THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, APRIL 21, 1884.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6997, 21 April 1884, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, APRIL 21, 1884.

The speech o£ Mr. Holleston, delivered 011 Saturday to his constituents at Papanui, a report of which appears in our issue of to-day, was really a good one of its kind, and -worthy if not of a better cause at least of a -better .audience. Considering the odium which the Government have incurred in Canterbury in consequence of refusing to suspend the new railway tariff at the combined solicitation of the farmer,? and grain merchants and others, it was plucky of him to face thus early the storm that awaited him. It will probably in the end prove to have been the wisest policy. Public feeling is at present running so high in that quarter as to render people unable to listen to reason, and it was perhaps better to give it an opportunity of expending itself, and so pave the way for a return to calmer considerations. Prior to the meeting, rumours were afloat that arrangements had been made for packing the audience, and the fact' of only about a dozen persons voting against the motion of no confidence is evidence of the report having been well founded. It is very questionable, however, whether this result will not ultimately tell in Mr. Rolleston's favour rather than otherwise. People as a rule are swayed in their final decisions by a sense of fair play, and the fact of the .Avon constituency being outnumbered by visitors from Christchurch is not unlikely to produce a re-action in his . favour within the electorate.

As was necessary in the circumstances a considerable portion of the speech was occupied in showing Kow it became imperative on the Government to revise the railway tariff. With a falling off in the ordinary revehue,' it was impossible that the deficit in the railway income could be recouped from that quarter, and any attempt to make up . for it by increasing the Customs duties, would inflict an injustice on the general population.. At the same time the increased rates on? grain' did not imply an injustice to Canterbury, seeing that they were applicable to places outside that district/ and indeed, to the whole colony, -while the rates on other goods had also been, raised, and, in some cases, proportionately: higher. Besides, in connection with railway expenditure, it was very clearly shown that Canterbury had been somewhat highly favoured, and had no ground for complaining. ' During the past two years Government, it appears, have spent £76,000 in improving the railways, and giving increased facilities to the farmers in.that district-,' whileat Christchurch, Lyttelton, and Addington, including £28,000. spent at'Tiinaru, upwards of £200,000 had been expended on, railway buildings. There are not a few' places, including Auckland, that w.ould . have been deemed very fortunate if any sum approaching these figures: had been devoted to the

furtherance of .raHway-projects -within their" limits."' B ut~ it is' those who are highly favoured who are ever the first and loudest to complain; "while those who are condemned to neglect are expected to endure, and generally do submit to their deprivations, in silence. Of Mr. Rolleston's exposition of the land policy of the there need. be. no special notice taken at present, inasmuch as it was not on that matter that he was on his trial before his constituency. It is doubtful whether, in the circumstances, it was wise in him to have touched on it at all. As Minister of Lands lie would, on any ordinary occasion, have been expected : to enlarge as he did on the advantage to the State of reserving a certain proportion of the land as: an endowment for general revenue, or for special purposes such as education, charitable institutions, &c., as also on the expediency of disposing of portions of it on the principle of' deferred payment and by leasehold with perpetual tenure, and the necessity for taking measures to prevent the pastoral land from falling into the hands of a limited number of capitalists and speculators. But to such subjects as these his audience was in no mood to listen. Their minds were pre-occupied with one question, and the attempt: to secure their attention 'just then to any other was simply a waste of time. It had, besides, a tendency to increase the irritation of those who were already angry with him. It is gratifying, however, to find that he took the opportunity of rebuking the intense selfishness which he saw incarnated before him, by pointing out how the interests of individuals were bound up. with those of the whole' colony. Doubtless ■ this, too, would amount pretty much to the throwing away of good advice. Still, there is some satis- . faction in telling the devotees of selfishness that there is a world outside their contracted sphere, which will make itself be felt, whether they wish it or not. It was a quiet and dignified way of reminding an assemblage of unreasonable men, that though they might combine to censure him for resisting their desires arid their demands for a policy which would favour them but prove unfair to others, there was yet an appeal open to the general public, whose opinion was in the main inclined to what is just and generous, and whose verdict would, therefore, be adverse to their position and in favour of his. The vote of no confidence passed pn the Minister of Lands will not tend to alter, but rather to confirm the mind of the electors in favour of the determination of the Ministry not to frame a railway tariff merely to suit the purposes of a particular class.