MR BARRON, M H.R., AT OAVERSHAM

Otago Witness, Issue 1488, 22 May 1880, Page 11

MR BARRON, M H.R., AT OAVERSHAM

Mr W. Barron, M.H.R., addressed a meeting of his constituents at Caverßham on Monday evening. About|so electors were present, and the chair was occupied by Mr Bridgman (the mayor).

Mr Bakron said that he was desirous of addressing his constituents, and he trusted his constituents wished to meet him, for it was a good state of things when a constituency was found active-minded and critical. He regretted the attendance was so small, but attributed it to the bad weather and to tbe fact that other meetings were being held in this district at the same time. He also expressed reregret that so few representatives had addressed their constituents, as out of 21 members for Otago only four had as yet appeared before the electors. The last Parliament had, as was well known, by a majority of 14 passed an adverse vote against the Grey Government, and upon & dissolution being granted, 21 of the 47 who bad voted against the Government were not returned. Amongst those who had opposed the Grey Government, it should be remembered, were many who had long served the country, and had much in their favour ; but notwithstanding this they were rejected, and those were returned who were favourable to the thenexisting Government. Probably they had seen a very different statement of affairs as the state of publio feeling put forward by the Press as the true statement, but in reality when the new Parliament met the majority against the Government was only two, instead of 14. He thought no one could hesitate to say that the country during the election had affirmed the programme of the Grey Government. In the new Parliament the Opposition had a new leader, and adopted different tactics. Advantage was taken of the objection some members had to the individual members of the Government, the resolution put forward being—" That whilst we are prepared to give effect to the liberal measures desired by the country, we feel bound to submit to your Excellency that your Excellency's Government as at present constituted does not possess the confidence of this House." Now that was so framed for a purpose. It was known that some members were opposed to the Native Minister; that others said that if Mr Mftcaadrew wt»a io v b,e QQyernme.n.t it

ttas unfair to the Northern ports of the Colony, and a great number profeaßed to have objections to Sir George Grey. Amongst those who objected to Sir George Grey were Messrs Pyke and Stewart, and they fairly and openly Baid they would do their best to get rid of the Promier. The amendment to the Governor's Address was bo worded as to catch such men, and it was carried by two votes. He rlho pointed out that a supporter of Sir George Grey's Government— Mr O'Rorke— had been elected Speaker, and that had not this been the case there would not have been ama j >rity of votea against the Government. Tho amend znent having baen carried, Sir George Grey was told that if he were out of the Government a great many would be in favour of it and ftupport it, and the speaker could say that Sir George Grey in the most disinterested manner said that the interests of the country and of the polioy he considered best for the country wrae oi far < more consequence to him than office, and if his retirement would be beat for the Government and the policy initiated he would rotire.— {Apul&use). On Messrs Pyke and Stewart being informed of this, they eaid they were prepared to support the Government. Thia altered the state of parties entirely. Less astute politicians than Messrs Pike and Stewart were led to believe that having thrown their lot in with Mr Hall's party, they would make a fatal mistake to desert it, and although there was a majority against the Government it waa found to be very difficult to dislodge them. Mr Macaudrew's no confidence motion was kept at the bottom of the order paper until the defection of .four member.!? from the ranks of the Opposition, and then it was allowed to come on ; but as the case was hopeless, it was abandoned. Very strong efforts indeed were made on behalf of tbe members of the Government to retain office. The Government had, he said, secured office by finesse, and retained it by treachery, and not only had they done this, but had borrowed the garments they had fonnd in the office, find had tried to persuade the country that tha imitations were better than the originals. The Hon. Mr Hall had said they bad been called the " cockatoo Government," and he could lay claim to being a cockatoo rather than a squatter. He (Mr Bavrori) thought tbe more appropriate designation would be the "cuckoo Government"— because the cuckoo never built a nest, but took another bird's nest; but, again, it seemed to him this title would not be correct, for although the cuckoo took the nest, it always laid its own eggs j but the present Government had taken tho nest and the eggs. The Qualification of Electors Bill, the Registration of Electors Bill, and the Triennial Parliament BUI had been passed, and bore the impress of their original paternity, but were not without traces of rough handling. Amongst other slimy things which had crawled out of the neot of the present Government were the Property AsBesßment Act, tho Property Tax, and the objectionable Act that provided for the purchase of district railways. There had been an extraordinary unanimity on tbe pait of the Press in favour of the present Government. He was not sure he was warranted in the suspicion, but he noticed two of the papers in Wellington changed hands after the change in the Government, and though he had not attempted to pry into the matter or get any information about it, except what came directly under his notice, he would cay that if anyone wanted to know the proprietors of the papers referred to, the quickest way would be to ask who were the members of the present Government. Strange to say, all the newspapers in the countiy seemed favourable to the new Government. He could not say what pressure was brought to bear, but he thought he ought to say that at all events the local Press was only influenced by the fact that it held the opinion thet the present Government was the best for the country. Oh 1 there could be no doubt at all about that.— (Laughter.) In connection with the misrepresentations of the Pxess, he noticed that there were misrepresentations on this question even in the Thunderer." The London Times of 6th October, 1879, Baid j-1-"Two months ago the House of Repre,Bentatives', on the motion of Sir William Fox, the leader of the Opposition, declared by a majority of 14— one- sixth of the total number of members — that ib had ceased to repose confidence in Si? George Grey's Administration i . . . The hostile vote of the Legislature has been followed by a more decisive defeat upon the appeal to the constituencies. . . The colonists of New Zealand are for the most part moderate, easy-going men, who would not perhaps be called Conservatives hi an old country, bub who are not eager to try all at once in their half- developed and thinly peopled country the extreme conclueions of democratic policy. Sir George Grey promised to k'iv* the Colony universal suffrage, shortened P;ulianmits, and representation according to iiuuibei-M. But haying no force of public opinion behind him, his pledges remained barren, and bis inability to give effect to the schemes which he declared to be necessary brought his Government into something like contempt. ... He has fallen out with more than one of his colleagues. His Attorney-general left him in June, and his Treasurer a few weeks later." Unfortunately there had been a quarrel with Mr Ballance, but the Attorney-general (Mr Stout) he was very Bure did not fa 1 } out with Sir George Grey. He (Mr Barroi) was very sorry that Mr Stout's business required the resignation of bis seat in Parliament, as he regarded Mr .Stout as one of the best and strongest members of a party^ which, whether in administration or Opposition, was ecessary for the good of the country. Writers in the Press were like scene-painters: they must have strong lights and shades for effect, and in the discharge of their multifarious . duties and their varied criticism ib was no wondrr if sometimes the lights and shades fell into wrong places. He thought they must be excused when such mistakes wero made, but thought it was a pity that care was not taken to ascertain the facts, bo that they might give the country the legitimate conclusion from them. The Young New Zealand Party which had been formed, ami of which Mr De Lautour, one of the most painstaking and plodding members of the House, had been appointed Chairman, was only a subdivision of the Liberal parly, and would give allegiance to the leaders of the Liberal party on all great questions. Their object in banding together was that they might be a working party, and do something for the country without weakening the Liberal party, from which they had nc-ver severed themselves. This was another matter about which there had been a good deal of misrepresentation. It appeared to him possible tbat, after all, party government v?aß a mistake. It was a hard thing to come to the conclusion, when in the midst of a party fight, that the best interests of the country were served by the mere transference of the administrative functions from one set of men to another. He would not pretond to give an opinion as having weight, but it appeared to him tbat some older member of the House could do good FBrvica to fche country if ho could devise some system vthich would give them lepf < r party government, lesa fightiDg lot the swi,a,> of office, and more solid work for the good of the country, and he thought

tbat in the direction of appliances for local self -government they should seek for a system oufc of which they could get more work. Municipal institutions when properly worked were admirable; all the members wera on one or other of the executive committees, and so the f ffrct was that they formed altogether an administrative body. Probably in this direction they might find the solution of the question, but in the meantime party government was very costly. So far as he could loam, the G-rey Government, to retain the votes of the Nelson members, promised a line of railway from Greymouth to Nelson at a coot of L 150.000. This line was placed on the Estimates ; but he thought the Grey Government had enough honesty left to keep them from expending the vote as long as they could, and the result was lhat it was not expended. Then the change took place, and the Nelson men were on the side of the present Government, and the vote was restored, and so far as he could see the Gre>y Government having been pledged to the vote could not oppose it, and so the votes of the Nelson members cost the Colony L 150.000. The pas- , sing of the District Railways Bill he considered to be another evil resulting from party government. He had uo doubt that there were astute men in the House who know where to find the strings, and were pulling them in the dark, and that more than one member of the late Government had been committed to the scheme, It had been carried, although some of them felt they would have been justified in "stonewalling " in order to prevent such a barefaced swindle as the agreement to pay for railways constructed by capitalists to improve tbe value of their own lands?. He regretted that Mr Macindrew bad voted for the bill, but he still held to the opinion that Mr MCacandrew was one of the best public servants in the country. It might bo that Mr Macandrew saw that bo much money was being spent eleewhei a than in the district of Otago, and that, there being a scramble, he was>trongly inclined to scramble for as much as possible for Otago. At any rate, he thought if they knew all, they might not perhaps blame Mr Macandrew, and until he saw something worse than that.he should not cease to have confidence in him. Mr Barron strongly condemned the four Auckland members who deserted the Opposition at a critical time. One of them bad discovered (hat if he could get more from one party than from another it was his duty in the interest of his constituents to desert his own party; another rodent thought it probable that if he had not changed there would hava been a deadlock, and half the traders in Auckland would have boan ruined ; another left because he was in favour of the property qualification being retained (unless tho property belonged to a woman, in which case he opposed its being represented), but he did not lead him to suppose that the deserters were other than the country had represented them to be -men who should be ashamed of them, selves. Tbe property tax he strongly opposed as being inquisitorial and un-English, and of such a character that nations we are apt to regard as down-trodden would resent. It was very likely this propsrty tax had been levied in pursuance of a system to make the wealthy contribute a fair share. With that system he agreed ; but he thought that systems were sometimes like beaoone, and that the danger lay in not steering clear of them. The system in this case might be good, but he thought that in this instance they should have steered clear of it. Every constituency in New Zealand should oppose this mode of taxation, and tell tbeir representatives that if it was not repealed they should not be re-elected, and the revenue should be raised by_ other means. He suggested that the revenue might hayebten raised by doubling the land tax, reimpoeing tbe Bugar and tea duties, increased duties on liquor, and a good, round, wholesome duty— say of 9d —on beer. He believed that "the cheerful taxpayer " who was very anxious to contribute to the revenue of the country should be encouraged to do so more liberally, and if the good drinking man was a social nuisance and a domestic curse, they might see some virtue in him when he became a cheerful taxpayer. He (Mr Barron) was not a violent party man. but only liked to seef air play, and though he tad perhaps a little weakness for the losing side, he could see excellent qualities in members of the Government. There were excellent men in the present Government, and he admired many things in connection with their administration. For instance the Native Minister was a very good man, and he thought Native affairs were being well attended to ; the Premier was one of the hardest-working men in the House— as hard a worker as Mr Macandrew, and that was particularly high praite and of the Hon. Mr Oliver he could say from what he knew of him that he was sure that gentleman was far above attempting to advance his personal interestls at the cost of the Colony, and that the hon. gentleman's interest in one of the railways was of a trifling character. He hoped tbe Government would be compelled to bow to the decision of the country on the propeity tax and repeal the Act, and if they did that he was certain they would meet with no factious opposition ; and that while the Opposition was critical, careful, and watchful, it would be prepared to assist; in carrying through the business of the country. Macaulay, in his "History of England," had pointed out that office did much to raise and to lower the individual man. It was not con. tended that office would make a bad man a very good one, or a good man a very bad one, but that its tendency was to bring them nearer to a uniform levelj; and as probably the Treasurer, the Premier, and other members of the Government were actuated by a desire to see the best interests of the country attended to, it might not perhaps after all be such a bad thing for the shßepfold when the woJf turned Bhepherd. Mr Barron read an extract from the Australasian, showing the amount of tho taxation and the large indebtedness of this Colony compared with other countries, when estimated upon the basis of population, bub pointed but that there wera siilJ 34 millions of acres of Crown lands undisposed of, only nine millions of which are oarren mountain-tops or lakes, and that with the vast mineral and agricultural resources of the country and an increasing population, the outlook was 1106 so gloomy. The falling off in tho revenue, though it had been attributed to Sir Goorge Grey's administration, was, as bad been admitted by Major Atkinson, due to the falliug off in the land revenue. Of the future little could be said, the members of the Government having been discreetly reticent. From speeches in " Hansard" he gathered that it was probabla the toa, sugar, and beer duties would be reimposed, aa Mr Dick had expressed himself in favour of their reimposition. He expected a bill for redistribution of seats would be presented, and from opinions expressed by M*.jor Atkinson, he thought it might be taken for granted that an iDcoirie tax would not be proposed. Upon the question, of the redistribution of seals, ho expressed the hope that the factor indicated by Mr Gladstone, when speaking on this question at a distance from the seat of Government, would bo taken into cr»nin immuig tho bill. With regard to Free Trade, he eaid thore was a strong feeling in the community that Protection in 1 some form or other would bo a good thing fox 1 tho country. He did »ot kuow that hia opinion

would have much weight, but he held that of all the fallacies it was ever sought to teach people, Protpciion was one of the greatest.— (Applause ) It might be said it would be well in & % new country that there should be a little elasticity, a little encouragement to certain industries, but so surely as they encouraged special industries, so surely would they take money out of the pookets of many people to encourage the industries ; and of all others, the working man waa in the most danger from a Protective policy. He was glad last session to receive a letter from the secretary of the Society of Amalgamated Carpenters and Joiners opposing the Protective system, and said that auch a letter was the strongest evidence of the fact that the working men were opposed to Protection. In concluding, Mr Barron said: I have endeavoured to show you that although the liabilities of the Colony are considerable, its assets in unsold land and constructed railways show a handsome balance in its favour. But there is another asßet I have not brought under your notice, and that is the inherited courage, energy, perseverance, ana honesty of the race with which our Colony is peopled. The history of the British people is not only to be read in books— the records of their struggles for civil and religious liberty, their battles fought and gained, tbe means by which they have attained their pre-eminence on land and sea, in war, in commerce, and in civi lisation, have been imprinted in bold and bolder lines in the individuality of each succeeding generation. And as our forefathers in Britain, whose impress we bear, struggled and won, fought and conquered, in tasks immensely greater than ours, so shall we here overcome all our troubles. A generation is only a unit iv the time th*t goes to make a nation. In thinking of ourselves and providing for ourselves, we must also think of and provide for those who are to come after us. It muat be, and I am sure it will be, our care to Bee that in inheriting here in New Zealand, not only that of which we cannot deprive them— a beautiful fertile country with natural advantages in climate and resources such as are probably to be found in the same degree in no other country, whose great mineral wealth it may be reserved for them to develop ; they inherit, also, free institutions— liberty in its truest sense ; and that they do not inherit the undue pressure of burdens we should not leave for tbera to carry. A large number of questions were put to Mr Barron, in reply to the principal of which he said that he was strongly in favour of ths eighthour system of labour, aad thought the Government should have been the last to have entrenched on tbat system ; that be was in favour of the Sandhills being vested as a public domain in a board comprising representatives from the several municipalities ; that he moved for the purchase of the Ocean Beach and Peninsula railway only to ohow the absurdity of the District Railways Bill ; that he would support a Local Option Bill with compensation to hotelkeopers ; and that he was in favour of tbe West Cbast coastal service being continued if it did not make too great a demand on tho revenue ; but he did not approve of bonuses for the development of the mineral resources of the country. An Eleotob asked Mr Bwron if he thought ifc right in the interests of the administration of justice that the Government Bhould appoint as a Justice of the Peace anyone who ridiculed the Bible. Mr Babbon thought the act referred to was a matter of taste. t Mr Lloyd asked if it would not be advis. able to appoint a remembrancer to the municipal councils, to remind the mayors and councillors when they were making fools of themselves.— No reply waa given to this question. Mr M'Kenzie said tbat while all contracts had been stopped in the Middlfl Island, the game had not been done in tho North Island ; and that he had heard that the Livingstone line was being carried on for the convenience of one of the Railway Commissioners, and that the Commissioner referred to, though he might know a field of wheat, or distinguish a *heep from a cow, was in no way qualified for an appointment on that Commission. Mr Babbon said th<tf, a great deal of what had fallen from Mr M'Kenzie was true, The Commissions had been appointed on a bad plan. The commissioners were appointed from supporters of the Government iuhide and outside the House. Hardly anyone wiio was not a strong partisan of the Government had been appointed, and partisanship, instead of fitness for the position, had apparently been the reason for their appointment. On the mo! ion of Mr Bbagg, seconded by Mr J, P. Jones, a vote of thanks and confidence in Mr Barron was earned unanimously, and tha meeting dispersed shortly before 11 p.m.