OHAUPO.—THE SALES.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 558, 16 December 1875, Page 2

OHAUPO.— THE SALES.

The attendance at the cattle sales on Tuesday, at Ohaupo, was no* nearly so good as it woiild have been but for the recent fljodt. Many of thewttlers were detained at home repairing damage, others again wore cut off altogether by the destruction of bridges and creeks stil flooded, and from this cause the absence of the settlers of the Cambridge was conspicuous. There was a large number of cattle to have been forwarded by way of Cambridge from the farms of Messrs Firth, Walker and othere, bat it was of course impossible to get them to the sale. Nevertheless there wa3 a fair attendance of the public, and both cattle and sheep fetched high rates.

THE POLITICAL MEETING. After the sale was ore*, Mr Cjx according to notice addressed the fldeotora pr««nt. His address was necssanlj in great measure a repetition df those delivered elaewhere and which have already appeared in our colu nn«. Mr Cox commenced by stating that before going into the political question of the day it was nooossary for him to clear up a number of objections of a personal charaoter which had bean urged against him. He had always tried in his previous career as a member of the Assembly to realise tint he was responsible to those who sent him to the House and he read extracts from Hansarfi to show that he had acted, when solely a southern ninn, impartially m the interest! of the North, and in a measure in direct opposition to the interests of tho olaa*, his belonging to which was made a personal objection agitinst dim by several. H« was objected to by some as /likely to be wax or putty in the hands of the ministry, by others as being altogether too independent and likely to represent himself rather than others. These statement were irreooncileible with each other. He again quoted from Hansard 'to show how utterly groundless such statements were. With respect to the Native land purchase system he was of opinion that no transaction for the purchase or leasing of land should be made except, as now provided by law, through the Government. The Government had now the power to stop any piece of land even being put through the native lands court, and no iudividual could purchase or lease land from the natives unless such land had been passed through the native land court andsthe native owner had obtained a crown grant for it. In answer to a question whether ha would endeavour to prevent the Government agents for purchase of native landa acting as the agents *f private individuals, Mr Cox said that question had been already settled and done with. Sir Donald McLean in speaking upjn it during the lust stssion had said. " that the Government agents ought not to be allowed to act for private persons." It had been considered by tho Government a matter df policy to use the services of those parties, but he, Mr Cox, thoffght it was wrong in principle, and he was glad that it was done with. He believed that through the Government alone should lands be purchased from the natives. There was, however, only a turn of from , £200,000 to £300,000 left available to the Government for the purchase of further lands from the natives. He had been of opinion that when this sum was exhausted, instead of the further purchase of land being stopped, the pnblic should be allowed through the Government to purchase as individuals, under the law, .Rather than see the extension of settlement put a stop to, he would have voted for the introduction of some such system by which, the Government acting as agent for individuals, the purchase of native lands might still be continued. It had however since occurred to him that>» system might be introduced which would be*frea froji any objection whatever. It was useless to go to the House and ask for another large sum to create a North Island land fund. Such a sum would only come out of borrowed money and not from »ny ordinary source, but he saw no reason why the Government should not ask for money for the purchase of«native lands to be repaid from the sale of them. This would meet the requirements of. colonization and yet not be a demand of such magnitude as the Assembly need fear to accede to. The MaonU, however, showed little or no disposition at preeent to sell further blocks of land. They were rather inclined to lease them. In would bb for the Government to consider whether it was advisable in the intereits of the Colony that such leasing should bo permitted. For his part ho did not see that any man could gain anything by leasing fern land. If he himself wai inclined to lease lands from the natives it would be grass land, that he would look after. Mr Roche asked whether Mr Cox would be in favour of the Crown being the first purchaser of lands from the natives ? Mr Cox— l have already said that lam so. Mr Cox then explained to Mr Roche and others the character of thj existing laws asrespeots the purohase of native land^, showing them that the Acts of 1862 and 1872 secured for them the very iystern they deaireJ to jee •dotted, and

stating that he was positively in favour of such system. Several speakers here complained that thorn gh the Act of 1872 gare the Government power to prevent the pasting of any native lands through the Land Courts, the Government exercise this power with favour and partiality. That a hanger on <of the Government could get land through when another man was prevented. In -answer to a question, Mr Cox eaid— l do consider the system by which the revenue m raised an equitable one, but that in any readjustment of taxation it would be desirable to remove the duty as much as possible from artioles of common oonsumptior, suoh as tea and sugar. Any reduction should at the first take that direction, and considering tbe manner in which the value of property has been enhanced bj the public works scheme, propertj should be largely taxed as it has benefitted largely. Property he thought should bear a large proportion of the taxation. To-the que tion — Will you support a wool tax ? Ho replied :—: — For oertoin purposes I would, where the money raised was to be spent in promoting the interests of the locality where the wool was grown — but not for the general purposes of the colony. Question—* Are you in favor of allowing natives to vote at election for European representatives ? Answer — Most certainly if they come nnder the same qualifications as European voters but not otherwise. If a native obtains a crown grant for a piece of land in any Electoral district and qualifies himself a; an elector he has as good a right to vote as a European— or any other i man. An elector here stated that one of the chief objections to Mr Cox was that he held too much land in the South and that he belonged to a class of men who would try to monopolise the land. Mr Cox replied that he had no desire to monopolise. He would not attempt to lease land, but where ht was able to do -so he would buy, in suoh manner as the law provided. He thought there were few but would do the same. He reprobated the idea that big men were a hindrance to colonisation and settl ement. On the contrary it was only where there were " big men, " as they were called, that the man with no ■capital at all but his labor was enabled to obtain the means of saving the monej to become a moderate sized landholder, and he could tell the gentlemen who made the complaint against hjm that he held too much land, that thera was just as much Jealousy in the mind of him who bold none against them as there was in their minds against him (Mr Cox) A man was always satisfied with a little more than he had, and that was the case with him and them and all the world. Question — Would you abolish the native office? Answer— l Inve full treat in Sir Donald Me Lean. I would prefer leaving matters ia the hands of the Government. Question — When the £700,C06 is exhausted will you be m favor of setting aside a yearly sum for the purchase by the Government of native land, so that the whole land purchase system may be kept in the hands of the Government ? Answer— £ would be in favor of getting power from the Assembly to borrow money for the purchase of lands the to be made from the sale of land* so purchased. Such a plan would he the beat, if not the only one of getting a land fund for the North Island. Question — If returned will you enquire where that porbion of the proceeds of the sale of con fiscated lands has gone to that should have come to the road boards for road construction, -some £2,500 ? The distract has got neither tbe money nor roads. Answer— Most certainly I will take steps to asoertain this and also to get the money. Question — Are you going in as a thick and thin supporter of the Ministry? Answer — I would not go in for the special purpose of supporting any man or any Government. I would support no men whom I did not think acting in the iaterfst of tha country. My own wish ia to act the part of a free knee. Question — Will you assist in» curtailing departmental expenses? Answer— Wherever such reduction oould "be undertaken consistently with the efficiency of their pnblic service. I believe a large reduction could be made in thecjal uf legislation, I would certainly oppoie any increase to the honorarium paid to members. The allowance in J.tfe sessions lm< been 150 guineas. It is now proposed, and worco still to fix the p\yint>n by act, to make it £300 per annum I think £100 quit- a sufficient sum. A member shou d not seek more than to be reimbursed bis actual eipenees. Mr Roche — Would you vote against secret committees of the House ? Mr Cox— l was not aware that committees of such a character existed. Air Roche — Oh ! Yes they do ! lam told 'that they sit with locked doora when the question of redncing expenditure comes on. The head of the department under discussion is sent for and then something like this occurs. Chairman of Secret Committee — Mr Broivn i«, I see, your chief clerk at a salary of £350. Are his services absolutely necessary ? Head of Department — Oh no, not at all t o. Wo could easily do without him. Chairman of Seoret Committee — At whose recommendation w<w he appointed ? Head of Department — A.t that of Mr Vogel. Committee omnes— On then, we must pass him overi The head of the department is asked the same question Of the second clerk, Mr Jones. Hi 9 services too could be dispensed with, but then it turns out on enquiry that he was appointed by Sir Donald McLoan, or some strong supporter of the Ministry — and so his dismissal cannot be made. This goes on, said Mr Roche, till it comes to the last clerk at £100 a year, when the head of the department being asked if he can be spared replies ' by no means, that man does all the work of the office.' Mr Cox amidst much laughter said he doubted very much the authenticity of the anecdote just related to them, but if such a state of things did exist, the Government that countenanced it was unworthy the name of a Government, or any honest man's support. He would like to 4c now on whose authority this story was told. Mr Roche at first declined to give up his author, but upon being pressed by the meeting declared that it was Mr William Swanson of Auckland, M fl R for Newton. Mr Cox thought that if Mr Swanson had known such a state of things to exist he would have been the first to have denounced it on the floor of the House. If such a thing could be, he, Mr Cox would be one of the first mea to go in for its exposure. With respect to the system of rating by the Highway Boards, the oandidate in answer to a question, stated that he would be in fovour of that system— whether an acreage rate or on the value to sell— that would best catch hold of the absentees. A vote of thanks was then unanimously accorded to Mr Cjx and afcerwards to the chairman, Mr Jermyn, and before the meeting separated three -cheers for Sir George Grey as an expression of than ko -for <the manner ia which hehad brought to light the abuses of the l«nd pure chase department of the Native Offije wer. called for by Mr Roche and heartily reap jnded to

Polling Places. -The "New Zealand Gazette " of tlio fith instant, just to hand, contains a list of the polling places for the coming eleotions. For Waikato there are four:— the Court house, Cambridge ; the Public Hall, Hamilton East; the School-house, Taupiri ; and the Court-hous», Xorcer. For Waipa, six, viz., the Court-home, Hamilton » West -; the Ceurthouse, Ngaruawabia ; the Court- home, Alexandra; the Court-home, Raglan 4 the Scheolhouse, Ohftupo, and the Public Hall, at Te Awamutu. We had expected to hare «een Pukerimu amongst tho list of polling places for the Waipa district. Thsro is time enough, hovrerer, to remedy this omission, which -would be a great conrenience to a largo body of electors'— some sixty to eighty — who are at least enme eight or nine miles distant from Ohaupo, it bib cren to reach the latter place two awkward or* >ks--froni which the bridges hare been washed away mutt belcrosied-