PRESESSIONAL SPEECHES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 7048, 23 April 1886, Page 2

PRESESSIONAL SPEECHES.

Mil. SAMUEL AT THE ALEXANDRA HALL. Tins Alexandra Hall" wa3 well filled on Wednesday ni^ht on tho occasion of Mr. Samuel's address to his constituents, a number of ladies, as ia usual in this place, showing sufficient interest in politics to assemble on the occasion. His Worship the Mayor (Mr. J. Paul) presided, and in introducing the speaker said he could well dispense with the formality gone through at other places of asking a fair and impartial hearing. Mr. Samuel, who was received with applause, said the delay in addressing his constituents had been caused by the uncertainty as to whether or not there was to be a dissolution. Tho lost session was characterised by the extraordiaary state of preparation in which tha Government had its bills at the opeuiiig of Parliament; within ci.'ht days of that event the Fiuancial Statement was brought down; and in fact tho object seemed to have been to crowd as many measures before Parliament as possible in order to take up the attention of the members with real solid hard labor, and to keep them out of mischief. (Laughter.) If that was the object, however, it was unsuccessful, as Members! soon began toattack tho Government. The chief subjects which engaged attention were the native lands policy, the public works policy, and the readjustment of taxation. The great fight of the session was undoubtedly over tho well-worn subject of FREE TRADE VERSUS PROTECTION. The policy o£ tho government on the last question, was that which he had always supported. Ho had advocated it when he was returned to the House, and had seen no reason to change his views since. The customs impositions were in the first place for revenue. There was a large amount of freewill about tho payment of rovenuo by that method ; if people did not want to pay the tax, they had only to avoid consuming tho dutiable articles. Another point should also not be lost sight of. Bearing in mind that we wanted income, and that the customs was a convonnient and cheap method of raising it, it should, as far as possible, be levied so as to give some protection to local industries. Personally he bad do sympathy with ox-

treincs, and distrusted tho cast-iron rules oE logicians. It was apparent that if tho government stood upon their tariff they must be defeated, and advantage was taken of this by Major Atkinson to propose certain resolutions amounting to a want of confidence. The direct issue prepared to the House was " are you prepared to return to thejAtkinson regime ? " Very few people had greater respect for Major Atkinson than ho had, but he for one was not prepared to Bee the Colony return to his government, and he joined v in endeavoring so to arrange matters as to avoid such a disastrous thing, not that he was an enemy of the lion. Major Atkinson in any respect, but because ho thought a few years seclusion as a taxpayer instead of a return to office as a taxBpender, would do him good, and he would emerge from it a sounder politician, and a better statesman. It was a dangerous thing for anyone to hold long tho reins of government, and it waa very much to bo deplored that a man with his ability, experience and tact, should return to power too soon. (Hear, hear). The result of the motion was that many who did not approve of the policy of the government voted with them, more from a fear of the retnrn of tho Atkinson party, than of any love of the present government. m Mr. Vincent, Pyke and Mr. Hislop brought similar motions, and although they were only private members, the voting was closer than on Major Atkinson's motion ; in fact Mr. Hislop's motion, which amounted to a want of confidence, was adjourned only on tho casting vote of tho Speaker, and finally rejected by only four votes.

LOCAL BODIES FINANCE. The Local Bodies Finance Bill came in for a deal of abuse, and Mr. Samuel confessed he wus not in favor of it. lie had a horror of permitting local bodies to raiee money by loans. lie certainly respected members o£ local bodies, who had important, and sometimes unpleasant duties to perform, but they should have checks put upon them, and should not be empowered to bonow large sums of money without the piior approval of Parliament. He was therefore not sorry the Govirnment proposals were negatived. HOSPITAL AND OHARITABLE AID. The Hospital and "Charitable Aid Bill depended upon tho financial policy of the Government being j carried out. The passing of that bill was a favor granted tho Government by their supporters. Personally ho would have liked to see it not become law, for he could not see any branch of the Government that should moro properly bo charged against tho general revenue than the cost of Ilospital and Charitabe Aid. (Hear, hear). But a Government must have- so'no of its bills passed or it could not icinnin in oflice, and the continuance of the present Government in office was deemed highly desirable for tho welfare of tho colony. EDUCATION.

One other reason that ho did not oppose the bill was that, us it introduced the system of local taxation and local management into Charitable Aid matters, he might hope it would pave the way for a recognition of the same principle in education mntters. People should be made to feel that they were paying a largo sum for education, for then they would be more likely to see that they obtnined their moneys worth. During the private discussions which took place respecting the Charitable Aid Bill it was generally admitted that within a year or two the snmo principle would probably bo applied to education. DESIRE fOX OFFICE. 110 did not believe tho present Government had been at all desirous of office. If anyone had been put in their places their succcssora would have been chosen from tho independent members in preference to Major Atkinson's party, and it was considered for tho good oE tho country that tho experienced men should be retained in preference to inexperienced men, or to tho party which had been previously turned out. The Government then directed their attention to really requisite measures, and passed them through with little difficulty. When the public say, " why did not they go out," it is forgotten that it was patriotic in the Government to consent to retain oflice under the circumstances, and at tho express desire of a majority of the Houde. Tho Government, therefore, deserve credit for being reason able, in not being carried away by its injured vanity, and for having conducted tns business of tho country as well and efficiently as they had. CIVIL SERVICE. xlcx lc did not agree with the Government proposals to divide the Civil Service into classes, to give regular annual increases of salary, and to deduct JO per cent, from salaries to be hauded over to officers if they left the Government employ, or to their representatives if they died. AH that tho Civil Service wanted was that favoritism should cease, so that an old servant perhaps with a large family could not be discharged at a week's notice to make room for sonio young gentleman with friends at Court, and that each officer should be paid and tr.ated according to bis desert.

DEFENCE. He did not hesitate to express his opinion that we bad bee recklessly extravagant in our expenditure upon defence. (Hear, hear.) £250,000 had been voted for defence, while only £100,000 had b'.en ! allotted for the purchase of native lands, and £50,000 for immigration. There was, however, some excuse for the Government. It was easy for us here to form what he conceived to be correct opinions on the subject, but the largo centres do not take the same views. Major Atkinson had said that in this matter he would at once admit the Government had done its duty to the colony. That coming from a leader of the Opposition was calculated at once to still the voice oE objection from Government supporters ; and tho Government did not get cate r chised as much as he thought they onsibt to have been respecting their extravagant defence expenditure.

RAILWAY BOARDS.

Another proposal heralded by the Finanoial Statement was tho establishment of Railway Boards. Our railways return about £1,000,000 per annum gross ; the cost of: working was £650,000, leaving about £350,000 towards paying interest nnd sinking fund upon their cost. Interest and sinking fund amounted to about £550,000, leaving a deficiency to be made up out of taxes of £200,000. It would be well to remember this when it was being advocated that new railways should be commenced in all directions. It had long been his opinion that the railway system was deplorably mismanaged. (Applause). There was too much red tape about it, too little business ability was displayed by its higher officers, and there was too much desire shown to alter tho tariff for different places in order to acquire popularity for the time being, and to favour ono distiict at the' expense of another. He was at one time inclined favorably to look upon the proposal to appoint independent Railway Boards, but he decided, after the experience in the Government Insurance Department, he could certainly not support the constitution o£ Railway Board. It was only a means a shifting responsibly from the Government, so that the latter should not be open to attack. They had got rid of the Insurance, they wanted to get rid of tho railways, talked of appointing a permanent Native Minister, had handed over the management of all funds and of native reserves to tho Public Trust Office Board; in fact, there would soon bo nothing to turn out the Government upon. A motion had been made that returns in

connection with the Insurance Department be supplied, but reply was given by Government that it was a private department now, and the Board could supply tho returns or not, just as thej r chose. The same thing would be experienced with the Railway Board; this was his reason foi opposing the bill. Let us have people to manage our public affairs that we can turn out when they mismanage them. The Board could meet in secret and debate in secret, and the House would have no power at all. (Applause.) i CAPTAIN RUSSELL'S MOTION. He voted for the celebrated motion of Captain Russell. He had supported the Government through the session as far as he could ; but if the colony was not in a position to carry out local works which were absolutely necessary for the settle-, ment of tho country — as he knew as regards to this district — it did not seem to him that they were justified in carrying out other public works which he did not know of. It was not fair that part of the colony should have its public woiks constructed and the whole colony pay, while other parts were not attended to ai a'l. It was extremely fortunate the motion was carried, end the £500,000 reserved for disposal this year.

DISTRICT RAILWAYS PURCIIASING BILL. He supported this bill the session before last, when the Colonial Treasurer brought down proposals which were to bestow prosperity upon New Zealand, and which get forth that the patchwork style o£ railway construction was not tho correct one, but that we should finish off work, make it pay, and not spend at so much per annum over an indefinite period. He believed that was the truo policy, and he did not hold with limiting the expenditure to a fixed sum per annum, any more than he believed in fixed increases to ci n"l servants. He thought they should not bo guided by rule of thumb, and with that view he supported the District Railways Purchase Bill in the previous session. But he opposed it in the last session because things bad changed. Tho Government had been defeated on their customs' proposals, the property tax had to be raised to seven-eighths of a penny, and the stamp duties raised by 50 per cent. These were signs warning them to be careful as tho liabilities they incurred. There was not the excuso to say I hit these railtvajß opened up country, for tho lines wero already constructed; and it was not the time to tako over a new liability for tho purposo of relieving people liable to rates.

EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY.

lie thought tbo proposal to allow a syndicate to carry out tho work of the East and West Coast railway and tako the land was a very unwise one, and ho would not like to see one single foot of the railway pass from tho Govcrnmont into the hands of private individuals. The East and West Coast railway assun.cd a different appearance last session. Instead of being as before, a proposal to givo land to construct the railway and allow the makers to have tno railway into the bargain, it took tho form of the Government doing it. Ho then felt more inclined to support the proposal. There were those who consider tho, construction of that railway more important than the North Island main trunk railway ; we must not bo blind to the requirements of other districts. A majority of those in the South Island say it is quite as necessary to them as we say our harbour is to us ; and when we comment on the blindness of those who deny the necessity for uro harbour, aud who say we are throwing money into tho, sea, we ought not to loso sight of the possibility that in opposing their East and West Coast railway we may be as mistaken as they are in opposing our harbour, lie believed that that railway would eventually have to bo constructed by the colony, and unpopular as it was at present in tho North Island, he would give full consideration to all tho arguments in favour of tho colony undertaking the work. His mind was open to argument, although lv had hitherto voted against it. It was at one time doubtful whether tho East and West Coast railway would be mivio a Ministerial question, and ho fell bound to intimate that whether tho Government went out or not he would have to vote against it, as tho colony was not in a position to undertake such a great work ; but he would resei/e to himself the right to vote otherwise should ho be convinced to the contrary. NORTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY. He was disappointed with tho Government for not having acquired more land upon tho North Island Main Trunk Line. He had urged constantly the necessity of acquiring from the natives the land which is to be benefited by tho work. It wus on account of this chiefly that he opppsed tho native policy o£ the Government, for another subject on which he was opposed to the Government was the Native Lands Disposition Bill. It had been drafted by the Hon. Mr. Ballance with the greatest cure, and was very dear to him, and he Ipst it with tho greatebt grief. Without pretending to be a native doctor he gave it as his opinion that the lees wo recognised

tribal distinctions, and tho more we disregarded the influence of chiefs, the better for tho Maoris and us too. " hat hill was for the purpose of fostering- tribal distinctions; the most bumptious ami 1 >quacious, or better bora— he did not know how tho Maoris accorded precedence — were to speak aud act for all tho rest. It was quite possible that those Maoris wbo did not get up and shout and rave had the better sense, and generally ho had the greatest respect for that class. Wo shou'd respect their good sense, and they should not be dominated by those who made a greater noise than the}- do. The Government should deal with the Maoris as men ' and not acknowledge the claim of ono Maori to speak for another. Ho would oppose anything which joined these chiefs together for the 'purpose of materiallyassisting each other to get advantages at the expense of their poorer and weaker countrymen. Many of the Maoris in Parihaka would, if they dared, live quietly on. their own places; but they say: " What is the use of cultivating; if we sow kumaras all the Maoris from Parihaka come up and

eat them; we will go to Parihaka and take someone else's kumnras." (Laughter.) Theiefore the influence of tho chiefs should not bo perpetuated, but equality among tl 8 Maoris should be acknowledged. He did not agree that the land ought to bo taken away from the native 'owners. It is unworthy of any Englishman to propose to rob a man of his land. If the Maori could not cultivate his land he should be paid a fair amount for it (hear, hear), and the price should be fixed according to tho state in which the Maori kept it. That should also apply to the white man. No settler should keep more land than he uscb or cultivates or takes something out of so as to, make it reproductive. He would havothe Government empowered to take the land from such men, paying a fair value for it, and havo the same law for tho Maoris; and have those lands of the colony which were not occupied worked or made reproductive taken into the hands o£ the Government at a fair price, whether the owners were white or black. (Hear, hear.) He felt disappointed, therefore, holding these views, to find that tho Government had not turned their attention to acquiring the land at a small price, instead of waiting until the railway was constructed and until prosperity came to us, when the value of these lands would be largely increased. The Government should not wait until the speculator took advantage of the Maori, and got agreements of all sorts and descriptions, leases with all sorts of purchasing clauses, to release the land from which, tho Government would have to pay these exceedingly sharp men large sums of money.

OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY. ' The Otago Central Kail way would have to be construoted sooner or later. So much money had been expended on it, that it would be worse than folly not to : go on with it. IEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. He did not, think the Government wont far enough in their proposal to reform the Upper House. As at present constructed, he did not think we were deriving much benefit from the Legielative Council, and the present Government in respect of the appointments made were certainly no better than their piedecessors. (Applause.) FISHERIES AND FORESTS. The Fisheries Act was ■ a valuable measure, as was also the State Forests Act. It was quite apparent tho forests in this country, which we were so glad to get rid of hero, will in the future be sadly missed. The destruction of the kauri forests in tho North Island is going on so rapidly that in a few yeurs there will be no marketable kauri left in New Zealand. EDUCATION. It was now made compulsory that children should be sent to school for 30 days every quarter. A largo sum was being spent in education, and they should not allow more of it to be wanted than they could help. LAW OF DISTRESS. A very valuable social measure had been passed last session in amending the law of distress of rent. It bad been a blot in our laws that one man's goods should bo liable for tho debt of another's, and that blot was now removed and no man's goods could bo seized for tbo rent due by another.' coroner's juries. The alteration oE tho number of a coroner's jury from twelve to six would be a great relief. Serving on these juries was a most unpleasant service indeed, and if they were to have these things — ho did not see much need, as the magistrate could hold the inquirer himself — better to have six men than twelve taken away from ordinary business to attend such investigations. PROPERTY LAW CONSOLIDATION ACT. This was an important Act in several respects, especially m that it enabled an executor or administrator to make a good title, tnd thusremovod doubt and prevented litigation. Under the old law, supposing A died leaving B executor or representative, and B sold and Borne one purchased, a good conveyance could bo got; but supposing B, the executor, need not have sold to satisfy tho debts of tbo deceased, tho heir at law could come aud oj-ct tho purchaser, and the hitter's title would not bo good. . LICENSING BILL. Several oE the measures which were rejected received a groat deal oE attention. Tho Licensing Bill was introduced — it generally is — and a great deal of talking ensued, but it met the usual fate — it was dropped. It was dropped because it was ruthlessly cut up, and its introducer would not proceed with a patchwork measure, eonlrived according' to tin fancy of the members of the committee, who sat upon , it. It was his opinion that those who were satisfied, with the present law might rest content, as tho House seems determined not to pass another Licensing Bill. Many members said openly they had had enough trouble over tho bill of 1881, • and would take care not to have another Licensing Bill for many years. If it does happen that an alteration is carried in the Licensing act next session, which ho did not think nt all likely, be hoped it would be ia con- • nection with a proposal made last session, I hat the Licensing Committees should nqtjas at present, be the only judical body oE first instance, trom which there is no appo iJ. lie thought it was illogical and improper tint a man's pioperty should depend upon tho constitution ol! acommiltee. Such athing did not exist in any other jmlcial body, and it should not be so with licensing committees. They should be the same as other bo lies, aud no man should hive his propei ty taken away from him on account or! tho whim or malice of his neighbors, even thought theybe members of a licensing committee. He had not the slightest sympathy with those who wanted to encour! age the liquor traffic in the seuce of enjj couraging men to drink to the ruin ot themselves and their fumilies, but there was no doubt about it that if New Zealand was to be great and prosperous we iniidt be beyond the uaroqw views which so many people take upon this question. Wo mufat look upon it us a necessity that the wants of man must be attended to in this particular as well as in all others, and wo must not depiive our fellows of "one of the gifts.qf Providence, simply because we have no taste for it or cannot take it ia moderatic v ourselves. It was not right to deprive other ptople of what we don't like our^ selves simply because we don't like it. (Applause).

divorce. He bad reoeived many letters froai

constituents while that bill was before the / House, imploring him to consider what he * was doing, beseeching him to think whether he was not undermining the social syst- vi, nnd might end by deploring the 'ili.y hu was born if ho went off" with that nu-asuro. (laughter). He felt some sense of responsibility in bringing boforo the llouso the amendment he proposed. It was simply this : that when persons havo been sopurated for seven years they should be emitted to a -divorce. He proposed to give them liberty to marry again. Of •course, the proper settlement and provision for the muintenanco on the ' -wife and any children would be required, for which the proper machinery ' had been prepared. Through the position . of the present land law a deserted wile orj husband cannot marry again for seven, , years without being subject to prosecution for bigamy; and even after that time, cannot marry again with the certainty: that their marriage may not bo illegal, and their • children not their children in law.; As au instance, he mentioned the case of a man who ran away from his wife in England. About 7 or 8 years afterwards, never' having .heard of him, the deserted wife: being a young woman, married again. After .ten'ycars or so the second husband died and/by will loft." his dear wife and dear,', children ".all his property. A short time afterwards the heir at law, who would havesuoceccled butf or the wife and children found that thn first husband was alive, and brought him from across the seas in order to help him to contest tho will. Ho succeeded becansb the' woman was not the " boloved wife" at all, and the " beloved children " wero not tho children in law, and the heir thus stepped in and tho ■ woman and her chiluren were left destitute, she being still tho lawful wife of the man who had deserted her 18 years before. That was a monstrous state of things. He would bring in the bill next session ; it would not then be carried, but he hoped yet to see the Teform made within a few years.

NEW PLYMOUTH EXCUANGB BILL.

The only bill of a local interest passed was the New Plymouth Exchange Bill. It affected a few property holders here, and had been needed for many years.

NBW PLYMOUTH HAKBOOB,

The most important matter of the future was the completion of the New Plymouth Harbour.- (Applause.) When he first came before them his chitf .motive w\ib to be instrumental in furthering die piosperity of this district, and of course the colony also. The first thing to be done was to get a rail connection with the breakwater. " He could, see no chance of obtaining that under the old regime." "We were recommended to apply a portion of the Harbor Loan to tke purpose, or to form a private company. That was now constructed and the object most requiring attention was tbe continuation of the breakwater. As regards the Harbour Board's proposal to borrow £100,000", it would be^ his duty, and pleasure to introduce a bill ,for the purpose at the next session of Parliament, and generally he intended to strain every nerveto get it carried to give us the opportunity of showing our faith in' the harbour by taxing ourselves. It is of course to' be expected that there will be some opposition. . Our worst enemies are too frequently near at hand. We shall Lave enemies and opposition to the passing of this bill, and of a strong character. He should have sufficient opposition from Waitara and Opunake to keep him _employed, for these local jealousies were the curse of the country. (Applause.) Why don't these men recognise that if they endeavour to stop the prosperity of any place to which they are closely joined, in the ordinary course of events those who represent, or have the power in respect of other places, will be naturally tempted to retard their prosperity too ? Don't these other places want public works, and look to friends and neighbours to enable them to get them carried out ? and )ct they blindly and bitterly oppose the necessary ■ public works of their neighbours. He had received notice from Beveral persons that made him speak as he did that night, and as he feared that they would not give up their bitter opposition heVould spare no effort to carry the bill giving power to borrow £100,000. The opposition wat?, bo he was given to understand, of a very Dai rowminded and Belfish nature ; and if it bhould be successful, the people of Taranaki will owe it not to those who live in the South Mand that we shall be prevented from carrying out this necessary pait of its construction ; and when wo were told about expenditure of money in the South Island we are to remember it is not those persons in the South Island, or their representatives who are likely to oppose the necessary power being granted to us to construct the works, but our own immediate neighbors, and those who ought to be our best friends. With regard to the Opunako bo called haibor, he bad in his hand a report from two gentlemen, appointed by the government to inspect that roadstead, and see what really could be done for these people who were so ambitious as to want a harbor close to our own. (iieport read). Messrs. Blackelt and Johnson Avere deputed to go and examine the bay, and their opinion is that the harbor can be made capable of being formed, capable of taking three steamers of the usual coastal type, and the estimate of the cost is given at £150,000. They must be very sanguine to suppose that so much money will be spent there, and hereafter how can it possibly be contemplated constructing a harbor there for £150,000 which when made will be only be able to accommodate two or three coastal steamers. It. seemed preposterous, as they must sec if they look at the matter fully. Whilst he said that, however, he would endeavour to do good to those districts aa far as possible; but he could not say what he would do if his good intentions were taken away by bitterly hostile action on their part. He would do his best if he found an expenditure of £10,000 or '£15,000 would afford facilities for shipping at Opunake. To aid Opunake in obtaining that sum he would work hard for a small Act to enable them to get ouch facilities, and wou'd spare no labor or pains to help them. So with Waitara. He did not think as those who opposed us dp, but he would do his beet to hulp tho district without narrow views with respect to any pailicular'locality. ' lie hoped tho gentlemen opposed to us would, reflect upon the couree they we re pursuing, let their better .senbti pmvail, instead ol working on local jealoufcica and endeavouring to stir up otic locality against tho other to the detriment of all.

ISLAND 110 AD.

There were three routes by which wo could get connection with the North Island Trunk Railway. The firut^was from Strutford to Taumurunui, by which the distance whs 72 miles; and it wns estimated that the co&t would be £800 per mile to make, bridge, and gravel a road, or a total of jt57,G00. The next line was from Mimi by way of Mokuu to Kuiti, 72 miles, which would pass through a country rich in iiiineials, and there wtrc great hopes of it, too, in the way o£ cement. This lino would, ho was informed, cost half us much again as the first named, or some £70,000. The cost was much ugaintt it, as it was uiiHcult to gel Parliament to vote large sums. The load would, however, be extremely advantageous to this district and colon}-. The third route, tirid also the easiest und uioic lively io be constructed, was from the Uimi to Tauniaranui. It was only 50 miles in length, und would cost not piore than £40,000 to form, biidgi-, and gravel. It would enable people to go irom New Plymouth to Taumaranui by ix

good coach service in one day, and would thusbriug us within two days of Auckland. A Voice: What about Awakino route ?

Mr. Samokl: Those v.vo tho three lines which I am informed by tho surveyors are tho best. I brought all beforo tho Premier. I am not going to take tho responsibility of advocating one against tho other. lam going to advocate the right of Taranaki to bo connected with tho North Island Main

Trunk Railway. In conclusion Mr. Samuel thanked the meeting for their patient hearing. He had great hopes in the future of the district. Land was being occupied moro rapidly than tho surveyors could keep place with, but ho regretted that tho land laws did not permit a man to select any piece of land on any terms ho chooses, without being bound to take certain portions of it on deferred payment,others onptrpetual lease, and others for cash, as they may have been fixed by tho Lands Department. (Loud applause). We should, howovor, not allow the land to bo monopolised by individuals. He believed the people of tho colony were perfectly alive to the necessity of not borrowing to much or spending foolishly, and they and the Government in office may be 'trusted ,to borrow for the wants of the colony without being held in check by a cast-iron rule limiting tho borrowing to so .much a year, lie w«s in favor of borrowing (hear, .hear), not largely, such as £10,000,000, simply because we can spend it wheu we get it, but of 'borrowing what we want, whether the sum tie little or great. The iosources.of tho colony and the industry o? i's people were great, and ho had no fear of repudiation/ lie be lieved tho resources of the colony merely needed to bo developed in order to enable us to bear our burdens now, and to pay oil our indebtedness in the future. (Applauso.) -Replying to questions, Mr. Samuel said ho had some hope of getting moro uniformity introduced into railway management, lie was not in favor of deuomational i education. Every child should bo taught | at a public school to a limited extent. It , was hard for those who were incapable of (taking advantago o£ that expenditure to ipay for tho low schools, and still harder to ;have to pa\ T to keep up; universities. He ■did not think it inconsistent that he should •be in favor of spending another £200 in jthe High School. It was an existing instution, and it would enable tho present teaching staff to be utilised to the fullest extent. Tho persons who promoted the late meeting in reference to tho Mokau could not have put a worse slight upon the Government. The latter had had their attention drawn to the river long before by Major Atkinson, Colonel Trimble, and fcimself. Spending £3,000 upon tho Mokau yould interfere with the Government negotiations in progress, and would assist private speculators who are endeavoring tb hoodwink the public. It might be true that the Government had 50,000 acres there, but one private speculator boasted of having 70,000 acres in the same place under l|ase for 40 to 60 years. He was not gping to help private persons to gf.t expenditure of public money. Tho present native land laws gave full machinery for the purchase of native lands. Ho had reconsidered his intention of not standing for the constituency, because it was barely possible that a certain Mr. E. M. Smith would be elected, which would be a public calamity. In reference to tbe Sentry Hill Workshops, they had not been virtually closed. The government had kept their promise literally. Wanganui was in thjQ centre of the line, New Plymouth w^s at an extremity and it was rnoro convenient to do most of the work in Wanganui. Wanganui at present was stronger thpn we were. He held that railways should be constructed by the government. If the East and West Coast Railway was toibe "profitable, the government should gejt the profits ; if it was not, it would be bejswindling the syndicate. He had no objection to the government taking our old buildings to Wanganui ; he hoped to see a good new building in its place. Tho Mokau snagging works could bo recommenced without loss, and the government we're merely holding their hands until ce-tain blocks were acquired. He had so many points now to advocate, that it was unwise to bother the government unnecessarily. Ho had always opposed sponding government money in native lands before they were acquired, and he should not suddenly swcop round. Ho entirely disaproved of elected magistrates. The Maori processions were very harmless things, and seemed to exhaust the spirit of rebellion. It was, however, ruining the natives. If he could not get the loan for tbe harbor he would try to get the convict establishment. He had poiated out to the Premier the necessity of a north road, but ,it wias not advisable to state there what "hadjpassed in private conversation. He did not think we should go in for wholesale: immigration, "but should reduce the passage money in order to attract to NewZealand a number of tho people wilh means who now went to America. Ho did hot see any injustico in their being no appeal from a report of a petitions' committee. It was different from a licensing committee, inasmuch as it was itself an appeal court.

J[r. McKeevkr proposed a vote of thanks and confidence in 'Mr. Samuel os theirj representative. Ho had listened attentively to Mr. Samuel, and had heard more sound sense than in any other" spoech for ten years. Mr| A. C. Fookes seconded the motion. No : amendment was proposed, and the voto was carried unanimously. Mrj Samuel thanked tho meeting for their kind expres&ion, and a vote of thanks to the chair terminated tho proceedings.