PUBLIC MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 235, 11 August 1879, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

A I'vme meeting was held in the Towi | ie Hull, Masterton, on Saturday evening, t( re take into consideration the question ol ,'„ the future representation of the District Vj Among those present were 0. Pharazyn |y Esq,, Chairman of County West, The Rev, i ]( J. C, Andrew, Coleman Phillips Esq ' r . B, Boys Esq.. J. V. Smith Esq., A. W L t Henall Esq., His Worship the Mayor of _ Masterton, etc. 33 The meeting was well attended, every seat in the Hall being filled, j The Mayor was appointed to the chair, j ( ! on the motion of Mr Renal], ' The Chairman said he had not signed ls the notice calling the meeting as he °con(j sidered it was somewhat premature. At , g the same time, lie admitted it was well ' that the position of affairs should be dis"j cussed. He hoped that those men who a could put the colony in a better financial position and promote seff.lcmone wmiia- ' receive the support of the electors, He \' read a telegram from Mr Beetham M. H,R. ■ stating that that gentleman could not be' . in Mastei'ton that day, as the prorogation 1 did not take place till Monday, Mr A. W. Renall, who was received ' with applause, alluded to his experience J ) in past political battles, He had made . one to convene the present meeting, so ! that the electors mignt have an opportunity of judging fairly of candidates, and , not be led away by canvassing and private solicitations. Ho hoped ho would, in alluding to political candidates, speak in an open and manly manner. He and liis friends would ask the meeting to form a political association which would be able to select representatives. Ho condemned the idea of forming coteries and committees to decide an election, Ho advocated manhood franchise, as better than the present complicated system of placim' electors on the roll.—(Applause). He° for one, would give every man who had resided six months in the colony, a voice in its government, Ho then proceeded to speak of the incidence of taxation, and the removal of the tea and sugar duties, of which he heartily approved. But if they wanted to make the colony prosperous, , and its settlers independent, they must do i it by a liberal land law. He referred to t the Small Farm movement, which had i ended with no result Ho blamed the r Laud Board for the disappointment, and ] advocated the repeal and amendment of c existing land laws, and setting aside good r land for sale on deferred payments. If I before lie passed away from amongst them s lie could do anything to remove the hard- s ships which existed, his services were at fl their disposal.-(Hear, hear). The land d on which they now stood, was settled for t<

y the working classes by that much abused 0 man, George Groy. who placed in the y hands of himself and four others, 40,000 n acros for the use of the working classes. :• The speaker then referred to the Land i- Tax, which was to cover the loss sustained n by the reduction of the tea and sugar s duties, The returns of the department showed that a large proportion of the land I / of the Colony was held by small holders, - who were not taxed, and the largo holders ; who were could afford to pay the tax. He possessed ,i paddock which at one time, 1 was not worth fencing, but which, through i the public works policy, now brought him : in £3OO a year. He hoped the mee'ing would not indulge in personalities, and steer clear of Greyites, Blackites, and Brownites. They must not only look at at the present Ministers, but also to those who were likely to replaco them, and hinted that the latter were keeping suspiciously quiet, The speaker then sketched his own past political career, specially al- , hiding to his action in the grant to Volun- I t'eers, and his success in getting land for < the members of tlie Oorps which formerly i existed. He concluded by a few observa- f tions on the financial condition of the colony. With reference to the resolution lie had to propose, some names were apt pended belonging to persons who had not s been consulted, but if they were unwilling p to act their names could easily be scratched (i out. He hoped the Association would last after the coming election had passed f< away. He would now move the following a; resolution:— ° That in the opinion of this meeting it is w desirable to form a Political Association for) the purpose of securing fit and proper repre- ta sentatiycs for the future representation of I «

9ie district; aiJd that a committee, to cor sist of flic following gentlemen, be forme to carry out tho above object :—Messrs J Nicol, Greaves, Cowan, Hill, Corbett, Em sell, McCardlo, Woodroofe, Quartly, Dal rymple, fans, Vile, Girdlcstouc, and th mover, A. W, Eenall. Mr McCardlo seconded the resolutioi speaking ably of the Small Farm move ment which he had formerly promoted He claimed that under his system work mg men conk 1 become land owners, anc explained the advantages which the Mas tcrton Small Farm Settlement Associatior offered. He hoped the electors would support no candidate who did not pledge himself to support such assuciations. He claimed that his system combined the advantages to be derived both from capital and labor. So far, they had failed to get any land settled under their system, and would not until the present Land Board was wiped out, The Wairarapa would not prospor as they wished it to do unlesa Us waste lands were settled. (Applause). Mr Cowan as one- of the signers of .the requisition wished to say a few words. He contended that Mr Beetham, one of their members had voted against every liberal measure proposed—(hisses)— and however much he might be personally respected had not advanced the interests of the Colony. Mr James Russell next appeared, and was received with tumultm ut» applause He alluded first of all to tho iniquities of plural voting, and then proceeded to the Chinese question, to the manifest delight of the audience. Mr Coleman Phillips thought they had wandered somewhat from the subject before them. Tho question for the meeting to consider was the selection of fitting representatives. He thought the names to the requisition should include every one present,-(Applause). He differed with Mr Renall as to the liberality of their present land laws. He thought their real grievance was the unfair incidence of taxation, and instanced tho refusal of the Hon Mr Macandrew, recently given, to maintain main roads. He considered Mr Macandrcw's answer to the late deputation a cruel one. Of the eight millions expended on railways the South Island had received five and a half millions and the North two and a half millions, and yet they were called upon to pay tho cost of mam roads out of their own pockets, and were denied their fair proportion of the Public works expenditure, As another instance he mentioned that out of £50,000 voted for tlie conservation of rivers, £SOO was given to.the Forth Island and the remaining £40.500 to the South. Of the five millions about to be borrowed the greater portion would go to the South Island while main roads in the North Island like the one through tho Forty Mile Bush would fall out of repair. Referring to Sir George Grey, he did not think him half so bad as people made him out to le =2= (Hear, hear! and i\ T o, no!). He admitted that Sir George Grey was frequently guilty of equivocation, but oven equivocation was sometimes useful, He trusted his own name would be added to the pro- [ posed Committee, The Rev J. C. Andrew, who was well received, did not como that night with a view to address the meeting, but would be glad to say a few words. He thought it would be well for someone to move'an amendment on the resolution before the meeting. The resolution went either too far, or not far enough. If all the electors were of one mind one association would he sufficient, but if tho electors were of two minds, two associations were obviously necessary. The question before the country was a question of administration, and they must be either Grey or Foxy, He did not wish to express an opinion himself that night, but there were evidently two opinions amongst the audience Many people maintained that Sir Georo Grey and Mr Macandrow had Wi«.i iu o law in the matter of the Thames and Tapanui railways. Some fortnight ago Mr Walter Johnston had elicited the fact that Treasury Bilis were circulated in London, payable at the office of the Agent-General of the Colony, Such a circulation was utterly illegal, and the speaker could only say that if the Glasgow Bank Directors had garbled treasury bills, two or three months would have been added to their sentences. Mr Pharazyn, who was next called for by the audience, said he did not wish to speak as a candidate, though as they wo awe, lie intended to bo one. He did not think the candidates should take their opinions from the electors or wait to see how the wind blew before declaring themselves. He thought they all agreed with the measures brought'down this session by Sir George Grey, but that they difi'erred on the question of administration, Tho result of the Grey administration was that they were on the verge of a financial crisis and on the verge °of a native war.-(Applause). The Ministry had been found wanting altogether,— [Cheers and hisses), Tho Premier meant ivell, but bad erred, and his colleagues lad. gone still farther astray. He diofnot ionsider that they must be Foxites beauso they were not Groyites. The elec■ions would probably bring in a largo lumber of new men into the House .nd new leaders might then be chosen, le thought the electors shculd rcard the olony as a big joint stock company, and cturn qualified directors to manage it. Ic concurred in Mr McCardle's views of 3ttling the waste lands of the colony, and ated that the cream of the block which the fasterton Small Farm Association had esired had been given as an endowment ) the Empire City. If they were to have any party cries, he felt that the best cry I would bo country against towns. He I noticed that town interests were unduly favored, and it was necessary to return representatives to secure justice to the country. Mr Pharazyn, in concluding, was applauded. Mr Bunny, jun,, said that the absence of his father was due to an understanding 222 with Mr Beetham that neither of them ~ should attend the present gathering, which they regarded as one specially convened for the electors, The Chairman confirmed the statement' made by Mr H, R, Punny. Mr Burton Boys intimated that he intended convening meetings in all parts of the district to explain his views to the electors, Therefore he would say nothin« further to them then, ° Mr A, \Y. Renall, in reply, asked what their members were doing when £49 500 ivas voted for the Middle Island and only £1)00 given to the Waiohina Referring :o Mr Pharazyn's phrase that " they were ill Liberals," he denied that that word vas to be found in the advertisement or he resolution. A Voice: "It's in the Standard," Mr Renall; " I know nothing about he Standard and its editor: it may be his fcandard, but it may not be' ours," (Ap- j lause). As for his old friend Macandrew ookinj; at the Rev J. C. Andrew)Tho Rev J. C. Andrew desired to inirm Mr Renall that he was not Mr Macidrew. (Laughter) Mr Renall: Would you take his billet if h LIOOO a-year. The Rev. J. C. Andrew: If I had to kewith it Mr Macandrew's principles I rtainly would not. (Applause,),

'• Mr Rsnall then concluded an able ad- ■ ™> a-Pirftod appeal on the land : ; The Chairman thought the diacusaion 3 ~ n °t be without result, and hoped that tuture meetings would be as well conducted as the present one. He would 1 take a show of hands on the resolution A fair number of hands were held up in favor of the resolution and only three , against it, and the Chairman declared it ■ carried all but unanimously. Mr E.G. Moore, before the'meeting dosed, wished to express his regret that a statement lied been made prejudicial to one of their members by Mr Cowan, Mr G. Beetham had worked tooth and nail for the whole of the district. (Applause) Ho considered that Mr Beetham was quite as Liberal as any who were opposed to him. To test the feeling of the meeting he would moveThat this meeting deprecates the attack made on Mr Beetham during his absence. Mr Greaves addressed, the meeting on the manner in which the two members for the district had voted against each other. The Rev J. 0. Andrew suggested that Mr Moore's motion should bo withdrawn, as Mr Beetham'a character did not want clearing in Mastorton. (Applause.) The speaker happened to bo in the House on Thursday last, and saw Mr Beetham support a Liberal measure. Mr Beetham voted on the Liberal sido for the reduction of the honorarium paid to members, whereas many of the so-called Liberals supported its maintenance. (Applause.) Mr Coleman Phillips advocated the withdrawal of the motion, on the ground of maintaining the free right of speech hi'public meetings. Mr Moore withdrew his resolution, as the object for which he had moved it had been gained. A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the meeting, which was an extremely orderly one,