The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, JANUARY 31.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 265, 31 January 1879, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, JANUARY 31.

An after dinner fcpeech is by common. consent exempt: from the criticism bestowed on utterances delivered in "another place." But this very exemption ought, to make post prandial, orators careful as to introducing debatable matter into their speeches. We do not like to find fault with anything said or done by one of our guests on a late occasion, but we are afraid that the Hon. John Hal} hardly confined himself within those limits which he must be aware impose themselves of necessity on speakers on "siicn occasions.' " With tlfat part of his* speech in which he explains the reasons which, in his opinion, influenced the Legislative Council in rejecting, the Akaroa Railway Bill in the shape in which it was presented to them, we have no fault to find. It was germane to the subject matter which. had given rise to the dinner, and we hope that it was zeal for the public weal, even if mistaken, a hatred of jobbery, and mot i any rof the less worthy 'motives' that have bWeri freely attributed to them that induced honorable gentlemen to VettJ- a scheme which bids fair, now to be a sucqess / in f spite of their opposition. ':= / i «'' ;

But when Mr Hall takes the opportunity to have, a fling at the Electoral Bity,;and at-the conduct pi the Government in endeavoring to carry that measure, wlten,;he quotes a supporter of -the Government as having ; said that it was impossible as such to preserve his selfrespect, we contend that : he decidedly travels outside the, record, and introduces into a social gathering, composed presumably of men of all-shades of political opinions, ma%rs which are as well left outside, especially as, under the circumstances, Mr Hall must, have known quite well that he was thoroughly' safe from being replied to. We contend, therefore, in the first place : that the introduction of such a topic as the Electoral Billy arid the refusal of the Gouncil to pass it was ill-advised under the circumstances.

But as Mr Hall has. thought fit to introduce the subject and take up the cudgels on behalf of the branch of the legislature to which he belongs and against the Government, we, consider it only right that our' readers' attention should be called to the fact that there is another side to the question. Let us take a side issue raised by Mr Hall first. The honorable "gentleman waxes wroth at an accusation which ; he says has been levelled at the Council,«that they threw out the Maori ; franchise in revenge for the Maori members having voted for the Land Tax Acti Mr Hall says this charge ought never to have been repeated iafter it had been denied. Denied by whom ?, Obviouslj", as this is a question and as a man's motives ar>e hidden in his. own breast, except in so far as ;he. chooses to promulgate them, no one: can answer for his brother in this matter. The question of what motives influenced each member of the majority must remain in the region of opinion, and cannot be removed into, the domain of absolute fact. But that, some members 6f the Council gave certain grounds for the supposition is certain. Sir F. Dillon Bell certainly used as an argument against the Maori ! franchise the fact; that certain Maori, votes in the Lower House had had the effect of " sending the Land Tax Bill up to this Council in a shape in which it would not have reached the Council if the votes of the European members only had been taken." We quote the hon. gentleman's own words. There is nothing here about " punishing ,? them for their vote. Still, there is the connection indisputably. " We are asked to give the franchise to men who assisted in sending up that bitter pill—The Land Tax Bill. We won't do so." It is impossible to say how far the argument had weight with the Council, but when it was brought forward in the debate as a reason against the Bill, Mr Hall has no right to complain if it is supposed to have had its weight.

The second point which ;Mr Hall made, apart from his arguments against the Maori franchise, into which we do not intend to follow him, was this :— He contended, or. assumed as the basis of his arguments, that this Electoral Bill gave increased electoral privileges to the Maoris. Will it surprise our readers to learn that the Bill proposed considerably to curtail those they then possessed 1 Yet such was the case. The Government proposed in another measure to increase the special representation by persons of their own race at present enjoyed by them, and to decrease the electoral rights, by which they might come into competition' with Europeans at the polling booths. Upon the Council restjj , the ..responsibility of declining allow things as regards the Maori franchise to remain, us they were, while consenting to an increased European electorate. We will let the Hon. Mr Stout, who was one of the managers appointed to confer with the Council tell his own tale. He says : —

' I first proposed this—' In addition to the franchise granted to Maoris under section 18 of the Act (that was the ratepaj'ers franchise) every adult Maori who, whether solely or jointly, is Seised of or entitled to any land of the value of £25 under a grant from the Grown, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter under this Act, and to claim to be registered in the form marked in the schedule. , We asked : 'If you will not give them anything else, give these Maqri8 i Who have Crown grants,- and who do riot-claim tribal tenure under the Crown grant the right to be registered ;< give-! them at least that concession." But no ; like, a famous ecclesiastic, tliey said non possumus. My next proposal to the conference

waS this: — ' Every male Maori of 21 years of age shall have the same rights and privileges, and be entitled to be registered under the same qualifications, before the passing of this -Act"- I, ' This would have given the Maoris no greater rights than they had before the passing of the Act; but they laughed at it, saying that it" was worse .than the printed B£ll. They would not consent to it, and it was of course rejected." As a last resort, and to preserve tha-rights of the Maoris till the next Besßidn,\eo that their rights could be preserved till the question of redistribution of seats was considered, I proposed tho following clause :—' Every male Maori of ■ the full age of: 21 years, shall, to provisions jo'f this Act, be. entitled Jo\be "registered as an elector under this Act if he is either solely or jointly seised at law orin; equity of any land. of - the ' value .of. £25 under a granteifrom the Crown, provided always claim under this section shall be" nj§de after the first day of November ,ne£t. But there came a thundering non fflseumus,' and the thing ;was lost." ' • <

The final effect of the action of the Council, therefore, is that the Maoris retain greater privileges than they would have done if ithe Bill had passed, while the extension of the European franchise is deferred. We saysadvisedly,, for we are willing to belieye Mr Hall's, estimate of -the duties of the Council will be concurred in by that body, viz., to yield on, those points on which public opinion shall, have mistakably pronounced its verdict.

Our report of many of the speeches at the late dinner was necessarily very brief. We considered it necessary to devote as much space as possible to the speeches of Messrs Montgomery and Hall, and consequently the remarks of the later speakers were reported very briefly or not at all. Among those who suffered in this way was Mr Coop, of Little River, and as the shjrt speech he made was Ml lof sound common sense, and as, moreover, we strongly endorse the opinions therein expressed as to the absolute necessity of settling people in numbers on the land, we offer no apology for inserting here a somewhat lengthier report of Mr Coop's speech on the occasion referred to. After a few introductory remarks, Mr Coup went on to say that, "except in one or two localities, it was well known that the timber on the Peninsula had about Tun out. It would be necessary to replace this industry and find employment for the young people growing up and the children yet to be born. would like to see the large holdings cut up into blocks of from 100 to 200 acres, and occupied by bona fide owners. No doubt the pastoral interest was a great one, and, combined with agriculture, was the backbone of any country, but so far as the Peninsula was concerned, as he said before, he should like to see it cut up, and that encouragement was given in every way to assist the settlers in arriving at what is the best thing to grow in each nook or valley. He would like to see a society, formed to. promote these interests. There Were various industries which" might be introduced j for instance hop and fruit growing, the production of olives, and various other things which .he felt sure would prosper, and thus find employment for the young, and replace those industries which were passing away." We think that the remarks of Mr Coop are well worthy of the consideration of all those #ho are accustomed to look ahead. It is evidently only by greater treasures being wrung from the bountiful bosom of Mother Earth that an increasing population can be supported. The Peninsula possesses every natural advantage—good soil, sheltered nooks and valleys, abundant water supply. Its magnificent timber enables the land to be utilised twice over. First a good profit is made by the sale of the timber to the residents of the treeless plains, and by the time this is exhausted, the land has not been rendered useless as on a worked-out gold-field, but, on the contrary, its real usefulness now begins, when, denuded of its primeval forest covering, it is compelled to yield jts increase to the industry of man. This is the one thing needful. These natural capabilities need to be taken advantage of. As means of communication improve, it will never do to be content with seeing a few cows "pottering" about among the blackened stumps of the fallen forest. No, we must seek to tax the resources of the land, and extract from it at least a fair portion of that wealth which it is waiting to bestow on the persevering

suitor,

We understand that Mr Coop, not content with after-dinner theorizing on the subject, is about to put his ideas to the test by cutting up some land at Little River into small holdings, and endeavoring to ascertain what particular production, each locality is most fitted for. Having done so, it is his intention to take measures by which each such industry shall be fairly tried. We wish him every success in his experiment. The old adage about making two blades of grass grow in place of one is no less true because somewhat hackneyed.

Let us all remember that the materials for wealth, or, better still, for the support of thousands, lie literally under our feet. Well directed labor is the golden key which will unlock the treasure house.

"All are thy .gifts, oh Industry! whate'er Exalts, embellishes, or renders life Delightful."