MR SEYMOUR, M.H.R., AND HIS CONSTITUENTS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XI, Issue 877, 20 December 1876, Page 6

MR SEYMOUR, M.H.R., AND HIS CONSTITUENTS.

In accordance with prsvions announcement Mr A. P. Seymour, M.H.R,, addressed his constituents m Ewart's Hall on Saturday eveuing last. There were about 100 persons present, and the chair was occupied hy Mr J. E. Hodson, who read the advertisement convening the meeting, and called upon Mr Seymour to address those present.

Mr Seymour, after thanking the electors for their attendance, aud expressing his satisfaction at seeing so many present, said that ah one time it appeared to him to be doubtful whether he would be able to call them together ao soon, as the late fire had destroyed nearly every place m which a public meeting could be held. It seemed to him as if he was going to be compelled to do one of two things— either to call the electors to an open air meeting, or to wait until the new Government building* were ready for use. Had he adopted the latter course the meeting would have been postponed for an almost indefinite period. However, he bad been enabled, through the kindness of Mr Ewart, the owner of the Hall, to meet them much earlier than he had anticipated. To wait until new Government buildings were erected might seem to many an indefinite postponement, but he waß glad to be able to inform them that they were to lie erected very soon. The Government had sent over to have the levels taken, and he was happy to be able to read to them a telegram he had just received from the Hon. the Premier on the subject, which he was sure would be heard by them with pleasure. I& was m answer to a question — Whether the birldings would be commenced soon; the Premier replied, "Yes, tsnders will be called for m aboaS ten days — plans just ready.— H. A. Atkinson." (Applause.) He thought that was satisfactory evidence that the Government did inteud to erect the buildings. He then proceeded to state that his object m calling the electors together was to give them a short resuvw of the events of the late Session of the General Assembly. The late session was the longest on record, as it occupied 140 days, and it was the most tedious that the members had yet attended. It was not tediouß because there were not subjects of interest to be considered, for there were plenty of such, but because so much time was frittered away m party squabbling ; the real business of the country was set aside and made subservient to a struggle for place and power. They had before them over and over again the old question, " Is it to be Abolition of the Provinces or not ?" But, m his opinion, that question was decided. all over New Zealand by the action of last Parliament, and by the people when they elected the members of the present Parliament. In spite of this, however, and m spite of the large majority who were desirous of getti g through the business of the country, whenever any question of importance was brought forward a fight for place and power began. Practically the whole business of the Session was compressed into the last few weeks, and important measures had to be hurried through without refeiving that amount of consideration which they would have had, had they been allowed to be brought forward at an earlier date. Perhaps the best way m which he might convey to them an idea of the kind of work Parliament had to do, the way m which it was done, and the time it occupied, would be to make a running commentary on the principal events that took place last session. Parliament met on June 15th, and the members Were at once plunged into a real party struggle upon a question which had been abundantly dehated m the previous session — a question upon which a select committee had sat and reported at very great length, and regarding which nothing new could be said — namely, the Piako Swamp question. That one qupstion occupied Parliament from the loth to the 28th June. Then came a long debate on the constitution of the Public Accounts Committee, which was a select committee appoiuted every Session to deal with matters connected with the finance of the country. There was do need for any discussion on the subject, because the committee as proposed by the Government was a very fair one, including members from both sides of the House ; but the Opposition had determined that two particular men should be placed upon the committee, and for days they fought the question. On July 14th Sir Julius Yogel made his Financial Statement, which closed with a resolution to the effect that, the price of land m the colony should be increased by 25 per cent. He (Mr Seymour) pointed out at the time m the House that such an increase would be quite inoperative as regarded this Province, and m fact as regarded any other Province which, like this, sol I its land by auotion He had pointed out that the land would not sell if the price were increased by 25 per cent, after it had been assessed at its full and fair value. There was no regular debate on the Financial Statement, because the members were all looking for the Bills which were to be brought m to inaugurate the new system. The first of those Bills was brought down on July 11th. It was the Local Elections Bill, and he believed il, to be a very useful measure. Its provisions were to be read as part of several other Acts of the General Assembly, and all elections therein must be conducted under it m future. As regarded the Koad Boards at

present m existence throughout the Colony, they might accept the Act, and so regulate their elections under it m preference to their own local Acts, if the members of a local body chose to call a public meeting, and with the consent of that meeting recommended that this Act should be put into force m their district. He would advise the local bodies m this district to take the matter into their consideration, because he believed that the new Act would be found to work well. At any rate it would be a good thing to- have a uuiform mode of conducting elections throughout the Colony. It was also useful because if disputes arose m connection with elections it provided a simple mode of deciding them. A certain numUer of electors who wished to dispute an election simply had, i within a certain period, to refer their complaint ,to the nearest Resident Magistrate's Court, which could take the matter into consideration and decide it at once. Formerly those matters were very difficult to deal with, and generally they had to be referred to the Supreme Court, which Wiis a very expensive proceeding, and on that account few persons were bold enough to dispute elections which they thought were not valid. On July 13th the House heard of Dr Featherston's death, and this had a very great effect on the remainder of tli3 session, since Sir Julius Yogel left the Ministry and took the office of Agent-General. He (Mr Seymour) believed all along that Sir Julius would do this, and he thought the Colony might be congratulated on tlie fact that the ex-Premier did so. Setting aside the fact that the health of Sir Julius Yogel was scarcely good enough to fit him for the very oneiMUs duties of Premier of the Colony, he thought the time had come when the Colony required at the head of affairs some person -\vlio was more tletermined to practise strict eooimtnv m the administration of the Government than Sir Julina cared to do. He admired Sir Julius Yogel for his ingenuity, and for the perseverance with which lie initiated and followed up th'i t-reat scheme connected with Immigration and Public Works. That scheme had on the while been successful, but there was no dcnbtithat it was now necessary to practise stricter economy m the expenditure of the money He would remind them that the machine (if he' might call it bo) which Sir Julius Yogel set m motion grew r- tier too big for that gentleman to control, and tha ball rolled rather too fast. There could b« tin doubt that when Sir Julius devised that si:!ie ne he had not the least idea that the borrowed money would be expended as fast as it was. and that works on all sides would he pressed mi to the extent they were. His idea (Mr Seymour believed) was that his policy would extend over a longer period. When there was plenty of money, the people had very merry times (a voice : "I should think we had.") Now, however, things were not quite so prosperous, although he did not take a gloomy view of the future. There was now at the head of affairs a gentleman who, he believed, would administer those affairs with the greatest economy possible. The next thing of importance which came before Parliament were Mr Whitaker's resolutions concerning the Laud Fund. That gentleman's proposition was that the land fund of the Colony should be put into a common purse ; that it should be the property of the Colony at large. He (the speaker) had no doubt, thab this result would be attained m a short time, but it might readily be imagined that m those parts of the Colony which now enjoyed a very large revenne such a proposition would not be at all popular. He believed that the necessities of the Colony would oblige them to resort to this, and then the burden would be placed on the proper shoulders, and Colonial Finance would he simplified so that any peraon of ordinary intelligence could understand it. The opposition to the proposal was, however, so strong that many members expressed their determination, if the proposal were adopted, to join with those who desired to separate the two Islands and establish two distinct Governments. Therefore many members, himself amongst them, who believed m making the Land Fund common property were unwilling to vote for Mr Whitaker's resolution if they were to achieve their object only at the price of Separation. Exactly what was expected took place. No sooner was this question disposed of than Sir George Grey brought down his Separation resolutions. To give the meeting an idea of the intention of these resolutions Mr Seymour stated that one of Shem provided that out of an annual debt for interest stated therein to be £815,000 the North Island should pay only £190,000 while the Sounth was to pay £625,000 If that was to be the result of Separation, he would ask the meeting to consider what tender mercies th«y could expect to receive at the hands of the members who would support nuch a proposition. The fact was that the largest quantity of land had been alienated m this Island, while the North Island had nearly all its land fund to come m m the future when the Maori difficulty was extinguished. On August 22nd they got to the second reading of the Local Elections Bill, and on the 29th Sir Julius Yogel retired from the Ministry and became AgentGeneral, and anew Ministry was formed. = A mistake was made, however, m forming the new Ministry, two members, too many being appointed, and the Opposition! seized the opportunity and wasted a great deal of time m raising a discussion as to whether there should he 7 or 9 persons m the Ministry. The Government certainly made a mistake m appointing 9 members, but after all he did not see why there should have been any objection to the two extra members being appointed when they were giving their services gratis. To rectify this mistake Major Atkinson introduced a Bill called the Civil List Bill, whereupon the Opposition offered most determined resistance to the passing of the Bill, and a dead lock 'ensued. It began on the 14th of the month, and lasted to the 18th excepting Sunday. Each side had men on duty night and day. They kept at it so persistantly that they burned all the gas that was to be obtained, and had to fall back on candles. This was most tedious work, but it was entirely brought about by factions opposition, and ao srood resulted from it. Shortly afterwards Mr Macandr«w, the Superintendent of Otago, introduced his Separation resolutions. He wanted to erect Otago into a little kingdom with himself as the reigning monarch, but the House would not agree to his proposal. On August 20th came the question of increasing the honorarium

and granting free railway passes to members. He voted against both of these propositions. He thought the increase of honorarium was unnecessary although the session had certainly been protracted to an unusual length. But, he argued, the session was sometimes shorb and at other times long, and they should take the rough and the smooth together and be satisfied with the honorarium as it stood. One of thereasons urged m favor of giving members free railway passes was that they would be able to travel all over the Colony and obtain information which it would be to the benefit of the Colony they should possess, but he held that if any member wanted to travel for this purpose only he believed he could geb a free pass at any time on making application to the Minister for Public Works. He did not see why members of Parliament should be allowed to travel backward and forward on their own business wihout contributing to the revenues of the railway. (Applause.) He himself bad had a free pass ever since our own railway had been opened. It had been given to him as Superintendent and he had used it m his public capacity and not for his privata purposes. (Applause.) The next measure brought down provided for the reduction of the duty on gold, and he voted for ifc. Then came a second Imprest Supply Bill for £250,000 (they began the Session with a similar Bill for £500,000), and on September 25th the Counties Bill got into committee. This was the first actual work done, and it was not begun until they had been sitting for more than three months. His speech on this subject had been reprinted from Hansard by the Express and as his hearers had probably all seen it he would not repeat it now. On the 22nd of the month he got a Bill called the Reuwick Lease and Conveyance Bill passed, the object of •which, ■was to pet a number of " trespass " roads exchanged for others which were down m the Crown Grants. It would nob have been necessary to present this Bill to Parliament if the Provincial Council had been going to sit again. Then came the Provincial Appropriations Extension Bill, the object of which was to extend the expenditure of the Provinces througout the Colony till the 31st December. It was introduced because it became apparent that the 29th September, which had been fixed as the date upon which Abolition was to take effect, would be too early. In fact it was found to be absolutely necessary to extend the time to the 31st December. The Bill provided that the whole expenditure of the Provinces Rhould be vested m the Governor irresponaiblj . That would have been an excellent ground on which to fight a battle between the parties, but the Opposition, with want of judgment, preferred to take the Piako Swamp, and other things of a similar character as their battle grounds. He opposed the Diseased Sheep Bill, the provisions of which were that every sheenowner, whether large or small, should be fined £100 a month as long as he had scab m his flock. That of course would be a very small matter to men like the gentleman who lived down near G'enmark m Canterbury, but it would be a heavy blow to a smaller sheepowner. That provision wna bo ridiculous that he had not a very prreat deal of trouble to get it struck out of the Bill. It was agreed, however, that the scab question should be fully dealt with next session, and he thought they would have a pretty stiff fight over it when the question was under consideration. On Oct. 9th Major Atkinson delivered his Financial Statement, but as it was so late m the Session no debate took place on it. It was hoped that though this statement was not altogether satisfactory there would be a better system of finance m the future. His opinion ■was that the land fund must be marie common property before there could be any proper system of finance 'm the country. Members had been led to turroose, before the commencement of the session, that such matters as education, hospitals, and charitable aid would be charged to the consolidated fund, which now bore a large 3hare of thn interest paid for mnnev spent on PnWic Works. This burden shonid be bnrne on the Land Fund, and the Consolidated Eevenue, thus relieved might tak,e those mentioned above, and he believed the Premier would endeavour to cnrrv this out. The land fund of certain Provincial Districts had to bear a larcer share of the burdens than it could pnssihly stand. In Auckland for instance he believed that it was burdened four times heavier than it should be. Tempnrari'v the difference had to be made up by Treasury Bills, which was a mode of borrowing for a short timfi. the Trpasnry Bills heine? floated against the incoming land revenue. Where the land fund was likely to increase of course the Treasury Bills would be takpn up, but m many parts of New Zealand where the land fund was not likely to increase, this system of finance, could only increase the debt of the Colony. It waß quite certain that the Government' would not continue that system. Having had so much money during the pa«t few years they bad 'got very extravagant, and economy would now have to be practised with a firm . hand. Whilespeakingofinstano.es of pxtrivagance he would mention that the year before last fhe sum of £5000 was vof-pd aR a subsidy for the steamer Maori to run round the Middle Island, and. he believed, revntcd last year, and considering the amount of steam communication they then had on the Coast he Inokpd upon this as a piece of extravagance. Then the Government purchased thesteamersHinemo* andSt.e.llaat a cost of something over £30.000 though they still retainer! the Luna. The last named boat, could have been marl* suitable m pvptv way for the purposes of the Government if £5000 or £6000 had been expended m refitting her with compound engines. He did not think the purchase of the two new boats was at all a necessity. The new Governxn»nfc officeH at Wellington were said to have cost £70,000 ; be thoiight to large an outlay need not have been mad#. On October 30th the members received the Public Works Bill which had, however, to be withdrawn owing to the fact that a mistake was made m introducing it first m the Upper House. It was properly introduced and considered on the 24th October. Three days afterwards a measure called the cattle Importation Prohibition Bill wan introduced. He was Chairman of the Committee which had to take the Importation of Onttlfi question into consideration, and they found diseases were prevalent m Australia to such nn extent that very enercetic steps would have to be taken to prevent their introduction into this Colony and that immediate legislation was required The

remainder of the session was fully occupied by conferences between the two Houses of Parliament, the object of which was to settle differences on certain points m several Bills. It would, therefore, be seen that practically the whole of the importrntj measureß upon which the policy of the Government hung, had to be passed within the last fortnight of Sessioa. With regard to the Counties Bill he said he thought that it would be found not to differ very greatly from the old system under which Provincial Administration was carried on m this part of the Colony. There would of course, be some difficulties but they could easily be overcome. The land would be administered by a Waste Lands Board m the same manner as it had previously been. The County, if it came into operation, would take into its charge the con- ■ struction of certain works which the Provincial Government originally attended to. The boundaries did not differ much from the old ones. There had been excepted from the present County of Marlborough that portion of territory which was known as the Sounds, and which was exempted from rating under the Road Boards Act. The only chauge of importance other than that -was the Separation from the old Province' of Marlborough of that portion of it lying South of the Clarence— the County of Kaikoura. Upon the question of economy m administering matters, he did not think there would be a found a very groat deal of difference. He thought that the effect of Abolitiou m some of the large Provinces, and the full initiation of the new system, would probably be attended with good results, but m this Province the difference would not be great. It was shown by returns laid on the table of the House that the affairs of this Prpvince were managed more economically than m any other part of the Colony. The fact was tha* some of the larger Provinces, having very large revenues, had grown to be extravagant just as the Colony had grown to be extra vagaut when it had its borrowed millions to spend. It seemed as if extravagance was the inevitable result of a very full purse. The larger Provinces by combinaticn cnnld exercise too great an influence on the Government of the Colooy. He still believed that Sir Julius Vogel's original scheme to abolish Provinciali3min the North Island wouldhavebeen better at first. The General Government would not have had half the duties to perform that they would have now, and they would have been able very soon to discover what was the besi; form of Government to take the place of Provincalism. They had already been doing a geat [deal of tbe work of the Provinces m the .North Island. He maintained that if the New Provinces Act had not been repealed m 1866, instead of the large Provinces bring able to coerce the Colony, we should long ere this have arrived at a system of large Counties, and it would have been an easy matter by legislation m Wellington to have taken away from those bodies the necessity of legislating except upon purely local matters, and he thought that would have been more satisfactory than such an abrupt transition as thisis throughout the Colony. To show the meeting that he was correct m saying that affairs m this Province had been more economically managed than elsewhere he would quota the Waste Lands. The cost of the administration of Waste Lauds -m Marlborough, witha revenue of £5800, was £950 ; m Nelson with a revenue of £13200 it was about L4OOO, a sum proportionately nearly twice as much. The expenditure on pauper relief m Marlborough, with a population of 6000, waa L 265 ; m Nelson, with a population of 25000, was L 1750, whereas m proportion to the expenditure m Marlborough it should be only LI 100 ; In-Cant erbury with a population of 82000 the expenditure was LISOO, while the amount m proportion should only be L 3620. It seemed therefore that the larger a province was the more extravagant it became. On Hospitals Marlborough expended L 707, and Nelson L 4650 besides very large digger's contributions, while the proportionate amount should be under L3OOO ; Canterbury spent L 12104 on hospitals, whereas she should only pay L 9662 m proportion. And then again the expenditure on ' Police was higher m other Provinces than here. He had obtained the above figures from the report of the commissioners who went round some ime ago to enquire into the state of the Provinces, but he could not quote the expenditure of Otago and Auckland because the Commissioners had been unable to obtain the information from the authorities of those Provinces. Under the new system they would ostensibly effect a saving of the salaries paid to the Superintendent, the Treasurer, the Provincial Secretary, and possibly one Clerk, and theme salaries amounted to £760 a year. That was all the saving that could be effected, and he had no doubt that by and by they would be saddled with additional expenditure for the Waste Lands Board, some of th~ members of which were m future to be paid for their services, which had been given gratis heretofore. There would be the Education Board, prohably a Hospital Board and the County Board, the members of which might or might not be paid. He did not say that m this province, where they had already had the benefit of a great deal of gratuitous service, the members of those boards would be paid, but he did say this : there must be Secretaries and Treasurers m connection with those bodies, and they would hare to be paid. Consequently, he did not think there would be a great saving m this province. And then it must be remembered that the Kaikoura County would have its own officials to pay. The Countiea Bill was a permissive one, and- might be brought into operation or not. The powers which the county would be able to exercise, if brought into full operation were these : It could borrow money to construct works, Bu«h as large bridges, extensive systems of drainage, or any works of that nature ; it cnnld supplement Road Board funds, undertake the maintenance of roads — bridle tracks, for instance— contract with the Ministry for large public works, such as branch railways or tramways ; it contributed towards hospitals and charitable aid, established pounds, took land for public works, determined between two Rond Boards as to the control of the boundary road, and the same as to a bridge on & boundary; undertook drainage, made water races on cold, fields, and levied a rate and a special rate. If the County did not come into operation, the Colonial Treasurer would deduct from the Road Boards the money rsquired for Hospitals and charitable

aid. He thought ifc would be better for the people here to make provision for these things themselves than to leave the power to the Colonial Treasurer. Then again, if bridges were not constructed and bridle tracks made by the Roil P> >urds the Governor would order the work to be iJoae, and deduct the cost from the subsidies* The Road Board, if we had no county, «cau 3 .d not mako any exchanges of roads without the matter to the Minister and that Would involve great and unnecessary delays m carrying on business. If it should not come into operation, the County's so'.e duty would be to apportion the money which • the Colonial Treasurer paid to the Board direct.' The contribution which the Road Boards were to get was £1 for every £1 collected by each Board, the other £1 of the £2 granted by the Colony going to the County to ' be by it apportioned to the Boards as abovementioned if the County be not m fall operation, and the Road Boards would then, be liable to the deductions he had referred to. If the County came into full operation, there was no necessity for it to levy any rate, it would have funds at its disposal from this subsidy and other sources as licenses, fees and fines, which It would then administer. He was of opinion that the County Council had better get itself into harness and come under the full operation of the act. Road Boards were not always providont bodies, and it was seldom that one of them would have sufficient funds m hand to replace 3a j any large bridge that might be washed away. He felt sure also that Road Boards would not care to undertake the maintenance of bridle tracks, which with bridges of over 50 feet span had hitherto been maintained by the Provincial Government. Now all those matters would be thrown on the Road Boards, and there could be do doubt that some of those Road Boards would be m. very great straits indeed if they were called upon to do the work which would be required of them. For instance he would ask them whether the Board at Spring Creek would be able to bear its proportionate share of the costs of repairs to the Opawa Bridge, if it happened to bo washed away soon after they took the control of it, with the Borough of Blenheim ? Then consider the Pelorus and other bridges m that Road District, and the frequent l-ecourse had m times of emergency to tho Provincial Government m the matter of the rivers on this plain and they would be led with him to the conclusion that the County Council had better come into full operation and receive the subsidy coming to it, and. undertake the works referred to ; and that the Road Board should be satisfied with the came contribution as the Corporations are to receive, namely, £1 for every £1 thsy collected as rates. The County Council would have the management of the Gold Fields, and though the Gold Fields m this Colony were not very extensively worked now, they might be of importance m the future. If the County Council were not m full operation he was unable to say who would have the administration of the Gold Fields. His colleague m the old Province, the member for Picton, objected to the Counties Bill m toto at the last, his objection to it being that it formed a " buffer" between the Road Boards and the Government. Now, m his (Mr Seymour's) opinion, if that was to be the case, it was an argument m favor of working the Act. It appeared to him that between the Road Boards and the Government, it would lie better if a larger body did intervene. He had no doubt that subjects of interest to the ratepayers would, be muah better attended to if they were ropresented through the medium of ths County Council. They ■were not goiug suddenly to forget that they were once a Province, and he helieved the effect of the County Council would bo to create or rather maintain a bond of union between all these local bodies which without some tie of that nature might come into antagonistic relation with each other. Tke mode of administrating education had changed ; they had now a Central Board and he hoped that the change would work satisfactorily. The Minister for Justioe who took a great interest iv the subject told him that the desire of the Government was to have Central Boards established everywhere, and he acquiesced m thechange. He had the honor to be elocted Chairman of the Board, and m that cap-city he could venture to say that they would have a great deal of work to do before they could grasp the whole of the education matters m the districts where education had been locally managed. While m Wellington he bad taken care that the Board Bbould not run short of the sinews of war, and had procured he hoped a sufficient sum of money to carry on education satisfactorily until next meeting of the Assembly. With respect to the financial results of the Session, as far as Marlborough was concerned, he said that he had succeeded m getting the Minister for Public Works to place on the estimates an additional sum of money to exteud our railway to the Town of Blenheim. The actual sum now voted for the purpose was £20500, and m addition to that he might say that there was a considerable quantity of ironwork for the bridge over the Opawa River lying at Wellington. He had reason to believe that the work would Bhortly be proceeded with. It was necessary that new levels should be taken and nevv plans prepared of the bridge, as the river had altered its course, and the bridge would have to be longer and more expeusive than was originally anticipated. He had had the sum of £13,400 placed on the Estimates for the work wall known as the Rai Valley tramway. That work did not directly affect the interests of many of those present, but he could never forget that he had had to do "with the old Province of Marlborough and that this partioular part was a part m which "he to«k great interest. He had no doubt that the tramway would be of some use to this district, when the timber district from which we now drew our supplies was worked out. Then there had been a sum of money voted for the extension of the telegraph from Nelson by way of Tophouse to Blenheim. This extension would bo a very good thing, and a great boon to the people m this district living up the plain. The total amount, voted for these works was £43,000, which was a fair share of Public Works exptnditure for this district. In conclusion Mr Seymour said — I am standing before you to-night m a position which I shall not exactly occupy at any future time. I have been before you on many occasions m the character of your Super•ntendent, but lam that no longer. The mantle .a falling from my shoulders, but there is on«

little string left. lam what is called Executive Officer until tho end of the year. Whilst the mantle is just falling off 1 wish to allude — and, remember, I shall not meet you aj;ain on the same platform — -to the services which have been rendea-d to me m the capacity of Superintendent (which I have occupied for so many years) by the members of the Provincial Council, i \vi.>u •jo thank them publicly for these services, and I say with the utmost pride that it is the only Provincial Council iq New Zealand which has always given its seivices to the Province gratia. (Applause). I say that we stand m a very proud position as a Province. Now that all the. Provinces are swept awa}' and there can he no competition between us m such a form, I say that we are the only province which has never paid its Provincial Council. The members have given their services cheerfully and have worked, well. I have especially to thank those snpporters of mine who have acted with me m the Government for many years past. The services they have rendered me no man can calculate the value of, and it is with the very greatest feeling of sorrow — a sort of mixed feeling, I may say, for I was one of those who agreed with the Abolition policy— that 1 part with them, as faithful and honest advisers. I must now bid adieu to them m that official capacity which has bound us together so long. I have only to say that I hope and trust and believe that the services rendered by us to the Province as a Provincial Government have been of use to the people. I am sure you will admit that we have endeavored to do our duty as its administrators, and although I have been blamed for having too many advisors yet I think that the result has been fairly satisfactory— more so at least than m the days to which I can look back. I will say no more now on this subject. To return briefly to my course of action m Parliament, 1 do not know that I have giveu a vote of which I repent. I was present last session nearly the whole time Parliament was sitting — occasionally I came over here to look after my provincial business, but I always took the opportunity of coming at the end of a week and returning early the next, and therefore I neither missed, any important business nor spent much time here. I hare done my best m carrying out what I considered to be tho best for your interests and for the interests of the Colony. I think we see our way out of our troubles, and to a sounder state of things iv the futurr, and I hope that whatever I have done as. your member has given you satisfaction. (At>phvuse, loud and continued.)

Mr Litchfield asked Mr Seymour how often the County Councils would meet [if they were brought into operation ?

Mr Seymour : As often as they choose. If they do not come into operation they will only meet once a year.

Mr 0. Redwood moved the following resolution : — "That this meeting thanks Mr Seymour for his address, and approves of the oourse he took during the past session ; this meeting also wi*hog to express its continued confidence m Mr Seymour as the representative of the district." Afber the able and clear address that they had heard from Mr Seymour, he felt quite sure that every elector who worked to put that gentleman m that position must be prnud and highly gratified. He himself w-is, at any rate. Mr Seymour had gone to Wellington not as many representatives go ; he had gone to do his duty faithfully and honestly, and he had done it. Many members who went up to Wellington went simply for the sake of getting the honorarium »nd to enjoj themselves. lie congratulated the people of Marlborough on having a member who was not actuated by such motives. He had done his work during the late session evan better than on any previous occasion, and it was pleasing to see that Mr Stymnur improved as he advanced m years ; many men did exactly the reverse. Me felt sure that Mr Seymour's ability and worth were so fully recognised that he would be chosen Chairman of the County Council. He was sure that Mr Seymour would conduct himself as faithfully and honestly m that capacity as he had done m his capacity of their representative m the General Assembly.

Mr A. G. Fell soconded the resolution. He did [so with great pleasure, because he had always from first to last been a steady and consistent supporter of Mr Seymour. He had always approved of Mr Seymour's actions and he believed he would always do so. The resolution which Mr Redwood had proposed showed that they appreciated what Mr Seymour had dove, and encouraged him to pursue the same honorable line of conduct m the future. Mr Seymour was not a man who worked by fits aud starts, but one who was always ready to aid his constituents. He was willing and ready to give hiM advice on every matter whether larg* or small, and had undoubtedly been of great service to the Province. He (Mr Pell) was a firm believer m Mr Seymour, and he believed the people of the Province were also believers m him.

The motion was then put and carried unanimously.

Mr Seymour thanked the proposer and seconder of the motion for the handsome manner m which they had spoken of him m moving the resolution. He also thanked the meeting for the ) manner m which they had received the motion, and assured them that this kind of thing was a great encouragement to a man to do his duty well m the future.

A vote of thanks having been accorded to the Chairman, the meeting separated.