LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 98, 23 September 1874, Page 3

LITERATURE.

ACHIEVEMENTS FOR WAGERS. (From Chambers' Journal.') The old magazines are full of gossiping paragraphs relating to achievements performed to decide a wager. Waiving feats are among the most numerous of these ; generally, an undertaking to cover a certain number of miles in a certain time. In 1772, Foster Powell achieved a work which was much admired at the time ; that of walking from Loudon to York, and back, in six days. Those who know the road may feel an interest in tracing him on his journey. He walked from London to Stamford, 88 miles, on the first day ; to Doncaster, 72 miles, on the second ; to York, 37 miles, and 22 miles back to Ferrybridge, on the third ; to Grantham, 65 miles, on the fourth ; to Eaton, 54 miles, on the fifth ; and the final spin of 56 miles on the sixth —making a total of 394 miles between Monday morning and Saturday night, and winning a wager of a hundred guineas. The reign of George 111. was plentifully strewn with such examples. A few years after Powell’s achievement above described, and when fifty-three years of age, he performed the wonderful feat of walking 112 miles within 24 hours ; he started from Canterbury at 4 a.m., reached London Bridge at 2.50 p.m., and got back to Canterbury at 3,54 a.m.—23 hours 54 minutes. A reputed centenarian, and admittedly a very aged man, undertook to walk 10 miles, on the Hammersmith road, in 2 hours 30 minutes, for a wager of ten guineas ; and he accomplished it in 2 hours 23 minutes. Captain Barclay, a famous pedestrian in the early part of the present century, began his exploits at the early age of fifteen, by walking six miles in an hour, fair toe and heel. His next was to walk from Ury, in Kincardineshire, to Boroughbridge. in Yorkshire, about 300 miles, in five very hot days. He hazarded the large sum of five thousand guineas, that he would walk 90 miles in 20 hours 30 minutes; and he accomplished this arduous task in 19 hours 22 minutes. Without noticing the walking bouts of the last half-century, which are more likely to have come under the notice of the reader, we will advert to a few in which conditions of a peculiar kind were stipulated, or in which one man failed and another succeeded. Wentworth, an Oxfordshire man, undertook, for a wager, to walk 600 miles in ten days ; he broke down ; but Head of Knaresbnrough did it, although greatly distressed. Mullins, a watch-case maker at Shoreditch, wagered that he would walk from Shoreditch church to St George’s in the Borough, 4 miles, in 50 minutes, barefooted ; what was the state of the roads at that time we are not told, but he accomplished the distance in 46 minutes 80 seconds. Macdonald, a tailor, went without shoes or stockings, by preference, doing the greater portion of a walk from Westminster bridge to Chatham and back ; he stipulated for 15 hours, but did it in 14 hours 20 minutes. Captain Barclay and Mr Wood wagered 600 guineas as to which should go farthest in 24 hours, walk or run as they pleased; Wood had before accomplished 40 miles in 5 hours in this way; but he failed on this occasion, after taking off and putting on bis shoes two or three times ; and Barclay had no need to continue the struggle beyond 7 hours. A fish-hawker at Chelsea undertook to run from Hyde Park Corner 7 miles along the Brentford road, in one hour, with 56 pounds offish on his head : if he did it, as recorded, in 45 minutes, it doubtless deserved the* character given to it of being ‘ the most extraordinary exploit of the kind that has been performed for many years.’ Belonging to this class of exploits, is that which was achieved by a gardener’s apprentice, who, for a wager of seven guineas, undertook to walk from Wandsworth to the Borough Market, 6 miles, in one hour, with 300 head of asparagus as a load : he accomplished it in 58 minutes. An exploit of analogous character was that of an orange porter at Thames street; he made twenty journeys from Botolph Lane to Spitalflelds Market, each time carrying 1 cwt of oranges; the 43 miles he undertook to accomplish in 10 hours, and won a wager of 10 guineas by doing it in 8 hours 35 minutes. The pace for this kind of work is a kind of trot, midway between walking and running. Trotters or runners have sometimes taken a coach wheel as a companion. Thus, a wheelwright’s apprentice, a youth of sixteen, ran a coach-wheel from Blackman street in the Borough to the three-mile stone at Yauxhall, and back ; he undertook, for a wager of 10 guineas, to do it in an hour, and finished his task in 57 minutes. More rapid than this was the work of a man who ran a coachwheel 8 miles in an hour, with half a minute to spare ; but he had a smooth road purposely prepared for him : a wooden platform, a quarter of a mile long, raised a few inches from the ground. We are not sufficiently versed in these matters to know whether the narrative needs correction ; but the chronicles of Charles IPs time told of a butcher at Croydon who ran from St Albans to Loudon, about 20 miles, in less than an hour and a half. It is gratifying to learn that he 1 ran the last 4 miles so gently, that he seemed to to make it rather his recreation than a race.’ James Smith, a Falkirk man, undertook for a wager to walk two miles backwards in half-an-hour ; if he really did it, as recorded, in 20 minutes, the tendons of his loot must have had no small strain put upon them, A blind man undertook, early in the present century, to run a race with the mail coach from Halifax to Bradford, a distance of 8 miles ; he had 5 minutes start given to him, and came in 12 minutes before the mail, thus beating it by 7 minutes. A bystander expressed a belief that the victor could see ; whereupon the blind man offered to have his eyes completely covered with plaster, and thus run the distance on equal terms for a wager—a challenge which was not accepted. It is to Captain Barclay that pedestrians attribute the introduction of the celebrated feat of walking 1000 miles in 1000 successive hours. To do 24 miles a day for six weeks, although a formidable prospect for any beyond a comparatively small number of men, and an impossibility for the majority, would not deter any real pedestrian, seeing that he could have a long and sound sleep every night ; but the case is very different when every hour in the six weeks, night and day, is to have its distinct mile of walking ; since in no case can the man sleep or rest more than about an hour and a half at a time. The feat had been tried several times before, without success ; Capt. Barclay accomplished it about 1809, Ho less than

one hundred thousand pounds was staked on the issue. Newmarket was selected as the course ; and the walking occupied from Juno Ito July 12. He suffered during the ordeal, and had often t» be lifted after resting ; but his appetite remained good, and he came in victor amidst a vast concourse of spectators. This feat has frequently been performed since. Eaton did IiOO miles n 1100 hours ; while other persons have accomplished the still more difficult feat of walking 100!) quarters of mile in 1000 successive quarters of an hour. More difficult in one respect only, that of having such very short intervals for rest ; the total time being of course only one-fourth as long as Barclay’s. A pedestrian named Baker did 1000 miles in twnly days, 50 miles a day : to shew his stamina, he accomplished 75 miles on the last day, and ‘ thrice danced a hornpipe.’ Of course the wagers as to the fleetness of horses are known well enough, seeing that they form the staple commodity at most of our races. Before betting and handicapping, however, became reduced to a system, individual bets of a special kind were made, some relating to saddle-horses, some to the driving of some kind of vehicle. Mr Shafto wagered 1000 guineas against Mr Reynell, that he would produce a person who could r'de 29 horses 2900 miles in 29 days, each horse doing a complete 100 miles in a day, and one rider performing the whole; this rider, Mr Woodcock, fulfilled his task. We do not remember what is the greatest distance covered within a given time by the Tartar couriers of Turkey and Persia, such as Mr Frazer described some years ago ; but we apprehend that this ride of Mr Wood cock’s would have well compared with theirs. What are the notable doings of donkeys in the art of running, we do not know ; but there was one instance in which a bet of £IOO to £lO was laid that a donkey would go 100 miles in 24 hours ; the affair came off at Newmarket, when Neddy not only did his duty, but accomplished it in 21 hours, leaving three good hours to spare. Special journeys have sometimes been made, involving sea as well as land travel. John Stow tells of one Bernard Calvert, who left London at three o’clock one morning, rode to Dover, sailed in a barge to Calais, and back again to Dover, and thence rode back to London, reaching Shoreditch church at eight o’clock in the evening of the same day. As the land-riding was 142 miles, and the barge-voyage 42 miles, it is certainly wonderful (if true) that such a journey could have been performed in seventeen hours, with such appliances as were available in the days of James I. Great notice was taken in 1802 of a journey from Paris to London made by Mr Hunter ; he completed it in twenty-two hours, the shortest time ever known up to that period ; but we incline to think that, all things taken into account, Calvert’s work was the more remarkable. Some of the achievements depending on the incentive of wagers were in past times very odd ; and journalists always looked out for such narratives, in times when society had not yet begun to move on, literally and figuratively, at railroad speed. In the early part of the reign of George HI. two gentlemen made an eccentric wager at a coffeehouse near Temple Bar. One of them undertook to jump into water seven feet deep, with all his usual clothing on, and undress himself completely. He did it; and if we picture to ourselves the twisting and wriggling involved in such an operation, floating the whole of the time, we must admit it to be as difficult an affair as it was ludicrous. A butcher, on a calm summer's evening, undertook, for a wager, to cross the Thames in his wooden tray. In this exploit, using his hands as paddles, he made the passage safely, from Somerset stairs to the Surrey side, providing himself with a cork jacket in case of accident. The chroniclers took care to record that ‘ seventy boat-loads of spectators were present; and bets to the aggregate amount of more than one thousand guineas depended on the event.’ Richard Jenkins, a merchant of York, wagered a large sum that he would pave one hundred square yards with stones in nine hours. He accomplished it; but we are left in the dark as to what kind of paving it was, and in what way the work was performed. A gentleman undertook, for a wager, that he would stand for a whole day on London Bridge, with a tray full of good sterling sovereigns, and would fail to find customers for them at a penny a piece. The report is, that he won the wager, all the passers-by believing that he was merely trying to cheat them with brass imitations. During a visit paid by one of the royal dukes to a victorious ship-of-war at Spithead, a sailor got uppn the very top of the mainmast (the truck), and stood there upon his head, waving his hat round and round on one foot. It is to be hoped that this display of antipodean loyalty was duly appreciated. Heidegger, Master of the Revels to George 11. was considered to be tbe ugliest man in England. A wager was laid that a competitor for this doubtful honor could be found. An old woman from St Giles’ was brought forward, and the umpire, with Heidegger’s own approval, was about to award the palm to her ; but Heidegger, in response to a suggestion, put on the old woman’s bonnet, to render the conditions more equal ; the additional ugliness was so indescribable, that the victory was awarded to him. Long before the days of steamboats, a gentleman wagered a thousand guineas that he would make a boat move twenty-five miles an hour. He accomplished it in a very singular way, and at a considerable outlay in money and ingenuity. He caused a circular canal to be dug, 100 feet in diameter, and 9 feet wide, and filled with water; a [horizontal pole, equal in length to the radius of the circle, was pivoted at one end to a strong post in the middle, and fastened at the other end to a boat ; a horse trotted in a smaller circle, at a point nearer to the post than to the boat, dragging the pole round ; and the leverage thus singularly obtained sufficed to give a velocity of twentyfive miles an hour to the outer end of the pole, and consequently to the boat. A baronet and a clergyman laid a wager as to the time when the first Emperor Napoleon would die ; but a court of law set aside this bet as illegal, on the ground, that it gave one of the parties an interest in tbe speedy death of a man much exposed to hazard. We have only space left to notice finally the wager concerning Sir John Throckmorton’s suit of clothes, on which a thousand guineas depended. At five o'clock, on a June morning in 1811, two South Down sheep were shorn ; the wool was washed, carded, slabbed, roved, spun, and woven ; the cloth was scoured, fulled tented, raised, sheared, dyed, and dressed ; and at half-past six the same evening, the wool which had clad the sheep in the morning was worn as a dress suit by Sir John at his own dinner-table.

MR REEVES AT LEESTON. Mr W. Reeves, M.H.R. for Selwyn, addressed his constituents at Loe’s hotel last evening. There was a very good attendance of electors, the large room being well filled. On the motion of Mr A Frankish, the Rev W, J. G. Bluett took the chair. The Chairman, having briefly indicated the object of the meeting, c died upon Mr Reeves to address the electors. In his introductory remarks Mr Bluett said he trusted tliey would give Mr Reeves a patient hearing. [Cheers.] Mr Reeves said that, as they were all aware, he had not met them last session. After ih i session had closed he had been absent in the North Island, and when he returned the district was in the busy season of harvesting, therefore he had not called them together. He would not dwell upon the events of the session before the last one, because they were all most intimately interested in the very important legislation which had just taken place. In doing so, however, he should have to remark upon the events of the session previously, as it was necessary, in order to explain to them the events which had taken place during the late session. In doing so he should take occasion to explain his connection with the present Ministry, as he thought it was due alike to the constituency, himself, and the Ministry. Almost the last words said to him by Mr Garamack, a prominent local politician, were, “Well, Mr Reeves, yon and Mr Fox I look upon as the only two honest men in the Fox-Vogel Ministry, but I cannot agree with you in your thorough-paced support of Mr Vogel.” Well, he had always been a staunch supporter of Mr Vogel, because he looked upon it that“thc policy of immigration and public works was a beneficent one, and one the results of which were being very advantageously felt by the colony at large. But while he did this, he said that ho was opposed to large constitutional changes being introduced while the policy was on its trial. He had also opposed the Brogden contracts, and had also made a request that no contracts should be given to that firm in Canterbury. None had been given, and he thought that the railways had been quite as efficiently carried out. [Cheers ] Again, when it was proposed to take lands from the provinces, he, in concert with other members, had opposed it, and had proposed that £500,000 should be expended for the purchase of a lauded estate in the North Island, so that the provinces in the North Island might be enabled to carry out those works which were subsidiary to the great works of the colony, and to carry them out without the assistance of the colony. That change was adopted, and was now in course of being carried out, and he thought it would have been better if those functions had been handed over to the provinces, so as to enable them to carry out the.r administrative functions, the same as was done in Canterbury and Otago. Another point was the enabling the provinces to borrow money to carry out various works. Bills were introduced in the session before last to empower them to do so, but he had opposed it, as he considered it a mistake. They were thrown out in the Upper House, but were reintroduced separately, and were again thrown out by the Upper House. The Government evidently saw their mistake, as Mr Vogel had stated this year that these powers would interfere with the general progress of the colony, and he would, therefore, not support them. He mentioned these facts to controvert the accusation of his being a blind supporter of Mr Vogel. He had given a cordial support to Mr Vogel’s scheme of immigration and public works, reserving to himself the right of acting independently on all matters. Another question in the session before last was that of immigration. There was ample evidence before the House to show that the administration of Mr O’Rorke, the Minister for Immigration, was not such as could be desired. Though in force for two years, it was shown conclusively that the Middle Island had not received anything like its fair complement of immigrants, so necessary for the development of ti e scheme of public works. No debate ensued but immediate and important results followed. The department was taken out of the bauds of Mr O’Rorke, and taken charge of by MrA r ogel. Orders were sent home, and matters assumed an improved aspect, though even now it was far from what it should be. He regretted that the control of the department had passed out of the hands of Mr Vogel, as he had looked forward to his administration as being likely to be satisfactory in the highest degree. While having the highest possible respect for Major Atkinson, who had recently joined the Ministry, and who had been appointed Minister fer Immigration, he still thought his appointment was a mistake, more especially as regarded this island, as he bad no experience of its wants. However, he hoped that when Mr Vogel returned from England, Major Atkinson would have the benefit of his advice. He could not help thinking, however, that Mr Vogel would have conducted the department much more satisfactorily. [Hear, hear.] Ho would now come to the last session. Before the session, Ministers in their pre-scssional speeches stated that no measures of any great importance would be introduced. The Forests Bill, and the Bill for facilitating the trade with the South Seas were mentioned as likely to come forward, but nothing very important was expected. One paragraph in the Governor’s speech be would invite their attention to. It was as follows “ The urgent demands upon their administrative attention, consequent on the rapid progress of the colony, and the many matters to w hich that progress makes prompt attention desirable, lead my advisers to think it expedient not to invite legislation upon questions which do not press for immediate solution.” The financial statement was one of congratulation on the prosperity of the colony, and stated that the Government would relieve the provinces of the cost of the railways. The Treasurer also stated that the Government would not any give any support to any scheme for borrowing which might be brought down by any of the provinces. He also stated that the Government would be prepared to assist those provinces which were not in so prosperous a condition as others in the colony. He said “ The case of the provinces is not, however, dealt with by merely exceptional advances for public works. There are three provinces which labour under the great disadvantage of contributing largely to the colonial revenue without enjoying an adequate provincial revenue for local purposes. The provinces which now enjoy large revenues feel no difficulty in contributing to the colonial revenue; for whilst they make their contributions, they enjoy’ local expendit ire out of their own revenue. Bub the case of some provinces is

siraplj constant contribution—a constant disheartening tendency to the result so familiarly explained by the slaughter of the bird which lays the golden eggs. As a mere matter of policy, it is wise, in the midst of the immense increase of the colonial revenue, to specially remember some of the provinces which contribute it, and which are at present at a great disadvantage as compared with others. It is not wise to let parts of the colony languish under a sense of wrong—to allow them to feel they are still becalmed, whilst the favouring breeze removes from their sight the vessels originally becalmed with them. The condition of the three provinces of Auckland, Westland, and Nelson, as compared with the other provinces is lamentable, and requires assistance from the surplus of the consolidated revenue. Auckland’s case is by far the worst. It will take that province some years to work itself round, and to enjoy the future which I firmly believe is still before it. Westland deserves much sympathy. Weighted with a great public debt, its Government, eagerly anxious to develop it, find themselves hampered in every direction. Westland has proved a mine of wealth to the colony. The west coast of Nelson is somewhat similarly placed : Nelson will, however, now have the means, as it appears its rulers have the inclination to use those means, to become a prosperous province. These considerations impel us to recommend that out of the year’s surplus, a special allowance, in addition to that already provided by the scale of capitation allowances, be made to Auckland, Westland, and Nelson, of £25,000 to the first, £IO.OOO to the second, and £6OOO to the third. When honorable members study the whole of the circumstances, they will not, I think, grudge the proposed aid.” He called special attention to this, because it showed that there was no idea in the Premier s mind of the policy he had since brought down, viz., the abolition of the provinces in the North Island. The financial statement ended by saying that the Government intended in future to make revenue assist loans, instead of loans assisting revenue, as hitherto. They intended to aid the poorer provinces so as to enable them to maintain their independent position. The statement was satisfactory, because it showed that the finances of the colony were in the most prosperous condition, a state of things which was assisted by the change from measurement to ad valorem duties. This change produced in one year from £300,000 to £400,000, and enabled the Treasurer to meet a number of claims, and was the means of his statement being carried out, that revenue was being used in aid of loans, instead of as in former years, loans being used in aid of revenue. The House had nothing before it to think that the Government would do anything but that shadowed forth in the Governor’s speech—viz, that it would address itself to the work in hand, and would not introduce any large measure of reform. The session proceeded, and a Bill called the State Forests Bill was introduced, which gave universal satisfaction to the colony. [Cheers.] But when the details came to be looked into, it was found that the Government might take an amount of land in the provinces for the purposes of the Bill, which was far too great in the opinion of the members of the House. He might mention that Mr A r ogel required some two millions of acres, which was looked upon as being undesirable, and the sum of £IO,OOO put upon the estimates was regarded as inadequate for the purpose. The Government proposed at first to introduce a few foresters or gentlemen who were skilled in the management of trees, and they wished to have voted a sum of £IO,OOO. Now if it was necessary to take two millions of acres for State forests, gentlemen whu knew anything about forest-tree planting, knew that £IOO,OOO would not have been too much to have voted for the purpose. [Hear, hear.] The provincial party—if he might call them so—took alarm at this, as they looked upon it as the thin end of the wedge towards acquiring a landed estate. When it was remembered that Mr Vogel had proposed to take land in the various provinces for the making of the railways, it was not unreasonable to suppose that it was an attempt to acquire a landed estate. Members in the course of the debate spoke against the Bill, more especially Mr Fitzherbert, the Superintendent of Wellington. This was a very bitter speech, and had a very peculiar effect upon the Premier, Mr Vogel, in reply, said : —“lf the Bill leads to anything else than the conservation of forests, it is the honorable member for the Hutt who is responsible for it.” He called their attention to these words particularly, because it was charged against the Premier when he brought down his proposal to abolish the provinces, that it was owing to the irritation caused by the speech of Mr Fitzherbert. In speaking on this subject he said: —“ All the assertions that have been made about my having come down with the resolutions because of irritation as connected with this province of Wellington, arc also very wide of the mark. I have, no doubt, instanced this province as affording an example of evils that demand a remedy. But matters connected with this province are no more than links in the great chain of evidence which has been fastening itself upon my mind. I have not disguised, and I never shall disguise, that the attitude taken by the provincialists with respect to the State Forests Bill did open my eyes very widely, but my eyes were opened very widely last year also. When I came to the House last year with that most modest proposal, that, after a certain time, the great estate of the waste lands of the Crown should render some little assistance towards carrying out. the main trunk railway system of the country, and was met by the assurance from tin representatives of provinces in the Middle Island that no portion of those lands could be parted with, but that they would prefer spending £500,000 in the purchase of native lands in this island ; when, this session, 1 asked for a fragment oi the public estate towards establishing a system of State forests, and found myself confronted by the same difficulty—when I was told that the land sacredly belongs to the provinces—when I saw that the provinces were ready to give land for almost every conceivable object except for great colonial objects : all this did, indeed, make a most forcible impression upon my mind. And I say that the land question—not the re-opening of the compact of 1856, or its confirmation, but this question of dealing with the land itself—does and must exercise a material influence upon the question • of the abolition of the provinces in the North Island.” He thought Mr Vogel was largely moved in the direction of the abolition of the provinces by the speech of Mr Stafford, who supported the Forests Bill, and who said if the provinces stood in the way of this being done, so much the worse for the provinces.

A few days, nay hours, had hard'y elapsed before it became rumoured that the Government were going to bring down a Bill to abolish the North Island provinces, and it created very great astonishment. Whether it was from a thought that the House would not agree to such abrupt legislation, or from wiser counsels, the Premier did not bring down a Bill to abolish the provinces, although there would have been a number of members who would have supported him. On the 6th August, Mr Vogel stated that the Government had determined not to bring down the bill as proposed, because it might be considered as a coup d'etat. Mr Vogel said “ that though the Government had contemplated bringing down a Bill to abolish the North Island Provinces, and though he believed it would be supported, yet, after the announcements made that no measures of importance would be introduced that session, it would, he thlbught, have too much of the character of legislation by surprise.” He had heard this statement with very great satisfaction, because he considered it would be a grave error to have brought down a Bill om the spur of the moment, or on account of irritation caused during the debate. He had thought that what Mr Vogel meant was that he would wait until the people, as well as their representatives, had expressed their opinion upon it; that in view of so large a constitutional change the Government would have said that during the recess they would consider the question of abolition of the North Island provinces, and be prepared to come down next session with a Bill for the purpose. A few days afterwards, however, the Government appeared to have changed its mind again, and Mr Vogel came down with a resolution abolishing the North Island provinces, ratifying the compact of 1856, of which he would speak hereafter, and confirming the seat of Government in Wellington. Mr Vogel made this a Government question. That was pledging the House at once to abolish the North Island provinces, and also pledging every member who voted for these resolutions to support the Bill to be brought in next year. Was this in accordance with his statement of the 6th of August? He asked them did that bear out the impression to be fairly taken from what had been said by the Premier, This, of course, created astonishment, and a meeting of gentlemen was held to consider the matter. He ( Mr Reeves) had been asked as an independent member by one of those gentlemen to take the part of moving the previous question. He stated this because it had been said at a public meeting that he was leading a party who wished to turn out the present Ministry. It was nothing of the kind. What he had done, he had done from the feeling that it was a public duty to oppose what he considered an error on the part of the Government. He had taken time to consider whether he should accept the position offered to him, and after consideration had moved the previous question. During the debate one of the members of the Ministry resigned, A great deal had been made of this resignation, and the gentleman in question had been called a traitor to his party. He (Mr Reeves) however, considered that he had acted in a highly creditable manner, in preferring to give up an honorable and highly paid office, rather than do violence to his principles. [Hear, hear.] The motion for the previous question was rejected by a large majority, as also was a propo-ition to refer it to the country before passing. A further amendment that the Bill should be circulated two months previous to the session, was lost by a large majority, and was, strange to say, opposed by Mr Stafford, who had some time before taken to himself very great credit for having done this in respect to his Local Government Bill. He would point out that the Government had refused that the constituencies should be consulted, and also that the Bill should be circulated in order that the public might become aware of its provisions before it was brought forward in the House. He had not spoken of the other parts of the resolution, and it might appear that they had very little to do with the abolition of the North Island provinces. Perhaps they were introduced for political reasons. Mr Vogel stated that the compact of 1856—the land compact that is—should be ratified. This was done perhaps to assure southern members and their constituents that nothing would be done with the land of the Middle Island. It was a compact entered into by the House in 1856, the good results of which they had experienced, [Hear, hear.] The North Island members had made several attempts to dissolve this, but without success. The Government had made the continuance of this com pact an integral part of these resolutions, but it was his duty to point out to them that many of the prominent supporters of the Government had stated that they were not in favor of the continuance of the compact; notably Mr Luckie, one of the members for Nelson, who had stated most plainly that he was not in favor of the compact of 1856 — that he looked forward to the abolition of ,the Middle Island provinces, and the sharing of the land revenue, But even a more important statement than this had been made by Mr Reader Wood, when addressing his constituents at Parnell. Mr Reader Wood was an important supporter of these resolutions, and he had stated at this meeting that at the caucus held at Mr Vogel’s house, he had for one stated publiclv that he would not be a party to the retention of the compact of 1856, nor of the seat of Government being retained at Wellington. When this was stated at the caucus, Mr Vogel, as stated by Mr Reader Wood, replied that this was not an important matter at all. This was uttered at a meeting, and Mr Vogel, who addressed his constituents a lew d ys after, only said that he believed Mr Reader Wood was not correct in saying what had taken place at the caucus. He did not, as such a statement only could have been met, meet the statement with a denial. He asked them if this was correct, was it in accordance with the pledges distinctly given by the Government in the House, respecting a compact upon which they held their land, and by reason of which the large sums of money now in their treasury was raised, and by which the revenue was assured to them. He would not say more about this subject now, as it was ‘likely it w r ould come up next session. [ Hear, hear.] He might say with reference to his opposition to these resolutions as brought down by Mr Vogel, he opposed them because he considered it was an inopportune period in the history of the colony to introduce these large constitutional changes, because he considered that it was not right that such a step should be taken without first allowing an opportunity for consulting the people upon it, [Hear]. Further than this, he had opposed it because

he did not consider that the Parliament in the last session of its life was competent to deal with such a large question as this. Let them look at the discussion ; the debate, they would find, was languid, and seemed not to exc'te much interest in the House. In fact, the discussion on the honorarium the granting of an extra £SO a year to themselves —took up a great deal more time. In this session for the first time in the history of the colony, the estimates had been passed through authorising the expenditure of over a million of money without hardly a question being asked. Again, he looked upon it that it was quite opposed to the history of any country that one-half of it should be governed in one way and the other half in another. It was urged by the supporters of the resolution that they wished to do away with the system of double Governments, and a great deal had been made of this, but what would be the result if they carried these resolutions into effect? Why, that they would have then three separate systems of government, and New Zealand which had already got a name, and was a bye word in the other colonies, for complexity of governments, would have still greater confusion. [Hear, hear.] Did they think it was possible to have one portion of the country under a certain form of government, and the other under another differing in detail and constitution ? He said it was not. When they brought down these resolutions, the Government brought down no proposition for any system to put in the place of that which they proposed to sweep away, no substitute for existing institutions. It was said by the Premier in his resolutions, that it was advisable that some cheap and efficient form of Government should be substituted, but it went no further, and it left a sort of interregnum wbicn would take place between the introduction of the new system in the North Island and that in the South, which it was certain, from the expressions of members, would follow upon the action already taken if the House passed a Bill in conformity with the resolutions to which it had already pledged itself. Under these resolutions, they would have an Assembly elected from all parts of the colony legislating for two differently constituted parts of it, each living under a different form of Government, and the result would be a perfect chaos in the financial and other arrangements of the colony. [Cheers. J Looking at all these facts he haifi voted against the resolutions, but it was not alone on these grounds. The principal ground of his objection and that of other members was that no appeal had been made to the constituencies on this all important matter. [Hear, hear.] He could not pledge himself and them to a system brought forward in a hurry on the spur of the moment, and one of which he could not see the beginning or the end. [Cheers.] It was only right that in so important a matter as this the Government should have relegated members to their constituencies, who would be enabled, by means of the addresses of the candidates coming forward on the question, through the press, and by means of inquiry, to make themselves thoroughly and intimately acquainted with the whole bearings of the question. He contended that it was the inherent right of the people to be able to express their opinions upon so large a question—a question affecting in so marked a degree the constitution of the colony. [Hear, hear.] Now, with regard to the land fund. They would perhaps be told, “Oh, Mr Vogel has said that it is all right.” Now he (Mr Beeves) had the very highest respect for Mr Vogel. He looked upon him as a statesman of very high ability, whose schemes had been productive of very great prosperity to the colony—[Cheers]— but he could not conceal from himself that as Premier Mr Vogel was dependent upon his majority. Indeed he had shown himself rather inclined to give way in his schemes rather than abandon his majority. Now the greater part of his majority had declared themselves most decidedly and plainly as op osed to the compact of 1856, a id had also expressed themselves to the effect that if the Northern Island provinces were abolished the Middle Island would follow suit. Indeed, it was not only the North Island members who were in favor of this abolition, but some of the Southern members also. [A Voice — “ More shame for them.”] Therefore, while they rested their land fund upon this compact they must remember this that some of the most prominent of the members who formed part of the majority on these resolutions, had stated their intention of making an equal division of the land fund of Otago and Canterbury for the benefit of the colony —that the land fund of these provinces should be made common property. Now, he would endeavor to show them how intimately the question of their land fund was mixed up in this question of the abolition of the Northern Island provinces, always bearing in mind that the inevitable result of this being done would be that the Middle Island provinces would have also to submit to abolition What he wanted to impress upon them was that they held their land fund as a province, this was the security of its tenure, and while they continued to remain as they were at present constituted, they could retain their land revenue, but when they were abolished the land revenue would come to be administered by the Colonial Government, thus rendering it subject to the appropriation of the General Assembly, that General Assembly being mainly composed of members who had stated it as their opinion that the land revenues of Canterbury and Otago should be equally divided, The Assembly numbered some 78 members, of whom the Canterbury and Otago members only formed a minority, so that if abolition came to them what could they do in the matter? He put it to them that the logical sequence of the carrying out of the resolutions would be the abolition of the provinces in the South Island, the taking of their land revenue by the colony—that was the colonial Government who would succeed to the administration of it, then the Assembly, composed as he had pointed out, would have the power of dealing with it. [Hear, hear.] He hoped he had made it quite clear to them what the results would be of the abolition of the provinces. [Hear, hear.] So far as the resolutions themselves were concerned, he did not think it was necessary for him to criticise the reasons of the Government in bringing in those resolutions. One of them was that the provinces were in the way of the development of the public works system. He (Vlr Beeves) had asked his hon friend Mr Bichardson, the Minister for Public Works, to state in what way the provinces had interfered with the carrying out of the public works policy. The answer wag a very curious one, Mr Richardson

said—“ The hon. member has been a Minister himself, aud he ought to know.” Well, he (Mr Reeves), in the only statement which he had made in the House as a Public Works Minister, had taken occasion to say how much he owed to the cordial co-opera-tion he had received at the hands of the Superintendent and provincial authorities. He had said this before, but he now repeated it in the presence of his Honor the Superintendent. [Hear.] The same might be said of the Superintendents of Otago and Nelson. It was, therefore, not correct to say that the provinces were in the way of the development of the Public Works policy. In regard to immigration also, it was significant that, when Mr Vogel took over the immigration department, he had taken advantage of the co-operation of the provincial authorities, who had, as they were all aware, done so much in the way of settling the people in the country, and who had assisted the Government in every way in their power. He contended tlmt great assistance had been rendered by the provinces in the way of getting rid of the people who Jwere being poured into the colony in the depth of winter, when it was very difficult to absorb them from want of employment, and by this means had saved the General Government from what otherwise would have been a somewhat difficult task. [Hear, hear.] So much as regarded the statements as to the provinces being in the way of the development of the public works and immigration policy. [Cheers]. Now as regarded the provinces and the natives. He (Mr Reeves) had asked the Hon Donald McLean, in his place in the House, to state whether he had not in the most pressing necessity received great assistance and cordial co-operation from the provincial governments in the colony, and he had replied by saying, “ Hear, hear,” which at once admitted it. So that he considered these objections had been disposed of. But it appeared to him that it was not these objections which were the real cause ;it was a financial question. [Hear, hear.] And he said that it would have been far better if the Government had found that the resources of the colony were not equal to paying the interest and sinking funds on loans or the necessary amounts for carrying out works under the scheme, to have at once come to them and stated frankly that they required more money. Indeed, he believed it would have been far better to have allowed a certain apportionment of the laud revenue for these objects in place of taxation. [Hear, hear.] He desired it to be understood, however, that this question should first of all be submitted to the constituencies through the medium of a general election before being carried into effect. [Hear, hear.] It had been said of him that he was an ultraprovincialist, but he desired it to be clearly understood that he was not, nor had he ever been, an ultra-provin-cialist. He had never taken any part or lot in them, had never been a member of a Provincial Council, though he had studied these institutions thoroughly, and he was quite prepared to admit that when it was possible to travel by means of the railways now in course of construction from Nelson to Christchurch, or from Christchurch to Dunedin, these provincial divisions would of necessity to a great extent cease, and it would then be time to consider whether it would not be wise to see if modifications could not be made in the system. He was prepared to consider the simplification of it, whether it would be beat to adopt the shire or county form of government ; but it was in his opinion totally impossible to have one-half of the colony under one Government, and one half under another. When the time came for the abolition of the provinces, it would be necessary to have the whole colony placed under the same conditions. [Cheers.] If the Northern Island provinces were abolished, then the whole of them should also be abolished [cheers]; but the time he contended was not yet come for this to be done ; and before this large constitutional change was carried out the constituencies should be consulted, and the opinion of the people ascertained by means of a general election. He should oppose the abolition of the provinces next session ; but the last words he would say to them were, that nothing in this direction should be done without consulting the constituencies. [Hear.] He would now be happy to answer any questions. [Applause.] Mr Miln asked Mr Reeves whether, in event of a Bill being brought down to do away with the Northern Island provinces, and passed, would it become law without being referred to the mother country ? As it involved a change in the constitution he thought it would require to go home. Mr Reeves said that this matter came up in the House, and Mr Stafford had mentioned that several changes—minor ones compared to the present proposed changes—ha I been made in the constitution without reference to England. His own opinion was that the question of the abolition of the Northern Island provinces would have to be referred to England. Mr Miln asked Mr Reeves when the public works policy was introduced was it made a point that the whole of the land of New Zealand was made collateral security for the loans, and if so, could not the Government, without any side wind of abolition, come down on the land fund ? Mr Reeves—l think the Government does not possess the power to take the land in the manner put by Mr Miln. Mr Miln thought that a portion of the land fund might very reasonably be taken as part payment of the sinking fund or interest on loans for railways until they were in a paying condition to pay for themselves. He would like to ask Mr Reeves whether he thought the making of railways in the North Island advantageous to the South ? Mr Reeves said that anything which increased the population of the North Island, and thereby afforded an increased market for their produce, must of necessity be of benefit to the South. Mr Milne asked Mr Reeves what course he would pursue if it was proposed to abolish the Middle Island provinces as well as the Northern Island ones? Mr Reeves said this was a large question. He would tell them what his first course would be —sufficient for the day was the evil thereof. He should oppose any such step being taken unless the House was dissolved, when this was done, and he came before this constituency or any other, he should be enabled to give it his matured consideration. Of course, his action would be very much guided by the proposition brought forward by the Government in the matter. In answer to an elector, Mr Reeves said that a petition respecting the stations on the Leestou railway had been presented in the House and handed to the Minister for Public Works, who had promised to see it attended to,

Mr Bridge said that the matter of the fixing of the stations on the Leeston line had been recommended to the Government through the Road Board, and the recommendation had been sent up through Mr Bluett. Mr Lawrence asked what would be the position of the Road Boards in this island if Mr Vogel’s scheme was extended to the South. Mr Reeves said the whole system of Government would be altered. There was to be districts, sub-districts, and Road Boards, He might say that the proposal was a mere sketch. Nothing was yet known of what was intended to be done ; all was chaos. Mr Willis rose to move—“ That this meeting has confidence in Mr Reeves so far as he has gone.” Mr Miln seconded the motion. Mr Bridge said he rose to move an amendment to Captain Willis’s resolution. No one who had heard Mr Reeves’ exposition of opinion on the question] of the abolition of the provinces could refuse a vote of confidence. Looking to the fact of his vote against the abolition of the"provinces, and for the preservation of the land fund, he deserved well of his constituents. [Hear, hear.] Any member for the Middle Island who voted for the abolition of the provinces did not deserve the confidence of any constituency. [Cteers.J He would move : “ That this meeting expresses their entire approval of the course that Mr Reeves took in the last session of the General Assembly, and that they move a vote of confidence in him.” Captain Willis withdrew his motion, and seconded the amendment. An elector asked Mr Reeves what he intended to do with the Northern Island provinces 7 Mr Reeves desired to point out that as a private member it did not come within his province to say what should be done with the Northern Island or any other provinces. If he had been a member of the Government the question here been a perfectly fair one, and he would have endeavoured to answer it straightforwardly, subject, of course to Cabinet responsibility. An elector asked Mr Reeves whether he did not think that Canterbury would be benefited by handing over the land asked for in the State Forests Bill to the Colonial Government? Mr Reeves stated that he did not vote against the State Forests Bill; on the contrary, he had suggested to the Superintendent of the province that it would be well to make reserves for the establishment of State forests. But he did not believe in giving the Colonial Government land to the value of some £160,000, especially when they had only a portion of £IO,OOO to commence with. An elector asked Mr Reeves whether he would be in favor of further taxation? Mr Reeves said that he had supposed a case when the Government was in want of money ; but the Treasurer now said that he should have plenty of money to meet the interest on loans, &c. Some people had a different idea. He thought that if it was the case that the hypothesis he had stated came about, it would be better to take the sura required out of the land revenue rather than raise it by direct taxation. [Cheers.] In reply to a question, Mr Reeves said that he thought it would have been better if Mr O’Rorke had taken a more formal manner of tendering his resignation, but this was a small matter when they considered his noble conduct in giving up an honorable and well-paid office because he found he could not hold it consistently with his principles, [Cheers.] An elector —Did Mr Reeves vote for the increase of pay to members 7 Mr Reeves —No ; Mr Reeves did not. The same elector—Does Mr Reeves consider the members were well enough paid before 7 Mr Reeves —Yes ; I do think they were. An elector asked Mr Reeves whether he thought the additional four millions loan would complete the works 7 Mr Reeves said he had every confidence in the Minister for Public Works when he said that this amount would suffice. In answer to the same elector, Mr Reeves said it would require a great deal of persuasion to make him consent to another loan. At the same time rather than see works in a half finished state he would consider the matter of further loans. Mr Bridge’s resolution was then put and carried amid loud cheers. Mr Reeves having returned thanks for the vote of confidence, the meeting broke up after passing a vote of thanks to the chair-