SIR F. D. BELL AT THE TEMPERANCE HALL.

Evening Star, Issue 3990, 8 December 1875, Page 2

SIR F. D. BELL AT THE TEMPERANCE HALL.

The electors of Waikouaiti resident ia Duncdin were add reused last evening by Sir F. D. Bell. M r Stout, as one of the number, was voted to the chair, and the hall was well filled. The main points dealt with by Sir Francis were the relation between Otago and Colonial finance ; the difficulties in the way of making a political change in the shape of federation or separation of the two islands ; and what ought to be done to maintain invio’ate Provincial administration and entity in respect to those things with which the rest of the colony Mad nothing to do, On the second point Sir Dillon Bell spoke as follows : "Whenever a proposal was made for dividing the Colony into two Provinces, they were met at the threshold with a difficulty which no one had yet succeeded in overcoming—namely, the question as to the seat of Government in the North Island.

Nobody ever conceived it possible that after Separation Auckland would consent to Wellington being the seat of Government; and Wellington naturally was fully determined not to part with that pnvilege; so that at the outset it was utterly impoasiblo to get the North Island to agree to .Separation ns Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay sympathised with Wellington. The same difficulty did not arise iu the Middle Island, because it was gene, ally conceded that in the event of a change in the present political organisation, the natmal seat of Government would be at Chnstchurch and not Dunedin. Then, again, directly an at-’ tempt was made to apportion the debt of the Colony, the proposer fell into the same trap, and got into the same hopeless difficulty. Mr Macandrew, in his proposals for Separation, did not touch that branch of the subject; but Mr Reynolds proposed that it should be apportioned according to population. When this proposal was examined in detail, it simply crumbled to pieces. Then it was proposed that all details should be li ft to bo settled by the Federal Government, but the majority of the Assembly strongly objected to such a proposal, and insisted that everything should be put down in black and white before they agreed to Separation That was a difficulty which had always been in exis-

tence, and from which there was no escape. If an attempt was made to apportion the burdens of the Middle Island so as to give some relief to Canterbury ami Otago, it could only be done by iuci*oosing the amounts payable by Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland, and the consequence was that the representatives of those central Irovinces would always vote against Separation. Then, with regard to the proposal to make two Provinces in each Island, they were met by a difficulty in the Middle Island which appeared to his mind to bo entirely insuperable. 1 f they were to have anything like a fair division of territory Otago must go further north than the Waitaki; iu fact, it must take in the whole of the country south of tho Rangitatn. Such a proposal would mean that Canterbury should give up the most populous, wealthy, nud beautiful part of the Province iu exchange for distant territory of infinitely inferior value. And if Canterbury would not consent to such a proposal would the people of Otago he content to remain within iis present boundaries, and lose its present proud position as the leading Province of the Middle Island f What would bo the gain to Otago by separation ou such terms ? Those difficulties existed iu tho past, and there were no grounds for susposing that they could not exist in the future. As to the future, he said— It would he quite sufficient lo take away all legislative power from the Provincial Councils, aud make them simply administrative. Iu each Province there should be bodies like the Provincial Councils hitherto, to whicu should be confided the opening of the land for settlement, the management of branch railways, main roads, the

engineering department to lay out main linos, oud to pi re assistance in district works. They ought endeavor, in sotting up that Board of Works, to give to it, and to the Shire Councils and Eoad Boards especially, the most defined powers. Each should have its functions specialised; each should know its own revenues and the work, it had to do. They should five to the Board of Works the laud re* venue, and to the Shire Councils wlmt was strictly local revenue. His reason whj the Board of VVoiks should have the land revenue, nud not the Shiro Councils, was this: Take, for instance, Oamnru or (he Taiori, where tho laud was sold, was It fair to say to them, “yon are not, in tho future, to share* in tho laud revenue contributed by other districts.’* The question of f spending the land fund would bo fought in the Board of Works, and there would be a far belter opportunity of doing Justice than by taking the matter up to Wellington. If they did not take tho opportunity of setting up some really substantial administration, such as he had described to them, they would find themselves perfectly at th 5 mercy of those powc f ul and able men, who, actuated by a noble impulse, striving to carry out a national aim in New Zealand, intended to have the whole work centred at the seat of Government. j here were men—ho instanced Mr E. J, 1. Stevens, of Canterbury—not only of ability, but of high patriotism, and of bigh spirit, and of high principle, who would qqpry their point as sure as we shall lose burs if we go (tot of tho Abolition BUI

into a proposal for nsular separation, which would be wet, a 3 before, by the pltmip votes of the centre, and by divided councils among Otago members, whatever Sir George Grey's power might bo, he {Sir Dillon) aid not hesitate to tell them his firm conviction that, as in the past so in the future, any attempt to repeal the Abolition Bill must be, ana was certain to Tjg, n complete failure.—(ApElause ) Let there bo no misunderstanding of what e had mid—if were to be returned he should vote straight against any proposal to repeal altogether the Abolition Bill. And as to education, he said—

V 116 entirely to the principles of a Bill pronghv in by Mr Fox, in 1871, winch were That the State should provide, as ouc of its highest duties, a certain amount of education, to he fixed by a certain standard ; that that education should he to a certain extent compulsory, that was, that Keans should he taken to prevent the growth of a population in ignorance and crime j and then, after all this had been done, that tho standard of education he decided on and tho rules fixed. With re®Pect to those religious denominations who, as in the enso of Roman Catholics, refused from conscientious objections to send their children to the national schools, if they set up schools of their own in which they kept up to the standard, and were subject to tho examination of the National School Inspectors, assistance should be given to these schools, although they di 1 not come strictly under the national system. This would enable them to have national education, and to respect the religious convictions of parents. The revenue from the education reserves should be kept within the ProVIHC6. A vote of thanks was, on the motion of Mr Miller, awarded to Sir Francis for his address.