GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 769, 6 August 1873, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION.

Mb. vwunt atjthistown hall. On; Friday evening Ist instant, Mr Pyke, a candidate for the representation of the Wakatip district in the General Assembly, one of the largest—if not absolutely the largest—meeting ever held in Queenstown in connection with political affairs. The Town Hall was crowded, and much interest was manifested in listening to the candidate's speech. Mr T. G. Betts was voted to the chair, and, with a few appropriate remarks—in which he referred to his (the chairman's) personal knowledge of Mr Pyke'slong and honorable connection with the goldfields, both in Victoria and New Zealand—introduced the candidate, soliciting for him a patient and courteous hearing. Mr Pyke said— Re felt a considerable degree of pleasure and satisfaction in addressing an audience in the Wakatip. Something had been said as to the electors choosing a local man to represent them; but from his (the speaker's) long connection with the goldfields of Otago, he felt himself, and claimed to be, a local man on any of the mining centres. Regarding the Wakatip district, he might say he was most intimately attached to it He had been in the district at its birth, and had, with pleasure, assisted its rapid advancement to be one of the most important goldfields in the Colony. When the Wakatip was first declared a gold mining district, he (Mr Pyke) had general charge over the Otago Goldfields; and at that time the Government of the day-thinking the gainers wanted too many privileges—were to reserve only 5000 acres of land onFranktonor Speargrass Flats. This, he (the sneaker) strongly opposed, and went in for cancelling the whole run (which then was held by Mr Rees), and this was ultimately granted. In his capacity of Secretary for the Goldfields, he had been instrument* m obtaining many other concessions, of winch the Wakatip was now reaping the fruits. He did not mention these things from any spirit of self-glorification, but simply to show that he had grounds for claiming, to some extent, to be a local man. There was no one thing he advocated more strongly than the return ot local men; but he would point out that a "local" man did not mean living in this gully or that, but one who was thoroughly acquainted with local requirements, and who had sufficient ability to have those requirements attended to. These qualifications he laid claim to, and hence his coming forward to represent them. He would not detain them further on this subject, but would pass on briefly, but clearly, to give them his views on various matters now vitally affecting the country, and which would probably be dealt with during the present session of Assembly. He would boldly and honestly speak on every matter; and if the electors agreed with his views, he hoped th<*y would elect hun ; but it they did not agree with him, let them reject him. . He would first touch on the Resent <3overament policy of Public Works. No man in the Colony was a firmer advocate ot progress than he was, so long as that progress was effeoted legitimately. Generations in after years would look for something from us, and it was our bouuden duty to render the country habitable by providing the means of intercommunication, such as railways and bridges. Such works as these, if properly and judiciously devised and constructed, would be a source of immediate revenue, and indirectly they would benefit all classes of producers, whether of corn or gold, by enhancing the value of their produce, and reducing the cost of living. But, as we thus act for posterity no less than for the present generation, posterity must pay a fair proportion of the cost There could not be any hardship in asking them to do so Indeed, our children would feel more grateful to us for the benefits conferred by our foresight than angry because of the obligations which it would devolve on them to dischaige. Every man came out here intent on his own business; but whether they would or not, each and all were assisting to found a nation. Each individual was only a brick in the great national edifice. Let them be sure to lay the foundations deep enough, and broad enough, •and strong enough to support the superstructure which their children s children would erect thereon. Holding these views, he believed in borrowing for the construction of public works, but in borrowing with great caution. This was the more necessary, as he had read a telegram in the local paper, in Mr Vogel's Financial Statement, that " it would A, not" be right to construct further railways H without retaining the land estate as a security to the nominal value of the lines." Now, this meant that the Northern members were anxious to confiscate the land fund of the Middle Island as a guarantee for the North Island debt He would say, let us] take a firm stand, and refuse to part with an acre of our land to pay Northern debts. Not a single province in the North Island had any land to dispose of, except what they purchased from the Natives, and on this they did not make a profit of not more than 3s 6d per acre. If our landed estate was allowed to be taken to satisfy the North, the ruin of the Middle Island was accomplished. The manner in which the public works were at present being earned on throughout the Colony seemed to him something like A and Z of the alphabet, the middle letters being left out—bits of railway here and there, with unbridled rivers and impassable roads between. Such lines should at once be completed right through, thus making one continuous line of communication; and this, ' if elected, he would strenuously urge in his place in the House, In connection with provincial public works, there had recently been sales of large sales of land at Marewhenua, the Island block, and other portions of the Province. Most of these lands were auriferous, and should never have been alienated from the Crown. It was simply the oM story repeated, of killing the goose with the golden egg. This reckless manner - of dealing with the lands of the Colony . - ghould itt once be put a slay toy and it was just possible the Wakatip district had it now %i through the member to Parliament, '''WiwdwL--A great deal had lately

been said about the Native war, and its cost

to the couutry. He (the speaker) was old enough to remember when the farmers of Britain were desirous of a war for sake of the gain which would accrue to them there from ; and such, it seemed to him, was largely the spirit which prompted North Island residents in forcing a Maori war. Were the same systell adopted in New Zealand as in Great Britain—that of making it compulsory

for any county in which a riot broke out to pay the cost of it—we would hear very little of Native disturbances. As to Sullivan's murderer, let him be caught and hung, like any other criminal. The necessity of going to war on that account was absurd in the extreme; but the murderer must be taken at any price. Were the Native affaire of the Colony conducted with a firm hand, the Queen's writ should run through the length and breadth of the North Island, and the British supremacy established. Hitherto, there had been too much truckling to the Maoris—too much of the " flour and sugar"

policy,—ln dealing with goldfields affairs, he (Mr Pyke) might say that, so far as things had gone, be had had more to do with goldfields' legislation in New Zealand than any other man in the Colony. Although he did not consider what he had done was perfect,

yet he thought it had been, on the whole, beneficial. The Goldfields Bill of 1866 was

drafted by him, and carried through both Houses in the face of some opposition ; and

he might also state that the then AttorneyGeneral refused to render any assistance in drawing up the Bill, so that the duty fell entirely on his own shoulders. Although the Act of 1866 was not by any means perfect, it had been pronounced by many practical and experienced miners as comparing favorably with the new Bill; and he (the speaker) ventured to assert that in many important ! points it was an improvement on that Bill. His as Goldfields Secretary had shown him many defects in the Act of '66, but he would assert he had seen nothing so glaringly unjust as some portions of the new Bill. For instance, the new Bill omitted to provide for turning two heads of water down a creek for public use. It imposed a tax of 20s annually on water race owners, and this equally, whether a man held one head of water or twenty. It charged the miner 10s f..r renewing his right, if he happened to miss a single day. There were many other defects —in fact, the Bill bristled with them, and it was essentially necessary that its progress through the House should be watched by some person practically acquainted with the goldfields, both as a miner and as an administrator; and he (Mr Pyke) had occupied both positions in his twenty-two years connection with the golduelds of Victoria and New Zealand.—The present electoral law was another matter to be brought before the Assembly He was altogether opposed to the present system, whereby an elector, if he changed his residence from even one street to another, was obliged to appear on a certain day in a certain month of the year to renew his name on the Roll, because he had altered his qualification. Why not have manhood suffrage at once, and do away with the present system of various qualifications, which was at once an injustice to the electors and a great expense to the country.—lt was also proposed to legislate on the laws of insolvency and imprisonment for debt. He was totally opposed to imprisonment for debt; but considered that when a man was found guilty of defrauding his creditors, be should be treated as a criminal, and set to hard labor like an ordinary felon.—The subject of a silver and copper mint was, according to the telegram, also to be dealt with. He did not at present see any use for a silver and copper mint, in the face of the fact that there were no minerals of this kind at present being wrought in the Colony. It would be more to the purpose if a gold mint were established. The Victorian mint had proved a great success, and he could not see why the same result should not be attained here. Bonuses had been offered by Government for manufactures of woollen cloths, bottles, paper, &c, and he thought it equally the duty of the colony to offer like inducements for the development of such minerals as coal, copper, plumbago, antomony, &c, ores which he knew existed in large quantities, and which only remained unwroug 1 1 because Government offered no incentive for thenbeing worked. Again, rewards were offered for the discovery of new goldtields, but nothing was done towards assisting men to prospect the country. These were matters he would feel it his duty to attend to, and he might say they were no new ideas, having been ad vocated by him for twenty years. —He would now come to a subject which almost every candidate for a place in Parliament handled very delicately. He (Mr Pyke) was not going to speak in any half-tones on the matter, but would enunciate his views in a clear and decisive manner, trusting his hearers would accept his word in the pure dictionary meaning. There had been, he thought, more talk on this educ ition question than the present position of the country warranted; but as it was a subject to be dealt with by the Assembly, any candidate should speak clearly and definitely upon it. He was a believer in secular education, pure and simple, and when he said secular, he meant a system which should banish from the school-room all books, whether of history or otherwise, which could by any possibility impart any sectarian bias to the infant uiitid. He did not consider the school-room was the proper place, nor the schoolmaster the proper person, to teach religion. Children should imbibe their religious sentiments at the family altar—at the mother's knee, and from the father's lips; and when they grow up their parson, priest, or minister was the proper person to complete their religious education. While, in the present state of the country, he could not see any way of altering the present system of education, he would say that if any section of the community could prove —not assert, as assertion was not proof—that they were being unfairly dealt with, he would be the first man to exert.himself to have justice done to them, so that all classes should share alike in the benefits of our educational system. He also thought the Education Board should be elected by the people, instead of being

nominated by the Government.—Mr Pyke referred to amendments required in our inland postal service ; to the tariff—in which he expressed the ophffon that taxation might easily be tak*n oJ" the necessaries of life imported to this colony—in fact, he was a believer in having no custom-houses at all, as he could not but look on thein as devil's devices to defeat the beneficent designs of Providence, as evidenced by the distribution of the various products of the earth. Last year, the customs revenue amounted to about £380,000 (speaking from memory). On this large amount cf capital the merchant required to recoup the outlay by increased charges. The cost of collection was excessive; so that whilst, say one million sterling was thus taken from the pockets of the people, the State was benefited only to the extent of £500,000 or £600,000. As he intended again addressing them previous to the polling d*y, he would not now detain them longer, but would be happy to answer any questions. Mr Pyke re>umed his seat amid much applause. We may here state that the above is but a resume of Mr Pyke's address. Mr Kobert Johnson —Are you in favor of altering the Goldtields Act so as to guide miners to a more definite conclusion in constructing water-races, &c, as at present any miner may go to great expense constructing races, &c, and some others may come lower down the creek and claim a right to the water ?

Mr Pyke did not think applications for water privileges were at present mile sufficiently public. He would be in favor of amendment in the present regulations affecting water rights, and also that Government should pay compensation for any injustice done in taking over rights. (Some confusion here occurred through three or four wishing to ask questions at the same tiiue. When order was restored)

Mr Rogers —Are you in favor of acclimatisation over the Colony 1 Mr Pyke —Certainly. Mr D. Matheson —Are you in favor of equal educational privileges to all classes of the community ?

Mr Pyke—Yes, certainly. Mr Matheson—During your candidature for the Provincial Council at Tuapeka, did you state at a meeting at Blue Spur, that you were favorable to a distribution to each denomination for educational purposes ? Such is reported in the Tuapeka Times. Mr Pyke—Never made use of any such expression. He might state that the education question had to be dealt with by the Assembly and not the Council. (Mr Matheson read extract, and confessed he had been laboring under a misapprehension, and was satisfied with Mr Pyke on this point). In answer to Mr W. Powell, Mr Pyke repeated the statement made in his address regarding education. Mr Dunphy—Would you be in favor of reading the Bible in public schools? Mr Pyke—That would not be consistent with purely secular education, and would not be in fivor of it.

Mi: Cash—Are your in favor of compulsory education ?

Mr Pyke did not think the time ripe for compulsory education in this Colony. It might be productive of a great deal of hardship—for instance, where a poor man was endeavoring to gain a footing on the soil, and make a home for himself, it would be hard to compell him to send those to school who were a great assistance to him in making a home.

Mr Cash—Are you in favor of the present mining leasing system 1 Mr Pyke—Am in favor of the system, but would insist on the conditions being carried out. Great injury was now being done by the carelessness with which mining leases were granted, and the non-enforcement of the conditions.

Mr Dunphy—Are you in favor of insular ] separation ? Mr Pyke—Had given this subject much consideration years ago, when it could have bean more easily accomplished than now. Financial separation was what was wanted, and cculd be readily accomplished if Southern members were honest. (Cheers). Mr Dunphy—ls it true that, if elected, the office of Minister of Mines is open for your acceptance 1 Mr Pyke—Was not aware such w;is the case; but even so, with a Gov« rnnient he could work with, he would be doing an injusto his constituency did he not accept so important an office. (Applause). Mr Cash—Are you in favor of. offering a bonus for developing coal mines? Mr Pyke—Certainly; it would be one of the foremost things he would deal with. Mr Rogers—A.e vou in favor of a San Francisco service ? Mr Pyke considered it one of the most childish things to see the intercolonial Governments squabbling about the mail services. He was decidedly in favor of both services—but more especially the San Francisco cue. After satisfactorily answering a number of other questions, it was Proposed by Mr James Bridge, seconded by Mr J. G. Adams, and carried ummimously [ —That Mr Vincent Pyke is a fit and proper I person to represent the Wakatip district in the General Assembly. A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed one of the pleasantest meetings held in Queenstown for some time.

A contributor to the Hobart Town Mercury sends the following curious snake story to that journal : About ten years since, C > and his wife and family were shepherding at Lake Sorell. At dinner time every day one of their little childeen about two years old used to leave the hut with its dinner, and to be absent a while. The parents followed it one day to see what took it out so regulaily, and where it went to, and to their horror found it quietly playing with a largo carpet snake about five feet long, while the snake the milk in the child's plate. Upon tHBnU approaching, the snake made off. 0 watched several days, placing milk as a decoy, and killed the snake. Tlie child pined slowly away after the snake's death, and died in its mother's arms about three weeks afterwards, the mother, moreover, having been informed by Dr ,of Bothwell, whom sho consulted, that the child would not survive after the snake's death. I have this from the mother's own lips, Who often repeats the story which was, she believes, published at the time in the Press by one of Mr Kemp's sons—William, she thinks—who was stock-riding at the time at the Lakes.