MR. D. REID AT WAITAHUNA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 154, 19 January 1871, Page 5

MR. D. REID AT WAITAHUNA.

EIS FIRST MEETING ON THE GOLDFIELDS.

At noon on Saturday last, A/Lv. Reid, according to announcement, addressed a meeting of the electors in the Assembly Room, Waitahuna. When the hour of meeting is taken into consideration, the number present, which was upwards of eighty, showed a more than usual interest in election matters.

Mr. Dunn, who was called to the chair, said that the meeting had been convened to hear Mr. Rsid, one of the candidates for the Superintendency, As every candidate for election gets an impartial hearing at Waitahuna, he had no doubt the meeting would listen patiently to Mr. Reid's address.

The following is a summary of Mr. Reid's address : —

In appearing before them for the firsb time as a stranger and as «i candidate for the very honourable position of Superintendent, it became him to r give some explanation of the various subjects which had been engaging tho public mind. It would also be necessary for him to refer to certain statemeats which had been made against the Government to which he belonged. The meeting was, doubtless, aware that the Provincial Government, iv •which h.3 held office, had been termed an obstructive one — obstructive to the best interests of the province. If he might claim tho indulgence of those present for a shorfc time, he would oxplain the matter in a very plain and simple manner, and would then leave them to jndgs for themselves as to the real authors of the so-called obstruction. Ho might state that tho position he was occupying as a candidate for the Superintendency was not one of his ovrn seeking. Had it not been, for tha challenge made against the party lie had i-epresented, he would not have consented to corns forward. That challenge, too, had been made in the requisition forwarded to Mr. Macandre-v,-He would not have come forward h^X he not been pvepai-od,- to submit the questions at issue to the constituencies. — ( A pplause. ) If ths party with whom, he had hitherto acted had selected any other individual, he would gladly have supported him. As the meeting "was awar? 1 , one of the t»^t

important; questions to \n cc>"i <- errd v, r >i3 a sclicxo Luvici.; :, v-^ object the bon'owir^ oi :i Ur-.;- ; ;-: r. -.." money for immigr^n^ an-.; v.-A.l. -. works. Tpj-it s-.-Jbenj*:-, hi thc-ig::**-. h--d bsen rather imperfeoily undera. - » i ry the electors of the pr.>vin>\ 71-: thought that aii-ar %h.#y aruivs-x! ::

properly they would find it waa not one th&t could meet with theiv tippro val. He was not opposed to a loan being raised for piiblio works ; on the contrary he said it was high time some important public works were initiated. — (Hear, hear.) He considered, however, that moneys which were to be borrowed on the security of the province ought to be expended by the province. — (Applause.) He did not know if they had read the address he delivered in Dunedin ; if they had they would observe that the scheme proposed that for every £1 expended in the Middle Island there would be £3 expended in the North Island, although the former would have to contribute £2 to the revenue fox- every £1 contributed by the North Island. When the Colonial Treasurer was in Dunedin recently, he asked the electors to return only men to the Assembly who would support his financial scheme, Were such a thing to take place he (Mr. Reid) considered it would be a grievous injury to the colony. He wished to urge this matter upon the electors, as the decision of the question was in their own j hands. It had been said that public works could be gone on with at once under the Yogel scheme He had heard this course described as resembling the fable of the fox and the crow — the fox trying to get the crow to sing, so that it might open its bill And drop its prey, that the Fox in the north might pick it up. If pviblic works were commenced under the scheme in its present shape, he would assure the meeting the pi:ovince YQ u ld Le deprived of its land revenue, and gain nothing for it ; and would not only lose its land revenue and receive nothing in exchange for it, but it would lose all control over that revenue. If the electors of Canterbury and Otago return members to the General Assembly, pledged to support tin's loan, then they m y make up their minds for the consequences. But he would Htrongly urge upon the electors not to return members pledged to vote as one man, which was simply tantamount to voting for men who had no mind at all. — (Hear, hear and laughter.) No ; by that means they would never secure what was required. They must vote for men of integrity — men of moral firmness, who would not shrink from voting against any motion with which they disagreed. He had «io faith whatever in that one-man policy. He would rather see the electors refusing to elect any members but those iv whom they had confidence would act rightly. — (Applause.) Amongst the many necessary works to be carried out, there was first in importance the Southern Trunk Railway," with extension to Tuapeka, and the consfri lotion of water reservoirs on the Goldfields. How much did they find of this large loan which, i\ith guarantee, amounted to somewhere about £10,000.000, was set apart for water works ? Why, only £300,000 for all the Goldfields in the colony. He asked to be allowed to contrast that uroposal with the one made \>y Hie Provincial Government out <»f a £6-50.000 loan. Of that loan the Provincial Government allocated £iUO,OUO for the construction of reservoirs on tho Goldnolds, which was nearly equal to one-sixth of the whole. Under the Colonial Treasurer's scheme the proportion would only be onethirfk'th. Tic believed that no other ivcrk thai could be mentioned would be tio thoroughly reproductive as a comprehensive water scheme for the Goldiieids. It would increase the retarns of gold, add to the population, increase the carrying trade, and the demand for stock from the squatter, aud the value of the produce of the agriculturist. What he regretted was that such a paltry sum should be set aoarfc for such an important work. How very insignificent it was, compared with the large sum of money for Native Defence purposes. The Eox Government tell us that the war is at an end, but the last accounts from the North, he was sorry to observe, had a very different significance. He had had occasion, in his capacity of Secretary for L.aud and Works, to observe the importance of the mining industry ; but he had more than once regretted that he could not give more attention" to matters uftecting the Goldfields. He had often thought that it would be a good thins* to have a Secretary for thu Goldfields appointed, who would b.e abie to settle disputes and attend to the various Goldfields requirements. He believed a Secretary of Mines would b.e a great advantage to the country Squie two years aud a-half airo, when he had the pleasure of being t'.iirty-six hours in office, it was intended that a Secretary of Mines should be appointed ; but, like other good intentions, it was not carried put. Mr. P-eidthen referred to another provision in the Colonial Treasurer's scheme, namely, that of Immigration ; and be remarked that he quite agreed thap a, sound system of Immigration required — a system that would sefct'ft people upon the waste lauds of' the province ; but that obje.'t he was pertain would not be accomplished by the prpposed scheme of ev pending -£1,000,000 (if money to introduce people to construct public works. He thought it would be fouud, as soon as any public works were adverf ised, abundance of labour would bo fouud to construct them. Those people wiio were most anxious to get public works SWflJflPfi^d, >vjth tlio apparent idea

fckat %ages wouljd n'-e, and an era of prosperity- Tfduld be inaugurated to the working mau, forgot that one-

fourth of the great borrowing scheme is to be esprnded in introducing people to construct those works. As soon as the works were completed, a great many of the immigrants introduced by the scheme would probably leave the country: and that would be one of the most disastrous consequences which could happen. If provision had been made whereby the immigrants, introduced by that million of money, were enabled to settle in the country, and inducements given them to make it their home by entwining all their ties in it, then it would be wise to expend that sum j but lao regretted to say there was no such provision in the scheme. — (Applause..) He said much could be done by the Superintendent and by the Provincial Council, who may assist him ; but he must inform the meeting that as Jong as the two Act 3, passed at the last session of the Assembly, were law, it would be difficult to make provision for settlement. As long as the Hundreds Regulations Act (which was not the proper name it should bear) was in existence, so long would it be

difficult to open the land for agricultural occupation. With regard to that act, it was passed clandestinely without the knowledge of the province, or ev^n the Executive. Whatever the electors do, they should elect men who will vote for its repeal. The difficulties which that Act threw in the way of opening the land, may be seen from the Hundreds Commissioner's report, which appeared in the *' Daily Times" of Thursday last. When the Act in question was passed, they were asked to give it a trial, and if it was found not to work well, it could be repealed. He would, therefore, claim the yotes of those who made that statgmcsnt, and he would ask the electors to obtain a pledge from the members they returned to the Assembly, that they would vote for its repeal,— (Hear, hear.) Whatever may be the result of the PublicWorks and Immigration Act, he considered it altogether secondary to the great question of having the land thrown open for settlement. If the land was not thrown open simultaneously with the prosecution of public works, these would be of no avail so far as tho real question of colonisation was concerned. Bj the General Government scheme, public works were made to precede instead of to follow colonisation. Mr. Reid then proceeded to say that he would be no party to committing any injustice to the squatter. He did not come there to tell them that he would be a party to driving the pastoral tenants into the Pacific Ocean. He had jio wish to obtain the electors votes by false pretences. It would only be an act of justice to some of the squatters to have these Hundreds Acts repealed, as their leases had been thereby interfered with. What he wanted was to have them placed m the same position as they were before the Acts of 1869 and 1870 were passed. But if they could not be repealed, then let them be modified. Ho had some doubt as to whether they could be repealed. So long as they had a nominated House, such as the Legislative Council, it was difficult to get any Act repealed, He looked upon the constitution of the Upper House as a blot upon the institutions of this colony, and his idea would be to have it made a representative body, similar to what existed in other of the Australian colonies. It seemed absurd to suppose that when hia Excellency the Governor visited them, and some gentleman paraded him about, that such an individual should then be considered a fit and proper person to be called to take his seat in the Legislative Council. That system he (Mr. Heid) considered was entirely opposed to the democratic system of Government, under which they were supposed to live, and it was high time it should be done away with. Mr. Reid then referred to the difficulties of native industries being prosperous. He said unless it could be secured that the lands were thrown open, they could not expect much progress. Until a large population was introduced into the country, they could not expect native industry to thrive to any great extent. By haying an increased population, at home they would be better able to compete with foreign markets. In referring to the charges which had been made against the Iteid Government, the speaker said it had been called an obstructive Government, and an obscure journal, published in Dunedin, had done its utmost to misrepresent the actions of that Government ; but it had been gravely attempted by this journal to prove that assertion. That journal had stated that the Reid Government had been in office two years. The fact was it had only been in office twenty months, and if no great result had been obtained during that time, it must be remembered that four sessions of the Provincial Council had been held, and one-third of its time taken up defending itself against a \ory determined opposition. What then were the facts vt' the ease ? Before the Reid Government took office, the Yogel Government had. occupied the benches for two years and four months, during which time only two sesoions of the CouncJ were held, so that tiiuir time waa pretty rnueh in their own hands. What did that Government do during their term of office ? In the first place, they teat

Mr. Carr Young home on a railway mission, and when he arrived there, it was discovered that nothing cotyld be done until certain documents were forvyarded to him. Then Mr. Yogel had a trip to Auckland, on the same mission, at the expense of the province, and gained the object he aimed at, but not the railway, which was proved by his shortly afterwards taking up his abode in the North. — (Applause and laughter.) When the Reid Government came into office, they found the Ordinance, under which the railway was to be constructed, had nearly expired, and the first thing they djd was to get it extended. They ajso obtained all the requisite information, prepared plans shewing the country through which the railway passed, and gave statistics of the revenue aud exports, and advertised for tenders in the Australian colonies. They also requested the General Government to set lands apart as collateral security, and all that was done, he was glad to inform

them, at a very moderate expense. The result was that they received an excellent offer for the construction of the line from Mr. Coote. that statement, Mr Reid read an extract from Mr, Mccaudrewa's address at the queuing of the 25th session of the Council. But what was the result? The General Government would not recommend the Ordinance extending the guarantee to thirty-five years, othcnyi.se the i.-ailway would have now been iv course of construction. Shortly after Mr. Yogel went to Auckland, they (the Reid Government) had an offer from a sham company to construct the line. That company consisted of seven gentlemen, who wished

the Provincial Government to register their cqmnaijy and furnish them with all the detail required, at the expense of the Government, and give them (the company) their own time to complete the work. The Government, in reply, looking upon the matter in a business light, asked the company to make them an offer for the construction uf the line, and it would have their favourable consideration. After t'mfc statement of facts, he thought tho Reid Government were quite justified in asking for absolution from the charge of beiug'obstruefive. He had' rcieried to the fact of the Government having received a liberal ofnir from Mi\ Coote tv construct the lino at 5.',

per cent, on a 35 years guarantee, and also to the face that an Ordinance was pas-sud by (lie Council to have the guarantee extended to that time, but this the Yogel Government absolutely refused to do. Had Mr. Yogel b,een as anxious to ljave the railway constructed as the Provincial Government were, the railway would now have been in progress. He (Mr. Reid) was not prepared to accept blame for Mr. Macandrew's unfulfilled promises. More, he said, had been done during his short term of office, than had bjuen done during the two years and four months of the Yogel Government. In his capacity as candidate for the office pf Superintendent, Mr. Macandrew had addressed the electois through the " Evening Star," lie there says that when elected he pledged himself to a progressive policy, but the members of the Provincial Council had thwarted him in all his endeavours to cany out that policy. lie (Mr. Reid) would inform Mr. Macaudrew that the Provincial Council were elected on Ids own programme, and he had only himself to blame for not carrying out his policy. He had abundance of power to do so during the two yoais of the Yogel administration. It was only when the Reid Government came iuto office that Mr. Macandrew changed his tone, and he (Mr. Reid) asserted that the Superintendent had no ground whatever for the assertion he had rr,ade. What was the first act of Mr. Macandrew after his election ? was it not the appointment of one of his most bitcer opponents as Deputy-Superintendent. He, in fact, threw himself into the hands of the Opposition — (Cheers). With regard to the action of the Reid Government in respect to the Goldfields, he thought that during his tenure of office he had done as much for the Goldfields as had been done during Mr. Vogel's Government. Under the Reid administration, some eighty or ninety thousand acres had been thrown open on the Goldfields. Then, as regards the settlement of the country, he would ask what had Mr. Macandrew done? Why simply nothing. He (Mr. Reid) found that as soon as the so-called obstructive Government came into office, the squatters became alarmed, whereas they had previously felfc quite safe under his Honour's keeping. But as soon as the Hundreds Act is opposed by the Council, the Government is characterised as an obstructive Government. He (Mr. Reid) heard a gentle man, on the hustings, say that he would oppose any act affecting the waste lands of the province which was not sanctioned by the Provincial Council. He referred to Mr. Dillon Bell, the gentleman who introduced the Hundreds Act. It seemed, that so long as some gentlemen could obtain their seats iv the Assembly, it mattered not what pledges they bad made, or what means they had adapted to gain th;it position. But not ouly uid Mr. Bell introduce the Hundreds Bill, but he supported the ■clause in it which provided that no Hundred should be declared unless ono half of ifc was agricultural land. One v/oald imagine that was not a iheans of facilitating the settlement" of tho.

country. — (Applause,) He (Mr. Reid) had been called a clodocrnt, but it re- ( quired an aristocrat to say what was, and what was not agricultural land. — (Cheers.) Then in tl^e Assembly, Mr. Macandrew's votes, on this Hundreds Act, were always with Yogel, Main, Reynolds, Driver, and others of the same class. With regard to the com- ; pensation clause, too ( Mr. Reid showed that in Mr. Macandrew's voting, there was always a preference given to the squatters. He was always to be found in the same company. The Provincial Council, as the meeting was aware, trie 4tq get the measure repealed, but only succeeded in obtaining a miserable compromise, but better that than nothing. The only thing attributed by Mr. Macandrew to account for the stagnation which had occurred in the province, was the opposition shown to the Hundreds Act by the Council. He evidently forgets that there has been stagnation all over the colony. Taking it for granted that tho Hundreds Act had been in operation for some time, all the money realised from the sale of the land would have been paid to compensate the runholder. At present, one third Gf Stewart Hundred has been sold. Well, under the new act, by which 2s. 6d. an acre besides compensation for improvements were allowed, the whole of the money realised from the sale of the land on that Hundred would have been absorbed in compensation to pay the lessee, aud because the Reid Government strenuously opposed such an act, it had been termed an obstructive Government. — (Cheers.) Referring to himself and his qualification for the office of Superintendent, he found an objection had been made to his candidature on the ground that he had at one time resorted to manual labour. Like many others, he came to this country to better his position, and by years of hard work he had done so. f-Je had yet to learn that, if he was found qualified, he was not eligible to [ occupy the highest position in the land. He might point to other places, to America for instance, where the man who raised himself from the position of a working man was perhaps the best President that had yet ruled that country. lie hoped he had explained matters sufficiently clear to the meeting, lie had boon twitted by some people that he should have waited till the other candidate had gone before him, bijt not knowing when the nomination day would take place, and not having the telegraph wires at his command, he was quite prepared so atand the consequences ; besiJes, it did not matter when he (Mr. Reid) came. He had only the same facts co state, which he tried to do in a plain homely way. But he was aware that the gentlemen who would succeed him, had a great power of making the worse appear the better cause. He (Mr. Reid) asked no gentleman to pledge himself to him, but upon mature deliberation to decide. The matters to be decided upon are of great moment. That decision he v/oujd ask them to give at the ballot-box.

Mr. Reid safe down amidst great applause.

In reply to questions asked by Mr. Busst, Mr. Reid said he would be iv favour of reducing the miners' right to 10s, which, considering the very liberal sum th it had been contributed by the (roldnclds, was only reasonable.

Jn reply to Mr, Clark, Mr. Reid said the reason the Hundreds question, after the acceptance of the compromise, was not again brought up by the Government, was, that it would not have be&n right on the part of the Government to open the question again until the Assembly had given its decision upon the Amended Bill. It must be remembered that all Government was, to a great extent carried on by compromise, and having received the support of some members of the Council on the understanding that the question would not be again opened, he considered he would not have been worthy of the confidence of this meeting had he acted differently. Had he been a member of the Council, h? would have been free to act differently, but as a member of the Government he could not do so.

With regard to the abolition of the Gold Duty, Mr. Reid said that no doubt it was desirable to reduce that duty, but they would bear iv mind that many necessary works were required which could not be constructed without revenue, and if he were to pledge himself to its abolition, he would have little power to carry it out, but he would pledge himself to this, viz : — that it should be reduced as soon as circumstances would admit, and in the meantime, that the Gold Duty contributed by the various Goldfields in the province, be expended entirely in the several districts by which it is contributed. — (A pplause, )

In reply to a question, whether he thought a railway to Tuapeka would pay 1 or 2 per cent., Mr. Reid said if it even paid 2 per cent, the expense to the province would only be 3^ per cent. He believed that in the course of five or six years it would pay 5 per cent, but it must be remembered that .roads did not pay, but required a large expenditure to keep them in good condition. That expenditure would be greatly reduced in the event of a railway being constructed,

Mr. Poison asked if he would be in favour of reducing the rent of agricultural leases from 2s. 6d. to — say Is.

' MX Reid said he would much rather •make the rent part of the purchase

money. — (Cheers.) He would be in favour of disposing of the land at 3s. an acre for ten years. When it was kept in mind that they had not much agricultural land to dispose of, he thought 2s. Qd. could not be objected to.

Mr. Clark drew attention to the fact that while the Provincial Government had power to reduce the rent, they had not power to adopt the system of deferred payments.

Mr. Reid answered questions as follows : — He would not be in favour of permanent commonages where there was a large population, but he would in the neighbourhood of villages. With regard to the price paid for the depasturing o£ stock, it mxisfc \>e re membered that the waste lands are public property, and it is only right that those who use them should pay <i fair price. The pastoral lessees pay an equally high price for their grazing rights. He would be in favour of giving each district the utmost local control over the commonages, but it had been

found in the management of some of the Hundreds that the Wardens did not levy the assessment upon their neighbours. Unless they imposed rates that would be paid, the object of local control would not be carried out. Air. Reid was asked how he reconciled the opening of the waste lands of the province with the developement of the mining industry, and replied that he could not see any antagonism whatever between the t yo. If land was known to be non-auriferous, it would be a pity to preclude it from being thrown open for settlement. There was provision made in tlie leasing system for getting back the land for mining purposes by paying valuation for the improvements made upon it.

Mr. G-rundy then rose and said, that after the able address delivered by Mr. Reid, and the very satisfactory answers he had given to the various cpaesfcions put to him, he had much pleasure iv moving — " That this meeting has full confidence in Mr. Reid as a fit and proper person to act as Superintendent."

Mi-. Chalmers seconded.

ISTo amendment having been made to tho motion, the Chairman put the vote to tho meeting, which was carried without dissent.

Mr. Reid thanked the meeting for the vote of confidence passed, but said that he did not consider any elector present in any way pledged to support him. He wished them to study the various questions cirefully for themselves, and give their decision according to their judgment, on the day of election. — (Great applause.)

We are informed that steps have been taken in Waitahuna to form a committee to secure Mr. Reid's return.