SPEECH BY MR.FOX AT WANGANUI. ATTACK ON THE FINANCIAL AND NATIVE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. THE GOVERNMENT AND THE HINEMOA. [Per Press Agency.l

Evening Post, Volume XVII, Issue 505, 9 May 1879, Page 2

SPEECH BY MR. FOX AT WANGANUI. ATTACK ON THE FINANCIAL AND NATIVE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. THE GOVERNMENT AND THE HINEMOA. [Per Press Agency.l

* - WajganOi, OihMay. The Hon. Mr. Fox, M.H. R, addressed his constituents last night in tho Odd Fellows Hall. "cThere;was a full meeting, and a vote of confidence and thanks rfas passed unanimously. He spoke for two hours. He nccused , thfl.-C?\oDial Treasurer of incapacity, aud de•scfifeeu him as a mere notice in finsntfe, (without any previous experience,* and willf no originality of mind qunlifj ing him to meet any serious emergency. Tbe *baodoamaot,of easily 'collected/ Customs duties, and., the substitution of on uncertain land tax was a great blunder. The speaker quoted from Hansard to show tho manner ia which he alleged tho Government broke its pledge to' stand or fall by.its threo financial pills, aud stuck to, office atter being defeated in two out of three. The financial prospect for tho noxt session, he added, was gloomy The reeeipte.for land would fu^l short of Mr. Ballance's estiinato by three-quarters of a inillioji. Referring to the native quostion he drew a [ebdtrait between Sir Donald M Lesm|s wise policy of allowing the king party to'weary themselves 6T their isolation, while they remained quiet and harmless, and the action of Sir George Grey, wJio for tho purposo of making political capital had set that party on its legs again and raado it formidable. The Colonial Government, he said, had beon dragged >tlf rough the dirt by, Sir Georgo and Mr. Sheehan. No member of the Government., had" ever, been insulted and made to look so small "as Sheehan' had baen by Te Whiti and Hiroki, and now they were making thetmqhoi base la the eyes of the nation by crawling in on all fours,without an invitation to the King _ rriootfng in Waik'ato. What an insult their reception had been ! The King refusing to so& them— Uewi declaring ho would have no private talk again with "The little parliament of two"— and nobody welcoming them except a few Ngapuhis, •v/hd were tliere iheroseJvds as. strangers and guests. Mr. Fox theu commented on the neglect of the' present ■ Government to bring ifi h ae*v ; Native Lands Bill, which, iv Opposition, they had declared to be a ■vital importauco; and the total abandonment' of Shbehan's promise .that the (Government woult(> giv* over land-purcjaajing and leave it to private persons. These sudden and entire, reversals' of policy showed that Sir George Grey had no settled iflriuetpleß; and none of the sUtomsmanlike ability which tbe - "Voice , qrying from the wilderneW," was oxpee ted to O His. bounce aad dddeltfulness had disgusted the natives who looked on the Government now with contempt and aversion. Whero was the magnificent tract of land which Rewi was to give for I colonial and railway purposes ? Whero was the 'railway .through, the; Kjoft? country /for which MrMacandrew hart appropriated a million and a half of money ? Mr.' Fox then commented on the failure of the Electoral Bill, and the de-v. . privation of " Sir George woy's 70,000 serfs " „ ufftlie franchise ,l jo hati promiSßdrtliom, bjcause the Legislative Council had'refusod to give tho Maori dual votes to enable the Government to stuff the register with bogus votes, all over the North Island, as they had already done at the Bay of isfaHfliW^Meiponciludtxl bft pojating outltlrat everything ,that the Qovorametjt had, when in Opposition, blamed thair predecessors for doing, they had themselves done .since in office. He accused them. of using the tHinctnoa for private purposes, ;and even- political ends of their own,.«ud commented with. much geverityjoa^tiiefr^ijriiuman/rcfiisaj t6 let tho AlatquU, of. NarrhanJsy ha.ye that' vessel to carry his jrivaU4 wife td AUtftralltyiwnon he offered to- pay the expense, while Messrs. Ballanco and Stout went a-pleasuring in the Government yuclit, and insulted the Governor by laying .her alongside the trading steamer at Lvitmton f n'whicU tia was leaving' tho colony. -tTue_ Government residences which, in their prodocessors' time, they liad insisted should be said and Miuisttt* tamed into todgings, they were now occupying without shame at their iucoriUftepoyi Hq f«arod-thn prospect of matters next-session -woblu Kftto tho last. The Gojef.ament , wasted all . th.oir- , Jinw ia tllß recess In pleasure-trips or 'fxmtfcat' Agitation. They got no measures ready, nor oven mot for consultation till a few days before the- session, and hence nothing but ill-digested Bills, which most of them had never soon, were brought in, to be either dropped or kicked out. The meeting, with the exception of a cortala coloheT, Who 'wasiJlQ^eyeri (finally put down, was extremely orderly. Tho hon. gentleman was loudly applauded at tho conclusion of his speech.