MR. LUSK'S ADDRESS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 180, 3 July 1873, Page 2

MR. LUSK'S ADDRESS.

Ok Monday evening, Mr Lusk addies«ed a large meeting of electois at Ngaruawahia Mr James Hume occupied the cbair, and introduced the speaker to the meeting. Mr Lusk, on using, said : Mr chairman and gentlemen, — I appear before you this evening for the puipose of express mj my opinion on questions of gieat public zmportance. I have been in the province since the hrat election of a sutei'utei'dent in It,"i 3. Since tbat time, piovmcial msii iuuiiis have had miny ups mid downs; at one time they have been popular, and at otheis unpopular. I think they have been of great public utility, and have certainly conferred great benefit, on this portion of the colony. They were only established, howover, aa a terapoiaiy expedient ; they are noi of a nature to last long. Now that communication has become regular and rapid, it is absurd to talk of the isolation of the different parts of the colony as a reason for continuing Provincial Govornmenls. It would be easy now to conduct the whole business of the colony from a common centre. I think tho time ■ft hen provincial institutions should be no longer continued is fast approaching, but at the same time believe that (hey could not be suddenly abolished without entailing serious losses. It has been snid that the Superintendent of the Province would soon have nothing to do, and in fact had little to do at the present time. This is not the case. All the Road Boards centre on the Provincial Government, and until another centre is devised they must continue to do so. I do not believe that doing away with the superintendent I and substituting a General Government agent would prove Inn economical mode of government. The whole cost of government at the present time does not exceed £1,800, and this sum could not be greatly reduced by any change. 1 know by experience that General Government officials are better paid and do not work so hard as those in tho Provincial Government service. BeforeI close my address, I will point out what I consider would bo tho best substitute for the present form of Government. Having said so much, 1 will give a special reason why Pro- ■ vincial Government cannot last long — there will not long be I means of maintaining the different department!. Had it not been for a windfall, last year, there would have been no funds to allocate for public works. The whole revenue bad to be devoted to the support of the various institutions, — the Police, Gaol, Lunatic Asylum, Goldfiekls, &c. To provide for these necessitated an evpenditure of £40,000, and the revenue was only between £22,000 and £23,000 last year. The idea in| establishing Provincial Governments was that they should inako roads and bridges, and attend to all local matters. Now that the income has come nearly to nn end, I think the Government itself must perish. With regard to my position as a candidate, I may point out that the dutii>s of a superintendent, when rightly understood and performed, arc most onerous ; on him devolves the duty of seeing the different departments fnirly and properly worked. Ho has to see that tho Highw ay Boards are properly advised and assisted, and as there are 118 in the pro\ince, this in itself i« no light duty. At tho present time there arc not less than a score of applications from boards cvi'ry week on matters that can only be settled bj tho bond of Iho province. It' tho superintendent arranged the differences between the boards, they would much more rabidly gum n knowledge of their duties. These being the duties of a superintendent, it require* no small amount of public spirit or conceit to ask election to the office. Ido not si. ih.it I inn tic best man for tho offic?, but it must be remembered thut I ha\ a mainly conducted the business of the nrovmco for tho last three years ; this fact I consider should in jour eye* make my solicitation of your votes less presumptuous than might be the case if I knew nothing about (he working of tlic business of the province. I conic forw.ud on (lie faith of what I have done and what I purpose to do. It is difficult to speak with becoming modesty in order to mako known what I consider entitles mo to your confidence. I have for three > ears been before the public, having for that period beon Provincial Secretary. I may any thct when I began my term of ofllce I found lliut there was u good deal of expondi-

Imvoii «-'il. tries, that v.h not, qmle necc-sary. I cut ofi^ -1*5,000 from tin* item ami .implied it to the carrying on of public woilv< Tlie province during my three yeais of oflW has thus been save! i' 15,000 I will explain why so little has Wn done m the Wnil»->to. Tlie General Government ii is heM poHscssion of ill I In* land in your district, and the provincial chest Lh deuwd nothing from that source of revenue. It was deemed fair, therefore, that the Colonial dm eminent should make tlio main roads and bridges. In other parts when the province Hold lands it appeared lair that the mam part ut the money so raided should be spent on those districts. Ido not mean that nothing has been spent by the province for the benefit of the Wnikato, as the cost of .j keeping up communication with Auckland was between four and live thousand a yoar. The Provincial Government first undertook to connect Kaipara and Auckland by means of a railway. That district has 800 miles of deep water frontage, and has a large amount of land suitable for settlement. The object should be to connect all parts, so that what is lacking in one district could be easily transported from another. Timber for instance is very scarce in the Wnikato, but there is plenty of coal ; on the other hand there is plenty of timber in the North and no coal. The Provincial Council has done something towards legislation. The Education Act, vjith which my name ha* been closely connected, was drafted by me while the Superintendent was absent at the Assembly, after careful consideration of the circumstances. The school system is most miserably deficient ; it shuts out the children of many of the poorer classes. It was impossible to deal with the matter w ithout additional drag on the public purse. My duty was clear, knowing as I did that without education our youths could not hold their own against thoso of the neighbouring colonies and other portions of this. As regards the form the impost has assumed, it was not my doing ; the responsibility of that rests on the members of the Council. The act, as I drafted it, would have taxed in proportion to wealth. I opposed the alteration, but was out-voted. My object was to provide free education for all, and to oblige all to avail thomsehes of it. To get over tho miserable religious difficulty, I made tht* teaching m tlie schools to be purely secular I am happy to find that the act drafted by me was not liable to havo a coach and six driven through it. I think it would havo been better if passed as I framod it as vegnnfc taxing tlie rich and the poor man alike. I introduced another Represent ition Act ; by that act no district is left unrepresented, or represented by those who know little or nothing of its requirement*. Whatever ditteronce of opinion there may be as to the divisibility of continuing provincial m-titu-tions, there could bo Done that so long as they existed all should b« represented. Ido not purpose to dwell upon the services 1 have renderod to tlie province. I have only alluded to them with the object of showing that, whether young or old, I am in the position of having had somctLing to do with public matters that entitles me to take a leading part in the politics of tho province. If elected, I shall endeavour to preparo the way for changes that must shortly come upon us. It appears to me that the experiment of passing the Highways Act and the establishment of local self-government gives the hint how to meet the difficulties before us. Half of our difficulties arise from too much government. It would be better if fc'ic arm> of oflicials was employed in farming and other useful occupations. (Cheers ) Unfortunately the army requires to be paid. I consider that the principal object to be kept in view is the simplification of government, and the highway »ystem gi>es the due. I bebeve that the settled districts ha^e already 140 boards; these »ra worked at -very little cost considering the work they do. I belu>\e it would be a good thing to go a step further mil institute another iet of districts, the boards alroady existing being clubbed together, forming a central board. Tins would take a great deal of work off the •uperintendent. They could meet as> olten u found desirable to settle all questions in dispute between the minor boards. Bje-and-by, when they had & little training, they could take other functions upon them, such a* the care of the poor, sick, police, <Lc. When they became accustomed to this work, I can »cc no great difficulty in the way of their doing those dutiea efficiently. I believe that c sudden change would not mend matters. It is true we should not ho.re the trouble of selecting a superintendent, but in place of having 1. 1 itler selected by ourselves, we should hare one appointed by the Executive of tlie General Government 1 hope that the people will soon learn to manage their own affair 3 inexpensively. My experience h that they are not jet able to do so without reference to the Executive — they cannot get Mong without quarrelling amongst tlipmselrps, or one board with another. If the management of the poor, sick, policr, and gaols were handed o^er to tlie Highway Boards, I am un.ibleto see of what the duties of the superintendent would consist. The present time is a most critical one in the history of this country. We have borrowed large sums of money, as we say, for reproductne works. Largo expenditure, so long as it docs not "xceed the income of the country from year to year is safe ; a blunder then is not of so much consequence. I know thai the public works policy is to expend the loan in tho purchase of land, the making of ro.uls, railways, and other public ■works. I consider that, so far, this province has not been fairly treated. Auckland, with the exception of one pro■riucc, ia the most populoii3, and contributes th« second largest sum for the payment of interest and sinking fund on the borrowed capital. It is a fact, that out of four millions borrowed, Auckland has only received a small share ; this is paitly attributable to the fault of our members. Two years ago I urged the necessity of allotting a larger share of the loan to this province ; and that the railway should be immediately constructed to the fiontier. These recommendations were never acted upon One member to whom I wrote said he thought that 1 was only joking ; but that member wa§ found advocating the same thing a abort time back on an AuckUnd platfoim. I say that the past §how» that there hai Wen no neglect on my p.iri. The blame rests on our members, who ?ra too fond of squabbling and l^g-rolling to give their attention to I getting justice for this province It is the duty of the : superintendent to leave uo stone unturned to secur* justice for this province. It takes more energy and perseverance than is necessary to get a resolution passed alloting £00,000 to be expended on the roads in Auckland at the rate of £15,000 pei annum. The result of the abave resolution was the expenditure of £641 in the fiist year This- may probably be accounted for by the Superintend dent having been a bitter opponent of the Government. I consider that it is the duty of * »uperintendent not to make himself the leader of a party, but to devote the whole of his energy to watching the interests of hi« province. As regards immigrution.this province ha* been badly treated : it has received little from the Public Works scheme. We have received shipments of what they call domestic servants, of whom perhaps the less said the better Tlie state m which some of the shipments arrived is a disgrace to everybody coucerned. The agent b say they ha\e great difficulty in inducing immigration to this province from fear of the savages who aro living just w ithout our boundary. I believe it would be well if the superintendent on some terms was entrusted with the carrying out of immigration. It appears to me that the sdiemo will not bo carried out so long as Dr Featherstone has the management of it. Can any one snppoßO that he would dncrl tho stmim from the piovince where he spent his whole life? Tho duties I have'pointed out are sufficient to engage ihe bc*t energies of the best man. Ido not say that lam the best man in the province It would not be right in me to blink at tho question that there are other candidates in the field. I only ink you, if yon believe that I could dothe work of the province honorably and well, to vote for me. One gentleman's career ontitles him to groat respect ; but I believe that if Mr Williamson were elected •uperintendent it would not be to the benefit of the province. As regards the other gentleman, I should like to know on what grounds he asks you to return him for the otfice p What are hii credentials ? What has he done to benefit a single man ? He has issued a manifesto winch, I was <roing to say, it unintelligible, at any rate it shows that he did not understand anj thing about provincial institutions. Change to be beneficial must be brought about gradually. It is far from pleasant to draw comparisons, but 1 am in a manner compelled to do so, and the other candidates are not so very reticent. I ask you, if you agree with my opinion*, to vote for me, and if I am elected, I will devote the whole of my ability and energy to forwarding the interests of the province. I thank you for tho attentive hearing you have given me. The speaker was loudly cheered upon taking his seat. A vote of thanks to Mr Lusk for his addreBS ( and to Mr Humo for his conduct 111 the chu.r, brought the meeting to an end.

The following curious point of law was recently raised in one of tlie American Criminal Court* . — Some ten years ago a forgery was committed upon one of felie leading homes in Charleston, whereby tlio former succeeded m pocketing a considerable sum, nnd making his escape- undetected. For nearly nine jenrs he eluded justice, and during that period entered into business under a false name, and converted the proceeds of his robbery into a considerable fortune. Last your, however, ho foohdhlv attempted to inako restitution, and forwarded to the it m ho had robbed a draft on the original amount together, vith interest, not, however, acknowledging that he was the forgor. Tins naturally led to enquiry. The mitn was arrested and placed on his trial. In addressing the Court on his behalf, his solicitor argued that it whs physically impossible, no matter what ewdenco might be adduced to the contrary, that the prisoner could bo the forger of eight years ago, inasmuch jm» it was amply demonstrated by science that the whole fleshy portion of the body was changed every seven yean. That bones were the same that he possessed at tlio t imc of tho forgery w as bp*i.l<? the point .bncniup, although, doubtless, present on the occasion, they clearly did not touch the felonious pen that traced tho false tngnniurc Now tho flesh which at present covered these bones was entirely guiltless, in fact was unborn ut the tune, anJ, therefore, unless it vrai proved that the ninn's bones wore tsio actual seat of his will and mind, tho present prisoner was not shown to be guilty. Dhe jury convicted, and the local papers thereupon remarked that the heics of a man's body must hereafter bo considered responsible for their parent's wrong doings.