THE ELECTIONS.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 454, 27 November 1875, Page 2

THE ELECTIONS.

MR JEBtON AT SELWYN.

Mr Jc.bson, one of the candidates (or the representation of the Coleridge district in the General Assembly, addressed the electors in the Selvvyn schoolroom on Thursday evening. There was a moderate attendance. Mr tlcPhail was requested to take the chair, and in a few appropriate woids introduced Mr Jebson to the meeting.

Mr Jebson. on rising, said that the chairman had truly said that, this was a great question which they were called upon to consider, and that no doubt they were ail .ware of the action he took in order, as far as nnss'b'e, to secure their consent to changes which were being effected in the constitution under which they lived. On the 17th of June last he moved a resolution in the Provincial Council as follows : That in the opinion of this Council it is inexpedient and unconstitutional to entertain and carry into effect any proposal to abolish the provincial form of Government in the frqyince of Canterbury, until

members unmistakably expressed a desire for such a change,” He moved that resolution, because he thought that if any such change was to be effected, the people ought to have a voice in the matter. He would like to say that he did not wish to make this a Class question, and that he would strive to act out that view, as he considered that it was far too important a question to be made a class question, and he also thought that by trying to make it such would be an attempt to introduce a something tending to avoid the real issue which was before the country. The issue before the country was one that was very clear and distinct. By the action of the General Assembly it was proposed to sweep away that form of Government to which they had all become accustomed. Those who advocated a central form of Government had not thoroughly calculated what was implied in a central form of Government. A central form of Government was absolute, and the power was vested in an independent number of persons. It was a Government that was to be administered from a centre, and by deputies appointed by central power. He was sure that if those gentlemen had carefully considered what would be the result of their proposals, they would shrink from putting such an issue before the country. All statesmen in modern times have aimed at delegating as much as possible local Government to the people, and an all-wise statesman had proved that this is the only mode by which the conflicting elements could be reconciled, and the only sound principle by which centres of population could be governed. They, in this country, were indebted to those who had lived before them for framing for them one of the most popular forms of Government that could be devised, and which they knew as the provinces, and which has bad a legal existence even before what is called the Parliament of the country. The provincial form of Government takes precedence of the Colonial Legislature, and they were indebted to them for giving them a Constitution of the most popular kind, securing to them that which was dear to every man whose right was in the United Kingdom to which they belong. Now the issue before them was this—they were called upon abruptly and recklessly to scatter that form of Government to which they were becoming accustomed; und<r which, he thought, great good had been effected—greater good perhaps bad been effected in the time than in any other part of the world. It may be said that p'evinces have become decrepid, have become old and are dead, but a little reflection would prov. that good institutions never become decrepid or die; they might be suppressed f *r a time, buttliev could not destroy a good sound pun cipie : for i-o sure as it become depressed, so su ie would it assert its mighty power. A great many things have been done to make this central form of government vety popular. A large amount of borrowed money has been spent in buying support to pass this measure of Abolition. [Hear, hear] The ordinary income of the colony was scarcely sufficient to meet the ordinary expenditure of the colony, and then they were told the chief reason why this revolution was ratified is because a number of the North Island provinces have no means to carry on ti e government of their various provinces—that is, to maintain the peace, order, and administer the government in that part of the colony. He (Mr Jebson) thought that those who now adopted that course are to blame. The North Island ten years ago was not only willing, but anxious that they should be left to themselves ; that they should be made separate provinces, having their own resources, and thought they were quite competent to take care of themselves, and said so. I he parties who were now loudest in their cries for the abolition of the provinces were the peoj 1; who were then loudest in their denunciation against the North Island for wishing to separate themselves from the people of the South Island. The operation of the Abolition Act was suspended until after the new Pailiament had met and the session closed, and then the issue was as to whether this abolition shall be effected absolutely. Those who have brought them into this state of disaster have left them without anything to which they could turn as a substitute for that which is taken away. They were in the position of a house, the foundation of which has been taken away from under it, and then suspended by hydraulic pressure until such times as the people who have taken out the foundation have time to put in a foundation connected with the structure, the foundation of which they have taken away; and this is a faculty that exists in many minds. A 1 most anyone can pull down, but to erect an edifice with fair proportions and adapted to the requirements that have to be met, required men with skill. They tell them of the benefits that they are to derive from this abolition. What were they 7 They propose to take all the living of the colony and bring it into one centre, ard out of that union, after they have got all that they have to give them, propose to dole out to the various provinces—Canterbury, Otago, and the rest. Out of the residue of the laud fund which they have made they propose to give back a pound for every pound you raise. Well, he did not think that this was at all an advantage to any part of the colony. It cannot be an advantage to the north part of the colony The resourci s of that portion of the colony were notjin any way likely to increase its revenue, and therefore, if there was no prov sior to increase their revenue—if there, was more money to be spent amongst them, it must come from somewhere. They had always been able to conduct their own affairs very effectually, and never bad to go to the Colonial Government to ask them for anything. There was no plan sketched out by which the revenues of the colony were to be increased. The revenues of the colony at present consisted of the Customs revenue, the stamp duties, and the waste land revenue These were their only sources of wealth, and out of such all the ordinary expenditure should be met. At the best the Colonial Government only undertook such works as were in other countries performed either by the local Governments of those countries oi by ths various companies who organise them selves, and out of their own capital carry on much larger works than they had yet attempted in the colony of New Zealand Twenty millions was now their debt—a very large amount. He did not say

that it was a burden which they could not carry, by no means ; but he did say that while they had this burden put upon them he thought it was lime that they found some other means of meeting the interest on that debt than by paving it out of the loans of money they were borrowing. [Hear, hear.] Now they they had entered upon a great system of public works, which was quite right and very proper. The principle laid down was equitable and a fair one, that in every province and district where the railway was struck if the returns of the working of that railway were insufficient to meet the interest and necessary working expenses, that that was to be met out of taxation on the land of the district in which the railway was constructed. He said that was a sound principle, but if that principle was abandoned then it seemed to him that it should bo adopted in another form, and the property of the country, as well an the persons in the country, should have to contribute a fair quota towards paying on this very large amount of money, which had gone to benefit the property in a greater proportion than it had benefited the persons. They were paying at this moment about £5 per head for every man, woman, and child, so that a man with a family of four children paid £3O per annum in direct taxation. The property of the country had not paid a single sixpence to the general revenue of the country to this hour. [Hear, hear.] Now what he meant by the property of the country was real property—the land and what was upon it. Every other thing was perishable, but this material property never changed its character and never fluctuated very much in its value. Thirteen millions had been expended in railways and public works. Was it possible that this amount of money could be spent without materially benefiting the real property of the country 7 Certainly not. The property of the country had escaped up to the present up to the present time. Now this form of centralism did not propose to alter this state of things, but it proposed to take to itself a power that would press heavily upon the people of the colony, and increase their burdens also Anyone at all acquainted with the matter would find that the land tax from the most remote periods had been the tax on which Government relied most, and then merchandise. They had imposed window taxes, hearth taxes, and a variety of things ; but these had been all swept away one after another; but the property of the country had always been called to pay its share of the i.urden. This was quite consistent with the first principles of Government. Government was called into existence for the protection of persons and property over which it is called to exercise supervision and protection therefore, in all communities Government was necessary, and as a natural consequence could not be established and administered without money, and therefore the two combined had always been called upon to bear a fair share of the burdens of the country. This centralism, no matter where it had been tried, had always had one result, and that was where the powers had been lodged they had taken care to exempt themselves from the burdens until they had become grievous, and the people had revolted and thrown iff the yoke. Now, in all matters of legislation and government, haslily and ill-considered changes did not contribute to the wellbeing of any people He was bound to admit that the central form of Government proposed to them was not a reform. [Hear, hear.] It was a retrograde movement, and therefore he wished them to consider whether they would adopt this absolute form of Government, or a modified system, which would leave them in a somewhat better position. He (Mr Jebson) had now given them, he thought clearly, his views of centralism, and he would now go on to the form of Government which he thought should be substituted. He was not wedded to the Provincial form of Government, and there were many reasons why he was not. Christchurch loudly clamored and raised a howl against the Provincial form of Government, because, they said, the Provincial form of Government took care of the out-lying districts to the utter neglect of cities and towns of the province. The Christchurch people adopted the central system because the representatives of the outlying districts would take care of them. What they required was a real local Government. A real local Government had certain legislative powers, and their powers should be well defined, so that either party could not interfere with them. There were very few subjects with which a Federal Government need to trouble themselves with, but there were some, and let them be clearly established. Let them deal with subjects which could only be dealt with by a Federal Government, and let the districts deal with the other matters, sach as police, hospitals, charitable aid, lunatic asylums, bridges, and roads, and the maintenance of order and peace. Let this devolve upon them, but with national questions, let them be dealt with by the Federal Government. What would be saved by this form of Government? The excessive expenditure and extravagance of a central form of government would go a long way towards relieving the needs that now in the North Island. They must resort to their own local form of Government, and let that be Boards ot Works The Timaru and Gladstone Board was an example. They required a multipli cation of such boards. But could Boards df Works expect to be placed in the srme position as the Timaru and Gladstone Board, timaru had, by Act of the Legislature, 25 per cent of all tt-e proceeds of the land -outh of the Kangitata, and Timaru came in for its fair share of the residue of the- other 75 per cent, so that, Timaru not only got 25 per cent absolutely, but got a share of the proportionate residue after. Multiply that principle, and he (Mr Jebson) was with them. But they could not multiply Boards of Works on the Timaru and Gladstone principle, without they could be placed iu a similar position. Most of the lands which had been sold ban been south -f tb. Kangitata, and the I imam and GladstonBoard had very large funds tc tln-i----credit, and this was due to their land sales Create other Boards from the -shburtoii to the Uakaia ana from the Waimakariri U the north. But after they got across th< Waimakariri the land was nearly all sold and therefore there would only be left the

pasturage licenses to fall back upon. Let these Boards have borrowing powers to carry on the construction of bridges and all other necessary works, and let them pay their interest out of revenues they derive from the various sources over which they had control. He thought the railway should belong to the district and be worked by the district. Be now came to a question which was a very impoitant one, the Waste Lands of the colony. He had thought over that subject most carefully. There were people who said that the abolition of the provinces was the preliminary step to the ultimate dealing with the Waste Lands of the Crown. It was a most sigjificant fact that there was not a poison connected with the pastoral interest of the colony that was found on the side of the provincialists. He had taken the trouble to go through a return published in the month of August, and he found in Canterbury that one company was the Crown tenant for 67 holdings : another company had 49 in the Province of Canterbury. A gentleman was the owner of 12; another 5; a bank, 7 ; two gentlemen, 6 each. There were then seven companies and individuals holding 152 runs. What he desired was to point out where the money power rested, and then see where the political power was sought to be vested. There were 152 tenants and seven nonholders representing nearly one-third of the public estate. It was absolutely necessary that this question should be settled before the year 1880. [Hear, hear ] He thought the waste lands would let for 1? in 1880, and that would give them £200,000 a year. He thought he had made himself clear on this point, and should he happy to answer any questions after he had said a few words on education. Last year it was necessary to take the last quarter’s instalment of the Road Board grant, amounting to £16,000, because the land sales were falling off. Education got the £16,000 over the vote, and the Road Boards £16,000 less than the vote. They could see this state of things could never go on, as it became a a question whether the whole proceeds of the land sales should be spent on education, and that the Road Boards should maintain themselves by rates. He thought it w'ould be necessary to put an educational tax on the property ot the country everywhere. He would by no means tax the industry of the country, it w’ould be impolitic as well as unjust. In reply to questions, Mr Jebson said that he would not change the present system under which runs had been held, but would be in favor of leaving them open to free selection. He thought ten years would be a fair term, and would bring a higher rental in that way.

Mr Tosswill and Mr Wason addressed the meeting at some length at the conclusion of Mr Jebson’s address.

Mr Jebson proposed a vote of thanks to the chairman for the ability and kindness which he had displayed. Mr Tosswill seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.