MR. LESLIE THOMSON AT TIMARU.

Timaru Herald, Volume IV, Issue 101, 20 April 1866, Page 5

MR. LESLIE THOMSON AT TIMARU.

'On/Monday evening last Mr." Leslie Thomson met the elest'ors, of Timam at the Mechanics' Institute. The Hall waa very fairly iilled, about one hundred persons being present O. W. Hall, Esq., was voted into the chair, and m a few words introduced Mr. Thomson to the meeting, trusting that a patient lieariag would be g ; ven him. . '■• Mr. Leslie Thomson, who on coming forward was received with applause, said lie had called the electors together for the -purpose- of clearly laying before them his" views on certain matters which were of great importance to this town and district, and which of necessity would be discussed at the next session of the Provincial Council. He must offer an apology to them for thus calling on them at this early stage, but he did so as he was afraid he would be unable to be present at the time of the election, and that it •would be quite out of his power to canvass them privately. He trusted that his view* and opinions to be enunciated would meet with their approval, and that being so, if they chose to return him as their member he would do his Utmost for the town and district. In the first place he thought that the reading of the district was of most paramount importance ; the road south of - Timaru, although good enough m fine weather, was impassable m bad, and he should tirge on the Government the putting -in complete repair the main roads, and the immediate handing over of all balances due to the southern road boards, without which it was absurd to Buppose the boards could cany on the necessary work of the country. In connection with this subject he should like to mention that, m his opinion no time should be lost m impressing on the Government the necessity of bridging the Opihi river, and as far as lay m his power he would do his best to push forward such a necessary work. He (Mr. Thomson) considered that all the proceeds of the land sales, together with the rents from the pasturage runs raised m the district, should be devoted to the requirements of the district, of course deducting all just and reasonable charges, such as surveys and other expenses fairly ' chargeable on the laud. He considered that the present system adopted by the Government of making payments for contract work m land as highly objectionable and detrimental to the true interests of the country. He would do his utmost to alter that system. He should strongly advocate the reduction o* the cost of Government. The expense of governing the Province 'at the present time was altogether out of proportion to either the population, or the revenue. In reference to the public works of the Province he might saj' that he was altogether opposed to the present system of constructing the raihvay. If the railway scheme was to be carried out, he (Mr. Thomson) could see no reason why the railway should not be commenced at both ends o£. the Province at the same time. It was. unjust to confine such a work to the neighborhood of Christchurch [applause], although he himself believed that the work was premature, even for Christchurch, and he thought a great evil had already been done to the Province by expending the public credit upon such a work. It appeared to be a pretty general opinion that assisted immigration to the Province should altogether cease, and he quite agreed m that opinion. When more of the laborers m the country became capitalists, and were themselves employers of labour, and when labor was really necessary, then it would be time enough to assist immigrants. Of course they could not have too many people come to the province who paid their own passages, because such men generally brought a small capital with them, arid were employers of labour. It was not necessary for him to say much upon the subject of education, as the Government had brought forth a scheme for setting apart reserves for the endowment of high class schools ; but the scheme had scarcely been matured. He believed that some system which provided a good endowed grammar school, m all places where such a school was absolutely necessary, would be of an immense benefit to the community. But he would himself advocate the discontinuance of the denominational system. The religious instruction of the child should be imparted to it-' .elsewhere.;- .-"There was a subject, which would probably occupy the attention of the Council next session, which it was desirable that they should have his opinion upon. He had heard that Mr. Pavers' proposed scheme was m gf eat favour at Timaru ; biit he-must say if they did him the honor to elect him, that he should oppose the scheme. The land regulations he believed, m onerespect, required alter atioh. Some measure ought to be introduced m reference to pre-emptive rights. At the present time if a man challenged a pre-emptive right of a thousand acres, the -holder of the right could "defeat the challenge by purchasing only twenty acres. He thought the holder of the pre-emptive right should purchase as much of the land as he .thought proper ; 'but ,that the challenger should, if he chose, have the remainder. [Applause, ] \Bufc he could not approve of Mr. Trayers' scheme, even as modified.; It seemed to him that Mr. Travera had failed to secure the support of the farmers by proposing, to raise, the price of agricidtural land to three pounds per acre, aud that he was therefore now compelled to abandon that part of his scheme. /"He believed the proposal ■ ini^modißed{onn'''co'n')^ u :not :; ';bV-ca ; tYie'd out • Aadlthat itlwottld.bequite impossible to sell the hill country at one pound per acre. Those who went into Kjlcnlations upon the matter would fiud that sheep farming would not pay, and capitalists would not therefore invest tb,eir money. Iv some parts of the hill country it would take three acres.'of" land to the sheep; and the interest, at only ten per cent, for money r-^ which wasa : lowrate for present moment — would give'twoT shillings* per acre per year. With three acres to the sheep, the interest alone •would, amount to six shilling* per. head for the sheep-even supposing that such country was fully stocked. It , would take more than the whole value of the"wbol raised m Canterbury to pay the interest of the money alone for purchasing the pastoral land. Before sitting down he might tell them that it was nofcat* ait- unlikely, if elected, that 1 he shonldbe m the opposition iv* the next session of the Council; and he believed that any member going up from the south would.also be on the same benches. He thought that even a factious opposition was jiist'fiable under """ the" circumstances; and if all outlying districts ' ™«ld^ds^en wlttvojild work^togeiier;;

no government would be aide to stand against them, unless they satisfied reasonable demands. [Applause.] He should be very glad to answer any question that might be put to him, and should also be happy, if he had omitted to give his views upon any particular question, if any gentleman present would ask for such views. [Applause,]

Mr. Simpson asked for Mr. Thomson's views on the proposed county scheme.

Mr. Thomson thought the time had really arrived for the separation of 1 , this district, but he scarcely thought that the -sfcheme' for a county could be carried out ; thero were so many interests to contend against.

An Elector asked why Mr. Thomson thought the raihvay here premature. . Ue could not see why a railway should not be made here.

Mr. Tjiomso.v thought the whole scheme premature ; but if it was to be carriud out lie should advocate the commencement of the line at Timaru also. He thought that whni the country was m want of a railway, that it would be constructed much better by private enterprise, and the only thing the Government ought to have to do with the work would be to guarantee, for a ■ few years, a certain annual subsidy.

Mr. SiairsoN suggested that Sir. Thomson should move for a return of land sold, and of all money expended on public works m this district. He sho aid also like to know why Mr. Thomson thought separation was done for.

Mr. Thomson did not think separation was done for, and lie was far from undervaluing public opinion j but he thought tiler.' were many interests to contend against and many objections to be defeated before the county scheme could be carried. He should be very glad to sign the petition himself, and assist the movement m any way he could. He might add that the return Mr. Simpson asked for had been furnished.

Mr. Thomson said lie had omitted to mention the report of Mr. Balfour upon the harbour. That gentleman had recommended a work to cost about foiir thousand pounds, which would pay for itself m two years by the saving of landing charges. He should certainly urge upon the Government the construutiou of the work. He (Mr. Thomson) had also heard :v rumour that day that the land office was- to be removed from Timam ; but instead of that lie thought a deputy Land Board shoull be appointed. If there was any hardship to ba experienced iji fclie matter of i land purchases m this district, he thought that the hardship should be felt by the people m Christchurch rather than by those at Timarn. The sale of lands situate m the district ought certainly to be held m Timaru. The question of a water supply for the town was one of great importance ; and he should move for a, good sum of money to be placed m the hands of the Municipal Council to be expended m providing a supply. There was yet another important matter, and one upon which he had expected to be questioned. lie was opposed to all monopolies — more especially when such monoply was m the hands of the Government. The lauding service, he believed, ought to be managed locally ; it was a work which should be m the h.iuds of the Municipal Council ; more especially as that work had been charged against the land fund of the district. In Lyttel ton, where similar works had been carried on, they had been charged upon a special loan. After one or two other unimportant questions, the following resolution was moved by Mr. French and seconded by Mr. Harrison, " That Mr. Leslie Thomson is a fit r.nd proper person to represent the town of Timaru m the next Provincial Council." The motion \, as carried unanimously, and, after a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting separated. . . LEVELS EOAD BOA LID. A meeting of the above Board was held at the Washdyke Hotel on Monday, the Oth April. Present — I*. B. Luxmoore (Chairman), Messrs. T. W. Hall and Acton. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. A letter was read from Dr. Butler, tendering his resignation as member of the Board. It was proposed by Mr. Hall, and seconded by Mr. Acton "That the Chairman be requested to write to the Secretary for • Public Works to enquire whether the words, 'not le3S than ten days prior to the event to which such notice refers,' vide clause No. 2, Roads Ordinance', ISG4, apply to the publication of such notice m some newspaper ordinarily circulated iv the district, as well as to the posting of such, notice." Carried unanimously. •»

Proposed by Mr. Acton, and seconded by Mr. Hall, "That the Chairman be requested to call a meeting of the" ratepayers of the district m accordance with the .' Amended Roads Ordinance, 1586,' for the purpose of electing a member to serve on the Board ; such meeting to be called on the 24th day of Apr.l, 1836, at noon, aud to be held at the residence of G. H. Lough, at the Washdyke." Carried.

The meeting was adjourned until Monday, the 24th instant.