MR RICHMOND'S MEETING.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3101, 18 January 1871, Page 2

MR RICHMOND'S MEETING.

+. . Me Richmond addressed the citizens of Wellington at the Odd Fellows' Hall last night, according to advertisement. By eight o'clock, when the doora were thrown open, a large crowd which had congregated outside, began to stream in, and in less than three minutes the hall was nearly filled. Mr Travers then proposed that Mr Bransfield (Mayor) preside as Chairman, as. he was not supposed in doing so to identify himself in any way with tho political enunciations of any person who might address them. The motion was reoeived with acoiamation. His Worship the Mayor, in a few appropriate remarks, introduced Mr Richmond, who was received with loud applause. Mr Richmond then addressed the meeting, thanking them for the strong expression of kindness with which, they had received him, which he considered as more indicative of a spirit of fair play so peculiar to England than to any particular sympathy with the opinions he might hold. He considered it was a proud thing to come forward to represent a city like Wellington, but his reasons for wishing to represent them came from a higher, a deeper motive. The pole-Btar of his whole political life had been to see the colony a united and harmonious whole ; and though the battle was not yet won, and though the prospect might be considered gloomy, yet was there no reason to despair. He hoped, from his previous residence and official duties in Wellington, that he was not regarded in the light of a stranger. He bade them scan the men that had been at the head of affairs, and the men who were so at present, and reflect on what had been the action characterising each. Who was it caused Wellington to be made the Seat of Government but the Ministry of Mr Weld, a Ministry to which he bad the honor to belong? Contrast the action of that Government with the present one, a leading member of which opposed a trifling grant for a Botanio Reserve. (Applause). The spirit shown by the aotion of his old colleagues might be looked upon as a substantial answer to the question whioh had been put in a public print of How could he represent the City of Wellington ? He regretted very much that he waß not a platform orator; neither was he one that was noted for making promises ; and he had too much of the old Puritan blood in his veins to pay many compliments; therefore he would not address them in such a strain. Never was there a more momentous period in the history of the colony, or a time when every intelligent mind should give more attention to the business of the country — the relation of the colony with the Home Government, the financial position of the colony, the native question, the difficult question of provincial' ism, the wonderful scheme of immigration. Then tho land question, like the oloud no bigger than a man's hand, was destined to overshadow the whole country ; the San Franoisco service ; and the subject; of protection, whioh would takevolumes to explain. Another question ! that wasgrowing to unparalelled dimensions waa political jobbery (Loud applause) ; and last of all, the Permissive Bill. (Laughter). The speaker then referred to the position occupied by the colony, in connexion with the terrible events then going on at home, as a most helpless one, and seemed to point to the necessity of us occupying a perfectly neutral poßition. This would perhaps indicate the necessity of having a special commission at home for the purpose of representing the colony ; but he dreaded the word "Commissioner",' after recent experiences in that direction, (laughter). Mr Richmond then proceeded to review the j position of the Colony. The profits of the colony were being drained away like its life- j blood into the pockets of capitalists elsewhere. He would leave them to meditate upon what would be the result of such a feature. On the public finanoe, he would ask them what was appropriated the last year — why, no lesa than £1,325,888. It was no wonder the Colonial Treasurer ignored the interest of the loan, when each fresh loan easily supplied any defi- j cienoy without any trouble ; and why in that case should they trouble themselves about tho j matter ? But they might have noticed that the banks were not making advances, so freely as heretofore. (Some inclination was here manifested to get up a hiss.) Considering tho amount of interest that was accumulating from this system of borrowing, he wondered how people could reconcile themselves to Buch I things. He remembered the canny merchants of this city, when the seat of Government oame hero, who would have been absolutely aghast at such a line of policy of the country; but, strange to say, he now found that Messrs Hunter and Pearce oame forward endorsing the golden dreams of Mr Yogel, so diametrically opposed to anything they had ever supported before. (Hisses and ohosrs wore here vigorously confused.) If the Government chose to lead us wrong, we ought not to be such a parcel of sheep as to follow such bell-wethers as . those. (Cheers.) He would then go into the native question.' It was thought by some that this question should be gone into fully. He, however, had no wish to be prolix, nor did he wish to excite them. They all knew the words Mr Fox Would address to them on such a subject.

1 He had no wish to make war on the natives 1 but if they forced us to fight, why there wa ho help for it ; if they would not give ;ui 1 peace; wo must give them war. Mr Staffim ■ had never held out any war flag on the ques tion (Loud cries oi "dontory" and "speal up.") There was no danger that he would cry but he regretted he had never been given fail play on this question ; he had. been made tbi butt of wretched scribblers ; Mr Fox had tol< them that his (Mr Richmond's) name stun! in the noses of the natives ; but he could tel jthem tbat if his trail was followed up a dif 'forenfc feeling would be found to exist witb regard to him amongst the natives ; and hi could only say that if toil, unremitting atten tion, weary and long marches, and every kind 0: hard work, could have done anything to stave off or improve that native trouble, he coulc say that he done all that. Ho must apologise for saying bo much on himself ; but considering the provocation, they would excuse him, Mr Richmond then addressed himself to the criticism of Mr Vogel's Bcheme. He quoted from articles written by the speaker in a Taranaki paper and a Nelson paper to show that he had largely discussed the advantage and disadvantages of such a scheme. ' The speaker then quoted an English print to show that in order to carry out. such a scheme thafc the colony should be united and the scheme itself tempered and moulded in conformity with the financial position of the colony. As he had advanced opinions identical with those, he 'mußt be acquitted of the charge of being an enemy to progress. He believed that if we could realise that economy and thrift was as much theroad to wealth with government aswith a private individual, and in the carrying out of this great measure, if local rights were duly cared for, a beneficial result might be made to flow from it. Tbe speaker then cited the article from the " Economist " on the policy of the Government, and which a wretched attempt had been made to answer by a local paper. It had been admitted by Dr. Faatheraton that that article fairly represented the opinion on the Stock Exchange of the scheme, and he was not a man who bad two tongues in Mb head. He would ask, then, was New Zealand in a position to undertake such a gigantic scheme P They must recollect tbe significant fact that although the population of the colony had been increased lately by some 30,000 souls, yet the revenue had. fallen off £60,000. The same thing was noticeable in Victoria. Some attributed this to protection ; but whatever the cause might be, it was a fact, and it showed that immigration did not exercise such a power in increasing the revenue, as was made a basis of calculation in the Yogel scheme. There was no more deceptive thing than immigration, and nothing more dangerous to a country, if mismanaged. The speaker then referred to the speech of Donald Reid of Dunedin, an honest man, who had made an honest speech, and whom he hoped to see Superintendent of Otago, to cleanse the foulness of tbe atmosphere; and though the speech was narrow in some things, and though he did not agree with Mr Reid in everything, he knew tbat the apeeoh was an honest one — diffioult to answer — and one that bothered Mr Yogel very much, wbo tried to hunt with the hounds and run with the hare, and keep fair with evoryone, and he had therefore hurried off to Otago. They could see by that speech what probability there was of getting their railways ; instead of a railway they were getting a survey, and even thafc would oome to an end before the session met. The real, the great, difficulty that would be shirked, but which would havo to be encountered — the land question, the little cloud that was no bigger than a man's hand — that was what would have to be faced. (Cheers). From all time the land tenure had been an all-import-ant question to all men in all countries. It would be perfectly futile to expeot that the labor question Bhould not be definitely settled before any immigration scheme; it would be as futile to expect such a thing as to make water stand on a hill, whioh they knew had never been accomplished but once in the world, by tbe Israelites, in crossing the desert and before they worshipped the golden calf. Mr. Vugel had said that the " sponge was not yet quite dry," and that it was possible by various ways and different taxes to squeeze a little more out of us ; but he could tell Mr Yogel that it was impossible to squeeze any more out of the colopy, unless perhaps from one class — that [fortunate olass whom Mr. Yogel had so long and so faithfully represented — the absentees. He knew it was like holding the red rag to a bull to speak of the landed interest ; but the rag must be held up and tbe difficulty faced. He knew that the pastoral interest was once the most important interest in the colony ; they were the pioneers of the country ; but he would a9k them — Who now are the pastoral interest ? They could not point to one in five of the old original squrtters whose property had not passed into other hands. No, tbe real pastoral interest of the country consisted of a few large houses at home, and a number of merchant firms in the colony. Besides, he could tell them what he had been told by Sir Cnarles Clifford. He told them that he had been told by those large merchants at home that Mr Vogel's scheme suited them exaotly, as they intended to realise; but he thought Mr Vogel's wind-bag was too badly pierced to ever admit of suoh an issue as that. The candidates, such as Messrs Pearoe and Hunter, when they stood up for suoh a scheme were, of course, only doing their duty by their clients. (Cheers and hisses.) But he would remind them that the people of England were not in the habit of countenancing suoh recklessness in business as that soheme j they would see that we paid our just debts. We should never enter upon suoh dishonest and diabolical speculation. It was better that land should be opened on convenient terms to immigrants than that any such soheme should be entered into. He knew that this was a sentiment calculated to raise a storm, and likely to shook the delioate sensibility of Mr Yogel, but he was happy to say tbat the idea was becoming more general throughout the colony, as the press was daily taking that view. He hoped they would bear with him while he made a few remarks on the question of provincialism. He always had a suspicion that the provinces would die, if left to themselves; and he thought that Mr Fitzhorbert had assisted towards bringing about that end by his apparent determination to kill them by over-stuffing. Wellington above all other places in the oolony should be above all the local prejudices peculiar to provinoiali&m. Another subjeofc he would touoh upon was the San Francisco service. He could not help thinking that that was a soheme for whioh we would be supremely laughed at by the whole of the Pacific, and he could not help thinking that the readiness with whioh tbe Americans embraoed the proposals of Mr Yogel was the delight with which anything oheeky filled them; but still they must know, and we must feol, that we were sadly " outrunning the constable," by bringing foreign steamers of large tonnage into our ports, out of which they might never get, as some of uor port s were rather dangerous. Then, as they know, the. Australian colonies bad a longer purse than us, it was not likely that they would be bounced into the contract by us, and they would therefore bide their time, and tire us out. The speaker then referred to the production and distribution of wealth, otherwise protection. He He knew it was not a fit subject to disouss in a publio meeting like that ; but they knew that in protecting, one industry over another they of oourse benefited the country to a certain extent, but at the expense of other industries. They might easily see that protection was not required in our agrioulture, whioh was already getting on well without it, as we were daily exporting more and more largely. At the risk of being put down for having tried his hand at mob oratory, he could tell them of one interest that would not be protected 5 labor would not be proteoted. Of all the absurd combinations he had over heard of, Mr Vogel's mixture of emigration and protection was the most outrageously absurd ; and so it could have only one result if put into operation 1 ; everyone would leave the country, and he could

; only say r&at he would he one of jtha, 8 first to lead? the stampede, considering that , s, the first loss would Wtho bept. MrEiohwond I then proceeded to qtiote ' tfom the " Austin - lasian," as representing the. Views held on prok tection in Victoria, in which protection wftt ; likened to the two daughters of the horse- : r leeoh, who continually cried, "(Jive, give." c Mr Yogel, therefore, should not claim the 1 example of the Yiotorian people in support of k his policy. He would not Bay that Mr Yogel il wilfully deceived the people of the colony, but - he believed that Mr Yogel erred through 1 ignorance, as he did not believe that gentleman 3 had ever read a book on the subject of efther • free trade or protection. The speaker thejfv f quoted from a speech made by Mr Yogel W* . 3 the people of Auckland, to show that one in 1 sixteen of the people of Dorsetshire was a > i pauper through free trade, and compared that - statement with one made by Mr Bright to show . that since the repeal of the Corn Laws, the ) population of Dorsetshire, instead of showing I a population of one in sixteen, was only one in i seven. Could, they think a man who made- ' such misstatements worthy of publio confidence ? Mr Richmond then referred to the » Permissive Bill, spoken of by Mr Fox, who ' he said, appeared to forget that that which ; -went into the mouth was not always so defiling i as what came out of it ; though he would say • he had the highest respect for teetotallers > generally, and for Mr Fox's views oa this i question particularly, as he believed it was ; that gentleman's thorough conviction. But > he must say that, as an Englishman, he had i a horror of any such measures ; it acted on i him as a red rag. It was highly improper, 5 however, that this and the land question, ' affecting so materially the interests of the i people, should be treated as open questions— i the Government" should stand or /all.by them. i He would not detain the meeting much longer. ' ; He read in a paper that morning that he was a ; man who indulged in " dreary platitudes ;" but ; perhaps that meant duty ; and aB duty was a , surer guide than interest, he hoped that' a i great many of them would follow him in these "dreary platitudes." The interest of the colony would not justify such extraordinary i kite-flying. (Loud applause), followed by cries of "Travers, Travers." Great noise and confusion here ensued, from the persistency of an eccentrio-looking old man who tried to speak. Cries of " Tra* vers" resumed. Mr Traversboped that as they asked him to speak they would listen to him, and recounted an anecdote (used on a previous occasion) i of the donkey, the mayor of Chalons and the . king of France, or one donkey at a time. In refer ence to the election skits which had appeared in a local print, he begged to inform them that although he knew nothing of the "Genii of 1 ' the Lamp, or' the Spanish Warrior," he intended to give the proprietor of the " Advertiser another character for insertion in its desolate columns, as he now appeared in a new role — in the character of the Modest Man; Without any more preliminary observations, he might at once tell them in answer to the statements to the effect that he was coming forward as a candidate to represent this cit^ . that he had no such intention, unless asked by such a proportion of the electors as would imply that it was the general wish of the electors that he should represent them. He • addressed them in another character also — he stood there as a citizen of Wellington with just ajs much right 'to address them, as they had to address ( him, and he could tell them that it was he who had suggested that Mr Richmond should be asked to stand for the city. In doing so, he did it with the obnviction that he named an honorable man and a sound man, one who held progressive views, and one who would do credit to any constituency in the colony ; and although he did not hold identical views with him, and did not approve of his acts as being perfeot when Native Minister, he had always found that in whatever capacity Mr Richmond had acted he always was energetic and honest. They must not suppose that this was the only constituency that Mr Richmond had been asked to represent; but as he had been asked by the city of Wellington first, he- acceded to the requeet, and chose to risk a contest when he could have been returned, without opposition, for another. Mr Travers then went into what he desoribed as the aboard vulgarities of suoh papers as the " Ly ttelton Times" and "Wellington Advertiser;" and said that when any constituency allowed such strictures to pass without being challenged by even a single voice, he for one would turn his back upon them, regardless of what anyone might think ; and he could also assure them, that no man existed in New Zealand who oared less" whom he pleased or displeased in stating fearlessly what lie considered to be truth, and his firm convictions. He could tell them another thing; he was opposed to the. present Government — opposed to every member of it. They had been dragging ft golden cloud before the eyes of the people of the colony ; but their policy was a delusion, and contrary to all known practical theories of sound political economy, and was likely to heap up bur* dens under which the colony would not be able to stagger. In commenting upon the financial position of the country, the speaker told the meeting to recollect that when they took the debt of £7,000,000 into consideration they must also remember they had interest to pay upon £578,000 of exchequer bills. As a result of this the Government were obliged to issue £150,000 more treasury bills, and had. also to pass what he considered a disgraceful act for any Legislature to do : they had to postpone the payment of treasury bills from 187^ to 1874. The speaker then referred to the power wielded by Superintendents with 17 or 18 votes at their back, whioh led to extravaganoe and jobbery ; and he regretted he could see no hope that New Zealand affairs would be administered with economy and efficiency till a party—a powerful party— grew up and swept the whole of these governments away, by destroying their tails, their hungry tails, that were feeding upon the rery vitals of the country. There were many departments of the Government that sadly wanted more economy in their management, such, for instance, as was seen in the conduct of the Telegraph Department, which was managed efficiently and economically. With reference to the land question, spoken of by Mr Richmond, he might say that about a fortnight ago, he rode over a station at Glenmark, in Canterbury, where one man owned 250,000 acres, and many others owned a like area ; in short, he saw that twenty-five men monopolised a tract of oountry as large as many German principalities, and roamed over by only a few sheep. He would make one notable exception to the general charge of men ocoupy ing large traots of land without going to any expense or employing any labor on it. \ He meant Mr Robinson, of the Amuri, who had, he believed, spent a great deal of money, and had made a place, equal almost to what could be seen in Eng« land. When he (Mr Travers) contested the Superintendency in Canterbury, his cry to the people was— Breakup the land monopoly, or your province will sever progress. The squatters could not pay £2 per acre for land to raise sheep— in faofc, it did not pay to do so here at 5s an acre— -and they devised one of ; the most ounning schemes ever introduced to , ? .'■ attain an objeot, and that was the Pre-emp-tive law. By this law they were entitled to a pre-emptive right on so many ohainson each side of the fences ; and he noticed that they- 7 always carefully ran their fences through every^f * peice of good land they could. Fortunately the aot was only a temporary one, 'and.^d^d ; ; cease to operate in a short time jvftß(d>- the ' squatters no longer had jroKobtaia v] the passing of Buoh ■ ; anpfc^^ It was high time thatf the who|ei of ;the people i , ;' of the colony should give their attention so^; > the question, because *■< they /kne^ ;i th^t!isup^jr ;^ !, firms as those of^Smithi'and of iMathlsoiJ, and ):^h of Dalgetty, who had \ age^itf ■here Jjft'^M^^g^ all they could firpiii the; colony.^ Ittw^||ia|j:iyj| holding. -these? wewspand .^ : ,xeelingY WifMjl^H-W^l people were » daily coming vto^old^|l^Bjfc|^s|£ views, that he : believed. -Mr, •Koh^^W^|fe||g ■'■- -.'.■- '. " \y^' : - s t^^i^^|^

person fit to represent tho people of this city, and therefore proposed him as a candidate to represent them in the Assembly. [Loud cries of " Bunny, Bunny" here arose, hut Mr Bunny stepped forward and announced that he had no intention of «cconding the m o tion of Mr Tracers.] This was seconded by Mt Trueman, and carried unanimously. Mr Richmond then thankfully acknowledged the kind manner in which his name had been received by the meeting. He would only detain, them long enough to say that he was at their service, whether in committee or secret lj^ ' caucus, or at public meetings, and announced ~* his willingness to answer any questions that might be put to him by the electors. No one appearing desirous of questioning Mr Richmond, and as it was then about eleven o'clock, Mr Travers proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was cordially given. Three cheers were then given for Mr Richmond, and one for Mr Travers, and the meeting began to disperse.