MR ROBERTS, M.P.C., AT GREEN ISLAND.

Evening Star, Issue 3759, 11 March 1875, Page 2

MR ROBERTS, M.P.C., AT GREEN ISLAND.

Mr Roberts, M.P.C. for Kaikorai. who is about to visit England, met his constituents at the Green Island drill shed last evening, and addressed them on purely Provincial topics. Mr W. Andrew was called to the chair. In the course of his remarks, Mr Roberts said that since he last addressed his constituents his views on the subject of payment of members had undergone a change. He was now in favor of the honorarium, because bis experience bad been that all the honorarium, and a good deal, more, went to charities and other things that a;m ember bad to subscribe to, so that all a member got from the honorarium was spent in other ways for the public. The principal one of the sixty-nine Ordinances passed during the last two sessions was, he thought, the Otago Harbor Board Ordinance, This was a matter of very great importance, and he hoped tho object the Ordinance had in view would be attained, and that, before many years passed, they would be able to see the largest vessels at present frequenting Port Chalmers, coming up toDunedin wharves. He thought the Board would be able to raise all the money it required upon the land with which it was endowed. The most vital question he could touch upon, and, in fact, the principal duty of the Provincial Council was the proper administration of the waste lands. During the session of 1873 it was agreed to proclaim three Hundreds. One of these comprised 2,000 acres of the Lees Stream Hundred ; of that, only 1,500 acres had been opened, owing, perhaps, to the unsuitability of the land for farming. He questioned whether much of this land would be sold for many years . to come. Then there were 10,000 acres of land down South, in the Cavan Hundred, which had not been surveyed, owing to the pressure of work on the survey staff. The third Hundred comprised 15,000 acres on the Bellamy Run, at Tuapeka. This had been open for some time, and about 5,000 acres had been already sold. He dared to say the whole of this’Hundred would be taken up, because it was in close proximity to Lawrence. This was the only Hundred the sanctioning of which be opposed, and his reasons for doing so were these :—At that time there were in Tuapeka some 80,000 or 90,C00 acres of commonage occupied by sma 1 ! sheepholders—he said “small,” but at the same time some of them owned 7,000 or 8,000 sheep. It had become a perfect nuisance, and there was simply a scramble as to who should have the right of grazing on the open land. He represented to the Superintendent, before the measure was brought down, that he could not support them until they could properly handle the land they had already open there, because he conceived it to be a public injury to pay com pensation in order to reserve land unless it was wanted, and unless the Government had a prospect of getting an immediate return. When the Hundred came under consideration, he expressed his views, and was the only one who called for a division. Owing to his action on that occasion, he was the means of causing the Government to cut up those commonages, which all admitted were only fit for sheep, both at luapeka and Wakatipu ; and the Government were now in receipt of a considerable revenue from those small runs. He conceived that a commonage was only intended for large qattle, and if a commonage were only taken up for sheep, he thought it should be let out to sheepowners, and not to flockowners, who paid little nothing for the run. He was pleased to think that his action in opposing the Hundred on the Bellamy nm had been the means of bringing about a change in the administration of the commonages.—(Applause.) In tho same session there were several blocks of land declared open for settlement under the system of deferred payments. _ As they knew, the extent of land to be opened in any one year under that system was limited to 00,000 acres, so that the Government had to open land under the system in small blocks, so as to satisfy as far as possible the wants of each individual district. There were in all ten blocks declared open under the deferred payment system. 5,000 acres were opened on M/Nab’s run, and he believed every acre had been taken up. 5,000 were declared on M Intyre’s run, and that was being rapidly taken up. 2,500 acres were declared in another run, and that, he believed, was all taken up. 2,500 acres were declared on Cargill and Anderson s run. That was being surveyed, and would doubtless uow be opened. 2,500 acres were declared on Low and Bell’s run, in the Ida Valley, but he did not think a great deal of it had been taken up. 1,500 acres were declared on a run at the bead of Lake Wakatip, but he had not been able to ascertain what bad been done with that land. He rather thought there was some little difficulty in connection with it. 1,500 acres were declared on Mr John M Lean s run, at the foot of the Hawea Lake ; but he believed that had not been much settled upon, as it was an out-of-the-way place. 2,500 acres had been declared on Sir F. D. Bell’s Shag Valley station, and he thoughtjabout 600 acres of it had been applied for. 2,000 acres had been declared on Mr Main’s run, on the Upper laieri. That had been mostly all taken up and settled. 5,000 acres had been declared on the Bellamy Run. All that had been actually applied for, but still there was a good deal open. In all that made the 30,000 acres which the Provincial Council had the right to proclaim during one session. During the session of 1874 there were a good many Hundreds passed, and a good deal of land thrown open, and he hoped that policy would tend to procure an excellent and numerous settlement. All the Hundreds and deferred, payment blocks passed last session had not, he believed, yet been opened, the surveyors having more work upon their hands than they could accomplish. However, the surveys were being pushed on as fast as possible, and he had no doubt that in a few months the whole of the land proclaimed last session would be open for settlement. The Hundreds proclaimed last sesssion were dotted all over with deferred payment blocks in order to prevent capitalists from gomg in for large blocks. Land was set aside last session under the deferred payment system to the full extent of 30,000 acres, and the desire of the Executive and the Council in selecting that land was to meet the requirements of as many districts as possible. Of the deferred payment blocks set aside last session, as near as he could gather, only three had been surveyed andopened. fie believed these had been applied for, but not to a very great extent as yet. As near as he could state, that was the list of all the lands opened during the last two sessions, and he thought no one could find fault with the liberality of the Council on that score. He thought it was the most libera,! Council that had yet assembled, so far as the opening of lands was concerned; and he hoped that this opening up of the land would bring about what every Provincial Councillor—every trood colonist should desire to see: the settlement of an industrious population. Mr Roberts then pointed out the various advantages to the district which he had been the means of securing, and in referring to the branch line of railway from the main trunk line to the Green Island coal pits, said, that although there might be a difference of opinion as to the value of that line, that had still to be proved, and it would be premature to say what would be the effect of the construction of that line. He thought himself that the line would prove to be of considerable importance, and he would be very much astonished if it turned out to be - what some said it would—a white elephant. Just as the last session was closing the Council passed a resolution introduced by Mr J, C, Brown, authorising the Government to construct branch lines, with the power of rating the adjacent land-owners if those branch lines did not pay working expenses, &c. Under that resolutions the settlers on the Northern side of the main trunk railway, in the Green Island district, could get a branch lino made to their coal pits if they thought fit. When soliciting the suffrages of the electors in the Kaikorai dis* tncfc, he stated that he would pledge himself to nothing, but that if returned to the Council he would act honestly. While in the Council he had endeavored to carryout his resolution to act honestly and purely according to his own convwtums; and if his actions had not met with the_ approval of his constituents it was not tor want of a good intention on his part He purposed paying a visit to the Home country and he would have to leave in a weak. He in’tended to be back either early in December or about the middle of January. Ho had been asked by a considerable number of electors to retain his seat in the Council - (applause) —and seeing that he had been so asked ho thought it wa f A onl y fci* to himself and to those electors uot to state what he intended doing until he I

learnt the feeling of this meeting. If he retained his seat he would arrange—as was frequently done 1 by other members ,when temporarily absent —to have thet, interests of his conetituency looked after by another member or members during a session of the Council. * . l- u answer to a question respecting the relative merits of the volution and the acreage system of rating, Mr Roberts said he thought the valuation system was much the fairest, rie thought Me acreage system was very unfair ■ o a man with poor land, as lie was assessed the same as a man with a rich piece of laud. (Applause )'.•Ho was not favorable to the abolishing of toll-bars, for the siinplo reason - ha ? mwntahied somehow, and the-fairest way of maMaining tbem was to^? a m e thos ® w h° nßed the roads-pay for them. Mr Ihos. King then moved,'and Mr James ??mP D , ® e ®° n^e d the following resolution That this meeting thanks Mr Roberts for the manner m which he discharged bis duties as re- " preseutative of the district in the Provincial Council, and expresses its continued confidence in him. And moreover, as it is unlikely that any measure of large importance will be brought forward during next session, this meeting is of opinion that it is unnecessary for Mr Roberts to resign his position,” which was, carried by acclamation. :