MR. BIRCH’S MEETING.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2351, 14 October 1870, Page 2

MR. BIRCH’S MEETING.

Mr T. Birch M H. H., addressed his constituents at the Masonic Hall last evening. There was a very large attendance, and Mr G. Duncan, M.P.C., occupied the chair. Mr Bircii premised by referring to the circumstances under wh’ch ho had been returned as representative for the City in the Assembly. It was one of the duties of public men to meet their constituents. It was an ordeal they were expected to pass through, and he would have to do so. It was however, one of those duties which he would rather go a long way to evade; if he possessed the powers of eloquence that some men po: sessed, it would no doubt be a pleasure. Yet lie would endeavor, so far as he was able, to give au outline of the business done in the Assembly. They must bear in mind that his going to Wellington to represent them in the Assembly, was not altogether of Irs own seeking. They would remember that when Mr James Paterson resigned, Mr J. G. S. Grant was the only candidate who came forward ; he (Mr Birch) was brought forward against him, and was returned. He could assure them that had he consulted his own interests he should have remained in Dunedin, hut he had filled up a gap, and lie thought ho had brought no discredit upon himself or the city by so doing. When he went up to the Assembly, the House had been a fortnight in session. The first gentleman he met on landing was his esteemed friend Mr Reynolds, who with his usual pertinacity hal placed on the Order Paper certain resolutions which he asked him (Mr Birch) to support. He t oka great deal of interest in these resolutions. On looking at them he was much struck with them ; they were of an extraordinarily comprehensive character, and took him altogether by surprise. On the following day, Mr Reynolds again saw him and asked him what he thought of the resolutions. He (Mr Bird;) said he had not had time to digest them ; they were of a very comprehensive character, and he would consult the opinions of the Otago members. In policies, as in other things, there were parties, and he belonged to the Gc* vernment party. He went first to one genu tleinan, who occupied a very prominent pcsition in this Province —his Honor the Superintendent. Whenever matters of dispute or doubt occurred in reference to the Province, they looked upon it to be their duty to consult liis Honor. Well, his Honor thought the resolutions were iuojrportuuc. He next went to the Government. At that time the Government policy had not been enunciated. He went to Mr Fox, and asked , him his opinion of the resolutions ; he could not give him a decided answer. He next went to Mr Vogel, who sa : d he was not prepared logiveau answer until the financial statement had been made, and the policy of the Government had been enunciate I. That was quite sufficient for him (Mr Biich). Mr Vogel, despite what might bo said to the contrary, made one of the most startling propositions the Colony had ever heard ; it surprised him (Mr Birch) and took the House by storm. He listened to it for 34 hours, and would have done so had it taken seven hours to deliver. Whatever the people of Dunedin or the Colony might say to the contrary, he maintained that that policy if i carried out in its integrity, was one of the best that had ever been proposed for the Gdouy. (Hear, hear, and a voice “Bosh.’) That was his opinion and he was entitled to express it. In con me tion with tho Government policy, he saw in several Of ago newspapers comments upon remarks which he happened to make upon that polic ’. It would be much better if tl e papers had given what he really did sa £ since he had returned from Wellington he had been somewhat roughly hauled over the coals by bin friends and others for having stated that the Province could absorb 10.000 immigrants yearly. In supposing that he made such a statement, they were laboring under a wrong impression. What he did say was—“ There was no doubt that at the present lime there was a large amount of population in Great Britain ready for emigration, aud auxious to come to this country for the purpose of making for themselves ‘a local habitation aud a name,’ and we had the resources capihle of placing them in that position. He had no doubt that the whole question had been ably handled by both sides of the House, but he was very much astonished to see that cern tain honorable gentlemen of the Opposi’ion were so frightened. They were not only frightened, but were absolutely amaz d, at the importance of th ; policy. They were struck with its magnitude and greatness. He was not one of that class ; he knew something of tho resources of that part of the country from which he came, and he said boldly that if Ota,'o were left to its own resources and had its own revenue, it could find useful employment for 10,0(10 souls every year,” The Province could absorb 10.000 souls if it had its own revenue—that meant absolute separation. He did not mean by 10,000 souls ten thousand laboring men, but that number of men, women and children, and capitalists. He trusted they thoroughly understood this ; the papers had been throwing dust in their - eyes, - ' Hq maintained that the country could _ never* progress—it could never have such uistitu. (.ions or manufactures as Great Britain until such time as it had population (applause). He maintained that emphatically. Until such time as it had a largo population the? Colony would never be what it should among the other colonies. He would now refer them more particularly to those Bills that had been passed affecting Otago, He would not refer to the hundred bills that affected the Colony merely. The fact was there was a great deal too much law, and if there was a good deal more equity, more comm'in sense men,' and fewer lawyers in the House —a great deal of good would he done. Among t)vo bills introduced wW tho" Bankruptcy Bil|.’ He was very anxious abqut the passing of that Bill, for he heard in the House that there was to he a good (lord qf oppasitiop tq it. He did not lyuow why—-it was hard to find opt tlie motives of men—more especially public men As he hud said before, ho was very anxious tp haye th® Bill passed, and accordingly went to Mr Fox am), asked him it tlie Government vrerg serious about it. d[r Fox replied in the affirmative, They all know of the laxity of the present Bankruptcy Laws, and ho r«T garclod this Bill as an instalment of something bettor. He \yai particularly anxious to see the Hth clausa passed ; it provided that no bankrupt should receive Ifis certificate mitilaftcr three years unless he paid 10a in the pound. But Mr Haughtou in his place in

the House expressed his intention of going over the Bill clause hy clause, though it took him three weeks. Ho mafic other remarks, not of a satisfa tory character, which he would not mention. Such was the conduct of an Otago member. Another measure was the Land Transfer Bill, or Torrens's Act as it was more commonly called. Notwithstanding that there were a great number of lawyers in the House he was happy to say not a single one offered opposition to the Bill, they being thoroughly satisfie 1 of its utility. Before it used to cost L 5 to transfer L2O worth of land, now it C'nilil be clone for a guinea. This was a s'cp in the right direction and it was high lime it was accomplished. Another bill which occupied considerable time was the Otago University Bill •cs it was first called, hut nltim itely the bill was changed to the Colonial University Bill The OfiUny had with great liberality set aside 100,000 acres of land for the purpose of endowing the University, the seat of which was to he in Dunedin. When it came before the House, members asked * 4 Why not make it a Colonial University?” Mr Macamlrew and the other Otago members were agreeable to the changes which were made, besides the 100.000 acres of land it was agreed to mve L3OOO out i f the consolidated revenue for the purposes of endowment. Although strenously opposed by Mr Rnllcstou, Superintendent of Canterbury, the Bid, he was barmy to say, had become law, yet lie was frightened it would not cone into operation. The fact was there was a little clh.apprintment amongst the Otago Council Scciir' that L3OOO had been voted out of the consolidated revenue, and that it was a New Zealand University the Government were bound, in the interests of thcColony, to appoint their own Council. On looking over the names of the Council, he found that they were all college-bred men—men who had taken very high degrees at Home. The Otigo Council—he did not know who appointed them; he supposed the Provincial Government —grumbled because no mention was made of their Chancellor, the Rev. Dr Burns. He (Mr Birch) did not suppose Dr Burns cared one straw about the thing. The Government should be allowed to carry the thing in their sQWjn, .way. ( \pplause.) In the North we got the name of having contracted and bigoted ideas, and he was souy to say this instance would only serve to strengthen it. (Applause.) He did not speak with any disrespect of the gentlemen composing the Otago Council —they were all intellectually nperior to himself; hut at the same time that was his opinion, and he suppose 1 he was expected to speak accordingly. With reg.vrt to the Ballot Bill, Mr Reynolds had worked most energetically It was not quite his (Mr Bircles) idea, hut it was better than nothing. It had passe 1, and had become law, and the first election under it had already taken place. It was not quite the ballot, and to him it was something nondescript, but it was the best that could be had. Of other Bills that had been introduced, he might mention the Married Women’s Psoperty Bill, It was Introduced by Mr J. C. Richmond in one of the most elaborate speeches he had ever hoard. It was referred to a select committee to bring up next session in a tangible form ; it was an exact copy of an Act passed by the English Parliament. With reference to the Princes street reserve. About four years ago they took it for granted that the handing over of the reserve was an accomplished fact, hut it was as far off as ever. The fact was'the Stafford Government had given to a private gentleman, Mr Mantel!, L4OO for the purpose of raising an action against the citizens, and now the friends of the Maoris bad taken the matter to the Privy Council. When wc should get it, it was hard to toll, hut he had worked very hard to secure it. Why the L4OO was given to Mr Mantel! was beyond his comprehension. He asked t ie Government what had been done with it, a id was told Mr Mantell had refused to give n account of it. Glancing back at the last session, it was one of the most memorable ever he’d in the Colony, and If it wan possible to carry out the policy of the Government, it would benefit the whole Colony, He did not say he agreed with that policy to its f dlest extent. Ho believed that the intentions of the Government towards Otago were such that if the policy was carried, the Province would he greatly benelitted. Ihe Dai/// Times was always thundering against the 'Ministry—cv< n now, as to telegrams. They all knew of the battle of the telegrams —who was to blame he knew pot, hut there was a wrong somewhere. As to Mr Vogel, whatever might he said against him, he was without exception one of the most arduous of men, and ns attentive to his duties as any man in the House. (Applause.) Equally arduous were all the members of the Government. Mr Vogel’s talents and abilities were fully displayed hy the manner in which liis polipy wqs carrjcd through. In answer to questions, Mr Biroii said he considered the scheme of the Tr usurer good As he had already said, the Province could absorb 10,000 souls yearly if it had it ; own revenues. Ho would make them work, as lie would do the questionerno doubt it would be against his will. (Laughter.) The population would he absorbed by employment. He did not know where the money was to come from. Tiie scheme provided it. l(c would nfit answer tfic question At Hie instigation of whqt party was he brought forward tq oppns,o Mr GrantHo was returned as an opponent to Mr Stafford. ' He believed the raising of the four millions was feasible ; it would not have" 'staggered him had the scheme .isked for a hundrpd mjUiqiui. |Lai]ghtei;.) ■ i Sir Grant here asked — Were you promised hy the Colonial Treasurer a billet as Immigration Agent if you supported the Pox Vogel Ministry ?] It was a most despicable falsehood ; and he would answer most emphatically “no.” They should not ho deluded by what Mr Grant said. He did not know anything about financial separation being made a bugbear of. The question pf probability of raising the four million loan tv.is ; hypothetical, be Uuln’.t understand the question. He supported the Hundreds Regulation Act. lie did spa >bat it effectually shut iqo people, gut trqmthe laud. He would say honestly that the Act Would work well. It was ny Provincial Counpfl, and qe therefore supported it. q was not awv.re the Provincial Council passed the Amendment Apt, hj cause they huppl PHey pad made a radical mistake at tfic outset, aipl wqrkpd to get oyer if. Hp v,-as in favor °f maintenance of PioYincfa] Institutions, The Pox Ministry had not taken away the administration of the land fund from the Pro vinccsof Canterbury and Otago, hut the sooner the Province* sqhl ail the ]aqd iky better. He supported the payment tq Jurors Bill. He w s anxious (o get five brigades exempt from jury § nyico, and apeak-, j ig on the subject to the hon Mr Hall, that gcuUtaww informed him be intended to bring

in this bill, with which he perfectly concurred. It passed the Lower House at Ss per day, but was modified in the Lords. He was in' favor of taxing articles of luxury, at ten times greater amount than articles of necessity. Mr Chant moved the following resolution ; electors of Dunedin, the policy pursued last session, by the Fox Mini try and its_ supporters, including the representatives of this City, has inflicted a deadly blow to this Province in particular, and is sapping the foundations of commercial prosperity, of apricnltnral settlement, and of mining ilcvelopmont, and must, therefore, be reversed next session by an entirTy new Parliament, in so far as Dunedin and Otago arc concerned. ” The motion was seconded by Mr Findlay, and carried. Mr Bakn'ks said that whilst not disagreeing with the resolution, he th light it right th t a vote of thanks should bo accorded Mr Birch for addressing them. Mr Birch returned thanks, and moved a vote of thanks to Mr Duncan for presiding, and the meeting thereupon terminated.