MR. J. WILLIAMSON AT OTAHUHU.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXV, Issue 3820, 16 November 1869, Page 4

MR. J. WILLIAMSON AT OTAHUHU.

Last evening hia Houor the Superintendent addressed a public meeting at Foleys Hotel, Otahuhu, the public hall of that place being eccupied by the G-ourUy Family. At the meeting there were, inaide and outside the room— the glass doora being thrown open— from 100 to 120 persons Mr. Daniel Lynch was called to the chair. Mr. Williamson, who, on rising to speak, was greeted with three cheers, explained why he ha i uot before visited the OUhubu district during the present contest, spoke of hia former connection with it as repiesentatire ia the Provincial Council of the Pensioner Settlement?, and dwelt upon the disadvantages which, from wantof funds m the Provincial chest, he had laboured uudei during his p^iods of office ah Superintendent. However much tie setters m the out-distdcts had felt aggrieved, no oue settler ha i felt m >re aggrieved than he had been himself afc being unable to do for the outlying districts that which it was in ids miud to do for them. Now, however, through the discovery of gold and the incit-ase in the Customs reveuue which had thence fol'owed, toere would be means to enable the next Superintendent, whoever he might be, to assist tbe oiulymg districts more fully thin had at any previous time been possib c ; aud, if he was riveted, it would affoid him the greatest gratification to do as he d&sned long to do, uanitly, to assist the settleis hy aid out of the surplus provincial revenues, and thus enable more to be done towards opening up the district, while the direct taxation falling on the settlers for that purpose would be lightened. Had it not been that during the last session of the General Assembly a in no libeial and enlightened Goncal Government was secured — and for that end he struggled hard, aided by a few of hia colle igues from thiB province — he should have shrunk from the onerous duty of a«ain administering the aff.iis or the province. Mow, however, there was a General Government that waa disposed to give every possible aid to the provinces, in doing their leal noikof opening up and cdl-mismg the country ; and theiefoie he was encouraged to offer huusdf for re-el<-ction. He had, in addition, commenced works on the goldfielda which uerrf euc»ura>,'iiig the development of tho-ie fielda. The men of the olden times were but ps pigmies in politics beside the men of the j»oldfields These men saw thab their interests weie at sfuk" in this election ; un« they were prepared, not merely as a seltiah matter, to do their utmost to secure good, true, aud wi?e legislation, Kuch as would be calculated ti> benefit, not the mining interests only, but ihe interests of the province as a whole. He knew that there were in that, district men who would desire that some other than himself eh uld be chosen as Superintendent ; but he was thu-e to meet (hose men, and to tell them, as the lesult of his journeying throughout the northern parts of the pioviuce, that he felt confident of being ag'tiu tluoted to the ofhoe which he desired again to fill. Ho regretted th it the contest between Mr. Gillies and himself had assume 1 more of a peisonal than of a public character He cherished no pdisoual feeling as against his opponent : he wished he could say the a -me for Mr. Gillies aud hia ftieud^. (Hear, hear.) la the early days of the settlement, animosities weie too strongly felt in the ouuduct of o'eotiuns. Ho had trusted that those days had passed away tor evti ; but it appeared that the diess of the old party remained anongsb us, aud still determined, if pos-ible, tn wield that power which was so de-ipotiea ly wielded in the early days of the province. Hec >nld nob trust thab paity, and, if only to keep ta.it ;.,ariy out of p >\ver, l-e v.ojll do his inmost, vvheoher by his vote, oi by h s candidature for fi-j Supeiiutenneocy. (Heai, heat, and .ij.pLuise ) H^ had on three oucisiom p\s-ied through s^vt re co'iteata— not on his behalf, i.ut once on behilf of Uoloopl Wjnyaid, an i twice on beh.vlf of Mr. WhiWker. Ho kuew that the»e meu had hoenl minds and hearts — that their ideas \v*re not cramped uito a nutshell, but that their desire was to do good for the proviuce, to bung t luto uolioe at home by taking ifc out of that abide into whLh the N^wZ-alvuvl Company and other coiupimes had put ir, and so to place lb befoie the world th t itn capabilities and resources might Lo recogniW. That conviction led bim to support those men. They wer'opposed by a faction ; aud the dregs of that faction lemamed, and Were prepared to put Mr. Gilli.s, afetiau»er, at theheal of the province, to inle over it. (Uiies of '« Never.' ) By God'a help it should never be done if he could prevent it. But he had higher endd m view, for he desired to see this proviuce rai^e ita head, and assume that position which he believed it was, iv the order of Providence, destined to hold. , (Cheers) Tins province was one of the wealthiest ia the colony ; it possessed advantages such as no other province poss^sed. It was acknowledged by the greatest statesman, and the man moat experienced iv the work of colonisation, who ever entered New Zealand—he memit Mi. Edward Gibbon W.*ke6eld— to posae-i^buch advantages. When Mr. Wakefield caina hue and looked around him, the prejudice** exiting in hiß mind passed away, aud h« Baid, c< Auckland ia intended to be the great empire province of the colouy of New Z -aland." Its smooth water roadways could Dotb> purchused by any of the ofh-r proviuce", though a->y of them poaaesaei millions upon millions of money. Noble rivers ruu into ihe heart of the province, and upon its coasts there were 23 or 24 of the finest harboura m tne colony. The'-e great advanta«<s must tell greatly if the afFWs of the province were properly managed by those who felt an ioteresb in it and its fortunes Our children would hold us respouaii le for developing or retaiding the development of tbe resouroes of the provi ice ; and he trusted aud hoped th« 6 the r t-ulb of the comui<* election would be thbfc, betoie the end of the toim of tho Supeinitendenoy about to be initiated, the province would Lave received an impetus which would yield great advautage to all settled within it, and would atao yield ureafc glory and honour to those by that impetus was given. (Louvl cheetF.) He prayed the tltctois, therefore, to be moat careful how they give their votes, not al »ue iv this election, but in the elections for members of the Provincial Council. He beleved that his rival had pronaired to the eleotors of Otahuhu great reforms iv connection with the Highway Boards, and those L,eal institutions with the establishment of which he (Mr. Will.sinsou) had h»d a good deal to do. He was full> conscious that there were defects in some of the rural laws. It bad always been his wish, as Superintendent, uot »rbitra> nly to propose Buch Jaws to the Council, l,ut to have the best advice pjssible as to them; and, so farai ha could do it, such questions had always been referred to select ooromittdes of oountry members— men who knew what doing the pioneer woik of settlement really meant. If the people would consider what laws they needed for the oountry districts, and would then smd to the Council men fully underatauding and imprtssed with those views, th* Uws would come out from the Council ehaped as though shaped by the people themselves. (Cheers.) No Superintendent could resist the people's desire as to the enactment of laws which the ptople might d.-em most liberal and eulightened ; and the people|s Ihwb miut give satisfaction to the Council and to the Superintendent. He ( Vlr. Williamson) would oertainly nob stand

hi fcbfc way of anything oi ike i kind. He was nofc a lawyer, but he knew what common sense was • and he be HevKl that the leas leg.d ability there was brought to bear in devising such laws the better it would bs for the coiouist^, Practical men, used to the real work r£ settlement-, would be likely to prepare belter laws than any mere theorist. The man who was c-icsen Superintendent should h& a man of patience— one Who Could not only do the ordinary woik> Ut who could h^Un pat ently tognevaubeafifetiorsh by deputation^ and, by conversation, la 1 our c <uscie»tiously to remedy thne e grievances or to show that they did not exist, and t> reconcile differences between districts or neighbours. He bad been poal>l«-d to do more in thab way than auy man ever couM effect by official correspondence. A man without experience of the Superintend' ency m>ght soon find himself nonplussed and we.iry of the work. Mr. William Brown, however desirous he wa3 to get into the office, was heart-pick of it in hix months, and regretted having undertaken snch duties and responsibilities. Official records show that snch. was the fact. Mr, Gillies might say that he was prepared to sacrifice his practice for the sake of the Superintendency, but; must he nob have something behind to which he looked to compensate himself ? Mr. Gillies was no doubt a clever m«n as a lawyer, but he (Mr. Williamson) would not yield one whit to Mr. G-illies as regarded the ability which would fit either of them for the Superiuteudency. He felt assured in his conscience that, if he was bow re-elf cfced, and wad properly supported by the Provincial Council, the views which he entertained as to the future would be worked out to the great goo i of the province, and would place it in such a position as it had never yet enjoyed. (Loud cheer*.) Mr. B. Maclean said thab, as an old representative *of a country dUtncr, he had bpen Asked by an elector to put three questions to the Superintendent. He would read them, and put them seriatim. The first question was, " Are yon favourable to imposing a duty upon cattle comini! from the Australian colonies into New Zealand ?*' Mr. Wiluamson : I was a gtaat admirer of the principles of free trade in the kome country; but we are placed in circumstances here in which I think protection should be given in ce>tain cases I believe the time hag come when New Zealand can raise stock to feed the people settled here. Iv my last tiip to the North, I found that there were droves of the finest cattle— equal to those of Whanganui — herding in those parts ; and, havmg plenty of cattle of our own, I think thit we should piotect ourselves against importations from other countries. (Hear, hear.) So to do would be to give permanent encouragement to those who go to the trouble and expeLse of laying down pastures ; for iv this province pastures aie nob wild, and must be made at considerable cost. I havo no hesitation in saying that I would be quite willing to concur in any measure adopted by the Provincial Council to give effect to some slight i>ro\.eubive duty in til" way suggested. Mr Maclean : Tho second question handed to tne was, " Are you favourable to imposing a duty on butter and cheese and other productions of the colony, coming here fiom foreign poits ?" I consider that yojr Honor Ins answered that question in answering the first. I may add that my O| in ion* do- not necessarily ugree with those of the elector who bauded me these questi >ns : and that he stated that the answers given, if favourable, would cause himself and many of his friends to vote for your Honor. (Cheers.) The third question is, "Would you be disposed to give effect to a resolution of the Council, recommending a bonus to be given for fche hrst 200 yard 1 * of woollen cloth minufactured in thp province, or the first ton of beet-root bUi?ai ? " Mr. Wiluamson : I would. I may say that in Nelson they have been for some time producing tweeds to a small extent ; that the manufacturers went to the ruuholders and others to secure their use of the locally-made urtiole. My friend, Mr. Macandrew, the S iperintendeut of Otago, when last at Wellington, invited the nunufaetuiers of these wool en fabrics, at Nelson, to meet hito. They came, and they enteied into an airangement with him, with the very view entertuned by the fnnierof thi* question. Ido think that encouragement should be given by the Provincial Legislatures to the manufactiue of our wools hero. At pivsenr, they were no doubt ex»n~ed to the upa a»d downs of the maikeb at home ; but if they were manufactured here ou the spot, they would make our towns prosper, by bringing profitable industries mt) existence, and would enable men who have been brought up to diff-ient employmeuti at home t> return to these employments There must be many advantages to tha colony, from the manufacture of our wools here, which I think we should endeavour to secure. If thn Legislature of th< j province should be willing to off r such a bonus as is relerred to, I should readily couour in it. ( \pnlttuse.) An Elector asked wh^t Mr. Williamson would propose to do with the Urury IJailway, , which had become a sore of ghost to iho colony. Was it to be left as it was, for a monument to the imoemhty of p^fc legnlatuies? Mr. Williamson gave some explanation, and he addt d that he thought the time was now fast coming when the attention of the Superintendent and the Provincial Council should be directed to carrying out the work, which he believed would eventually prove to be a great and ig;ood one, .Roads w«re so expensive and so difficult to keep in repair th..t we must greatly rely upon railways and tramways for the traffic into the interior of the country, Mr. Plumley : If Mr. Williamson is again returned will he charter boats for political i purposes ? i Mr. Williamson said he believed there was no business connected with the proviuce that was not more or less connected with political purposes. He had had to visit vanous_ parts of the country— to attend meetingb for the purpose of paying money to natives, and for other purposes ; and he could not depend upon eailing-vessels. If the Council assisted him be purposed going further than he had yet done in that direction. He believed even that ifc would be well if the province had a steamer of its own for survey purposes, conveyance of provincial officers to different ports, and soon. He believed also that, by chartered or subsidised steamers, this proviuce should, ere long, establish commuuication with California, so a3 to use the Paoifk railway for ouil purposes. Mr. Plumley : From what source was tho ' Cuoiaerautf ' chartered ? Tho Chatbman 1 thought that Mr. Plumley wag getting per-oual, and that, practically, fcho question bad a'ready been answered. Questions weie put by Mr. J. LuNDQNaud others, and were answered. Mr. jAMhS Macky moved a vote of confidence in Mr. Williamson, and pledging the meeting to support him. vi r. James Copjfey seconded the motion. The motion was adopted, marly every person present holding up his hand in favour of ifc. "To the contrary " was not put. Mr. Williamson acknowledged the vote ; and cheeis were given for him, for the Chairman, and for the Press,