Mr Bolleston Before his Constituents

Feilding Star, Volume V, Issue 47, 22 April 1884, Page 3

Mr Bolleston Before his Constituents

Mr Rolleston met his constituents at Papaauion Saturday evening last; 500 were present, a large proportion of them being from Christchurch. He was received with mingled applause and kisses. Mr Rolleston said at present he was the best abused man in New Zealand, but. no public man was worthy of trust who would not prefer to meet disapprobation because he took an unpopular course which he believed right, rather thaa run with tbe stream. He defended the action of the Government in raising the railway tariff, aad said such a course was necessary to meet the deficiency in the revenue. The policy of the Government in respect to land was embodied ia Bill* brought •down during the past three years. First, it ws- opposed to any further alienation of pastcral lands. The pastoral estate ef the colony brought ia an annual revenue of JE200.000. He weald divide the land into two^ksses, pastoral and agricultural. These should carefully be classified. It was unwise not to determine what was purely pastoral country, and it was unwise also not to set it aside so as to •economically work high and low land .together. He did uot think it desirable to encourage pastoral tenants to become speculators in land. There should be no saore permanent alienation of lands. He held that they should be so disposed of as to suit different clasess, partly by alienation for cash, partly by deferred payments, and partly by perpetual leasing. Roads should be opened before celling the land, which should be so cut up as to prevent its absorption by capitalists. On a block of 71,000 acres, on the Waimate Plains, the Government had put 360 homesteads. If this had not been done the land would have fallen into the "bands of one or two capitalists. He condemned the proposed establishment •f nou-political boards for the management of railways. Government were going in for amalgamation and re* ducing the Civil Service, instead of •extravagance. He himself had saved JBIO.OOO a year in one department. Mr Bryce" bkd reduced the expenditure on the Native Department from tens of thousands annually to £3000 per year, besides the Civil list, which was £7000. Whenever the Government left office tbey would leave a record of reduciion of expenditure, both of borrowed money and of ordinary revenue, of law and order re-established among the Maoris, of taxation placed on the right shouldersen the rich and the absentee proprietors — of liberal land laws and people settled upon the Lands, of the foundations of political power widened and deepened, of registration simplified, and of the franchise amounting almost to manhood suffrage. Several interruptions occurred durirtg'the ibeeting. A resolution "that this meeting has ho confidence in Mr Rolleston M representative of the Avon district" was carried by a large majority, oaly about a dozen voting against it.