MB. STAFFORD'S SPEECH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume V, Issue 1402, 15 May 1868, Page 3

MB. STAFFORD'S SPEECH.

The following is the concluding; portion of Mr. Stafford's speech to liis constituents at Nelson, ia which he refers to soma of the business which will probably erigaao the atteniion of General Assembly in itß next session : —

With rcupect to next.session, the leading questions will ho finance and self government; both, of which, questions are of growing importance. As for supposing yen ciin stop tha demand tor mlfgovernment. you cannot do it. Yon might as well tiy, with Dame Partington, to keep out the Atlantic with a broom. You in Nelson do not know the circumct:uicos uiid' of other province*. Uuti-iae of TVel-ou except the suburban districts *. f Motueka and W:iimeu—which are only suburb* after aH —there are really no outlyintr district, cxcept :he goii-fieldsj and these areof auch a f=peci 1 character, that they can n tb? taVen into a-count. Mark my words f If th<* table of tho Hoin-c of Kepresentutives is not crowded with petitions in favour of local government; next session, you may ?av that my political propheicies are Tint worth muvli. [ i l';u\ hear, and laughtor.] 3Tou cannot prevent the country dismals,froni associating themselves i..r corporate purposes, any more than yon can prevent tjwns from doing the same thing. I can see that, :f the opposition in soms quarters is not. lessened—if no provi-ion is made for l'cal government when the provinces colUpEe—as some of them must do in a very short, time in fact, I will r.ot he surpvi.-ed if the collapse came any day —then will thoro be no local at' nil in these provinces ; r.o machinery except what the Gsnersd Government wsy choose to send. This is not satisfactory. My idea, and that of my has always been in favour of extending the priuciploof local self-government as fully as possible; and I may take credit to myself for having done something in this respect. The first Ministry of which I was a member, localized the land revenue, and deleRated to the provinces a very large admitiisttalion. I i-hall continue to do what I can to give towns and districts the opportunity of associating themselves for purposes of local self-government. The other important question which will require to he considered is that of Finance, am: that is one which will task to the uttermost the' best powers of 'any Government. 3 do not mean the present Government particularly, but any (governmentWliieh may bo in office for the next four or live years. The conduct of tho'finance of the colony during that time will ba-attended with sreat difficulty; .£Dear). heai;.] I cannot, beyond indicating my opinion Income-tax bill may probably be introduced, next session, ea'y-anything hwird definite." ; I thitik'that pn Income-tax' is admirably tidapted for'the aoTptly, particularly as it will-ieacV.- : absentees) who derive laiijo incomes froih the colony without bearihir any of its burdens.' QHear/bear.j I wish to state my opinion clearly on this point, because I am now speaking to New Zealand as we l jib to my constituents of' Nelson ; and what.l say here• to-night will be read all over the coluny. [tie r., hear.] I should therefore wish to give the fullest, explanation as to what next session the Ministry may propose to do in connection with such an important question; Etlid, if I could, would indicate precisely what might .be the proposals of the Government for tho next year. But there are always springing up various contingencies which, in a country circumstanced as this ij, it is impossible to foresee ; and as yet we do not know what may be the result of the negotiations of Mr. Fitzherbert in London. We do not know whether these negotiations mav be successful in whole or in part, or not at all. [Hear, hear, and a laugh.] With respect to the present po'ition of some of the provinces which have been in difficulties I am happy to say that they are now showing signs of .improvement :>nd In addition to. the measures I have menu mod, there may be a few bills introduced for further consolidating our laws, similar in character to the important Acts which consolidated the Criminal Law last session. I have now to thank you for having heard me at such a length, so patiently, and also for many instances of your confidence, which I have ever highly appreciated ; and although I do not pretend to say that I have escaped censure;': no person in a public, career can hope to do so—yet I must say my long association with Nelson has, as a whole, been of the most pleasant character. 1 have been five times elected your representative, twice in my absence, without any election committee or any exertions except the spontaneous action of a few friends. Whatever may be my future position, either in political or private life, here or elsewhere, I shall never forget my association for a long period with' the people of Nelson, and I sincerely thank tha electors for all the kindness they have shown, me. In concluding, I may observe that any Government of New Zealand is entitled to forbearance from the public ; that a spirit of fair-play would dictate that all the circumstances whicli affect its action should be carefully weighed before it is condemned. That it fhould be remembered that owing to the configuration of the colony, and the manner in •which it has been settled, the General Government has to deal with important questions requiring grave consideration, and affecting diverse and often contradictory interests, while it is isolated from many centres of population. That from the absence of a common centre there is no clear and unmistakable expresß'on of public opinion on the part of the colony as a whole. That from the same cause there is no colonial press, but merely local journal?, whose interests require thit they should chiefly treat of local questions, and but occasionally refer to those of colonial interest; and when they do allude to goneral questions, they seldom—l say with regret—take the trouble to make themselves aquainted with the precise facts. It i-5 easy to destroy the reputation of public men as individuals, or of a Government when referred to only with censure. If I were asked to define the position of a Minister in New Zealand, I would reply tee must, as a rule, isolnte himself from all his friends; giTO up all [supervision of his private afTiirs ; sacrifice a considerable portion of his menus, and possibly his health ; encounter hard work, and constant care, in the endeavour to preserve the unity of a country peopled by communities separ ited from, and regarding each other with feelings of selfish jealousy ; each, section in turn considering it is debarred from some special advantage accorded to other places. And he must face this position with tho knowledge that, whatever he may do or not do, howjvor he may study or toil, he need expect no public support; that whatever good de may be done by him, or evil deed* prevented, will but rarely receive public recognition ; that in short he will have no one certain source of consolation exccpt the approval of his own conscience. [Applause.]