MR M'DERMID AT PORT CHALMERB.

Otago Witness, Issue 941, 11 December 1869, Page 16

MR M'DERMID AT PORT CHALMERB.

Mr Hugh M'Dsraid, M.P.O. for the North Harbour Diitriot. met his ooostitusnts in the Long Room of Dodson's Provincial HotoL. at Port Chalmers, on Monday evening last, for the purpose of giving an aooount of his stewardship during the last fcwo years. The niaht was i ainy, and owing to the miscarriage of the edvertUnmont announcing the taeeting, there woa but a soanty attendance, aofc more than tox*y persons being preseut. The Mayor, Mr D. fiolfe, having been appointed to preside, apologised for tbe non< «£&oianoc ol Mr Tayler, mu\*t for the Port, wh* was in bt/t health, tim jthan in* *ods«d Mr OTtraW to too »*4i»|.

that, as tb6- attendance ;.w6^eo,i small,- tLfe me6tii#Bhould^ however,* agreed *to. 1 'MrM'Dbrniidt.tKen^ after ( Blighwy! touching on tiie Laid 'question,, referred' to^the Port' Übalmer's 'Railway* - Be said tHat'laai session;' it was' understood that. the obstruction W the railway would be 'pro-| oeeded'With. '"'The 'Provincial Council lad' no power to guarantee' money for the work,; but a resolution ' had been" "carried, v that the jetty dues "be set aside for the railway; and that 8 "per cent, interest be guaranteed. Another resolutibn was also passed, 1 to the effect that a block of land be set 1 '-aside, for ' the' same purpose. The consequence was, that a Company was got , up. A deed was drawn up by , the Company's solicitor, Mr Howorth, and submitted to the 1 Provincial Solicitor, Mr Haggitt,, for ap.' proval. Mr Haggitt introduced most string geat conditions into the deed, whereon the Company threw the Boheme overboard, in which he (Mr M'Dermid) thought they acted, rather unwisely. He thdughb'if'the Cpna 1 p&ny had formed a committee to meet the Government, an amioftblejarrangement would Have been come to. He wo a glad that another meeting of the 'Company was to take plaoe before the Counoil met, and he had no doubt /that good (would come out of it. While in the, Council he *had gone riand .in hand 'with the member for Port Chalmers, and advocated, the building of the present Floating and Graving Dook& 3e had looked after the interests, of the district generally., The Blueskin,, Road .was commenced, and there was a road to the Heads.— ( A Voice ;Do you oall thai a rood?) He must say it was a very poor traok, and he would rather have made a third of the distance a good road with tbe money expended.—(Hear, hear.) There had also been made the Upper Harbour, . Pine Hill, and tjign'al Hill Roads, as »lso a bridge over the Waitati at Blueskin. - Such works having been made in the, district, /he thought his constituents had little to complain of as to' their share in the publio money. ■-, He had also advocated the services of * steam- tug,' and was glad to see that the present subsidised tug did her work efficiently. While looking after his own district, he had not neglected the general welfare of the province. , The Land, Regulations were of great importance, and were brought forward in some shape or other every session. , He had been twitted in regard to them, but he as* sured those present that he had steered a steady course- throughout, and had never wavered from his purpose since he -went into j the Council. The Hundreds question was another matter brought up, the West Taieri Hundred being muoh talked about A Hundreds BUI had been passed by the General Assembly, and while speaking of ifc he must s»y that Mr Main had told them » long rigmarole story about it, which was followed up by the members for the Cluthn j and Bruce districts. The Hundreds Begula> tion Bill emanated from petitions sent from this province to the Assembly, the principal one being from the Clutha. Mr M'Dermid then spoke of the power the Superintendent i and Provincial Council had over the lands, in referring oertain portions as Hundreds to the General Government. Mr M»in hid iwd that the runholders had an eqniUble right to the rans; he (Mr M'Derroid) said that all tho population had the same right, the lands were let to lessen the taxation, which wa* heavier in New Juealand than in any other part of the world. He here read a portion of the 75th and 77th clauses of the L«nd Act, showing the position of the runholder as to the lease ceasing when Hundreds were declared, stating that nevertheless the ranholder bad a preemptive right over 80 acre*. The squatters, he held, were only paying 2d per acre, and only L 52.000 a-year was reoeived from them, they not paying taxe*. In fact, he said, the squatters thought that wa should fall down and worship them, to whioh he would s»y " *o." Any present who had a freehold where roads were being mad*, had to pay one shilling per acre ta«fl; and instead of the runholders paying L 62.000 per yesr, they were really getting L 104.000 from the country by not paying taxes. He had reckoned that after the squatters had paid tho tax on great and small cattle, they held I their Tuns at 2d per acre. He then referred to the great amount which, he said, would be required to be paid for improvements m*do ny the runholdort, aud added that in many instances the amnnnt required would bo moTO than could he paid out of the pnblio pane, and that the runholder at the expira. ! tion of hi«lf»»o would therefore eret another one. He imagined that both in Dunodin and Port Chalmers the people did not oare about the hod question, tat he would assure thorn that if the land wm cultivated for grain there would bo 2000 Ibt of grain ox* ported for tho present 1 lb of wool, and instead of one ship in the hay thwe would be pne hundred. Hence it would be * benefit to all if the lands were properly ! «ylmtnister«d. He went into the Counoil tin. trammelled, and would remain ■©. He thanked the meeting for the patient hearing R iven to him. and would now answer any question*. . „ The CirAinnMH then oaUed upon any who wishod to do to to ask question*. Mr M'DKRMto, in reply to qnesWons, i»td he wm in favnur of tbe Port Chalmers Oor. po-ation having the Mine power over the Town B«U as the Dunodin Council had over theirs.— Ho had used his best endeavours to promote education and the inatlttttura of a Colldge, bub h« was of opinion thai too muoh monoy was lavished on the High Sohool, and too littl* spent on the Grammar and Dlsttiot Soboolf.—Tht GeveronMO* w»uJdh»vttop}r«Fjrow>i (ww^f

that.— BeveralL6therqueßtionsi ( being;B*ti»fao* libry*- answered;- -Mr HAS 'ttMfatisow- ]Hrabwed> andiMr R.Lban seoonded.a vote of confidence in Mr iM 4 Dermid as the representative^! the North. Harbour Diitriot. in the rProvincial Council,^ with, which w*s< coupled; a <voto of thanks to him for meeting his ■ constituents. 1 Both vweire carried unanimously. * A vote, or thanks, proposed by MrtM'DBR&nD to the .Mayor, for, presiding; concluded the proceedlings. \" , yJi » , i ■ m< • '«' -," •"',•> /l | Mr M 'Derm id again uddroflaed the electors ,»t Port' Chalmers last evening. .He spoke ; for an hour, and. was attentively listened to .throughout. i > < , i '»£>'