THE MINISTERIAL PROPOSALS.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 137, 26 September 1868, Page 4

THE MINISTERIAL PROPOSALS.

PUBLIC MEETING. -On Thursday last a Public Meeting of the Electors of . the Province was held in the Provincial Hall, convened by the DeputySupeaintendent. The untimely hour prevented the attendance being so numerous as it would have been had the meeting been held in the evening. On the motion of Mr. Sinclair, the chair was taken by Joseph Waed, Esq., the Deputy-Superintendent, who stated that at the request of several electors, and in accordance with his own views, he had decided on calling that meeting. It was highly desirable that an expression of opinion should be given as to the different financial schemes before'the public. They were all aware that this province had been most most shamefully neglected, and had been treated with injustice throughout. When they first became a province, they saw that a great part of their revenue would go to other provinces; but a law was passed, which, if honestly carried out, would have preserved them from loss. But this had not been so, and they had been treated and twitted as absolute paupers in the shape of a prc&ince. His duty as Chairman, how_ ever, lay less in expressing his own opinions at this critical time, as to give the public the opportunity of expressing theirs. There was really nothing for them to disag ree about; they must all be anxious to see . Marlborough gain its lights, and take a prosperous and honor-able position amongst the provinces. (Hear.) Mr. C. Redwood proposed—

“That the Financial proposals of Mr. Pox, making population the basis of distribution of revenue available for Provincial purposes, and making each Province pay annually the interest and sinking fund of its own debts only, are equitable towards the whole colony, and more advantageous to this Province than the present system or that proposed by the Ministry.”

—There were three proposals : 1. To abide in their present state—that of beggary. 2. That of the Ministry, which he considered unfair, and which they themselves as much as confessed in that part of the Financial Statement which referi’ed to' Marlborough. 3. The proposal of Mr. Fox, which he considered did them justice, and was suitable to their circumstances. Mr. Stafford proposed to give £1529 for the Constabulary, and £260 for interest ; whilst Mr. Fox proposed £6556 per annum, less £IOSO for interest—equal to crediting them with £ 4 <i, 350 i n, oiiul ii m _ Jiltborto. Marlborough had been robbed of its Customs Revenue to the extent of at least twothirds, and if Mr. Fox’s scheme was carried they would have a fair share for the future. The speaker then read the same extracts from the Financial Statement which we published last week. Mr. Dodson said he had much pleasure in seconding the proposition. The scheme, as put before the Assembly by Mr. Fox, was the fairest that had ever been brought toward -for the colony. The distribution was according to the population. The Customs amounted to four-fifths of the whole revenue of New Zealand; but, unfortunately, Marlborough’s share was mainly paid in Nelson and Wellington. The scheme of Mr. Fox was the only one that was suitable for such provinces as this. (Hear.) Mr. Coulter rose and said they were not called upon to censure their members, as they were not exactly informed as to what they had done. They k were there rather to express what the'“members ought to do under the circumstances. They had for many years been complaining that they did not get their share of the Customs; and that Nelson and Wellington had been living a good deal upon them. They had been again and again told they would never have consideration paid to them by the large and interested provinces ; but. most fortunately Mr. Fox had brought forward a scheme, for a general distribution of the revenue, and for each province paying its own debts. This would give the Province f of Marl- i borough: £37ld ayear over: Mr.. Stafford's proposal, or a lump sum o£ £46,;350 € : 'lf, according to Mr. Stafford’s scheme, the provinces had to be , compensated,;; it -, would entail) the borrowing rof, thing".which would/ be very;; unadvisable. " M-rT Fox's plan .pfovid^ f *srmply“ipr Ci ,^' jannual charge that necessitated no'extraloans—everything , being) paid but of: -the usual taxation) of the colony. ( Between, the • . .-* •'> c.■ h* • •.» « t,‘. !• 't •■' v.-*. '-■*> - t—* - I • w t■ _ two schemes r there was_no comparison; and, if leltrto°'them 'tp;decide,'they ’ would hot fiesitafe--as to y which'rthey'’ would ‘ support; - (Hear.) ' ; i The'prbposition was then put, and carried unanimously. ‘ ilr. Gotjlteh proposed—

“ That in the event of the Ministerial scheme being adopted by which the General Government pay the .interest and sinking funds of all Provincial Loans out of the Consolidated Fund, the sum to which this Province is entitled is £45,890; tlie amount of the Marlbofough u Deiifr pet‘head

being £3 Bs. 6d. ; while that of the Provinces as a whole is £14.”

i —lu the event of the Ministerial scheme being adopted, he thought it would be advisable to act upon the proposition. They were all aware the colony as a whole was indebted nearly seven millions sterling, and the population was 218,307. The population of Marlborough was 4371. The original provinces’ debts made £l2 3s, 9d. per hegd. Taking £48,000, their share of the .Half-million Loan made the share of the debt of Marlborough £3 Bs. 6d per head. The debt of the province, collectively, was £ 14 per head of the population. The acting Colonial Treasurer acknowledged the injustice Marlborough received, but made no provision for remedying it—rather proposing its perpetuity by letting the General Government take all the provincial loans, and give Marlborough nothing for bearing its share of the burden. It was proposed to give Nelson £90,000, as compensation, against which the Nelsonians cried out, and the amount was raised to £140,000. If there was to be any compensation, he considered Marlborough was as much entitled to it as Nelson, and they ought to have £45,890 as their share. In the Ministerial proposition there was nothing about compensating Marlborough. If compensated to the same extent as Nelson, Marlborough’s portion would be £25,696. "Why was it they proposed compensation to Nelson and not to Marlborough ? The only reason was, because Nelson was a stronger and bigger province, and had more members, who could effect more with their votes in the House. Their six or eight members could at present carry a majority one way or the other, and this appears to influence the Ministry regardless of justice or injustice. The Nelson, people cried out for the increased amount of compensation—and they appeared satisfied with it to a certain extent —as they knew the population on the West Coast —which affected the amount—was not a permanent one; so that if they got a considerable sum paid down now they preferred it, as a bird in hand was worth two in the bush. In Marlborough they were permanent and fixed, and looked to an increase rather than a diminution of the population ; and it was better to have an annual sum paid than a large one at once, which might get easily spent, and hardly anyone would know how it was gone in a few years. If the Ministerial proposition was carried out, their only way was compensation by a direct money paymentamounting to £45,880. Mr. Sinclair said he- hud much pleasure in seconding the motion. He was not in very good health at present, and the previous speaker had so exhausted the subject that it required no r emark from him. They were suffering injustice, and were not likely to get any satisfaction from the Ministry. Their only way was to urge their members to place their case in all its righteousness before the Ministry, or before the Opposition ; they need not care- so much which. It might save them from inci’eased taxes, and was only justice. The proposition passed unanimously. Mr. Dodson said in case the Government refused to pay them the sum of £45,000, he would propose, — “That, unless the Government agree to pay the sum of £45,000 to this province, as an equivalent for being made liable in the sum of £l4 a head for Provincial Loans, this meeting requests the members for this Province to support a dissolution.” —No doubt if Mr. Stafford were there listening to him a smile would gather upon his face, as much as. saying, don’t you wish you may get it ? But his or Mr. Fox’s party might be the better of knowing that Marlborough was not silent, but claimed that which it was entitled to. Whilst they had coolly proposed to give £90,000 to Nelson, and whilst they admitted that Marlborough was “beggared” by Nelson’s receiving their revenue, they proposed nothing for this province; he must, think that: their proposal was only a sop to Nelson. Had it not been for the spirited letter of Dr. Irvine, Nelson . might have jumped at the proposal: something was said about £IO,OOO for Marlborough; but that appeared to-him to be only an offer for the purchase of the two votes. It was believed that a dissolution was about to take place, and he (thought it was the best thing that could’.happen,c-i People :>were sick of- the ! loans.' -Marlborough had not borrowed money for roads, tunnels, and other expensive works which, might have keen asked-for by largef 5 ..They *were : now threat--efieff withi liaving to- pay a share of the; interest of all such loans-as'had' been con- 1 tracted by Auckland,' J land, &o. ■ ■ (Hear.) ! £epple, tatkedat Hmea about thh.,fine ,scoria roads of (Auckland, the grand '.turinei f at - ChHstehurbhy i l which 1^ were all veiy well,- but ihdy made frbni borrovved nfdfiey, 1 Whilst Marlborough had paid for the making of its own roadsand bridges. (Hear.) Before ;they'accepted afiy liability in .the matter of the loans of

other provinces, the people ought to have that opportunity of expressing their opinions, and not have such a serious arrangement foisted on them nolens volens as that proposedbythe Stafford Government. (Cheers.) Mr. James T. Bobinson wished to know from the Chairman if be was in possession of any reasons from Mr. Eyes for his voting with the Stafford Government? It was very strange that he should vote with Mr. Stafford, if these facts were so clear. (Hear.)

The Chairman said they were not aware of his reasons. He might have what he considered good reasons. He had received a telegram, from Mr. Eyes, only five minutes before the meeting commenced, which he would read to them :

“First resolution of Government affecting dissolution of partnership between Colony and Provinces carried; other resolutions withdrawn. Adjustment yet to be considered. Another want of confidence motion on Native affairs under discussion. Division expected to be so close as to induce Ministers to dissolve.”

Mr. Gorrie rose and said it was high time the people of the province gave vent to their feelings about their own interests, and those of the Colony at large, and that they gave their representative to know that they were not to be tampered with. Mr. Eyes has never given his constituents any account of his stewardship, or asked them when he was going to the Assembly what they wanted. (Hear.) It was high time a dissolution did take place, and that they returned a representative who would serve them honestly, or resign his seat when ruled to do so by a propernumber of electors. He had heard queer accounts about their representative, which, had been painful to listen to. He thought a deal of Mr. Eyes as Superintendent, but he did not understand his policy at present. It was full time every man spoke out who was an elector, that they might forward their opinions to their representative, and bring things to an issue. It only required men who would make themselves be heard in the Assembly, and there were such in that room who could speak out to the purpose. Marlborough had two representatives, and surely one of them could bring forward a proposition, and the other second it, to lay their case before the House. He did feel aggrieved at Mr. Eyes going back to the House without putting himself in the hands of his constituents. (Hear.) Mr. John T. Bobinson thought the resolution did not go far enough, as Fox’s proposal was so superior. He did not think that meeting could take both their members to account. It was certain that their own member for the Wuirau had gone against their interests in voting with Mr. Stafford. Independently of consideration of the capitation money, several of the larger provinces might go together, borrow money for their own purposes, and saddle the colony with other four or five millions of debt. It was political dishonesty to saddle any colony with debts belonging to certain provinces in particular. It would be just like saddling his private debts upon the whole of Blenheim. If the motion of want of confidence be put aside by not being sufficiently supported, no other opportunity for pressing their claims might occur, and they would have to taxe £IO,OOO or less, and be burdened with a heavy amount of annual interest. (Hear.) Therefore they should call upon their member to support M ‘Lean’s motion. He had not given them any explanation of his conduct—(hear) —and there were reports flying about damaging to his character; that for his own private benefit be was selfishly selling bis political trust. If this were so, the sooner he resigned the better; but as there was no proof, they had only to call on him to support Mr. M‘Lean’s motion. It was a farce to ask him to support a claim for £45,000, because if Mr. M‘Lean lost this opportunity, there would not be another chance for us, as want of confidence motions could not be often repeated. He proposed that they should telegraph to Mr. Eyes that lie vote with Mr. M‘Lean, in order that they might have a dissolution, and he and others go to their constituents to see what their opinions were. Mr. Dodson, in reply to Mr. Gorrie, said he thought that parties were so evenly balanced that no strong Government could be ■got even if Mr. Fox got into power, and therefore a dissolution was. the best that could occur for New Zealand. 1 The motion was'carried unanimously. Mr. John T. Bobinson then proposed—- “ That this meeting,' having no ‘confidence in ;the Stafford Ministry," therefore request our members to support any measure that .Will 'Cause ithem to resign, or that will lead to a dissolution. ” —As far as he was concerned, he did not refeirtb Capitkin Kenny)-as. he (teUe.yed His ednstituefits* would back, him, put in_sjjp--,porting Stafford through thick and thin. This distinctly concerned Mr, Eyes, not Captain Kenny. He thought these resolutions would have a certain amount of weight, as they would let him know that a number of his constituents were tottdly opposed to the Stafford- Ministry.

Mr. Hutcheson seconded. He held it was quite time they spoke out, and definitely. They got something extra by being decided and firm in Kelson, and the Wairau ought to let their member know what they thought and wanted. They need not even exclude Captain Kenny altogether, as several of his constituents were in the meeting. (Hear.) Mr. Dodson would support the motion cordially, for he had serious thoughts himself whether Mr. Eyes voted for the good of his constituents or for some other cause. During the week he must complain that Mr. Eyes had been very inattentive to the queries of several gentlemen here. They had telegraphed to him about the excitement that had arisen, and asked for his explanation, but the skeleton telegram the Deputy-Superintendent had received was the only thing they got in return. When a constituency that had trusted him so much had cause to be dissatisfied, he should instantly have taken the trouble to put them right. He would not judge him unheard, but still it was time they should no longer be fooled or bafiied with by the Stafford Ministry; and it was time they told him to vote for putting them out. He should be sorry if he gave no better reason for his vote, when he returned, than what was before them. They had seen that the Financial Statement of the Government took cognisance of them only, with a biting sneer. He thought he should vote against Mr. Hall at any time, as he so humbugged •them. He would not go further into the question till Mr. Eyes had an opportunity of explaining the matter before them ; but he would say that when he came that they should not take any explanation as gospel, as a matter of course ; for, if they found he had not been trustworthy, they should tell him he had betrayed his trust, and require his resignation. (Cheers.) The proposition was then put, and carried unanimously. Mr. Dodson proposed—- “ That the Chairman be requested to telegraph these resolutions to Mr. Eyes, Mr. Fox, Capt. Kenny, and the Evening Post." Mr. Goulteu seconded, and the motion was carried. The Chairman thanked the meeting for their orderly behaviour, and the little 'frouble they had given him in his unusual position. A vote of thanks was given to the Chairman by acclamation, and the meeting dispersed.