MR SEATON'S ADDRESSES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1382, 25 May 1878, Page 9

MR SEATON'S ADDRESSES.

Mr J. Seaton, M.H.R., addressed the electors at tho Drill-shad, Caveraham, on the 17th {upon the last session of the Aaserab y. The chair wag taken by the Mayor, Mr B. Rutherford, About twenty e'ectors were presant.

The Cuairmah, In introducing the speaker, said that their member, Mr Seaton, intended to deal in his speech more with the future than vith the past. This he thought, was a judicious course, as they were all tolerably well informed of what had been done. Although Mr Seiton wm not a very distinguished orator, ho was ono of the most painstaking and diligent workers in the Assembly, and to a very great oxtent the Government now in power were indebted to his indefatigable exertions. So assiduous was their memhor that, though he did not shine in Hansard, he was ono of tho influential members of the House, and attended well to mutters of local importance. Mr Seaton, in addressing the electors, thanked the Chairman for the remarks ho had nwdo. Ho did not pretend to be an orator. One of tho first resolutions he had tnnde on entering political life was that he would study to be felt, whether he was heard or not, and that had been the line of conduct lie had followed. He had consistently opposed the Abolition of the Provinces, and thu present working of the County system was a strongly favourable comment upon the policy to which he had adhered. In Canterbury, where the Abolition proposals had been most popular, only one or two counties had accepted the wholo Act, so that on inspection the anticipated benefits had not boen found very desirable. One of the inducements which was htld out as favouring Abolition waa that it would be much more economical than the Provincial system, and would bring about the miljenui-jm for the ou.tlylng districts, %» fact wbb,

he believed, that the County system V-aa very much more expensive than the Government it had replaced, and he would leave it for the electors to say whether they had under the new system greater facilities for getting important matters attended to than previously. It had been said that Separation was the only cure for the present political ovlls. With this view he had much sympathy, but ho did not think it was likely to be adopted. It tho Courity system was to be continued, the Counties must be very greatly enlarged so as to enable them to undertake extensive works that were required. He thought tile South Island should be divided into two Counties, or that a Board of Works should be establulled. Whatever name the reform of the County system should be known by, he thought Hoitio system must be established with larger powers thun Municipalities, Counties, or Head Boards, to conduct works that were necessary for tho developmont and progress of the country. Ho' would do his utmost to assist into operation such a system of government as he had indicated. Tho Land Bill introduced by Mr Donald Reid was a creditable and liberal men-sure, and he regrottfd that its action had been greatly int:rfero 1 with by the Crown Lands Sale Bill. Notwithstanding the speech of Mr Donald Reid, he was of opinion that the generalization of the Land Fund, as carried at the last session of the Assembly, was certainly of advantage to the Provincial District of Otago. There wou'rt bo 70 per cent, of the land revenue required to meet the first claims, and if, under Major Atkinson's proposal, £109,000 had teen borrowed on the land revenue, it would take a considerable time to repay that loan out of the 30 per cent, left after the first chargt-B had been mot, and in the meantime he did not gee how they would maintain ro»ds, and construct public works. The first timo he had heard tint a number of years wero to be allowed for the repayment of tho proposed loan on the land revenue, was when he saw it in tho report of Mr Reid's speech. Mr JEteid had said that he (Mr Seaton) had accepted the statement thxt the generalisation of the Land Fund would bo to the advantage of Otago with great simplicity, but had not noticed that the other Provinces were to share in Otigo's revenue. He could not agree with Mr Reid's view of the matter, for as he read tha Act, it was that a separate account phould bo kept, and that the money should be paid out of the funds accruing from lands within the diffareut Counties— for instance, he did not suppose the Peninsula County would receive any land revenue. Tho proposal to re-adjust the representation of the Colony was one of the most important measures that would be introduced. He hoped it would be brought on early in the session, and for his part would support it cordially. He was opposed to manhood suffrage, but if it was made a party question he would vote for it rather than see the Government defeated. If, however, it was an open question, he would oppo«e manhood suffrage, as he considered it unnecessary. At the present time they practically had manhood suffrage, for there wera few houses in tho Colony not worth £5 per annum ; and a« a. lodger's franchise had also been adopted, ho considered tho provision was ! sufficiently liberal. His objection to purely manhood suffrage was that if property was to be taxed— as it was rightly, he thought, purposed to tax it— then it should also be represented, and by manhood suffrage the representation of property would be ignored. But he was bo much in favour of this Government that, if it became a Government question, ho v»ould swallow hio convictions nnd walk out of the House, or would vote with the Government if thoy were likely to be defeated. He was of opinion that an improvement might be made in the liconsing law, but thought the Local Option Bill had had a most Injudicious advocate.

The Citairman intimated that their member would be willing to answer questions, by announcing that Mr Seaton would have very great pleasure in being heckled.

In reply to quitiona, Mr Seaton »aid that he was in favour of paßßlng a Bill to prevent the continued influx of Chinese into the Colony, and was glad to see the Imperial Government had recogniied the necessity fot such a measure ; that he was in favour of erecting Harbour Defences, had advocated the necessity for them in the Provincil Council, and that as party Government was a Beriea of compromises, ho considered that he would be justified in voting with the Government in support of manhood suffrage, although he was personally opposed to the adoption of that measure. '

Mr H. Carrick proposed a vote of thanks and confidence in Mr Soaton, and in doing so remarked that their member was a fairly able and a thoroughly honest man.

The motion was seconded by Mr Bragg, and carried unanimously.

Mr Seaton addressed his constituents at Anderson's Bay on Monday evening. On the motion of Mr Adam Nichol Professor Black was called to tho chair, and after a few introductory remarks called on Mr Seaton to address the meeting. ' At tho conclusion of the address, <vbich was essentially the same as that delivered by him at Caversham, questions were put and answered as follows :—: —

The Chaibman hoped the electors would reBpond to their representative's invitation, and tackle him on the subjsot of their grievances. Mr NICHOL : Do you approve, Mr Seaton, of such large sums of the public money being paid to superannuated Civil Servants in the form of annuities and other pensions ?

Mr Seaton: I do not approve of many things that were done under the regime of the late Government in the arrangements with the Civil Servants. I do not approve of their mode of selecting cadets for the Civil Service. Tho initial salary was fixed so low that only youths whose friends lived in Wellington could afford to^ enter as cadets. Once in, however — being friends, or friends' friends of the members of the Government — their salaries were found to rise in a wonderfully elastic manner. The small Province of Taranaki was very fortunate in this respect. It was well represented in the Administration, and the consequence was that all the plums of the Civil Service went to Taranaki men. But times have changed since tha advent of the present Government, and the halcyon days of the Taranaki boys are over. The querist had, however, misunderstood the facts of the case in the matter of annuities to the Civil Servants. A portion of their salaries had been withheld by due regulations, and was invested by them in Government annuities. It was not, therefore, a case of exceptional favouritism as had been supposed. Mr John M'Gbegor : Do you mean to say, Mr Seaton, that in the event of Sir George Grey bringing in si bill, and making it a Government measure, for introducing manhood suffrage under due restrictions and modifications, that you will not support him ? Mr Seaton: I don't say any such thing. You misapprehend me. I have no doubt that in any duly considered Government measure I shall bo found acting with my party. What I intended to say, is, that so far as I understand Sir George Grey's utterances on this subject — gathered from vague rumours and newspaper paragraphs^ and imperfect reports of speeches— I do not think they are quite consistent "with the views of the party as a whole, and, indeed, as I have said already, I consider that for all practical purposes manhood suffrage is now enjoyed by the constituencies of this Colony. MrM'GREGOK: H'm.

Mr HUGH Boss : Am I to understand you as saying, Mr Seaton, that you would not have property represented ? That you would give the largo proprietor with the big atake in the country, just the same voting power as the man who earns his 7s or 8s a day, or occupies a house rented at L 5 per annum. Mr Seaton : Of course, if property is taxed it must be represented. I think ii, would not be right, nor fair, nor desirable to give a large owner a large plurality of votes, aa they may have in elections for tho Counties, where ono man may poßsibly have as many as forty-five votes, thereby swamping, in a great measure, the rest of the constituency. Mr Ross : I understand your views. The Chairman asked if any other elector had any question to propose. There being no response, Mr Ross moved that the present meeting thank Mr Seaton for coming so far to address them in such unfavourable weather, and for the clear statements contained in the address.

The motion was seconded, and carried unanimously.