PRE-SESSIONAL UTTERANCES.

Evening Star, Issue 3867, 16 July 1875, Page 2

PRE-SESSIONAL UTTERANCES.

MR J. MACANDRF/W, M.H.R,, AT PORT CHALMERS. MrMacandrew, M.H.R,, addressed his constituents in Crickmore's Assembly Rooms, Port Chalmers, last evening. Mr A. M'Kinnon Mayor of Tort Chalmers, was called to the chair, and there was a nun.erous attendance. Mr Macandbew said: Mr Chairman and gentlemen,—l need'scarcely say that in appearing here to night I do so not in my capacity as Superintendent of the Jfrovince of Otago, but„as the representative of this district in the Colonial Parliament. I regret very much that circumstances have prevented me from meeting you so often as I could wish to have done since I had the honor of representing the district in the Assembly, as I am of opinion that it is a good thing for constituencies and their members to cultivate personal acquaintance, and come face to face occasionally. If my action in the Assembly has been unsatisfactory, or if you should wish any explanation with respect thereto, I should be most happy to afford the best explanation in my power. I think it would not tend to your edification were I to endeavor to give you a detailed account of the proceedings at the General Assembly, and most of you, no donbt, have access to the ' Hansard' and the public prints, from which you will derive far fuller information than I could give you. I have been a steady supporter of the Public Works and Immigration Policy, and until Sir J. Vogel announced his intention of changing the constitution of the Northern portion of the Colony, I was a staunch adherent to his Government. While a steady supporter of the Public Works and Immigration Policy, I may say that all along I have differed from the mode in which that policy has been carried out. I was of opinion from the outset that it would have been more efficiently and more economically administered by the local Governments than by the Central Government, andlhave seen no reason whatever to change my opinion. It appears to me, in the peculiar circumstances of the Colony, that public works can be best carried on by th-ise on the spot, who are elected by, responsible to, and more directly under the eye of ih" public, than under a distant Government at Wclliugton.--(Hear, heai\) As regards immigration, I have thought that it was a grand mistake all along for the Colony to have taken ihi:- matter in hand ; and Ij think, in our own P:Ovirice for example, there would have; liet-u a far better selection of suitable immigivuus had the money been handed over to iiw. Provincial Government, and expeudod by it; and in saying this, I wish it to be understood that I do not seek to censure, in any way, the Agent-General, Dr Featherston, than wliom I doubt if there is any man in the Colony more suitable to hold the appointment. I am glad to hear that lately a very great improvement ih taking place in the clasß of immigrants that we are receiving. It must be borne in mind, however, that the Agent-General has a very difficult task to perform, and while it may be easy for a man to execute an order for 20,000 bags of flour or 20,000 bricks in six months, it would be difficult to execute an order for the selection of a suitable class of in that tim •• No doubt we are having a portion of unsuitable material among it, at all events. It may be asked, if such was my opinion in regard to the policy, how can I be said to be such a warm supporter of it ? My answer is that it was a question of immigration or no immigration—it was a question of public works or no public works —and rather than forego either, 1 was content to accept both with all the disadvantages to which I have re fe r red. Up to the time at which Sir J. Vogel obtained his seat in the Cabinet, the policy of rhe Colony was neither to go in for immigration an public works itself, nor to permit the Provinces to do so ; in fact, the Colonial policy was a regular dog-in-the-manger policy, and in 1870 I think it was that, undei|the influence of the of Sir J. Vogel, a "change came •Ver the spirit of our dream. I believe he wa* as anxious as 1 was that the administration of his policy should be in tba hands of the local

Governments j but he found, as mil as I, that to inaist upon such a condition would have been fatal to the policy. At that time parties were very equally divided in the Assembly: the Centralists weut in for the policy less for its own sake than because the ; thought they saw it would be another nail in the Provincial coffin, and perhaps the last. In fact they weut in fo< it, not that they loved the policy less, but that they hated the Provinces more. Now there was not the slightest hope of carrying that policy unless it had borne on the face of it that it was to be Oolonially administered. Well then, gentlemen, so much for the Public Works and Immigration policy, which although not carried out, iu my opinion at least, to the best advantage, will, I believe, in spite of all its disadvantages, result in enormous benefits to the Colony of New Zealand. One of the most important questions which was discussed during the last three or four sessions of the Assembly was the question of Education, it having been proposed and attempted to hand over the education of the people to the Ceutral Government. I resistpd that proposal, believing as I do that this, like most other matters, is likely to be best managed by the Provincial Councils. At | the same time, I am free to admit that as Education is a question that deeply affectß the in terests of the whole Colony, it would be the duty cf the Colonial Parliament, in the eApnt of any Province failing to do its duty, to com pel it to do so. What I object t© altogether is the idea of the people of Auckland, for example, being taxed to educate my children in Otaso, and vice versil. And, gentlemen, if the time should come when our territorial revenue will be numbered among the thing that were—which will undoubtedly be the case as soon as, or shortly after you abolish the North Llond Provinces, when the time comes that your teiritorial revenue shall be numbered among the things that were it is evident that we shall then have to go in for direct special taxation. When that time shall come I shall object to the people of Port Chalmers being taxed to educate children in Dunedin, in Inveroaigill, or elsewhere. Another very important question which occupied a igood deal of attention fcr the last two or three sessions, was the Licensing question. I felt_ it my duty to vote against it. I know there is a good deal of difference on the point, and I should like my constituents to understand my views on the subject.— I voted against Mr Fox's motion much against my own inclination. One could not help admiring the eloquence and being influenced by the earnestness which Mr Fox brought to bear on the subject, and, in fact, I remember on one occasion saying to myself, " Almost thou persuadest me to be a total abstainer 1 "—(Laughter and applause.) But in matters of legislation, I take it that we must be influenced by our judgment, rathertliaabyourfeelings,andsomehowmy judgment toh t me that, great as are the evils which ai e the result of the abuse of intoxicating liquors, those evils are not to be cured by Act of Parliament.—(Hear, hear.) I believe it you were to shut up every licensed house in the Province to-morrow, men with a taste for intoxicating beverages wuold acquire them in spite of legislation. I think that moral suasion is more likely to put a stop to inebriety than Acts of Parliament, and I believe that the Good Templm* movement, which I am glad to learn has tawn deep root here, is far more likely to do good in the direction of sobiiety than a cart load of statutes. I must nay that I consider it unfair that men who, it may be, have embarked their all in hotel property, should be suddenly sent through the Insolvency Court and receive no compensation for having their business destroyed. It seems to me that the most effective way in which the Legislature can interfere is to treat the habitual drunkard <ib a criminal who should be put under restraint, and to punish those who supply liquor to an intoxicated man Another matter which excited a good deal of attention last session was the Forest Frees Bill, introduced by Sir Julius Vogel for the purpose of creating State Forests. There is no doubt that this is a question of very great importance, and it is one to which he had dci voted a vast amount of attention, inquiry, and labor. I felt it to be my duty to vote agaiust it for various reasons, one being that it would have involved a very large annual expenditure, and also an expensive department of Government. It was proposed to spend only LIO,OOO ■ this year on it; but I think that amount would have gone a very small way to meet the practical carrying out of the object, and that it would have ten times LIO.OOO to plant forests and fence them in throughout the length and breadth of the Colony. Another leason was that I question much the propriety of the State"s going into the planting of trees, any more than , into the growing of eorn or any other commodity. Moreover, I think we have sufficient timber in the Province now to meet our requirements and supply a very large article of export for centuries to come, and I am glad to know that there are men in this Colony at least who are so aliva to their interests as to go into the planting of forest trees. I believe there is no better i way of providing for the future or for your families. Altogether, I think you will agree i with me in my action on the Forests Bill. Last session there were over 100 Bills and upwards of 500 resolutions upon all imaginable subjects, brought before the House, but I will not detain . you by going into things past. I think the question for us now to consider is what is the ■ best to be done for the future. As you are aware, the Aosembly meets next week for the despatch of business, but what that business is to be, it is|impossible, for me at least, to conjecture ; I only hope that the Assembly will be content with as little business as possible, for if ever there was a country over-burdened and overwhelmed with legislation I confess it is the Colony of New Zealand. If the Colonial Parliament could go to sleep for a while, and the public creditor were duly provided for, I den't know, if we were to wake up to-morrow morn ing and find that the Assembly had gone to the "tomb of the Capulots," but that we should find New Zealand where it is, We should find it with this advantage : We should have from L 200.000 to L 300.000 a-ycar to expend in different objects. Last year, for example, we contributed to the General Govern ment Ls_ for every man, woman, and child in the Province, and out of this we received back the munificent sum of J 15s a-head. And with this 15s a-head the Province is supposed to perform all the primary functions ot Govern,nent, ( to say, to forovide for ,the protection of life and property.fand so forth. Gentlemen, I know very well that I shall be *' scarified " for uttering Bucha sentiment, but in my o inion it is the Colonial Parliament that is eating into the very vitals of the Colony, I remember some years ago Mr Stafford stated in his place in the House of Representatives that he could knock L' 200,000 a-year off the Estimates without prejudicing the public service, and I say that if something of the kind is not done, notwithstanding the buoyancy of New Zealand, the day is not far distant when it will take us all our time to keep above water and float. The Geueral Government fets the lion's share of the revenue, and the 'rovincial Governments have to do the lion's share of the work. One of the weakest points iu the Colonial Parliament, of late years, has been the want of an organised Opposition, and unless there is a heahhy Opposition no responsible Government oan last lo ig. I seejby the papers that, for some time past, Sir George Grey has been in correspondence with parties with the view of forming an organised Opposition, and my name is mentioned; but I can say that in so far as I am conoerned there is no truth in it, as it depends upon tho action of the Government whether or not, next session, I shall be found in the cold shade of opposition. Most certainly if the_ Government insists on changing the constitution of a portion of the Colony, I think the chances are, in fact the certainty is that I shall be found in the opposition lobby upon ovcrj question affecting the existence of the Ministry. —(Applause.) Sir J. Vogel, last sessiou, on the spur of the moment, brought up proposals for the abolition of the North Island Proviucus I —proposals which I thought at the time, nnd still think, were very unwise, very ill-timed, and very inexpedient, involving as they do a still further spoliation of the Southern Provincep. The ostensible reasons for submitting these proposals were that the North Island Provinces were unable to provide for l'olice, Gaols, Hospital*, education, roads, and bridges, and, in fact, all the necpsanry functions of Government. Another plea was that tho adminis* tration of all these matters would bo very much more cheaply conducted by the General Government than by the various Provincial Governments. My own feeling, judging from experience, is that the exact reverse of this will

b» found to be the cm?. How anuh do jroa think is the actual cost of administration, of governing, of legislating, in the four Pro* vinces of Auckland, Wellington, Hawke's Bay, and Tarauaki? The whole cost of the four Provincial Councils, four Executive Councils, ami four Superintendents, is wider L.14,000 a year —figures which I have no hesitation in sayiug will be doubled if the Provincial functions Hie undertaken by the Central Government. The General Government Ba.ys if it has to find tho mi»a-| for these opera - , ons it would ba better for it to take its administration into its own hands, which is a very plausible argument. But, assuming these Provinces caunot provide for their own government, will the mere fact of their being handed over to the Colonial Government supply them with means? Most certainly not. And I say again—and I wonder that the people in the South are so blind as not to see it-the same also is to enable those Provinces to participate in the land fund of the Middle Island. Well, that is substantial revenue with which they are to be endowed, and it is all perfect moonshine to tell me that the land fund is to be localised—that the Compact of 1856 is to bo stereotyped. Gentlemen, I don't believe that the Provinces in the .North Island are in the abject position which seems to be implied. I believe these Provinces, barring then land revenue, are in as pood a position as, and some are better than ourselves. And, even in lund revenue, the Piovinceof Wellington at least makeß a very respectable show. 1 should leave them to their own devices, and give them a fair proportion ot their owu revenues. Take, for example, the Province of Auckland, which, next to this Province, contributes most.largely to the Colonial revenue, and only got back 15s a head, or onesixth of what it contributed. Will anyone tell me if Auckland received back only half of what it contributed would it not be ablo to perforin its functious, and even what the General Government is now performing for it ? I believe that most thoroughly. Gentlemen, depend ou it what wo ought to go iu for is home rule—home rule with a :ederatiou between the two islands, which would deal with half-a-dozen subjects that could be dealt with better unitedly than separately. If the people in the North Island desire to place themselves under control of the Central Government at Wellington I have no objection, provided we in the South are allowed to manage our own affairs as we like, and have our Government how and where we choose. The Province of Otago has a very large territorial revenue, and we have in prospect a vtry large revenue to come from our railways, and I believe Otago and Canterbury are the only parts of the Colony in which railways for some years to come will be really repro. ductive. The only way of securing these is to leave the Provinces as they are, and to go in loriusu'ar separation. You may depend on it, that so sure as the sun shines in the heavens, so sure will tho abolition of the South Island Provinces follow thatof the North, and then good byetothesplendid revenue which would keep us foralltimecoming.and make and bridges. Gentlemen, I have been twitted with inconsistency, but I have never yet heard of a politician that was not inconsistent. I have been twitted with inconsistency in respect to the views I am now expressing, inasmuch as some years ago I submitted proposals to the Assembly having for their object the making of all the Provinces of the Middle Island into one. Well, I admit there is an inconsistency in tins, but that inconsistency is more apparent than real, for my object in making that proposal was precisely the Bame as that in propounding the proposal I am now doing. My object was to secure practical separation between the two Islands, and I believe that the only way by which we can secure our own is by getting the whole of the Middle Island Provinces into one. The sum and substance of all I have now said to you is, in my opinion, that the country is being most expensively governed. I believe the ship of tho State was altogether over-manned ; and in order eventually to reduce that txpeuditure it is not by reducing Provincial Governments that you can do it, but by dispensing with, or greatly curtailing the Central Government. That has been the conviction of my mind for the last twenty years ; for t\>n in 1850, in the Assembly, I rem mber making it a cardinal point m supporting the then Government that they should limit the expenditure of the Co onial Government to L 50.000 a year. At the time, tho Federal Government could be carried on for L 50.000 a year, but now it costs over L 500.000. Gentlemen, I feel persuaded that if we are to go in for constitutional changes they should be in the direction of the separation of the two islands. If there is circumstances in my life that I most regret it is that in 1864 or 1865-1 forget which—when a movement (in which, singular to say, the moving spirit wa« Sir J. Vogel) for that separation was put on foot, I believe I was really the cause of having it knocked on the head. If I hrd only foreseen what I see now I would have acted differently. I remember there was a monster meeting at the Princess Theatre and I happened to be in town on the day of the meeting, was dragged iuto it, proposed a motion, and made a speech. The motion appeared to commend itself, and was carried with great acclamation, and the whole thing dropped from th ;t day. I feel persuaded that, so long as federalism remains in its present state at Wellington, composed of the heterogenous and opposed elemeuts of the two islands there is not the slightest hope of reducing- c£ penditure, and it is for the people themselves, when an election takes place, really to study these matters, and to make themselves masters f, f?! m - " r5 could *? People to take an interest in politics, and to bring it to the next hustings, we might get separation of tho two islands. I hope it may be so, and, without detaining you further, I shall be glad to go into explanations of my action as your representative, and to answer any questions that may be put to me. ' In answer to questions, Mr Macandm?\v said lie knew the Haibor Board question was an .interesting one in Tort Chalmers, and crie he was mixed up with as Superintendent of the Province. He must conies that he did not sympathise with the panics who stated that this Harbor Board would vuin Port Chalmers. He believed that when 2,000 ton ships were taken up to Duuedin there would not be half enough room for them in Port Chalmers Harbor. The people of Duuedin, numbering onctmrd of the population of tho Province, had agreed that the Upper Harbor should be deepened, and it was impossible that any single individual constituency would be ablo toset aside this resolution. He did not think it would affect the railway, a* by saving Is in the ton people might prefer sending their goods by dividing the Haibor under two Boards. The Otago Dock was in the hands of the Provincial Government. It had not been handed over to the Board, and, as tar as he was individually concerned, it would not bo handed over unleu the Harbor Board was prepared to pay for it -(Applause. The dredge couhl not be übiquitous, but „he Board wiriogetting a newdred ffe built, and he supposed they would soon be able to carry out a"y necessary work ß . He md not think tho General Goverumeut would spend L 20,000 on a new double line to Dunediß. Perhaps the Provincial Government would have to tonstruct the proposed line out of revenue. He thought It vtry necessary that a Courthous should be built at Port Cnaluaors, to give more necessary accommodation, and would do what ho could in that direction. If the Governor asked his advice he would recommend him to assent to the new Harbor Bill, as the people of the Province had voted in its favor. He did not think the matter of a training ship had gone to Bl««m yet. Ihcy might get some old man-of-war 1 ' and he thought they had as much rl/hfcft a training Bhip as Auckland, cc«£hie■ $W they contributed one-thhd to tnrevenue S the Colonial Goy e ,»m,„t. As to the workmen ou tho Moeraki and Port Ghalinr.™ ,? rKmen Stiff coud to forward their view.' He migrate that in Bimilar oases where Provincial ooniS? ton had failed, and left the menT he K" the Government had invariably taken rtfl Jjrt of the men, and paid thUwhTtwast every confidence in our reniSin SSS 8 fi 9 * Assemb,y,.< which was thank £^ c ?'«. * to ndence./ I & & ¥%Z%*sg™

forfeit that confidence, and of course it is gratifying to me to know that this feeling is confirmed by your vote This is the la9t session of the present Parliament, and I don't know what the next may bring foith. I have often thought that, had Istudied myown inclinations, I should refrain from going to Wellington. It is

a great honor, no doubt; but when you como to my time of life you are sometimes inclined to think you have had enough of it. The imieeedings closed with a vote of thanks

to the chairman. I