Sir William Fox before his Constituents,

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3325, 19 August 1879, Page 2

Sir William Fox before his Constituents,

, (Fee Pbess Association.) • :

[Special Wibe to " Stab."]

Wanganui, Last night. Sir William Fox addressed tho elector! in the Odd' Fellows' Hall to-night which was crowded to excess, many, being unable to gain admission. Sir W. Fox on ascending the platform was received with mingled hisses/ groans/ and cheers,' and no Chairman making his appearance for, some time the chair was ultimately taken by Mr Heat, Chairman of the Harbor Board. Sir W, Fox on rising was received again with hisses, and he appealed to the audience to giro him a patient and courteous hearing. He said the country was on the rerge of a general election; and so far as he was concerned everything should be conducted with straightforwardness, propriety, and courteousness. The remarks he should make as to his opponents would be not as in antagonism, but as in a spirit of kindly warning. He would then show why he had endeavored to drive Sir George Grey from the position he holds in the country. With respect to one of the gentlemen (Ballance) neither he (Fox) or the electors had been treated fairly. (Uproar and. hisies). 'At a most critical crisis, when the financial questions were to be brought before the House, when five millions were

about to be voted, Mr Ballance thought it proper to leave the House without asking leave of hia constituents (laughter), and commence a canvas in Wanganui. He (Fox) remained at his ppst tied by the leg, while Ballance was making a house to house canvai. He waß the only one who left his seat for selfish purposes, and he was, of all men in the House* the one bound to remain to the end of the session. There was poor Grey, with Stout as his faithful henchman, and Sheehan sitting together like two wretched fellow school boys, absolutely ignorant of the financial position of the colony. In this strain Fox went on for some time heaping personal abuse on Ballance, and made an appeal on tfre ground that. Ballance had stolen a march on him, concluded on this point with " thank God we have the ballot, the ballot is your safe guard." (Laughter). Eeferring to, Mr Bryce, he ■aid he was not standing, mv indepen*

dent candidate, he wai coupled with Bal'.ance as closely as man and wife, and they must ran together. (Cries of "hope they will.") Fox then went on in the manner which characterised him during the recent session to abuse Bryco, and in reply to hisses and groans said that if Bryce and Ballauce were returned the Electorate would be virtually disfranchised, and when the House met the same game would be played- over again and Grey would be defeated by a larger majority than before. The best thing they could do would be to plump for him (Fox). (Continued groans and hisses and uproar, and cries of "What about the Waimate Plains ? "■) Turning to Grey he asked what about the great Liberal programme P and after a fling at the use of the Hinemoa during what he called " the stumping tour " he covered the same old ground., ridiculing the Premier's assumption to be the friend of the people. Fox then proceeded in execrable taste to trace Grey's history from the time when he was subaltern in one of Her Majesty's Regiments, stationed at Limerick, and dreamed of regenerating black races. (Hisses and interruptions). Encouraged by the loud applause throughout the whole portion of his speech he intended as, a proof of the insincerity of Grey and Sheehan with respect to manhood suffrage, and their action with respect to the alleged Maori dual rote; and told the audience that, had that measure been carried, the Maoris of Wanganui. could hare walked into the hall in which they were sitting, and upset the European vote; • (Yells of "no, no," and groans); Alluding to Triennial Parliaments, he said that he (Fox) was, and always had been in favor of Triennial Parliaments. Eor some considerable time Fox went: on abusing Grey, evidently under the impression that he was still standing on the floor of the House and addressing the galleries.; Touching upon the Land question, and quoting from his own work on '• The Six Colonies," he claimed to have enunciated the present- Liberal policy many years ago, and said the people had been led to believe that he and his colleagues, Featherstone and Fitzherbert, n (uproar) had been the authors of the present Constitution, which would have been more liberal if they had been left untrammelled. The meeting here got very noiSyj and the speaker bad to wait for some time before he could regain a hearing. (Cries of "what about the land sharks?") Sir W. Fox: ?'!Do you^call yourself Englishmen P " (Continued uproar). The speaker then went on to mimic Sir G. Grey's manner, to indulge in his usual lustrous style of address, but was frequently interrupted. Referring to the Premier's Island Home, he stated that Sir George had escaped Highway and Country taxation, but had now to pay £2,000 for the Land Tax. He referred to Smith's proposition in 1864 to have land parcelled out in large blocks, and to bring into existence a New Zealand aristocracy. (Cries of " Who are the land robbers? " Here a free fight took place.) He denied that he was a big land robber, or hated' the "Cockatoos," or that he had been driven from Nelson by the small capitalists, who he said would have voted for

him to a man. He bad placed men then oa-the land belonging tp the "New Zealand company although it was contrary to his instructions, and, had since been thanked by the "Cockatoos" for that step* He had also sold a large part of his own estate seven yearn ago to small ,farmers, and appealed to the meeting if ;such conduct stamped him as the enemy, of the poor man. (Applause.) Sir Wm. then returned to his attack on, Sir G. !Grey, which again caused great uproar. He then went on to speak of the Premier's action in connection with Donald Reid's Land Bill* which had passed both houses and was held back until the Governor demanded its production before he would sign the Appropriation Act. He accused Grey of having raised the upset price;of land from fire and ten shillings- to two pounds per acre, which he said was playing into the hands of Mr Larnach, whom he stigmatized as a gigantic land shark. (Uproar.) Sir Wm. Fox then travelled over much of the ground' previously traversed by t him, Keferring to the Land Tax, he said it began to be talked about two sessions

jago, when both Bryce and Ballance said they would be no parties to such a tax (sic.) Mr Stout said more emphatically ;" By these three taxes, Land Tax, Beer Tax, and' Companies Bill we stand or fall," and yet in spite of all these pledges and promises they harry on the Land Tax and abandon the others. He "then went oil jridiculing the manner in which attempts had been made to collect the Land Taxi while warmly upholding the principle, saying nobody objected to the land tax so long as it was -fairly collected. He then went on to argae that any land tax must affect the working man, inasmuch

that any,land owner it affected would.retrench in another direction by dismjspihg one or more of his farm laborers. He stated that, the Evening Herald ha&giren the meeting certain advice, which,'he said, was,like that giren him by the "boys " of the House—such as Mr Tole, who took upon himself to tell such grey-beards in politics as himself how to do things. He claimed that his success was the answer to such carpers and juvenile advisers! He then referred to recent events in the |, King Country, which, he said, had cost probably £51,030. There was nothing certain known about the Native Office expenditure, but Mr' Sheehan had admitted that he had spent £200 more than he was authorised. He went on to attack Sir J. Yogel for his action in taking a place on the directorate of the New Zealand Land Company, and that Mr Larnach had pocketed £2000 by going home in connection with the last loan. Mr George McCnllough Reid received the next claim from Sir Wil-

Ham's invective, which had no connection with his appointment as Immigration lecturer in England. (Great uproar.) Referring to the .Native Office he stated that after the late war, when the king party'were driven into retirement, where

they remained perfectly quiet with the exception ,of the Todd and Sullivan outrages, he claimed that the " let alone " policy had worked well. When Sir George - Grey came into power he at once opened up communications with the disaffected natives who,' he stated, were

now ripe for war through the fanaticism of Te Whiti, who, he stated, was-claim* ing the whole colony. He admitted that lie himself could not point a way out of the difficulty, liefer ring to the Waimate Plains he stated that Government had fixed the upset price at £10. (Cries of "No, no." After sonw confusion, Sir William Fox admitted that rumor was bia only authority for making the statement, and. retracted amidst loud applause and hisses). One moi« point he would

Zealand" had large tracts of land which they were anxious to sell, and Europeans to buy ; he did not like to use the term '• sharks," but there were a number of land speculators in the colony. Mr Sheehan had shown that Government intended to retire from land purchase, and leave it to speculators, but the very next session the country found the Government had become a larger land purchaser than any previous Government, and had shut out private purchasers. (Loud tfrtar t>f "quite right"). As far as the Government was concerned they had quite abandoned their promise, and struck an entirely opposite line of poficy. Fox, again alluding to Mr Ballance, asked them not to throw away their votes upon him, because he was bound to be in Opposition. (Cries of "we will' retjUn Ballance). Return Bryce, as he is on tie mining side. (A voice, " That's not yon* * side.") Return members who eta do something for you. When Sir W. Fox concluded, by thanking them for' the orderly hearing he had received, the statement' was received with derisive cheers, hoots and hisses. In reply to an elector Sir W. FoX'SSid 1" that the principles pqt forward by Sir G. Grey during the last few years, were common to many on both sides of the House, but that the parly he belonged to had no belief in Sir G. Grey's intention to carry, out those principles; • btt -bopejl < that, if elected and able to, form a Ministry, they would b? pritfefto ferry oat the principles they have failed jfcb, eajnry, opt. Several absurd questions 'followed amid loud uproar, . .'. „ , .-,„■>, In reply to another elector, Sir W, Fox said he: though immigration shovld be conducted with great caution, Mother a great scarcity of labor or an ovee afcejw dance, were likely to hare evil effieotai •! v In to another elector, Sir W* Fox spid the petition rent to him in reijb* voluntaer scrip extension "oft time* had been put aside by him, because he'h«£ been written to informing him that i bill was about to be brought in whioh wbttld meet the, case, when the'bill was Droajthf in, it did not meet the ease, andhe'hid ftp get a copy of a similar petition, "(oir Mr Ballance. (Cries of " who secured the scrip," 'and replies of " Ballance.") '' " Mr Poison rose to propose that Sir W. Fox was a fit and proper-person to.Mmj sent the constituency.. (Cheers., an counter cheers, hisses, and other uproar.). , He referred to Sir W.: Fox being elected; in England, and claimed that, fee b*£ done nothing to forfeit the eonfidenee. of; the elector's. • > „■•■-', . «,: . . <„. ;>

> Mr Campbell seconded the motion lmt coald not gain a hearing.' '! -'":,' ><< .1 Mr John Duthrie; J.P.j rose to more w£ amendment to the effect that Sir Wi'-'lfafc' was not a fit and. proper person to represent the electors of Wanganui* and, ifc so doing said the only thing they had heard thafc night from Sir W. Fox 1 waf pne^ * tirade of abuse of Sir George Grey, and that if they looked at every page of Hansard they would find the reports of , Fox's speeches were nothing butane same thing; It was a mistake if For thought he was going to wed himself to then for life ; he had better gq back to RapgitikeL The exact words of the amendment were— " That this meeting is of opinion that it is desirable that a general eiectidn afford^ the' opportunity that this constituency r elect as its representatives loyal'meo,'. pledged to support a Liberal policy.",; , ( ,' Mr Henry X athan seconded the amend* :men'* " " ■'>- r\ .'j ji ■ j^V A man named Alsworth who attempled to speak in Fox's favor war howled dpwn, and the amendment was, on £ sholr; of hands, carried by .an , overwhelming majority, not more than forty hands o«t of an audience of five hundred; beiug held up in favor of the original motion. The Chairman's announcement was received with loud and continuous cheeffj. >* i\ ,|