PARLIAMENT OUT OF SESSION

Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5603, 8 February 1879, Page 6

PARLIAMENT OUT OF SESSION

MR ALFREU SAUNDERS AT WAIKARI.

According to announcement, Mr Saunders ipet the electors of the Cheviot district at the schoolroom, Waikari, cn Thursday evening. There was a good attendance, considering the busy season, and Mr W. A. Willis was voted to.&e chair. Sir Saxotebs, having been briefly introduced by tile Chairman, paid a graceful tribute of praise to the Canterbury Press for the manner in which public matters had been recorded during the last session of Parliament, andiaid it was comparatively useless, therefore, to go over all the ground which they (kds hearers) had such ample opportunity ofseeing for themselves daring the session. He never came before his constituents to report his proceedings in a session with less pleasure than he did at that time, as in a great many respects things had net turned out as he would have liked them to do, and the part he hod to take was so thoroughly different from what he. contemplated taking, consequently his action had not been, perhaps, in accordance with what they expected of him. They could understand that it was far easier for a representative to act the part of a partisan than it was to take up a thoroughly independent course, and there would always be round men willing to adopt the former course, and as regards the majority, they do not fed called upon to take an independent view of things, hut will accept the dictum of a leader of a party, and follow him, through thick and thin. This state of affairs, and this class of men, were not calculated to bring about a satisfactory state of affairs, nor would they tend to improve the legislation of New Zealand. When he (Mr Saunders) went to the Assembly, he had said, in addressing his constituents prior to the session, he should go to support all liberal measures. It had been Ms aim to support such measures. He had been in favour of triennial Parliaments, as he considered this was an excellent proposal, and one that would afford every man an opportunity of faking part in the affairs of the country and arouse the inhabitants to their political duties. But he had been much disappointed in the action taken by the Government in this matter, after what Sir George and others of his party had said in favour of the measure, they had apparently no desire to proceed farther. There had been first the danger of their going too far, hut when they came to the House he found that they wanted spurring on to the fulfilment of their former avowals. They would remember that in previously addressing them he, (Mr Saunders) had said that he could not support Sir George as far as he went, but when he went to the House he found things very different, and their attempts at improving the Legislature were remarkably meagre, and they were not prepared to carry out the principles they had been advocating throughout the whole Colony. He then read an extract from a Canterbury paper, in which Mr Be Lantonr is reported to have said ‘ that he has found that the majority of the members of the House of Bepresentatives are not liberals except under pressure.” The paragraph in question is imbued strongly with the term liberal, which term is very much abused. So far as his opinion of liberal measures went, they should treat all men equally, and that should be the principal object of a liberal Government, and so far as any Government aims at measures of that kind they would receive his thorough support. But it appeared that to attempt to follow Sir George Grey’s Government was incompatible with this, as the followers would arid he compared the policy of Sir John Bright to that of Colonel Simthorp, shdwuig that to follow the Govermnent of Sir George, a representative would find that he was xnder a Government with principles to the latter. Mr Do Lautour was studying for the law, and his speeches, though msipid enough, were fluent, the only importance to be placed on what he says being that he is one of three memberliarid : are termed ‘‘the scorpions,” of the House, and that what ha says emanate from the Government benches. He proceeded to enumerate the'duties of the three Governmeet, whips, Messrs 3 . C. Brown, Bunny, and George, winch ware to buttonhole the members outride the House and extol the actions of the preSent Govemment tothe utmost of th eir power,while the duty of the three lawyers, or “ scorpions,”, was to speak in the House, addressing i themselves to eulogising and otherwise upholding the Qrev Hmistry, and to accose members of aiming for seats on the Goyeriuaent benches. He instanced the ar&nud t the term “ Bcormpri,” giren to the threeiilatter members. The sayings of Mr He lot*” 11 * were therefore Sir George s utterancefcl. JBellM mot placed himself in the position of fering led by the Government, and themeetingxdnld Judge as to who hold the more nnrs. • Mr. DeLautour, and, therefore, the Grey Ministry, was very liberal in the shatter of the increase of lihesaUty not in many instances given where deserved. He had admtiona to the Speaker’s, the Clerk to the

House, and Tarious offiMs whei-e the increase,' - we quite had; also eu- ' 'devoured that the Gold Wardens should be placed on the pension list on exactly the sane footing as Resident Magistrates, and i several other matters of a similar kind had been brought forward. This liberality, he (Mr Saunders), did not value much, but in judging the liberality of a Government ho had always taken the education of the country as the first consideration. The first step a Liberal Government should take was to see that education is carefully and properly provided, so that every man could investigate for himself what is being done in the Colony, and be able to give an entirely independent vote on aU-questions of public interest. (Hear, hear.) Sir George Grey took a good stand on this question when addressing the country, but when hebame to the House the Gorcriniient did not make it a 'question of paramount importance as it should be. They cT.n put down a much smaller sum on the iCftimates than the Boards of Education in the ditfereut districts actually required, lie should like to have seen a much larger one put on, and-what he complained : of was, that when thei . Government... know. , that JE200.000 Was absolutely wanted for erection at school buildings and repairs, and that these were a primary consideration in a fast increasing population, theyshould have proposed to take £100,001) out of loans’for the purpose of erecting these temporary wooden structures Hewouldbe glad to see a demolition of Hie Customs’ duties pat* they Mi not in a position to do this, and he Considered it a wratohedly paltry policy to. take off the fid from tea and id ,from sugar, and thento have resort to loans to support Education. It would have beep far preferable to have left these duties Us ' they were,' and to have been more liberal in the matter of Education. For the purposes of ordinary education a sum of £212,330 Imd bepi oaked, in addition to a supplementary amount.qf £4,500 (which, was to be-spent in the neighbourhood/ ofaNew Plymouth and Wellington), and this id the face of an expenditure, fast year of £189,900 and a rapidly increasing population, which required a much larger expenditure : this year, and. would continue to require more. It was . a farceto dCnfarco an Act children to attend; school while we have a Government whoLdd not gupplv the necessary means either to build schools for their accommodation, or to maintain them in anything like efficiency. The Boards of Education had shown how and for what purposes this money wanted,,, and at considerable trouble'tbis information had been obtained, and yet their efforts are to a certain extent stultified by the illiberal!ty of the Government of the Colony in not providing them with the means they ask for and ought to obtain, - Another matter in whwshT he had not agreed with the Government'was the recent appointments to the Legislative Council. Hadesirtdkd say that he had no personal ill-feeling -against any or either.of the gentlemen appointed, hilt he didhdfc consider that any one qf them had «dded>say lustre to that body, and in the face of. What; Sir George Grey said respecting property, not being represented only in the Council, he failed to see that the recent" appointments: were marked vnth any other particularfeature or that they could be construed into, representing anything else. He. Considered it undesirable. that the expenditure of £ISOO a year should have been thus incurred, and it would hare benefitted the country to a far greater extent if it had been devoted to the payment often additional schoolmasters. In this matter, therefore. be could not : support the Grey Ministry. Then again in the appointment of the Education. Commission, he considered. that all party feeling or.rbjMi should have been entirely setonoceaideVand that in this matter especially, men should have been chosen on that Commission solely on their merits for the .appointment, and he could not think that it reflected any credit on a Government who appointed fire men solely on account of their uncompromising support to their party, and certainly not for their peculiar fitness for the office. He had not held sufficiently liberal views to approve of such a course. He didnot like any party to sail under a so called liberal policy when such proceedings are sanctioned, and when they do not act up to the true principle. From, what Sir. George Grey had said on the matter of triennial Parliaments, he had. a right to expect that a Triennial Parliament Bill would be introduced by Government, but such bad not been the case. 1 There had been, such a Bill introduced by a private member, Dr Wallis, which, however, was lost by a small majority. Had the Government brought it forward as a measure of their own they would have had manymore supporters, and there can be no doubt it would have become law. As it was, however, they withheld their votes, and it fell through. If Sir George really valued Triennial Parliaments, as he professed to do when addressing the public, he would not have allowed this Bill to have been lost as it was, but have made it a Government question, and there is no doubt it would have been carried. On the question of plurality of votes for parliament, he was greatly dissatisfied with the present policy. At the present time a man could hold a great many votes. He was aware of one who held 76, which he thought was going too far, though he was not. prepared to. say that a man who has a number of votes should not have an advantage in this way, but there should be a limit to it. He felt that the Assembly had been dealing with several of these matters when a different tribunal ought to have decided them. He had proposed that the maximum number of votes for Parlialiament should be three, bat the motion was lost in the same way that others were, viz., through the fact of it not being brought, forward by the Government, and therefore it remains an unsettled question. He would address himself to the Electoral Bill, because, though it had not passed during the last session, there was no doubt it would become law next. The principle of the Bill was. to give to every man a vote, whether he had property or not, after he had been a resident in the Colony for two years, a principle in which ha (Mr Saunders), entirely agreed, even if the man held property. (Hear, hear.) He had proposed the two years’ danse, as he considered that that should be the case, Having been a. working man himself, he felt that it would be manifestly unfair to place such restraints on him as were not placed on | his richer neighbours. There is nothing more important in legislating than to make every class feel that they are satisfied with their condition. The Bill as it stood when introduced into the House, did not require this qualification, but the amendment bad been accepted, and wonld carry next session. Another strange proposal from the Government, in connection with this measure, was that any man with a property qualification should be allowed, in registering his vote, to make his mark, whereas one without any property, would be required to sign his name. This was making an invidious distinction which he could not agree to. The latter class had a far better excuse for being unable to write than the property holder, and the proposal, as brought down, was not one which should emanate from a Government professing to bold liberal principles, and to. be the friends of the so-called working class. The House, proposed, however, to strike out this qualification- It was an important question, and by its means Sir Geprae oontend,*! that 70,000 persons, at present disfranchised, would be placed on the roll, and jyet in spite of his professed eagemessto wh ».terror*, and to bring it into operation, he allowed it to bo quietly withdrawn in about the some ditionaswhen it was introduced. Theßul also proposed to allow theKatives to, have the. power of voting for European, representatives; as well as for tae four members from among themselves. Natives have certain, communistic rights by which they- Jay oiaimko land, anti it seemed necessary -to, give them the right to vote for BUrojW rapresentetives upon property on which-fhcypaid rates, and to were not a class to bo «f»«i to themselves, ■ but; when they j had a SS ii* M mm■;«.«» tribute amongst them, there_ be no doubt as to the amount of which that Government could secure. They oopld thus hare, influenced ton steady votes inbheir favour, and, had.the Government been entertained, by this means

ialf, the eleotionsin >(ht KqrthTslaadoould; have been'swufedTor partisans. . Thisyfould! have a very bad effect; and would entirely i remove any possibility of ousting a Govern- n ment on any question of importance. It was a grand thing when the Legislative Assembly refused to Mow this to be passed, and they held but "manfully against it. Mr Stout and others have since sOid-itwas a very unjust action on the .part of the-Assembly to the Natives, but they had put themselves right and showed that they would not be influenced. The action of the two bodies woe open for all to see, and to determine which was right. One matter affecting the Cheviot district in connection with' this Bill Was the appointment of polling-places. It was purposed that a polling-place be appointed tor the convenience of fifteen electors, improperly asked for. He (Mr Sawders), had jiupved tho addition of the words ‘'resident in the district," which was agreed to, and if the Bill is carried it will better determine tbe situation of pollingbooths, and instead of having to go to Moore, and thep Robinson's woolshed, a site will be fixed in Jhe centre of population, and strangers add outriders will thfen go to fcimtjcqhtre. On the question of theßoi|way Construction Bill;: which v?as a proposal to empower the Government |pw oonstruet' riulWwi f when v and where they! pleased, and to authorize the.exponditure of seven Millions in one' lump, he (Mr Saunders) felt; it would' be a suicidal policy, and consequently voted - ad well as < spoke very strongly agairist it. The ! present ' Government ' and > especially i this Minister for Public Works, werb strongly biassed in favour Of the-southern pbrtidttof the Middle Island, and' if: this Bill' had passed all the ready money wouldhave undoubtedly been spent in that direction. ' Hethoughtit muchi better- for the HOUSe to decide upon the: expenditure oftsuofia sum.'Xnreforenoe: tothe Amberley and Northern e£tehsioh, he showed <that £160,000' aessionsago for this, and the Ippdhni railway in OtagOahadi 'not : been san6tiohbd : by tM House, but Jit was merely Sgredd'*to reshrvff certainlandfromsaJeto paythebostof : construction when it was^i^sidbi^fhat‘ir i would pay to make it. Nbw J that the railway : w&S being made, and the Ainbbriey extehjnph ’ was not tbnchedj he thopght it' would ha dangerous to ieave sd'Hiuohm the'hands of i the Minister f or Public Works, and to vote [ such a! sum Jvhen only ,a‘*emall poriiou.nfUt could be eXpehJed’ djaring -the j yay. •, He. | thought, therefore, 1 that'. the Mouse should s decide where, and, .when, railways /should, ;.be.made. Mr C. C. Boweh and R. Richard--1 Sdn—the latter of 'whom waa| from thp ,^act. : of his late office,weU versed in ahmatterapf i Public Works—had rendered film (Mr Saunr ders) most invaluable assistance inuU ipatters ! connected with tbe extension of the Ndrtheru. ;iMway'.'‘‘ Mr;lUchatdßpn,had asked the, House when would be palled for the l -Northern railway, and had rVceiyed a reply: that the surveys had', been "completed ,and; ! tenders would‘be called.* ; Ata lafcerperiod'during "the-session Mr' BOwen hacl aalced the Same' question : of the Minister fori fPnblio ‘Works, and. was told that.' the, jsurveys 'were 'not 'quite , completed. He |(Mr Saunders) had written recently, and had (that dajr. rebeiyed’' a : . telegram’ that. tenders', .would be called forthwith. To-day, he, hw| ( f sben an advertisement in tfi e.fiyiteUoa Tyne* 'stating 1 'that‘plane >nd- would shortly ho, ready.,. Tlds... may mean,, !but^altOflterbury reprpsentativesehduld com*. IMe to bring every possible'influence to fiear J lon-Mrf Mtteandre vraEnd" 'gfet S file .^prEetarifed.. ■When the l Government- had/ contrary 1 .Constitutionalrulesyentered into'the contract; •for the Tapanui railway, Mr ‘HiritodejbA’ Uibved-^ <r That in viewof the 'lttige,bxpeidir ; turn on railways, ho -’contract ‘ should ' be' entered into without-the sanction of the Honse being first obtained;’ The l^flolutiqh'was lost by 44 to 30. ,' [ Mr Saunders hereread an ex : tract ftoi r !lßiiiWd girihg liis, on that motion, whieh was loudly applauded/. and, |n conclusion,’said 'these were iw'' reasons for opposing the- Railway Construction 8f1.1.] There was bo dOUbt llbat.while CSmterbpy was Bo weakly- represented on the GPvemmfenti there would be ■' little , or, nothing done in the shape of Public Works.' Prom the notice above referred to| it . was doubtful whether the railway would he: brought any further than the Walpara river, yet nothing definite was known. “- There was one thing certairi, if We in Canterbury are to gain bur rights, we must take more interest in the general purposes, orCantorbury willnever get j ustice. The question of the redistribution of seats is a good measure/and he'was glad that Sir. George Grey-had proposed to introduce a; Bill for the redistribution on the basis of. population, he had frit : that,. his Randy were considerably tied id the; matter oh account of the Cheviot district being so thinly populated, but still he - had, in representing them to take’ into consideration, the. general good of the Colony. If this plan were adopted : and population were formed .the basis of ■ representation, Canterbury would be in a much better, position in any matters affecting it than at present, as it would .command sixteen or seventeen more votes, and when they considered the question on general; grounds, •they (his constituents) would see that' their 1 interests were identical with those of Canterbury generally, and they would bo better se yed under this measure .than now. When the Electoral Bill was before the House the Government gave way to the clamour of the Nelson representatives, and the result was that five out of seven votes were obtained by the promise of the Nelson and EoxhiU railway. Such things as theseare What require alteration to get fair representation, and it is only by thorough and complete reform such as the proposal alluded to that, will bring this about. On the Land Tax question ne (Mr Saunders) said he had been placed in a peculiar position, as he had always considered that the better class of taxation when necessary, and an excellent method of drawing; money by a legitimate source. He was pleased to find this to be a general opinion. The House in a body supported the Government on this question, but there wore some very unfair proposals in the working of. the Act which required amendment. The first was that all land should be rated at a sum not less than £1 per acre. It was well known that in many parts of Nelson and Marlborough there was any quantity of land ..not worthy more than a shilling an acre, and it was manifestly unfair that such land should be taxed at twenty times its value. This clausa was, however, expunged. Another.was that leasehold land should be taxed on the same basis as freehold. He went on to show that ho had always been looked upon as inimical to the unjust claims bf ' the runholders, and was. considered to be their enemy, but to show that he had only acted in a conscientious manner, he said he had stood up in defence of their rights in this matter, and could, not let such an unjust proposal be carried with his consent. It would bb anything but fair to ask a Crown leaseholder to pay in proportion to the freeholder. The tax, as it stood now, was but a small one, but it was a good beginning, and would doubtless be increased when the machinery was in order. There was not a doubt but it would be found to be the proper course to meet the liabilities of the country. One objection to it was that districts which. command less votes , than others more favoured, would raise the money which would be expended in other and larger populated ones. On that ground alone he voted against the. Bill, but .proposed that in those districts in -which there ware no railways the tax should be remitted, or shonld be spent on Public Works within the district.. He did not'see any decided limit to. the present railway scheme, but admitted the principle that they should be made, only wljiere they arelikely to pay, and he Would nOTer advocate a line whbre this, could not be shewn to be the case.- It would not be advisable to construct railways in (fie Cheviot district, for example, as they could not pay, but if £IO,OOO it raised from XahdTaxin that district, it should be spent on some useful pub- t lie work. [He here read bis remarks oh .the subject as taken from Mansard, ja which he had pointed out to the House the' disadvantages suffered by tbe settlers in the Cheviot' district for want of proper bridging' and road accommodation.] He Skid bis object ih ! addressing his constituents was to .show, them that in his place in the Hquee he had. endeavoured to do his best in their interests, they had been unsuccessful In many respecta, but it was his earnest wish to represent the,

district withthe bcid of . Before .concluding he, would allude to, %„quqsticn«jf' denominational education, and he would .pre“Si b 7 e »J«g,.that national scheme of education, must, m ow opinion, ho entirely,free and undenominational, therefore ho could not support ,||r Curtis in his proposal Ho had every, respect for the opinions of those who. held, views contrary to his, and Would certainly foster religious instruction* but ha., was opposed to introducing it into" the national. scheme, - and he thought the Catholics yrqre making a great mistake in attempting tq. force, thjeir,yiews,pii to others, and to influence the vqtjiqg merely On this question, He ; thoqg|it ibwppld bo a very’ danggypu?. thing to make a party-,. of knew that he and others;' who ' were’ ito/be Opposed to Mr Ourtia* .views on, the, jflfttjpr, baa .been posted UP in.. theUathbh? hpusps ap “ black sheep;”' and that. sdjlibl}o9,jhaclbqen warned hot to vote for ~them, Jbut -he; tJiqUald that if they carried and; wished too tor it would havbacontrary effect,,and the opuntry, if sufficiently hrqweed, would nof tolerate such proceedings, ana Would also try'tbe .hldok vdtfhg,' and,then thp Catholics fjould find they, we,re, nowhere. ~An cjbbtoon", was being carried on in. Nelspn (hat erne ;day,| | which Were supporting the candidate ‘ who supports Mr Curtis’ .views,- pqd ,tb.ey;,wojila attempt, to influ'ehce pfcher clpo.jiqps .ia-the sanle way. He alluded tp ftttlns»ujm,egjheL years-ago, when at; ah elecsoq,Jfc. ptafrqrd ahnbunbed himself in’ favour’ !pf tional syijtemi'ihe Brotestahib arid he‘^‘plaeed>at > , '. , j^»j(od^«9(f > tfee,pMh(houjjh in every ip adhsucbof any of hif opponents as a refused th' elebthim on thbse principles, M!r : Fox, .tpet®taller3 voting in a ; kntt jbaa a Lice®|tt VMuallers,, pndtJhqyj hhyq ; a muQtt Kwh Influence' WUSf?: qUehtly the defeats' ; sustained) % .otheh I party. 1 It had ofhNa that if you want to keep a man out of Parliament the best planisTo get the teetotallers to support;Hm,and¥a‘ ier sure tp, be,posted,.the Opppaingpartyi’befng’tfid 'strofig.- 5 i Hjdugh a stannoh vfleetoUdldp'i 'h!tosblf, I!! 4ih}i ! ;tilwaviF ahxiDUs to furthir -‘the cftUs'e^hi'deemed 1 tnb ; blooksytemavery dangerous one, : and should never loonnterianoe it 'eithler'ih toa|tferetebct~ ing temperance or a^d I !^ s^^1 cause it was very absUrd Urid % great mftthko ifa|y, ato but’ la minority.— <to'if/pto ’i for % u cahdidSt¥‘ simply on his opiniong-in-this respect, and not in respect ofhig general fitness for being a represen tatiye'pflthepeople. He phouid .be nappy to answer .any questions. , ~j,, -..'.j

f . ~ ■ \ i' 'i i ',>*3 .‘ • *T.', -.Mr jduty to see-tnat every man should.be-put,oni I the electoral toll, jwhich wbuldji supply* them with; ifqtmsj‘4n|f tfrey. could ..flilvjn f-themecmsaiy: i lOTaUflcalioin., It, . was .theijmWiiiffiPhrtpnt-' •thisyear^as tberb.iyas.. sure as jdissqlutloh, bf shqiild show as lafgem.huraljer' of,, eltotowias thpy tail's jbe iftS bg|t<Brt ;pbsi,t(oh-,whe'n 9f seats camejihtq 1 bffeqt, and! the':.Jfew;=^ paniea : now yfi# votes;would. Be comp|etely^wmhP e d.h! Hpj supply !Mf ; .CorcUiei;with tha forms ofremsL j n c 'i thi nl .vmu rtply toitbe"samp qlector« "ju lite that- there, wasinot. theplightqsfc doubt, (jhat, the , { Mmiater;.jo£ iTelos”. ,the. MPM if ijj that i|seolildq iqy I ;’lt..wbidd'jfipuwortfi whilq tosmmtedaw andTm not jthafc ft, would pay;eye/(ualiy;'| <m» -00 vefcmcbt.'requfredi ,^ &hd t&ls!mfghtj. till jt >,waa . lOutiid, * fi't ;*J,« ’• od .‘ i ;.'l ■' ■ i " Mr Rifles ]bere ‘ TOcated- the chaiiv; which ’ was token by Mr ■ Hood, and said, he would move the ; following resolution, That the -thanks', of this meeting: be, Specially. acttorded tb Mr Saunders and the Canterbury representatives for the . interest i taken by them in urging forward the . continuation of the .North line,, during last; session,” This was, he said, the one subject in .which they' all felt keen interest. . The message; received by Mr Saunders and referred to by him was, to his mind, most discouraging., :The inhabitants of that district! were the most neglected of any. that -he. knew. ; They -had' any extent of excellent arable land,-.and all it wanted was the .railway to . enable It to:Jproduoe . large quantities .of grain .and : produce, and to increase the population of' the country, yet; nothing ~ whatever had been done. Now that the, main - trunk line had been completed as Jar,,-squth as Invercargill, it behoved the to proceed with the one to the Coast. - The question of the route Was no . now subject tofthbm,:and there'was no doubt that had-the late Ministry remained in office the- fifteen miles .passed; would have been fairly in way by now. He bad heard that. Mr Macandrew.waa informed oh the subject how, and there was ; really no excuse for the delay, now made,,i;He' (Mr Macandrew) had' also had, the opinion of Mr Blair; Chief Engineer, who had; given in his opinion that their could be no possible doubt as to theWeka Pass route being the only practicable one, apdhe believed that Mr Mapandrew was working honourably and would promote the line going by, its proper route. But at the same time they must remember that while such is the case, there is a string being pulled in quite another direction. . W hile Mr Maeandrew is away from his office; another , influ-. ence is at wort, audit was very probable that that string had .been pulled -so tight that it; had been decided to bring , the -railway to a certain; point in common to ; both routes and there stop, while tho battle Of, routes is being fought again. To bring it to the Waipara would benefit no One., -It was he considered, a wonder that, the people of Christchurch and the whole of the dxstnet did ‘not move more forcibly in the matter. The Chamber of Commerce should agitate the matter, as it would affect Christchurch as much as anything can do. They had held a meeting, but had shown : that there-was a laziness in the business men, and therefore it behoved them, one and all, to agitate for their rights, and keep on doing, sp till they got the railway. . . ; Before the resolution was put, Mr Saunders asked that Messrs Bichardspn and, Bowen’s names should be specially mentioned in . the resolution, as, they had been very -active in the matter bf the railway extension.,; He disclaimed any special effort on his own; part, as he had stood by and let abler men advocate their interests m the matter. ' ; - A Toioes “Ypu are too modest, Mr Saunders.”

The resolution, amended as above, was carried with cheers* - - Mr T. Hood then moved—" That, having heard Mr Saunders’ speech, this; meeting desires to thank ihim for it, and expresses entire confidence in him as their representative in the Assembly.” , ;Mr Davis seconded this, which being put tp the meeting was carried unanimously amid acclamation. , ; , Mr BAtrNDEBS briefly thanked the electors for this expression of confidence, as he felt he required such an expression, his part in the politics of the session having been a most difficult one, the vote just passed would much fortify hiin, especially coming ftopisq large a meeting as heliad addressed, which he had feared would hardly be the case. He should be glad if any elector would bommunipato any Bpebial reiquirement of the district at any time. , 1 The proceedings then terminated. .