PARLIAMENTARY
NO CONFIDENCE DERATE. (Abridged from the New Zealand Times.) In the House of Representatives on Friday evening last, Mr Shanks moved the address in reply to the Governor's speech. This was seconded by Ml Beeves. Sir William Fox then proposed as an amendment to add the following words to the address : — " In conclusion, we respectfully submit to Parliament that in order to secure satisfactory results to the deliberations of Parliament, and to facilitate the proper discharge of the functions of government, his Excellency's advisers should possess the confidence of this House, and we deem ifc our duty to represent to his Excellency that in the opinion of thin House his present advisers hive so neglected anil mismanaged Ihe administrative business of the Government of the Colony that they do not possess the confidence of this House." Ho Was not going to speak on the measures of the> Q-overnmont. They knew a great deal abouh those measures, because they were before the House last year, and before the country during the stumping tour of the Premie I.1 '. Many of those measures would have been passed but for the capricious will of the Premier, who might have sriven their rights and liberty to 70.00J degraded serfs And yet it was proposed to bring forward a similar excellent mausure this year ; at d the same might be said of the Bribery Bill, which w.is an eld friend under a new face. He would not discuss this question of policy, but he could not understand the action of the Government. They had no doubt a very fine programme, but they did not carry it out. The fact of the matter was that the fuuor.il baked dishes of last session were to furnish forth thti marriage feast for this. It reminded him very much of the fair which they had all seea so mmy time 3, and their showman was williug to take as much as he oould get, so far as the standing orders of the House would allow him. But it was a very serious matter. The colony was standing upon v precipice, and it was necessary that they should look well to their Ministry. Tho Premier himself had told them they were upon the imminence of a Jliori war. He stood there to arraign the Government on a variety of charges— incapacity, unconstitutional conduct, and others, but he had no intention then of entering fully into them. No time must b 9 lost if they wished to secure tho prosperity of the country, and placing other men upon the Government benches. What had the Government done ? Why, nothing that they had promised. They hal passed a Laud Tax Bill, and a Bill to give some extra advantages to Maori children. And yet they had no Opposition last session, and the. consequeuoe wus that they had brought down tho same bill of fare this session, and he had no hesitation in saying that if they remained in office the result would be the same. In the matter of railways, they had promised them all over the country, and at their promises they had stayed. Failure und incompetence had characterised their management of the native race aud many other questions And they had set aside in' many instances the constitutional rights of the people. He referred to the Waste Lands Bill, the Tapanui Railway, aud Thames- Wuiltuto Railway, as supporting the charge of unconstitutional conduct. He charged the Premier with en deavoi'ing to rush the Address in Reply through the House, and said that the financial emergency which w.is preying on the Government should have induced them to call the House together earlier, and not on the eve of the departure of the mail. He oharged the Premier with endeavoring to make the appoiutment of Speaker of the Upper House subservient to political ends. Cabinet Councils had been conducted in an unconstitutional manner, aud the Civil Service had been disorganised by the Govern raent Men who had been for years in the service had been swept away without compeusution, and boys put in their place. The re3ult of this was, that the service was now becoming a scoff and a bye word, and the energetic young men of the colony would not now enter it. He referred to the cases of Messrs Luckie aud Booth, and also that of the Wanganui telegraphist. The disruption of the (,'abinet, and Mr Ballance's resignation, were referred to at length. He described the scene, and said that Sir George had told the Minister that he had insulted him gros3ly,and made him blush. He should like to see the man who, for the last 60 years, had made him blush, not but that there were many things which he ought to blush for. Certain t Dings that had occurred were said to have provoked the wrath 6f Sif George Grey. It seemed that tlie latter had ordered one of his Ministers to return at once from a certain place, and that he had done so, in no very good humor. After his return he received a good "dressing down"— whatefer
that might me\n. lie was not aware whether thsy kept Ministerial birches in the Cabinet, or whether the hon. Treasurer was dragged about the room by the messenger. If this sort of thing was to be allowed, it would 16---sult in every man having to carry a pistol or a buwie knife. Was not this a disgrace-
'ul scene ? and one that wouU bring the
Ministry into disrepute over the vfhole colony. And they must not suppose tliis was a solitary case. Ho had no doabW&gy had a dish of humble pie served up every morning. No wonder it was hard to get a gentleman to join the Ministry when he might be treated with such ignominy and sunh contemjt. He then dealt with the native question. He said the King party should have been let alone, and they would gradually have come in. The Premier had endeavoured to make political capital by bowing down to Tawhiao and Bewi. Nothing had come of it } and yet a paper had been stuck in the Governor's hand saying that at last peaoe had been made. Many dodges had been tried with the natives, but they would not do, and when March arrived, the invited guests came and crawled in on all-fours. Regarding the Waimate difficulty, the Government had brought that on by their rashness in neglecting to allow proper reserves fur the natives. If the Government had kept their word there would have been no trouble whatever about the Waimate Plains.
The Government had gone and surveyed the land, even going over the gardens, and this without setting aside a single acre for native reserves. The Government had shown the grossest mismanagement in the conduct of native affairs. During the last < year they had lost caste in the eyes of the Maoris to an extent which it would be most difficult to regain. It was said the other duy by the member for Fmiklyn that the Native Minister should be a man of moral character. He would say nothing niore on that subject, save that it was impossible to go through the Maori country, and hear the . progress of the Government through the country without being made to blush. The country was ringing from end to end with scandalous stories in the direction to which ho had alluded. No wonder the Maoris, were discontented. The Government, had admirably shown tbem " how not to dditj*" ' ' '■'■ and it was quite time the reins of government were taken from them and placed in the hands of those who would better look . after the security and the welfare of the colony. •■' ■■■;;•! ■ dT
Sir George Grey, who was received' .with, , r » loud cheers, said that in reference \o the Ja»t ;> i speech, such nonsense aud buffonery. had . , never before been seen in that House on siioh a great occasion— and most of liis staler ments were contrary to faotß. What Ws the case P Why, one single individual was to be hunted down, and there he was. He btood to face .his opponents and give the denial to the remarks that had been made. There were the Canterbury men, who would destroy him if they could — and he saw others sitting round liim who were also willing to destroy him because he had worked hard for the interests of the people tigainst the private interests of those individuals. The Hon. Sir W: Fox had' made statements that night which would bring lasting disgrace upon the people. He defended his action in reference to tbe Laricl '--' Bill, on the ground that it was unjust, iv that it locked up vast estates in the hands of men who were members of that House., He affirmed the Thames Railway Bill' gave' ' him power to start the work where ha had begun it, and denied absolutely the charge made that ho hid tried to rush the Address in Reply through the House, or that he had made any arrangement with tbo Speaker of the Upper House. He defended tho Native policy of the Government, saying Wjit every proposal he had made to them had been made by his prededessors. If there was any chance of a disturbance the Government could soon decide that question by taking a couple of thousand of the young settlers of the South and plaoing them on town and oountry lots in tho disturbed districts, where they could surely bold their own. For this reason he thought he deserved the thanks and not the abuse of the House. He next referred to the hostilities of the late Governor. He repeated it. The Government had appealed to the Governor fcr a dissolution, but it hai been refused in a spirit which seemed /to j say;,.; lhat the Colonial Government was not %6 be trusted liko an English Government. What was the consequence of the' refiteat? • Why, they had to oarrry on their work in the face of a hostile House. For years and years past certain numbers of people had. combined together to grasp large tracts 'of' liiu I, and to keep the people out of the rights to which they were entitled. And what did the Legislative Council do ? , Why they gave themselves the airs of the English r House of Lords, and compelled the representatives of that Chamber (the House 1 of "'• Representatives) to stand when the Governor ' read the speech. He oould cay for his own part that he had nevsr demeaned himself by accepting the indignities which that body heaped upon the members of the Lower Houßt. Ho denied that he had ever gone on all fours to the natives, but Sir «V; Fax could not say as much. He had gone on all fours for a piece of ribbon and a piece of scrawl. He asserted that the burden of taxation was laid upon the working men, whilst the large estates were allowed to go almost entirely free. Mr Gisborne had twice refused when the Ministry was in prosperity to join it, but now it was in adversity had at once stepped into the breach. The speculators and land schemers would do the best they oould to destroy that Government, so that they might profit by their greedy speculations, and ho believed the people of Now Zealand would stand by him. He would appeal to tße nations in which he had dwelt and tLe peoples aulong whom he had. lived whether or not he deserved the character that had been given him by bis opponents of being cold blopded, and he would appeal to Wellington" itself, whether that character, was a true one t He paid a high tribute to the, Native Minis, ter, aud said Me Sheen an was infinitely superior to Sir W. Fox in his love add ' t&> gard for the native race. He ■ charged- tifr VV. Fox with being tis malignant enemy in his work on behalf of the native race. He had from the first set himself against allowing in New Zealand a repetition of the evils which were felt in England, France and Belgium, owing to an aristocracy which trod upon the necks of the masses. Sir W, Fox, who had broken every pledge he had given, did not, however, support j him? in these efforts, but threw every difficulty in his way. When the hon. member was in office they gave members very" small con* stituenoies, and now they camQ: Jorward und threw evi-iy obstacle' they could^n ihe way of the progress of the cpuntrv.i Nonfjore disgraceful coalition was ever seur.lhaiV.tiiat which the hou.' member, for WaiiganufhW brought about. ' Why, nanny of those/ Men had said that the Constitution. Act iwp§ ; far too liberal, and that it mu6t be de,Bt,ro^pd. ( '' Name, name." ) He should give 'no name. Sir George then referred to tho power which the Judge* had cluimed ofiyjjf prisoning a man fur lite without any record of the same being kept, a»d when a Bill nf us brought t'orwaßd. to amend M" 3 stA(O °* things he was viiy sorry to find thut it was not passed. He was determined to fight to the very last that these privileges should be obtained for the people in New Zealand. lie nd o ften been repulsed; but had lived to we
the measures for advoca'ing which he had been disgraced brought into law, and his ideas adopted. After all, it was so in Africa, and it would be ho in Now Zealand, notwith standing the efforts of the gridiron members of Canterbury. The people of New Zealand would rever, he felt, desevt him and his colleagues j no, not even if the H«-mo Government sent out a duke to dazzle them. The people must as a body feel that they \me,«uwnitting to great wrongs, and would not tamely submit to bear such wrongs much longer. They were overburdeuedwith taxation for the benefit of the rich, and he said to the Hon. Sir. W. Fox, who shook his head, that he was one of the agents who had led to this state of things. He had no fear for the result, as he felt sure they would be triumphant in the end. He had no hesitation in saying that that Parliament did not represent the people of New Zealand. During the many years that Sir. W. Fox and party had been in power no effort had been made to give the people of New Zealand a better syste/n of representation. It would be for the people of New Zealand now to say whether they would or would not have those advantages to which they were justly entitled. The debate was then continued by Mr Kolleston, who defended the Canterbury members, followed by Mr Moss, who spoke on the fide of the G-overnnieut.
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 93, 22 July 1879, Page 2
Word Count
2,476PARLIAMENTARY Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 93, 22 July 1879, Page 2
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