PUBLIC MEETINGS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 742, 13 April 1881, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETINGS.

. p- —. CAKTEBTON. At the Carterton meeting on Monday last, Mr Booth on rising to propose a vote of thanks to Messrs Bunny and Beetham, said they had had an enjoyable evening for the present, and an instructive one for the future. With regard to the conservation of forests, he would like to say that if the Government would buy his forests hack they could keep them as long as it liked, and he thought other settlers were of the same opinion,. Ho was glad. Mr Bunny held tlio view that much legislation was not required, and ho hoped that both their representatives would go against so much legislation being attempted. He-thought that the work of

the country went on much better when Parliament was not sitting, There was one thing he woidd like their members to do, and which they could do, and that was jo get some money to spend in opening up' roads, and doing other works in the Wairarapa district. He had thought that only £600,000 would be available for public works, hut was very glad to learn that there was a million and a quarter to come, and some of this ought to, and could, be obtained for this district, He did not seo why the Government should subsidise borou'ghs'out of borrowed money, merely to. enable'thqm, as in Wellington, to plant nice avenues, and other ornamental works,; but he did not see. why they should not bqiTQw for opening up the country, He considered Highway Boards to be the mostuseful forarof Government the settlers had yet obtained, and all they wanted was money, and then' representatives' could, get this for them., County Councils (to speak mildly) were not held in much consideration, There was a large extent of country' north of Masterton, which required opening up, and also roads

&0,, in the locality"ofr : Carterton. ; Aid; there was just asmuoh need for help &oml the now w .there! has' ever been. :- ; .t ; v ; M

.' Mr Beetham that no 1 effort would be: ■wanting on•;hia pftrt:<to obtain as much money as possible, but'lie, pointed out that they had been very fairly treated by the Government in the past. He did not.care to detain'tffi meeting; 'but lie would have liked to have gone into the matter a little.

■: -:--Mi',Bunny.also.Btated;,.that;he,had,.got !as much as he could for them,-and would get as much more. ' ]' Mr Booth continued: With regard ito the Wellington-Foxton line, Wellington ought to have been up and doing years ago. 1 It-was jiist five years too late. If they could persuade' English capitalists to advance the £400,000 necessary for the work and be satisfied with 1| per cent they might get.it.. He had not the least desire to interfere; with Mr .-Bunny in his position as'director to the proposed coin- . .pany,,, He was very strongly of opinion ' that the-railwayto Masterton should be extended to the Seventy-Mile Bush. <At : first lie had heard that several of the Masterton people had been determined to keep the terminus there, as long, : as '■ possible and had not agitated for the extension of the line, but had quietly ignored. ' the question. But the money which was to have constructed it was locked up, and they were beginning to see that it would be better expended. The Wairarapa Daily, he was glad to see, was talking sensibly on this subject. They could not benefit one part of the Wairarapa without'benefitting the whole, and he held that the present lino ought in the interests of the' Wairarapa, to be earned on at least; as far as the Camp, It could' hot'but'be to the advantage of all- the Wairarapa, as it would be the means of-'spending a large' amount of- money, introducing capital, settling people; on the lands opened up, and the consequent progross of the .district.. He concluded by asking them to to give a cordial vote of thanks to the., momuors- their ad- ■-'' .-•--Mr W. C. Buchanan seconded the vote of thanks, In doing so he would like to be allowed to make a few remarks on the County system. He thought the system had had hard measure dealt out to it that evening. He did not think it had been shown the money question had been got over by any other form of Government. He was comparatively a new settler in that district, but if his experience in othor places were worth anything, what ho had seen of Provincialism said very little for that form of Government. As a member of several Eoad Boards, he had found that most of their work was undoing the work done, and doing what was left undone by Provincial Governments. Ho instanced a bridge 12 miles from there, which had been erected by the County, but which would never have been built by the Provincial Government. There were many other works done by the Counties which the Provincial Government would not have accomplished. Take the survey of roads; not only in this district, but in many others, the Provincial roads were most execrable, and one of .the first things done by the Counties was to have' the rule fixed so that tho grade of all roads should not exceed lin 12, or 1 in 14, he was not quite sure which. He asked them not to condemn the County System merely because the want of funds had prevented : the Councils from doing more than they ] had. He had much pleasure in seconding < the vote of thanks, I

MASTERTON. The meeting held in the Town Hall last evening was well attended, over 250 settlers being present, His worship the Mayor took the chair, on the motion of Mr Bunny. Tho Chairman opened the meeting by introducing Messrs Bunny and Beetham as two as good looking men as there were in the country. Mr Beetham, who fjrst addressed the meeting'by. the courtesy of his colleague, explained theirre'asonsforaddressing meetings at the four different: townships, instead of holding one meeting. His colleague and himself were more disposed to adopt the former course because they believed that the present occasion would be the last one on"which they would appear in the electoral district as at present constituted, He eulogised. Major Atkinson's speech as that of a thoroughly honest trustworthy man. He and his colleague on many points were of the same opinion. He could not agree with him, however, in his statement that some of the Ministers were duffers, On local matters they were at variance : Mr Bunny condemned the whole system of County Councils and Road Boards, but the speaker held that

up to the present time they had done good work, He could point to his own action as Chairman of County East with some degree of pride. Both Counties had abstained from interfering with the usefulness of Road Boards, He next referred to Major Atkinson 1 !? local works scheme of last session, It was riot favorably received when it first appeared, the time not being opportune for its discussion, Ho thought Major Atkinson would try to bring it forward again if his colleagues wpi'o willing for him to do so. Tho schema provide/1 espepially for the wants of main arterial roads. The Government would find money from loan and land fund, and give'it to aboard of works, to expend it on works of absolute necessity by subsidising local organisations, The scheme also embraced the construction of works of a more local character, by means of advances at a low rate of interest. ' He believed some measure of this kind would work well throughout the country districts. He next referred to the education question, and was applauded when he stated that

the present system was too expensive, He estimated that could be saved by charging-a sixpenny fee for the higher standards. Passing on to the native question, he quoted Major Atkinson's speech' to show that the government' had a decided policy on the native difficulty, which promised to be ultimately successful . He regretted Mr Bryce's retirement, he had within, two've months reduced the annnal expenditure of his deparlment from £50,000 to £15,000. On referring to the land question, he stated that on the 19th hist', a large block of land in

this neighborhood was to be offered on cash payments. If it were not sold it was the intention of his colleague and himself, to wait upon the Minister for lands to ask him to desposeof it on the deferred payments. He also pointed out the mutual advantage of settling such lands, and constructing the railway to Napier simultanepusly, Speaking of the Property Tax, he stated that capital paid one third of the total amount raised, and that land paid an equal amount, and that the remaining portion come from miscellaneous sources, Speaking of the 10 per cent reduction, he reported amid applause that it-had been applied to tlie honorarium. He stated that the land fund of the- past year exceeded by JSJOO,OOO the estimate, and that the whole - of it was available for assisting public works, and if the Colonial Treasurer did not carry his Board of Works scheme he.trusted that.he would see his way to giving local bodies substantial 'subsidies. All uding to the Wellington and Masterton railway and the Wellington and Foxton railway, he'himself had been called to account because he put a question on it to the Minister of Public, .Works last session.' Kb impression at the time was that the rail way was not oneat the

time whioh.the Government could go on with, in the interests of the Colony, (Applause)) And he thought that if the line . ,were made by a private company it would jnol'be/an unmixed evil to the country, Anything which tended to increase the populationof Wellington would begoodfor Wairarapa, He believed that during the winter season the railway to_ the.. Camp would be proceeded wjth." (Applause). Before sitting down he~desired;to bear his testimony to the earnest and straightfor-ward-conduct "of:: the present-Ministry, i and he believed with his colleague that it ~i was the duty of members to keep them in J power, till they had matured theirachemes f of retrenchment, 'He'concluded by ex- \1 pressing, his' willingness to answer any v questions which mightVput'to'himyand resumed his'seat amid applause. *■■•&- .' Inanswer to Mr McGregor—Mr'sßeetham expressed his opinion oh .the Hospital and "Charitable: Aid, necessity of a measure of this character was obvious, as existing organisatiqnl'was insufficient to-meet cases, Se believed that the administration should be entrusted to local bodies; who- would have power to levy a small rato/whioh -would be subsidised by the si The chairman—That must be satisfactory—another rate. (A laugh;)•! 'l'd. » ^B Mr, Bunnv, who was well said he would not refer to the matters on which his colleague had doses of the samokind in one night'would be too much for iheni,. He .wbiilcl' not quote Major Atkinson; he had not read his speech as.yet, but would do so at an early opportunity, and give his views fair consideration. Mr Bunny then proceeded.to speak on the points reported in our issue of yesterday. His views on education were applauded,; The red-tape system in the Government offices, as delineated by him, was received-iwith cheers': and i laughter.;., : The. Batkin and Seed, episode' was" also loudly cheered. His description of the rail-,, way management again, evoked enthusiastic applause. Oil the question of continuing the line to the Opaki, he said that they need not be:afraid,. If the money was to be gotMrrßeetham and himself would get He Jhen passed on to the native question, carrying his audience with him. On the: local government question, he advocated doing away with either Highway Boards or with Counties, one or the other. Speaking of the Ministry, he said that unless the present Government brought down measures of the most outrageous character next session he should give them his support. On [the. question of .hospitals.and charitable aid, he would give, the bill of the Government his most hearty support. To the conclusion of the speech which was a repetition of the one delivered at Carterton, on .the ■ previous evening,' Mr Bunny carried with him,the attention and approval ot his hearers, excepting when he admitted his connection with the Wellington and Foxton railway, when there <vas a sUdden change in the aspeot of ilie audience. Mr Bunny however, passed on to another point, and the incident did not mar the general effort of the speech. Mr Skipper asked what would be the benefit of the extension of the railway to the Camp. ■ Mr Bunny—You would take the, railway into a new country, and bring' rieyV trade to it, and fjnd occupation for niany in its construction. '"' Mr Beetham said it would be decidedly to the advantage of Masterton to have the line extended to the Camp, No township was likely to he established for mapy years to come in the Forty-Mile Bush,' ang Masterton must for many years tp copje be the centre of the district. Mr J, E. Thompson asked a question respecting the non payment of railway < wages at Masterton. (A voice—He;does 1 not care now he has sold his Hotel k« & Mr D. McGregor, moved-a thanks to the gentlempn whp MB addressed them. It was satisfactory'tjf find that their representatives fpr the first time stood on the same platform on general public questions, It was satisfactory to find that both heartily suppprted the present Government. Its policy was calculated tp bripg a))out % bpsj results, and he hoped to see it reroaip in office for some time hence. The views pi their representatives on local Government were of value, His own opinion was that there should not be two rating institutions side by side, There was work for counties which Road Boards could not do, and it would be unwise to wipe them out altogether. At the same time he did not approve of the Counties levying rates, but considered other provisions poujd be, made for tliem out of the land fund.-

Mr James Euaaell seconded the propo» sition. • :

The chairman in putting the resolution said he was sorry he had got into the chair as he felt a strong inclination to speak, Alluding to the Property Tax which he said was a pill which- bolted down their throats like a .wheelbarrow, he argued that it fell on the laborer, and destroyed the labor market by the heavy taxation which dr'aineS the working capital put of the. placey lie labor {fin'l went out of the/colony to jiay interest.'ft was the laboring man who paid tW tax and not the capitalist. When meut came, the laborer was the first to feel the .blow, and he felt it the hardest! He was sorry to see immigration stopped, the wealth of .a country lay in its popula« tion. He wpupd up by adyisijig l)ijj hearers to go to bpd, atyi. think oyer what he had said. ' ..■"':. '' ' ,f

A vote of thanks to the members, bejng carried unanimously the meeting concluded with the customary compliment to the ohairipn,