te Whiti to get allies, if .any have been made have failed. The occasion is propitious for a decisive blow. One of the rumors that has reached us speaks of the planning of a raid on Parihaka, and another mentions that the Government hope soon to bag Te Whiti and Titokowaru. Wβ can only hope that these rumors are true. If Mr Mackay, the new commissioner at Taranaki, can signalise the beginning of his career by the seizure of the Maori prophet, he will cover himself with glory, and effectually secure the peace if the colony." [Laughter.] Can you believe it, gentlemen? it reminds mc of two philosophers of olden days, one of whom laughed and the other wept over the foibles and vices of society. My first impression when I read this was to laugh, but on thinking ever it, it does seem to mc a somewhat sad thing that one of those elements of our system of popular Government—the criticism of the Prees—should lose the influence it ought to have by changing and chopping upon an important question of this kind, and practically trading on the credulity of Hβ readers in the way it does. The articles that have appeared in that paper could only have been written presuming on the ignoraHce of facts which the majority of its readers were in, and for that ignorance of facts, or misrepresentation of facts, the paper itself was very largely responsible. It dob been said that the Government is acting without law, and doing what it has no

rignt to do, in tne detention or encu men tv Tltokowarnv It may be that the Government has taken a serious responsibility upon itself ii the course it has adopted with regard to the detention of these Natives who are in custody Bnt it has done it cheerfully it has done ii firmly, and it will continue to do it—[Ap planse]—because we feel we have got in oui hands the protection of a number of helplesi people, and we will take care that we do noi abuse the trnet that is reposed in ua in thii matter. f^PP^ llß6 '] ?** you wne *^ er J° x can deal with these l> atives in the same way tha' you ordinarily deal with Europeans. Are you at a time of great excitement among th< Natives, as this must be, to allow a man liki Titokowarn, who only c few years ego desolate* the whole coast, to be loose and to be a standing menace to the people in that part of the country!

In his own interest —to keep bun out of mis* chief—and in the interest of the happiness of the people on the coast, I maintain that the Government is doing what is right. A number of yon will remember, I doubt not, a letter that appeared written by this man. He is no donbt one of the greateet warrior chiefs that there has been in New Zealand—a man whose name as a chief and a leader in war is a household word amorg the Maoris. I ask yon just to listen to a letter that was written by him during the laet war, and to judge whether it is any wonder that people who recollect the horrors of that war should congratulate themselvee that the Government has ee«n fit to take that man and to keep him out of the way at the present time. He Bays to a friendly chief:— '' A word to yon. Cease travelling on the roads. Stop for ever the eoing on the roads which lead to Mangamanga (camp Waihi), leet yon be left on the roads ac food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the field, or for mc, because I have eaten the European (Smith, trooper), as a pioce of beef; he was cooked in a pot. The women and children partook of the food. I

have begun to eat human flesh, and my throat is constantly open for the flesh of man. I shall not die; I shall not die. When death itself shall be dead, I shall be alive. That is the word for you, extending te Matangarara. That is a light (clear) word to you, extending to all your boundaries. Cease (stop)." I say that this is no time to be quibbling about technicalities of law in regard to the detention of a man of that kind. [Applause.] I should like, if you could bear with mc, to give yon a statement upon this Native question in respect to matters as to which the action of the Government has been called in question, and as to which the public have a right to information. Of course it is not natural that the public generally could carry their minds back to the I time of the confiscation, and follow its history np to the present time. I will endeavor, in a few words, to put before you the position of the confiscated lands. After the Waitara war the whole of the West Coast was declared a dietrict within which blocks of land could be taken for the establishment of military settlements. It was a district under the New Zealand Settlement Act, in the same way that tfee Waikato conntry was proclaimed a district. That was in the month of January, ) 865. But the whole of the country was not then confiscated. It was only declared a district within which blocks of land would be absolutely taken and confiscated for the purposes of military settlement. When Mr Weld's Government had been in office a lit:le time they found that the Natives were returning upon these confiscated lands, that they were settling irregularly, ana that the question of title would become very much ronfnsed, and the prospect of pacifying the country would become daily more and more complicated. They therefore determined to confiscate the whole of these blocks—not only to leave them, as they were previously, districts within which blocks could be taken, but to confiscate the whole of them—to make them Crown lands, and then to grant them back from the Queen to loyal Natives, and also te rebel Natives

*ho were willing to come in and live upon tnese lands under Crown grant. The principle upon which this was done wae # laid down in the oeace preclamation which was issued irT the year 1865 in these words:— " Out o! the lands which have been confiscated in the Waikato, and at Taranaki and Ngatirnamri, the Governor will at once restore considerable quantities to those of the Natives who wish j to settle down upen their lands, to hold them , under Crown grants, and to Uve under the protection of the law. For this purpose Cranmis-

Burners will be sen* rorsnwiio ™«;""» " I"!""™ , and the country about Taranaki, and betweei :•»-•* place and Whanffanui, who will put tht Naihrea *ho may detire it upon lands at once, and wiQ tie boundaries of the blocki which they artTo occupy. These who donol come in at once *> daim the benefat o. this arrangement muet txject to Dβ excluded. The instructions which were s."«ued to the Cem misaoaen who were to set out clocks o

land are published in the printed papers that appear in the Parliamentary books of that time. Bnt I will jagfc yon a paragraph from the instructions of the Waikato Commissioner, Dr. Pollen, which shows wbat the mind of the Government was at that time in regard to the confiscation—how thoroughly they were determined that the whole of the Native title should be wiped cut, and that the title which should be re-established in the different localities and different spots should be a title accepted by the Natives from the Crown, and in no way complicated by past tribal claims. The paragraph is as follows :— " Jn marking out blocks of land for the Natives it is, of course, desirable not to abandon to them more than is necessary for their wants, not only because to leave them in possession of large tracts of country which they cannot use is no kindness, but because by the speedy sale and settlement of the remainder their own lands will become more valuable, and the settlement and occupation of the country will be effected. Bnt the Government feel that the matter of fir.-t importance in the permanent pacification of the country is to induce the Natives finally to accept the fact that the laud is confiscated, and to consent to hold what is now returned to them under Crown grant. To attain this end the Government would sanction a far more liberal disposition of land to the Natives than would on other considerations be desirable." I read that to you in order to shew that there was no possible doubt in the mind of the Government that the Natives at that time had explained to them thoroughly the effect of the confiscation, and that it is perfectly idle raise the question of whether the confiscation was technically all that might have been. As you are aware, a question has been raised, in cooeeqaence of a promise contained in this proclamation, that the land of the loyal Natives would not be taken, but would be returned to them. What was the case in the Waikato? The Commissioner there, Dr. Pol'en, a gentleman of very considerable administrative ability, aided by Mr James Mackay, carried but theee instructions, and the same difficulties never arose there that have occurred on the West Coast; and the reason why the West Coaet tract of country was not dealt with in the same way that the Waikato was treated was this— that the Natives themselves did not admit of the settlement of the question on the Coast. In the Parliamentary papers for 1867 you will find lettere which show that Te Whiti's people at Parihaka—l don't say Tβ Whiti himself, because there is no particular evidence as to him personally—but that hia tribe rendered settlement on the coast by the Europeans impossible. The question of dealing with these lands was rendered impossible, not through neglect of the Government at that time at any rate, but through the impracticability of _ the Natives. Now I wish you to bear that in mind. It is not reasonable to say that the Government allowed the confiscation to pasß by in this case, when practically they were debarred, except at the risk of bloodshed and of difficulties, which in the then financial condition of the colony, they were not prepared to face, from making use of the land and carrying out those arrangements which they proposed. Well, time went on. I for my part alwajs thought that this thing wae getting, to use a common expression, into a mess. In the year 18691 wae in Parliament. I had known of theee previous transactions in respect to the confiscated land, and I brought down resolutions in the House recommending the appointment of a commission to inquire into the question, and to wind up these transactions, because it appeared that over a considerable portion of this country there was a possibility of settlement; that, though there were, ef course, Natives who threw difficnlties in the way, there were others who were pleading for settlement, and whose claims I thought, and, I believe, rightly, ought to be regarded, and that an attempt ought to be made at settlement. That Commission never wae appointed. Titokowaru's war swept over that country, and it was for some time practically deserted. I will not go into the farther intermediate stages, but will take up from the time when the present Government took office. When I was then asked whether I would join Mr Hall, one of the first things I put to him waa " Will you agree to a Commission being appointed to settle this question of the apportionment of the lands on the West Coast ?" The result, you all know, was the appointment of a Commission, under an Act of Parliament, to determine what was a fair apportionment of the lands and a fair settlement of the difficulty. The report of that Commission has been largely quoted from by other people, and I do not propose to go into it at length. I observe that one candidate recommended the electors to read it three times. Well, I think it is a very difficult matter to understand for anybody who has not a considerable amount of reading and knowledge of the matter besides that afforded by the report of the Commission. But, what I want to point out is this—That Parliament deliberately adopted the report of the Commission as a fair settlement of this difficulty; aud not only was it a fair settlement, but a most liberal one. ( It was a settlement in excess of the swards that were made by tho Compensation Court in respect to the claims of loyal Natives under the proclamation. It was a mosS liberal interpretation of the promises of the Government; and when you consider that throughout this confiscated block '.lands to the value o£ I think something like a million of money were appointed by that Commiiision to Natives not exceeding 3QOC in number, ][ think you will agree that those Natives are not on the whole b*ing ill-used— that the facls of the settlement by Europeans on that coast would give a value to those lands

remaining to the Natives which they never could otherwise have had, and that the endowment of ian annual income of something like JEIOO.OOO I was not a thin? that could be talked of as illibera ly treating the Natives, on that coast. [Applanse.] After the Commissioners had re- _ ported as to what should be done, they were re-appointed tomeet and carry ent the apportionment of the reserves among the different hapns of the tribes, and to settle the Natives upon the land. Well, what has been going on on the Coast ? On some portions—on this Bide of the Waingongoro down to the Patea river—the Natives have been accepting their reserves, but Titokowarn's people have recently been living pretty constantly at Parihaka. Te Whiti has been there congregating around him Natives who have no more interest in the partionlar block of land at Parihaka than you and I have. He has been collecting around him all the die* contented spirits of the Wanganni tribestribes that have never lost an acre of land to the Government, and who conld not be said to be going there to get rid of their oVm wrongs at the hands of the Government. He was congregating around him the Ngatirnanci—the people who under the report of the Commissioners had 25,000 acres of aome of the most beautiful country I have ever seen in the world apportioned to them. He has had around him the tribes to the north of Taranaki; he has had a few men from the north of Auckland ; he has had Waikato with him, and he has even had Natives from Raupaki and other places in this island. Te Whiti, with Tohu, found himself, whether he would not, in a position, from which his natural eelf-love woald not allow him to retreat, of being the head of an

aggregation of discontent, occupying country with people the majority of whom had no right whatever to do so; and he has been unable to ehake off the position that has been forced upon him. I am perfectly satisfied that, sooner or later, very serious difficulties would have arisen if the Government had not taken the course which it did. Te Whiti declined to go to the Commission. He declined to have anything to Bay to the settlement of the land that was to be made. As was stated in the proclamation that you have all read, when the prisoners were released and when William King was let out, the Government sent a letter to the Natives which Bhowed them its intention with reference to the reserves. When tke present Governor arrived, he sent to ask Te Whiti to meet him, to endeavor to settle this matter. Constantly the tGovernment, through friendly Natives — through Natives who were partly under this hraldom of Te Whiti and partly friendly to the Government-endeavored to bring influence to bear upon Te Whiti—to bring him to the common sense view of accepting the benefits which the West Coast Settlements Act proposed to confer upon him. Well, as you know, we cold considerable portions of land on the Waimate Plains, and, as I have already stated, those lands have been settled upon. We sold large quantities of land, as recommended in the Commissioners' report, in the Parihaka block, to the seaward of the road that was constructed by Mr Bryce and the constabulary. For a time all things went well. The position was this: We had some 300 or 400 prisoners in gaol. It was obvious that the time must come, sooner 01 later, when we could no longer detain those prisoners in gaol. They had to be released, and we had to deal with the whole question. There was then no demonstration on the part of Te Whiti which would lead the Government to snppoEe that he would have done otherwise thai passively and silently acquiesce in what was eoinsz on. and they hoped be would allow th<

settlement to go on, and there would be no further obstruction on hia part. He had, as you are aware, shown when the late Government were in office that it was not any particular reserves that he cared about, else why did he plough down near the Waingongoro ? Why did he plough up towards the White Cliffs ? Why did he plough all over? It was an assertion of his "mana" over the whole country, and of the fact that he was determined to assert his sovereignty as against that of the Government. A. few months ago the same thing began again. Hβ commenced fencing and cultivating lands, soma of which had been sold by the Government. He and his people felt that they were Mi«t"m.i_ __.i. tJmn iliorv m»ra lief ore

tha prisonerß were let go, and of course there were among his followers turbulent spirita which, -whether he wished to do bo or not, Tβ WUd could not Tery well resist. And there ia no derabt that about the month. o£ September in SfeS**. when that speech was made by Tβ WHti, ha had got into thab position that he ooold nothing but espress the mind of tie people that vera gathered round

him. The Government, of course, had a very difficult task before them. They had to act firmly, without irritation, and without any desire to tue force, and so long as there was any prospect of effecting a peaceful settlement they did their best to achieve that result. When Parliament rose I, as Native Minister, went up to Pungaiehu. I found things in a condition in whichthey could not be allowed to remain. Our drays had been turned back into the camp, fences were being erected where the Government had persistently warned the Natives they ought not to place them, and on one occasion a display of force had been made by the Natives which showed that an ontbreak was imminent. The course the Government took was not to raise a panic of alarm. It waa to arm the settlers along the coast quietly, and ta place them as volunteer forces in a position to defend themselves. This, mind yo«, was after the 17th September atd the delivery of that speech which had created such alarm along the coatst. The Government recruited the constabulary. I determined that the first thing to do was quietly to put onrselvee in such a defensive state that the Maoris could not make any headway against the positions we held. At the same time I placed myself in communication with friendly Natives who were also in communication with Tβ Whiti, because you must knew that these Parihaka meetings were frequented by almost every Native en the coast — friendly and not friendly — and I informed them carefully and precisely of the intentions of the Government with regard to the reserves. I told them that the present state of confusion could not last. I told them, in the words of the Commissioners, as they appeared in the Proclamation, that the time had come when they must accept once for all the offers of the Government, or the promises that had been made would no longer be open to them. I took every occasion to impress upon their minds the fact that the existing state of things must cease. Finally I placed myeelf in communication with Tβ Whiti through a gentleman who knew him well personally, in whose father's house Te Whiti, in his younger days, had lived, and who was on exceedingly friendly terms with that chief. And now I wish to refer t» the point which I see the public papers have taken up. They have asked the qnestion—Was Te Whiti aware of the report of the commission ? Was he aware of the reserves that were intended for him ? And did he know where he might go, and where he might not go. Now this gentleman took him the report; he explained fnlly to him the position of the reserves, which I may say was pretty well known beforehand, and he told him directly from myeslf what I had indirectly conveyed to him through other Natives—namely, that after the speech he had made in September it was impossible that the preeent state of things could continue—that the peacefnl European settlers could not tolerate that their wives and their children ehonld be frightened by language such as he had need on that day; that it might be all very well to say he talked alleeoric&lly, and that he meant one thing when he said another, bnt that having talked as he had done we must come to some definite understanding; Things were not as they had been, and we must now know whether he accepted the proposals of the Government or net. The negotiations, if I may. call them so, which this gentleman had with the Natives terminated in an interview which I had with Te Whiti myself. That interview was not of a satisfactory character. He met mc in a very friendly and courteous way to begin with, hut he absolutely declined to admit the right of the Government to share the lands on the Coast with him. He took my hat in his hand, and he said, "What is the good of your hat if it ia cat in two." He said, "If you have come to ask mc to share the blanket with you, lam not the man to help you." "As for the Commission," he said, " your Commissioners are the people who were themselves interested in the wrong that was done, and I decline to recognise the Commission at all." From what I heard before, from Te Whiti indirectly, my own opinion is that his desire would have been, if he dared have done it in the face of his people, to come to some understanding with the Government. But he could not do it. He had assumed a position—that a man through whom the Atua (the Divinity) spoke—from which he could not recede with any satisfaction to himself ; and he felt that in the eyes of his people he was done for—if I may use the expression—if he gave way to the Government. It was quite dear to mc after that that there was no use in negotiating, Before I go any further I would like to make one or two further observations as to this question of whether Ie Whiti knew of the reserves. He had the whole of the report of the Commission I translated into Maori and read over to him bj ! the gentleman I have mentioned. Not only that but before it was translated into Maori he hadil in English, and he has in Parihaka as gooc English scholars as there are in this room. H( also knew perfectly well, by the way winch ii most familiar to Natives, the lands upon whiol he could go and those upon which he could not The fact of the surveyor's chain never having been upon the land to the north of the roac meant that the Natives were not to be dis turbed upon that land; and when, on th< other side of the road, they went upoi lands they should not go upon they wera eonsis tently and persistently warned where they migh not go, and allowed to go where they might go There could have been no more practical way o: explaining to a Maori where reserves were thai saying to him—" Here yon may go, and then you may not go." But apart from that, then were, as I have eaia, Natives who were thoroughly acquainted with the boundaries of these reserve! —they had seen the chain go over them. Thi reserves were set apart by Mr Parrie in com pany with Natives, and there is not the slightes , doubt in the world that Te Whiti knew as mucl about the intentions of the Government as thi Government did themselves. Gentlemen, mj story has now come to an end. You know th< latter part of the proceedings as well bb I d< myeelf. It came to this, that the Govern ment issued the proclamation which yoi have seen, which hag my name at thi bottom of it, and which told Te Whiti ii formal and decisive terms what I had previously told him by letter. I may cay that after m: interview with Te Whiti I wrote him a letter ii the hope still that circumstances might admit of his taking a wiser view of things, and if yoi will permit I will read that letter. It wa< written on the 10th October—many days befon the proclamation was issued. I thought it wa well that he should have before him a state-men of the case. I may say that I had told bin previously through the gentleman I have men tioned, Mr Xtiemensneider, that with regard t< reserves on the seaward side of the road, tho Go vernment were prepared to make the mos liberal concessions; that they had no wish what ever to take pieces of land for which he had an; predilection, and that with regard to lands o that character which had not been sold he had nothing to do but to point then out and the Government would be prepare' to meet him liberally in respect t them. The Utter I wrote was to this effect :- " Pungarehu, 10th October, 1881.—I came t 'see you because I was told you wished to se mc, and I am glad that we have met face t face. Ton have now heard from my mouth th desire of the Government to deal with you as

races on the land in peace. I came also because things are not now in a satisfactory position, and became the Europeans and the Natives alike have been disturbed by the reports of what yon have said, and the acts which are said to be done under your sanction. I had heard that what you had said was misinterpreted. I had heard, too, that yon did not clearly understand what were the proposals of the Government, and I desired to explain them to you. Tour friend Bimese (Eiemenschneider) has told you plainlj what I was willing to do if you listened to mj words. Our meeting is over. Whether it if for good or for evil is yet unknown. If it bring! good to both racea we shall have the blessing which belongs to peacemakers. If no good oomei of it the blame will not rest with mc and thi Government. It will be with you. Thepreaen confusion and uncertainty cannot last. Th< proposals of the Government cannot long remain as they are. Enough of tha' which has already been told yon." Thi is the final sentence which told him what wa to be done —that he must stop what was takinj place—the fencing under our very eyes of lam that was sold and belonged to Europeans and in respect to which the Native had had the most ample warnings 'There are fences erected on land which is no set apart for Natives, bat which is Bold to Enro peans. and also across roadways; and those wh( haw put up these fences have been told that the; were doing wrong and breaking the law, andar, liable to punishment. The reply they give is tha they are acting under your instructions and wit! your approval. There are some even now fenrini on European land. This is wrong and cannot b permitted. It muatbe stopped. W-EOLLBSTCg*. , That was a definite intimation to Tβ Whita o nf the rtnvarnment. I asm

ice determination iv urn umnuwn *»«»—•« down to Wellington to see my colleagues, and we determined to take further action after giving him ample time—this was on the 10th October—to think over the thing, and then we iseued the proclamation which yon have read. What did the Nativee do? Did they show the slightest disposition to meet us? Not ft bit of it. They went on in a way that showed their determination to persist in the fencing. Of course we could not be stopped. This, I nay say, was before the Volunteers arrived, and before they realised what was coming. The Government determined to make the demonstration of force which they did make, and yon i know the result. It was to my mind eminently

satisfactory. [Applause. | Gentlemen, I have done. I am afraid I have wearied yon; the time is late. I have done my best to make ja somewhat difficult subject dear to yon. If it ia not dear I shall to meet kappy to give any further explanation or information that you_may require. I am here to answer any questions, and nothing will gto mc greater pleasure at any time, whether at a public meeting such as this, or privately, to meet my conttituentß and learn their vitwa and wishes in reepeet tc their public -/eqnirements. I have to thank yot very kindly for the way yon hare listened to mc ;

and for the influential attendance here this evening. I am eorry I could not condense my remarks into a shorter space. I thank you very much for your attention. _ [Mr Rolleston resumed hie scat amidst considerable applause.] In answer to questions, Air Kolleeton would not like to give a hasty opinion in favor or otherwise as to the establishment of a National Bank of leeue. He considered if s»U property was taxed on the Government basis, a very desirable result would follow. As regarded the remission of the customs' duties on tea, sugar, rice, &c, and the substitution therefor of a progressive land tax on block holders of 1000 acres and upwards, it was a question he should like a little! more time in which to arrive at a docision, as it wa9 a very important one, and he would like first to know if the proposed progressive land tax would bring enough revenue to meet the deficiency thus caused. He was cot at present prepared, however, to advocate a progressive land tax, and did not think it advisable to drop the easily collected Cos torn s revenue in favour of another imposition. Aβ to all public works being undertaken by the County Councils, the fnnds for which ehould be raised by rates levied on the district, but provided by the General Government, and thus preventing log-rolling in Parliamfnt, he thought log-rolling was to some extent inherent in human nature. It would be very desirable to separate local from general finance if practicable, bnt there were Borne districts unable to raise money themselves, and to which an absolute rule could not bo laid down. The Parliament of the day muet deal with that question in the best way it could. Hβ believed that the principle referred to was theoretically the right one, and that they should try to work as near to it possible; but if asked whether ho thought it possible to effect that object at the present time. he would say he did not think it was. [Applause] He had omitted to touch upon the education question owing to want of time, but he would express his opinion on the matter, having had to do with it from the beginning. From tho course then adopted by him he had never deviated, and his decided opinion was that the national system was the one that most be adopted. [ Applause ] He did not wieh to be misrepresented, or to trim or hedge his remarks with any qualification, becauee he felt very strongly that the system of edue ition in the oolony must continue to be a national one, and he had endeavoured to pake it as fair to all classes of the community as possible. [Applause.] The Jockey Club charged one shilling for admission to the racecourse by virtue of an Act passed by the Provincial Council. The race meetings depended largely on funds being so raised, and he thought the course adopted a fair one. Aβ regarded taking a portion of the four hours devoted to secular instruction in the schools of the colony, for the purpose of imparting religious teaching, he did not think our system of instruction oonld be mixed np with denominational considerations. [Loud cheers.] He could not say he would repeal the Gaming and Lotteries Act. He had had very little experience in euch matters. The present Act was a copy of the Esglieh Act, and he did not see the wiedom of repealing it. As to the Property Tax Exemption, he had never seen why the arbitrary line which had been drawn should have been adopted. Hβ had always held that everybody should contribute according to their moane to the advantage of the commonwealth of the country, and he saw no reason why any exemption should ba made. [Applause J A good deal of nonsense had been talked about giving the Natives an opportunity to prove their claim to the West Coast lands in a Court of Law. He did not believe in making an offer to refer to a Court of Law that which was a foregone conclusion. The Courts of Law would not go beyond the laws of the country. No Court would order that land sold by the Crown, and occupied by Europeans, should be given back to the Natives. There was no question that the West Coast Settlements Act, which ought to be looked npon by the Natives as the charter of their liberties, could not be set aside by any Cotj.rt of Law in the country. [Applause.] Therefore it was a mockery to offer such a resort to the Natives. What was the good of sending them to a Court of Law which was guided by the law of the country, when we knew what that law was to begin with? [Applause.] With reference to the reduction in the pay of the Armed Constabulary not applying to the officers of that force, bo far as he recollected, the officers had been previously dealt with, and placed at a fair rate; but he could not give a conclusive anewer, as he was not at that timein charge of the department. Aβ to the dismissals from the police force, he supposed some were wanted and some were not. There was, no doubt, good reason for the dismissals! The amended Drainage Bill allowed certain differences in tho taxation of different districts. The borrowing powers of tho Drainage Board had come to an end, and the burden must be borne in the way as arranged. At the same time it would be as well if each district was so rated as to only pay for what it got. As to opposing the concession of fresh borrowing powers to that body, and taking care that Papanui did not pay for what it did not get any benefit from, he would do hie best, bat they must remember he was oaly one amongst many. The question as to the proportion paid respectively by the Papanui and the Avon districts was determined by* the machinery appointed under tho Act. He remembered Mr Kruse and others, some three or four years ago, asking that a fresh railway shed should be erected for the reception of graia at Papanui, and his impression was that some additions had been subsequently made. If, however, more accommodation was required, and the matter brought under his notice in the usual manner, he would be very glad to attend to it. Mr John T. Mataon moved that the meeting accord a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Ro'Jeston, and .expresses its confidence in him aa a fit and proper person to represent the district of Avon in the ensuing Parliament. [Loud cheers ] Mr Smith seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously amidst applause. A vote of thanks to the chair concluded the proceedings.