MEETING OF ELECTORS.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XVI, Issue 5185, 4 June 1885, Page 3

MEETING OF ELECTORS.

At. the invitation of Col. Eraser, M.8.R.; for, the Thames, a'considerablo gathering of the inhabitants took place at the Academy of Music'last evening. ',', On the nomination of Mr Craig, Mr McGowan was voted to the chair.- Cp). Eraser, on a|scend-, ing the platform, was received with con'Bide'rable applause.: Mr McGowan priefly iritrbducVd the lion., member,l.p'd ox : pressed his opinion in favour of,pre* s'esiSional' speeclids'fi'om; mombers '-rather tli'an addresses immediately at the'close of (Session...,They,alllcnew that action told better than speeches, and they looked to :their member for action. He would not detain therri longer, but simply introduce their member. (Applause.) j

• : ColV'Fraser said,—He had delayed addressing them hitherto in tho hope that he should on meeting them-have Something better and more definite to toll them about thel progress made with the railway —a ! matter' which so intimately concerned their interests. After much urging and considerable outlay of time, they had now obtained a definite promise. When'Mr : Larnaoh -.visited, them, representations were made to him as to the serious conse-' quencesto the welfare of'the; Thames of. its non-completion, and that gentleman wired' to: the Minister-:of iPublic Works, and received a reply that the date f o'r tho calling for tenders fer the extension beyond Kopu was fixed for the 15th: July, and Mr Larnach hoped that.that would.,be satisfactory to the inhabitants'. -Much of his time had been occupied in this matter, and, a good many people here thought that Government would dp /• nothing-, unless we were constantly'^poking/them up." He had ,beoß,dolayed ( :td6,/bj attending to mining matters.' He ; only returned yesterday, from Auckland, where.ho had Beenwith Mr LaMonte, and just as he was/. 1 going he received a telegram from "Mr Richardson, stating that the contract for the'railway would be advertised in .Wellington on Friday, and at .the' Thames on arrival of the first mail after that date, the tenders to be receivable on the 15th- July. .He had received, every, possible help from Mr Cad man, and mere, particularly! from Sir George Grey, who put himself at his disposal whenever he oould help. Along with .his colleagues, among whom.! now, was'Mr She'ehah, he /thought/ they should exert sufficient force to see that i there shquldf-be ; no delay In'the.'acceptance of the tenders, When he first went toj Wellington, Major Atkinson was in power, and in accordance with: pledges he had felt it his/duty to ,oppose/that. Ministry/ On Major Atkinson's resignation, thc'Goyernor had put himself in communication with Sir, Juliu'sTpgel, who. succeeded., in forming a Cabinet, the only member of: whi6hi could have been considered to have any connection with the North /was Sir .G. Whitmore: on the ground • that, it, only represented the South,' Sir could have nothing to do.with it.' Mr/Cadman, himself, : and Oapt./ Morris had agreed to unite with a yiewte secure a greater share of influence to this. part of the country. Mr Cadman ami himself remained \ firm, but unfortunately Capt Morris'cast in his lot with the; new Ministry, which was defeated on, he believed, the first night. Mr : Thompson was then sent for, and failed. Sir George Grey followed, but gave up the task. ■ Major Atkinson then fprmod a Cabinet, /ef; which all the members j were; new tb office .except Mr Mitchelsbn. Sir' Geo, Grey had' pointed out to himself many reasons why he could not support this combination., He (the speaker) was at' this time "unfortunately laid up; with illness,- The .Governor, had /then/, toi send again fqr'Sir-J.'Vogelj'and the present jMinistry'.was f ormed-rMessrs Montgomery and.Mcoindrew agreeing to - give Government ageneral/support,-'and/Mr Tole was to be/taken!, jri. : ' ; Mr Cadraan, Mr -Morris, and himself were again united, and jthere was/ a; proposal tp : make..a/Minister of Mines; which: department.' was to ■ be' given tb' Mr Cadmaa or ; Capt.' Moiris. 1 '; Since then Capt, Morris, superior claims on Government, ; ''had :boen placed invtho. .Uppor'House,and'Mr Larn.achhad:been appointed Minister. Most of the money in his department had been got' rid of be-, fore ho came, here, but we'had now a man to whom wo could look.- Though ho should have been bettor pleased;had thoir railway been gone on with at once,'and if Mr Cadman had bocomo Minister of Minos he should.be inclined to give Government a general support, Out of ■ all' the ■ Bills parsed nono had practically affected this district except that which related to the Parawai Ward. They wore fully aware-of the circumstances relating to that.' On the 28th of February last year a mooting of the. Borough Council was held, an account of which was given hi tho Thames Advertiser, and from,that he. would'road, showing how much indignation was folt at tho incorporation of so small a district into a ward, and a resolution was drafted by Dr Kilgour, Mr MoGowan, and Mr Speight to that offeot. . Previous l to his departure a mootine; was hold' in tho Borough Council Chambers to - consider matte'rsfor him'to attend to, arid ainong t|icm ; was this.matter. The' Gov'erumont had intended to amend tho Municipal Cor-

porntiona Act, but he found so that he thought it better to tack his provision on to Mr Levestam's Bill. ■ He did so, and also added another clauso to'placo the Thamos in the same position asjother Boroughs with less than 4000 inhabitants. This latter was rejected by tho Upper Houso, but the;Paraw,ai Wardfcl.ajjse passed; On his return he was perfectly amaked to find that its supporters 'had "changed I thejr minds. The thing was fought out, and ho was happy now, to know that Mr McAndrew was a representative of a large and important ward, and he should be happy to work with ; him in tho Ooanoil for the good of that ward and of the whole Borough, The matter had now; been settled; and Ihe.'hopediaj.li tho ill-feeling:' over it 'would' be forgotten. * He had promised some of tho young men hero to bring in aj Bill to enable the Borough Council to sell tho Recreation Reserve in order to procure another more adapted to their.wants.,^He, had ben successful, and soldjon the Ist of April, but'owing td' Dr. Kilgour's action over that wretched Parawai Ward tho sale had to, ,be. postponed from tMdato; fixed tillyeslereay, and although tho price.of the part sold had not come up to expectation,'hojbelievedajgpqd sum would yet be realised, "He had been in/communication withjthe late Mr If, .Graham as tohtho puVchase; of the; Waio-Karaka "Flat,- which would be suitable: the price at firstasked was prohibitive, but ho believed that had Mr Graham lived, that the purchase would have/been dompleted..". :Ho trusted that when he next met tho people of the Thames he shb'ul'd'bo able to congratulate them on possessing a suitable.recreation 'ground; Among other matter'B,'the Miners' Right'petition! bad been'' entrusted to him. He thought' it a most iniquitous thing that 'miners''should ' liavo : ' tq'.'pay for liberty to !r: earn ;: '£liei'r; .daily''broad. The! petition had' received tho apDroval!o£ .the, (Goldfields.,. Committee, 'but; the .question ias j to- ;natiye; rights'; hindered a' favourable settlement.' Government; however, had promised that no j more prosecutions should take place. ; Their desire,was to purchase overy right' of tho natives., ,He hoped tho Miners' Right feos might 'now bo'considered a thing of the past. The assistance to the mining industry promised-was that £10,000 should be placed on the Estimates next year to.aid •prospecting; but this was' on'con'dition that the County Council would raise a similar amount. Ho'was happy to tell them that through, the efforts, of ,■ the.County Chairman'ho thought 'the" "amount would bo ~;Mr Larnach would not look at the Big Pump.' Ho said he would, give them money to (bring water in, but not a farthing to take it out. MpHurstj,himself, and?others,had interviewed 'the Mtniater'relative to'LaMbnte's process. After.a good deal of discussion, they had succeeded in procuring his consent tq.give; £1,000, bonus- cpnditional on its successful working for twelve months. Since .then i the process had been'securod for the* Thames.' >:&'contract had! been entered into for the erection of a furnace' here, which was to bo in full blast within four months from, the preceding, day, and another was' to be'in' complete' working order at; Karangahaka. in,;.six months, dating from last Saturday. He'considered a new era: had set in]f or ; the: gold mining industry, and if only half as successful as .represented, a brighterjayhad dawned for the Thames. He had now touched on all the local topics that had occurred to him. He should be happy to answer any questions;! He.purposed leaving for Wellington on Friday, and if either public bodies orprivate persons wished him to do : anything there for thorn, he should be I most happy, to do what ;he: could.-. During the whole of Thursday ho would be present at the Council Chambers. (Cheers). j Mr Alexander made an inquiry regarding Block 27 tenure, to which Gol, Fraser replied that there was; a considerable amount of misunderstanding about this mattera mixing up of rights of present residents with those who took land when it waslaid out as a miners' camp. He had asked Mr; Larnachto.have a full inquiry made,-and that gentleman had promised a Royal Commission should sit and take evidence. Tho present proprietors had really nqthing to do. with the matter.*■ • i ■ ; \ • f.- \ /iMr'Minnimari'inquired! to wli'at expense the Borough had been put over the Parawai trial.-Col. Fraser replied that the .Borough had been at no expense at all. He had paid'the whole cost himself.; He added that ho had been Mayor for three years, and neither directly or indirectly had he profited one penny. Even travels ling ■,expenses;.ho had paid from his own pooket." : ' '•"' ' '"' '' ;

Being asked for thenamo of the MiH.R. whose grog' was stopped tit Bellamy's, he gave thenamo of Mr Nurse, p£ tho Upper House, who had since died.—Aa to .whether, he, had done anything for the Parihaka, men, the, reply was in thenegative.

Mr Ord asked for an expression 'of opinion on Mr Ballance's land schorae, and Col. Eraser said ho had no great belief in it. Mr Ballanco had a groat idoa as to Native Committees, but ho was quite 1 sure they would not work. !'".',.•■

Mr Dunlop inquired if Col Fraser would undertake to introduce a,short Bill to empower the Mining Inspector to compel communication, to bo opened from' one mino to anothor when doing so would not .bejdetriraental to;;either.;;At;present he had'no such 'power!-He'replied th»t he believed the Inspector was now ! erf* powered to do so. If that gentlemanlonly wrote it was necessary;he should have' Buchpower, it would be granted. Mr Dunlop also inquired: " Will you do your utmost to get a sum of money placed on the estimates for prospecting ?"- Most decidedly; there was money put on the estimates last year,'<bixt it filtered away before it reached us. £1000 had been put' down, but at most not £300 reached lis, "Z On tho motion.'of Mr Crawford, seconded by Mr W. D. Reid, it was carried unnaimouely " That this mooting thanks Co!.; Fraser for his and expresses its confidence in him as'representative of this district.". \

Col. Fraser returned thanks, and moved a vote,of thanks ,to the Chairman* 'This also '■ was darned,' "■ and tho mooting separated.