THE SUPERINTENDENCY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 188, 17 June 1873, Page 7

THE SUPERINTENDENCY.

lift J. L. GILLIES AT CROMWELL. On Wednesday evening, in accordance with devious announcement, Mr Gillies came ,efore a meeting of electors at Kidd's Hall, ,o state his' views on political questions, and 10 urge his claims aa a candidate for the Superintendence Probably thero were 150 jersons present, and the proceedings were juiet and orderly throughout. His Worship the Mayor, who presided, itated that Mr Gillies had requested him, in ais official capacity, to take the chair, and to that request he had great pleasure in acceding. Even although, as in the present instance, his political views might differ from those of a candidate or representative, he would always be most happy to preside on similar occasions. (Hear, hear.) He then introduced the candidate to the meeting. Mr Gillies, after making a few prefatory remarks, said the question before the meeting was his candidature for the Superintendency. It was necessary, in appearing before the electors as an aspirant to that important office, for him to assign reasons for asking their suffrages. The first reason was that Btrong pressurehad been brought to bear upon him by his own constituents. Immediately after the dissolution, he (Mr Gillies) and others had asked Major Richardson to come forward. The Major declined, chiefly on account of his advanced years and failing health ; but stated that his sympathies were with them, and he would stand for any constituency that might ask him to become a candidate for the Council. The party who constituted the majority of the late Council thought it would be wrong in them not to bring some one forward to contest the election. By allowing Mr Macandrew to walk over, they would have tacitly consented to Mr Macandrew carrying out his own views in spite of the Council. In order to preveni the Constitutional party being placed in that position, he (Mr Gillies) had, after repeated refusals, and with much hesitation, decided to become a candidate. In taking that step, he had not asked the support of any person cy .party except Major Richardson, and tha< pueinan warmly approved of his (Mr Giles's) determination to stand. Another reason that induced him to come forward was, that the electors might have an opportunity of expressing their opinions on the Constitutional question which had led to the preseni position. That position he would describe by a familiar illustration—the Municipal Council. When a Municipal Council met, the members—or a majority of them—decided upon a certain course of action. If, then, the Mayor were to say, " I don't care what the majority says, or does, or recommends: I care not for your bye-laws or regulations--they were made by a former Council. I was elected by the whole body of ratepayers,,and will have my own way in this matter ;''"— if the Mayor were to assume that position, what would the ratepayers think of him ? That was the exact position in which the Superintendent stood in relation to the last Provinlial Council. In such a case, it was quite unconstitutional to ask for a dissolution, and squally so to grant one. The Constitution A.ct granted only one power to the Superin;cndent, and that was the power to veto any neasure that might be proposed. Laws had been passed by the Provincial Council, the superintendent had given his assent to them, md they remained, until repealed, in full wee and effect. The Council passed an ixecntive Council Ordinance, establishing >»e of the means whereby good government jiould be conducted ; and that Executive council Ordinance, until repealed, remained n full force in the Province, equally with the Act itself. Major Richardson, Jule Superintendent in 1802, with a sagacity haractenstic of the man, foresaw that"diffinlties might arise, and suggested to the ;<mncil, by message, that they should lay .own an established rule for the guidance of he Superintendent and his Executive. The onncil then passed that Ordidance, which 'dec! that every act done by the SuperinHftent should be done with the advice and Pnsent of the Executive Council. That filiation had been broken through by his lonor in dismissing Mr Reid : he should ave dealt with Mr Reid through his Execute. The Superintendent doubtless had the • l u U a act as he had done > but not the W. His Honor had also broken the law ' two other instances : first, in proro<min<' »e Council by Gazette, and again by 'Ming elections of Councillors before the ection of Superintendent. The speaker -re quoted authorities in proof of his asserI)n s. He then alluded to the charge made Wast the Majority of impeding the business the country, and said that, so far from the »rge being true, twenty-five of the mem- »■ agreed to support any Executive Mr j* might form. Mr Reid and the Majority * in no way attempted to obstruct the j»ness: they merely attempted to prevent breach of the law. The Superintendent jplained that the Majority had thwarted «: he (Mr Gillies) challenged proof of a pe instance wherein his Honor had been Med. In 1805, Mr Harris, the then Kpenntendent, had a disagreement with his ecuuve, and adopted the constitutional rse of sending down an extract minute to The result was that the CounJPproved of the Superintendent's action. nag M r Dick's Superintendency a similar ng also occurred, and with the same result, "was the mind of the people that the 'erintendent was to be the superior power, n Je (the speaker) would go a step further Polish the Provincial Council, and place tie power in the hands of the SuperinL a i V? 8 beca "se no one else could [ °unct to fight the battle of Constitution-

alism that he (Mr Gillies) had come forward as a candidate. But it was due to the electors that he should give other reasons for his candidature. He had been a member of the Council for 16 or 17 years, and during that time had been a constant opponent of the principle of free selection. No man had taken a more prominent interest in the land laws as he had. So far back as 1861, he took an active part in opposing the system of free selection, which he had seen to work bo badly in Victoria. In 1864 he was appointed Provincial Treasurer, and initiated several important reforms in that department: among others, the system of making all payments monthly. The Government of which'he was then a member introduced resolutions proposing to borrow money for public works, and more especially for the Port Chalmers and Clutha railways. They proposed that the work should be defined, the cost ascertained, and money borrowed on security of the land through which the railway was to pass. The principle was, that the district receiving the benefit of the construction of a particular work should pay for it, and that it should not be made a general charge on the Province. Year after year he had fought for the system of agricultural leasing; and he was satisfied thst the system had worked well: the Wakatip district supplied an instance of its successful operation on the goldfields. He was strongly in favour of selling land on the system of deferred payments, say in blocks of 200 acres, with adequate grazing rights to the purchasers. The whole secret of the Superintendent's recent action lay in the land question. If the present Superintendent were re-elected, and the majority of the now Council were composed of squatters, capitalists, and speculators, the result would be that those who wanted land for settlement would have to get it second-hand at a high price. He was in favour of the proclamation of hundreds, whereby'grazing rights would be secured to land purchasers. On the expiry of the runholders' leases, he would have the runs divided into blocks of 1000 to 5000 acres, which would enable persons possessed of moderate capital to embark in pastoral pursuits and the cultivation of hill-farms. It was a fact that about one-third of the wool exported from the Province was produced outside the boundaries of the existing runs —on gold-fields, hundreds, and freeholds. He would oppose the system of rushing into public works by sacrificing the land to construct them. The sale of land at Moa Flat had been forced on by that system. Having filled the positions he had mentioned, he did not think he was assuming a position he had no right to assume, in contesting the election for Superintendent. His principal reason for coming forward on the present occasion was that the electors might have an opportunity of deciding the questions, Are we to have .responsible government? or, Is the whole power to be vested in the Superintendent ? He would add that on two occasions lie attempted to reduce the number of Coun cillors, but unsuccessfully. Mr Reid and himself had introduced the Road Boards Ordinance and the Counties Ordinance ; but the people were not yet educated up to the point of taking advantage of the County system. The law was there whenever the people thought proper to take advantage of its provisions. In reply to Mr Taylor, the candidate said he would not renew the leases of runs adjacent to Cromwell. The model land system, in his opinion, was that introduced by Captain Cargill in 1856—selling the land at ten shillings an acre, and compelling improvements thereon to the value of £2 an acre within four years. He had opposed the Land Act of 1868.—1n reply to Mr Marsh, Mr Gillies said he was opposed to free selection without the restrictionof improvement clauses. The deferred payment system, now in force, was much preferable. The prejudicial resuls of free selection were painfully apparent in Southland, where on one side of the Matura might be seen miles upon miles of desolate waste, and yet the land all sold ; while on the other, where the hundreds system Avas in force, comfortable homesteads were to be seen in all directions. —In reply to Mr Goodger, he believed that railways were the modern main roads, and that they could be made as cheaply as macadamised roads. To construct railways, he would advocate borrowing money on security of the land through which the line was intended to pass.—ln reply to Mr M'Nulty, the candidate said that in his public dealings ho recognised no religious denomination, and was strongly in favour of secular education.

Mr J anies Taylor was very glad to hoar Mr Gillies express what he regarded as sound views on the land question. He had therefore great pleasure in moving—“ That Mr Gillies is a tit and proper person for the responsible post of Superintendent.” Seconded by Mr Goodger. Mr G. M. Starkey proposed, as an amendment—“ That Mr Gillies be accorded a vote of thanks for his address.” This was seconded by Mr Marsh, who afterwards withdrew his name, explaining that he had seconded the amendment under the impression that it was a distinct motion. The Chairman called for another seconder, but none came forward. The motion and amendment w'ere then put to the meeting, and the former was declared carried by a large majority. Mr Gillies acknowledged the vote of confidence, and proposed a vote of thanks to the i Chairman, which was unanimously agreed to. j