MR MACANDREW AT BALCLUTHA.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2340, 1 October 1870, Page 2

MR MACANDREW AT BALCLUTHA.

Air Alacandrew, M.H.R., for the Clutha, addressed his constituents at Barr’s Hall, Balclutha, last evening. There were a little over 200 persons present, and Air John Pctchell, J.P., was voted to the chair. Air Alacandrew, on rising to address the meeting, was received with applause. He said ho regretted having been unable to give longer notice of his intention to be hero to-night, or if so proba dy a greater number of the electors of the district might have been present. _ The fact was, however, that his time was lib ly to be so fully occupied for several mouths to come, that had he put off meeting his constituents, it was probable that he should not have been able to do so at all in the capacity of their representative in the General Assembly; which position he hoped to have the honor to hold until the termination of the present Parliament. It was likely that ho should have to visit Southland in the course of a week or two, and immediately after there would be a special session of the Provincial Council ; so that his time would be fully occupied until the end of the year. It was now six years silica they had done him the honor of electing him as their representative in the General Assembly. .During that period he had sp nt little' short of eighteen months attending to his parliamentary duties in the City of Wellington—no small proportion of his time, they must admit. In asking them to meet him to-night, he did not know that he should be able to tell them much if anything which some among them did not already know. Alany of them, no doubt, were cognisant of the general course of legislation during the past Session, and his object was to explain his own action as representative of the Clutha district, upon any such matter as might seem to his constituents to require explanation, rather than to attempt any elaborate detail of the thousand and one measures which had occupied the attention of the Legislature. To attempt any such detail would, he feared, be a somewhat dry subject, and would occupy more time than their patience would warrant. It would give them an idea of the nature and extent of the business which had been before the Assembly, when he stated that there were no less than twenty-four select committees upon as many and more different questions, all more or less important. He himself had the honor of serving upon some seven or eight of those committees. Then there had been no fewer than 133 Bills introduced into the House of Representatives, ninety-nine of which were now on the Statute li iok ot the Colon}' as A.cts of Parliament. Of these a considerable number were measures of vast importance—destined, he believed, to exercise a lasting influence for good upon the whole Colony. He should take occasion presently to allude more at length to such of the measures as they were in >re or less interested in. Of petitions received ami dealt with by the Public Petitions Committee, there had been 105, mostly of a personal nature, none of them demanding organic political changes—a circumstance somewhat irrcconeileable with the assumption that the people are greatly dissatisfied with existing political institutions. There had been during the session 334 notices of motion and 520 orders of the day. Of returns laid on the table, there were 207 touching upon every imaginable subject —all of which the members were expected to road. Of reports from Select Committees there had been 178 —all of which members were supposed to master. It would readily be observed, from what he had said, that the man who made himself master of the 133 Bills, the 105 petitions, the 334 notices of motion, the 207 returns, and the 178 reports of Select Committees, must be a very clever fellow indeed —a regular vara ark in terra. For his own part he could not pretend to have done so, and he frankly confessed his utter inability to have read even carefully, much less to comprehend fully all that was embodied in the acts, petitions, returns, and rep arts tp which he had adverted. To his mind their legislative machinery was altogether too massive—out of all proportion to the incipient condition of the Colony. It was more adapted to the requirements of a densely peopled country, with its ramified and diverse interests, than of a country like New Zealand with its mere handful of people. Just fancy where they would he in 50 years hence, if they were to go on manufacturing 100 acts of Parliament per annum, and not to speak of Provincial Ordinances, with each and alt of which net only their judges and lawyers were supposed to be acquainted, but also each individual who lives within the Colony. With such an annual crop of legislation it was no wonder if many blunders were committ- d. For his own part he confessed that he could see no probable remedy against this state of things. The Colony haij got into a regular groove of law-making, and nothing short of some very violent jerk would extricate it. As regarded the general quality of the legislation of the past session, he might say that he had had the honor of a seat in the General Assembly of! and on for f c past 10 years, and he had no hesitation in stating that with all its faults there had been more practical legisla* lation last session, than there had been during the whole fifteen years that had preceded it. That was saying a great deal, hut he said it advisedly. It was notorious that the Colonial Legislature had hitherto been occupied chiclly with Maori affairs and native wars : the requirements of the European population has been altogether of secondary consideration, whereas in the session just past the interest of the European colonists has, for the first time, come in for a fa : r share of the attention of the legislature In alluding to a few of the measures which had been dealt with during the session, perhaps ho might in the first place advert to those which had been introduced by hims'df; and first on the list was the Otago Hundreds Regulation Act 1860 Amendment Act j 8H). That Bill had been introduced by him at the request of t,hc Provincial Council, upon whoso resolution it was founded ; after considerable opposition, both in the Joint Committee on Waste Lauds and in the House, tho Bill had finally become law, without any very material amendments unon the resolution of the Provincial Council. Those amendments were chiefly defining the amount of compensation for fencing. As however they were, no doubt, all as intimate with the provisions of the Bill as he was, it was unnecessary to dwell upon it at present; he might say that the Provincial Government had peon busily engaged in surveying land with a view to its being placed in the market the moment that the 13111 became law, and that Hundreds would be immediately proclaimed, containing from 70,000 to 00,000 acres of tho best land in the Province, all surveyed and ready for occupation, T he next Bill which he had intro-

(luccd was to amend the Neglected and Criminal Children’s Act so as to enable Superintendents of Provinces at any time to apprentice out the children committed to Industrial Schools. The amended Act had already enabled him as Superintendent of Otago to apprentice two of the inmates of the Industrial School to a respectable Hour miller at Lake Wakatipu. He had also got an Act passed to amend the Hawkes Bay and Marlborough Rivers Act. so as to enable owners of property subject to be flooded to tax such property, and to raise money for the purpose of protecting such property from floods. He had been in hopes of obtaining power to borrow L5(),000 on behalf of the Province wherewith to subsidise local efforts in that direction. In that he had not succeeded. He felt pretty confident, however, if the Provincial Council renewe l their resolution on the subject, that next session of the Assembly they would be more successful. Another Bill which he had introduced at the request of the Provincial Council, was the Otago Road Board Ordinance Valuation Act. As they were all aware, the object of that Ordinance was to reduce the number of existing Road Boards throughout die Province, and to extend their powers .—among others to confer upm them borrowing powers. He believed that it would not have been necessary to go to the General Assembly at all with that Ordinance, but for the borrowing power, and for a clause which provided that Crown Lands held under lease should bo liable to pay road rates, which clauses are held to lie ultra vires of Provincial Councils. The Ordinance contained upwards of 300 clauses, which were embodied at length in the schedule of the Act That Act, although passed by the House of Representatives, had, he was sorry to say, been thrown out in the Legislative Council, and was therefore now a dead letter. Another Bill which he had succeeded in getting passed by the House of Representatives in the face of considerable opposition, was the Stewart and Traquair Hundred Valuation Act. They were, perhaps, aware that in the year 1868, at the instigation of the Provincial Council, the Government had proclaimed two Hundreds—one called the Stewart Hundred, including portions of the runs of Messrs Pillans, Maitland, and Walter Millar ; the other the Traquair Hundred, including chiefly, if not entirely, a run occupied by Mr Fulton, behind Alaungatua. From some blunder—ho presumed in the Attorney-General’s office—a technical omission had occurred in the body of the proclamation—that was to say—the date fixing th ’ period at which the grazing rights of the runholdcr should cease, had been omitted. Although he believed that this omission constituted no real flaw, and that the proclamations were perfectly legal, yet advantage had been taken of the error to cast doubts upon the validity of the Hundreds, and the object of his Bill was to remove such doubts by simply declaring that the date at which the grazing right ceased was the date of the proclamation. As stated before, he had got this Bill through the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, however, it had shared the same fate in the Legislative Council as did the Road Board Bill. Another measure in tho shape of a resolution which he had been instrumental in bringing before the House, was empowering the Government to subsidise a line of steamers between New Zealand and San Francisco, by a subsidy of not exceeding L 40,003 a year for three years ; the condition being that Otago is to be the New Zealand terminus of the line. There were few things which would be more beneficial to the Province of Otago, even in a pecuniary point of view, than its chief Port being the terminus of this line. Sooner or later it would involve an expenditure of probably L‘200,000 a year at least, an expenditure which would make itself felt even among the fanners and graziers in the Clutha district. He was sorry to sjc that some of the public journals of the Province, headed by the leading journal in Dunedin, attempted to throw cold water upon this scheme, and seemed to rejoice rather than otherwise in the prospect of its not being accomplished. Cc’rtaiuly, if the General Government were so far misguided as to regard the prophecy of these journals as indicative of public opinion in the Province, they might almost he warranted in allowing the schema to drop. For his own part, ho had every faith in seeing the line established in a very few months, and should have much preferred to sec the public press writing it up instead of writing it down. However, the course adopted was of a piece with much that was usual, and not conducive to the interests of the Province. Mr Macandrew proceeded very fully to explain the Railway Guage Bill, which had emanated from -a Select Committee, which had been moved for by himself—the General Government Land Claim Act, New Zealand Univers’ty Act, Otago and Southland Land Act, the I and Transfer Act—which would enable real property to be conveyed on payment of a small ific, without the intervention of lawyers and expensive deeds. He then referred to the Public Trustee Bill, the object of which was to enable property to bo vested in trust in an officer appointed by the State, who would never die. Ho considered this as one of the most valuable proposals which had emanated from the Government. If carried, it would have led to every man in the Colony altering his will, and appointing the public trustee—in other words the state—as his executor and the guardian of his children. Unfortunately, however, this Bill was too much for tire Legislative Council to swallow, and it stands over for the next Parliament. He then alluded to the Representative Bill which does away with the exceptional representation on the Goldfields, and abolishes the Goldfields Burchs as au elective district. He explained the provisions of the Harbour Boards Act— Marine Act Amendment Act—Militia Act —Colonial Reciprocity—Sale for Non-Pay-ment of Rates Acts—District Courts Criminal Jurisdiction Extension. Act Married Women’s Property Protection Act—Submarine Telegraph to Australia Act—and various other Acts. He pointe I out that by the Juries Act Amendment Act common jurors would henceforth receive payment for loss of time. By the Agricultural Produce Lien Act, owners of and dealers in agricultural produce and fiax would have the same facilities for raising money in respect of such commodities as dealers in wool and oil have long enjoyed under the Wool and Oil Lien Act. They were no doubt aware that one of the proposds of the Goverment was to modify the Customs Tariff, and to impose a small duty upon imported flour and cereals. He might say that lie did not agree with all the proposed modifications in the tariff, although Ip; jiad supported! the second reading of the Rill—which was thrown out on a division by a majority of nine. His name did not appear on the division list, as he had paired with Mr

Collins. The measures to which lie had adverted were all more or less of importance to the whole Colony, and as such ho had referred to them as those in which as their representative lie had taken more or less interest. He should now allude very briefly to what might be termed the crowning work of the se-sion—in other words, the financial policy of the Government—-a policy which he did his be-it to assist in carrying throng)), and which had been successfully carried through, in as far as the sanction of the Legislature was concerned. That policy might be summed Jup in few words. It proposed that in addition to the ordinary revenue, ten millions of money may be expended among the Provinces during the next ten years, the interest of which shall be paid by the General Government—the Colony being for the most part recouped by the respective Provinces within or on behalf of winch the money may be expended. This amount of money is to be expended chiefly upon Public Works and Immigration. Lf the ten millions, power has been taken to raise four millions on loan—the rest would be expended on railways upon the guarantee system. Of the four million proposed to be borrowed, one million was to be devoted to Immigration, the charge to be divided equally between the particular Provinces receiving the immigran's and the Colonial Government. He looked upon it that this was the best part of the scheme—one which wou'd be eminently reproductive, by means of which they ought to double their pop dation in a very snort time. He need scarcely say that he was not one of those who thought that the country was sufficiently peopled : the idea was an utterly absurd one. What was the real cause of their present depressioa? It was mainly the want of population. in point of fact, the measure of popu. lation which this country can cany is the extent of its food-producing power, and that was a power the extent of which it was almost impossible to estimate. With large public works going on, avherever any numb r of newcomers could find employment for a time, there need be no hesitation about landing people on our shores by the thousand, provided always they arc of the right stamp —able and willing to work. They did not want men who were content always to remain in the labor market. As a rule he believed tha 1 in this country no man, if he is frugal and industrious, need be more than three years in the labor market. With the present rate of wages, he ought at the expiration of that time to be able to acquire land of his own sufficient to support himself and family. He could point to many of the most prosperous families in the Province as living proofs of what he now stated, with (his remarkable difference, that their fortunes were founded upon a rate of varying from 6.1 to 5s a day. So much for one million of the proposed loan. Another million was to be *devoted as follows L 790 000 towards the defence of the Northern Island, to he appropriated over five years by annual appropriation. He hoped and trusted that, by wise and jud> cions Native administration, a large proportion of this amount might be expended upon road making, as he believed a considerable number of the so-called defence force were intended to exercise the p : ck and shovel a? well as the rifle. The balance of the million was to be devoted fo various purposes—such as L 50,000 to enable the Province of Otago to consolidate the Port Chalmers Hock Board, by which a saving to the Province of L 1.200 a year would bo effected -L50,000 to pay off the floating Hr., biLtics of Southland. Ihe remaining portion of the o illion went as loans to the Pro. vinccs of Auckland, Wellington, and Taxvnaki. The remaining two millions were lo be expended ujjou roads and railways throughout the Colony, including such works as the Waitaki Bridge, L.35,000 ; wat r supply on goldfields, L3fio’ooo; purchase <f native lands, LIOO.OIIO —which were calculr. Hd to acquire some four millions of acres (f 1 m3,available for settlement in the Northern Island. In conclusion, he had only to say that he endeavored to place before them a plain, unvarnished tale, as to the leading questions which had occupied the attention of the General Assembly, and of his own action as their representative with respect te those questions. If he had failed to make himself perfectly understood, or if there were any further explanation required, he should be glad to answer any questions. There were of course many topics to which he had not alluded, although he thought he had omitted few in which they might bo supposed to be interested. He wes aware that it was utterly impossible for a representative of the people who acted independently—who did his dutj' honestly and conscientiously, to please cverbody, and it would be ton much for him to expect that he had given satisfaction to all the electors of Clutha. Be that as it might be, he had the satisfaction in his own mind of having endeavored to do his best, to act fairly ana impartially—not in the interest of either one class or anolh r, but for the general bcncfjt qf the community as q whole, A mouth'or two at most would terminate the connexion which had long subsisted between them, whether or not that connexion was then to cease, it would be for them to determine. He must say that the cognomen of the lion, member for Clutha had so long been his designation that he should be sorry to take his seat in the New Zealand Parliament under any other designation; at the sane time when last ho had the honor of addressing them, he had stated, and he now repeated, that he had no intention of offering himself for re-election at the end of the pre” sent parliament. He had stated that, inasmuch ‘IS at tho time it was the desire of a number of th d electors (misguided individuals he thought) that he should resign, and inasmuch as he was them, and was still of opinion that there were suitable men among themselves residing in the district, by which they might be represented quite as well as by himself. He might say further that although it was a great personal sacrifice for him to bo absent from his borne for three mouths in the year—and he had often vowed that be should never be such a fool agaip—fop qfter q!!-,-

11 What is grandeur, what is power, But heavier toil —superior pain.” still there could ho no doubt that iu the interests of the country it was not desirable that those wh > had some experience of the tangled skein of New Zealand polities should stand aloof at the present time—therefore it was that in all probability lie shouhl be found in the next ‘ Parliament—if not as member for (Jlutlia, as member for some other district; for he was proud to say that Lis services had already been en'iuirod aftpjf> flfo h*d almost omitted before sitting down te advert to hue very irupoi nit part of the Government policy, as bei lug directly upon the interests of the C ha district, and that was the construct! of

the .Southern Trunk Railway. As they were all aware he had been striving to get that work commenced during the two years, but without success. He was happy to say that the chief work embodied in the schedule of the Railway Act as being authorised to be undertaken during the current financial year, was the Dunedin and (Jlutha Railway, so that they might now safely regard it as an accomplished fact. Mr Macandrew then wound up by an exposition of the new life which would be infused into the Province by the substitute of railways for ordinary roads, and expressed his belief that, if only true to ourselves, there is a glorious future in store for the Colony—a future to which the policy of the present General Government is but the threshold or the stepping stone. The only thing which could unduly retard the progress of the country, and prevent it from becoming the abode of hundreds of thousands of contented and happy families would be the preponderance in the body politic of a class of men who had not souls beyond sixpence—men who looked upon every question from the narrow platform of their own selfish prejudices. He sincerely hoped that in the future management of public affairs men of their stamp might find themselves nowhere ; and that the large-mindedness and liberality which deviseth liberal tilings might characterise all who had anything to do with public affairs. Mr Macandrew in the course of his remarks was repeatedly and loudly cheered. A good many questions were asked, especially in reference to immigration. The remainder of the report will he published on Monday.