POST SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 1340, 6 January 1879, Page 2

POST SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

ME WAKEFIELD, M.H.R., at TEMUKA. MrE. Wakefield, the member for Geral dine m the Houee or Representative?, addressed those of his constituents residing m the Temuka district m the Oddfellows' Hall, Temuka, oq Saturday evening. On the motion of Mr Talbot, seconded by Mr Hayhurst, Dr, liayner was voted to the chair. At the commencement of the address, there were only between 40 and 50 persons p resent, but the large Hall was speedily thereafter crowded m every part, and there could not have been less than 400 persons present. After the Chairman, m a few appropriate remarks, had asked for Mr Wakefield a fair and patient hearing, Mr WakefiVld suid : Mr Chairman and gentlemen, — I am very glad to meet my constituents again, and I certainly wish that the weather had not interfered with the attendance. Had the weather been at all favorable, I am sure there would have been a much larger attendance than there is. However, I dar« pay there will be mure present, and even if there we™ not, I thuuld address myself as carefully to the subjects upon which I am going to touch as I should if addressing the largest assembly that could be got together. In speaking to you to-night I will, if you will allow me, arrange my subjects m something like thisnrrier : — I would first touch upon the position of affairs as they were when I last addressed you, and then come on to the leading topics of discussion during the late session — the colonial matters or the larger public questions of the day —and I will then proceed to touch upon such matters as locally affect us here ; and then as the Chairman has told you, I will, at the conclusion of my address, be quite ready and willing to answer any questions, and I should feel much obliged to any gentleman who will r>iise any subject whi h I may have accidentally omitted. You will remember thnt, when I last addressed you there had been a change m the Ministry, and that I had been one of those who were instrumental m effecting that change, and m placing Sir George Grey m the position which he still holds. I believed at that time that a change m the Ministry was absolutely necessary. The affairs of the colony were getting into Bueh a state of confution, and the Ministry then m power seemed so incapable of leading them to a right issue, that a majority of the House were of opinion th'it some change «as absolutely necessary, and so Sir George Grey was called upon to form a Ministry. The reasons for entr 1 Bting Sir George Grey with that task were that he had the largest personal following of any man m the House, and that be alone could form a strong Ministry which was at all likely to command the votes of a majority of the House or, to carry on the administration. Under those circumstances, I went m heartily with those who were m favor of a change of Government, and promised to support Sir George Grey's Ministry far enough to allow them to have an opportunity of showing what th-y could do m the way of managing tlm aft lira of the colony. Well, they went intoofficewitliverv high profetsi insofaduainistritive reforms, and if they were going to ba judged on the promises they made, they were going to be an exceedingly u*>-ful Mmiatiy. Within a month or two of that timr Sir George Grey made his celebrated political tour through the Island, and when I had lust the honor of addressing you I still believed that Sir George would be t v means of doing a great deal fr" . c ' c colony, and that much good would •■■' ? rom hU administration. Ag time - , on '/ 3OW ' ever, I saw the business o' '°% «*»£ *•'** I neglected, while the m^oe™ of the Ministry were attending to *>' ""^ btUe hobbles oi

th»:r own. Still, although I saw tunny things ' tioing wrong. »nd >aw tiiat the members of the iln slry weiv only at' ending to priv ite affuira of tlit-ir own, I tli. -ugl't they fhoird hare an opportunity "f bringing m the measures they ; might lr-ini-, and when Parii nnent met. I w,ia pepired to assist m aiy benefic'al m- a*ure, \vh le, ut the same time, prep red to cri'i-ise fairly. When these mMsurc Cime di»n it wa» found that tliev were mere shadow-" of tli.se which hiid been promise I durin • th J r. cc.-is, and it was gui c er dent to am body with an unprejudiced miv.l that, they vr^re not , m a position to carry out their profession* of j reform, and that the rval object i.f Ministers j was to so act aj to retain their i-eats whatever j else happened. • ne'er those circumstances I d'-emrd it my duty to take one sido or the j other then, and I hold that it was not the j duty of an indf pmdent member to h-uig on a Government merely for what he could net from ir, while rt tha same time hosiw things being done by that. Government whi'-h he | knew to be wrong, and which he could not bring hi?conscience to approve of Therefore, as those of you who have studied public affairs know, L went boldly into opposition to prevent these measures coining into law ; but at. the same time I did nothing that could ctibarrasj the Government m conducting the husine-s of the country. Even then it was believed thnt the Bils which the Government brought m would be amende 1 m committee, s i th.it they might return to us serviceable i and useful measures, and I was one of tho?e ! who announced m the House that I shou'd endeavour to have therm asures^o amended. Now, there waa a party m the House headed by Major Atkinson which took a titallv different course, and tliia party said that Sir GlorgH Grey's measures were bud measures and that they would do an immense deal ol harm ; but that, the House should allow the Government to pass them without any improvement at all, because the sooner the Government, were unpopular, tin- sooner they would be cut of otßee. I held that that was not a proper view to take, and i h-.it Sir George Grey's Ministry ihould be given every opportunity of doing wat they could, so as to make those measures useful. I therefore joined myself with Mr Stevens and ono or two others of the most impartinl members of the House, imd we unceasingly did our heat to put th« Government, mensurea into shape, and to prevent the worst consequences arising from tlu-m. I must say this — that we found it almost impos-ible to bring m any amendments to the Bids owing to the action of Mr Stout, who was virtually Premier of the House, and who put his fo >t down firmly and declare I tha' th re should be no departure at all from the Bills he brought m. The first Bill which was brought m was the Electoral Bill. You wi 1 remember that during tho recsss, Sir George Grey had travelled about the country telling people that the lime had come when they must hive manhood suffrage — that every man of twentyone years of agi- m the Colony should hnvo tho privilege of taking part m th« el.-cti'ins, and that no man t-hould have mom than one vole, no matter how much property he possesses. When the Bill to provide manhood suffrage was brought m by the Government, it was a timid and complicated measure ; it was, m reality, n hobby of Mr .Stout'B, and was based upon all sorts of theories of political economists, who knew nothing whatever "I the circumstances of this country, and one which could not achieve anything it professed. One of the objections to th.it Bill was that it, threw the floor open to corruption. If that Bill had been made law, * man with any amount of money, and who possessedan elastic conscience, could cirry any elect.ion he liked, The Government ndmil'ed that, hnd therefore introduced the Bribery Bill, whish was to be passed after the Electoral Bill had become law. I can assure y>u thut there wen» very good grounds for thinking Unit such a mea-une as a Bribery Bill Bhould be introduced, because we may be sure of this, that where there are men willing t> bribe, i here will be found men who are wilJing to be bribed ; that cannot be d>ubte:l I think lifter the experience we have hud during the last few years. I know of one election during the lust recess, and un election m which the Government took a very considi rable interest m which it was admitted that the cost to one of the caudidntis had been £1,200 sterling, and 1 know af one lnnn who iictuully paid at one time during an election for three hundred and fifty glasses of liquor; but under the Bribery Bill tbat would be held illegal, and undoubtedly should be. There shiuld be some legislative enactment to prevent a candidate from giving anything to an elector m order to gain a Be it, and to prevent people from accepting any bribe. All that was provided for m the Bribery Bill, but after the Electoral Bill had passed the House, it was withdrawn, m spite of all the protests brought, against its withdrawal. The Electoral Bill introduced by Mr Stout, was nothing like the Bi.l which had been promised during the reces?. It was stated that it would be a thoroughly liberal measure, and one which, if pissed, would notleuve five hundred of the adt.lt ujul.s m the colony not on the roll. We immediately pointed out that if that, was no, it was better to have manhood suffrage at once. This Bill contained four different qualifications — a ratepayer's, residential, freehold, and a Maori qualification, and ii Jl for t'le purpose of excluding five hundred men from the electoral rolls of the colon}', and men who, very likelr, were as fitted to exercise the franchise as the men already on the roll. I hold that if tbat wbb tho direction of thtit Bill, that we might as well have manhood suffrage at once us that it Bhould become law. In order to test the liberality of the Government on the manhood suffrage subject, I myself moved a resolution for manhood suffrage but the Government immediately roso to arms, whipped their party together, and prevented ti.at. from passing which they had promised during the recess to the country. From the moment they did that it was seen that all their proposal-* that the people should have direct representation was nothing better than a sham and a delusion. At first a clause was brought into the Houee which contained a provision with regard to the Maoris which I think will be generally agreed was a proper one. It allowed no Maori to vote on account of being the joint proprietor of lands unle-s he paid r.it.-s. You may not kn/w, but it v a fact, that no Maori m the colony can be sued for rates. He may possess as much property as any man, and derive as much benefit from the rates paid by Europeans, and at the same time is not liable to be sued for rates. I would have voted for that clause, and it would have been carried, but the Government withdrew it ana mbstitulfd another which enabled every Maori m the colony, who was a j int tenant < £ hinds to be. placed on the electoral roll by virtue of bis joint tenancy without paying rates. This was a perfectly new measure, and I think you will agree with mo when I say that it was a thoroughly improper one. It was brought m for the purpose of pacing additional voting power m the hands of the Mbqris m the North Island, und also the Pakehu Maoirs. Some of these, I may tell you, ure the greatest scoundrels m the world. That clause would, if it hud been carried, have had the effect of placing a great number of the elections m the North Island m the bunds of thut class of perrons who would be then able to carry them agai- dC all the Europeans m the country. W«- lh *' a proper thing lo do ? Was tuot. t'« Bort °j tyrany that people tame to tb 1 - co'°riy and settled down, m n.anv CP~' at „ rl9k of their live.-, to rabm.t'"/ , Tlle How-?" up against iUe r-P 0 ™ 1 ' >»' the Native Minister, an ,-^e.dingly influential man, contrived « get an exceeding .-mull majority m fitvur ' c ' aIJ8 "' an " ll waß carried j n t £. House of Representatives m spite of all ..■reff'irts tothrowit out. But the Legislative Council, and 1 amrureitwill be admitted, very properly, withdrew that clause and put m another similar to th-t inserted by the Government m the first instance, viz., that Maoris Bhould be placed on the electoral roll if they paid rates. The Legiel tive Council then returned the Bill to the House, contenting to

tike it with that alteration, which was no alteraiion at all, but simply an original clause restored to ihs Bill; but the Government would not consent to it, and rathrr th»n have th» Bill passed m that form they actually with Irew it altogether. No*, can th-re bo a stronger proof of iho fa-t tlmt what the Government was aiming at was not to to give the peo|>l-' their rights, but to impose or. the Kiirojiems of thi- Colony a hateful domination of un inferior people. The M.i rios t : . en. selves did not n.tre for that eliuae. Mr Wi Tako, one of th* Maori meniliers of the Conn.-il, said that they did not care for that privilege at all, and that they did not wish to be placed on the electoral roll unless they paid rates, like Europeans, and, like the honorable man that he is, he voted against thut clause. You must remember that the Maories have four members of their own m the House. The Government rejected this Bill which was to give the down-trodden Europeans m this country their rights because they could not have their own way. Northern members came to me at the time, and entreated me, as 11 southern man, to assist them. They said : we shul l bo completely ruined m the North Island if this thing is d 'ns to us. Many of thn other southern men w.irk.-d as strenuously a* they could against that- clause giving Maories a vote by virtue of their joint tenanjy of lands, and the Government ultimately withdrew the Bill altogether, co that now there is no manhood siiff age m the land after all their promises made during the recess. Now I may tell you that I'look upon the question of Maori voting as one orer w'lieh there will be a very hard fight m the Cut ure, and 1 intend to do my best to prevent Maories from voting at all at European elections. They have got their own representation, which is an ample representation, and I cay that they have no right to take part m any European elections unless they pay their share of tlie taxation of the country. At ihi» moment they pay no taxes. Tliey are a petted class, and any land held by them is exempted from the payment of rates, bo that if a Maori were to buy Temuka to-morrow he would not have a sixpence uf rates to pay, while at the smne time ho would be reaping the advantages of the t.ixation paid by the Europeans around him. Now. that must be put a stop to. and v. hen the question crops up again it will have to ba said once and for all that they shall not take purt m European elections unless they p«y rates for the properties they hold. They linve never hud any injustice done them by the legislature, but, on the contrary, they have been a pampered and petted race from the establishment of the colony, and I am quite sure will bo until there is not one of them alive. Now, cc tlemen, we come to the Land Tux Bill. The ground tlmt was given for the introduction of this new impost. wa» that a resolution paseed m the House m 1877 instructed the Government to bring down such a Bill. But that statement although made over and over again throughout the country liy Ministers and m the HoU'e, does noi embrace, however, the resolution passed by the House m 1877. That resolution was to the effect that the incidence of taxation needed to be arranged, mid that the time bad come for imposing a property and incomo tax, but this Bill brought m by tho Government provided for taxation upon lands only. The • Government measure, you will gee, is quite different to that which the House oriuinnlly intended, as thit tax presses entir. ly upon the owners of land, and is what I call a vindictive tax upon the ruril distrieta, because they pay almost all the taxe3, while the monicd men escape raying their fair share, of the country's burdens altogether. M<»n living m London, who draw enormous incomes from mortgages on limils m the colony, wlio I hold are the prop -r persons to p»y a land lax, have, as the liiw is at present, not to pay a single penny. I know cf one instance of a g-nt'eman who lives nenr London, who is drawing £60,000 a y> ar from New Zealand m the shape of interest on mortgages, and yet he is altogether exompte-i from tlie payment of a land tax. This is mi instance of how tho monied men are exempted from paying their fair share of the revenue, while tho rural population have to pay heavily. Now, we p linted out m the House that although a man mighr. have wliat seems a va'uable farm, it did not necessarily follow that it washia property at. all ; that he may have purchased it with money for which he is paying a high r.ite of interest, and that the real owner is tho man who has lent him the money, or has the mortgage over the farm, and we tried to get a clause inserted which would compel mortgagees to pay taxes, and which would prevent that man from doing ao who was doing the real work of the country by cultivating the land. (Cheers.) But the Government would not listen to us ; their object was not to catch the monied men, but to pass a vindictive law on the rural district. Well the Bill contained another proposition which was to the effect thut all improvements on land should be exempt from taxation. The Ministers maintained that this was an exceedingly liberal provision. Well, let us see to win m this liberal provision would be of advantage. We all know that the improvements made upon rural land a r e very trifl ng m compirison with the value of the land ; it is the land which costs the money. We know that men often pay £10 or £12 per acre for land, and that the value of the improvements they niade upon that land bears a very small proportion to its value, as a man m the country districts is not m the same position ns he who for atr fling turn buys a piece of land m a town, and erects upon it a building which brings him m a large revenue. We held that a land tax wits quite unnecessary, but that if the Government wanted to impose a lax, they should put one upon all buildings m towns, and not upon the cultivators of the soil. The Government then talked of re* ducing the minimum value of the land taxed from £500 to £1000, and m that woy were the owners of an immense amount of property to be forced to contribute their fair share towards the revenue. This was not done, though. Now, it will be at once seen that it fell wholly upon the. agricultural classes, this exemption up to £500. I need scarcely ooint out to you how it does not help the farmers, because there is hardly a farmer m the country whose land is not worth £500, while those who are the wealthy owners of suburban residences are allowed to escape entirely from the payment of the dilation. Aa an example of this I miy mention that it was instanced m the House that the business men of Dunedin, who resided m pdatiul residences outside of the City, would be made to pay their fair share of the taxation if this exemption up to £500 were struck out. and we tailed to bave that clause withdrawn by the Government m spite of all the opposition we made to it. They did another thing m connection with the Land Tax Bill which, to my mind, was a moßt iniquitous thing. They said that all persons holding leases from the Crown, and oil persons the tenants of Native lands, were to he taxed for those lands as if they were their own. Well, could anything be more myust than that ? I t-iok the case of a twsnt of an education reserve, a valuable r^'ece of land worth from £20 to £25 per ac w i an(^ one f° r which the tenant was payin* more rent than he could afford (and it - 8 well known that many of the holders o f fc neße reserves pay more rent than they can jrford) ; and yet that man has to pay a halfpenny m the £ on the value of the laod, whereas, afier f-.urieen yeara, he will have to hand the land back to the owner. I took a I strong ohjection to this clause, because I knew that it was a class taxation which we should never allow, and I therefore moved that the Bill should be remitted to the House, and there was such a ttiong feeling m the House about it that I only lost my resolution by two votes, and I would have gained the division only that two members were ai ciJent;ll) locked out. Such' v feeling rose .n Lhe House regarding the Land Tax Bill that [ would have carried my proposition o .ly for the circumstance I have just explained ; md next session I mean to move m the iame direction, if I get an opportunity. Che present land tax is a specimen of what 8 to result from a " liberal" system of taxation.

There was one other point m t!mt Kill which allowed unmißt.ike.Wy what- w»s H'« f'" '"' fcention ..f the Gove.-nment m t.ri • iiingin Mich a men-ur •. They proposed to tux ml «"" (>t the minimum value of £1 fir »<"'•; '" (1 we know tlinl. there art- thoiieamm -f ..i-rp.-t m New Zealand not worth five shilling-* or cv.n half-a -er.wn nn acre ".here lire ihousu.dof acres m the N-rth Is!,, id ob'»irmr,le tor half-a-crown per aero and the owners of such hind woul.J be very glad to get n i of it tit th.it price ; and yot. the Government proposed to value ail lands at £L per acre, mountain tops and river beds, nod to tax them on that, valuation. Well, the llou.-e could not sUnd that; it had to draw the line somewhere, and struck out that provision, which was one of Ihe very few we were abln to get struck out. Now I will tell you what struck me during th« discussion of that Bill, and it is a thought which must have struck anyone who had paid any attention to tho bill — tha ( while the Government were paying the local bodies a quarter of a million m the shapes of eubsdies, i hey were going to raise £100,000 a-year on land, and to raise that amount it would cost thii large sum of £30,000. And this land tax is a very inquisitorial measure, any person being liable to be summoned before a magistrate and be liable to be finod if he does not give tlio collectors alt the information they may require ; and all for the cake of giving the local bodies a subsidy which they could collect very much better m the shape of rates, m which case the people would know how much it cost them for the collection, and have much betl er satisfaction than under the present system. T moved an amendment on the second rending of the Jiill, that no Inn 1 tux should be imposed whili! tlio Government continued lo pay the subsidies to the local bodies. The treasury required that money that is being paid m subsidies, and it would have been morn advisablo to have st >pperi them altogether than to pay £30.000 a year for the collection of that Land Tax The fact was this did not suit their vindictive feeling against the rural p >pulntion. Hut that, a new land law, providing that the revenuo will be collected direcily by the lorai bodies, will be passed m a few roars, I am as certain of us that lam standing on this pletform. Hero we aro on the 4th of January, and I he Land Tax Bill cnme into operation on the Ist of January, and T hear alre idy that the difficulties m collecting itnreimtncnge. The roeii appointed as valuators say they cannot value the land on iicconnt. of various reasons. We shall soon have a law m the direction I have indicnted, because we may be sure thut men will not submit to have their property vnlued by men who nover vulued land before, and we .-hall soon Bee a great agitation against the law as it §tan<ls at present, and the Government will then say, " We cannot give you subsidies, t'mt will mean additional taxation, and wo think it. belter to take away your subsidies than to take them back m the shapo ol land laxe^. Well, gentlemen, the Government told us, il is true, that the Land Bill would be the means of increasing the tnxati m, bec.iuso it meant an amount of £130 a year t>i be taken from the country ; but, on the other hand, they proposed to stiikethe i-amearoountoff the Customs rovenu >, to reduce the duties on the necessaries of life. Well, there was a areat argument tie to what were the necessaries of life, and the Government deciding that tea and sugar wrre the necessaries of life, proposed tv strike the duties off them m order, as they Faid, that- the worVins; tnun, of whom we hear bo much about as being Door nn.l starving m this country, might li.ive a free breakfast table. Now, it is well known that the working men mnke their purchases m small gui ntitii s, consequently they would not benolit hy that reduction, but the only persons who would do so would be the squatters, who buy large quantities for their men, and the Maoris, who eat sugar morn than anythina else. If it was intendel that the working men fchoutd be benefited, tho whole of the duty on tea and sugar should have been struck off altogether. Here we have the poor Maori coining m again ; ho has not to pay rateß on his land, and now has the duty reduced on sugar for his special benefit. '.Ohere is another cla*s of persons who wiil benefit by that reduction, the brewers. (Laughter.) I do not mean to fay a word against our local products, gentlemen, butlbelieve that the brewing of beer over all this Colony, a large quantity of sugar is used, whether for clearing the beer or cleaning the casks, I don't know (laughter) j but lam sure immense quantities are used m the manufacture of colonial beer j and the Government abo brought iv a Bill to impose a tax on colonial beer. I wont against that, and held that if we were to put taxes on colonial industriei, we might as well also impose additional taxes on articles which were not made m tho country. That course would have had the effect of injuring a thriving colonial industry which was just getting on its legs, and I held that if that course was the one which the Government intended to follow, they should tax the Mosgiel cloth and Kaiapoi blankets as well as the nnfortunate brewers. Well, we opposed the Beer Tax Bill boldly, and it whb thrown out ; but this no doubt was owing to the action of Borne of tho member* of the Ministry. It was well-known that the Bill was thrown out •with the approval of the Premier, and the Native Minister, m the teeth of the AttorneyGeuerul and others of their collengues; it ■was thrown out through tho intrigues of some of the Ministry's own supporters,. The time has not come to tux local industries, and •we should allow them to have a much firmer footing before we tax them. If we want to tax, let us do it through the Customhouse, and do not let us put tuxes upon those who are striving to get colonial industries established m the country, and let us not have taxation m its most objectionable kind. Under the Beer Tax Bill we were to have excise men going about the country and summonsing people who had got a bottle of beer m their house without a revenue stamp upon it, and all this was to be done for the siiko of collecting £10,000 a-yi-ar. Well, was that a wise thing ? • I voted again»t it, and I am very glad that it wbs thrown out. Well, I havo beard it said "How is it that you, who have all along been a supporter of temperance, TOted against the Beer Tax Bill ;" and Mr Fox and myself were very strongly blamed for the course we pursued regarding that measure. But I say that there was a very strong reason why the supporters of temperance principles should object to the Beer T*x Bill, and that was that if it oame into fore would be the means of making the Government more dependent than ever on the taxes raised from beer for a large share of their revenue. lam quite sure that now the question has been brought fairly before the •""whole public they approve of our action. The Joint Stock Companies Act was another metjure brought m by the Government. It seemed to me that the Government wet<» trying to do all that they could to prevent any good being done to the vt»y men whose interests they professed to ha>» a t heart. This very Joint Stock Companies' \ c t compelled men •with only a small amount t« capital to pay duty upon it, while it allowed tn^ ver y rich man to escape without anything of r- q kind. The latter can go to his banker with a v,i<i face and say " 1 want £10.000 for this or tW speculation ;" but the working man cannot do this, and has to go and get the small amounts Of money he may want through the Jotnt Stock Companies. I opposed this, and the Government threw out the Bill without gmng us a chance of voting upot, it. Well, I have now dealt with the Bills relating to taxation, and will now go on to another subject m which we are all interested m this country. The Minister of Public Works early m the session consulted me as to a scheme for the "Ration of large quantities of land throughout the colony m the neighborhood of the proposed railway lines until such lines were completed. The reason for this was that formerly specuUtors had bought up all the land iv the Tioinity of the proposed railway lines, o*peoWly near their terminus, and afUr the hues wew completed they sold those lands for four ex &n timM «&• amount thej had paid for

I I hem X:w. this, proposal *« to give the I pulj'i.-: n chance t,. pur-hase these lands at, a r,.«.0.i..1»f.- fig-ire, =.nd fc'.e money thu njrciv ! In- I lie Government was to be uwl j i-i ]in-. :i!i{ fo- the construction of the ra lway ■ m- . \1 --v.-.'.uvd t , be a very i-ound Miheni" md.-.d, nnd Imvimi cow to that eoneli^ion, I told ih- Hon. Mr Miieandrew that i would nssi^. m tr.ing to make it l«w. We had a meetiiiL' of Yanierbury member- 1 , and agreed th it we would not oppose the se.Uomi.- for reservingland along thepropoeed railway lines. One of those lines was that from Oxford joining the main line near Ten.uka. Now a great nurny people told me that I was d>mg very wrong m having anything to do with that line, but I may cay that I was entirely responsible for it. The Government had not decided as to the course which it was to take, anrl I was asked what w.is to be done, and I informed them that if it was taken inland from Oxford to Temuku, it would work m with Mr Hardy Johnetone'd | plum for the Milford Harbor. We f'.und h '»ever tW when the Minister of Public. Work* brought, d>wn the estimates, that, ho had iimde no preparation at all for constructing this line, and we, the Canterbury members, saw that he had no intention whatever to work out the details of the scheme hb he hod agreed to do. We found that the Railway Construction Bill waß merely a measure to give the Government power to spend £6,000,000 on any railways *hey chos", and to con- truct them when they liked. By theiractioni we could nee that it wa§ their aim to first g>-t all the rnilwiy lines m Ota«o and some other partsof the Colony marie, and tlien to pay some al ten' ion to tho Canterbury linos. The Government even did not. wait- till tho Estimates were approved by the House, but issued a contract for the Tapanui line, and whon they brought this Bill down there w the vote for this line m t 1 o schedule, when, at the same timp, it •>as ! nlf marie. Tbere are also a number of other lines m the cen re of Otogo which are being constructed, while, those m Canterbury are h<ing neglected by the Minister for Public Works, and there is no other province which has made co much progress m public. works sinen tho aece§>ion of Sir Georjje Grey's Ministry than Otngo. Ido not. mean to say that I grudge Otago thai , because I believe that for m:my years their progress was kept back for the want of local communication, but I say that it, was a most unjust proposal to tike millions of the colony's money, and to üb" the proceeds of the Canterbury lands, which had been reserved fiom sale to make lines m Canterbury, to construct lines m Otaoo, while the lines m the other provinces, similarly situated as Canterbury, were left to si and over for an indefinite length of time. Now, there is another question we are all interested m. I refer to the Canterbury Land Fund. You will all remember that at the beeinning of last, year, iS7B. tho land fund of the colony became colonial revenue, and consequently erased to be localised m the provinces. When tha l measure passed we made the express provision that all the arrears of the land fund, up to the 3lst of December, 1877, wero to belong to tha 100 l bodies, and thut they *hould not be paid into the general land fund. Not a single penny or this money was paid to the local bodies m Canterbury", and when they repre-ented the matter to the Colonial Treasurer he put l''em off by making various excusas. When a Connty Council made an application for payment of its share of the mimey, the Colonial Treasurer woulrl tell them that the money was only payable to the Road Boards, and when Road Boards similarly made application, he would cay, "Yes, very well, but the Counties should re/eive the money, not the Road Boards." He reminded me of the Boldier m the story, who, when beirg flogged, whenever h* was hit upon the buck he called out " don't hit me on my back but- on my legs," and when hit upon the le«8 he would cry ont, " don't hit me on the legi beciu-e they are sore." Wherever he was hit he was very sorts. And so it. was with the Coloni d Treasurer, whenever the mniey was applied for he said that it was to be paid m a particular direction, and that he could not pay it to the body applying for it. The Sflwyn County Council then proceeded against the Government to recover the money on behalf of the Road Boards. They did not succeed, and the Hon John Hall, Mr Stevens, and myself formed a deputation which waited upon the Government. We were referred by tho Government to the Colonial Treasurer, and had a most interesting interview with him. The matter was ultimately referred to the Finance Conimitt.ee, who said that the Government had no right U keep that money fiom the Road Boards. Still, they would not pay a farthing, and we again waited on the Colonial Treasurer, and urged our claims more Etrongly m consequence of the decision of. the Finance Committee. He then came, down from his high perch, and said, "We will give the £100,000 which should have been kept for the Lyttelton Harbor- works," as if the Road Board* had anything to do with the Lyttelton Harbor-works. Mr Ballance gave way on that point. Then they wished to take £55,000 for the re-survey of lands m Canterbury, bo as to make them fit m with the Land Transfer Act. We imintained that everybody was satisfied with the surveys as they were, but that if the Government chose to re-survey the lands they should certainly do bo, but with their own money. They were actually going to pay for the re-survey of laud m other provinces out of the general revenue, to which v»e pay our share, and were going to re-survey tho land m Canterbury at the ex pense of its Road Boa>dß. There could not possibly have been a more unjust proceeding and we resisted it till the Colonial Treasurer gave. m. £75,0C0 was said to be required for arrears of surveys m Canterbury, and the Government also maintained the survey of unßurveyed lmd m Canterbury should bo paid for out of its land fund. We held that tho other provinces had their land survey made out of the general revenue, and that Canterbury should not be kept out of the money justly due to it because the Colonial Treasurer had I hat money m his hands. At last we Siid that "if you won't give us more than £155,000 we will take it under protest." It was alao agreed that the £75,000 for the arrears of survey remain m the bank till the lands were re-surveyed, and that then, whatever balance there might be afier the cost of the survey had been paid, should be handed over to the Road Boaroa, with interest added. I believe tho time will come when the Colouial Parliament will see that Canterbury has b?en unjustly dealt with m connection with the taking of our land revenue for re-surveys. There was one subject about which feeling was very strong during the late recess, and tint was the necessity which existed for a redistribution of the representation according to the population. Since the previous census was taken the population had altered very much m various portions of the colony, aud as far as Canterbury was concerned, it had increased. At the present time some districts with a very small number of inhabitants have more members m the Houße than districts that are densely populated. Now, Sir George Grey always hr.d this promise up to the people— "lf I remc; v. m power, one of my first steps will be (a readjust the representation according to the population, and those little pocket boroughs, '■> he called the little places m Nelson and otllt - olaces, "shall be tiken away, and they shall i..,. retur:l members to Parliament." That is vHt gj r Q eor g e Grey promised ; but when the -. . cen?Uß returns were published, which Bho>-. d tlmt j£ h e carried his promise into effect, » tt>rDurj wou icl hftTe twenty-two instead of *° u -,»en members, and that the whole of the Southe. t , on o f tne colony would have a larger «P' station m the House, while the Northern trictg would have less, Sir Gcor-e droppV .. scheme as if it had burnt his «*««•. J»» never again referred to it m any public epeeeh We were willing that the adjustment of th. representation should be based upon popula tion, or the amount of rates paid by each <h triot, became m that case the districts nrino were making the most progress would be faitl, dealt by ; or that they ihould take m a bail

[ the number of cliidren attending the schools We w.-ri> also wMing tlia". u\V otli r plan should be adopt d, so lon^ aa they allowed nthe tame rr|.mfli>tation a9 other parts of the L-la'i'l. 12ut Die Government w.-iuH nothfar of tho.«e pror o s ul-. Sir Gorge Grey oppos d I hem, wliippcl up his party and- hud tji-m l.hr-.jwn oul.. He who lv;d promi-oil a re-ad-justmenl of the repn-se tati'.n which weald give the people their full liberties, nai the n I rot to do it as eoun aa he found that it wou'd lessen the power of tliOßo district 8 m the North Island, where his Government were m favor. One of the reasons why the Canterbury members were m such a small minority was that they hud only fourteen members, although the population had increased thirty per cent. since the previous census was taken. However, I am sure that the time will cnme when every part of of the colony will have its iair representation Gentlemen, I will now refer to the future, having dealt with rost of the subjects which came before us last year. I may say at the outset that I believe the Grey Government baß lost the confidence of the colony. They have, had the greatest, opportunities afforded to them that any Ministry ever hud, and yet we find that their Government and policy has been characterised throughout by what has well be-n called groes jobs and personal hobbies. The Government has neglected the affairs of the public to go on a wild-goose chase after come theory or another. Our gaols are overcrowded ; our lunatic asylums are a liagrace ; and our local institutions are all but m a state of collapse. But. what do we find ? Why, that the Government, instead of attending to the large public matters demanding their attention, ure meandering ab'.ut all over the colony. There has not been a single member of the Ministry m Wellington except the ColonhlTreasurer f . >r some time past. The Premier, the Native Minister, and the Minister for Public Works are m Auckland. The Colonial Secretary is, as ib seen by t-le-grams published m to-iT.ay's newspapers, at Hawke's Bay, where he is said to be taking soundings for a private harbor near his place of residence. Mr Stout is m Dunedin attending to his own pri/ate affairs, while Mr Bullance U the only member of the Ministry m Wellington, and he does not know anything about the requirements of any of the various districts exceptjhat one. m which he lives. I believe that tliat should b« put a stop to. What this country wants is not theories of Government, new land taxes and laws, simply because Mr Gladstone, Herbert Spencer, or some American philosophical economist aay so. Whi\t we want is a steady administration, sound finance, ond an improved system of local self-government, and if we have that we don't cam how Ministers air their hobbies as long us they give us our money to spend aa we choose. Sir George Grey has already told ua thut one of the great political questioisof the future is to be a contest between the House of Representatives and tlie Legislative Council. Now, I ask you if the country wishes to see anything of that natur.' diking place, or that the Legislative Council should be deprived of any of its funo tions. The Legislative Council stood well between Canterbury and the Government m connection with the Canterbury land f tmd,and the Government tell us thutthe great questim of the future is to be a fiaht between the two Houses. You have only to look at the neighboring colony of Victoria to see whut results arise from such a contest. There the public machinery is paralysed, and the whole country is m a stuto of depres^on. We do not want anything of that kind m New Zetland (Hear, hear) I believe that the result m the future will be that the country will onll for a redistribution of the representation, and then, tha'. a dissolution will take place. If this were done, I feel sure the result will be greatly »gain9t the Grey Government, and th it they will either hay« to give way to better men, or to bring m measures bused on good Government and sound finance. What we want ia not theoretical, but practical and economicul Government. Now I come to a special subject, one iadeed m which we all take a special interest. Last session Mr Curtis, the member for Nelaon, brought m a Bill to make the practice gemral throughout the colony of subsidising denominational education where the schools ful filled the requirements of the Government Inspector. This it will he observed was the establishment of a modified form of denomination education. Jn the provinces of Nelson and Hawke's Bay, they always had a denominational system of education. . In Nelson, where I lived myself', I know there are no belter schools than those conducted by religious bodies; there is no prosletysing ; the children ure taught the elements of religion and Bound morality, and during the 19 years they were m existence m Nelson, to my knowledge no complaint had ever been made against them. The object of this Bill was to reßtore to some extent these denominational schools which, I believe, would have been a very good thing, but the Government was opposed to it, and did a very unjustifiable thing m attempting to burke its being discussed. I hold that e\ery question effecting the public should be allowed to be fairly discussed. The Government took advantage of the forms of the House to throw out the Bill, However, the feeling of the House was so strong on the matter that the Bill was restored to the Order Paper. Mr Stout then agreed that a particular day should be get apart for discussing it. but it was afterwards so arranged by the Government that Ihe Bill should be diecussed alter half-past five on another day. A number of the members knew nothing about this change, amongst them myself, and I was not m the House when a division was taken on the question. The late Mr Teßchemaker and myself were supporters of the Bill, and we were not m attendance when the Bill went to a division. But it was lost only by six votes, and that fact is, I think, the strongest proof that theopinion of the House regarding the education question had very much changed since the previous session. It is my belief that we shall be obliged to come back to a denominational system whether we line it or not. The only ri-al objection urged against that Byßtem is that it is very expensive, that is to say that instead of the Government aiding a small number of large schools they will have to aid a great number of smaller ones. It is Baid that a proper distribution of the funds could be made to the schools without dissipating the educational fund whatever. I hope that is the case, but even, if not, would it not be better for us to speed more money on the education of our children, and to get a good education. Of the money we now spend, a very large sum is wasted m bringing up the whole yonthful population of this colony without teaching them any religion. Such a system I am sure is a very bad one, and one which is sure to land ub m a very bad position m a short time. (Cheers.) Well, gentlemen, I am very glad to hear that cheer, for it was only a very short time ago that a man would not dare to stand up on a public platform m New Zealand and express such a sentiment. I remember well that Mr Stafford lost his election at Heatheote through making a remark like the one I have juat made. I say we are » Christian people, and that we cannot submit to have our children brought up without religion at all. Some people rawintain that we can educate the children m the public schools without religious instruction m those schools, and that they can then be taught the principles of morality 5 but I say that nothing of the kind can be done. We have learnt our own senss of what was right from the Bible, and we avoj not going to introduce any system of Greek* philosophy— that no two men are agreed about— and lo see our children brought up without religious instruction m our public schools. We are not prepared to throw away that system under which Christianity has spread throughout the' whole world during the last eighteen centuries. I myself would rather [see my children dead than grow jf> without religion, and I say that U ,J» the feeling throughout the whole TheTrevhl wy that I attribute half « „f .^ftlarriki'.isin m our towns to the X lenSnatf education. If we are to those who hold d& ; t our

an-l be most strongly "gainst children learn ing religion according to a faitli the did not bi-lo.g to (hear, bear). Let us be just and g niTou9 lo e^ery body, and I<-t us no', while we do this, introduce unylhinu like bigotry. Th B is the very worst form that the qu-stion can assuin<-, and I hope and trust we shall never have it here. (Cheer-). I f>" el Bure " f I his, that the time will c-ime when we shall hare religion m our schools, and tubsidise the denominational schools, so tl.a>. the opinions of the people who differ from us m religious matters may be respected. (Cheers). Now 1 will touch upon a topic of local interest—the Milford Harbor Bill. The previous session, there bid been quite a mmia about Harbor Bills. I was the only member who introduced one last session. Well, I dirt not know whether the circumstance was a fortunate one one or not, but I was determined to go on with the Bill unless I stood alone. I not it through its second reading, and it whb then referred to the Waste Lands Committee to report upon. That Bill was particularly opposed by Mr Turnbull, the member for Timaru, who he'd, as you may imagine, a very decided objection to its being p issed ; and to prevent it becoming law he took the most extraordinary courso I ever heard of. It is usual, when a Bill is being discussed before Committee, for the member m whose mtids it is, to bo invited to attend when it is brought on foi discussion, bo that he may offer any information upon it. I got no euch invitation, and the only intimation I had that the Blil had been considered waß when the Chairman of the Waste Lands Committee reportpd that after haying carefully gone over the Milfor.i Harbor Bill, they had to recommend it to the House with certain amendments. I found out thut those amendments rendered the Bill not worth having. I at once rose and said that it was most unfair for the committee to have considered the Bill without consulting me, and moved that it should be returned to the Committee. This wa» opposed by the Government, but we beat them by a large majority. Tho next day when I waited upon the Committee I asked them what, wus the reason fmt they had not reserved the foreshore. Tou will hardly believe it, but the reason was that the people of South Canterbury built their houses of concrete, and that the shingle upon the foreshore wa« required for that purpose. (Laughter.) Well, gentlemen, I was perfectly astonished to hear t<as and I asked the Committee who could have told them so, and they told me, 1 believe, thit 'he member for Timaru, Mr Turnbull, had told them bo. Mr Turnbull evidently does not know the locality. I told the Committee that we had some 190 miles of beach from which the greater piirt of New Zealand could take the material for building concrete bouses, and the first southerly gale would restore every pebble of it. We had a very h«rd fight about the reserve, but at last succeeded m getting the Bill puseed. The Oolonial Secretary told me that Sir John Coode had informed him that he had had some misgiving as to the height of the bank, but that he was confidently of opinion that a good harbor miuht be made there, the bank being strengthened with artificial works. [Mr Wakefield then referred to the Timaru High School Bill, and the action taken by him regarding it, m order that the country districts should be fairly represented on the Board, and that lads from the country should have equal facilities for attaining superior education with those residing m towns.] I will just cay, m conclusion, that the last session wus a very tiring one indeed lo members who, like myeelf, were not strong party men, who hud nothing to g iin or to look for, but aimply to do what was right ; but I thought at the same time that I should take a strong part m everything that was coming forward, bo that when I came baok it might not be said that I had acted the port of the sluggard. During the three or four years I havo represented you I may have made errors of judgment arising from inexperience, and it/ lias often been told me that m taking this course or that, I should offend this or that class of my constituents. Well, gentlemen, I may say that I havu never been sensitive on thut point, because I have always thought that if m my actions regarding political subjects, I satisfied my conscience aud acted honorably, justly, and uprightly m reference to everj measure brought up m the Assembly, I should be thus best carrying out the wishes of my constituents, and then if what I did was not exactly m harmony with the opinion of one section of my constituents, they will do me the j list ice to believe that m the course I bad taken I was actuated by a be.ief that I wus doing what was right, and for the benefit, so far as m 7 judgment went, of the whole of my constituents. In doing this I feel satisfied that at least I have won the approval of the majority of those I huve the honor to represent. (Loud cheers.) A long and somewhat acrimonious discussion then took place regarding the Counties Act. In answer to a question by Mr K. Ji 1 . Gray, Mr Wakefield said thut last session the Government had been asked over and over aguin to consent to a measure being introduced tn amend the Act, but they absolutely refused tJ do s6. The fact was they wanted to make it as unpopular as possible. He bud always held the firm belief that they did not want Counties. Hb was a Road Board man to the backbone. (Cheers.) Ihe Road Board men m Canterbury had certainly served their districts well. The Government should have brought m a Bill giving the Woad Boards extended powers which would satisfy everyone. Last year he had expressed similar views to the electors at Temuka, and had been thoroughly supported. An idea had got abroad that certain members of the County Council intended to bring the Act into force and tax the people for the Milford harbor works, and he had taken the greatest trouble to disabuse members of the Council and others on the point ; and to impress upon them that the Council had no power to rate for such a purpose. Still the idea had done a lot of hurm. If they ever hoped to get. a harbor at Milford, they must rest their hopes on the merits of the scheme itself. He had been charged with exerting himself to break up the Geraldine County. What he had done, and what he whs fully entitled as a County elector todo, was to oppose the Act being brought into force, so us to prevent a disruption. He be-li-ved the time would come when they would all hold the same opinion as himself m the matter. There was no necessity for imposing more rates now, as the Road Boards had all the money they required. Hard times were coming ; therefore let them not impose additional rates till they were needed. He would stick to the fioad Boards till they failed m their duties. (Applause). Mr Gray accused Mr Wakefield of suddeply changing his opinions, m proof of which he alluded to a private conversation which had taken place between them some six months asjo, and m the course of which Mr Wakefield had told him it was foolish for Geraldine not to adopt the Act. Mr Wnkefield said he had no recollection of any conversation of the kind, but if there had been one, Mr Gray must have totally misunderstood him. At the same time he could not help saying it was a most unusual thing for a public man, on a public platform, to be called. to account for words spoken m private conversation. (Applause.) In regard to a question as to the Opihi bridge, Mr Watefield said the Temuka Road. Board had full power to work with _ the Levels Board, and put the bridge m. repair. In reply to Mr Job Brown, Mr Wakefield said be w&uld use his be-t endeavours. next session to have extended powers granted t( Road Board?. In reply to Mr Robert Wood, Mr Wake field said he would advocate both an incomt t-»x and a property tax. After » long and hot discussion, m wMcl Mr M. Quinn, Mr Talbot, tit Fildes, anc others took part regarding the eompulsor clause of the Education Act, and the Lane Tax Act, Mr Talbot said he had very great pleasun m proposing a cordial Tote of thanks to M -Wskefield for his able addrew. He though

all of them would agree wth him that their member liad work-d ve'y bard for th<-m. Mr Franks said he would have equal pleapure m Ber-onding the vote of thinks. He belier-d nil present weiv s^'isfiei wi'h Mr Wakefield's a idrees, and «ith vrh-t he had done for them. In I'is (Mr Frank's) opinon I heir member had really done more than th<-y ever expected. I applause.) Mr K. F. Gr*y moved us an amendment — "That whilst the electors thank Mr Wakefield very cordially for the way he conducted their business hist session, they etrongly deprecate the Bteps he has taken to stir up party feeling m the district, and break up the Geraldine County." He entirely believed Mr Wakefield had done his duty to his constituents, but he thought they should censure him for trying to cause a disruption of the County. Mr ffnyhurst seconded Mr Gray's amendment pro forma. He did not agree with it, but he desired to have an opportunity of stating that the Milford Harbor Commit U-e and its promoters had no intention whatever of trying to get the County tuxed for the work ; and "to express his astonishment that any such belief hud got abroad. He had heard the belief expressed at the Raukapuka meeting the other evening. One of the gentlemen who had there spoken egainsfc the Milford scheme had told him on » previous occasion that he would do ail m his power to further it. Mr Hayhiirst expressed himself m favor of the Counties Act being brought into force. In conclusion he said he thought Mr Wakefield had done his duty to his constituents well m the House Mr Wakefield, referring to Mr Gray's amendment, said he came there that night to address them as their Member, not as a County elector. He was sorry Mr Gray had mixed the County matter up with his position us a Member of the General Assembly as it placed him m a false position. (Cheers.) Mr Franks asked Mr Gray to withdraw his amendment. (Applause). Mr Wareing : Wo, no ! Mr Gray said bis reason for moving the amendment was that Mr Wakefield and the Timaru Herald meant the same thing; and that, journal had done its best to break up the County. (Cries of Chnir ! Chair !) Mr M. Quinn said it was only for the meetiDg to say whether Mr Wakefield's action, as their Member, was satisfactory ; and they had nothing to do with his views as a County elector. (Cheers). The Chairman then put the amendment, for which only four hands were held up. He then read the resolution, which was carried with loud applause. Mr Wakefield briefly thanked those present for carrying the resolution to heartily, and said that if Mr Gray's amendment had beeo carried he would have felt that the cordial relations which had hitherto existed between himself and the electors were divided. As it was, however, he believed that at that moment he was thoroughly m accord with them on public affairs. (Cheers.) A vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed by Mr Wakefield, was carried by acclamation, and the meeting ihen broke up.