EXTEA-PARLIAMENTARY

Colonist, Volume X, Issue 956, 23 November 1866, Page 3

EXTEA-PARLIAMENTARY

ADDRESSES

MR. OLIVER, AT RICHMOND,

Ok Monday Evening Mr. A. R. Oliver, member of the House of Representatives for the district of AViiimea, addressed a meeting of Lis constituents in the Star and Garter Hotel, at Richmond. The weather had been wet, and the attendance was consequently small, only fifteen or sixteen persons being present. J. W. Barnicoat, Esq., Speaker of the Provincial Council, was called to the chair.

Mr. Oliver, in his opening remarks, expressed his pleasure at meeting the electors, and suggested that all constituencies should keep a watchfid eye on tlie. proceedings of their representatives, in order to see that the decisions of the Assembly should represent the voice of the whole country. He then went shortly over the proceedings of the House, noting first a hint of the Ministry in favor of consolidating the Provincial loans and those of the General Goyernment into one general New Zealand stock. This, he thought, would be a good thing, as at present tlie clashing of General Government ancl Provincial loans in the market was injurious to the credit of the colony. There would bo some difficulty in dealing with the provinces in such consolidation, as some had borrowed largely, and others the reverse. Nelson, for example, had only a small debt, and it would be unjust to make her pay in equal proportion with those who had borrowed largely. But some arrangements could no doubt be made on this subject. Touching briefly on the state of the Ministry at the meeting of Parliament, Mr. Oliver said that Mr. Paterson, the late Postmaster-General, was as much out of place as a swan on a turnpike road. Mr. Jollie did.not enjoy much, confidence from the House, which* however, was not always right in its opinions ; for Mr. Jollie, though not showy, was, he thought, a good financier. Colonel Haultain was a good Defence Minister, and conducted the business of his office in an admirable way. After objecting to the system of legislation by committees, which was for some time the practice of the Ministry in tho beginning of the session, and remarking that the House had little faith in committees, and set little value on their decisions, Mr. Oliver alluded to the discussion on the reporting of the debates. This was to have cost the House £1500, ancl some people objected to it. The debate lasted for five days, or more than a week of meeting days, ancl must have cost nearly as much as the sum required; for the expenses of the Assembly could not be much under £1000 a week. He hoped next year that proper reports would be provided, for it could not be expected that newspapers in a small place could undertake the cost of such reporting as was wanted in the House of Parliament. He alluded to the very limited proceeds arising from the confiscated lands, of whicli there was but half-a-milhon acres, to represent three millions of nioney which had been borrowed principally on expectation of large returns from these lands. Respecting the £100,000 which the Ministry had lent to Auckland province,—that, saicl Mr. Oliver, was the cause of a most amusing debate. Mr. Fitzgerald compared this £100,000 to the man who fell among thieves. Mr. Jollie was the Levite who saw it, saicl nothing about it, and passed by on the other side ; Mr. Fitzherbert was the priest, and he also passed it by; but Mr. Whitaker was the Goocl Samaritan, for he not only took it up and laid it on his ass ancl carried it away, but took care to keep it to himself and apply it to his own uses. Mr. Whitaker made a very telling reply ;he said he was an old man, and had never yet been called either a thief or a liar, and would not be so now without resenting it, He said everybody knew Mr. Fitzgerald to be the Samson of the House ; but he had no necessity to go in search of the jawbone of an ass, fur he always carried one about with him; but there was this difference, that Mr. Fitzgerald did not always slay his enemies with that weapon as Samson did, but often severely smote himself. But Mr. Whitaker did not tell the House fully about this £100,000, but only told the Colonial Secretary that he wanted £250,000 for Auckland. This, however, was not granted. On the subject of the Privileges Act, arising out of the summons for 10s. 6d. sent to the Speaker, Mr. Oliver said that after searching for precedents, the Committee found that in some of the states of America members of the Legislature were free from civil process while performing their duties, and they recommended a similar rule in New Zealand. This he $iacl quite approved of and supported, as otherwise members might be called away on some frivolous pretence. He had also voted for removing from Superintendents of Provinces the power to stop importation of cattle. It had been abused in Dunedin by pressxu'e put on the Superintendent there by parties interested in the sale of cattle in Otago province. In speaking of the Goldfields Act, he defended the export duty on gold which was more than returned to the miner in roads and other local benefits. He strongly supported the survey of the ports of the colony for defensive purposes, as now that Russia had such a large force of war ships in this hemisphere in the Amoor river, and could injure our ports severely. Besides, any small privateer could attack us. The defenceless state of the colony was, he thought, a disgrace to the head of the kingdom, ancl the Home Government ought to do something towards this. (Hear, hear.) Regarding the legislation of the Assembly, he saicl that bills should be prepared and circulated throughout the country a considerable time before they were passed, so that people might know what laws were proposed. After a reference to the proposal of Mr. Whitaker for a separation of Auckland, he alluded to Mr. Carleton's proposition for an equalisation of the representation of the two islands ; a proposal for having the same number for each island, and whicli he (Mr. Oliver) condemned, as the populations of the two islands were altogether different. On the subject of Provincialism, he was favorable to the introduction of municipalities and counties, to take the place of provinces, and he thought the seeds of the destruction of the provincial system were sown. This was indicated in strong terms in the Governor's speech, in which Ministers referred to a future measure for municipalities. He opposed insular separation, which would cause such provinces as Nelson to be overshadowed by Otago and Canterbury; and which would not relieve the south island from the liabilities incurred for the north ; and the defence of the colony cost only £70,000 a-year now. He expressed himself in favor of the Upper House of the Assembly being an elective body, of which Superintendents ought to be members, as it would be an honorable post; and they would be equally useful there as in the Lower House, where their presence caused a great deal of evil, as Superintendents and other paid officers of the provinces went there to fight for the benefit of the provinces; and he instanced the debate which occurred on the subject of the bill for appropriating the fees and fines before the local courts in Otago, The new tariff he said was an improvement on the former one. He was in favor of taxing luxuries, aud leaving necessaries of life untaxed, so as not to press on the poorer classes. He had no leaning towards protection, but he had readily voted for putting one penny per pound of import duty on foreign butter, bacon, and cheese ; articles which our farmers could largely supply, and he would even agree to the putting of a small duty on imported grain. He could not see that it was right to compare England with its great number of artizans with this colony, where there was a large amount of land to bring into cultivation. Wheat was the staple crop, and aa there was great expense in the first laying of it down in our wild land, he thought it unfair to flood the country with imported grain and flour. He approved of the Stamp Duties; but thought the duty on spirits too high, as it encouraged smuggling. There was no end of smuggling and illicit distillation going on in the North Island, where in the Waikato the natives distilled peach-brandy, and sold it at six shillings per gallon, or half the amount of the duty put on spirits by the Customs. He thought the present taxation satisfactory in its results. The Customs tariff duties would catch the general public, and the Stamp duties would catch the mercantile community ; and he thought that there should be a land or acreage tax which would reach property, and be a very fair one in its operations. The great object of all taxation was, that all persons should, according to their means, contribute to the support of the Government of the country. In conclusion, Mr. Oliver said that this

might probably be his farewell address to his constituents, as he intended going to England soon. He felt very grateful to the constituency for having placed him in the honorable position of their representative. If he did go to England, he should take care that timely notice of his departure Was given to the electors. It was not his intention to leave the country altogether, for he should return to it; and if while in England he could do anything to advance the railway scheme, he should gladly do it. If he should be obliged to resign, he hoped to return after a short absence, and Bhoulcl eudeavor to renew his connection at a future day. In reply to Mr. Harkness, Mr. Oliver said that tlie tax on land he had referred to as being a good one was an acreage tax ; if for instance, the tax was, say a penny per acre, the owner of 100 acres would pay a hundred pence, and the owner of 10,000 acres, ten thousand pence, with some modifications as regarded town lands. Mr. Harkness objected to this scheme, and also to the import duty on butter and cheese which had been passed ; and still more he would oppose a duty on grain. In fact, we did not now produce nearly enough grain to supply the demand, and while that was deficient, to put a duty on grain or flour would be a great mistake. Tea and sugar too were over taxed, they were not luxuries but necessaries. Spirits and other luxuries ought to be taxed to the fullest extent. He asked Mr. Oliver whether he was favorable to a tax on wool. Mr. Oliver : No. Oh, no. Certainly not. A vote of thanks to Mr. Oliver was then passed unanimously, as was also one to the Chairman1 The meeting then closed. Mr. Barnicoat,'in replying referred to the necessity of having the proceedings of the legislature reported in the press, and circulated all through the colony, and he made some observations regarding the great advantages to the community which resulted from newspapers keeping the public informed respecting the proceedings in Parliament and the doings of their representatives.

MR. W. WELLS AT SUBURBAN NORTH. On Tuesday evening Mr. Willirm Wells, member for the Nelson suburbs, addressed his constituents in the Black Horse Inn, Wakapuaka. There was a large attendance of electors than usual, there being from 35 to 40 present. On the motion of Mr. Pollock, Jas. Mackay, Esq. sen. of Drumduan, was appointed chairman of the meeting.

Mr. Wells, after a few preliminary observations respecting the early proceedings of the session of Assembly, referred to Mr. Whitaker's motion for separation, ancl then alluded to what he saicl was another class of separationists in the South, who said they did not see auy necessity for a general government at all. This class, with Mr. Macandrew at their head, desired to do without a general government, they were ready to take the control of the public safety into their own hands in the provinces ; they did not want the Customs revenue put into the general fund, but wished to keep it to themselves. He was happy to say that the majority of the General Assembly did not concur in these opinions. If the colony was to be a great country' it must be united, it must work as one. Mr. Wells then noticed the financial statement of Mr. Jollie, which was similar to that of his successor, Mr. Fitzherbert. Mi-. Jollies budget included propositions to make the Customs.tariff better working. But one portion of it gave great offence to the provincial party in the house ; ancl this was his statement, that the provinces must not depend any longer on a share of the Customs revenue for its own purposes, ancl that if the provinces wished money, they must tax themselves. Mr. Wells explained his views respecting the surplus revenue act under which the *share of Customs had been apportioned to the provinces. By this act it was provided that the balance of revenue remaining after meeting all the expenses of the General Government was to be distributed among the provinces according to the amount of Customs revenue collected in each. But the provinces were so fluctuating in their nature, there were so many contingencies arising in different years, that they could not depend on what might come to them. But for a number of years it was found that the proportion to each province amounted.to. about three-eighths of the sum collected ; and the General Government thought it might safely appropriate this siun. It was sometimes more ancl sometimes less, but generally it was about three-eighths of the entire Customs revenue ' that the provinces received. This was the origin of the Customs three-eighths to the provinces. Mr. Jollies statement gave great offence to the party ancl irritated them, and at last a change of Ministry was seen to be necessary. The House was satisfied with Mr. Stafford as a leader, and wished to retain him in office, but not his Executive. Mr. Wells then related the history of Mr. Fitzgerald's motion, which referred to the promised saving of £240,000, a question the House did not wish to go into, —ancl of Mr. Moorhouse's amendment of no confidence in the Ministry as then constituted, ancl the resignation which followed. The no-confidence vote was not intended to apply to Mr. Stafford, but only to some members of his Executive, which he (Mr. Wells) thought was not a generous way of ousting a Ministry, as, in his opinion, if one went out, all ought to go ; but the House saw there was no leader like Mr. Stafford, as it knew his great talents ancl capacity for office, and his knowledge of the machinery of all the departments, of which he was complete master. The supporters of what was formerly the Weld party agreed that the new Ministry should consist of some of the Ministers that formed the Weld Government. This was clone, ancl Mr. Stafford returned to office with some of these ancl one or two of his old colleagues. Mr. Wells then spoke of the financial condition of the colony at the time Mr. Fitzherbert's statement was made. All that remained unexpended of the three-million loan was only £170,000. This loan had not clone all that was expected of it; and this £170,000 was all there was to meet a balance of £308,000 of an old account, due principally on account of engagements entered into with the Military Settlers of the North Island, The £150,000 of Treasury Bills were issued to meet this deficiency, and it was expected that sales of confiscated lands in the North Island would meet these bills. The General Government had to pay £266,000 a year of interest on the three-million loan, and the Provincial debt had grown so large that the General Government had to tax the colony very heavily to meet the interest on Provincial debts ; and he censured the very reckless way in which some of the provinces had gone to work in the appropriation of their loans. It was never expected that the interest on these Provincial loans should come out of the general taxation of the colony, —at least not altogether, but that part should come out of the land fund. The provincial debt raised on loan was £2,435,013, and Canterbury and Auckland had powers to borrow six or seven hundred thousand more, which would make the Provincial debt larger than that of the General Government itself. This Provincial debt is what we very seldom heard of. It was not spoken of in the press, the members of the Assembly said nothing about it," —it did not suit their purpose; and the Government said nothing about it, as they did not wish to raise a hubbub in the Assembly, as they knew that members of the more powerful provinces would threaten to turn them out. The Provincial loans had not been expended on reproductive works as they ought to have been. Southland had borrowed £470,359, ancl had utterly thrown it away on railways that were of no service, and the Government had to guarantee the interest of the loan to preserve the credit of the country, so that the whole colony was paying for the folly of Southland. Otago borrowed £500,000, spent chiefly on good roads ; but it sold its debentures for £400,000 by pressing them on the market, and thus losing £100,000. Canterbury had borrowed £300,000, and could borrow about £400,000 or £500,000 more. He censured the expensive tunnel now making between Lyttelton and Christchurch, as the railway could have gone round the hill at a cost of £75,000, and would have been sufficient to serve the district for fifty years ; whereas this tunnel would cost at least halt^a-million. Marlborough debt was small. Nelson had been the wisest and most provident province in the colony. Her debt was only £20,000, and her share of the public debt of the New Zealand Company was

£30,000; the interest she paid was only £3088 in all Wellington's debt wns £165,000, expended on works of a more reproductive nature than the loans of other provinces. Taranaki owed £103,000, and Auckland £626,707. Auckland's land revenue was only £6000, and the interest on her loans was [£48,000; and these sums did not include the £100,000 lent to Auckland lately by the General ' Government. Southland was a pauper, and the General Government had undertaken to meet its interest and had appropriated its land fund. All the Auckland members voted for the Stamp Duties in order that they might get enough money from their Customs to pay the interest of their debt. If this debt was thus to continue increasing, what would become of the colony ? He was glad to see that the Colonial Secretary had refused to sanction a further loan to Otago, for railway purposes; but possibly Auckland and Otago would be found saving they must have the loan, and would combine to frighten the Government. It was not the General Government which gave the loans, but the Provincial Governments which took them. One thing was certain to occur; the Government of the colony mußt maintain its credit: all these debts must be consolidated and made into New Zealand stock; the surplus revenue would then be at an end, and if Provincial Governments require money for public works, they must apply to Provincial Councils to pass measures for taxing the provinces for these works. He could see no other results. He thought municipalities would take the place of tbe provinces. The present system was too costly. Provincial institutions had been of very great service in colonising ; but most of the lands were now sold, and it was for the publictosay whether these institutions should not now be set aside. He should be. sorry to, see any abrupt interference, but the country should set its face against the progress of this indebtedness. On the subject of the railway from Nelson to Cobden, he hoped to get good results from the scheme, and was. glad to see the Superintendent acting so promptly in bringing the matter before the public. He quoted part of Dr. Hector's report on the mineral and coal formations, and said that an iron way for opening the country would cost little more than the price of a macadamised road. The country was valuable in minerals, and if the Bcheme were laid before capitalists in a proper manner, so as to be taken up, it would bo the making of the province. With respect to his political action, Mr. Wells said he had supported the Stafford Ministry after it became connected with some of Mr. Weld's Ministers. Mr. Martin asked how Mr. Wells could support this railway when he condemned the Southland railway scheme ? Mr. Wells said the cases were totally different. Southland borrowed the money; but in Nelson we wished to see introduced, if possible, a million of foreign capital to do the work. J Mr. Martin asked how they could ask people to do this when it was said that the Canterbury j Members of Assembly were opposed to giving away the land until the Nelson members told them that the land was not good, and of no use (great laughter); if it were no use, how coulu they ask people to spend money on it ? and if it were of no use, why give it away for nothing? (Laughter, and " hear, hear.") Mr. Wells said that even if a company got 10,000 acres per mile it would cost them about 7s. 6d. per acre. The land would only be of value by the opening of the country by a railroad. Mr. Joe Bungate made the customary reference to the advantages that would accrue from the_ reclamation of the mudflat; but the means of doing so was not very apparent to the member or the meeting. Mr. Dodson asked if Mr. Wells thought the General Government had managed the affairs of the colony well or to his satisfaction ? Mr. Wells said there were many things he disapproved of; some of the schemes had been very plausible and very good in theory, but had not been successful in practice. Mr. Dodson : Mr. Wells has spoken against the provinces and their loans ; has not the three-million loan been wastefully managed by the General Government ? Mr. Wells : Two blacks don't make a white. (A Laugh.) Mr. Dodson : I infer from his address that Mr. Wells is opposed to Provincial Governments, and would willingly see them put down. Is that the case ? Mr. Wells : I am favorable to that form of government which will be the cheapest, and. which will maintain peace in the colony, and our credit abroad. Mr. Dodson : Would municipal institutions save expenses? Mr. Wells : I think they would save something. It would be an experiment. Mr. Dodson : Where would the saving be ? What officials could be dispensed with? Would you not require Lord Mayors ? Mr. Wells : We could have the Mayors without the Lords. (Laughter.) . Mr. Martin: Would not this be placing moro power into tbe hands of the General Government ? Mr. Wells : I don't know ; probably it might do so. Mr. Martin : If we have seen tbat the General Governments have managed our financial affairs badly why should we give tbe en more powers ? Mr. Wells : Well, if we see that, it would perhaps be different. Mr. Dodson : But would it not be equivalent to taking all the powers from the Provincial Governments ? Mr. Wells : The provinces have not executive powers. They have power only to execute public works. They are legislative bodies with action confined within certain limits, powers to undertake certain local works, but subject to the General Government. Mr. Dodson : Don't you think that the threeeighths of the customs has been well expended in the provinces, and particularly in this province ? Mr. Wells : The three-eighths of customs revenue is nearly all hypothecated already, to meet the debts incurred by the provinces. Mr. Martin: They are not all that way. If Southland has made a bad use of its loans, that is no reason why other provinces like Nelson should be made to suffer. Mr. Wells : I think it would be unjust to make provinces suffer which have not borrowed largely, and in the apportionment of the general debt provinces like Nelson, for example, should be made an allowance, and receive the benefit of its small debt. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Martin : Do you mean to go to the House of Representatives to oppose the Provincial system, or to support it ? Mr. Wells : I go as a representative of the colony; Ido not go to represent Provincial institutions. I am sorry to say too many go there to do that; Igo to represent what is good for Uie colony ; for I think what is best for the colony as a whole is best for eacli individual. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Doughty moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Wells, which motion was seconded by Mr. Arthur Collins, and agreed to. The meeting then broke up.

Assault on a Wife.—Yesterday, Henry Oswald, was brought up at the Police Court, charged with assaulting his wife, by striking her on the head with an axe and causing a frightful wound. The woman, whom he had previously assaulted, the first time a few days after his marriage, was taken to the Hospital, where she lies unable to be removed. Had it been the edge, instead of the blunt end of the axe which struck the woman it would likely have killed her. Oswald was remanded.

The Melbourne Argus of November 12th, says : — " The total quantity of gold exported from this port since the beginning of the year has been 1,639,104 ounces, of which 317,358 ounces were transhipments from New Zealand. The total exports during the corresponding period of last year amounted to 1,441,955 ounces, of which 137,208 ounces were the produce of New Zealand gold-fields. A Kentucky letter says:—"We cannot pick up a Kentucky paper but we see an account of some terrible affray with pistols or knives. The city of Louisville alone will average a murder a day, and in 21 country towns it is just as bad. Now, what is to be done ? We venture to say that eight out of ten of the young men in Kentucky carry weapons, and use them, when there is an opportunity to do so."