SEPARATION FROM NELSON.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 490, 13 April 1869, Page 2

SEPARATION FROM NELSON.

At the meeting held at Charleston last week, and in supporting the resolution which was adopted, Mr O'Conoii said that, in common with all who had given their attention to the subject, he viewed with regret the loss which this district had sustained through Nelson mismanagement. "Without imputing to the Nelson Executive or Council the guilt of misappropriating the revenue, he would ask, was not their incompetence to rule the district obvious ? What had they done to secure the rights of the mining community, and to regulate cheaply and expeditiously, as in Victoria, contending interests upon the diggings ? They handed over their rights to the care of individual Wardens, some good, some bad, as chance might have it, or left them to the tender mercies of the gentlemen of the wig and gown, who, under existing circumstances, and for the want of Mining Boards or some similar institution, enjoyed the " lion's share" of many a golden claim.— (Hear, hear.) Again, if they wanted a track, bridge, or any similar public convenience, the Government were often deaf to all appeals, or gave a promise which was possibly never fulfilled ; and latterly they had hit upon the uniform plan of pleading what his " learned friends" would call impecuniosity—they had no money. What an answer that was .to give to them, from whom was daily derived so rich a revenue ! Tet it was the universal answer, and it was all they got. Now, if there was no remedy for the past—-

if they could not enforce the disgorge- ; ment of the £59,000 due to the district—let them at least take care that no more of their money disappeared by the same channel.—(Hear, hear.) Let them have in the district a convention, or whatever it might be called, which would really represent the interests of the different localities. Then they might have some chance of having their wants administered and their advancement secured. The advancement of the district depended on the diggers' progress. The electoral power would be theirs, and they would never delegate that power to a legislature that would bar their progress or despoil them of their revenue. At present there were many causes which conspired against the mining population taking more than very slight interest in the elections. The Legislature was distant; its operation was indirect; and the candidates were often unworthy. Consequently the issue offered them no advantage. As electors they were careless and often disgusted. This could not continue to be so with a local body working in their midst. For such a body they could select men worthy of the trust, and ask them to assist in the management of public affairs without at the same time calling upon them to sacrifice their own. What was wanted was men whom they could pick out from among themselves, and in whom, being thus selected, they could have confidence. They wanted men who would really attend to their interests under the best security for honesty—the jealous eye of an interested public.—(Hear, hear.) At present there was no opportunity for such supervision. They could not get men of influence or of intelligence to waste their time in listening to the empty vaporing of Nelson farmers. Thus they knew not a hat was done until it was actually in force, or until long after it was completed. —(Hear, hear.) When they sought a remedy, they discovered that they were dealing with men who were merely "farming" them. When this district was first under Nelson care, it was a barren waste. A population which was never expected dropped on its shores, and the Nelson idea being that it was a population migratory and fleeting, they thought to make the best out of it —" to make hay while the sun shone." Up to the present time they had " done" the district out of £59,000 or £60,000. In other words they had " farmed " its revenue, and that was their nett profit. In every direction public works were required, but everything that should be done to promote the interests of the district was left undone. In the same way, with regard to representation, they imagined that a sleepy .Nelson cow-boy on the electoral roll was wortt any four of the enterprising and energetic men of the West Coast. Seeing that such was the case he was surprised that anyone should oppose the demand for local government. In other countries, blood and money had been spent for the cause of local self-government, but here they could have local government by merely asking for it, the G-eneral Government having declared its intention to grant it where it might be asked for. If the same facilities were afforded throughout the world how many countries would gladly avail themselves of the opportunity ? In seeking such government here, he asked the meeting to do so without fear or jealousy of Westport. He should be sorry to see Westport governing the district. He wished to see the mining community—the community upon whom had depended, and still depended, the advancement of the district —to have the power of governing it. It was a foolish and childish assertion that the government would be identified with any one place. These little towns along the coast — communities consisting of a few tradesmen who are supplying the diggers—would have little or no influence. They might represent a certain amount of capital, but they could not materially affect the elections. He fully anticipated that the people of Charleston would co-operate thoroughly and heartily with the inhabitants of the Westport district, who, he considered, had started in the right direction when they wanted to manage their own affairs, and to spend or mis-spend their money as they chose.—(Applause.)