MR H. BYRON, M.P.C., AT NGARUAWAHIA.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 348, 6 August 1874, Page 2

MR H. BYRON, M.P.C., AT NGARUAWAHIA.

There was a considerable attendance of electors on Tuesday evening, at Ngaruawahia, to hear Mr Byron's account of his doings iv tbo Provincial Council. Mr T. Y. Fitzpatrick wns voted to the chair, and upon taking it briefly stated Mr Byron's object in calling the meeting together that evening, Mr Bjron said he had taken this course of again addressing his constituents, because there had been no reporter at Hamilton, consequently the great proportion of the electors had no means of knowing what ho had said on that occasion. He purposed to give a brief resume of his action in the Council. In the first p*iace, the meeting will please to remember the position of the Government. The Executive carries on the affairs ; they are irresponsible to the Council. The Counei!, on an adverse vote, cannot turn them out ; they look to the Superintendent only. This fact accounts for very mucn having been put up with by the Council last session. The first act the speaker thought it desirable to allude to, was one to remunerate country members. Previous to this session, members received £15 for four days in the week ; now they receive 15s a day for six days. The alteration was made becauso it was obvious that the original amount was insufficient. The bill was brought In by a town member. The first bill of importance nrbich members had had to consider was the Education Act: This was a failure, not from any fault of the private members ; it was not treated as a party question ; it was opposed, as it deserved, npon its merits. The most important clause was that appointing a Commissioner, the result of thj* would have been that the repiesentatives/of the peoplo would have no control whatever over the conduct of education. The Superintendent would have become an " Education Autocrat, ;" there was a great tendency on his part towards a denominational system, and had the bill passed, the Council would have assisted in bringing it abcut. The bill was withdrawn after passing the first clause on the understanding that only the rating clauses should be altered. The sliding scale of taxation was proposed, and he had voted for it. Legal opinion was taken at to the possibility of imposing such a tax ; it was favourable, but in fact it would be almost impossible to enforce it in addition to being unjust. For instance, in the ease of schools and boarding-houses the occupiers' tax-paying powers in most cases would not be as great as that of smaller occupiers. Tbo clause was withdrawn, and in its place the capitetion rato was doubled and the fees mcreased from 5s to 10s, and a tux imposed upon all non-householders. Before the subject wus left an attempt wu» made by a mwch respected member (Mr Boylan) to get assistance for denominational schools ; only three members votrd in its favour. In order to get over the financial difficulty Mr Sheeban stated that next session it was purposed to impose a property tax ; this meant a tax on real properly. He would like to know the opinion of his constituents on this question, for his part he considered that land was already qmte sufficiently burdened. There wns nothing original suggo-ted unless it was a proposal to impose an export duty oi Jt's per ton on kauri gum The propo*or argued if this were done, the home consumers would pay for education. All engaged in tho gum trade, except Mr Dnrgnville, maintained that the idea was a farce. The eli'oet would have been that tho gnm diggers, who compose the poorest, class in tlie community, would pay for all the education in the province. A bill likely to help was pa.*sed, the Supreme Court Sit« Bill, by which it is proposed to

borrow £-40,000, and upon the site of tin- oil Supreme Court to build Government offices and shops, and alter providing for sinking fund and interest, tho balance to be applied to education. Power had also been given to boriow on the security of the Hospital and Lunatic Asjlum endowments j the money to be applied to the building of a new H>p tal nnd the improvement of the Lunatic Asylum. An Auctioneers' Licensing Bill was passed giving facilities for procuring thirty-six hour licenses ; the object of the bill is to provide for small sales in the north where a regnlar auctioneer cannot be got The bill as brought in would have been an unjustice to those who hold regular licenses, but as passed he did not think it would be. A resolution was passed by the Council recommending the appointment of a. signalman at Port Waikato in order to facilitate the trade through that port ; also for the extension of the telegraph wire from Waiuku to Port Waikato, in order to allow the arrival of vessels to be toot? quickly known than at present. Most of those present had no doubt seen in the papers the resolution proposed by Mr Eoche, "That in the opinion of this Council, tho administration of the native and defence policy at the present time is not satisfactory to the province, either as regards the expenditure of the funds of the colony or the general conduct of the Native Office. That his Honor the Superintendent bi requested to bring the above resolution under the notice of tho General Government." He brought the resolution forward in a speech of considerable force and ability. Although thoroughly prepared to endorse it, he (Mr Bjron) had asked him to withdraw it, as tho only chance of the province getting its fair share from tho General Government was to maintain amicable relations. He, aud others, felt that if the resolution were passed, tho Superintendent would be obliged to place himself in opposition to the mos f powerful department of the Government, He had told Mr Roche that it would be impossible for him to vote against the resolution, as to do so would be to express approval of the native policy; before going doun he had spoken strongly against it. Many would remember a meeting held in that room threp years back, at which he was the only one who expressed disapproval of the policy. The occasion was the consideration of a complimentary address to the Native Minister. He was told afterwards that it was absurd to »ay anything against it if he did not wish to go toa lunatic asylum. The "let alone" policy had not then been so ably advocated in the district as it now was, and it was believed that there was no medium between the policy of Mr McLean and that of Mr Stafford. He had been glad to find Mr Roche held the same opinion as he, and gave him kudos for having said something on the matter. Mr Koch© was also entitled to credit for having made an effort to get a special settlemei tat Whalawhata. He (Mr Byron) and Mr Graham had consulted on the matter, but they found that information as to the land was necessary. Before that could be procured it was too late to do anything. A Sheep Act was passed with the object of preventing scab being introduced into the province ; the bill was brought forward by the Government; opposition was offared by four or five members whom it touched in the most yulnerable part — the breeches pocket. They said the act should not pass, but the Government, finding they had a maj >rity, were equally determined. As regards appropriation, he believed that the country districts had got their share ; the Thames may have got a little too much ; an attempt was made to prevent this. As regards the Highways Act, it has consolidated the two existing acts. An attempt was made to introduce Cent ral Boards, the effect of this would hnve been the establishment of several small Provincial Councils in the proxince. Ifc would have increased the machinery without increasing the revenue to be spent. As regards tho power to borrow, the matter had been got over by a compromise. It would have been highly injurious to allow Boards to borrow and mortgage ths rates lor seven years. The act, as passed, provides that no Board shall borrow without the consent of twothirds o f the ratepayere, who shall tpproye of the proposed works ; the Engineer of the Board must also approve, and afterwards a special bill must be passed by the Council. Another important provision is, that for the appointment of Engineers ; the province to pay their salaries, and the Boards to contribute fees. This, he thought, would be found a good thing, as a deal of money had been wasted in useless work. The whole of the timber land in the hands of Government had been placed under the surveillance of the Boards. He was told that injustice would be inflicted if settlers weie prevented from cutting timber on iraste lands without the payment of £5 license fee. The liberty to cut wood fer building and fencing was the only chance some of the settlers had to remain on their farms till they could get them under cultivation. Provision was made to rreet this, by allowing the Beards to license settlers to cut for use on their own farms, but not to sell without payment of the license fee. A motion was made by Mr Sheeban, " That steps should be taken at the next session of Assembly for the purpose of procuring (1) an increase of the amount allowed to be levied by way of rate by Highway Boards, and (2) far a more speedy, cheap, and efficient means of recovering rates against real estate.'' The motion would have been passed without remark had not he (Mr Byron), by speaking to it, induced discussion. The debate proved that it was very generally approved. Another motion recommending that all lands without any district shonld be rated by the Superintendent, and tho funds go into the provincial chest. The quantity of land owned by Europ»ans,EO bituated, is estimated at five millions. Ihe question whether certain clauses in the Fencing Act should be enforced or not, he and some other members thought it better not to discuss. He therefore moved for a committee to consider the Fencing and Impounding Acts. The Executive brought in a bill based on their report. He thought the alterations would be very valuable ; almost any reasonable fence is now legal. If desired, any fence between two owners c»n be deemed legal by mutual consent; the great object m as to male absentees fence. As to the Impounding Act, leTeral amendments were made to clauses that were objectionable when there were natives. An amendment was also mnde by the repeal of the clause which joins the Fencing and Impounding Acts. What claim shall be made it to be decided by fence viewers, who shall decide under the Impounding Act what fences require repair. In reference to the maintenance of the main roads in the Waikato, he and his colleagues waited on the Provincial Secretary. He told us of an arrangement to apply the proceeds from sales of confiscated land, viz., one-half to General Government, one-quarter to the Provincial Government, and the other to be divided between the Eoad Boards. He found that the average proceeds from sales was £10,000 per annum. Mr Sheehan asked how much of this we were prepared to give up provided the Government took over the main roads. He and his colleagues sent a circnlar to tho Boards asking their opinion. All that answered said : " Give all rather than not have the roads taken over. It was problematical if the proportion of proceeds of sales would be continued to be given." After we received the answers we went to the Provincial Secretary, and he told us that if we gave up our share the Government would undertake to keep the principal roads in order, viz., that from Ngaruawahia to Cambridge, and that from Ngaruawahia to Alexandra vi& Hamilton and Ohaupo. We agreed to these terms, aud a resolution giving effect to the bargain passed the Council. He had been asked why he had had so little to bay. First: He was anew member and he had not had time to master all the questions that came before the Council, and in the second, his opinions were given vent to by others more ably than he could have done. He had done a considerable amount of work on Commitees, and as the proceedings of Committees are not reported, his name does not appear in print. He has to acknowledge the very hearty co-operation he had received irom his colleagues, which he hoped would continue so long as they retained their seats. He had promised before he went (o Auckland that he would do his best to forward the interests of the district, he might not have done much, but nevertheless he had fulfilled his promise — he had done hi» best, On taking his seat Mr Byron was cheered for some time. Captain Eayner moved a vote of confidence and thanks in Mr Byron. The motion was carried by acclamation. Mr Byi-on said he hoped their confidence would continue to be deserted, and proposed a vote of thanks to the chairman. The meeting then broke up.