MR WAKEFIELD AT TEMUKA.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 1763, 25 June 1877, Page 6

MR WAKEFIELD AT TEMUKA.

On Wednesday, May 30, Mr Wukefield, tho member for Geraldine met his constituents at the Assembly Rooms, Crown Uote l , Temuka. The room was well filled by a rery attentive audience. Mr Mendelson was voted to the chair, and m a few brief and conc:<e bentences introduced Mr WakeSeld to his audience. The member proceeded as follow* : — Mr Chairman and Gentlemen,— I was prevented by a variety of circumstances, chiefly those of a domestic character, from addressing you sooner. At tho same time, I regard this circumstance as not an unforlunate one, as it lias given you a longer time to look back upon tho events of tho last Session of Parliament. I think it well that we should meet at the present time, when so, soon before tho meeting of the Home, I shall have an opportunity of telling you what my views will bo m the coming session. If I were called upon to characterise the past session, I should call it a session of surprises. Parliament hnd no sooner met than the House was called upon by Sir Georgo Grey, tho leader of the Opposition, m a most unusual manner, to bring forward what rcnlly amounted to a vot« of censuro on the Uovcrnir.ent. This is what is Inowu as the Piako Swamp resolution, and was m fact intended to prohibit the Government from granting 87,000 acres of land to Mr Russell. This proposition took the Hou«e by surprise, and not only wero the new member 3 surprised, but all tho representatives wero anxious to know what tho matter was about. The Government did not icem to regard it ns a subject worthy of consideration, while Sir Julius Yogel seemed to treat every suggestion of Sir George Grey's as a matter of contempt. Tbe House, however, took a different view and decided that the matter should bo discussed. On this point t'»n Government were beaten by a considerable majority. The next stand that Sir George Grey took was to whether thegnmt. itself should issue, and members gave a great deal of attention to this »übject . The division was a clotc one, and the Speaker gave hii casting vote, after an exceedingly rancorous debate, m favor of the Government. This was the first difficulty of the session, and was undoubtedly the forerunner of the complications which followed. Tho next thing that was done was, that, a meeting of members of Parliament was held, at which it was decidi d that it was for tho benefit of tho country that tho then Government should be maintained m office. It. was thought that if the Government, were kept m office it would be well for the general business of the country, and that pressing public affairs would be kept before the House. I, at first, cordially supported tho resolutions of Sir George Grey, and stroncly opposed the defiant attitude assumed by the Government, and when the question was put to the House, I, with many o'her members' left. We had had, beforo this, a numerously attended meeting, at which it was decided that it was necessary that tho Government of tho day should be kept m office. I gave my vote m favor of this. Regarding tho Piako Swamp affair, I do not believe it was a job, but it was a foolish and unwise act on the part of tho Government. I .cannot think that it was right. Certainly it was not just for the Government to alienate at least upwards of 80,000 acres— l believe the total amount was 87,000 acres — for tho purpose not of increasing its settlement, but, instead, of throwing tho laud into the hands of one or two men. I do not believe that the terms proposed by Government wero over complied with, and even supposing they had been, it was certainly a bad bargain for tho colonists. It was a mistake, indeed I may say a ridiculous policy to sell tho land at such a low rate. T was right, I know, m opposing the Government m pursuing any such policy. It is well known, I am nssured, and many gentlemen m this room are awaro that the Government at the time that they wero selling laud at half-a-crown an acre wero buying land equally valuable at four and six per acre. It would have been better to Tiavo retained tho land, as m years to como it would be pottible to sell it at a rate double of what can now bo obtained for it. The measures subsequently proposed by the Government were brought forward 'without any reference to tho action of the previous administration, and without the slightest notification. Sir Julius Yogel had come out from England, and had at Wanganui announced an entirely new policy;— a policy which was utterly contrary to that of his colleagues. He proposed his schemes, but tho feeling was that the House was adverse to him. In spito of this the Government said they must support the county system. The House, however, demanded something better, and Mr Macandivw, on the part of the Otago members, sent a written proposition to the Canterbury members to meet them, and adopt a policy of opposition to the Government. The Canterbury members did not like to agreo to such a proposal, but on the contrary held a meeting on their own account. The effect of that meeting was a misunderstanding; but, misunderstanding though it was, its results we are bound to feel for many years to come. At their meeting they discussed the propoials of Otago. These were, m effect, that the colony should be divided into two separate divisions, and that the provinces of Canterbury and Otago should \indertake' the government of the Middle Island. The Canterbury members were unanimously opposed to any such scheme, and tho meeting terminated without coming to any definite conclusion. This result wai undoubtedly unfortunate, as it caused a disagreement between the members of the two provinces that extended throughout tho whole session, and I fear will not be eradicated for many years to come. It is with the greatest regret that I feel that the two province* cannot m the future meet on» a common platform. However, I did all m my power to work amicably with the Otago members, and I am happy to say tlmt I succeeded on more than one occasion. The next thing that occurred was that Sir Julius Yogel came down with the Government measures. It was not a policy that could have any permanency m the colony, it was a policy of borrowing to an enormous extent, to the extent of two millions, besides what might bo raised by means of Treasury bills, und as far as one could learn, this was a system that would be carried on ad injinitum — a system that must leave the country m destitution. (Hear, hear.) The policy of this Minister, Sir Julius Yogel I mean, who was leaving tho country, was to. throw on tho table of the House a measure which he has left others to carry out. Afterwards a meeting was held to see if anything could bo done for the public good, to shape out, if it were possible, a policy that would conduco to the well-being of the colony. Wo saw that the proposals brought forward by tho Government were unreal, m fact they were a sham, and we feared that the Government intended to take the laud fnnd of the South and burden it with^harges, and load it with tho liabilities of debts which no one could possibly estimate. After this meeting certain resolutions were drawn up by a few of us, which comprised a system of self-government by local bodies, and also the maintenance of all great works by Government. These resolutions I had the honor to bring before the House. (Mr Wakefisld here read the resolutions referred to.) You will see that the system of our old Board of Works was propoted to be spread over the whole colony, only the resolutions proposed that a proportion of the land revenue, amounting to 50 per cent., should be paid over to tho Road Boards, and that the other moiety was to be retained by the General Government. These resolutions met with a great deal of support ( and would potsibly have been carried 1 had not certain circumstances intervened, t The supporters of these resolutions, how- 1 ever, may yet bring them forward again i

'm the coming »»ision. Mr Whitakeri the member for Waikato, proposed that the Compact of 1850 should be ignored, and thut the affairs of the colony should be conducted on i nali nil ba-i*. I go with him only to a certain extent, for 113 utterly forgot that m Canterbury we havo always received £2 an acre for our land, and he did not eccin to understand that it would be necessary to make the hind laws of the whole colony conformable to those ! of Canterbury. I do not. see why thorc should not be one uniform lind law for the whole. colony. I have been told that no le*a than forty thousand acres of land may at this moment be bought m Marlbcrough under a pre-emptive right lit 7a Gd per acr.-. Mr Whitakcr doei not understand the system of free selection ; yet, I voted with him, because I believed m a uniform land law, and because I be'ieved that there ought to he one land law ami one land fund for the whole colony. The next important resolution was that of Sir George Grey on Separation, which must be regarded as the great question of the sesiion, and the only one that threatened the overthrow of the Government. When I last addressed you, I pointed out that 1 could hardly think it possible for me to support a Separation movement, as at that time proposed. When, however, Sir George Grey's resolution was brought before the House, I thought a Separation po'icy was to he preferrr(' to one that would deprive the South of its rights, without, conferring any benefit on the rest of the colony. The proposals of tho Government I could not aurce with. They proposed that charges for education, railroads, subsidies to Roid Boards, to Counties, to River Boards, should all bo charged acainst the land fund ; hut it. must be admitted that there is no land fund wotth speaking of, except m the Provinces of Ota»o mid Canterbury. Nevertheless, all places, it seemed, were to receive a pound of subsidy for each pound of rate*, although they had actually no laud fund. All deficiencies are to be poid by Treasury Bills — debenture*, they might be called— kit' 1 flying, I call tho whole system. Everybody know* that the Government hare not tho power to redeem these bills. The system was utterly subversive of all the principlcsof political economy. Canterbury mid Otago would really have to take the responsibility, and of courso I and. the other Canterbury members could not support the measure. Sir Julius Yogel, when tho resolutions which I hive read to you were distributed, invited mo to meet him at his office, and to discuss them with him. I did so, and, although lie said it was then too late to alter the proposals of tin; Government, he yet admitted the soundness of tho resolutions. He remarked that the r solutions contained lothing m them about counties, imd I pnid they did not. Sir Julius Yogel remarked also about the revision of Hio Hoad Board eystern, ti which I agreed. It would bo necessary to havo a good Road Board Act, giving the Boaids increased powers and a larger representation. Sir J. Yogel told me the Counties Act was reidy to bo laid before tho House, that it was too late for the resolutions that session, but that they could bo brought on during tho next, and that he wou'd afford me every information m his power. Within a few clays after, the Treasurer supplied me with all the information I required, and Sir Julius Yogel forwarded me several important papers. -Ho told me frankly, that he was not going to stay m New Zeiland. Th-;re, then, was the whole secret very plainly stated. A fow days afterwards, Sir Julius came into the House with a telegram, announcing the death of DrFeatheivtone, and we all.knew what that meant, namoly, that Sir Julius Yogel must go Home as Agent-General, and the whole scheme was unmasked. A few days after, Sir J. Yogel announced m a frank manner that he was going Home as AgentGeneral. Then followed a discussion as to the reconstruction of the Ministry. Mr Whitakcr joined it, but stated that, ao soon as he saw a majority against its land policy he should leave it. Then came (he debato regarding tho number of Ministers. The Civil List Act, 1871, restricted fho number to seven, but under Major Atkinson's Premiership there were nine. The Ministry tried to get out of the dilemma, and brought down nn Act of indemnity which was carried, but the House laid down a distinct rule that the Ministry should not m futuro consist of more than seven members. Tho Government brought down certain measures, but Sir G. Grey's party wished to gain certain advantagfs and obstruct public business, m fact they talked ngainst time. lat that time was supporting tho Opposition, as I believed the Government wero playing fast and loose with the House. When, however, it was announced at ono of Sir George Grey's meetings, that a " stonewall " was proposed to be set up, I at once declared that I would not have anything to do with it. I went to the Government and promised them my help to prevent the public business being obstructed, and I sat up the wholo of several nights, m order to keep a quorum. The stonewall presently broke down, and the House once more went to business. Tho Counties Bill brought m by Sir Julius Yogel was a very different one from that which was finally passed. Indeed, Major Atkinson's Government left it very much to each section of the House to s;iy what Port of Counties Act they would like. The consequence was that, as soon as the permissive clause was secured, nobody took any interest m the matter, and the measure was allowed to pass through Committee m the slovenly and imperfect shape m which it now appears. The question of the renewal of the Canterbury leases was precluded from being fairly discussed, owing to the action of Mr Wason, member for Coleridge who brought m a Bill of his own on the subject — a most impracticable Bill, which however was eagerly taken hold of by the Olago members at a means of coercing Canterbury. I opposed that Bill because, I believed it would have thrown tho wholo of the runs into the bauds of a few wealthy men or companies. The Government promised to bring down a Bill of their own to deal with the subject, but they never did so. They merely inserted sundry clauses m the Waste Lands Administration Bill. I was m favor of those clauses, because I thought it right that the question should not bo left m abet an ci*. By a mere misunderstanding of the exact question before tho house, however, I voted against them, and th«y were lost by the casting vote of tho Chairman of Committees'. The result, would not however, have been different m any case, for when th« Bill came down from the Legislative Conncil with amendments, all the clauses were struck out which made any alteration m the existing law. No alteration was made m the system of Education. I tried hard to get nn Education Board for South Canterburj but, was unable to do so. All that we succeeded m doing was to get a Southern mombrr nominated. I steadfastly opposed the increase of the honorarium of members. At that time several very strong article! appeared on the subject m the Timaru Herald ; and, as feeling waa running very high, the House declared these a brrach of privilege. Business was almost suspended. I therefore, on tho advice of the Speaker and of several of tho leading members, accepted the responsibility of the articles m question, and apologised for them to the House. This was accepted and business was resumed. I only did what I thought best for my constituents and for the public service. Mr Hayhurst having observed that altkough Mr Wakefield opposed the increase of tho uonoranuir, he h»d not voted apainst it, Mr Wakefiold explained that the question nevcicame to the vote, because the Government compromised the matter, and consented to put a sum of money on the Estimates, sufficient to give a honorarium of £210 to each member. Mr Wakefield was then asked a great number of questions by Messrs Hay hurst. Gray, Wilson, and Quinn. In reply to these he stated that he had brought the question of the drainage of Temuka before the Ministry, but was satisfied that it could not be dealt with as an isolated case ; that he was prepared

to support the deferred payment system on a limited scale ; thut lie was m favor of local High Schools ; that lie wa§ strongly opposed fo interfering with the constitution of the | Legislative Council; that he would support j the Mil ford harbor project being submitted j to any Commission that might be appointed j to eon-iiler the Timaru scheme, find tliat, he j had no prejudice against the Milford scheme. Mr Hayhurst proposed a c rdial vote of thanks to Mr Wakefield for his able address, and for tin- pointed answers he liad given to questions pur to him. He hopt-d the fruils of Mr Wakefield's labors would be s. en next year. The rote was carried unanimously, ami a role of thanks to the chairman ter.ninuted a very interesting and satisfactory meeting. Mr Wakefield, M.11.X. for Geraldine, met his constituents on Saturday, June 2, at tlie Crown Hotel, Oeraldino. Prior to tlie meeting, a depulaiiou from Tcinuka wail el on the honorable member. The deputation^ con-■is!<-d of Messrs Ilayhurit, Gray, Wilson, Quinn, and Marshall, and the object of their mission was to fee that Mr Wakefield carried out the promises whith he had made at Temuka. The deputation were closeted with Mr Wakefield for a considerable time, but we have not yet been put m possession of tbe proceedings on the occ ision. Mr Wakefield afterwards appeared m the billiard-room of the down Hotel, where a numerous concourse of electors had already assembled. After a little coquetting on the part of Mr Megson, Mr Flatniau was Toted to the chair. The room soon became crowded, and Mr Wakefield then addressed the meeting. He ran orer nearly the sanic ground as he had run over at Temuka, and met with the strongest expressions of approval at every point. After his address, m answer to a number of highly suggestive question*, put to him by Mr Megson. Mr Wakefield stated that he would only support (he generalisation of the land fund, on the condition that the Canterbury land laws were made the land law of the Colony ; that he would do hia best to procure a reform of the railway management ; and that he would endeavor to got a Resident Magistrate for Geraldine and Temukn, and to have a Resident Magistrate's Courthouse built at Genihline. In answer to Mr Wilson, Mr Wakefield said that he would support the Milford Harbor tchemo being thoroughly enquired into ; and if it should bo found the best, being given effect, to. He pointed out that harbors could not be made by ant of Parliament I but he faithfully promised that, he would do Ids best to have the fullest consideration given to the Milford scheme, and that he would do his utmost to farther its execution should it ho found practicable. After answering a number of other questions, Mr Wnkefield said he would try to get the Geraldine JClectoiMl District mnde coterminous with the County of Geraldine. Mr Megson then moved a cordial vote of confidence m Mr Wakefield as member for Geraldine. Mr Havhurst seconded the resolution, and it was cariied unanimously, with cheers from all parts of the crowded audience. Mr Wakefield briefly ncknowl sdged the high honor which had been done him, und proposed a hearty voto of thanks to the chairman, which, being carried by acclamntior, terminated the proceedings.