MESSRS REYNOLDS AND BIRCH AT THE PRINCESS THEATRE.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2049, 29 November 1869, Page 2

MESSRS REYNOLDS AND BIRCH AT THE PRINCESS THEATRE.

Messrs W. H. Reynolds, M.H. R., and T. Birch, M.H. It., for the City in the General Assembly, met their constituents this afternoon at the Princess’s. At the appointed hour of meeting (two o’clock) there could not have been more than GO persons present ; and at any subsequent time there could not have bam more than 401). Mr J. MTniioe, M.F.C., moved that Mr T. M. vVilkinson, as being a member of the City Council, and representing the citizens to a large extent, take the chair. A Voice ; Why was not the meeting called for five o’clock ? A noth eh Voice : A very proper hour. Mr Sibbald, M.P.0., seconded that Mr Wilkinson take the chair. Mr Wilkinson, on taking his seat, explained the object for which the meeting had been called, and expressed his hope that Mc-srs Reynolds and Birch would receive a patient hearing, and their explanations would he alike satisfactory to themselves and their constituents. A Voice : Why was not the meeting called for the working classes, and not for the “ black coats” ? At this hour the working men have their work to attend to. The Chairman: I am very glad they have got work to do. The meeting has been called together at this unreasonable hour, because no other place hut the theatre, which then would not be available, could be got to hold the people who would meet together if the meeting was held in the evening. (Cries of “ Oh, oh,” and a voice, “Why not hold an open air mooting, and then the citizens could attend ; that would be more satisfactory to them and to Mr Reynolds. ”) Mr Reynolds then came forward, and premised his remarks by stating that as the question had been asked why the meeting had been called for two o’clock, he felt it to bo his duty to explain why it was so called. He might state that he was quite prepared at any time the electors asked him to do so, to meet them, but, as their representative he was not paid in any conceivable way, it could hardly be expected that he was to go to an enormous expense to meet the electors. At any time the electors liked, even if at twelve at night, and the doctors made arrangements if they required his services—whilst he had the honor of being their representative—he would be m 'st happy to meet them. He then stated that he had asked the Superintendent to allow Mr Birch and he to meet their constituents in the new Post (Alice building, hut he had been told by his 11 prior that there had been an objection to allow th(3 building to be used for political purposes ; and refused pq grant them the use of it. Afterwards Mr Court kindly placed the Polytechnic Hall at their disposal, but he subsequently informed them that to do so would be inconvenient, as some scene (tainting was going on th're. He then offered them the use of the Theatre, provided the meeting were held at an early hour. He had again to state that, it the electors made the necessary arrangements, he should be happy to meet them at any time. With regard to the business that came before the Assembly, he might state that he bad received various.coimnunicatipns from bodies of tue electors, and to th"se he attended aqd replied. He thought no one could say thgt hg had received a single letter that did not receive his fullest attention. Ho replied to those communications, and gave reasons why he acted against some of the suggestions made, On his arrival at Wellington, he found that the Colony under the Stafford Government was drifting into a state of bankruptcy, and that the exp udil ure for Native and Defence purposes, at that time, was at the rate of a quarter of a million per annum. He never was a supporter of the Stafford Government, . because he believed they were quite incompetent to govern the country, but he was more opposed to them he fgund that at the time the Assembly mei, the expenditure was at the rate of LS(X),OGO a year, The result was that there was a change of ministry. The House took the same view as he, and the Stafford Government had to give way to the Fox administration, 'ihrouehout the session he was a supporter of the Fox Government, hut ho could not say that the composition of the Ministry was exactly according to his wishes. His obj-ctiou was that it was mainly composed ,qi Northern members, instead of there being an equal number of Middle Island members in it. This Was the more necessary, as there was a great deal of work to do in the recess, especially in regard to the finances. He thought that ihe change which resulted from the change of Ministry must be apparent to pvery one who had read the papers since the As-umhly rose. When the Assembly met, the whole of the natives w. re virtually in arms against the Government. What was the case now? This, — the neck of the rebellion was practically broken, and under the present Government the native war was virnualy at an end He thought he might congratulate his constituents on the fact that the native disturbances were nearly at an end. This native war had been the means of drawing from this Province —for it raised pearly a fourth of the total revenue, and paid nearly a fourth of the total expenditure—of large sums of money, which neither benefitted the Province, nor was of any advantage to the North Island. The most of the time of the Assembly was occupied iu discussing the management of the affairs of the Colony by the Government; biff there were one or two other matters which required a little explanation. Amongst some of the subjects brought forward was the Otago and Southland Union Rib This measure was to enable the two Provinces to unite, in the event of the two Provincial Governments agreeing to the terms of union. He thought the matter was of the utmost importance—that the public mind should be devoted to the subject, seeing that it was likely to come befo e the Provincial Council, which would meet iu a few days. The Bill was introduced gt the request of the Southland Provincial Council; jt passed the lower House by a large majority, but it isyaa rejected by the Upper House. Notwithstanding negotiations were proceeding, and he c ■ pected to hear in a few d ys that the Southland Provincial Council had agreed to a resolution intimating their willingness to he united to Otigo on a satisfactory footing, i This question would shortly come b fore onr i Provincial Council, and it would be well if tlip electors were to devote attention i ho Hie subject. There was another < Bill ! which came before the Assembly ]

—the Ballot Bill—which had been a peb scheme of his for the past live years. He had been righting for the Ballot Bill, Session after Session, but because of being cut up in the Upper House, it was proved unworkable, and was therefore abandoned. He was assured that it should bo introduced next session, and would most likely be carried. Another question was the Postal Service. A select committee was appointed to inquire into it. Mr Birch, he believed, objected to Mr Hall that the committee was unfair, as Auckland and Wellington were too largely represented, to the disadvantage of Otago and Southland, and proposed that he (Mr Reynolds) should he added. This was refused, and afterwards, as the Government of the day found they were wrong, a Committee was appointed by ballot, an unfair wav, as by log-rolling a committee suitable to the Government cou'd be sc.-urcd. Pirn committee reported in favor of the mail ; from Melbourne touching at Hokitika. The service hy the West Coast had been no use to Auckland, Canterbury, Southland, and Otago. There was a question of what was to he done with the Native prisoners. He was one who said send them to Otago. They were costing the Colony LIUO a day, of which Oiago found L 25. Now they cost Ll2 10s and we had the advantage of their labor without doing detriment to other workers. He came now to the Otago Hundreds negation Bill, which he thought was quite in accordance with their interests. A petition was presented from settlers in the Clutha, praying that a committee should he appointed to inquire into the administration of the Waste Lands in Otago. It was referred to the Waste Lands Committee, who suggested that it shoulu be referred to a Special Commission. He was ojqrnsed to that, and proposed it should be referred to the Provincial Council. The Commission was, however, appointed, and he was one of the Commissioners. He disagreed with the Commissioner’s report, because he thought they ex ceeded that which they were appointed to do. —(Mr Reynolds read his addition to the report.) (A Voice : That's very good !) The report of the Commission was referred to the Waste Lands Committee, as well as several petitions sent hy different settlers. The Committee consisted of one or two members from each province. He hsd been on it ever since he was a member of the House. It was a joint Committee of both Houses. Resolutions were adopted hy the Waste Lands Committee, on which the Bid was founded. (The resolutions were read which are emhodie I in the Bill.) In answer to an elector, Mr Reynolds said he balieved Mr Domett drafted the re solutions. On them certain amendments were proposed (the amendments specifying the amount of compensation). He proposed that the rate of compensation should he one shilling per acre on the whole run or thr e shillings per acre on the hundred. It might appear that he was inclined to give large compensation. Mr Wood did propose compensation at the rate of 2s Gd and Is 6d, otherwise it would have stood 3s fid an I 2s. One point must l>c noticed. The report recomm -tided the Government to introduce a bid ; Mr Bell was a member of the Government and introduced it : in that character, and ought not to be blamed for it. Tlie Act brought all runs in goldfields and outsidegoldfields under the same regulations instead of as previously, those within goldfields being entitled to compensation for hundreds, and those without to none. Within goldfields the rate of compensation was referred to arbitration, and it was almost impossible to get land. That applied to two-t-finds of the Province—the area of pro claimed goldfields, and it was unfair to those outside goldfields not to have compensation as well. If hundreds were wanted they did not want land pot fit for agriculture. 'lhe bill provided ope-lialf ’ should be agri-ou-tural land, and as Re hundreds might consist of any number of acres up to 15,GU0, hundreds might he proclaimed every year, which ho maintained would he a great advantage to immigrants and settlers. 'I he am unt of comp u-ation o i land taken for runs should not exceed 2s Gd per acre,—(Dis order). If arbitrators were necessary, they were to be provide! by the Governor instead of as by the former Act, one of them being appointed by the innholder. Under the old Act, the Provincial Government arbitrator and that of the squatter went as advocates, * This would hg ip future prevented, Should the runholdpr decide to abandon his niji, he might recover 1 s Gd per acre. He did not believe arbitrators would award Is 6dper acre. (Disorder). The Act provided that hundreds might he proclaimed in succession until the whole run was absorbed. The Act provided that the assessment of stock on Hundreds should go to the Provincial revenue instead of to the particular district. He must now refer to the Friifces street Reserve. After much delay that and the* whole or t)iC valuable reserves of the City were made available for City revenue, He brought the question before the Stafford Government in 1864 or 1865. A committee was appointed of which he was a member, and, with Mr Barus’s assistance, documentary evidence was obtained, showing the reserves belonged to Dunedin. The Committee reported to that effect—a Crown grant was issued, and the Government paid L4OO to Mr Mantell to take legal proceedings against the Super nteudeut to get hack t hat Crown grant. Mr Birch exerte I himself to the utmost in the matter, and in all respects showed himself anxious to do his duty as a representative. hi answer jo Mr Jac.o, Mr Reynolds said he assented generally to the resolutions of the Waste Lauds Committee, In reply to Mr Barr, he was opposed to cla s legislation. The land resolutions were not for the benefit of the few, but of the Province. The Act was a good one for the Province, and if properly administered would promote settlement. In reply to Mr Sherwin, he believed the 0 fagon reserve was iu the hands of the Corporation. The Government bad promised to introduce the ballot, and to cany it through next session. In answer to Mr Bathgate, For improve- ( ments, as much as LlO an acre might be 1 paid. If a runholder fenced, ploughed, and . laid down a run in English grasses he em ‘ ployed a vast amount of labour. If 1 fid down in English grasses, five sheep to an acre would pay revenue duty, instead of a sheep to three acres, —a clear gain of j to the revenue, He dpi pot think there was the least chance of paying compensation ror - Engli hj grass, as no rnnholder would be foi.J enough to lay money out in imp ovement for obtaining that. He believed that must runs c consisted wholly of agricultural land. It was not the intention of the Act to deprive cue tenant to put in another. He did not object to the Hundreds Regulation Bill t passing on the ground that it was done I

i without reference to the Provincial Council, as the matter was taken out of their hands. All the agitation in Otago, was in favor of ; the Commission, and ho had heeu blamed for 1 opposing the appointment of it. Mr Jago put several questions which were L of no importance, Mr 11 F.vNol,ns iix reply to him, said that L h° could not lie convinced that the ac- ' tion he had taken in reference to the i Hundred’s Regulation Bill was wrong. The s opinion of the Attorn. y-General was, that ’ should a runholdcr abandon the whole of his i nm, he should only get Is Gd an acre on the J whole run, and not lie entitled to 2s Gd an ’ acre and improvements oa that declared a Hundred. He would cropo-can amen Iment , to that effect, should it n>t be clear at x present. He should vote one-third of a 1 Hundred being agricultural land instead of one-half, had the vote to cmne over a ,r ain J White: There arc in the Dunedin “ gaol about SO Maoris lately in arms against " the Queen. Do you consider they are belbgcrents or rebels? It is an important s question. Mr Reynolds: They were tried under the f Treason Felony Act. 1 Mr White : Well, these men being cons victs, murderers, and cannibals, will you r tell me why they are allowed daily rations—- • three times a day—of tobacco? Mr Reynolds ; I had nothing to do with that. 1 Mr White : Are you not a visiting justice ! of the gaol ? Mr Reynolds ; I am, sir. 3 Mr White : Then you ought to have J something to do with it. 1 Mr Reynolds :If I had had anything to do with it, I should not have allowed it. " Mr White: Then nil I you brng to the bar of public opinion the man who had the impudence and audaucity to propose that those wretches should have this luxury. (Applause.) Mr Reynolds : I would not like to pro- ( mise that it mi.ht give me more work to I do than I contracted for. But if it comes within my duty as a visiting justice, I will s do so. Mr Birch, who was received with cheers, said, as Mr Reynolds had pretty well ex- ; hausted all topics. It would be better , merely for him to answer questions. As a L junior member he had worked, made few > speeches, and had to learn his duties. He [ hul labored hard to get a Mayor's Court i and the Dunedin Reserv, s for the city, and succeeded. Should the Otago Hundreds [ Bi 1 work bully for the Province, he sh uxld endeavor to get it i>p.*a'ed. The only differ- . ence he had bail with his colleague was that he voted against the propositi ui to impose a ' duty on coni, and he could not find that he , in that had done wrong. He should be , glad to answer any questions. In reply to Mr Jagn, he wou’d cheerfully endeavor to obtain a repeal of the Stamp Act, with all its abominations. Mr Grant was call, d, and was received will cheers and disapprobation. He made some observations on the Otago Hundreds Regulation Bill. He held that no such Bill hould be parsed in seven days. Ho had a short resolution to put, which was, that ■ “In the deliberative judgment of this meeting, Messrs Hircli and Reynolds no longer represent the electors of Dunedin, and there, fore th s meeting requests those gentlemen to resign their scats forthwith.” Mr Down seconded the motion. Mr J._ B. Tuojippon moved an amendment, “That this meeting has entire confidence in Mess's Birch and Reynolds, as their representatives in the General Assembly. ” Mr Millar seconded the amendment. The amendment was put and carried unanimously. Mr Jago proposed an amendment, a l * he considered the Otago Hundreds Regulation Bill a serious inte-fercnco with the privileges of the Provincial Council. He was not so much opposed to its providous. as to the danger of ultimate appropriation of the lir.d revenue of the Province. He moved that the following words he added to Mr Thompson’s amendment except in the action ti If n by them in the Otago Hundreds Remilation Bill.” ° _ A dispu c took place as to the terms of the amendment, and ultimately Mr Javo took tils seat on the pin, form to write it out, Mr Grant submi ted that Mr dago shoulq give his amendment in writi”g, which was fhe course adopted incvc-y civilised community. If every mountebank in the pit or gallery were to come forward Mr Thomson:— Mr Chairman, I jubmifc the greatest mountebank in the room is on the stage. A \ oice ; Is that the ch lirman. (Great laughter.) After some further altercation, Mr Bathgate moved the following further amendment : ’ “'lhat the parsing of the Hundreds Regulation Act, so far as it invests one or more irresponsible Crown nominees with sole authority to d terrains by their report what land shall he declared into Hundreds, and thereby removes all power from the representatives of the people—on such an important questi >n, involving as it do os thespmly settlement of the country, and the providing fends for future immigration, and other primary purp..s sof local administcation, is an indirect and insidious .attack <m representative Government, establishing a dangerous precedent; and the conduct of the Dunedin representatives in supporting such a measure merits dis ipproval.” Mr Bathgate haying consented to withdraw his amendment in favor of that proposed by Mr Jago, the Chairman was appealed to as to the positmn of affairs. This lie could not satisfa toiily explain, and the result was confusion. Mr G ant insisted that there was no amendment before the meeting, which brought Mr Sibbald to his feet, and the latter contended that there was. Mr Grant characterised the latter as “touter for the Superintendent,” and other like terms. Mr Sibbald came on the platform to explain, hut tip meeting would not listen to him, and he had to content hims. If by moving a vote of thanks to the chair. Then there was more confusion ; the Chairman declared Nir Jago’s amendment carried without first putting it, and then hurriedly vacated the chair. Mr Grant took advantage of the lull in the proceedings to put a motion to the effe. t that the electors had not conlid nee in Messrs Birch and Reynolds ; stated it was carried, although there could n-.t Have heeti 40 persons present; and thus the meeting separated. ®