POLITICAL MEETINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6099, 4 June 1881, Page 5

POLITICAL MEETINGS.

SIR W. FOX. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Friday. Tiie following is a fuller report of Sir W. Fox's speech to his constituents :—He said : At present the political world was remarkably ciuiet and pacific, and topics to create excitement during the coining session were not very prominent. On Thursday last the Premier addressed his constituents at Leeston, and if any exciting topic existed it • would then have cropped up. In the speeches delivered lately there had been a great deal of the same old straw threshed, with the usual infinitesimal proportion of grain. LAST SESSION. Sir William then glanced at the events of last session, which he said was so long ago that any account of it would he threadbare. Little, however, was done last session, which was a peculiar one. A Ministry calling itself Liberal—and he denied their right to the word—had been- turned out, and their successors occupied in investigatinc; matters in which, in finance particularly, their predecessors had left them in deplorable ignor- , ance. The new Ministry came down last seaf sion prepared with the result of "that investiI gation into the condition of the country, and a very startling condition it was. No amount of ability could have enabled them to get to the bottom of the matter without adopting the idea common enough in the old country, of appointing a series of commissions Ito investigate with more continuous energy and painstaking the inspection of minutiaa than any Ministry could do. One of these commissions did great service, that appointed to eaquire into the' Civil Service. The commissioners devoted the short time at their disposal to one department, the Public "Works, but found it impossible to sweep the whole augean stable. : When their very able report, drawn up by Mr. Saunders, the Chairman was sent in it laid I bare the conduct of this department, and showed.that r there had "been a vast amount of favouritism, incapacity, and so forth, and in fact a frightful state of things calculated to jeopardise all the good derivable from the millions expended on the railways. Then occurred what was not very creditable to those concerned.: It seenis as though all the newspapers in New Zealand had" been fed (though, of course, that was not possible), for with, one voice they declared the two heads of departments perfectly blameless, and the report fit only for the waste-paper basket. He never knew such unanimity of the Press from Auckland to Otago, but Mr. Saunders, who, from 40 years' knowledge, he could say was a tnieXiberal, was not tp be daunted, and refuted all the accusations on the floor of the House.' The Government were slow to act upon the report, but at. last, became so convinced of its truth that it was found necessary to. dismiss two officials,, and reduce the expenses of the departments by £40,000 to £50,000. Sir William Fox then referred to what took place as to the Otago railway waggons last session, and added that in the'end the Government had carried out the report in nearly.every particular. ■••''"'."..

.. ... :;. : ,. : .., ' ; .■■.-. [FINANCE , ~.".'. ','.-. The investigation of finance fell naturally to Major Atkinson, and was not entrusted to any oominittee. ' ■ : The deeper he went the worse things got, though it Tiatl been sup' posed that the , previous Government had been going at a. very reckless pace, spending money with a lavish hand. Sir William then spoke of Sir G. Grey not bringing in a filial statement at the close of his'term of office. After he had turned out his Colonial Treasurer in a manner which could scarcely be characterised 'as polite,. Sir G. Grey brought down to the House a few sheets of note-paper, instead of a financial statement, one of the most impudent proceedings which he recollected. When Major Atkinson came into power he was absolutely ignorant of the fact that the colony was on the verge of bankruptcy. For example, a large sum for interest was falling due which if not paid on a certain day, would ruin the credit of the colony, yet they would hardly believe that np to within a. few hours of the day in question, the late Government had made absolutely no provision to meet this sum, and it had ;to be financed in London, by Sir J. Yogel, who induced the Bank of England and other bodies to come to the rescue, and save the credit of the colony. The colony was actually as near ruin as that. But the greatest and most fearful faet was the deficit of a million necessary to pay liabilities. This was the result of the financing of the previous Government, although attempts had been made to throw dust in the eyes of the public, by protesting that Major Atkinson had exaggerated the amount. Authority was given to issue Treasury bills, and he had been informed on high financial authority that Major Atkinson had met the difficulty by handing over a million debentures to the Public Works Department, which had a million loan unexpended. In reality he had to borrow another million in addition to the five million loan, of course with the consent of the House, to meet the necessity of the case. Major Atkinson had not exaggerated things by half a farthing. The Government devoted itself to retrenchment, some Of ' which, however, necessarily seemed a little cruel, and he hoped that by the end of the next session they would have worked off the wholemillion deficit. If the Government could not do this without stopping the progress of the colony, let them, at any rate, go as far as possible in the direction. Sir William then spoke at length as to Sir George Grey's vote of no-coufidence last session, and condemned the obstructive and time-wasting tactics of the Opposition, and advocated the introduction into the House of something similar to the : rules lately adopted in the House of Commons. :

NATIVE POLICY. He then referred to Mr. Bryce's Native Bills, all of which he did not approve. The one great Bill was the Native Land Sales Act. The laud sale of New Zealand had always been more or less under the protection of the law. By the treaty of Waitanui no one but the Queen could buy from the natives, and if any one attempted to do so the sale was absolutely void. This was a very good law, and worked very well. In 1862, however, under the influence of large bodies of land speculators, chiefly from Auckland, theS law was abolished and the purchase of lands thrown open to anybody, totally retardless of the colony being covered with iaputes between Maoris and white people. Another law was passed, providing that natives shonld not sell their land until they had passed it through Land Conrts. Before Major Atkinson's Ministry was turned out, they brought in a new Bill, it being generally considered that the state of the law did not promote settlement on Maori lands, but facilitated large blocks being acquired by companies. It was a good Bill in some points, but favoured the latter too much. The resolution (for which he takes to himself great credit) was moved by Mr. Ballance, that no system would be satisfactory unless it made provision for the co-operation of the natives in the work of colonisation. . It was a very good but very empty resolution, because it invited the natives to yield what they had not the least intention of yielding, and did not show how they were to be got to co-operate. The resolution was the first step taken towards turning' out the Atkinson Ministry, and paved the way for the retirement of some most prominent members. The Grey party came jntopower with the undertaking to bring in a Bill to settle the native lands question, and Mr. Sheehan even stated that the Government would retire altogether from the field of land purchase, and would merely act as advisers and brokers to the natives, so as to facilitate the selling to Europeans. Next sessionfound thatthe Grey Ministry had taken no steps in the matter at all, except,' indeed, if a small Bill as to the legitimacy of Maori children could be termed a step. The fact woe, that the Grey Government had no clear .views on native questions. Mr. Sheehan actually entered : into negotiations for the ■purchaee of large blocks, thus absolutely reversing the policy announced, and going into the market money bags in hand. Mr. 'Bryce's Bill regulating the sale of lands was opposed with such violence, not only by the Opposition, but ; by the native : members themselves, that he had to withdraw. The native members were in the habit of dancing: the' war - dance over every Bill brought in to deal with the matter. Yet they never had suggested a single idea upon which to base legislation. It had therefore become very difficult to get a satisfactory Bill through the House, and he had grave doubts whether, at the fag end of Parliament, the Government would attempt the task, but would leave the law as it now is, by which Maoris can sell their lauds after passing them through the Court, either to Government or private parties. I'ATETEr.f. Sir William then defended the Government.upon the Patetere business, contending that they had acted strictly for the interest of the colony in conformity .with the letter and the spirit of the existing law, He ridi-

I euled Mr. DeLatour's attacks on the honesty I of Mr. Bryce, and said it would do Sir G. Grey no good to again revive the Patetere affair. EDUCATION. He did know whether the Government intended to stir in the great question of education. The Premier did not allude to it in his speech, and the general feeling was that the Act should have a longer trial. He thought the Government would act in that spirit, and not initiate any alteration at all in-the system. But the time was coming when something would have to be done. There were anxious opinions floating about as to the expense and character of the education given. Probably at the hustings they would have to discuss many points which underlie the system. It was a great thing to have a national system, and he would do nothing to prevent the establishment of such. With almost manhood suffrage and a pure democracy, tempered only by responsible government, they would never be safe for a day if their institutions were not worked by educated men. Uneducated men would be misled by every political adventurer who had his little newspaper, or every person with the gift of the gab. The people must be educated. But the question was to what extent out of the pocket of the State. The £300,000 which edacation at present cost came from the property tax, which was paid by a comparatively small number of people, because without the cost of education there would have been no need for the property tax. As to the cost of education, it was hypocrisy to say that they could not afford £300,000 a-year, when every man who drank a glass of beer per day threw away his share of the tax ten times over into the pockets of the publican or the merchant. New Zealand was quite rich enough to educate her children, but shonld not the State pay only for elementary teaching, and not for the higher . branches ? He would not commit himeelf to what he should do in the matter, but he i might say he was not satisfied with the proficiency, or sufficiency, of the education obtained for the money, especially in small country schools where education needed to Ibe more thorough, and not merely superficial, It was no doubt not possible in the early stage of the system to. procure a thoroughly satisfactory body of teachers, but the day would come when they would be obtained by means of normal schools. . LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Another topic which he was not yet fully prepared to compete with, was the provision for local public works for opening up the country by county councils, highway boards, and so forth. He thought the colony had not got the best system procurable, but had too much machinery. The powers of highway boards should have been enlarged, and if their districts were too small, t\vo or three could have, been rolled over. It was a great pity that the counties were ever established at all. The change from provin- ■ cialism would have been less violent, had j highway boards alone been retained. Either I boards or counties must be adopted; but not | both. The great point, however, was where j was the money to come from ? Either the Government must give it, or the districts must tax themselves. Subsidies meant, as Major Atkinson said, another penny of property tax. The question of taxing themselves was full of difficulties, upon which he could at present offer no opinion, and did hot think (although he was not in their confidence) that the-Government had it in their minds to stir in the matter next ! session. It would, however, crop up when ; the ..estimates were under discussion, and particularly when some of the Southern ! members were clamouring for loaves and , fishes. Major Atkinson would then be expected to make a clear statement on the whole subject. They needed to open up back country, and to do it they must look to the Government to settle,' and they might be certain tliat lie would nob be slack in supporting measures which he considered effectual to do so. He concluded by saying that he would be glad if his constituents would favour him with their wishes before: matters came under discussion in the Houso. Sir William resumed his seat amidst some applause.

A vote of thanks and confidence was carried. ; MR. H. HIRST. '..:'.'.■:■.'. i \ RrvERTOx, Friday. Mr. Hirst, member for Wallace, addressed, the electors at Wray's Bush last night. He supported the policy of the Government, and received a vote of thanks and confidence. MR. FISHER. Westport. Friday. Mr. Fisher addressed his constituents last night. He detailed the work of last session, and blamed the Government for introducing a crowd of Bills without the intention of seeing them through. He said the Government would do anything to retain office. Their chief characteristics were that they would initiate nothing, stick to nothing, steal everything and anything, and withdraw anything. If they thought Nihilism would no down with the people they would adopt it. The Government paraded in false Liberal colours, but would never legislate liberally. They would never introduce a land or wool tax. He decried the property tax. An income and land tax would be far preferable,, and would catch those persons who now escaped taxation. He deprecated any interference with the Legislative Council, and paid a high compliment to that body. The present education expenditure was absurd. The purely secular system was a failure. The Nelson system was the best yet devised. He would allow the people to educate their own children with the Government supervision of the schools. He would not support the elective Governor, federation, or the sale of the railways to private companies. He would tax the English bond-holders on the same principle as the English taxed the holders of consols. , Mr. Fisher stated that his intention was not to contest the next election. A vote of confidence was passed.

MESSRS. HAMLIN AND HARRIS AT OTAHUHU. On Thursday evening, June 2nd, Messrs. Hamlin and Harris met their Franklin constituents in the Public Hall, Otalmhu. There was a large attendance, Mr. John Fairburn was voted to the chair. Major Harris was the first speaker, and delivered a long and effective speech, vindicating the action of the Opposition during the last session. He was listened to very attentively. At the close of his speech he was subjected to a severe cross-examination at the hands of Mr. W. F. Buckland. In reply to a question put by Mr. Luke, Major Harris stated that he would strenuously oppose any alteration whatever in the present Education Act. Mr. Hamlin Avas well received. After giving a resume of the proceedings of last session, he made a vigorous attack on the present Government, chiefly on their native policy and their useless and expensive commissions. He also pledged himself to oppose any alteration whatever' in the Education Act, 1877. After some questions were answered, Mr. Luke proposed, and Mr. A. M. Sheppard seconded, the following resolution :— "That this meeting expresses its thanks to Messrs. Hamlin and Harris for their addresses, and has entire confidence in them as' members for Franklin." The resolution was carried by acclamation. A vote of thanks to the Chairman brought the meeting to a close.—[A Correspondent, June 3. J