SIR GEORGE GREY AT AUCKLAND.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1939, 12 May 1880, Page 3

SIR GEORGE GREY AT AUCKLAND.

[Bt Telegraph.j AUCKLAND, May 11. Sir George Grey addressed a public meeting of the citizens of Auckland to-night, at the Theatre Eoyal The building was crowded to excess. On the platform were Messrs. Harris, Hamlin, Moss, Speight, Tole, Wallis, influential citizens and representatives of public and friendly societies. A number of ladies were also present. Captain D. H. Mackenzie, chairman of the central committee, presided. On Sir G. Grey making his appearance on the platform, he was recciy. d with enthusiastic cheering. The Chairman ; having introduced Sir George to the meeting, ho commenced his address. He said that they had met that evening to consider the state of the country, and what was beat for the people. He proposed to confine himself to the leading questions of the day, avoiding petty and personal detail. As the inhabitants of wi at would be a great conn ! ry it was beneath their dignity to consider matters of trifling import, 'ihey would consider the platform on which was being built up laws and customs which would affect themselves and their children’s children. The greatest production of ajconntry was noblemen and noblewomen. and what tney had now to do was to plant "such institution as would produce nobility of character, public morality, and religious feelings, and fit the citizens for this world and the next. Writers of history showed that a nation might be moulded to anything by its institutions in its earlier history. They could now mould in like manner New Zealand to whatever they liked, or in what mode they thought fit. There was great difficulty iu doing so after such institutions were well grounded, as was shown in an effort to found a .Republic after centuries of Monarchic.! Government. But terrible as were the effects of the French revolution, it paved the way for a bettor state of things. The New Zealand Constitution had lasted only twentyseven years, and without any adequate resistance their rulers had been permitted to sweep away one of the most perfect forms of selfgovernment which any country ever enjoyed. At all events, when those institutions wore taken away tho people should have seen to it that they retained the right of self-government instead of the quasi despotism now prevailing. He saw in one of the journals a report of a speech by Sir W iliiam Fox, in which that gentleman said tho difference between Sir George Grey’s party and h.s was that he Fox) favored American institutions, while Grey was inclined to tbo=e of Franco. To that statement he must give an emphatic denial. He never inclined to the views thus attribntedtohim, and could not believe that tho accusation had been seriously made. Sir W. Fox was to have been the leader of his party or the Premier after tho last election. They would hereafter know whether he was in favor of American institutions. Tho President of America was elected by the people, and enjoyed a moderate income. In New Zealand they had a Governor nominated by the Crown, enjoying an enormous salary. If be bad to entertain

a large number of people or keep up grand style it was necessary. Hut what was the result of that system? Through that dunkojism which seemed to be inherent in human nature, every petty official or district magnate felt bound in his degree to imitate the Governor, and thus was brought about a reckless social extravagance which injured everyone. With all due respect to the Governor and his office, he believed that the Governor ought to bo elected by themselves. The office ought to be an object of every wortty citizen, one to which he might finally aspire Ho saw no reason, for instance, why a son of Auckland, if duly qualified, should not fill it. The Governor placed power in the hands of those in office in England to damage the people of England by awarding such prizes of patronage to sycophants and dependents. In holding these views was he not holding those of American Statesmen. Their titles were unknown in America. In England no title coaid be given by the Crown without the advice of a Cabinet Minister. An instance of that was the case of William the IY., who wanted to make his son-in-law a peer when the Earl Grey Ministry wa» going out. When ho (Sir George Grey) was in office, his views concerning titles and the election of Governors were well known to the authorities at the Colonial Office. Yet communications were privately sent to Mr Fox and Mr Stafford, a king them whether they would accept titles. He knew nothing of it, though ho was the head of the Colonial Government. Had, for instance, the Queen made Mr Gladstone, or other distinguished politicians, peers without reference to Lord Beaconsfield, the people of England would have risen as one man to resent it. This attempt to raise a landed aristocracy here had been persistently carried oat for years by the party in power. That did not look much like favoring American institutions. What analogy was there between the principles of the party in power with regard to political representation or those ruling on that bead in America ? The Liberal party in Now Zealand proposed manhood suffrage; their opponents wished to throw the whole power into the hands of property holders and land lessees or occupiers. He had found the Auckland public intelligent and ready to hear reason for a conrae of conduct, and to lean to the cause of truth. The party in power were going to base the representaGon upon population, but without disturbing the pre ent representation of the North Island. It was absurd to partly practise the principles of Liberalism and partly violate them. He would call upon the Auckland people, notwithstanding any temporary advantage, to repudiate such proposals. The North would in a few years be settled by a large population, and then the balance would be restored. They had no occasion to fear the Middle Island settlers, who had no intention of wronging them. It was the large, landed owners who would do anything to advance their interests, and he was sorry to sea jealousy of the South instilled into their minds by sections of the public Press. He would now come to the land question. Those who were going to give them American institutions as they said, and to trample on that Communist Grey, with his French manners. wanted those public lands for themselves. They prevented him passing a law by which the Government would buy land of the Natives, the latter getting fair value instead of being made drunk or swindled; a law by which that land would have been sold by auction in suitable blocks or on deferred payments, without favor or partiality. Was he a Communist in endeavouring to carry out such measures as that ? Those who were working with him desired to make the best land laws possible to give every man in the community a chance of haying a stake in the soil. Mr Sheehan last year, in a remarkable speech, had shown the Auckland citizens bow the Natives were done out ef their land. He advised them to ponder over the statements made in that speech, and they could come to no other conclusion than that such an iniquitous system must come to an end. Coming to financial matters, is was stated that a large deficiency existed. In reality it was about .£BO,OOO to ,£90,000. The deficiency in the land revenue amounted to ,£35,000; but the land was all there. It had not run away or cost anything for storage. Everybody born increased its national increment, for more land would be wanted. Would merchants who had goods in their stores, which in a short time would find sale and increase in value, consider themselves bankrupt. Then the party in power made their own estimates, and could make any deficiency after the fashion in which they had made their statement. Sketch out a number of works which were never intended to be made (say in Auckland), place appropriations against them, and the thing was done. That was no deficiency at all. But their opponents said there was a deficiency in the revenue. He would refer to that hereafter. Was there anything so bad as meanness ? If a man was not so well off as people supposed and economised, he did not consider that mean. If he wore an old coat but fed others, he did not consider that mean ; but this was meanness: for men to draw taxation from the property of the whole people, and expend it on works which would increase the value of their own properties, to filch from the poor to make rich wealthier. It was the robbery of every child in the colon c to increase Customs taxation for such purposes. He left it to the people to judge whether in acting thus, those in power were following the Americans, or whether he was a Communist. He urged that they should remember that those who worked with him were endeavoring to better the state of things. In Auckland there was some apathy, and he must say it, and unless they bestirred themselves it would bear inevitable fruits. There never was a better chance than now to make of this colony a great nation. The first thing that had been done, after some difficulty, was to give free education to every child of solid character, and such as would enable it to think and act right. These American gentlemen, or so-called imitators of American institutions, wanted something very different. It was a, struggle to achieve what had been done, but it was accomplished. Public schools should be thfl_fpi-tllo springs leading to discoveries and inventions, which would yet give to tho colony. His party would ever strive to give every man a fair share in the government of the country, and a chance to develope in its service every gift with which Providence had endowed him in his youth. He had seen that money, not ability, paved the road to preference. He hoped never to see that system obtain in New Zealand. Turning again to the question of the land, for it was a most important one, these American gentlemen who are endeavoring to arrange a system of land purchase, have stopped the progress of the country for years ta come. A small number of persons have got the best portion of the colony in their hands wrongfully and irreparably as ha believed. Taking Canterbury, for instance, with which some of the Ministers were connected, where unsold lands had been declared open to all, and where a man might select and go to _ Christchurch and pay his £2 an acre and get his selection, a system of gridironing had obtained which effectually closed tho country against small selectors, and which he explained at length. An effort ought to be made by law to remedy that wrong and the injuries that had been perpetrated on individuals. There were instances in other provinces of men holding 100.00'J acres of land. One case was in Otago, where a number of capitalists bought largo tracts of laud _ formed a company, and now informed the public in offering it for sale, that they had selected it so as to prevent the adjoining land being bought by anybody, and which block was being used os a run. to be purchased when necessary. Such a land system led to the ownership of men, to servility, pauperism such as that which afflicted Ireland. He had in his youth seen peasants flogged for standing on a field wall and turning tho fox. Modern writers had laid it down as a noteworthy fact that in a new country tho idlest and most cunning would acquire the lands of the State, unless watched. It was done by intrigue and without labour, while tho tradesman was absorbed in his business, and the artizan in his toil. If they did not seek to obtain equal rights for all in purchasing the public estate, they would be serfs to those who held the land. Look at tho Legislative Council, nominated by tho Crown and representing tho landed interests, and those only. Though the people had no voice in their election yet no law could be made or altered without their consent. While ho was in England, he heard of laws being altered in the Council and sent down to the Lower Honee which had proved injurious to the interests of the colony. The whole Legislative Council could resign their seats, get elected for small constituencies, and take their seat in the Assembly. Even if they rejected a man as a representative the Governor could call that man to the Upper House and put him in the Ministry in spite of the people. They had no chance of getting good laws while snob a state of things existed. Wh it right had any class of men to set vast tracts of laud by methods which the public could not use or to make land laws so as to obta'* special aggrandisement. Would the people of Auckland stand a system of gridironing here Then the system of confidential letters had sprung up in the Government. There was no such thing in England. Could any of his audience write to the Minister of Lands treating for 80,000 acres on terms not known to the public. Such a practice as confidential letter writing would have to bo stopped, as Sir Robert feel had stopped it in England. Large blocks of land were nowbeing purchased by private parties over which the public had valid rights. In one case they were going to allow some English gentlemen to acquire 250,000 to 30J.000 acres, conditional on advances being refunded to tho extent of £SOOO. Ho saw by tho journals that it was proposed to sacrifice the education system and impo-e fresh taxation through the Customs to meet the financial difficulty, bnt such a scheme would greatly injure the country. Under the counties system property had an immense preponderance of voting power, and would not scruple to use it fer class purposes and interests. Ho looked forward to such a state of things with apprehension. It was said that tho Constitution was twenty-seven years old. 'lho Legislative Council was a venerable body, and refor.t s must bo made cautiously in tho Constitution. It would take centuries to got their rights if they allowed the present slate of affairs

to go on. The people had aright to a convention to prepare their own Constitution, and to choose their own destiny, if they were in favor of the American system, that was the way to do it, for such was their duty to themselves and the colony. The hen. gentleman sat down amidst loud cheers. Mr Samuel Luke proposed, and Mr J. T. Boyland seconded, the following resolution — 11 That tho thanks of the meeting be accorded to Sir George Grey for his ablo address just delivered, and this meeting begs to reassure him of their unabated confidence in him, both as a representative and a leader.” The motion was carried by ac-lamation. Messrs Tole, Wallis, Harris, Hamlin, Speight, and Swanson being called, addressed the meeting. Messrs Wallis and Swanson gjt an indifferent hearing.