MR. SHEPHERD, M.P.C., AT THE BLUE SPUR.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 22, 11 July 1868, Page 3

MR. SHEPHERD, M.P.C., AT THE BLUE SPUR.

On the, evening of Tuesday last, Mr. Shepherd, M.P.C. (Goldfields Member), addressed.; his comtituents of the Blue Spur district, in Medwin's Hotel, Blue Spur. ■ By the advertised hour a large number of miners had assembled. On the motion of Mr. Keppel, Mr. M'Kinlay was called' to the chair. Mr. M'Kinlay, in opening the meeting, t.said : Gentlemen, Mr. Shepherd has cime to give us an account of his stewardship during the session of the Provincial Council ; and I hope yon will give him a fair and patient hearing. Mr. Shepherd, who was favorably received, then rose and said : Gentlemen, it affords me much pleasure to meet you to-night, remembering as I do that I represent the miners of the Province of Otago," and also" remembering that I attended here fourteen months back to ' explain my views to the Goldfields j electors in this' district. I have endea1 vored, to the best of my ability, to carry out the policy I then endeavored to enunciate. Yon wiU remember that I was'elected at the time tlie present Council was elected. That Council, as you are aware, is composed of many new I members. When I attended the Council' lon that occasion,- 1 must admit that I was i disappointed in the quality of the Council, ! and I may say that' I have had no cause to change my opinion since. The time of 'the first "session was frittered away in useless resolutions, and, in .passing Bills of a worthless, nay, of an illegal character.' This waß probably accounted for by.the fact that the Goldfields had been taken charge of- by the General Government. , That time of excitement, ' however, passed away ; and the better part of last sesaion was occupied in dealing with tke pmncipal questions affecting the Prevince, more especially the land question. My intention, then, is to explain what transpired during that time, and to give you my views upon the various matters ' brought before the Council. When I went io Dunedin to attend the Council, I had little confidence in the Yogel Ministry ; and I will give you some of my reasons for that want of confidence, and for my opposition to tke Ministry. In dealing with the lands of the Province, the Ministry protected the squat bora and banks, and opposed the interests of the people at large, by throwing obstructions in the way of opening up the land for settlement, and granting their leases in every case, even when declared notoriously wanted for Hundreds. Referring to the Estimates, I would mention that the Government were unable to carry out works for which large sums had be<?n voted, at their request; and in proof *of this statement, I will lay before you a few figures. To show a fair balance-sheet, and to secure the approval of the Council, the Treasurer put the sum of £121,246 17s. lOd. on the Estimates for roads and works ; of that sum only £70,886 105. 3d. was expended, inclusive of £22,806, 15s. lOd. carried to the Suspense account, which clearly proves that Mr. Yogel had failed,_-to carry out works to the amount of £50,360. I need scarcely inform you that the Departmental expenses were paid, amounting to the sum of £102,413 2s. sd. This alone satisfied my mind that he did not possess financial ability or knowledge of the resources of the Province. Another reason I had was this : there had been a very strong desire expressed, for a lengthened period, that land suitable for settlement on the Goldfields should be opened for settlement ; and very suitable land for agricultural purposes had been spoken of in Council, by way of resolution and otherwise, in the neighborhoods of Tuapeka, Cromwell, Teviot, and Hamiltons ; and although twelve months have elapsed since then, none of the .land in these districts has been opened.* I Could not, therefore, feel ! confidence in the Government on that ground. ' The session before last, resolutions were carried by an overwhelming ! majority, that Hundreds should be declared at Tokomairiro and West Taieri. On the ' adjournment of the Council, a speech was made by the Superintendent, advise and approval of the Yogel Ministry, of which I, shall read you a few sentences, referring to those resolutions. I [Mr. Shepherd read a portion of the Superintendent's speech on the adjournment" of the Council.] . The policy of declaring Hundreds had been debated and fully considered- by the Council, and that was the reply we got. It was plainly told us that we "had not properly considered a most important matter. The Government, in' fact had the audacity to say that we did not know what we were doing. I am going back this far in the history of the Council to show what worked on my mind, and caused me to oppose the Yogel Government. It may be, gentlemen, that many of you may not consider yourselves immediately connected with the Land Question ; but I think you are. Every miner should at least hope to become a farmer or land owner, and not be content to live at mining all his days. Now, the waste lands of the" Province are calculated to— retain- a much larger population; and we know, the larger the population the" larger the Customs revenue, and the larger the number of people among whom the taxes would be divided, and■the better for the present inhabitants. I will now refer to another reasbn why I had no confidence in the Yogel Ministry. A message came down to the Council from his Honor the Superintendent, asking the question, whether it would not be wise (to purchase certain bonded stores adjoining the Government Buildings, occupied by Mr. Reynolds, and leased to him by the Government at a rental, and of which term of lease eighteen months had to run. A committee' was immediately appointed, consisting chiefly of members friendly to the scheme. That .committee brought up a report simply recammending .the Government to purchase this lease at what it was worth. Well, the Government sent all over Dunedin tx> find a suitable gentleman to value the property ; and they found one who valued it' at £3,800, which, sum was paid over to Mr. 'Reynolds for it, _ ; Npw, I have had thWfr fetoreV valuSd^myMi by menial Aiperience in Dunedin. One gentleman said they might be worth £900, and others valued them as low as £600 ; ¥«t fe ftfttt *•» «fc flw wtaßtrt, tiny

x. were not worth more than £1200. It was the opinion of a large number of residents in Dunedin that a large sum in excess of the value of the property had been paid to Mr. Reynolds. When I found the Government prepared for acts of that description, it was not to be wondered at that I should lose all confidence in it It was when this committee was appointed ! that I objected to the policy of purcha*t ing the lease at all, as the Government had plenty of land close by they could not sell.. I saw at a glance that the committee had been whipped in, and that the system 1 of commitees was a more convenient one for many who had friends they ' wished to benefit. I frequently objected in the Council to this system of packing committees. ' Mr. Yogel, the other day at Tokomairiro, when referring to l the Select Committee on the West Taieri Hundred, took credit to himself that that was not a packed committee, which was simply an acknowledgment by him that anything excepting a packed committee was quite exceptional and praiseworthy. I am not going to spare the Provincial Council, nor any one else ; but I wish to bring before you what came under my notice. I , found, when the session opened, various matters immediately affecting the Goldtield3 which required attention ; and when I refer to the interests of the Goldfields I must remember that they cover two-thirds of the Province of Otago, and that I have to represent, not only the Blue Spur, but on as far as the Nevis, to the extreme ends of the Goldfields. Those of you who know the Wakatip district know well that there is one block of land there very suitable for agriculture and commonage. Well, the Government were determined to sell back to the runholders the whole of the country known as the Wakatip Runs.' I, with others, was opposed to this course ; and after the Government had been defeated in various ways, they came down last session determined to sell these runs. They further wished to give some land at Waitahuna to Mr. Murray, who had applied for it in the names of his grandmother, and many of his friends living in Scotland, and who were intending immigrants. This the Government tried to carry out in opposition to certain residents at Wait'ihuna, who had made applications for the same land, under- the agricultural leasing system. Then, • again, I found the Government did their utmost to undermine one of our best Goldfielda institutions— one of those institutions held in great esteem by every miner : I mean our Goldfields hospitals. They attempted every means to reduce the subsidy from three to one to two to one ; and knowing as I did the difficulty experienced by each of the hospitals to get subscriptions, and pay their current expenses, even with the L 3 subsidy, I was certain that such a step would be tantamount to closing the Hospitals, or throwing them entirely upon the Government, and if that coursg were adopted I am certain they would cost double the amount which they do under the present management," and would also give them an excuse to sweep them away. Remembering that the Government were opposed to various measures, the carrying out of which would be beneficial to the goldfields, I with other members of Council, endeavored to form a party to carry out the policy sketched out by us, and if the Government opposed that policy to turn them out of office. Through the alliance of the farming members we carried these measures, every one of which was opposed by the Yogel Ministry and their squatting supporters, and I think the goldfields electors have every- reason to thank the opposition for the successful advocacy of their interests during last session. (Applause".) "I may mention that during the session I for the second time carried resolutions for the introduction of a Bill into the General Assembly for voting by ballot, .which was lost last session in the Assembly by four votes, and' for a Bill for the gradual reduction of the gold duties, which was lost by three votes during the same session in the Assembly. The gold duty was kept on chiefly through Mr. Yogel. When the Bill came before the Assembly he was "apparently" anxious to have it repealed in Otago, but suggested chat it would be unfair to the other Provinces. This conduct on the part of Mr. Yogel, member for the goldfields, reminds one of that advocacy that says "Don't put him under the pump." The Bill was then thrown out, caused in a great measure, I have no doubt, bp Mr Vogel's happy sugtion. I altered my motion on the subject this session-, so that it might apply to Otago only. Mining is now cut so fine that the saving to the miner of L 4 or L 5 per annum is a matter of considerable importance. (Applause.) A Bill for the repeal of the gold duty will be introduced in the forthcoming session, and I have grounds to hope that it will be carried. You will remember that I told you I was dissatisfied with the Government for bringing false estimates before the Council for the year 186T-8. Serious grounds of complaint have been made about the estimates for the year 1868-9 on this account.- The Provincial Treasurer brought down the following estimates. I will not enter into detail, but I will give you the total amounts. The total estimated expenditure for the current year is put down at L 415,568 15s. sd. Well then you would naturally expect a corresponding amount estimated as revenue, but such is not the case — the estimated revenue is put down at L 330,000, which | shows a deficiency of L 54,768 15s. sd. Well gentlemen, no doubt a portion of this deficiency had been forced upon the Treasurer by members of the Council — viz., about Lls,ooo— that portion was brought in in the form of supplementary •estimates, and was put down together with further sums placed on the estimates by the Government, amounting together to L 33,000, which after being deducted from the total estimates of revenue, still left a deficiency of L 69.788 15s. 6d. , wliich sum cannot be expended, simply because there is not the means of raising it. It is very necessary that the estimated revenue should be as near the estimated expenditure aa possible. On the strength of these false estimates a fictitious sum is allocated to Tuapeka, Waikouaiti, Oamaru, and other places, for roads, laud bridges. Then during the year, the full .'-amount ..which was on. the estimates for Dunedin is expended, and not above one-half or one-third of tkt aiwnit Mthaated for tke gold&olda

! and up-country districts is available, from the simple fact that the actual revenue is, as I have shown you, L 69,768 15s. sd. less than the estimated expenditure. This system of falsely estimating the expenditure, affords the Provincial Treasurer an excuse every year for the large sums which lapse through the want of means. We might as well vote the estimates in a lump sum to the Government of the day, as have various sums voted for public works and other purposes which the Government have no intention whatever of carrying out, or if they had, have not the means, and this conduct of the Government is another reason why I have no confidence in it, withdrawing as it docs all real control from the Council. There - has always been a contest between the runholder and the farming settlers, and goldfields settlers, and it is not to the interests of the people that the runholder should keep ha iand for sheep, when it is wanted for settlement. It is well known in Dunodin that the Yogel Ministry is in the interests of the runholders, even at the expense of the settlers, and if we want proof of this we have only to look at the way in which the squatting party voted in Council, and the policy of the Government for the last eighteen months. I have made a list of the Government supporters. First there were those gentlemen on the Government benches, numbering six. You would not expect them to vole against themselves and salaries. We shall therefore strike them out. Then we have six more, which number is made up of squatters and squatter's agents, who invariably were on the Government side. If you knew those gentlemen as well as I do, you would not think much of them as representatives of the Province. (Great laughter) It was veryamusing to notice the tactics of those gentlemen. We have still six Government supporters remaining. A sop was thrown to one of them in the form of a bridge, which was constructed on or near to his property, for his convenience. Four others who live within the two mile radius were paid the honorarium, although they were not entitled to it. Of the Remaining two one has since been taken into the Government. On the other side all the bona fide goldfields members, and the farming members, with one Dunedin member, voted together throughout the session, and when a division was taken the Government had only a majority of one, including their own six votes. A certain gentleman, a squatter, on a vote of want of confidence, delivered a speech to the effect that he had not the slightest confidence in the Yogel Ministry. This gentleman went to dinner at the Club, which is the chief resort for squatters in Dunedin, and within one hour he came to the Council, and quite contrary to his pledge voted for the Government, thus giving the Government the majority of one before referred to. During the three days the Yogel Ministry were out of office, it wa3 most amusing to notice the hungry, nay, almost ferocious glances, Mr. Vognl gave at the Treasury benches (great laughter), and before the new Government ha 1 time to particularly enunciate any policy, or to test its own strength, Mr. Yogel caused to be moved by an '* Intellectual giam," named Mr. M'Diarmid, a vote of want of confidence in it, who is now a non-official member of the Executive. During the debate upon the motion I stated that Mr. Yogel would have no confidence in any Government which did not include Mr. Yogel, even although Gladstone and Bright were members of it. At his meeting at Tokomairiro Mr. Yogel accused the Reid Ministry of interested motives in desiring office. 1 think this came with very bad grace from Mr. Vogel — it reminds me of a thief who gets up the cry of " Stop thief," to direct suspicion from himself. It is very well known that office is very important to Mr. Yogel, and it is equally well known that Mr. Reid is a man who is quite independent \of office. The fact is, the great difficulty was to find men who would accept office. As has been insinuated by Mr. Yogel he felt very unsafe in going into office with a majority of one. I consider that lam quite justified in referring very plainly to Mr. Yogel, as he has referred very plainly to the Opposition. In a speech made by him at Tokomairiro the other day, he referred to the Opposition as a minority, but let me remind Mm ifc was a minority that turned him out of office, and a minority of one which remained so to the end of the session, and this made it as difficult to get a Government out as it was to get one in with only one of a majority on either side. I had a great suspicion that undue influence was being exercised by the Ministry to procure votes, to the detriment of the true interests of the Province, and believing this to be the case I proposed a dissolution, which was carried. This was carried by the Opposition, as they had every reason to believe that the action they had taken would so meet with the approval of their constituents, that they would be reelected. In moving for a dissolution of the Council I can assure you I felt that a great deal of work and. cost would be entailed upon me. It is not an easy matter to canvass the goldfields. If, in the event of a dissolution, and I was not returned, I should still feel satisfied that I had done my duty to you and to the Province, which is always my first consideration. If there is another eloction I believe the electors will by their votes support the principles of the Opposition, especially those bearing on the administration of the Waste Lands Act. All the j members of the goldfields voted in one way, excepting the squatters who represent mining constituencies, and I am certain you will not spare those who have failed in their duties towards the Province. One of the most active Government shippers in was returned by a small suburban farming constituency, on the ground of his liberal professions on the Hundreds question. This gentleman always pretended to be favorable to Hundreds in geueral, but invariably voted against any specific Hundreds. I instance him as a specimen of a largo class in the Council supporting the Government, falsely pretending to their constituents that they are in favor of Hundreds as the best means of settlement. As showing the strong d3sire which exiats-ifpri, jhe, opening of land on the Goldfields, petitions were sent to me from the "Teviot, Blacks, Hyde, Cromwell, Alexandra, and other places, all

numerously signed, and which I laid on the table, and caused resolutions to be passed favorable to the petitions. The Government gave as an excuse that the land could not be thrown open, because of the large sum demanded by the runholders as compensation, ranging from ss. 6d. to 9s. per acre. One runholder has a run of 35,000 acres in the neighborhood of the Teviot, for which he pays LI 00 yearly. What I ask, would ! that land yield to the Government, if it were opened for settlement? LIOO would be a mere flea-bite compared with the revenue that would otherwise accrue. I only mention this one as a specimen of many other similar cases, but 1 believe it is one of the strongest There are certain lands near Tuapaka which should be opened for settlement, such as Treweek's run, which lately fell into thehands of Messrs. Driver, and Maclean. The Government had promised again and again to throw open this land for settlement ; but there was little chance of obtaining it wlule the present Executive retain office, the Government's excuse always being the large compensation that would reqnire to be paid for it. During the session, I pointed out how this difficulty of compensation could be overcome. I said, withdraw the land from the Goldfields (taking care, of course, that it was not auriferous), and then declare it into Hundreds, which could be done without compensation. When a Government was found in office which would pursue such a course, the squatters would find it to their interest to take a fair price ; for instance, two shillings an acre ; and were portions of the land on the Goldfields declared into Hundreds, they would very soon say, " Give us the two shillings." The Hundred system, I believe, is the best for Goldfields, where possible. My colleague, Mr. Mcuat, proposed that the agricultural leasing system should be introduced, in the way of Hundreds, thereby giving the settlers on the Goldfields commonage for depasturing their cattle. It is almost imperative for the settlers that they should have commonage. This proposal of Mr. Mouat's was not adopted, it being agreed that the question should stand over till the next session. The squatters say they like to see large runs largely stocked ; which means, in reality, large runs with large mortgages upon them. They disliked to be encroached upon by small settlers, whom they contemptiously term " cockatoos."—(Laughter.) Were it not for the miners, I don't think the banks would have so much money to lend. The banks give you, the miners, four per cent, for your money, and lend it out to the squatter, through an agent, at twelve and a-half per cent., to the great advantage of the absentee shareholders of these banks. During the last session, the party of which I formed one had not only to compete with the pastoral tenants, but also with the banks of the Province, the latter having a large interest in the pastoral runs. One bank alone— and that not a local one — has already lent the large sum of £270,000. It took eight years in Victoria to conquer that hydra-headed monster, the squatter, and to compel him to disgorge the lands for the people ; and I told them in the Council that the time would shortly arrive when the people would insist upon the land being thrown open for settlement, in spite of the advocacy of the Yogel Executive. me very important matter which is agitating New Zealand at present, and upon which I will offer a few remarks, is that of Provincialism versus Centralism, or local Government, in the form of Counties. I have perused most of the speeches which have been made on the subject by the chief political leaders of the country : one in Southland, by Mr. Pearson, and two in the North Island, by Mr. Fox, and Mr. Ball, as well as others. They all admit that certain of the provinces are almost in a bankrupt position ; that not one of them is in the position of Otago, which has not only payable goldfields, but a large landed estate. After careful attention and consideration of the subject, I think the Provincial form of government is the best system for Otago ; but then we must remember there are other provinces which are not in the same position with ourselves ; and the Assembly is bound to look after the interests of all alike, and to take the case of each province under its consideration. I have read and heard the views of many who understand the state of matters as they exist ; but they fail to expound any scheme by which these bankrupt provinces can be placed in a solvent and similar position with Otago. Some politicians say, give them powers of taxation ; but what would be the result of such a scheme ? It would drive people, settlers and others, away from these provinces into other provinces, or other colonies. Otago is represented by fifteen members in the Assembly, and they are much divided on all questions affecting her interests. Members of other provinces, however, may continue as they have done before, and succeed in passing measures not adapted to the circumstances of Otago. The forthcoming session of the Assembly is likely to prove a most important 0119. It will probably decide some important questions ; and I hope sincerely that, if Provincialism is to be continued, that the institution will be placed on a firmer footing than it now stands. Much of the legislation during the last session of the Provincial Council has been devising schemes to keep the Yogel Government in office ; and that conduct has originated a cry amongst some of the people of Otago against Provincialism. If these people would only study the Constitution Act, they would soon discover that the blame did not lie with Provincialism, as prescribed by the Constitution ; that it is not that the laws are bad, but that they are badly administered. There are men who claim political greatness, chiefly because they can speak for two hours, and possess the privilege of having their vaporings reported, filling, possibly, nine columns of a daily newspaper. I don't consider that Otago wants such men, but rather those who will act conscientiously, and .when they enunciate a sound policy, will carry it out in a straightforward manner. We have no need of political charlatans and turncoats.— (Hear, hear, and applause.) I will now refer to a few matter* more immediately affecting the revenues of the Province — a few of the items I strenuously opposed. _ There can be no doubt, retrenchment is necessary.

Unless we retrench our Departmental expenditure, we shall be like a speudthrift who ran through, in a short time, a considerable estate, and became beggared. At some considerable time and trouble, I have prepared a statement of the Departmental expenditure of Otago, leaving oxit General Government Departments, such as postal services and law departments, The total amount is £102,000. Then in addition to this we have to pay £53,000, aa interest on loans, and £2,227 for home agencies. Then lastyear£6,42lwas spent on immigration ; £18,342, grants-in-aid to municipalities and road boards— the latter round the different farming centres. In general, I consider this sum of £102,413, for Departmental expenses, far beyond our means, and I consequently voted on every occasion possible for a reduction of the expenditure. We succeeded in reducing the salaries of the Executive by a sum of £800 ; a-nd we tried all we could to reduce other?, but the most determined opposition was made by the Yogel Ministry against us ; so we entirely failed in our further attempts. JSTotwithstand- | ing all our opposition, the Government had the audacity to -put down a sum of j £1600 more on tho Estimates, which they carried. They proposed LSOO a-year for a gentleman to teach singing. (Laughter. ) I believe the gentleman was a particular friend of a member of the Government. Then L4OO for a drawing master ; then L3OO for a teacher of shorthand (I may now be suffering from that art). The next was a sum of LSOO for an inspector of weights and measures ; and all that, gentlemen, by a Government that at one time pretended to advocate retrenchment. The present Government of Otago is carried on at the expense of the landed estate of the Province, which will year by year, if the present system be continued, become exhausted without having accomplished its chief use, namely colonisation. The system intended to be adopted by the Government, as regards the administration on the Waste Lands Act, will ruin the country. It is a system of spotting the runs and selling them to tho runholders ; and if any one thing will ruin a new country, it will be that system. These blocks of land will be bought up by the squatters to prevent the Hundreds being declared. When the runholders' present leases have expired, they only could bid for these blocks, as the back land woxild be comparitively valueless to others, and thereby prevent settlement. Mr. Clark, the wealthy Victorian land speculator, of whom you have all heard, has arrived in Dunedin. No doubt some of the squatters or their agents had written to Victoria to this effect :—" Tell Clark to come over — some pickings are to be got in Otago." Then, no sooner does he arrive than we observe an advertisement

— " L 300,000 to be lent on freehold security, in sums not less than L 5000." This sum, I assert, can only be spent in spotting runs in the manner in which I have spoken. But you might say, the banks might do this ai well as Clark ; but I must tell you that banks can't do this- : they have not the power under their charters ; they cannot lend money on mortgage j they can only lend it on bills. This, ol course, with reference to the runs, is merely a supposition on my part ; but there are grave reasons why 1 should come to such a conclusion. When I went to Dunedin, I was determined to do everything in my power to advance the mining interest of the Province. The miners are often spoken of as a class who are here today and away to-morrow ; but this is a great mistake ; for the mining interest is, without doubt, now permanent ; and when people speak to me in such a manner 1 say —Have the miners not water races which have cost them thousands of pounds? Does not Dunedin owe its present position and prosperity chiefly to the Goldfields V What would Dunedin become without the Goldfields ? These questions can be auswered by any one. i should like to see every miner in these districts in possession of two or three hundred acres of the Molyneux Valley, as I have no desire that miners should continue employed in mining operations all their lives, it being a very laborious occupation. In my remarks I have referred often to the Land Question, and I have done so as I believe it is the only question that the Council can deal with. It is certainly the most important : the other questions are as moonshine when compared with it — such as making laws for the taxing of dogs and goata. A wise administration of the Land Laws would induce immigration to our shores, and lessen individual taxation. I will before concluding, refer to a few other . matters which I opposed last session— one of them was the proposed college. I considered such an institution premature, and that a college should be for the whole colony and not for one particular Province. Well L 4,500 was voted for another post office, in order that the present building intended as a post office, and which cost L 35,000, should be surrendered for a college. Once have a college, and we shall then require professors and so another large sum will be needed annually for Dunedin. Then it is proposed to build a mansion for the Governor, who will probably visit Otago for two or weeks a year. Once built it will require to be kept up. I don't think the duties of the Governor, remembering the native- disturbances, will admit of his remaining so far from the seat of Government for any length of time. When the seat of Government is transferred to Ota«o it will be time enough to provide a home for him. (Applause.) I told you that I had not . prepared a speech, and 1 have no doubt I have omitted many matters, but I shall be most happy to reply to any questions that may be put to me. Mr. Shepherd then resumed his seat amid great cheering. Several calls were made on Mr. Donovan to ask some questions, but not being a Goldfields elector he refrained from doin<*so until Mr. Shepherd expressed his willingness to hear Mr. Donovan s questions. Mr. Donovan asked if Mr. Shepherd was aware that one of his colleagues had obtained information with reference to the sale of certain lands, and had bought them up to the disadvantage of bonajide settlers, and sold them at a profit of 100 per cent ? Mr. Shepherd : The sale of the land was never brought under his notice in any way. He had heard that one of his colleagues, had bought land, but that being a private matter he did not consider the qnestion one affecting himself.

i\ir. ii.O|> x^i \WiUd x. .j o ... » • he was in favor of the system of voting 1 y ballot, and what the Provincial Council costs ? Mr. Shepherd, in reply to these tw questions, said— lst, with regard to vot ing by ballot he was favorable to it, as i; ■•we a man a chance of voting, without injury to his business. There were meu who were coerced, and he believed voting by ballot to be an excellent preventative Voting by ballot was supported by Mr Stafford in an able speech in the Assembly. 2nd, as to the cost of the Government. The Provincial Council cost las* year L 2,693, and the Executive, including the salary of the Superintendent, L 4,322. Mr. Shepherd read a list comprising the total expenditxire of the Province. He also referred to the excessive representation of Dunedin and the suburbs, and to his belief that the outlying districts were not fairly represented. He also stated that had the Government granted another member for those places which wanted one, ther--would not have been the cry against Provincialism wliich had lately arisen throughout the Province. He shouio like to see the Goldfields divided intc districts, with a member to represent each district. Mr. Ledingham asked how it was that Mr. Shepherd voted with an Opposition which formed a Government that did not include in it a member for the Goldfields 1 Mr. Shepherd said it was stated by Mr. Reid that a Goldfields member would bo ncluded, and he would refer to the Government at the commencement of last, session, which existed for a month without a member representing the mining interest being included in it. (Applause.) Mr. Morris : As Mr. Shepherd took great interest in the land question, he would ask him what he thought would be a fair price for the land on the Blus Mountains and the Waipori Ranges ? Mr. Shepherd : The price of land waa regulated by the Waste Lands Act, at LI per acre, excepting in the case of unsold Hundreds that had been declared for seven years, in which case the land remaining unsold was sold at 10s. per acre 4 with the consent of the Provincial Council. Mr. Morris : Was Mr. Shepherd in favor of small blocks of land — say, five or six hundred acres being sold ? Mr. Shepherd said he was- in favor of the same when required. Mr. Morris : If the Government can't sell the land, he would say give it away. Mr. Shepherd would like to see free selection with improvement clauses — similar to the land laws in force in Victoria. Mr. Donovan : Did Mr. Shepherd think it advisable to have a representative of the mining interest in the Government ? Mr. Shepherd : Yes, and he ought to be one who would act as a Goldfields member, and not aa a dumiry. Mr. Donovan : Was Mr. Shepherd aware of any overtures having been made to auy Goldfields member for the Reid Ministry 1 Mr. Shepherd was not aware of any. Mr. King would ask Mr. Shepherd if he thought there was any chance of those runs in the neighborhood, sueh-aa Treweek's, being soon thrown open for settlement ? Mr. Shepherd had presented petitions from several places, and they were all recommended. He was sorry none had been sent from the Tuapaka district —(A voice: yes there was). Then he had not seen it. A lease for Treweek's run had been granted to Messrs. Driver and Maclean, and he thought it would be a more difficult thing to get the lands out of their hands, than it would have have been out of Mr. Treweek's. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Fyfe then rose, and proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Shepherd for coming to address them, and a vote of confidence in him as one of their representatives. Mr. Morris, before the resolution was seconded, would like to ask Mr. Shepherd if he thought (supposing the Opposition had retained their seats) there was a man amongst them who could have occupied Mr. Vogel's place as a financier ? Mr. Shepherd: A report has gone abroad that Mr. Yogel is a great hand at figures. He (Mr. Shepherd) firmly believed that there were men in the Opposition who were equally able in that respect. He (Mr. Shepherd) would tell Mr. Morris that all these statements were prepared by the head clerks, and he had no donbt that Mr. Yogel received a great deal of his inspiration from them. The statements, however, were not beyond the ken of a second class schoolboy. Mr. Milk then seconded the motion of confidence in Mr. Shepherd, which was carried unanimously. Mr. Shepherd, having moved a vote of thanks to the chairman, briefly thanked the meeting, and stated that his conduct in the Council had been approved of by tho electors in the various places where he had addressed them, and he was sure he would never be afraid to meet bis constituents.