THE GENERAL ELECTIONS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 4616, 30 November 1875, Page 2

THE GENERAL ELECTIONS.

MR E, O. J. STEYENS AT CHRISTCHURCH. Mr Stevens, one of the candidates for the election to the General Assembly for the City of Christchurch, met the electors at the Oddfellows’ Hall last evening. The meeting was announced to begin at half-past seven o’clock, but the fire prevented the commencement of the proceedings af£ the advertised time. Mr Stevens came forward and stated that the Mayor had kindly consented to preside on the occasion, but he had no doubt the fire had detained his Worship, He would therefore ask the indulgence of the audience until the Mayor should arrive. (Applause.) At five minutes past eight o’clock, as the ifayor had not arrived, Mr Stevens again came forward, and said that under the circumstances, and with a view not to exhaust their patience, he begged to move—" That the chair be taken by Mr Wynn Williams.” (Applause.) He hoped, however, that much time would not elapse before the arrival of the Mayor. Mr Williams took the chair amid loud cheers. He said he found himself placed in rather a novel position. When he entered that room, he had no idea that he should be called upon to occupy so important a position, but he hoped he would only be in that chair for a few minutes. As they were already no doubt aware, there had been a late meeting of the City Council that evening, and a fire had broken out. This accounted for the absence of his Worship, as it did also for that of some electors, who, he bad no doubt, would soon put in an appearance. It was unnecessary for him to ask the meeting to give Mr Stevens and all other speakers a fair, patient, and impartial hearing, because a long time had elapsed—a great many years indeed—since anything like a rowdy meeting had taken place in the City of Christchurch. Mr Stevens was there that evening to address the electors on the large and important questions of the day., and he had no doubt they would listen attentively to that gentlemen while he stated his views. (Cheers.) Of course, it would be open to everybody in the Hall to express their assent to, or dissent from, the views which Mr Stevens in the coarse of his address might give expression to. He (the Chairman) hoped that before Mr Stevens had finished his address, he (the Chairman) would hear that that gentleman was prepared to support all those valuable institutions which were conducive to the welfare of all nations. He (the Chairman) personally hoped to hear from Mr Stevens a very satisfactory explanation with regard to the Education question. (Load cheers.) The Education question was in bis (the Chairman’s) mind one of the most important, if not the most important, that could engage the attention of the future Parliament of this Colony. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Without making any further remarks, he would proceed at once to call on Mr Stevens to address the electors. fAt a later stage, the chair was taken by the Mayor.] Mr Stevens, who was received with loud cheers, said: Mr Chairman and gentlemen, before I go into the consideration and discussion of any public question, I wish to say a few words of introduction to those of the electors of Christchurch who have cot known me as an old colonist or politician of New Zealand, in order that they may know that it is not a piece of mere idle impertinence on my part to como forward to represent a large and important constituency like this. I wish to give them, as it were, some kind of assurance from the past that I have some little experience of public affairs, and that I have been sufficiently long in the Country to identify me with its interests. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I shall not detain you for more than one or two minutes, in doing this. In the year 186(5,1 entered the House of Representatives as member foe the Selvtyn District. In 1868,1 had made sufficient progress in the opinion of those who formed the General Assembly at that period to justify the Ministry, or rather Mr Stafford who was at its head to offer me a seat in the Government of that day. The offer, however, was one that 1 felt bound, not for motives of private convenience, but on public grounds alone, I must decline. In the year 1869, it was my painful duty to see a question brought up which I considered to be at variance with your interests and the interests of the Country, and for that reason I voted against it. It was the question of the Com Duty proposed by the then Mr, now Sir Julius Yogel. In that year—lß69—l met my constituents, and at the time I did so I believe there were scarcely more than one or two bauds in the whole District held up for me ; and I received, In the course of the recess, an intimation that if I would vote the other way my seat in the next general election for that District would be secure; but next year, for the same reasons and in the same spirit as 1 had previously opposed it, I voted against the proposal in 1870. When I next met my constituency, I found that there hod taken place a great change of opinion amongst them, caused by a certain amount of resolution on my part; not that I wish to put it before this meeting in a boastful spirit j but so it was, that I succeeded in changing the opinion of the electors to such an extent that I ran the election and lost it only by a single vote. (Hear, hetr, and cheers.) Since then, gentlemen, I have been unfortunate enough to remain out of public affairs, not in spirit but merely in person, for I have watched with the keenest interest the public affairs of this Colony from that time to this. (Cheers.) I never lest interest in them, and I never shall. (Cheers.) Indeed, gentlemen, in 1873, I believe—if I may say so without any appearance of assurance—l might have sat in the General Assembly for the Heathcote District, for I received a requisition of the most encouraging kind. I refused to come forward, however, for several reasons, which I shat* explain to you. In the first place, I felt that the Country had gone mad after expenditure, and I stated—my views were published in too newspapers—that I felt that if I were elected, I should be expected to vote for the constructor* of railways which could not pay, and wmc were utterly incapable of answering any goo public purpose. I felt, therefore, that it w better to remain out of public affairs unti _ public feeling had somewhat sobered. « these few preliminary remarks, § e " ,P 6 will now corn© to tne questions of tnoy> and the first of these —that one of ® , which is uppermost in our minds—is tu Abolition. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, ! m*? tell you that I have been as Abolitionist many years. (Loud cheers.) * wM

Abolitionist, Sir, when first I engaged in public affairs 5 and I see now clamouring for the Abolition of the Provinces men who, so far from clamouring for it at that time, were doing their utmost, to weaken the General Assembly and the General Government in favour of tho Provincial Institutions then existing. Therefore I come before you as one who never believed in, and never could sympathise with, Provincialism, and who naturally wished to see it sink into oblivion as speedily as possible. (Loud cheers.) I am an Abolitionist, gentlemen, but I am not going to trouble you with all tho arguments that have been used on the subject within tho last twelve months; but I may bo permitted to summarise my reasons for being on avowed Abolitionist, and to bring before you some points which have not yet boon dwelt upon. I may take whot I call a local view of the matter, and I may say that here I think the Provincial Council’ of Canterbury has recently done a very largo amount of mischief. They have dealt with this Municipality, for instance, in a manner which they ought never to have acted ; they have taken very narrow views ns regards public Education—(Hear, hear) and generally they have done, os I before said, a great doa r l of mischief. (Hear, hoar, and cheers.) On all grounds, when I look at the frequently-recurring struggles between the Superintendent—whose position is unfortunately too anomalous—and his Executives, I Bay, in my opinion, tho Provincial Government of Canterbury has ceased to bo of any practical value—(hear, hear, and cheers)—and, gentlemen, when 1 take up what I may call a purely Colonial view of the matter, I say that tho Provincial system is injurious in a number of very important ways. It has caused this state of things to arise and to continue in the Country, that tho Government of tho day—l don’t care what Government it may be, however good its intentions, sound its policy, clear its plana—has been obliged to modify its plans injuriously in obedience to large political sections, which have come forward and demanded from them, as the common phrase goes, “ your money or your life.” (Laughter.) And, Sir.l have seen this—and it is now going on at the present time, or was nntil the Abolition BUI was conditionally passed—that enormous endowments from the general taxation of the country have been expended, not by those who were responsible to the people, but that there was an absolute cessation of responsibility at the moment those monies left the Colonial Treasury. There might be a local responsibility, but I would remind you that those funds were notlocally raised. They were handed ever to local political sections to be spent by them as they thought fit. I say, therefore, that if ever there was an unsound system, it was that system which the Financial Reform Association of Canterbury some years ago thought it to be a public duty to condemn j and I may point out to you that so long as that system continues, so long will there be an absence of that strict Parliamentary responsibility to the people which I conceive to be the strict essence of Parliamentary government. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I have long felt that the Provincial system must fall from the moment the people began to think colonially and not provinoially. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I think you will probably feel with me when I say that I think our thoughts have been provinoially and not colonially conceived—(hear)—that wo look to the state of colonial affairs, to themovementa of the Government and to the general action of public events to see how it affects the Province, and not tho whole body of our follow-colonists, I may say our fellowcountrymen. (Hear, hear.) But, gentlemen, as I said before,! do not want to dwell unduly upon those arguments affecting Abolition or the continuance of Provincialism; I don’t want to occupy your time unduly, and there - fore I will close with this one argument which I have not seen used before—it may have been that I have not met with it—and it is this: that in consequence of the enormous sympathy, X may say the sole sympathy of the people of the Provinces being taken up with their own Provincial Government, with but the Government under their own eyes, things have been done by successive Colonial Governments which ought never to have been done, and which could never have been done if the people had taken the same interest in the Colonial Government and Legislature as they had evinced in the Legislature and Government of the Province. (Hear, hear). In fact, gentlemen, to put it shortly, this is what has arisen: That while we have been looking after the state of the house indoors, outside of the walls, tho fox has been running away with the goose. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) The result of all this is, that tho measures of the different Provinces have been taken, not according to the wants of the people themselves, but according to the interests of the poorest Provinces. That has been the greatest common measure which has been taken, and the result is, that money has been voted out of the Colonial exchequer which some of the Provinces did not require, but because other Provinces were not in a position to carry on without it, and not only has that been the case, but there have been extra sums continually drawn for the mere purpose of supporting Government in a Province which ought to have been done away with, and for which there was no excuse except the sentiment for keeping it afloat. Now a grant was made to Wellington, at another time Auckland would come in. Of course, Otogo and Canterbury did not want anything of the kind; they were sufficiently well off not to make it a matter of importance to apply for it. (Hear, hear.) I have no more remarks to offer on tho subject of Abolition, but will pass on to those questions which are of most vital importance to us. As to the minor questions, I shall be happy to answer any questions which you may put to me, and the more questions you put, the bettor I shall be pleased. You will gather from what I have said that I am altogether in favour of a complete change from the system which has been in existence hitherto, I may also eay that I have deeply regretted the Abolition Bill was not brought in before the 'Publie Works policy of 1870, because I am certain—and I have the public declaration of Mr Vogel in my view—that a very large amount of wasted money would have been at our disposal; wasted money, I say, arising from the combination of certain political sections of the Colony to procure certain things which would not have been procurable but for the combination I have spoken of. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Now, gentlemen, we have been told that a great thing to look to before wo make up our minds is, what is to be put in the place of the Provinces before we do away with them ? What, lot me ask, has been the position of the Provinces ? Well, the shortest way of arriving at that is, to see how far they conduce to the liberties of the Colony ; how far, by having local organisations in the different localities now called Provincial Districts of Now Zealand, the people of the Colony and the revenues of the Country are protected ? Sir GeorgeQreyis,lbelieve,addressing the electors of Auckland to-night, and will, I have no doubt, spend a largo amount of time in trying to convince the people that their liberties are being trampled on by the change in the Constitution, and that generally the people of this country may look upon themselves very much like slaves in future. I am not altogether of the same opinion, and cannot, therefore, take that view which seems to be held by a class almost exclusively composed of Superintendents, led by Sir George Grey, who think that the people ought to elect o kind of patriarch, who ought generally to act the part of a heavy father over their destinies, and try to get all ho can for them when ho goes to the Legislature of tho Colony; because I notice that Sir George Grey has a very fatherly interest in the Province of Auckland, One of those things he takes the strongest interest in is, that Auckland should bo compensated for its real or supposed loss, by tho fact that tho South Island has got a Land Fund and Auckland has not. He seems to consider—and in saying this I refer to his speeches—that large compensations should be made to Auckland by way of balance of those sums which they have lost from the general revenue of New Zealand having lost its land revenue. I do not sympathise with that view, and I don’t believe you do, (Hoar, hear, and cheers.) What is the place which Provincial Government# occupy at present? Are they doing much work ? Are the securities they give for the. due administration of public affairs such that when they are swept away, it is necessary to have recourse to the

expedients that are put forth as desirable by some gentlemen who have already delivered speeches in various parts of the Country F Why should wo fly to Separation, when within the last five years we have given to Sir Donald M'Lean a million of borrowed money to paoifloato the Natives of the North Island, which, if we are to trust the statements that have been made and the evidence of our own eyes, has been pretty well accomplished; but having spent all this for the sake of unity, why fly to Separation ? I say it is not a desirable thing to fly to Separation on that ground. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Is it a desirable thing, having spent £700,000 of the Colonial money in the acquirement of Native lands for the purpose of making a land fund for the North Island as a set-off for the land fund of the South, to fly to Separation after that ? because, if anybody thinks so, I say, for my part, it would be a very foolish thing. (Hear, hear.) There is nothing to gain by it. And, gentlemen, the same remark I have to make with reference to that insular Separation policy which contemplates a Federal Government 1 at Wellington and separate Governments for most purposes in the North and Middle Island. . I would ask, would there be any more liberty for the people of this Country under such a system as they arc likely to possess by what is proposed by the Government ? I think not, and I certainly think not. What are the Provincial Governments doing now? They are looking after gaols, police, hospitals, lunatic asylums, inspection of sheep, education, &o.; they are also, for the time being, taking care of tho railways of the Province, wharves, and contingent works. The Public Works have of course come to a very small matter indeed. I see, on reference to my notes, a variety of schemes proposed, I see the proposal to have an Elective Superintendent, and no Provincial Council to do the necessary work. Now, if you have an elective Superintendent, will you tell me how you are going to have responsibility to the Colonial Government? I will just trace the thing, and you will tell me whether I am right or wrong. Some act of his is approved by the people, and disapproved by the Colonial Government. What kind of difficulty have you then got into ? Who is to be responsible for that ? The Superintendent would be elective, the Government the men chosen by the representatives of the people; supposing the elective Superintendent chooses to obey the Government, will he have any parliamentary responsibility to you ? Certainly not, not a vestige of the thing. If there is no parliamentary responsibility, what is tho use of having a House of Representatives ? If you have a Government whose actions are to be interfered with by an elective Superintendent, or agent, or what you like to call him, how are we going to have that due responsibility which should exist between the representatives of the people and the Ministry of the day ? At present I cannot see it, and therefore cannot support it. That is one of the leading features of what is called the Ashburton programme, about which you saw something the other day. (Laughter.) There are others who think we should have elected Provincial Councils and nominated Superintendents. That system would contain some of the most objectionable elements of the present system. The great thing we have to do is to see that we work out the Constitution gradually and carefully, and not without the very fullest consideration. (Loud cheers.) What was done by the great founders of the American Constitution ? Did they suddenly fly to some great Radical change ? No ; they waited until they had tested, by experience, the main features of every proposal that had been put forward, and then finally and deliberately adopted a Constitution which has lasted for a hundred years. Let us follow the example set us by all tho great founders of Nations which possess representative Governments ; let us follow' them, with the same caution, and the same inquiring spirit, and, I doubt not, we will ultimately arrive at what will give the greatest satisfaction to the people of the Colony. (Cheers.) If you could make a Constitution according to a receipt, in the same way that you can make a cake, I would say by all means fly to the nearest expedient at hand which appears to give the lest security for the public advantage and tho public liberty that for the time being could be imagined; but do not let us fly to something fresh simply because we have lost something which we have decided we no longer require. Nobody in particular has killed the Provincial system, but, from one cause and another, the people of this Country, and you, too, I believe, have made up their minds that they do not want the Provincial system any longer-(applause) —that they are content to simply let that system fall out of its place. It is not for us to at once go and build up a new institution without experience, and to adopt that which has not been subjected to the maturest consideration, when we may find that it is not suited to our requirements. Therefore, I say, before we adopt any system, let us examine it thoroughly and see what it is going to do for us. I do not want to say for a moment that what 1 propose is in any way to be considered as a hard and fast arrangement, which is pot to be altered. On the contrary, we must’ go on improving our machinery, . and in time I believe we will arrive at what will bo thoroughly satisfactory. My own opinion is, that the Colonial Government is perfectly capable of administering all those things—through proper agents and proper Boards —which are now being managed by the Provincial Governments. I will now take the case of the five departments of Government — the gaols, police, hospitals, lunatic asylums, and charitable aid. Take the first four. I see no reason why, if those departments of the State were held by the Colonial Government, and were put under a proper Board of Inspection, consisting of soma of the beat men that tho Colonial Government would have at command—such men, for instance, as they appoint to be Resident Magistrates, or to hold any important office—l see no reason why those men, with the aid of one perfectly competent medical man to advise them, on sanitary questions arising out of the management of those institutions, should not satissatisfactorily administer them, without reference to any one else in the way of elective machinery at any rate. (Cheers.) Those departments represent an expenditure, apparently, of something like £20,000 a-year, leaving out the Charitable Aid. Now, Sir, when I speak of a medical officer being on that inspectorial Board, I do not mean that he shall interfere with tho professional staff; but I think he would give the best possible advice to his colleagues on the Board as to the way in which the internal arrangements of the Hospital should be conducted, and I think the some in regard to the Lunatic Asylum, the Industrial School, and the Orphanage. I propose that this Board should report monthly to the Colonial Government the state of every institution which is under their inspection. (Applause). And I say that if it were not satisfactorily administered it would be the business of your Representatives, and of the Representatives of any part of this Province, interested in the management of those institutions, to use his best endeavours, and to urge the Government, on every possible occasion, to see that all abuses were remedied. (Cheers). As regards tho gaols, I am of opinion that they should bo handed over to a similar inspection, _ that there should be the same class of supervision, and the same system of reports, in order that the Colonial Government may be fully advised of the state of every institution in the Province. (Cheers.) Tho inspection of sheep might bo dealt with by giving a commission for the inspection of sheep to tho inspector instead of the Superintendent. The Railways, Wharves, and all contingent Departments like the Harbour, it is universally admitted are part of our railway system. I have had the opinion of many who are perfectly competent to judge, that it is impossible that they can bo satisfactorily worked unless they are united; and I may say with regard to those Departments, that if tho Abolition had been carried out last session, the whole of the railways of this Province would, under the scheme of the Colonial Government have passed over to that Government, in exchange for the extinction of the debt of this Province —or what would have been very nearly the extinction of the debt. You will understand this as being purely experimental j but it is a very simple method. It may not answer, but yon have this great security, that if your members

do their duty, and if tho duration of Parliament ie not too long, all those things can bo altered, not at the will and pleasure of any Government, but at ■ your own will and pleasure. (Cheers.) I put it to you, in answer to those who eay that the success of the administration and the convenience of the public are going to be endangered by the change—if you have Parliaments of short duration, if you have a reasonably good inspection, under the control of the Colonial Government, and undivided responsibility, I want to know how you can possibly suffer ? It is worth while to look at the other departments of the Colonial Government. Take the Customs’ department; has that been a failure ? I say that, on the whole, it has been a success. Look again at the Registration of Land ; has that been a failure ? Certainly not. I can tell you, from my own experience, that it has been a success, and whether under the old system or under the Land Transfer Act, it has been satisfactorily administered. The same thing applies to the Telegraph. Will any one say that it has not been satisfactorily administered? If the Telegraph and the Customs, and Law and Justice, and all the departments under the control of the Colonial Government have been well administered, why should not all tho other departments be equally well administered ? (Cheers.) Is it not business-like, is it not reasonable to ask, if certain departments have been well managed hitherto, whether the other departments cannot also be satisfactorily carried on ? There is nothing mysterious or difficult in the matter. 1 will ask you to look at the change which has taken place in regard to Immigration. This Province and the Province of Otago carried on Immigration most successfully, upon a limited scale. Sometime ago it was taken over by the Colonial Government, and do we find that there have been any abuses ? The same officers have been continued, and the administration has been eminently satisfactorily, not only in this place, but in every other part of the Colony. I said just now that if you had Parliaments which were not too long, there could be no possible danger in this change, even if there were a danger in any other way. For years past I have felt that our Parliaments wore too long' in their duration—(cheers) —that the changing circumstances of this growing and increasing Colony, the new population coming into it, the settlement of tho land, and everything in fact which has changed the face of the Country during the last few years, demands that the duration of our Parliaments should be shortened. (Applause.) I think, particularly in view of the Abolition, that it would be a public duty to bring about the substitution of triennial Parliaments for the five years’ Parliaments which now obtain—(cheers) —and I say that I shall be very glad indeed to come before you every three years, if you elect me, and much more glad than if I sat for two additional years with a feeling that there was a certain coldness on the part of my constituents—a feeling that you were not heartily at my back. (Applause.) I say also that it will be the bounden duty of the representatives of the Colony in the General Assembly to work hard, I do not say that there have been, but I do say this that there must be no amateurs amongst us. I never was an amateur when I was in Parliament; I certainly did work whenever it was to be done, and no one will say that I did not. The circumstances of the Colony have changed; we have a much larger population ; we have interests which have grown up, and which have far more importance than they had formerly; we have questions of the gravest magnitude to deal with; and if a member is to do any good to the Country, his ears must be always open, and his hands always ready to work, and, above all, he must be in cordial sympathy and in constant communication with his constituents on every subject of public importance, (Cheers.) I am of opinion that this change, under such circumstances, cannot be the slightest injury to the public. I cannot see that With the system of direct parliamentary responsibility, with the Ministry responsible to the representatives, and the representatives responsible to the people—l cannot seo but that tho opinion of the people of the Colony should be always supreme. (Cheers.) While on this point, I may refer to the Constitution of the Legislative Council. I know that there is a strong feeling that the Legislative Council has lately done a good deal of injury to this Province in the matter of education. (Applause.) I feel it too, and 1 do not deny it, that it is not consistent with the spirit of the age, and with the natural of us who are Colonists, and who are not particularly endowed with veneration for every old institution based upon antiquated theories—l am of opinion that the time has come when the Legislative Council should be elective. (Loud cheers.) But there is one drawback; there is one thing which has made me hesitate. If you give the Legislative Council the same powers over larger areas, and for a longer tenure of office, and give them, at the same time, powers exactly equal to those of the House of Representatives, including that vexed question in respect of money Bills, which 1 hold, if you have an elective Upper House, should reside in the Legislative Council as well as in the House of Representatives ; for it prudence and caution are to be at all the faculty of the second chamber, I do not see why they should not have the power of placing their veto on any proposal as well as if they were elected for a shorter period, and for seats in the House of Representatives; but there is this danger—have you got the men ? Can you afford to weed out the House of Representatives to make a second chamber ? I cannot see that we can; but if the men who have made money in New Zealand were prepared to put their private interests and their personal advantage on one side for the sake of going to Wellington to serve the Country, I would say it would be desirable immediately to have a second chamber. But have you not a certain amount of difficulty in getting men to represent you in the House of Representatives ? If the House of Representatives would not be depreciated by the loss of some of its best men, I should have thought it desirable to have made such a change in the constitution of the Upper House long ago. If an elective Legislative Council is proposed, I shall be prepared to support it —(hear, hear) —for I believe, notwithstanding the difficulty I have spopen of, that the very existence of such a system may bring forward the men, and therefore I shall be prepared to support a measure of that nature. (Applause.) There is another matter which has a bearing on the change, and I have read with much interest the speech of my friend Mr Montgomery at Akaroa. The question to which I refer is this : what is to become of the residue of the Land Fund ? There is supposed to be a residue of the Land Fund after the Road Boards and so on have been provided for according to the Government plan. Mr Montgomery proposes an elective Board for the purpose of managing Publie Works, chosen by the Chairmen of the Road Boards. In this Province he proposes that there shall bo two such Boards, and in some of the Provinces there shall be one, according tothfsize. The Government, on the other hand, propose to establish Shire Councils ; that is to say, that any two or three Road Boards which think fit can, under certain conditions, associate themselves and acquire borrowing powers. I do not think that there is much to choose between the two proposals ; but so long as that Parliamentary responsibility of which I have spoken is not impaired, I should like to see every facility given which could possibly be afforded for the Road Boards to form themselves into local bodies, for the purpose of carrying out works of a purely local character. But I do not believe with Mr Montgomery, that it would answer to give such bodies the construction of branch railways, because I am strongly of opinion that the branch railways must bo part of the general railway system of the Colony. (Hear, hear.) I see an endless source of inconvenience and disorder arising from such a system as that to which I have referred, and therefore I cannot agree with him on that point. 1 am most anxious not to detain you unduly, and therefore I will come at once to the subject of Education. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, owing to the unfortunate action of the Provincial Council at the last session, a change, which is only too familiar to you, took place. The old Board spstem was abolished, and we have in place of it what they call a Minister of Education. (Laughter and hisses.) When you have made a mistake, the first thing ia to correct it, and therefore, I say, in this

matter, the first thing ia to restore the position of that Board—(cheers)— and to restore it not only for administrative purposes, but because, under the Abolition as it now stands, yon are positively left out in the cold. Clause 10 of the Abolition Act contains a provision to the effect that, on the coming into operation of the Act, all the property for grammar and common school purposes, sites for schools, and so forth, “shall be vested in the Board of Education constituted under any Act or Ordinance," &o.; but, unfortunately, you have not got a Board; that is the worst part of it, and I think my friend Mr Inglis can corroborate what I say. (Applause.) Therefore, I say, the first thing you have to do is to put the Board back again, and then it will bo time to talk about what you will do in tho future. What I hope to see done is this. When you have taken the first step of restoring the Board, the next thing is to contemplate its continuance —to continue the system of Education in this Province by a Board nominated by the Governor, a Board, which shall account to the Minister who is in charge of the Education in the Colony, and I have not the least doubt that a first-claps Board can be obtained in this Province, and in every Province in New Zealand, like the Boards we have had in the past, sincerely devoted to their work. (A voice: “Why not an Elective Board?”) Who are they to be responsible to ? If you can show me how they are to be responsible to the Ministry of the day, who are in their turn responsible to the representatives of the people, I am quite willing to waive the point. There is nothing like responsibility in Parliamentary Government. We have adopted that system, and I am of opinion that responsibility should run through all the departments of the State; indeed, I know of no other way in which you can be sure of proper administration, You have not elected your Board hitherto. It has been nominated by a local elective officer, and I do not think you will suffer very much by its being nominated ; let us try it, at any rate, and if you do not like it, it can be altered, because the matter u in your own hands. I look upon Education as one of the first of national duties. (Cheers.) _ I do not take the same view of Education as that which has been taken by a majority of che Provincial Council of late. I do not sympathise with the peddling principle of getting small fees and household taxes, but I think that the cost of Education should be charged upon the Consolidated. Revenue. (Cheers.) I am entirely in favour of preserving the system of scholarships, by which the children of any man of whatever condition, on being successful in the ordinary routine of scholastic work, shall be able at the public expense to procure the education which shall carry them higher (cheers), and I shou'd be very sorry to sea it abolished, because it will give us, one of these days, some of the most valuable, the most practical, and the most disinterested public men whom we could possibly wish to have. (Applause.) I have had several questions sent to me to answer, and one question is whether I am in favour of the system in force in Switzerland. Having since seen the author of the letter, I understand that the question is, whether it would not bo better to abolish the scholarships, and to provide that every pupil who can pass the standards laid down shall have his Education free of expense. This ia a question that I should like to have a little more time to consider. (Hear, hear.) My views on Education are not of that narrow character which would prompt me to limit it to the simplest subjects which it is possible to teach. Some people urge that the State should not pay for more than reading, writing, and arithmetic, but I cannot see it. I am of opinion that the State should look to making its Education much wider, and to giving aid to Education which shall bring the population up to the best possible standard. (Cheers). I have now a few remarks to make on the railway policy of the Government and contingent matters, and I am exceedingly sorry to say that I do not think it has been altogether a success. The expenditure has been perfectly enormous. The amount of money which has been borrowed is immense, and I am very seriously afraid that we have not got 20a in the £ for our money. Major Atkinson, tho present Colonial Treasurer, has given it as his opinion that if the railways constructed under the policy of 1870 were sold, they would fetch about eight millions. My inquiry does not satisfy me that they would bring more than half the money. I am aware that there are enormous contingent advantages connected with the railways, but when I am told that they would feech that amount, I must say that I think it is ■ a great mistake, I have never ceased to regret that the earnest entreaties of the Opposition in 1870 were not acceded to. They urged that surveys should be made, and that there should be no haste in the matter, but I Bin sorry to say that the ink with which the Act - was printed was hardly dry before borrowing begap, very much, I believe, to the disadvantage of the country, I refer now to one very great cause of the mischief which has arisen, and the great waste of money by the extraordinary efforts that were made by all sections of Parliament to get expenditure in particular Districts. It is going on now. Wo have movements to get one railway here, another there, and so on, as if the Colonial credit were perfectly inexhaustible. When I come to read you some figures presently, you will see what enormous borrowing has been undertaken, and to what it will lead. Look at the Eaipara Railway. I have a complaint to make against the Government ;in respect of that line. The Government got a Bill passed which was supposed to give the greatest possible security that Railways which would not pay should not be made. The Act provided that when the Chief Engineer reported that the Railway would not he likely to pay working expenses, the line should not be made. Well, Sir, there was the Eaipara Railway, which it was desired to construct, and to get rid of the difficulty the Government brought in a special Bill to have that Railway made, and it was earned, although the Engineer-in-Ohief had reported that the line would not pay. Now, Sir, I ask you what is the use of the Government getting measures passed if the next Act is to bring in another measure to neutralise the action of the first ? [A Voice : “ They are all alike.”] Well, Sir, 1 am very sorry to hear it, I have always regretted, gentlemen, that a proposal which was made some years ago was not carried into effect by the House, for I believe it was a practical proposal, and would have worked a very great deal of good, namely, that there should have been a Standing Committee of the House of Representatives appointed to deal with every public work proposed, to examine every single figure and every feature of every proposition made for Public Works for all parts of the Colony, and their report should be taken as a guide to the House for all works to be undertaken because I am sure you would have had a more exhaustive system of inquiry than has yet been the case, and I live in hope,if the credit of the Colony will admit of its undertaking any more works, and if there are works, which of course there will be, that are desirable to be undertaken, I sincerely trust that the proposition I refer to will not be lost sight of, and that the House of Representatives will adopt it. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I am very much disappointed, as I said, with the results of the Public Works. I know the amount of labour which Mr Richardson has done, I don’t consider him an opponent, and I don’t wish to say anything against him or any other candidate in the field; I am also anxious to give “ honour where honour is due.” (Hear, hear.) I say, therefore, that Mr Richardson has worked hard, but it is not the fault of the man who administered it, but the fault of the political manner in which the thing has been conducted. It is the way in which the whole Country has settled down to demands for works ; it ie very nice to have a railway coming up to your door, but I maintain that a very serious injury has been done by the pressure put upon the Colony. According to the Estimates which would have come into effect if the change had been adopted, I find the Colonial Treasurer states that £50,000 of revenue would have been derivable from the railways, but will I tell you how many millions he got for their construction ? [A Voice: “ They wont pay better.’’] I hope they will. I am only showing that up to this time they have not been a success. Of course, in time to oome there must be more traffic and more profit, but I think we ought to hare had bettor results, considering the -

promises that were held out. (Hear, hear, cheers, and a Voice: “ I don’t look at it in that way.”] 1 don’t care what wsy; that is how to look at it. That policy which has been a great success, is the introduction into the country of a large number of people who have found regular and permanent employment and got settled, which, but for that policy, could not have been the case. [A Noiee: “ Do yon know that the reason why the railways do not pay is, because people who are connected with their management get great salaries.” Cries of “silence,” “take the questions afterwards,” “ sit down,” “ get on the platform” (which the questioner accordingly did), “go to Sunnyside,” “ order,” “ sit down" (to the questioner aforesaid), to which he replied “ that he was a true-born Englishman and would not.” Ultimately, however, he sat down, perceiving it was the desire of the meeting that Mr Stevens should not be interrupted.] Now, that I have the permission ‘of that gentleman to go on, I will do so. (Laughter.) From the Statement of the Colonial Treasurer, I find that there is an amount of money yet to be raised, including the £BOO,OOO of the Imperial guaranteed million, the sum of £1,312,100. It was also stated that there was required a sum of £882,786 to complete works now in progress, and £429,313 is also wanted for similar objects. This therefore would appear to exhaust the unraised balance. Now, Sir, at the end of that, what would be our position ? All our loans will be gone, and I think, Sir, we should be very much like the Prodigal Son, and make ourselves contented with the husks. The finance of tho Colony is a question which demands our most earnest consideration. (Hear, hear, and cheers). Sir Julius Vogel tells us that the Colony ought to be able to bear from £30,000,000 to £40,000,000. . I cannot conceive how any man can say such a thing. Ultimately, I agree she could, but I _ do not agree that under the existing condition of our finance, the Colony should be further burthened. Why, what is our present position ? The Colony will have to pay £1,035,000 a year for interest and sinking who have not inquired into it, but for your information, I may tell you that, although paying off our loans by way of sinking fund, those charges are not reduced, because we have arranged to keep up our annual payments as long as the loans will remain in currency. The result will be, that we shall continue paying the same amount of interest on these loans until they are run out. In 1877, therefore, we shall have an annual charge of £1,035,000. Of course, I am quite aware of the reduction of the Public Debt by means of the Sinking Fund, Although it • does not reduce the annual charges during the currency of the, loan, yet I am quite aware that our debt will be materially below nineteen millions. The finance of the Colony is one of the most important subjects, and I will now proceed to give you some more figures. The following would apparently have been the estimated Colonial Revenue if Abolition had been carried : Customs and bonded stores £1,330,000 Fees under certain Acts 16,750 Stamp duties 125,000 Postal 91,000 Telegraphic 62,000 Judicial fees and fines 32,000 Eegistration, land and deeds 30,250 Births, deaths, and marriages 5,000 Crown grant fees 6,000 Miscellaneous 2,700 Net revenue on railways open for traffic 49,724 Incidental receipts ... 65,000 £1,815,424 To this may be added the surplus of last year, £120,446, a surplus which may not again be realised. It should be noticed that the estimate is £160,913 over the actual receipts of last year. The Colony would apparently receive a refund from the Provincial Districts of £218,424, and for interest on completed railways £97,518. These items would make a total revenue of about two millions and a quarter. The expenditure would apparently have been—„ Interest on total loans for which Colony is liable and Sinking Fund £945,785 Civil list 29,750 Under certain Acts ... 47,110 Public Departments ... 74,459 Law and Justice 65,721 Postal and Telegraphic 222,509 Customs ... ... 57,292 Miscellaneous 43,898 Militia and Volunteers ... 22,885 Public domains 23,351 Armed Constabulary ... 91,000 Native ... 36,191 _ £1,659,951 To this must be added the Provincial services, which I believe would have been provided for at the rate of £270,000 year after allowing for Provincial Revenue. There would still remain a large apparent surplus, but when it is remembered that the surplus from last year may not happen again, that the estimate includes an excess on last year that may not be realised, and that the loan charges will rise in 1877 to about one million and thirty-five thousand, it can hardly be expected that there will be any considerable margin after providing for proper administration. My object in placing these figures before you is to show what possibility there is o’f doing what I believe would be the best financial arrangement, viz , to place all our loans on the Consolidated Fund without apportionment, and so leave the Land Fund of both islands free to be applied to' Municipal and Road Board purposes and local Public Works. (Cheers.) But I fear that until the Railways shall return more revenue than at present, or some increase in the revenue takes place, it would be difficult to adopt it without further taxation. This arrangement would have the advantage that it would get rid of the vexed question of the Land Fund, which is always cropping up and causing a difficulty. (Hear, hear). I now come to one of those great questions which we have very seldom out of our minds—the question of the Waste Lands. (Hear, hear). 1 have given a great deal of consideration to this subject, and I trust that what I have to say upon it may be acceptable to you. You are aware that in 1880 the present tenancy of the runs will, so far as we know, expire. There is some question about the legal aspect of tho matter, which 1 am not going into now, as to whether tho ranholders are not entitled to retain their runs upon payment of rent, but I do not think it will make any practical difference. The question of what is to be done with the runs is a very important matter, and I have come to the conclusion that, first of all, the pre-emptive rights which are now held, should, in 1880, be either exercised or given up. (Cheers.) And then, after that, I hold that there are two leading principles which could guide us in this matter. The first of these is to keep land perfectly free for sale ; and the other, to get the best rent you can, consistently with reason and firmness ; that is, what tho runs are intrinsically .worth. Whichever of these plans that seems to be best will recommend itself to me. (Hear, hear.) I have heard of a proposition to cut up the runs into 5000 acre blocks, I have given a great deal of consideration to that, and find that if such a system was adopted in this Province, it would probably produce a state of chaos ; that the difficulty of adjusting and assessing and all the rest of it would be a most frightful undertaking, and would probably result in public dissatisfaction and loss of revenue. Nor do I think there is anything in such a plan which would compensate for the evils accompanying such an arrangement. (Hear, Lear.) I have read and heard that if the runs were let, they would produce —I have heard Is fid an acre. Now, sir, I think they would, if let, but on what conditions P On the condition that, if you put these runs up to auction, the purchasers of these runs should have a fixity of tenure; in point of fact, nothing more nor less than a lease of some duration or other. If you do such a thing as that, or as Sir Dillon Bell proposed at Waikonaiti the other day, what is the consequence ? Why, that you cannot sell the land, that the labourers on the land, who are now saving up wages for the purchase of land, and the immigrants whom you bring to the Country will still have to go on working, because they cannot get land to purchase and settle upon as independent farmers. That is what you are going to do if you give a fixity of tenure; and for my part, I am not prepared to do it. (Hear, hear, and. cheers.) I think this question has not been fully considered by some of those who say “Split up the land, and get a good price for it.” You can certainly get it if

you are prepared to give that fixity of tenure, which I say is nothing more nor less than a disaster. (Ohoers.) My view of the matter ig, as I said at the beginning, to keep this land as nearly as possible as regards selling it as now; that you have the same free selection; that you do not alter the price, because if you do—that is, if you materially alter it—you will have the land bought up in large areas, and production lessened. (Hear, hear.) Therefore, I say, don’t put these runs up to auction, because, if you do, you will simply say to the people who have got interests in that direction, "Wo will compel you either to save yonr stock by giving such a rent for the run as the run is not intrinsically worth, or you must put your stock in the market snd sell' it for what it will bring, and we will do the came thing with your run.” This would result in a very serious injury to the Country, and I am very much surprised, indeed, to hear it advocated. I am most distinctly satisfied of this—that although it may be said that persons who take the runs afterwards will be wanting the same stock that the out going tenant has possessed, and will therefore be prepared to purchase it, I am perfectly satisfied that such an influx of stock into the market as that, would produce a reduction in price which it would bo something frightful to contemplate. Credit would be most materially affected, and all those who lent money on them would cease to have confidence in the place, and you would have a considerable amount of injury done without benefiting any person whatever. If the present holders will pay a proper rent, assessed at the real value of Government land, then, I say, they are as good as anybody else to hold the land. (Hear, hear.) I say they should just hold it, but I would not be prevented from selling the land, as would be the case if you gave them a fixity of tenure. I would not say you should not take Educational Reserves, and let them, as you wanted to do so. Although I have not got in my possession, and am not likely to have, a single sheep, I cannot find it in my mind to propose or advocate, that such a blow as that should be dealt .to the Country ; that a class of men who have been fortunate in late years, but who have had bad times in the past; 1 say I cannot find it in my mind or heart to say that some speculator should go and drive them into the streets for the mere purpose of paying an imaginary profit which is not likely to accrue. I do not take a squatter’s or a cockatoo’s view of this matter. (Hear, hear.) I wish to say that it is no part of a sound principle of public policy which, while recognising the interests of the public and the revenues of the Country, will at the same time deal a blow of that sort at the head of any people who are doing good to the Country, and working in it as bona fide colonists. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) And I ash you to do this ft o consider the view I now put before you, decide on such a step as that auction proposal, to consider the matter in all its bearings, to consider what may be its effect upon the Country, not upon a class; let us view it as a clear matter of public business, and I am very strongly inclined to think you will believe with me that the public interest demands that something of the sort I have indicated should be adopted. [A voice: " Down with monopoly.”] I beg your pardon. [The voice aforesaid : “ Down with monopoly.”] Gentlemen, I don’t propose a monopoly; it is not a monopoly at all. [A voice : “ Another lunatic; go, on Governor.”] The person who had previously mounted the platform rose from his chair, and remarked that ho thought it was time to say [something now. [Loud hisses, cries of “ order,” “ sit down,” “ chair,” and momentary confusion, which was subdued by the interference of the Mayor. The person who had interrupted the proceedings then left the platform.] I have no doubt you think I should state what I should do in regard to the Ministry of the day, should you do me the honour to return me as one of your representatives. It is naturally a qu stion of the greatest interest to electors to know whether the candidate who seeks their suffrages is going to support the Government of the day, or not. (Hear, hear.) In regard to many of • the things which the Government have taken up, I should be disposed to give them a cordial support, but in view of circumstances which have come to my knowledge, I feel thatl should not give them an entire support, but, at the very best, an independent support. (Applause.) The Government have done some very extraordinary things. Before I go into questions of another kind, I should like to deal with what I may call their minor offences. They have shown a great want of to the. manner in which legislation should be conducted. During last session they wanted to introduce a Stamp Act Amendment Bill, and although it was introduced merely as an Amendment Bill, for the purpose of remedying technical defects and facilitating its working, they could not help putting into it a duty on mortgages, and thus at the very time when the Colonial Treasurer was announcing that there was a surplus, hie colleague was proposing to put on a tax, a small one, I admit, on mortgages. Could anything more utterly ridiculous be conceived ? Then they wanted to give relief to the lodgers of the Country. The lodgers, as you are aware, have no votes, not possessing property and not being registered. They have no qualification, and, assuming it to be possible to give it to them, I am decidedly in favour of their having a vote. But when the Government brought in the Qualification of Electors Bill, . they could not give the lodgers a vote without giving them manhood suffrage. I would ask you to look at the absurdity of the proposal. Wo whoare settled in the Country have votes in respect of property, and there are the lodgers coming in under the Government Bill, and holding a manhood suffrage. That appears to me to show that the Government do not consider their measures sufficiently. The proposal of the Government, I may say, has since been abandoned. There are some things connected with the conduct of the Government to which I take serious exception. I allude especially to the declaration of the Government, when they introduced the last Tariff Bill, that it was not introduced with any intention of adding to the Revenue of the Country, and yet no sooner had the Chambers of Commerce in the Colony sat down to consider it than they arrived unanimously at the conclusion that it would increase the Revenue of the Country to the extent of £IOO,OOO a a year. (Hear, hear.) That is not the way the Government should act. They should not attempt to extract revenue by devices of that kind, and for my part, I am not prepared to look favourably upon a Government that deals in that fashion. (Cheers.) I do not want to go too far back; but you remember the Brogden contracts. I had the honour of addressing you at that time, and I stated that I considered the manner in which those contracts were entered into in England was altogether too bad. There is one member of the Government who thinks he can leave the Colony when he chooses, and in fact, do exactly as he likes. The Government seem to sit in Wellington “like the gods, careless of mankind,” and treating the public affairs of the Colony as they please. I do not believe in that, and I am not prepared to give aq unqualified support to any Government which does not recognise that it is their duty to remain in the Country and stick to their work, (Applause.) Some of them do stick to their work, and some of them are men for whom I have the greatest possible respect, and in whom I place every confidence, but at the same time there are some in whom I have no confidence at all. (Hear, hoar.) They have recently disregarded the votes of Parliament in regard to the excess of expenditure over appropriation for the San Francisco Mail Contract; which, to say the least, is certainly a breach of propriety, (Hoar, hoar.) They have also committed a breach of common sense in another proposal—the Polynesian scheme of last year. That scheme, shortly stated, was this: that a Company was to be formed who should undertake to pass all the trade of the Fijis through this Colony, and that in return the Colony should allow them five per cent upon their capital for a period of fifty years. Now, Sir, I ask what sort of arrangement was that for this Colony, that £50,000 a year should he paid out of the general revenues of the Colony for such a trade ? And wbat would be our position P The Fijis have got a Governor, and that is all. It would have been well to wait and see whether the scheme would hare been a success

before such a proposal was pat b e fore the co untry. Then, again, 1 have to come to those transactions of which we have all heard something—those land transactions in the North Island the case of the Waikato Piako Swamp, Now, I would just ask you to bear with me only for a few minutes. I am rapidly coming to a conclusion. The loasa of this land appears to me to be one of thosa things which it is of the utmost importanco the public should familiarise itself with, and not only familiarise itself with, but should express an opinion upon it. What do we find? That the Government deliberately sold, not according to land regulations, but in breach of the law, 80,000 acres of land to a company of capitalists. Why should tha Government, have sold it in this hole-and-corner way at all ? Why should it not havo been sold in the same 'way as waste land acquired by the Natives ? But, no, this laud has not been so dealt with, but sold in a private sort of fashion, and what for ? Nominally for £20,000, with the right of receiving back £IO,OOO, if a road were made, which was an important: highway to settled Districts. Now, I ask why have the Government found it was necessary to do this ? Why did they not get the Assembly to appropriate money for making this road in the same way as other roads in tha North Island, for which they took appropriations ? What sort of a transaction was it, whether the land was good or bad, to sell it for the sake of a road, when they were spending immense sums of money in other parts of the island ? Why did tha Government not sell it at an upset price, and thereby settle the country ? They preferred to make this arrangement, and no satisfactory explanation has been or ever will be given of it as far as I can see. I say this, that the manner in which certain individuals have been able—l don’t say in virtue of their position as Members of the Legislature—baft from some favouritism or another, the manner in which they have obtained those concessions and advantages is a thing of which they should have great reason to be ashamed. I shall eefc my face against this transaction, and in fact against anything that is not of a perfeclly open and equal character in the management of the landed estate, and that so far from lending any countenance to the transaction of which I have spoken, I shall at all times do my very bast to prevent such a condition of things from receiving any publio encouragement whatever. (Hear, hear.) Sir, it is hard, indeed, if we have to come to this Colony, if we have come to a country and made our homes in it, upon whose soil we hava planted our feet and are building it by degrees into a nation j it is hard, indeed, if we cannot try to keep our Government clear and unfettered by any such dealings as these. I wish there had been a larger meeting. I should havo wished to have had a larger meeting, because I would then hate been able to speak to those who perhaps are not prepared to read this long address in the newspapers, and who might have been able, if they were hero, to put questions to me. But, gentlemen, if you elect me, I shall always be with you, when I am not in my place in the House, and I will do my best to serve no object but one, and that is, to do some public work during tha rest of the time I have yet to live. What I ask you is, to fairly review the considerations I have put before you, the points of policy I have advocated, and if you can, after due consideration, make up your minds that I am a fair man, one who is likely to deal fairly and straightforwardly with the public affairs o£ the Colony, then, gentlemen, I ask you to elect me and let me do some public work foe you. (Loud cheers.) In reply to questions, Mr Stevens said that he did not consider that those who were in charge of the railway departments were too highly paid. He had already said that he was in favour of triennial Parliaments. He thought it would be better as a general rule, that Members should not bo paid, but if that principle were adopted, they might occasionally lose the services of a valuable man, He had known of one very able man who told him, some years ago, that if it were not for the honorarium he should not have been able to go to W ellington. On general grounds, he was opposed to any honorarium. He was prepared to support a Bill to disqualify any Member from having a seat in Parliament, who had been found guilty of drunkenness in a Police Court. (Cheers.) He would not be in favour of excluding te Member on a petition of three-fourths of» constituency. He should be sorry to see a Board established to consider the grievances of railway employes. He should be in favour of all Waste Lands being sold in the sama way as they were in Canterbury, although ho thought an uniform rate of £2 an acre would not answer in all cases. He could not say what the Piako Swamp was worth; what ho objected to was not the price, but the manner in which it was sold, and the principle involved. (Applause.) He was in favour of free education, also of education being undenominational, and of making it compulsory so far as he was at present advised. He was asked whether certain promissory notes which had been given by immigrants should bo pressed for or. not. He was not in favour of people being pressed for—that is, that they should bo sold up ; but he did not think they should be cancelled in the case of persons who were able .to discharge them. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) He was asked whether the City Council or other public bodies should pay over the money to the families of deceased clerks. His opinion was, that if they elected a body of people to do their work, it Ifraa no use tying them down to sixpences, (Hear, hear, and cheers.) If they squandered the money, by all means let the people get rid of them. He had always been of opinion, and was still, that Immigration should be as nearly a possible proportioned to the demand for labour. (Hear, hear.) At present, he believed that labour was not scarce, and ho was not prepared to say just now what the amount of Immigration should be, because that would depend on a variety of circumstances which neither he nor others could foresee. He thought that further and, immediate taxation would depend very largely' on whether they went on borrowing any more money, and continued the construction of large public works. It would also very much depend on the revenues of the country. If the revenues kept up, he did not see very much, necessity for immediate taxation. As to whether further taxation would be necessary in the future, this would depend on a variety of causes—amongst others the keeping np of the revenue, and the number of people that would be introduced to the Country. He was not favourable to an income tax, as it was very difficult to collect, and gave rise to a great deal of dissatisfaction, but if the neceasities of the Colony required it, he was in favour of such a property tax as would touch, all property, and would not be upon property alone. Ho hoped, however, that by keeping the expenditure within proper limits no further taxation would he required. He thought that the Municipalities should be placed on the same footing as Road Boards, but ho did not think that if they got that that they would also get the fees and fines. He would prefer an endowment from the Land Revenue instead of an endowment in land. He was in favour of a plurality of votes being given to holders of property. The City of Christchurch now formed one electoral district. He thought that absentees should pay their share of any property tax, the same as anybody else. A central railway for Christchurch would hava many advantages; but the purchase of land would absorb a large amount of money. It would be a good thing, no doubt, if they could afford it (Applause.) The Piako swamp had’been open to purchase for seven or eight years, and was not sold by the Government the moment it was acquired. (Hear, hear.) Here the fire-bell gave the alarm of fire, and of course there was an immediate rush to the doors. In the midst of the confusion that ensued, three cheers were called for Mir Stevens, which were accordingly given, the meeting broke up. MR TESCHEMAKEE AT WAIMATJJ. Mr F, W. Tescebmakeb addressed Jth« Gladstone electors at Waimate on Saturday. Mr M. SrUDHOtMB occupied the chair. At the conclusion of Mr F. Teachemaieris address (says the Timaru Herald) Mr Manchester moved, and Mr Shite seconded a vote of confidence in him as a representative of the district; but no expression of feeling was made either for or against th« resolution.