ME BUCHANAN AT THE THEATRE ROYAL.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3251, 2 December 1881, Page 2

ME BUCHANAN AT THE THEATRE ROYAL.

Mr Buchanan addressed a crowded meeting of the electors of Napier afc the Theatre Eoyal lasfc night. Mr Laws in the chair. The Chairman, in introducing the candidate, said he regretted that owing to the absence of Mr Swan, it had been found necessary to secure the services of another chairman. He hoped, however, that the change would in no way militate against the success of the meeting, and he asked that

the candidate should receive, as llr M'Dougall had done, a fair and impartial hearing. PERSONAL. Mr Buchanan, on coming forward, was received with applause, lie said before proceeding to touch on general questions of policy, or to offer any remarks of his own in regard to the present Ministry, either in their past acts or with reference to their future proceedings, ho would be glad if the meeting would permit him to endeavor to dispel some of the prejudices which had been preferred against him, but which had no foundation in fact. He would endeavor to remove, to the best of his ability, such, prejudices. He felt conscious that there wa3 no shadow of foundation for any of them, and although he had maintained silence tip to the present moment it had not been from fear of meeting the charges. He thought the meeting, when it had heard his explanation in this respect, would acquit him of what had been alleged against him. The electors were the best judges in this case, because they, and they alone, were affected by it. The first charge that had been brought against him since the present election began was contained in the address of one of the other candidates. He was very loth, to suppose that Mr McSweeneyin this matter had acted ingenuously ; he attributed it to his want of acquaintance with the facts of the case. Mr McSweeney in his address said that ■when he (Mr Buchanan) was chairman of '■ the Harbour Boai'd he had by his casting vote prevented Mr McGregor from coming to Napier to report upon the breakwater. It was quite true that he had been elected chairman of the Harbor Board by the unanimous vote of its members, but he thought that anyone acquainted with the rules "which govern the conduct of a chairman knew that a casting vote was not given to him to use as his exclusive will, but that he had to give that vote according to certain well-defined rules. That vote was the property of the body 'of which lie was chairman, and should be used so as to give justice to both sides. The first principle which governed a vote in that case was that the chairman should on no account burke the discussion, but, on the contrary, that ho should give every facility for it. The question was first put by him to the Board as to whether fresh time should not be given for its discussion in consequence of the small attendance present; he gave his vote in favor of further time being given, and he limited that time to one fortnight. Supposing he had not done so what would have been the consequence ? At the next meeting the majority who were absent would have appeared in their places, and would hare rescinded what had been decided on, and would further have used observations which would have been painful to other members of the Board as well as to himself. So much for the first meeting. The second meeting took place after the lapse of a fortnight. There was a full Board present, and the question of the employmont of Mr McGregor came under discussion. That question was supported by four members of the Board including Mr Robjohns and Mr Yautier. There were six on the other side, and he would ask the electors present, as reasonable men. whether his (Mr Buchanan's) casting vote would have been any use when the numbers were six against four. He had of course no right to a casting vote in such a case, and therefore no responsibility attached to him. He thought Mr McSweeney, after this explanation, would admit that he had been mistaken, and the statements he (Mr Buchanan) had made could be proved from the records of the Harbor Board, and also by the oral testimony of either of the two gentlemen who were there. In fact Mr Yautier had already said he could not have done anything more in the matter. (Applause.) BREAKWATER. He held that this question had the most important bearing upon the interests and welfare of this community. It had been alleged that he was unfavorable to the construction of a breakwater, but he might say that the first idea of the constructron of such a work had emanated from himself and Mr James Stuart. The bnlk of those present knew little of that name, but a few of them would doubtless remember the close alliance that had always existed between him (the speaker) and Mr Stuart on all political questions. Before Mr Stuart left Napier he addressed a letter to the Hawke's Bay Herald, recommending the idea of the construction of a breakwater. That letter had been concocted by himself and Mr Stuart. He thought something must be done for the improvement of the port of Napier. He was not prepared to say what the improvement should be, as it was an engineer's qnestion. He had prepared no plans for a harbor (laughter), nor had he any advice to give in reference to the best means of providing funds for the purpose. (Applause). He could only regret that the opportunity was not taken by Mr Goodall of comparing notes with Mr McSweeney, as he thought it would have been well for the former gentleman to have availed himself of the knowledge possessd by the latter on this question. (Loud laughter.) In regard to the work itself, he could only assure the meeting that it would not escape his attention. It was perfectly clear that something must be done -whereby harbor accommodation would be increased, and he would tell those "who took up the peculiar role of denouncing the Harbor Board in the matter that they were on the wrong tack. That Board was powerless. They had the Egyptian task before them of making bricks without straw. It would be much _ better for the Government to send up their own engineer to report on the matter. It must not be forgotten that the present works were the outcome of Governmental advice, and that the plans for them had been recommended by the chief engineer of the colony, Mr Carruthers. As the works had not turned out the sucoess that was anticipated for them, he thought a fair be made against the Government on the ground of their having burdened this district with £75,000, which was spent undei their advice, and that they should now help us out of our difficulty. (Applause.) The present moment was not an inopportune time to take that step. He observed from the utterances of several public men that there was looming in the distance a further burden of five millions of borrowed money. He was sorry to say he thought a proposal to borrow that amount would be carried. He would insist, if it were his fortune to be returned as their representative, that the bill should be carefully defined as to the manner in which the loan should be applied, and that it should not be laid upon the table by Ministers and seized by those who happened to be the strongest parties at the time. He would decidedly resist that. The scenes that were witnessed on the night of the division of the first loan were most discreditable to the colony. He thought the construction of a suitable harbor at Napier was of more consequence to them than the extension of the line of railway beyond Manawatu. If the railway were pushed on to Woodville, that was the furthest they might look for, and to take it further than that would be to serve the interests of Wellington rather than those of Napier. (Applause.) As the matter stood at present, he thought some fair reparation should be made by the Government, so that, with the co-operation of the Harbor Board, something might be done that would be an advantage to the community, and save the commerce of the port from the troubles and difficulties under which it at present labored. He hoped he had now made himself clear on this matter, and he could only repeat that no efforts of his would bo wanting to further it. The first duty of a representative was to attend to the local wants of his constituents, and he would ask them to give him their confidence in this respect, and to credit him, at any rate, with the desire to do his best for their interests. (Applause). THE EDUCATION QUESTION. There had been put to him during the present contest a question in regard to the j introduction of the Bible in schools. The J

question had also probably been asked of the other candidates. He thought the compulsory introduction of the Bible into schools would servo no other purpose than to introduce what he hoped they had got rid of, namely, the denominational system. He could, however, see no reason why arrangements should not bo made for reading the Bible to certain children whose parents desired it, provided that in so doing the ordinary school hours were not interfered with. Ho knew there were parents who looked upon this as a vital point, and he respected their views. Although he was hot one of those who believed in the good that would result from the present Education Act, he could assure the meeting that lie was desirous of seeing the present Act faithfully worked for some years. (Applause.) CROWN AND NATIVE LANDS EATING BtLL. Another point on which he wished to speak was one on which he held different opinions to most of the candidates who had spoken on it. He referred to the Crown and Native Lands Eating Bill. The chief objection to this bill was that all the money must come from the consolidated fund, and would be taken from populous districts, where there were no Crown or native lands. He looked upon this as a most ilhisorj measure. It was like taking coin from one pocket and conveying it to another. He ob* jected to the Act altogether, and be teijf much doubted whether it would be heard of again next session. When it came to be better understood there would be opposition to it that would prove fatal. SUBSIDIES. With reference to the subsidies question, they had all seen liow beautifully less they had been growing. Originally they were pound for pound, but they had" come down now to 7s 6d. He thought it was time subsidies were abolished altogether, and that each, district should recognise that the finances of the country were not in such, a condition that we could afford to grant subsidies any longer. LOCAL GOYEENMEN*. With regard to this question he might say that he had resisted the abolition of the provincial system from the first. He "was also a strong opponent of the gentleman who administered that system in this province. He thought, however, that if they had carried out that system and held to it "with, a little more tenacity they would not be in such, a difficulty as they were in at the present time, and should not have required such a large number of local governing bodies. People's time and money would have been saved -without risking the separation of the two islands. (Applause.) He wished to state most distinctly that he should resist any attempt at separation. Mr Macandrew had always been a consistent provincialist, and when Mr Stafford and others betrayed the provinces into the hands of Mr Yogel an attempt was made by Mi , Macandrew to revive the provincial system, but with two provinces instead of six. He thought that the present system might be abolished so far as to make in this district one county instead of three, counties, as at present. He believed that would serve every purpose. Twenty-five men on such a central body would do the work more efficiently than it was done at present. _ FINANCE. Touching the question of finance, he had only to say that he thought the finance of the Grey Government was infinitely better than that of the Hall Government. (A voice : Nonsense.) He thought it would be better if this finance had been modelled on the English principle, and had either'the Grey Government or the Hall Government taken an example from English legislation it would have been much better for the colony. He thought a measure such as the income tax of England would have reached people in the most fair and equitable manner. It did not like the property tax, fall on the stock of traders. There might often be a good deal of unprofitable stock in the hands of traders, and to tax that stock from year to year would be a very severe measure. The question of taxation was one for the Government to take up. No man could expect to have his views on that question given effect to, \mless they were taken up by the Government of the day. (A voice : What about Ormond.) He had no objection to touch upon that question—Mr Ormond and he had known each other for upwards of twenty years. For many long years they had been politically opposed to each, other. y He believed thit he (Mr Buchanan) was the first man who ventured to beard Mr Ormond in his own peculiar retreat (Waipawa). Since that time he (Mr Ormond) had ceased to hold, office as Superintendent, and was now nothing more than any other gentleman. The reasons that led to his opposition in those days had long since ceased. He had been condemned for that opposition by many people here who said he was wrong in doing so. Now-a-days there was no reason whatever why he and Mr Ormond should not agree on many matters. During all the time they differed from each other there had never been any personal disagreement, and there was no reason why old political squabbles should be perpetuated. (Applause.) He (Mr Buchanan) had not changed his opinions, but he confessed now that many of them were antiquated, because \ the opportunity for them had gone by. (A voice: What about McDougall ?) With reference to Mr McDougall he had nothing whatever to say. 3e did not come there to refer to the merits or demerits of any candidate. He could afford to hold himself above that. (Loud Applause.) He was there to answer any questions and explain his own views. He thought it would be a most indecent thing were he to attack men that were his juniors both in years and political experience. (Applause.) No taunt or jeer would ever induce him to do that. He was ready to answer any questions that miglit be put to him. QUESTIONS. Mr Cotton asked the candidate what were his opinions in reference to the rating of native lands, and how he would rate the natives in order to make them pay a fair share of taxation. Mr Buchanan replied (that the Government proposed to pay the rates on the native lands out of the general funds, and to make these payments a charge upon the lands when they were sold. The bulk of the best native lands were already in the hands of Europeans. (Mr Cotton : No!) He said yes. (There was considerable interruption at this point.) Mr Eearden asked Mr Buchanan whether he would, if elected, oppose to the utmost of his ability the teaching of trades to prisoners who would afterwards compete with free labor outside. Mr Buchanan replied that he happened to be a listener in the House of Representatives , when Mr Hutchison, one of the Wellington members, introduced this questien, and he could only say that he had very great sympathy with the arguments used by Mr Hutchison in the matter. He looked upon the teaching of trades in prison as something akin to an incentive to crime. He thought prison labor could be better employed in unskilled work. (A. voice: Anwer the question.) He would most cerainly give his distinct opposition to the •caching of trades in prisons. Mr Jacobs here proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Buchanan for his address, upon which Mr Monteith said he had several questions to ask. He then came forward, amidst cheers and hisses, and asked Mr Buchanan whether he would oppose any alteration m the Licensing Act which would have the effect of doing away with Licensing Boards. Mr Buchanan said he would oppose any such alteration. Mr Monteith then asked Mr Buchanan if there had been any understanding between himself and Mr Ormond m connection with, this election. . , . Mr Buchanan said that was a private >*- question. (Loud hisses and general interruption.) He went on to say, however, that, he had no objection to answer the question. There had never passed a word between Mr Ormond and himself on the subject. Mr Monteith again asked why tn#

candidate did not address the electors before the day of nomination so that the electors, if they disapproved of him (Mr Buchanan) could bring forward another candidate. Mr Buchanan replied, amidst loud cheei'3 and laughter, that he thought it would be more conducive to bis success not to do so. Mr Monteith further asked if a number of c ectors had not voted for Mr Buchanan at the last election in consequence of his opposition to Mr Ormond. Mr Buchanan replied that he was not aware that Mr Ormond's name wa3 introduced at the last contest. Mr G-rinlinton here came forward and seconded Mr Jacobs' motion for a vote of thanks to Mr Buchanan. Mr It. C. Harding, amidst loud cheers and laughter, asked Mr Buchanan whether he would oppose any bill which might be brought before the House for the purpose of devoting Olive Square from its use as a recreation ground to a site for a town hall. Mr Buchanan replied that the borough already possessed a town hall reserve. He would oppose any bill that would have the effect of preventing Clive Square being used as it was at present. (Applause.) The Chairman then put the motion for a vote of thanks to Mr Buchanan, and a considerable number of hands were held up for it. On asking for a show of hands against the motion the number appeared to be from the platform much larger than that in favor of it. The Chairman, however, declared the motiou carried, which was followed by cheers and. hisses and general disorder. The meeting closed with the usual vote of thanks to the chairman.

(by telegkaph.) Wairoa, December 2. Captain. Porter's meeting at Mohaka last night was most successful. The attendance was good, and the speefcft was well received. All the questions were bona fide, and were answered to the entire satisfaction of the Mohaka people, who consider Captain Porter the only candidate who holds decided views of his own on general subjects. Mr Locke speaks here to-night, and leaves to-morrow by the s.s. Rosina for Gisborne. Opunake, December 2. Major Atkinson addressed the electors last night. A vote of confidence was proposed, but the majority were againet it.