KAWARAU ELECTION.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 188, 17 June 1873, Page 6

KAWARAU ELECTION.

MR MACKELLAR’S MEETING. I On Fiiday evening, at Kidd’s Hall, Cromwell, Mr D. MacKellar, one of the candidates for the representation of Kawarau District in the Pro- a vincial Council, addressed a well-attended meeting of electors and others. —His Worship the t Mayor, took the chair at eight o’clock, and with 'i a few appropriate remarks introduced the candi- * ■date. ' Mr MacKellar said that although he. had t fully made up his mind, some twelve months ago, c to offer himself as a candidate for Kawarau die- 1 trict at the next quadrennial election —which in j “the ordinary course of events would have occurred 1 in something less than two years hence—the un- < -expected dissolution of the late Council had 1 -caught him somewhat unprepared, and indeed ; he had given up all intention of becoming a candid ate on the present occasion ; but having re- < ceived. many spontaneous assurances of support 1 from old and valued friends in various parts of 1 the district, he was at last, after much hesita- < tion, induced to come forward. Under these ■ circumstances, he trusted the electors would not . think it presumptuous in him to seek the honour ■ ■of representing them in the Council. He came forward as an independent candidate, and did . not wish to be returned as a supporter either of Mr Macandrew or Mr Reid. If the electors thought him worthy of their confidence, they would allow him to go down to the Council and ascertain for himself the true state of political , affairs, and then act according to the best of , his judgment. Mr Davie, one of the new mem- , hers for the city, had suggested a fusion of parties, and other influential men had expressed their concurrence in the suggestion. He (Mr MacKellar) would be willing to join a party of that kind, and would follow the example set by numerous Otago politicians and adopt “Progress as .his watchword. It hail been said that he was a rabid Reidite ; but be would 'endeavour to convince the electors that such was not the case. He intended to show, by commenting upon his Honor’s Opening Address, that he appioved a large number of Mr Macandrew’s proposals, and disapproved of others. Referring to the grant of £40.0W0 tor a water-race and sludgechannel at Naseby, that, lie considered, was a matter no one could find fault with ; but as a candidate for Kawarau, he thought it strange that Naseby should get, so large a gift whilst Cromwell had failed, after two years’ negotiation, and although first on the'list of applicants, to obtain a loan of £4OOO on behalf of the Carrick water-race. That failure went to show . .that the district had not been well represented. He Was favourable to the speedy completion of the Main Trunk Railway from Waitaki to the Bluff and Lake Wakatip. and would advocate the gradual extension of theTuapeka line towards Cromwell and Queenstown. He highly approved of the system of encouraging local manufactures by offering bonuses for their introduction. Better school accommodation was very much required, for he was of opinion that many of the physical ailments prevalent among children were due to overcrowded schoolrooms. The number of public schools in the Province was about 180, and he thought 40 were as many as one inspector could undertake to examine within a year—that was, if the work of inspection was to be done efficiently. He would therefore be in favour of appointing two additional inspectors : the people would never get value for their money until this was done. He did not think the Province yet required a training-school. If the teachers sala- , ries were raised, and they were allowed decent incomes to live upon, there would be no difficulty in getting suitable men from Home. He would ’strongly advocate putting the main lines of road Between Dunedin and Queenstown in thorough repair. The provision made for the establishment of Road Boards on the Gold-fields was a ' very wise one, but difficulties stood in the way of bringing the Ordinance into operation in the , meantime. He was opposed to the construction of harbour defences, because be considered them unnecessary. Was in favour of encouraging immigration to a moderate extent, and would give immigrants employment on public works till such time as they found other engagements. With regard to the new Mining Bill, that was a matter for the Assembly to deal with ; but the 'Miners’ Associations should make it their business to studv the bill, and pass and publish their opinions on the subject. ' In dealing with purely mining matters, lie would take instructions from the associations, but would not promise a slavish ■obedience to their wishes in any other matters. To the Waste Land Act of 1872 he would give a fair trial. He agreed that,the weak point of the Act was the provision for an irresponsible Board, and would endeavour to have that provision modified so as to make the Board a political one. The system of selling land on deferred payments was all very w'ell, but improvements should be insisted upon in order to prevent monopoly. Having ?lius reviewed the Opening Address, the electors could now judge for themselves how far he agreed with his Honor. In reference to the requirements of our own district, one of the greatest sins of omission committed by his Honor was that he made no mention of commonage for the gold-fields. Seeing that the revenue derived from the gold-fields last year was about equal to that derived from the runbolders, he thought such an omission quite inexcusable. The matter of commonage was one of the very first in which he would, if elected, endeavour to set the ball rolling. There was now a great deal of traffic between Cromwell and the Nevis, and funds should be provided to form and improve the road, as well as to keep it in repair. Between the Upper and Lower ISevis a good track was much needed, and he would urge an appropriation of money for that purpose. The Carrickton mad should, in his opinion, be taken over and maintained by the Government; and the Quartz Reef Point track should be widened so as to permit of dray traffic, and extended as far as Bendigo. He thought it the duty of Government to purchase the Bannockburn bridge at once, and have done with ic: that would have to be done ' sooner or later. He was glad to observe that the Inspector of Schools bad recommended a vote of £4OO for a sJone school-house at Cromwell,. ; ■ and hoped the item would be passed by the Council. ■ In conclusion, he would remark that .if elected he. intended to be very modest, at all ~ events for the first session : he would not he . .-continually getting up and raising little points to • >J tlie’interruption of business. With the penmis'r slou of th£f meeting,t he-would-read-an -extract

from a recent leading article in the Daily Times, —a passage he thought peculiarly apposite at the present time : ' “Choose as your.representatives those men only who have shown their ability to conduct their private affairs with success. Do not choose a man who has made a mess of his own business, who has been haJf.A dozen things, and failed in them politic? to keep the wolf ‘ylip mbit choosy, a man on. account .oO|l&pjtipW of things he will promise to get..done for’the district. Do hot choose a man wfro 'starts, impossible theories, and who defends them with a certain dialectical skill. Elect one who has become known as a shrewd, hard-headed, practical man of business (he need by no means be rich) —the sort of man you would choosC 'as a trustee for your wife and children—the sort of man you would go to for advice if you were making an investment. These are the men we want now—men who have got, a character to lose, and, who are willing to give the same attention fo public matters that has secured the success of their owu affairs.” The candidate concluded his address in these words “ Gentlemen, for this district there are three candidates before you : of the three, choose you now which one comes nearest the standard. I now leave the matter in your hands.” (Applause. ) In answer to questions, Mr MacKellar said that as no Government could afford to pay compensation for a large number of runs, he would be inclined to let the current leases expire, except in cases where blocks were required for agricultural purposes. He was in favour of free selection, and would have the land surveyed first where practicable; hut would insist on the purchaser at once settling down and improving the land. Asa general rule, the extent of land sold to any individual should he limited. For the construction of railways, he would advocate the principle of borrowing money on security of the land. If the Superintendent, should select such an Executive as the present one, he would certainly give them a chance, and would not raise any captious opposition. He hoped, however, the fusion of parties he had. previously spoken of would be accomplished. He considered that, as a rule, the Government officers received the full value of their services. He would like to see the gold duty reduced, hut until some other means of revenue was provided to make up the deficit, he could not promise its total abolition. He was not in favour of abolishing pounds, hut was of reducing the fee on miners’ rights; [Various questions of lesser, importance wire asked and answered, but we have not space to report them ] Mr William Grant bad great pleasure in proposing—“ That Mr MacKellar is a fit and propel person to represent this district in the Provincia Council.” (Applause.) • The motion was seconded bj r Mr J. S. Burres, and was carried unanimously.

MR OOLCLOUGH’S MEETING. Mr Charles Colclough, one of the candidates for this district, addressed a numerous meeting at the Kawarau Hotel last evening. His Worship the Mayor presided. M r Colclough spoke as follows: —Gentlemen, as the majority of you are aware, I was invited to stand for a seat in the Provincial Council at the last election, and 1 would then have availed myself of the honour had I believed that I should have keen able to devote that attention to the office which the electors have a right;to expect; but I declined on that occasion, for private reasons. Now, however, the case is different, and I am now prepared to devote my whole attention to your interests. Referring to the election for Superintendent, I wish you to understand that although I approve of Mr Macandrew’s action with regard to the late Council, I will not he bound to any party. Whatever side 1 may take, you may rest assured it will be the one that shall do the most for the up-country districts. I hold that tho course pursued by Mr Macandrew was the only way, to clear the House of one party or the other, so that legislation might proceed. For Mr Gillies, personally, I have a great respect ; but I think he would obtain many more votes if he had come forward independently instead of as a mere cat’s-paw of Mr [Jeid; A great deal has been said about the majority of the Council protesting against the dissolution; but I believe that very many of that majority were afraid of a dissolution because they knew that their chances of re-election were very small. I will now proceed to matters of more immediate interest to the Kawarau electors. Prominent among these is the necessity for having periodical sittings of the District Court in Cromwell, which I would use my best efforts to secure. If it should be decided to hold sittings of the Supreme Court at any central town in the Northern Gold-fields, I would decidedly recommend they should be held at Cromwell. I am of opinion the Government should be asked to assist in obtaining a local hospital—an institution very much needed. I advoj cate the purchase by Government of the Kawarau i Fridge, it being on one of the most frequented highways in the Province, and leading to the most promising gold-fields. I would also endeavour Lo procure the formation of a dray-track to the Upper Nevis, otherwise, when the railway shall have been completed to Kingston, the trade will be entirely diverted from Cromwell. Though I am satisfied the cost of its construction would have been bettor applied in erecting a bridge at Deadman’s Point, the continuance of the Quartz Reef road to Bendigo will meet with my advocacy, as I behove it would be a great benefit to the district In regard to the existing depasturing licenses, I j hold it is undesirable to renew them on expiry. I I would recommend that the runs be subdivided | into blocks not over 10,000 acres, so that a class of people who would be really valuable settlers might be induced to occupy the land. I am an advocate for free selection, for these reasons : the country is mount daous, the land fit for cultivation occurs in sn ail patches, and is mostly far distant from any market; and if free selection were not permitted, very little land would I be taken up. The principle of selling land on deferred payments, withholding the title for five years, and compelling improvements, is in my opinion the one be t calculated to induce'immigration and promote the prosperity of the Province. We are all pretty well aware that the Waste Land Act now in force gives no power tp proclaim, commonages, or rather no power to take land compulsorily from the squatter for That ppppOse,'- .• For this reason Grom well is today without a commonage. Should 'yon return

me, T will not. permit the matter to rest until we shall have succeeded in getting the Act amended, and in procuring substantial commonages for Cromwell, Banriockburn, Nevis, and a further extension of that at Oardrona. You are aware that in some parts of this district serious inconvenience has arisen through the granting of agricultural leases upon lands that have proved to be auriferous. Through a defect in the Act, no mention is made as to who shall pay in cases where compensation shall have been awarded to the leaseholder for miners' damage. I contend that it is most unjust that the miner should be called upon to pay for damage that would not have existed if the Government had taken due precaution in the terms of the lease. No later than last sitting of the District Court at Queenstown, the Judge decider! that although the leasing regulations gave the miner the right of entry to search and prospect for gold, it did not authorise him to take it out after having found it. I may say, shortly, on this matter that I will endeavour to get alterations made in these regulations, so that theactual miner shall not be interrupted, and that the Government shall pay damages done or to be done to the crops thereon; lam an advocate for the abolition of tolls, believing that the cost of collection is a serious loss to the State, and that although the up-country districts contribute, largely to increased freight charges, they receive no equivalent. 1 would therefore substitute, as a means of obtaining revenue, a tax on vehicles, and place the amount to the credit of provincial revenue. The desirability of gradually reducing the duty on gold is a matter which I should urgently press upon the attention of the Government. Notwithstanding the grand flourish of trumpets with which Mr Shepherd introduced the subject of the new Mining Bill here

some time ago, I find in that document a proposal to charge 20s. for each water-license, i stead of 2s. 6d, as at present. I would endeavour to have that proposal modified by the Assembly. Another fault in the hill is that in the case of an application, being objected to, the applicant has to set the law in motion and summon the objector. I seek the suffrages of the electors on the ground that I have been connected with mining and mining ; matters for twenty yenrs, and if possessed of ordinary intelligence, T must be well qualified in that respect. After an absence of about four vears from the Oardrona, 1 received such a gratifying reception that I feel assured no person Wfmld have received the support of that

portion of the district in prefe ence to myself ; and I mention it ai showing that where I am well known my conduct has met with the most hearty approval In conclusion, if elected my best efforts will he devoted to the welfare of the district ; and having the repiitatioh of being a good “sticker,” I will not easily relinquish an object I may desire to attain. (Applause.) In rep'y to questions WrColclough said: —T would endeavour to promote tree-planting bv offering liberal encouragement, to persons desirous of growing them. Would endeavour to get tenders for V'nnedin inai's invited for both Clyde and Cromwell as the terminating points, and believe the difference in the price would nob he Lao very great.—when, if so, no doubt Cromwell would have the right to be made the terminus. Mr John Haves, of Cromwell, proposed a vote of confidence in the candidate, which on being seconded by Mr E. M'Nulty, was carried unanimously. The Candidate returned thanks, and assured the meeting that if elected he would give them no cause to complain of him.