MR BARFF'S MEETING AT THE

West Coast Times, Issue 2866, 10 June 1878, Page 2

MR BARFF'S MEETING AT THE

TOWN HALL.

Mr Barff, in his capacity of representative of the Hokitika District in the House of Representatives, addressed the electors at the Town Hall on Tuesday evening.

Mr Ohesney occupied the chair, and in suitable terms introduced Mr Barff to the meeting. Mr Barff, who was received with applause, said that as he had a large aumber of subjects to touch upon in his speech, he would not indulge in many preliminary remarks. If would be in the recollection of the electors that previous to the last session of Parliament, he had publicly expressed his dissatisfaction as to the. action of the Atkinson Government, and had expressly declared that unless they showed great signs of reformation, he should be compelled to vote again3t them. Instead of there being any improvement, things went from bad to worse, and a third party (known as the Middle Party) was formed, and he (Mr Barff) became a member of that party. A trial of strength took place, and an amalgamation of the Middle Party and the old Opposition, resulted in the defeat of the Government. Sir George Grey's policy was before the House and the country, and he (Mr Barff) challenged the electors to say if he was not justified in giving in his adherence to the Government now in office. (Cheers). Many of those present had listened to Sir George Grey's able speech in the Duke of Edinburgh Theatre, and they had an opportunity of judging for themselves. The Atkinson Government had distinctly abandoned all the principles they had enunciated at the last general election, and were justly punished for their action. A very important question had been considered early in the session. He referred to the incidence of taxation. There was no disguising the fact that the burdens of the country were unequally distributed, and he was of the same opinion he had formerly expressed— that those who were best able to pay, should pay to a very much greater extent than they did at present. As things were, all the necessaries of life were taxed to an unreasonable extent, while the owners of scores, and hundreds of thousands of acres of land, contributed hardly anything to thG revenue of the country, while the value of their lauds was being quadrupled by the expenditure of the funds raised from the hard eurnings of the less wealthy portion of the community. This state ot things must not be permitted to continue, and capital would have to contribute its share. He believed that a tax on unimproved lands, especially in cases where the owners were absentees, aud had bought for purely speculative purposes, should be imposed, and the result would be that there would be a much larger revenue, while at the same time, each shoulder would be fitted with a burden it could more easily bear, than was the case at present. The land laws of the colony had always been more or less in a state of confusion. For his own part, he had been of opinion that the representatives of the people should use their best endeavors to bring about the permanent settlement of the lands of the colony, irrespective of any benefit to be derived from the receipt of , the monies derived from the sale of the ' lands. Millions of pounds had been expended in bringing out immigrants from other countries, and in providing them with land on their arrival in the colony, but was there to be no consideration shown for the best men of New Zealand, those who had made the colony, what it was, who had borne the labor and heat of the day, and who, .with their wives and families, were desirous of making for themselves

homes in the land of their adoption ? For ' his own part, he had always had an ambition to extend such advantages by the adoption ot a liberal land law, as would enable the class of people to whom he referred, to obtain homes for themselves. Influenced by these considerations, he (Mr Barff), had, during the passage of the Lands Bill through the House, introduced certain provisions which were now law, and which would entitle persons, especially married people, to occupy land under certain conditions, which if fulfilled, gave a Crown grant to the land, without payment. Thus, men of small means, with a hundred or two of capital, on getting their land, would be able to stock it, and have such immediate returns as would allow them to maintain themselves and their families, while under the ordinary system, the purchase money would exhaust the whole capital, and nothing but a long career of destitution would ensue. The Homestead Clauses were agreed to> and a large number of men applied to him to know how to get pieces of land. He referred to the Act, and they acted upon that, each one prospecting for a suitable site for a home. He (Mr Barff) had reason to believe that the Waste Lands Board, as then constituted, did not intend to give the people the advantages which be had intended, and he then wrote an official letter to the Waste Lands Board. The letter was as follows :-—

Sir, — I beg to call the earnest attention of the Weatland Waste Lands Board, to the Homestead Clauses in Appendix L. of the Lands Act, 1877, and to the advisability of giving immediate effect to the provisions referred to.

I am informed that the Board have no intention of throwing open, under the Homestead Clauses, such blocks of laud as will meet the requirements of those persons of small means, who are desirous of becoming permanent settlers, and who have, after close examination of the country, discovered pieces of land which they consider suitable for their requiretneats, but that the Board intends to set apart large blocks on the Special Settlement system.

I beg to bring under the notice of the Board, that 'in my opinion, the adoption of such a line of action would altogether defeat the object I had in view in inserting the Homestead Clauses in the Act, and would be in direct opposition to the spirit of the Act.

It is within my knowledge that a very considerable number of old residents iv Westland, have, since the existence of the Homestead Clauses being known, spent weeks in travelling the back country, in search of laud suitable for settlement, and are prepared to make application for such blocks, within the limits denned by the Act.

I respectfully submit that it would be an injustice to thesa persons if they are prohibited from taking advantage of the provisions of the Act, the Homestead Clauses of which will remain a dead letter unless a liberal interpretation is given to them. To this he received the following answer: —

Lauds Office, Hokitika. February 22, 187SSir, — I have the houor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the llth iust., and to iuform you that the same was brought before the Waste Lands Board on Wednesday last. The Homestead Clauses of the " Land Act, 1877," have not yet been considered by the Board, so that no decision has been arrived at concerning the subject. As all applications concerning the same are adjourned until 6th March prox., I will inform you should the Board arrive at any result. I am, &c, 1 A. F. F. Etheridgb,

Clerk to the Land Board. Several applications for land under the homestead system were sent in to the Waste Lands Board, and the applicants ■attended regularly meetiug after meeting, and, as he was informed, were led to believe that they had a chance to get the land they had applied for, but that no decision would be arrived at until the new Chief Commissioner took his place on the Board. Believing this to be the case, none but a solitary applicant attended at the Board one day, when the whole question was brought out, and the intending settlers had their applications dealt with and rejected. .On that occasion the Commissioners present were the County Chairman, and Messrs Patten and Clapcott, the last named gentleman having since taken office under the Board. Mr Robinson voted for putting into operation the homestead clauses, but Messrs Patten and Clapcott voted on the other side ; and the applicants, some of whom had already built their houses and cut tracks, to what was before inaccessible country, were left without any meaus of redress against such arbitrary treatment. He (Mr Barff) found his intentions completely frustrated by the action of an irresponsible boJy. This kind of thing should not be permitted to continue, and ha earnestly hoped that the 20 per cent, of the land revenue would not be allowed to influence a public body to the detriment of the public, Since the occurrence referred to there had been new blood infused into the Waste Landa Board, and he was certain that there would be an improvement upon the state of things which had prevailed during the interregnum which had occurred since Mr FitzGerald had resigned his office. The Board had been a body without a soul from that date, but better times might be in store for the people. As regarded the colonisation of the land revenue, he (Mr Barff) had accepted the proposals of the Government on it being distinctly shown that when revenue was supposed to be localised, the whole thing was a sham and a pretence, and that as a matter of fact the districts got nothing. Under those circumstances he had acted as he had stated. A variety of measures had been before the House, more or. less affecting his constituency. He had tried his best to make the best of a very crude measure — the Mines Bill. It was evidently drafted by some one who knew nothing whatever of mining law, but the Goldfields .Committee, of which he was a member, had repeatedly remodelled it until it appeared in its present shape. It would have been in a better form, but a large majority of those who had the consideration of the measure before them were utterly ignorant of mining law, and having a vote each, many reasonable propositions were rejected — hence the result. With regard to the gold duty, he found that in the House he had a majority for the abolition of the duty, still two West Coast members in the Legislative Council, whose votes, if given favorably, would turn the scale, would give their votes for the special taxation of the miner and his (Mr Barff's) efforts had been frustrated. As regarded the franchise, he would like to see every man have a vote, subject, however, to such restrictions as would prevent any injustice being done by the swamping of an election by thoße who were specially imported to vote at auy contest, and in saying that, he meant that there should be a residence qualification. Tho Friendly Societies' Act of last session . would, he believed, give every satisfaction, as it was almost a reprint of the English

I Act. The question of Education had engaged the attention of the Legislature, and he was free to confess that the action of Parliament did not meet with hi*9 approval. He held the opinion, that a representative of the people had a high trust confided to him, apd that he was bound in honor to consider not only the vjews of one section of the community, but of all. There appeared to be a misapprehension on the part of some, who declared that the Catholic body only desired that aid should be given to denominational schools. He might mention that almoit every denomination protested by petition, against the substance and principle of the &ct of last session. In proof of his assertion, he would read to the meeting a circular letter sent to him from the Church of England Bishop of New Zealand, the father of the Yen. Archdeacon Harper. The paper contained resolutions adopted by the Diocese of Christchurch, 21st October, 1877. and were as follows : — " That the Synod adopt the principles upon which the petition to both Houses of the Legislature of the Colony agreed to by the General Synod at its last Session/is based, and earnestly recommend them to the Churchmen of the diocpso as a baßis of common action in their efforts to secure religious instruction for the children of the Church in the day schools of the Coloivy, viz. : — " 1. That in any general measure that may be adopted for the establishment of a system of public education, provision may be made for the communication of religious instruction by ministers of religion or persons duly authorised by them to the children belonging to their respective communions during school hours. " 2, That any such measure may contain a provision for grants in aid of maintenance being made to schools set on foot by any religious denomination, provided that the secular instruction given in such schools shall come up to the required standards and satisfy the Government inspectors. ■ / "3. That his Lordship the President be requested to forward without delay a printed copy of the resolutions to every member of both Houses of the Legislature, and that printed copies of the same to be sent to the Right Rev. the Bishop of Dunedin to be laid before his Synod which is about to meet on the 7th of November," He held that it would be the grossest 1 tyranny for any one individual to interfere with another man's conscience, which was a matter between himself and his maker. He maintained that the old educational system of Westland was better adapted to I do justice to all classes of the community, ■ than was the present measure. The. revenue expended in the building and main- [ tenance of chools, was contributed to by i all, but one or more sections of the corns muuity were deprived of the proper result of the taxation to which all were subjected. 1 On former occasions he had spoken ' pointedly on the subject, and had not ; changed his opinions. He still held that ' aid should be given to denominational schools, always provided that the educational trainiug in such schools > reached a required standard. The Local Option Bill of Mr Stout had not met with his approval, inasmuch as while it professed, according to its anthor, i to deal in a satisfactory manner, with the vice of intemperance, it altogether failed to 1 achieve that object, and was very generally condemned. The Sale of Food and Drugs Bill was, in his opinion, better adapted to deal with the temperance question, as a very large proportion of the evils reported to arise from anti-teetotal principles, ! really did take their source from the vile adulterations to which liquors were subjected. The Sale of Food and Drugs Bill was now law, and he earnestly hoped that the law would be given immediate effect to in Westland. He had seen with much surprise, a telegram from Wellington, an- > nouncing that the Government intended to accept no further fenders for public works i lie had good authority for stating that there was not a word of truth in the , statement, and the recent acceptance of > the tender for the harbor works would ( justify him in what he said. He desired to put the electors right upon a poiut on which s there seemed to be some mis-apprehension, it had frequently been stated that the sums ■ set down in the Supplementary Estimates ! for the construction of bridges over the tlokitika and Teremakau' rivers, for ; harbor works, &c, had been placed upon the Estimates by the Atkinson Government. Such was not the case. The late Minister for Public Works, Mr Orraond, \ when speaking upon the subject used these words: — "During the session many honorable gentleman of this House, and of the other branch of the Legislature came to when I was Minister for Public Works, and laid before me the wants of their respective districts. I had the honor to receive yourself, sir, and also the hon. the Speaker of the other branch of the Legislature ;.also, a very large majority of the gentlemen who sit on the opposite side of the House, and who then composed the Opposition, and I also received a great number of the friends of the late Government. My practice was to take down the requests laid before me by those gentlemen, and to make a schedule ot them, and that schedule was the Supplementary i Estimates which have now been brought : into the House, and which the Government have been good enough to recommend. My colleagues were in no way responsible i for those Supplementary Estimates." Mr i M'Lean, Chief Commissioner of Customs in . the Atkinson Ministry, said this :—

" It appears that these gentlemen took up the list which the Minister for Public Works had made of the applications for works, and that they voted it down as the proposals of the late Government. The members of the late Government, with the exception of one, never saw it. Such a proposal would never have been brought down until every single item had been discussed. It had not been discussed, and I disclaim any responsibility for that list." These remarks would show that a mistake had been made. He (Mr Barff) had been the sole representative of the West Coast of the Middle Island who had supported the present Government throughout, and holding that position it had been a matter of no small difficulty to him to establish such relations as now existed between the people of Westland and the Government.

Early last session the whole of the West

Coast representatives had waited- upon the Atkinson Government with regard to the requirements of the Coast. Many matters were discussed, but no definite promise was made, and it rested upon hir George Grey's Government to do what was being done for Westland. He (Mr Barff) had been chairman of a select committee of the , House, which committee had recommended the granting of money for harbor works, and the construction of the railway to connect the towns of Hokitika and Greymouth. The contract for the harbor works was let, and he had good ' reason to believe that the railway would soon be undertaken. There was one question upon which he desired that there be no misunderstanding, and that was the matter of honorarium. The vexed question had been debated from opposite points of views. He would, with the permission of the meeting, read an extract from a newspaper, which entirely accorded with hia

Business Notices.

own views on the subject. The words were these :— " The question of the fitness or unfitness of representatives is one that rests entirely with the constituents. If, because of an open and direct payment for their services improper men contrive to get into Parliament, they would just as likely get in under other circumstances and get their reward in some other way. To our mind this outcry against the payment of members is either simple sentimentalism, or it has a purpose — that purpose being to exclude from the Legislature those representatives of the people who, without si me allowance, could not afford to sit ; and to throw the government of the Colony into the hands of the wea thy classes. It is absurd to refer to the British House of Commons as a guide in a matter of this sort. In England there is a very large class of men of leisure abd culture, to whom a seat in Parliament is a high trust, and "which cannot be exercised for personal ends. In the Colonies it is vastly different. As a rule the wealthiest men are ignorant and narrow-minded, especially territorial magnates. To them Parliament is a body ordained for their special benefit. It is the machine by which they can become richer ; which can provide for their relatives ; which can keep the working classes down and settle themselves up. Nothing that we can conceive of would be more disastrous to the Australasian Colonies in their transition stage of development than the dominance of Plutocracy. As it is; leavened as our political institutions are by Democracy, enough evil has been wi ought in the disposal of the public estate and in unrqual taxation to warn communities against shutting the door against the real representatives of the people." Provincial legislation being abolished, an extra amount'of work would be put ou the Assembly, and, as a matter of course, the length of sessions would be very much extended. He believed that it might be taken for granted that the House' would sit for nearly six months out of every twelve. UnJess fair remuneration in the way of honorarium was given the representation would fall into the hands of the wealthy lower orders. Every member of the House, no matter what bis occupation might be, would, of necessity, suffer pecuniarily in absenting himself from home, but during such absence, at all events, no such loss should be allowed to accrue.

The speaker referred at some length to a variety of matters, including rewards for the discovery of goldfields, and the manner in which he had acted in bringing about the result achieved ; hospital matters, and other questions, and'concluded by saying that although his remarks had been somewhat condensed, although he had spoken for over two hours, if he had not spoken fully on all matters of special interest, he would he happy to answer any questions fioin the electors.

Mr Barff concluded his address amidst prolonged applause.

No question being put, a vote oi confidence in the cmdidate, followed by a vote of thanks to the Chairman, were carried unanimously.