MR MACANDREW AT PORT CHALMERS

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 469, 15 December 1875, Page 3

MR MACANDREW AT PORT CHALMERS

{By Electric Telegraph) Port Ciialmebs, December 13.

Mr Macandrew addressed his constituents at Port Chalmers this evening. The place was crowded. The Mayor was in the chair. Mr Macandrew, on rising, was received with applause. He said when he last met them it was as their representative in the General Assembly. Since then that body had been dissolved, and it now depended on their wishes whether or not he should have the honour of representing their district in the new Parliament. He had pressing invitations to represent several important constituencies throughout the province, all of which he had declined, under the belief that the tie which had for so many years existed between the Port Chalmers district and himself should not at present be broken in as far as he was concerned at least. When he last addressed them he was disposed after so many years service to have retired from the General Assembly and make room for others. Circumstances had occurred since theu, however, which would render it cowardly in him to withdraw from the impending contest, upon the issue of which depended the future welfare of New Zealand in general and of Otago in particular. In soliciting their suffrages at the forthcomr g election, he deemed it unnecessary to explain his political views, as they were already well known. He had been all along a supporter of the policy of progress, and the right of the people to manape their own local affairs. He regarded the diffusive principle as being the true theory of Government, and as most calculated to give the greatest possible happiness to the greatest possible number. The great battle which has now to be fought in New Zealand was partly in defence of this principle, and partly in opposition to that * principle of political communism which would compel those who through frugality and industry in husbanding their resources had acquired wealth, to share that wealth with others who had been less provident, or it might be less energetic. Take for example those provinces which, like the Prodigal Son, had wasted their patrimony, alienated their waste land for 2s 6d and 5s an acre. The practical effect of the Abolition Bill would be to enable them to share with Canterbury and Otago the residue of their waste lands, none of which would have remained had they been open for sale at the same figure. The Government and its supporters declared that the Abolition Bill as finally passed, secured the Jo a! allocation of the land revenue. Never was there a greater delusion. He did not know whether to admire most the cool effrontery of the assertion or the innocent credulity of those who believed it. There could not be the slightest doubt that the sole aim and object of the Abolitiou Bill was to enable the Colonial Treasurer to lay hands on the land fund, so that when he goes in for further loans, he may be able to show that his assets are so much more than they would otherwise be. As it is, even granting that there is any intention of localising the land fund, the primary charges thereon, to wit the interest on the provincial debt. The cost of survey and administration will swallow up tho lion's share, so that the residue available for localisation will become small by degrees and beautifully less. If, in addition to the charges nnmed, th. re be added interest on railways which do not pay more than working expenses, for which the land fund is also liable, it will be found that the residue available for local allocation will be nil. Hut even granting that it should turn out to be otherwise, and that there is a modicum left, he felt persuaded that the provisions of the Abolition Bill would share the same fate as those of the Public Works Act, by which it was enacted .•hat the enflt of the railwavs should be charged against the provinces within which they are constructed, and any profit should become provi.ei >1 revenue. Now, however, it has been stated by the. Convtjiseioner of Hustom«, from his place in Parliament, in the hearing of his colleagues, and applauded by them, that the law must be altered and the profits derived from railways in Otago are to be aplied to cover the losa which may arise on railways in Marlborough, Tarauaki, and elsewhere. From this Ihey would be able to judge somewhat of the nature of the battle which has to bo fought if Otago is to hold its own. The two great parties in New Zealand now are the Centralists and the anti-Cen-tralists. Centralism "of course means one governing power, and one purse for the whole colony, a community of goods, and the sweeping away of those district entities which have made the colony what it is, and but for which, in all probability, instead of ranking fourth fiom the top, it would now rank fourth from the bottom of all the colonies in the empire. He need not say that he was ranged under the anti-centralistic banner. The term abolitionist was altogether a misnomer ; abolish what ? They say abolish the provinces. Why the Abolition Bill does not pretend to do this. It simply changes the nnme province to provincial district, and the Government from provincial to central—that is to say, the powers hitherto exercised within the province by men elected by and directly responsible to the people, are transferred to the General AsFembly and Colonial Executive at Wellington. To his mind, the great curse of the colony—that which has involved it in an enormous nublic debt which has wasted the energies of its public men, has been that spirit of centralism which during the past twenty years his striven for the ascendency, and which, unless the forthcoming election shall determine otherwise, has now got the colony completely in its grasp. It will thereby have succeeded in defeating what he believed to be one of the finest constitutions ever conferred upon a people. The Constitution Act of New Zealand had never had a fair chance. The spirit which inspired it has been entirely defeated by the persistent action of a few ambitious men for their own purpose. He had heard oue who was once termed New Zealand's greatest statesman, or greatest orator, ho forgot which —certainly one of the chief apostles of centralism, declare in his place in Parliament that but for the Maori war this colony would not be worth living in as a school for statesmen. The spirit and inteution of the constitution was to confer upon the different communities which colonised New Zealand the powers of managing their own local affairs, and of making laws for their own peace, order, and good government. It was to confer upon the central legislature the power of dealing with certain federal functions. This central legislation, however, had not been content to confine itjself to federal functions, but had arrogated to itself and usurped those which

the provinces were supposed to be able to exercise io* chemselves, aud which he maintained they wore and are still best able to perform. So irvich so had this been the case that it is now positively illegal in many instances to dot your i's or stroke your t's without the special sanction of the Governor in Council. As a specimen of this sort of thing, it was only the other day that the Otago Harbor Board, which is entrusted with the expenditure of a quarter of a million of money, had to apply to his Excellency to appoint an officer to collect jetty dues. Just fancy a body, supposed to be qualified to be entrusted with the management of the Otago harbor havincr to go to Wellington to get sanctioned the appointment of the man who is to collect the sixpences. [Laughter. | The thing to his mind was most humiliating, and was only a specimen of the whole tendency of that centralism which is bent upon having a finger in every man's pie. It was only the session before last that a Bill was actually intro duced by the Government, which, if passed, would have necessitate! every private individual, and every Road Board and municipality throughout the colony, before they could construct a ditch or a culvert, to procure plans and obtain the concurrence of the Governor in Council. It was chiefly through his efforts that the things had been so far modified. He had said that one of the results of centralism, among others, had been that it has wasted the energies of our public men. Wha he meant was that those who had been called upon to administer public affairs in the provinces, instead of being left to devote themselves exclusively to the practical work before them, have had their time and energy distracted in defending the interests with which they were charged against the continued encroachments and thwarting propensities of a grasping and intermeddling centralism. There had in fact been scarcely a progressive movement in Otago at least which has not been attempted to be knocked on the head by centralism, as being ultra vires, or which has not been accomplished, so to speak, at the point of the bayonet. No man used to dilate with more scathing eloquence upon the evil of an intermeddling central Government than Sir Julius Vogel. Another result of centralism wa3 its enormous extravagance. While it abstracts from the pocket of each man, woman, and child some £5 a year, it gives back nothing adequate in return. Nearly all that Otago gets is the honor and glory of belonging to this great and united colony, of lining governed from Cook's Straits, and of sending some twenty-five men for every three months in the year to aid others in doing for us there what could be done so much better and more economically here. As a matter of pounds, and pence, it would pay Otago to take upon itself considerably more than its share of the debt of the colony, in order to have the disposal within itself of its own revenue and the management of its own affaiis. It is difficult to conceive how a young country like this has allowed its resources to be absorbed in an extravagant and unproductive expenditure altogether incompatible with the nature of things, and which there was no practical way of getting out of uulcss brought more directly under the eye and control of the people than could possibly be the case under a distinct and comparatively irresponsible centralism at Wellington. As an instance of how the money goes, there is now being creed d in Wellington a wooden building, the contract price of which is upwards of £40,000. By the time it is finished and is full of furniture, we irny reckon upon its costing at least £70,000. It will contain a whole army of officials at salaries varying from £2OO to £BOO a year, very few of whom are absolutely required for th« good government of the country, but all of whom will fi ;d employment under the bureaucratic centralism now proposed. In the building in question there are Bever.il hundred T>oms. They would, however, be found far too few to accommodate the amount of patronage which would be at the disposal of the central Government when the provincial administration is abolished. He had not yet heard one single good and effi cient reason why the provincial system should bo abolished. There may be mmy reasons why it Rhould be reformed and improved in various ways. Rut to abolish it is the work of chi'dren or of madmen. There can be no doubt, that the provincial system has, in the past, produced great results, notwithstanding and in spite of the obstacles with which it has to contend at the hands, or rather under the shadow of the centralistic upas tree beneath whose pestiferous shade all life dies and d'iath lives. [Cheers J We were engaged in one of the noblest and most honorable missions which can fall to the lot of humanity, rearing up what he believed is destined to become a great nation ; and if we direct its growth properly, posterity will arise and call us blessed. [Applause.] Let them remember that it. is with nations as with individuals. The child is father of the man, and it is easier far to bend the sapling than the knotted oak. What he desired was that they should all be impressed with a sense of the enormous responsibility which devolved upon them, and that every man who possessed the electoral franchise should regard it as a sacred trust, through which he can shape the destinies of a country, which it may be will yet become the seat of the empire. As regards the adoption of the best system of Government, he could not help sometimes contrasting the advantages which we possess in this respect as compared with other countries, where the prejudices of ages have to be overcome, and the cobwebs of feudalism swept away, before they could reach anything fke perfection. In Europe the greatest philosophers and thinkers of the must conteut themselves with propounding theories of government. They have to operate against, a wall as hard as adamant. Here, however, we can deal with the subject practically, bringing the experience of all ages and countries into a focus. We have, so to speak, a virgin soil, out of which, if only true to ourselves, we may rear up civil institutions which may afford an example to the world, and may influence the happiness of the whole human race. All he would say, further, was that it is not by setting up a central Bureaucracy at Wellington that these aspirations are to be realised. If this country is to be governed, and its affairs ad • ministered by clerks and permanent heads of departments at Wellington, then by all means let them go in for centralism pure and simple—centralism, which will feed you, clothe you, dot your i's, and stroke your t's. No doubt, this is the very best form of Government for serfs, and that by which the few can be aggrandised at the expense oi

the many. He ventured to submit, however, that it was not the best for free men, or for the perpetuation of free institutions. There were men in New Zealand who to see this would exclaim " bunkum"—men who had not souls beyond sixpences—who could comprehend no higher principle of political action than the main chance. From all such he fervently prayed that they might be delivered. Mr Macandrew then stated that he was prepared to answer questions. In answer to questions, his Honor said he would pledge his word of honor that the effect of abolition would be to deprive and rob the province of two hundred thousand pounds a year for all times coming. [Cheers.] He believed that if a plebicite could be taken in Otago, not a tithe of the electors would be found in favor of centralism. It was ouly for want of good men that twenty men were not sent up to Wellington in favor of provincialism, but men could not be found to be sent. He was gratified to find that he was receiving letters from all parts of the province, believing in his views, and from people he thought were abolitionists, and this was owing in a great measure to the perusal of his pamphlet. [Cheers J He had no doubt that if the people of Otago could find themselves in the North Island there would be a large population and plenty of prosperity, The/ wanted aome of the Southern enterprise in the North Island. He had no objection to Canterbury getting the whole o F New Zealand providing we get Otago. He had no doubt that Otago and Canterbury would be soon united, but he did not believe in forcing them into wedlock. He had looked upon the telegraph to the heads as a luxury. It was another instance of having more money than we knew what to do with.

Mr Miller proposed a vote of confidence in Mr Macandrew, as a fit and proper person to represent them in the next Parliament. It was seconded by Mr Mills, and carried unanimously, with cheers. The meeting was greatly in favor of the speaker, and would not hear anything against him. The proceedings terrninatd at 9.20 p.m.