SIR GEORGE GREY AT CHRISTCHURCH.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1284, 19 May 1880, Page 2

SIR GEORGE GREY AT CHRISTCHURCH.

Chkistchubch, May 18. j This evening Sir George Grey addressed j a public meeting of the electors of Christehurcli in the Oddfellows' Hall, which was crowded to overflowing. The gallery had been set apart for ladies, and was well filled. On Sir George Grey appearing on the platform, he was greeted with a burst of tremendous cheering. The! phair was taken by Dr, Tqrnbull, pr'esi?

dent of. the Liberal Reform Association, who briefly introduced Sir George. Sir George Grey, who was again enthusiastically cheered, said he was still their • representative, although another person had been put in his place by a method which wa3 a deadly stab at the liberties of the people of New Zealand. — (Hear, hear.) He had been ousted as the representative of' Christchurch contrary to all precedent, and contrary to law and the decision of judges. By the decision of the House the votes of 1300 of the electors of Christchurch had been thrown away.—(Cheers.) . He pledged himself that every session he would move that that vote which deprived the electors of Christchurch of their just rights should be expunged from the journals of -the House.—(Cheers.) It was his duty to do this in order to defend the rights of the electors of New Zealand, which had been outraged in the persons of the electors of Christchurch. He then alluded to the alleged expose of private telegrams, which had been mafcle by the present Premier in order to damage his predecessors in office. Every letter and telegram he had received he left in his office, and, therefore, for the present Premier to send and search the Telegraph Office was an unwarranted act merely to damage those who had preceded him in office. —(Cheers, and cries of " That is Johnny Hall.") He denied that he was a stump orator, but his object was to instruct his fellow men, to address large assemblages, to teach them how to rule, and for this purpose he did not go to any obscure village under the pretence of addressing his constituents —(cheers) —but he met large assemblages.—(Cheers.) They were all ■working men. There were only two classes—one consisting of those who, surrounded by parasites, did all they could to benefit themselves and their followers ; and the other class was the people whom he was endeavoring to educate, to teach them what were their rights. Against the former he was at war, because he believed it was for the good of the commonwealth that such men should not enrich themselves and their parasites at the public expense.—(Cheers.) With regard, to the Auckland compact, which had been signed by the Premier, he characterised it°as iniquitous, and one which would not bear the light. He could assure them that the Auckland people rejected with scorn the bribe that had been held out to them. He contended that it was the bounden duty of those in power to openly proclaim what they intended to clo, and he would venture to say that never, except in New Zealand, would it be found that the Premier went away to an obscure village in order to proclaim the intention'°of the Government. —(Cheers and laughter.) He did not approve of such a course, preferring to live in the affections of the people by being open and known to all, and therefore he had been called a stump oratcr. He gave up office because he would not consent to a most disgraceful series of jobs, such as voting L 4,000,000 for railways to benefit private persons. He would not agree to this, neither would he agree to certain land jobs, and therefore he lost votes, preferring to remain with clean hands rather than -remain as Premier to the disgrace of himself and his constituents. He defended the course he had adopted in advocating the nomination of the Governor by the people for appointment by the Queen, rather than that the nomination should be in the hands of the Secretary of State. So far from such a measure having a tendency to weaken the bonds between the Colonies and the Mother Country, it would tend to strengthen them. He believed that they would see that he asked for nothing improper in that respect. With - regard to federation, he contended that the federation they ought to seek was the federation of all English speaking communities in the world. That, if carried out, would put a stop to wars, and unite those communities in one common bond, very different from that minor federation which had for its object the assembling of a federal parliament in Great Britain from which laws would issue —a scheme which he believed to be impracticable. Alluding to the necessity of economising the expenditure, he contended that a very considerable saving might be effected with regard to the honorariums paid to Legislative Councillors. He would refer to this sore subject of taxation—one on which he felt particularly sore, because he had beep accused of having through his lavish expenditure brought about this. When he took office he had no money to spend, and when he got money it was spent in useful public works, not such works as were recommended by the gentleman who had been put in his place, viz., to spend hundreds of thousands in the erection of forts to beat off the Russians—an utterly useless expenditure, which he opposed because he knew that there would be no war. The necessity for taxation arose from the vast sums that had been given to individuals whose lands had been benefited by the construction of railways, to pay for which those lands ought to have been taxed—(cheers)—but instead of which they had been paid for out of the public purse.—(Hear.) A number of these gentlemen had been placed in the Legislative Council, whilst others had been returned to the House of Representatives by small constituencies—so small that they might almost be termed pocket-boroughs. Those people, with gresit meanness, shrank from bearing the burdens of the State themselves, and endeavored, by means of Customs duties, to throw them upon the poorer classes rather than tax the land. Referring to the property tax, he characterised it as most unjust, despite the feeler which was being thrown out, and which was to the effect that the property tax should only be enforced for one year, and that after that Customs duties were to be ipcreased rather than that the land should be taxed. He did not believe the people would submit to that.—(Cheers and cries of "No, no.") What he advocated was an increased land tax and an income tax, so that taxation might fall on the rich as well as the goor. Rather than tax the land, these men would stop education for the next four or five years in a, similar manner as had been done in England for some time. They would keep back the people from being educated. He and his friends were determined that every child in New Zealand should have a chance, and he asked them to stamp out every attempt to deprive the children of the blessings of education. (Cheers.) He contended that the institutions for higher education should be common to every young man in New Zealand who was worthy to receive it. ' The cardinal points of those now in power were to take taxes from the land and tax the necessaries of life, and further, they would stunt the tree of knowledge; but the people would not allow that.—(Cheers.) Then, too, they talked of stopping the subsidies, instead of giving the substantial endowments promised by the Treasurer when he ad? vocated doing away with the provinces. Instead of doing this, they would takeaway their charitable aid and their hospitals, for they would not help the sick and the suffering, the aged and the indigent. They might save in education by doing away with education boards, and allowing] the school committees to correspond direct with the Minister of Education, and also by helping teachers to be economical and to provide for their old age. He denounced the jobbery which was going on at present with regard to the native lands, and that with the connivance of the Government. Such a system ought at once to be put a stop to. .The lands ought to be kept from greedy speculators—lands which belonged to the whole people of New Zealand. God made the land for men, intending that they should live upon it, and not that it should be seized upon by a few, and then be let out under ifestrictions, so that those who occupied it

should be held under'thrall by those who had got the land. Were .they to have repeated here what had taken place in England and Scotland, where 16 people held two-thirds'"of the country, and'the rest were regarded as serfs ? He argued that they ought to insist that the Premier, when he addressed the vast concourse of people whom he was to speak to on Thursday night, should solemnly pledge himself that the native lands—the public lands—should not be allowed to pass into the hands of speculators, but should be open to the public. Sir George then alluded to the various commissions which had been roaming over the country, and said that he also trusted that they would make Ministers responsible within the limits of the. law, and not allow them to break the law and shield themselves by an Act of Indemnity. Such a state of things must be put an end to at once.—(Cheers.) Referring to the subject of dealing with native lands, he mentioned that his mouth had been shut in Committee because he wished to expose the manner in which these lands were being dealt with. He then proceeded to relate the steps which he had taken to prevent plural voting, by means of which the votes of the residents in a district were swamped by outsiders. If he was to represent them again—(tremendous cheering, and cries of "Yes, you are") —he would do all in his power to put a stop to that system of plural voting.—(Renewed cheering.) In conclusion, he would state that it was their bounden duty to see that I the public lands of the Colony were, not tampered with by speculators. They should do that, and also take care to see that every individual had his rights preserved, so that the rights of these single individuals might, as the rights of the whole, be sacredly preserved. —(Cheers.) He concluded by announcing his determination to persevere in the course he had taken until his life's end.—(Loud and prolonged cheering.) A resolution was proposed by -Mr. Andrews, M.H.R., expressing regret at the circumstances which had deprived the n of the services of Sir George Grey, their thanks for his address, their renewed confidence, and that they still regarded him as their representative. This was carried unanimously, amid loud applause, Sir George having returned thanks, a vote of thanks to the Chairman and a brief speech by Mr. Montgomery, member for Akaroa, terminated the proceedings.