ALEXANDRA. PUBLIC MEETING

Dunstan Times, Issue 263, 10 May 1867, Page 3

ALEXANDRA. PUBLIC MEETING

I A public meeting of the inhabit nts of j A. exandra, at which some hundred and I fifty persons were present, was held at (lie ! Royal Mail Hotc', A'exandra, on Friday ' evening last. Mr i!. Stewart occupied ihu chair, a d opened the proeecdi gs by calling on Mr T. L. Hieplicrd, M.P.C. to address the meeting. Mr Shepherd said that he had a hvofold object hi view hi appear! g before them that evening ; first, to state the views of the !■ uperinteiule. t and Executive Council, on the ungracious act of the Governor, in appointing Mr Bradshuw as agent for the Gcldiields, instead of delegating the usual powers of administration to the Province ; second, 'o return Lis thanks for the honor done him in returning him as their member. lie referred to his knowledge of the requirements of the Coldiields—acquired through a direct connection and residence fur so many years amongst the mining community : and said that his utmost energies should be devoted to their wants and to the removal of every obstacle that stood i i the way of progress. On the subject of the mar.agenicnt of the Goldnelils by the Provincial Council, :<.. (1 the actioi taken by the Ge oral Government, v. it a regard to i],c s:;me, Mr Shepherd cn'ered ai con: iderub'.e length—he said the General Government had not withheld the powers of admiuisteii g the Goldiielcls from the Province because they wero mismanaged, or with the idea they could manage them better than the Provincial Government; but solely on the ground, that James Maeandrow,was Superintendent, the General Government were making the people a medium for venting their ill feeling on the individual—they had no right to do so, as the Superintendent vras no more than any one of the thirtyeight members of the Council. The question as to whether the Go'dfields were to be managed by the Provincial or Genera! Governments rested in the ha'.ds of the miners, and it was for them to say which they preferred. The Provincial Government had evinced great interest in the Goldfields, by the liberal way they had subsidised all the local institutions, by the expensive works they had carried out throughout the Goldfields, and by the re-

I form in the department that was intended to bo brought before the house during the coming feasion. The General Government promise that you sha'l have the whole of the revenue derived from the Goldfields spent on you ; how far will that go? If we can judge by other departments, very little will be left for roads, bridges, and other public-works, after the stuff of officers arc paid. The object of the General Government in this step is to destroy Provincialism, and with it, Representative Government, is that the desideratum wanted by the population of the Goldfields. By supporting the General Government you nullify the election of members for the Goldfields, and place ia the hands of Sir Bradshaw, an irrespo siblc agent, the whole of your interests. He, Mr Shepherd, was not there to dictate any course that should be taken, but to ascertain the opinions of the mining community, as the Provincial Government would be guided by the voice of the people; he would how leave it to the meeting to give expression to their feelings on the matter. Moved by Mr G. Eva-s and seconded by Mr J. Sandison : " '1 hat in the opinion of this meeting, the recent action of the General Government in withholding the powers usua'ly delegated to the Superintendent and Provincial Courcil under the "GoldfiekU Act" and their retention in the hands of the General Government, i 3 a direct insult to the peop'e and Province, and amounts in point of fact, to an actual disfranchisement of the whole mining community of Otr.go. Sir Coleman said —the arguments on the side of the Provincial Government as adduced by Mr Shepherd, were very good as far as they went, but in his opinion they were remarkably shallow, and he would urge upon the meeting to take no decided step until they had heard the other side of the question—that the Goldfields had been mismanaged, there was not a doubt, but he would deem it only common pruder.ee to wait before expressing an opinion either one way or another ; proposed the fol lowing amendment —"That the action of the General Government, refusing to delegate the management of the Goldfields' meets the approval of this meeting; soco- tied by Mr Morris. The original motion was carried, only three hands beit>g he'd up for the amc dme t. Moved by Mr Stanbrool:, -seconded by Sir Forrest—" That this meeting is strongly of opinion, that the management of the Goldfields should continue as heretofore, in the hands of the Superintendent and Provincial Council, representing as they do, the mind of the people, and protests against the appointment of Sir J. B. Bradwhaw as agent of the General Government for the management of the Goldfields string that such an appointment does away with the rights and liberties of free representative institutions; and further, this meeting cordially approves the steps taken by the Superintendent and Executive Courcil to withhold the independence of the Provi' ce, and to resist the encroachments of the General Government. Carried unanimously. Sieved by Sir W. 11. Hastedt; seconded by Sir Dunn—"That this mooting resolves that the time has now arrived for complete and absolute separation between the northern and middle islands of Now Zealand, and that a committee consisting Messrs Theyers, Iversen, Evans, E. Jones. Sandison, Stanbrook, Hillhouse, Watson, Ryan, and Rivers, with power to add to their number be found to co-operate with the Otago Association, with a view to carry out this resolution into practical effect. Carried. Proposed by Sir J. Jack ; seconded by Sir G. Evans—" That a copy of the foregoing resolutions ho forwarded to h's Honor the Superintendent." Carried. Messrs Kemp, J. Jack, and several other gentlemen addressed the meeting, after which a vote of thanks to the chairman, who replied in appropriate terms, concluded the proceedings.