SIR G. GREY AT THE ODDFELLOWS’ HALL.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1945, 19 May 1880, Page 3

SIR G. GREY AT THE ODDFELLOWS’ HALL.

Sir George Grey addressed the electors of Christchurch at the Oddfellows’ Hall last evening at half-past seven o’clock. The hall was literally crammed, and the gallery was lirgely patronised by the ladies, for whose accommodation it had been specially received. Sir George Grey, on appearing on the platform, was greeted with loud and prolonged cheering. Dr. Turnball, president of the Liberal Eeform Asso. elation, ccnpied the chair. The Chairman said he would not offer any remarks from the chair further than to introduce the gentleman who would address them. Sir George Grey, who then came forward was enthusiastically received. He said —Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen.—l appear before yon to-night under peculiar circumstances. I am in truth jour representative. _ [Loud applause] But by a party proceeding another person has been put in my place. [>.beers and hisses.] Now, this is a more important matter than you think at first, it is a deadly stab at the liberties of the people of _ New Zealand. Let me explain tho point to yon. The privilege has been allowed, at all times, to the people of ony portion of the Brit sh dominions to choose whom they plea e as their representative. It happens sometimes that two places, and sometimes three place , choose the same man ; and the privilege is then allowed him of sel icting the place for which he will eit. Mr Parnell was also chosen for three places at the late elections. This is a thing which is occurring over and ove* again in all the British colonies, and in New Zealand, aud the law respecting it ia invariably such as I have stated to you here; the people choose whom they will have to represent them in Parliament. If more than one constituency chooses the same representative, then ha selects the place he will sit for. We i. now then, the Judges of Great Britain have Did down this rule-that where the representative selec.s one constituency and abandons another, a new election is to take place: and the law is laid down by them on a rational principle. They say if the people at the time they return d the representative had no knowledge that from bankruptcy, from having committed a fraud, or from some such circumstance, ho conld not be their representative, a new election must be allowed. And why ? Because otherwise the votes of the persons who returned him are absolutely thrown away. [Cheers ] “ Thrown away ” is the term used by the Judges. Now, when I represented to the House of Assembly that if they did persist in carrying out the recommendations of the committee, the votes of 13'.-0 t hristchurch electors would be thrown away, some of the members of the present Government laughed in my face, and said—“ Not at all: if we d ■ not put Mr Eichardson in his seat, then in the same way the persons who voted for him would have their votes thrown away also.” [Laughter ] Well, now, j ust let ns r efle t for one moment. If a new election had been allowed, in reality no votes would have been thrown away, since the 1300 electors who voted for me would have had their power of voting still, and those who had voted for Mr Eichardson would still have had their power of voting for their candidate. [Hear, hear.] Yet that most absurd argument was thrown in my teeth, and received with shouts of laughter and ridicule, reflecting upon myself, ho much for party feeling, [ipp'auso, and cries of “We will send you in again ! ”] Bnt rest assured of this—that every session that I am returned to the House of Kepresentatives I will move that the vote wcich deprived the electors of Christchurch of the power of voting for another member be expunged from the journals of the House. [Loud applause ] That is the recognised practice at Home, and the House of Commons have shown so much this proper feeling that when they have had such a subject brought before their notice they have ultimately, in all cases, expunged from their journals the wrong vote entered upon them. These are the men who have recognised and determined that no such party proceedings shall stand as records of Parliament, which ought to be pure, and set an example to the people. Now, we ought never to rest until justice has been done to the whole of the electors of New Zealand in the persons of the electors of Christchurch, by the House of Assembly in New Zealand recognising that the votes of large bodies of the electors shall not be thrown aw -y under such circumstances as I have mentioned. r J hose who do not shrink from trouble —who do not wish to abandon what is their duty to their fellows, should at opce agitate this question. I myself wdl never leave ihe matter until I got that vote expunged from the records of the House. Now, I desire, whi e considering myself in truth as your representative—[cheers]—that in all respects my proceedings shall stand out clearly before yon, that yon should have an opportunity of judging whether I am right or wrong. Now, during the last session of Parliament yon have heard a groat deal about telegrams being taken from the telegraph office in an unusual way -that the Premier of the country sent and required the authorities of that office to give up telegrams for his perusal, some of which were undoubtedly private, that he might search and find out whether any telegrams had been sent by his predecessor* which might give some ground of complaint against them, and excite feelings against them in tho country. This was quite an unknown proceeding—such, I believe, as had never been done before. [Applause.] On on a occasion in England Sir James Graham had opened letters addressed to foreign refugees resident in tho country, by which a feeling was raised against him which he never got over. But this that I have alluded to was done against your own countrymen—not to prevent any fo'eign insurrection or rebellion, but to try and damage the character ot your own countrymen in the eyes of their fellow subjects in New Zealand. [Applause.] Now, distinctly understand this: I was so anxious my successors should have every information to enable them to carry on the public service, that when I walked ont of office I did that which had never been done in New Zealand before. I left for the benefit of my successor every letter I had written, every letter I had received, or copies of those which I had sent forth ; I left copies of every telegram I had written, and those I had received. I cancelled nothing. Every telegram that came into my hands as Premier, or those aent forth, was there for my successor to aid him, that be might have light thrown in upon every transaction, to guide him in his proceedings. Therefore, gentlemen, to act as the Premier did, in searching the telegraph office for telegrams which his predecessor might have ■written, was, in my opinion, an unpardonable act. [Applause ] It was done to create in your minds a belief that there was a necessity to search in some unknown and improper way for that which I had endeavoured to conceal from his eyes ; whereas every thing lay transparent before him, and ready to his hand if he chose to stretch his hand forth to take it. X will now mention one or two other charges brought against me, and which I wish you to truly understand. It is continually thrown in my teeth that I am a “ stump orator”—that I go speaking to the people everywhere, that I stir np class against class. Well, now, let me anawerthis. The time has come when those who are fit to guide their feilowmen and govern them must bo fit to appear before them, to instruct them, to lead tnem, and convince them that what they are doing ia right. It is no time in which a minister of a great and rising community like this may speak to some obscure village. [Shouts of laughter and applause.] I say, therefore, I will speak to my constituents. The days have come that men who aro to rule men, must speak to great communities of their fellow citizens, and not to a few farmers in some country place. [Laughter.] Now, as to setting class against class in this country, with which, as I have said, they have charged me, let ns see what classes are there in New Zealand. [A Voice —“The working cl isa.’M Well, we aro all of the working class here. I want to know what is harder .work than to travel a thousand miles to speak

to your fellow men. [Hear, hear.]_ What is harder work than to think, day and night, what their requirements may be? What is harder work than by degrees to lead them to stand up for all that is goad and noble and true, and to determine to win it and have it at all costs. [Hear, hear] I say we are all working men. If we aro divided into clasa >s, nae up the dukes who are among you! M anghter.J Stand np the marquises and peers ! I say that the only classes in this country aro two, and what are those classes! First, the great noble class which occupies itself with its own duties—that provides for the families, and every individual who may have a claim upon that class and is so occupied with these pursuits, that it can think lightly of the flattery of great men who gain advantagt s by which they will take from their fellow men lands and great possessions which should bo the common property of all. [Applause.] And there is the other class of men, made np of two parts, one part who never take up the musket to go into the field against an enemy—who never draw the sword in defence of the place which may be threatened by the perils of war —who never lay their hands to the spade, and never sacrifices itself for the good of the community at large. '1 here are those who follow great men, write confidential letters, begging for improper privileges to bo given to them, grasping at all they can possibly got for their own advantage, and entirely forgetful of what is for the common good. And the other class is a kind if parasite class, who will abuse public officers for the purpose of securing such advantages —that they may gridiron the country, or something of that kind. [Applause ] I say that that class is one against whom X ought to raise my voice, against whom I ought to warn my feilowmen—against whom I ought to summon you to rise and insist upon justice being done to you and those who follow you. [Cheers,] I say that to show the people at large what aro their rights and duties is not to raise class against class, because all who love their country will strive to do what is right, what is just, and what is for the common wealth. And then at times my heart is grieved, because in such cases, especially in such cases as I spoke of to you just men go about laughing, saying that “ Ail is fauin politics and war —wo are not a bit ashamed ot what we have done. ” Hut what means this, let me ask you ? Why, that we are at war with you, and that all is fair, therefore, which may be done to aggrandise themselves and befool you in many instances. The expression is a most improper one. Be not led away to wrong doing by any such expression as that. There is no greater crime on earth than to wrong your fellows—[Applause] —than indirectly to take from the public that which belongs to them—to snatch it for your own benefit. There is no greater crime on earth than to forget the common welfare of the present time, and thus to act in order that you may enrich yourselves wrongfully from the public lands or the public purse. I beg you to lay that principle to your hearts, and to determine to act upon it. Now let me explain this to show you what I moan. I will allude to the kind of things regarded as being fair in politics. We are told that a certain compact was entered into with four of the Auckland members last session. [A" voice; “ Eats. J It was a written compact, signed by your Premier. [A voice: “He would sign anything.”] This compact, which dealt with onr powers and rights —with the public money—was to secure advantages to certain individuals, and should have been made public and known to all. And when asked they (the Government) would not produce that. I asked them to do so, and they refused. I asked the holders of the compact, also, to produce it, and they refused. Now I put it to you, what right had they to make any compact for doing away with or disposing of the public rights or monies, without consulting or telling the whole community in the country ? If there was anything to be proud of in it would they not have trumpeted it forth in all tlmr servile journals ? Would it not have been stack up ia every part of the colony for all eyes to read ? No doubt they would. Therefore I say there must have been something wrong in such a secret compact. And another part of it came out the other day, when it was said by some persons who were prisy to this matter, that there was a new feature of the compact of which we had not heard. The Government promised this session to bring in a Bill by which representation would be adjusted on the basis of population. You may all remember that last session I had such a Bill, framed upon perfectly fair principles, which gave the Government no unjust power to manipulate seats ; and they would not let mo carry it forward or bring it on themselves. But now what was said the other day at Auckland ? Well, it was said, wo people (that is, those who joined the Government) have obtained good terms for the City of Auckland—for while throughout the rest of the colony representation is to be given in proportion to population, Auckland ia to have au advantage, and is to bo allowed to retain one member more than it is entitled to. [Laughter.] And these very people raid —were not those four gentlemen justified in going ovr to the Government to get an advantage of that kind for their constituents. When I hoard this, I put it to a great meeting at Auckland, in this way; Will you wrong your Ifellow subjects throughout the colony of New Zealand by pretending to give them representation in proportion to population, and all the time begging that you are not to be subjected to the same l aw to which you would subject everybody else ? And they at once cried out “ No ! we will have nothing to do with it ” With scorn they rejected the bribe held oat to them. [Cheers ] I told the people of Auok.and I was delighted to see the spirit in which they received this, at the same time I pointed out this further that if such n. compact had been made, the people of New Zealand would not have been such foils as to allow any Government to carry it out, and the Auckland people never would have got it. [Cheers.] But the people themselves felt this also, I say, therefore, we are bound to see that the party in power, or any other patty, should proclaim what it intends to do in matters of such importance, and I apprehend that any Premier who contemplated any action of the kind I have mentioned would have taken care that the meeting he hold with his constituents was at some out-of-the-way country place, and would not have come before you in Christchurch. [lnterruption and applause.] Such a line of doing business, that is concealing from the people at large the minds of the Government, to a certain extent may succeed in Europe, _ and a Prime Minister in Europe may shut himself up and devote himself to the crewned heads —in England, in Austria, in Eussia, and Germany—and be covered with orders and titles conferred upon him. But he will never enter into the hearts of the people—he will never carry with him their love, in the same manner that men will do who will go forth and meet their countrymen in every part of the nation of which he is Premier, speaking to them, divulging his plans to them, and endeavouring to carry their approbation and affection with him into every act of his public life. [Applause.] The question between the two cases stands thus : Will you live in the hearts and pretended regards of a few men whose only object is to grow rich and become powerful; or will you live in the hearts of your fellow countrymen at large, having your name known and respected in every cottage, and knowing that yon possess the affectionate regard of a great community, I say, give me the latter of these two positions, whether I am a stump orator or not. [Applause J Now then I come to this further question. You elected me as your representative, [Hear, hear. J Yon elected me when I was Premier, and when I might have been very useful to you, but I do not believe you did it on that account. Nevertheless I had the means of being useful to you. But I found this was the state of the country —that I could not retain office without lending myself to what I call flagrant jobs, such as purchasing votes to strengthen my party. I would not do it, and I believed, gentlemen, yon would back me up in that. [Hear, hear ] I found that at the moment it was most difficult to obtain the moans of pushing forward a railway from this to the other coast of the island, which would have been of extraordinary advantage to every part of the* Middle Island of New Zealand. 1 was expected to give some .£400,000 to pay some gentlemen for making a railway to th-ir own properties ; and this I set my face against. Well, I felt convinced in my own mind (and from largo experience I am to some extent capable of judging in these matters) that from the moment I did that my fate was in part sealed, and men would be found to take office who would try to get that sum of .£400.003 for those men. Again, a large tract of land in the North Island was about to be acquired from the Native population by means which I considered wrong. It was stated to mo at 320,000 acres, and I was warned by colleagues ot mine who w°nt up and had an interview with some of these gentlemen, that if I did not do what was required I must expect that an attempt would be made to unseat me from office, in which attempt they might be successful or not. Well, gentlemen. I determined in my own mind that I would much rather stand before you a private individual, as I do now, than wrongfully exercise the powers you had entrusted to me by using them for purposes of this kind. [Cheers.] In the same way there was another large block of land nearer the centre of the island. I found that if I did no v agree to that block being acquired in n manner I thought wrong I should lose several votes, and I lost them. I come here to-night, therefore, without the power of helping yon which I should desire to have had, but I feel sure yon would rather I stood before you with clean hands and reputation uneoiled as I do at present, than stand before you a Premier who had lent himself to dirty jobs of the kind I have been stating. [Hoar, bear ] Now, I will refer to another subject upon which I am greatly blamed, and will try to make it clear to you. The rule for which I have always contended regarding the appointment of Governor is the rule of the English Empire—that upon whomsoever rests the responsibility of conducting the expenditure and paying the debts of the country, they should have tho power of nominating the Governor and presenting him to the Queen for his appointment. You will see, therefore, that according to that rule—which was tho common rule of tho Empire, and to a cer-

tain extent prevails now —the moment tho troops were withdrawn from: the country, and the work of protection was thrown upon the shoulders of tho people of the country, they (the people) had the right of nominating the Governor and presenting him to the Queen for his appointment. It ia simply this, that instead of the Secretary ot State nominating him and presenting him to the Queen, you would have done that yourselves. In reference to this, 1 may say that I carry nearly tho whole of the North with me. but others say that the appointment of the Governor by the Ministry of the day would be unloosing the band which now ties the colonies to the Empire; but I answer that by saying that in my opinion the election of the Governor by the people would bo the means of increasing the bond of unity between this and oth r colonies and the Empire. Let me make myself clear. First I say this—that yon have throughout the length and breadth of Now Zealand a vast number of gentlemen qualified to bo yonr Governor, [applause ] Perhaps better qualified than any Governor yon have yet had. That is a point which admits of no doubt. I will give you an instance. Take Mr Weld, who is an able gentleman in every way, but there aro ahundred men ia New Zealand as good as he ; yet, he having been appointed a Governor, has turned ont an excellent and able Governor. But let us continue the idea. Supposing a Governor was elected by the people of New Zealand, and thereupon the Prime Minister of the day, who would be the proper person, communicated with the Crown in England as to tho selection, the Queen would send out a message to the gentleman somewhat to this ifleet— that she had often heard of his name and reputation in his own country; that she had much pleasure in miking the appointment which her people solicited her to make, and had no doubt whatever that she had in him a trusty, true and faithful servant and counsellor. The result of that would be that the gentleman’s family and numerous friends would be attached to the Queen and Crown by ties which do not now exist. On his retirement from office tho Sovereign would thank him for his services to the country in his high office, would probably write to him with her own hands, I say that such a setter would be treasured in the archives of that family for generations, and by this means, as family after family became honored by such distinction, ties of affectionate adherence to the mother country would grow and strengthen with the growth of tho country. When a gentleman who had been Governor went to London, he would ha received almost as a Prime from a foreign territory. Their Sovereign would entertain them, and they would become attached to that Sovereign, and it would be found that ties of that kind would bo stronger and better than the ties which now bind you to Great Britain. In the American colonies those who hid nominated Governors first quarrelled with tho Moth-r Country, and cuised all the trouble that arose there. You will see that tho measure in that respect is a Conservative measure, and it presents this funher advantage that it opens to the people of New Zealand generally a proper object of ambition. It holds oat to every man and father that his son may occupy the highest position known in his own country, and thus obtain a name which shall be known in Europe. It opens to every young man in onr Universities and Colleges a like object of ambition, and receives this further advantage that the salary of the Governor elected by the people would be much lower than it now is. The President of tho United States receives £6OOO a year, whilst your Governor receives upwards of £7OOO a year. Now, I say you would pay your Governor modestly if ho came from amongst yourselves. Tho result would he that a modest sum p„id to the man in the higher rank would secure a commensurate reduction in tho salaries of those in the lower ranks of the public service, and, therefore, an immense reduction in the public expenditure. To all this, only one objection is made, which I cannot beat out of people’s minds. They say that the people of New Zealand would never stand this ; that they would be so jealous of one another, that in fact such a spirit of jealousy would be created, that the country would be torn to pieces. Well ihen,let me say, if that is true, you are not worthy to have any representative institutions at all. I now turn to the subject of federation. They say this would prevent some new proposals for federation in Great Britain proposals which probably will never be carried ont, but which exist at the present day. The idea is to have a central Parliament in England, and have representatives from every colony, five from New Zealand they say, and so forth. At first the scheme seems plausible enough, but I wdl show difficulties which occur in a proposal of this kind I will say first this, that the great object wo should aim at is the federation of the whole English speaking portion of human beings in the world. If yon brought about federation of this kind, wars must cease. ¥ ou would be so powerful that no one would go to war with you, and you would exercise an influence in the world such as no nation ever exercised, and one which would never die out. But this nrnoi- federation presents great difficulties. I will put it to you in this way. Suppose such a federation took place, prior to the separation of the United States from England. It is agreed that in America during the next twenty-five years there will be one hundred millions of people, or nearly that number, and I ask you what would that number of people say, ( situated aa they would ho ia the middle of the I Empire close to Canada, close to New Zealand, close to Anatra’ia comparatively speaking-, and thus lying almost in tho middle of tho Empire ? Do you not think that those hundred millions of people would say to the Federal Parliament you must settle amongst us and not amongst thirty eight millions of people in Great Britain ? Do you think that Great Britain would consent to that ? It would mean tho Queen must remove to the United States. It may be said that this is possible, supposing England must be prepared at some not very remote period to lay down the position of dignity and greatness which she occupies. But I think you will feel that there aro extraordinary difficulties in the way of a federation of that sort, and it is extremely unlikely that the Colonies would like to be taxed as they would be by such a Parliament, in which they would only be represented by five votes. A feeling of dissatisfaction would take possession of tho public mind in every part of the Empire, that they were being dictated to by Groat Britain, and I believe that a ifederation of that sort is not practicable at the present moment. On tho other hand, if such a proposal as I have made wore adopted, so that you could choose yonr own Governors, you would enli-t the sympathy and friendship of every part of tho Empire to the Queen and Crown, and thus begin a federation of a true and substantial kind. I believe it is in some such direction that federation must be looked for. embracing tho whole of tho English speaking communities throughout the world. Now, having spoken to yon of the salary ot the Governor, I think that in other ways we may get rid of tho whole of the expenditure, or nearly so, of the Legislative Council. At the present time £2OO or SOO guineas per annum is paid to each member as what is called an honorarium. This sum being paid to the members of tho House of Eepresentativcs and Legislative Council, except those who reside close to Wellington, who get a smaller sum paid to them for each session. When a dissolution takes place, members of the House of Kepre-, sentatives have considerable election expenses to bear, and they get in such a fortunate year four hundred guineas, but the members of the Legislative Council, who have no constituencies, aud who have ro election expenses to bear, get four hundred guineas also. But, as I have said, it does not appear why. Therefore, looking at the great burdens which the people have to bear, I say you can make a very con siderable saving with regard to the Legislative Council. I will not go farther into the plan by which that could bo done, hut content myse]f with patting the idea into your heads, leaving it to you to think it out. I come now to the subject of taxation, a very sore subject indeed, and one of great importance, I feel strongly upon tho matter myself, because I hear it everywhere said that it is the great expenditure which I sanctioned that has brought about tho taxation, ‘i hey say, in fact, that if the Lord had not delivered us from Grey where should we have been now? [Laughter.] I am told that this is said at every s treet corner, and perhaps s 'me of you may have heard it, [A voice, “Not in Christchurch.”] Well, I will tell you this, that the Lord has not delivered tuom from Grey yet. [Laughter.] I would now go on to say that when I came into office there was no money for mo to spend, in fact it had all gone. It is quite true that public works were carried ou during my time, and efforts made to hurry them on as fast as possible bnt I would ask you if these public works had not been continued what would have become of*you. They had been commenced, and if suddenly stopped they would never have paid the money would hive been cast into tho sea, hidden iu the mountains, or buried in the swamps and other places ; hidden in tho pockets of individuals who ought not to have got any part of it, and other places. Tho only way in which you can recover for this expenditure is by tho completion of the public works. It was a necessity forced upon mo, and I did my best in tbo interests of tho public. Look at the calls made upon me, and by no one more than the gentleman who occupies my place, in spending vast sums o f money in building forts to prepare for a war with Eussia. That would have cost £•200,000, and it would have cost £20,000 or £3O 000 a year to keep these forts up. Then again, such progress takes place in the art ot war that in a few years it would be found that these forts were absolutely useless, and you would have to put up other forts suited to the circumstances of the times. To these demands, therefore, I said no. There would be no war, which I foresaw, on account of tho family connections between England and Eussia, and the relations with Germany, and the position taken up by tho several crowned beads, who were striving to acquire all they could, but would avoid war. This I recognised, and therefore said I will spend tho money in making great harbors to which all the world shall come to take away our products, but I will spend

nothing in driving'poop’s away .from New Zealand. [Laughter and. applwtge.] Well then, it will be patent to yon that if ■ I wanted to spend money and make friends in that way, what a magnificent opportunity was open to me by these proposals. What appointments I could have made for my friends as directors of public works, generals of fortifications, captain commandants of corps to occupy these forts, officers of artillery, and officers of engineers Never was a finer field for a man who wished to make friends in the world. But I know that the true friendship to obtain was that the people at large should feel that I had acted for their interests and welfare in the exercise of the power given to me by them. I give that as an instance that there was no desire on my part for immense expenditure. Vi ith regard to the purchase of Native lands, a certain amount of money had been voted for the purpose, which was to be repaid as the amounts realised from them came in. As to this, I would ask are the people of New Zealand to be shut out from participation in the Native lauds, or are the whole of them to bo given over to speculators as is the case now. But I will go back presently to what has been done with the Native lands. I say now, after what I have shown, that the necessity for taxation arises from totally different causes to those alleged. Turning to the subject of public works, I would say that in the (.’ape of Good Hope, where this policy of public works was first introduced, long before it was thought of in Now Zealand, this rule W'S mode, that if a railway did not pay, the land of the persons to which great value had been given by the construction of such works was rated to make up the deficiency. Nothing fell upon the public at largo. But you, with a lavish generosity which I cannot understand, have heaped wealth upon your favorites, V on have said we will spend vast sums of money in giving additional value to your property. We will bring children into the world, the birth of every one of which shall give an increased value to the land of New Zealand, toat you may benefit by it. At this stage an uproar occurred in the rear of the hull, canned by some rowdies, who were eventually expelled. Sir George Grey continued —Having thus enriched those who are already wealthy, you get nothing in return for what you have done. But you have assisted to place a number of these gentlemen in the Legislative Council, and others to get returned themselves or return themselves to the House of Representatives. But those upon whom such benefits Had been conferred would not, actuated by a spirit of gratitude, taka upon themselves the burdens that fell on the people by the expenditure of the public money that had proved so beneficial to them individually. And the taxation now comes through the Customs duties instead of from the land. The land tax was taken oft and a property tax put on. The unearned value was no longer subjected to a tax —that is the value which land acquired by being allowed to lie idle whilst the public works were proceeding, and instead of that the farmer who improved his property, and bo increased the revenue of the c r nntry in other ways, was taxed for every improvement he made. Everything yon have has to be taxed—there is no end to it. Your children are all heavily taxed upon the present system, and you wid find it will go on increasing. And when this new tax comes upon yon the lambs who are shorn will bleat, and such a bleat and cry will bo heard as was never heard in Now Zealand before. Bnt now what do the Government say to that ? Why they are only going to put that tax on for this year and then put on what they want to make up on the Customs again, and thus add to the burden on the whole population throughout the land. And I do not beliere you will submit to that. [Cries of “ No,” and applause.J I am determined that landed property shall contribute its fair shire to the burden on the cjnntry, and that the people shall be relieved from obnoxious customs duties which will grind them to the earth, which must be the result. I look to you, therefore, to assist me in this. Then I propose that an income tax should bo put on, so that every man shall contribute to the revenue in proportion to his means in the form of income, the lawyer, physician, and clergyman all draw their incomes from yon, and the public servants draw their incomes from you, and I say they ought to contribute back to the people through an income tax fairly adjusted. Then again the absentees should _ be made to contribute their quota of the taxation. I pay a heavy duty in England in this way for the support of the British Treasury, and why should not your A gent-General do the same in respect to this colony. [Applause.] I do not f n r a moment mean to say that he would he.-itate to pay it ; but I say let justice be done in this way, and provi siou made to enforce it. I want to see the poor man relieved of his burdens. At present there is no equality—since the rich man who lived in Inxnry contributes no more to the Customs duties than the poor man who can hardly live at all. And what do they say next—why it is proposed to meet the difficulty by doing away with education for the next four or five years. Well, if you look back upon the history of England you will «ee parallel cases of the kind. I say this is raising up one class at the expense of another. Let ns look back upon the last half century, or perhaps a little further. [Confusion again occurred in the hall, and the speaker could not be heard.] Now, lot us look who have been the noblest amongst men for the past half century, or even to go further back than this within my own recollection. Lock at Arkwright, the inventor of the Manchester spinning machinery—risen from a barber’s shop. [Laughter.] Look at Watt —a gentleman’s servant ; look at Stephenson, the father of railroads ; look at Sir J. Herschell, the distinguished astronomer, and Sir Wm. Herschell. But, gentlemen, it would only weary you to go through the long list of no de and. distinguished men in all departments of science and art who have risen from the body of the people. [Cheers ] Some of them fortune smiled upon ; some were taken by the hand by gr -at men. But such was the deficiency of education at this time, such was the determination to keep it away from the great mass of the people, that these men could not have risen to what they did to become a blessing and rank anamgst the noblest of our country had it not been for the circumstances to which I have alluded. The education they could got alone would never have done it. Bat suppose all the p ople had but been educated, that this advantage had been within the reach of all, what I ask you, when we see these men standing forth, would have been the condition of our country at this day ? [Cheers.] Look at that distinguished man Faraday, a body servant to another man. [Cheers.] I say that we in New Zealand, you the people, should insist determinedly on every child in the colony having a chance. Let no light be hid under a bushel. [Cheers] I say let the country stump wiih disdain on the proposal to sweep away education even for a few years. [Loud cheers.] Every child has to boar its share of the cost, and has to make some sacrifices for it. It may bo some article of clothing or what not, but still it has to be made. Every parent, as you know well, has to sacrifice something in order that this education may bo within roach of his children. [ beers ] Therefore I say let them have to the full the benefit of the advantages which they have been privileged to enjoy. [Cheers.] I say that when you have contributed to the revenue the necessary amount for education, and for the keeping up of your hospitals and dispensing charitable aid, you are required to make largo sacrifices by being made to pay the very heavy Customs duties now existing. [Cheers ] Don’t lot this stop at your common schools. [Cheers.] Let us carry this thought further. Large tracts of land—valuable lan l, the heritagecf the people—have been taken from time to time to endow Universities and schools for higher education in various pans of the colony. Those tracts of land are your birthright, as much contributed to and belonging to you as the money raised by Customs duties which are imposed on you—[cheers],—and the education given in those Universities and the advantages to be derived from those higher schoo’s should be common to and able to bi participated in by every young man in New Zealand who is worthy to participate therein, and you must see that they get it. [Cheers.] An effort will be made hero, as has been done in other countries, to keep these exclusively for the children of the wealthy and the great; but you must watch against it, and use all your energies to prevent it being done. [Cheers.] It will either be tried to be effected by a high scale of fees—almost prohibitory in their nature, or by a high style of living houses, s . as to keep these Universities, endowed as they aro by the birthright of tie mass of the people, fo- the sons of the wealthy. You must see this, that every man’s son, whatever may be his position, so long as he is worthy, has a right to enter into these Universities and schools without let or hindrance—[cheers 1 — without shame for his poverty, let him come from any part of New Zealand. [Cheers.] Thus do I dispose of tho two points of the manifesto issued by tho Government. [Cheers.] Manifesto indeed ! Their idea is te put taxes on the masses of the people, to tax more the necessaries of life. [> ’beers.] Another point in their idea of how to govern is to starve and stunt tho education of the children of the colony as well as they do their bodies. [Cheers.] Let us say at once wo will have none of this. Away with it altogether. [Cheers ] Then there is another point, which is to do away with tho subsidies. [Cheers.] And here let me say that I cannot help thinking what docile people we are. What induced us to give up the If ovinces? Did not the Treasurer, night after night, stand up and say, When wa sweep away the Provinces wa will give subsidies to make up for them? [Cheers., Where are tho subsidies which are to make up for them ? [Laughter and cheers ] I ask where are they? They said when they promised this that the subsidies should bo given for five years, and they had no intention of giving them further. But you jumped at the fly, and were hooked. [Laughter and cheers.] Lot ns consider this matter, and see what is the result of tho stoppage of the subsidies. Your hospitals, where tho sick

are tended, will disappear, and your orphanages .will disappear, because you cannot afford to pay the co-t of helping the sick and sheltering the orphans of those all round you as well .as .youp own. [Cheers ] You must have subsidies to enable you to relieve the sick and distressed, and the aged, and if the orphans, the necessitous, the deaf, and tho dumb and the blind are to be cared for. [Cheers.] 1 say the proposal to take from you the power to do this is one of the most inhuman I ever beard of—one of the" worst I ever beard made. [Cheers.] They say in effect, let the sick go untended, let the poor go unrelieved, the establishment of better education in wild districts be neglected and the Charitable Aid institutions and hospitals done away with. These are the points of the great manifesto. [Cheers.] Even had the medicine been offered to ns by the doctors in homoeopathic doses it would have been better than this, but I for one will refuse to accept the doctor who tries to give me such a drench as this. [Cheers.] The mows has come to us that onr system of education is the admiration of all in other parts of the world. [Cheers.] Now, I will ask yon to think with me, and to see how we can still retain this justly earned admiration, and yet practise some needed economy. [Cheers ] Well, how, first there are a number of School Boards throughout the country, many of whom keep up by far too large ’ an establishment. [Bear, hear.] Let them be done away with, and let the school committees communicate direct with the Minister for Education. [Cheers.] Then, again, we have got into tho way of building far too large houses . for the masters. Whan you give tho matters of yonr schools large houses such as these, you make it incumbent upon them to go to some amount of expense to keep them up. It induces them to contract habits of extravagance which I do not think should be the case. [Cheers.] The real fact of it is, that in many parts of the colony these houses cost from .£3OO to .£IOO more than there is any need for. [Cheers.] Yon could make them just as comfortable, indeed quite as much so as is at all necessary, at a far leas cost. [Cheers.] You should help men to become economical, and inculcate habits of thrift, rather than by what I have pointed out to yon, inducing them to go in for extravagance [c heers,! Therefore I would advocate a less costly style of houses for your masters of schools. [Cheers.] But while I do this, I would say that they should contribute towards a fund for the benefit of all. This should bo not for the benefit of the master alone, but for his wife also [Cheers.] It should be smaller than for one, bnt it should be for two, because the wife, by aiding him in his work, cheering him in bis trouble, and sharing his joys and his sorrows, has earned as much right as he has himself to participate in the annuity. [Cheers. | Therefore it should not be for the benefit of the male alone, bnt also for the wives of masters. [Chaers.] I say this because I consider it is cruel that the wife who has helped and a’ded her husband should be sent forth on to the world without anything when her husband is dead [Cheers.] You could do this, and you would by so doing add yet another ornament to onr system of education which has excited admiration in other parts of the world and not add to the cost of it. [Cheers.] This could be effected by carrying out the system of economy in the points to which I have alluded. I bring it before you for you to think over. [Cheer-.] I come t ow to the question—a most important and vital one—of the administration of the public lands, and I say that nothing can be worse than the administration of lands, more particularly of Native lands. I do not mean to say that these lands should be taken "from the Natives, but I say that it is quite right that land acquired from the Natives should be looked after as well as any other public lands. [Cheers.] I soon saw that by doing what I intended to do on this matter that I should be turned out, but still I brought in a Bill that any Natives who desired to dispose of their land i hould only do so through tho Government, and thus whether the land was sold by auction or on deferred payments the money would go to the Natives themselves. Had this been done, the laud would have been offered in small blocks, and every one in the community would know of it. But i was warned as I have told you, that if I did this I should lose votes. What has been the case now? Why, that there has been greater jobbery in Native Lands than there has ever been before, and I believe with the connivance of the Government. [Cheers ] Thfe Government aro getting lands bought up by their officers, which are disposed of to friends of theirjown. I have heard of blocks of 30,000 acres which have been so dealt with, and I am told that there are millions of acres of Native lands disposed of into the grasp of land speculators, to tho detriment of the people of New Zealand. [■ Iheers.] Let me make clear to you this subjeot of land. It has attracted a great deal of attention in the United States of America, and in England, more particularly in the, former country. A great writer iu America and his opinions are concurred in by equally great men in has laid down ce. tain axioms connected with the possession of land. He says that arbitrary ownership in land means the right ownership in tho many, and he goes on to show that where the land has been allowed to accumulate in tho hands of a few, the great mass of tho people sinks into a condi lion of starvation. [Cheers ] Let ns look at thissubjeet farther. Men cannot live without land. [Cheers.] God meant it for men and the children of men. [Cheers] Its occupancy by those who have to take it from those who have acquired it in large amount*, means that they must do so in a way which is cruel. [Cheers.] What could be more cruel than the driving forth of the Highlanders iu Scotland from their native land by the holders of tho large blocks of land in that country? [Cheers] What more so than what is coming out in respect to Ireland now, and where some thousands of men are denied the leave to occupy a p eoe of potato land? [Cheers.] Let me a?k yon what is the reason of the great exodus to this part of the world? Wtat did we leave our country to come hero for? What means this? Why ; that we have come here to get land which wa cannot got in the country we have left. [Cheers ] If, then, ws introduce the System of the old country here with regard to the possession of land, will it not inevitably result as it has dofae there in the reduction cf a large portion of the population to a state of beggary and poverty ? [Cheers.] I may. say that I am a-toniahed when I sea that the Grown, is granting here 60,000, nay 80,000, acres of land ; and I say what have these men done that they should have these large grants of land mado;to them and to their children above other people ? [Cheers ] I say what mark_ has been set upon them by God when they came into the world that they are to have given to them this heritage of the people? [Cheers.] Believe me, this question of the land is one of the greatest we can discuss. [Cheers.] It has been said to me you had better let us go on acquiring this land* aud - it will soon be all gone ; then the question will be settled. [Laughter.] Are we to allow this country to be brought to something similar to Scotland, where some thirty persons hold nearly the whole of it, and the rest of the people have become what you can easily imagine—simply serfs. [“No, no,” and cheers.] I have been reading recently a new book on Russia, by Mr Wilson, a very keen observer, in which he says that the serfs in Russia when well treated are better off than tho English agricultural laborer. I say that ijhe Premier should give a pledge to s • tho large audience which he intends to address I ,’ on Thursday next [laughter] —that a Land Bill shall be introduced which shall throtv the Native lands open to every individual in New Zealand in tho same way that the other public lands are dealt with under Government. [Cheers.] these thrifty men who have spent three millions out of the five rai ed by my colleagues and myself have been sending commissions round the country. Why is this done? Why could not the Premier himself go round tho country and see for himself whjit is wanted —consult with the people themselves as to their desires? [Cheers.] Why are men selected from one party only to go round the country and give these delightful promises, with everything paid? Why not mix them np with men from the other party, so that the truth might come out ? [Cheers.] I say that government by commissions is bad. [Cheers ] The reports of these gentlemen will havo no effect on my mind, and yet we shall have weeks of debate upon them, because the Government will not depart from these reports. I say that it is a bad system. [Cheers.] It is an extravagant system, and one we should put an end to as fast, as we can. [Cheers.] There is another subject upon which 1 wish to, speak to you a little. I have looked up all authorities upon government, and they agree upon this, that it should bo upon a system of responsibility as within the law. Now we have a system of responsible government in New Zealand. Each Minister is responsible, and resting on that responsibility we find that every Minister thinks he can > do exactly what he likes because he is responsible.for it.. Not resting as in England on the law, but if he wishes to go outside the law he does it. That Tam not ovorttating this case I will ask yqq .to; look at the Statute-book. Yon will find many Acts of indemnity. Yon will find Ministers sitting in the House who have no right to sit there. You will find when writs are issued to make them pay tho penalties thus incurred that they call men common informers, and pass an Act to prevent them from going on with their action. This is what yon will sea is called responsible Government. Properly rendered, it means that a Minister has a right to do whot he likes within the law, but not to break the law. [Cheers.] It is very rare to brlnj - a Minister to answer for breaking tho law. If a Minister goes against tho people tho consequence is that you turn him out and get rid of him, but ho has no right to go on breaking the law. [Cheers.] I know of this being done —that an office has been offered to and accepted by a man at a larger salary than is fixed by law, and that is known to ba so fixed. They agree together, the one to offer and the other to.accept, more salary than should be allowed by law. Now, I say that unless you keep within the bounds of the law and have a sound basis to go upon, you will find that this disregard of the law will spread still further. I heard of a case the other day iff which

a man took money belonging to a Native, taking it because he was a Minister and gave an "order. He’ had no right to take the laud, but ,tba Ministry chose to allow him to do it, and are responsible for it. Now this must be put an* at once’. [Cheers.] Last year there .was a committee appointed to' consider the complaints of ’ the’Natives, who said they had been robbed of considerable property, and that promises had beep made to them and not kept. These men, whCn the committee went into the matter, Seemed (to me to have a ruht to what they asked, and! many members agreed with me. When the trial was over and I, as one of the judges sat there, a resolution was proposed which meant simply the dismissal of the matter. I then proposed to move a string of resolutions which led up to satisfying the committee and the public at large that a gross injustice hod been done. But, though I was one of the judges, they would not allow me to do this. They passed a resolution that I should not bo allowed to put my resolutions before the committee, and this on the ground that by so doing I should prejudice tho minds of the people. But I was only putting it to tho judges, how could I have prejudiced the minds of the people? [Cheers.] However, they decided I should not get the truth out. I have searched the records of committees and have been unable to find anything like this occurring before. Yet the Government did not hesitate to take resolutions of a committee such as this. When I was doing my duty-as yonr representative, by attempting to bring out the truth, and what I felt to be the truth, my mouth was shut, and I was not allowed to do what I conceived was right. [Cheers.j I say this was a most monstrous proceeding. [Cheers.] There is another subject upon which I desire to put myself right with yon. I don’t know whether you have heard of tho font gentlemen in Auckland. [Laughter and cries of “Oh, yes.”] Now I have told yoa that I object to plurality of votes. We find that a number of gentlemen holding properties in various districts go forth to those districts in which they hold laud and by their votes granted to them under this system of plurality of voting, turn the scale in these particular localities so as to return candidates who are not acceptable to the residents in these parts. [Cheers ] Now I desired to put i an end to this, and in doing so I believe that I was acting for the general interests of the people. [Cheers J I used the powers put in my hands by you to this end, whether for weal or woe it will be for you to decide. [Cheers.] But the Opposition would not allow me to do so. I wish now to state to you the reasons which led me to do this. In the provi don for counties large powers of plurality of votes had been given. Thera might be men in Auckland or in this city who do not possess much inflnence in their particular locality bnt who in smaller districts under these provisions can turn tho scale cf an election contrary to tho wishes of the residents who were to be represented. [Cheers ] I was opposed to this. [Cheers J Well, the four gentlemen who left me say this was the reason why they did so. That is, their idea of freedom is to let every one keep what he has got and give eoinething to somebody else. [ Laughter and cheers.] Why, if this had been carried out in England, rotten boroughs which have been swept away would still be inexistence [Cheers.] I wish you to understand that if I am to represent yon again—[Loud cheers and cries of “Yon are”] —lf lam sent to represent yon I will do my best to put an end to plurality of voting. [Cheers.] Why out of the fourteen members now returned from Canterbury, only three are Liberal members. I believe myself if it had not been for this system of plurality of voting it would have been altogether tho other way, and we should havo had eleven Liberal members now instead of three, —[cheers]—representing the constituencies of this place,—[cheers]—and the same result would, I believe, be found in other parts of New Zealand. [Choirs.] I have now spoken to you I believe on all the essential points, and I will just add one or two words more. If you allow the Native lands to go from you as they are now going, the masses of the people of New Zealand must be sunk in poverty, and X believe that many of you will find yourselves in a far worse position than you are now. I believe that poverty in New Zealand will not be the result of the law of nature, brought on by indolence, intemperance, improvidence or any other crime against the State, but will come on individuals who can in no way help themselves. [Cheers.] To use a chemical illustration, every individual is an atom making up the whole, and the welfare of the whole is dependent on the welfare of the atoms forming the whole. Society itself is composed of a congregation of molecules. If you do not take care that ; families are properly looked after, and that each atom in the formation of the whole is properly educated, and so fitted and prepared to take his place in society, and to do his duty to himself and his family, and preserving to each individual and family those rights which belong to them, you will fail in your duty to yourselves and those who follow you. [Cheers ] I have travelled for years in every part of New Zealand, thinking day and night how the prosperity of this people could best be promoted. [Cheers ] I have made up my mind. I have determined that so long as I live, so long as I can speak or write* whatever may be said of me, I will persevere in the course I havo detailed to you, and depend upon it shall never forget the kindness with which you have always treated mo. [Loud and continued cheering ] Mr S. P. Andrews then came forward and attempted to get a hearing, bnt between cheers and groans a minute or two elapsed, when he gave the meeting the assurance that he had no intention of making a speech. He thought, .after the patient and respectful attention the speaker of the evening had received, and considering the dense way in which the hall was p icked, such an idea would be quite out of place. Ho had a resolution to propose, and when the tiiqe for him to make a speech came, which he proposed should not be long, for he would take an opportunity of addressing them before the meeting of the session, he hoped then to he able to show that the resolution he held in his hand completely embodied his own sentiments. After he had read the resolution, his advice would be that they should go carefully and directly home, and there think over the great truths which had been laid before them. The resolution, which he would read, was—“ That the electors Of Christchurch in public meeting desire to give expression to their regret at tho circumstances which deprived the constituency of the services of Sir George Grey as their member. bnt re assert that they still regard him as tie facto their representative, and hereby convey to him their thanks for his admirable address, and the assurance of their continued confidence.”

The conclusion of tho resolution was loudly cheered.

Mr Higgins said, in seconding it, that he had hoped for oqe of Mr Andrews’ colleagues to be present to do the pleasant duty which then engaged him. 1 He had come in late to the meeting, ami had looked round towards the close to sea whether any of Mr Andrews’ colleagues would come ’forward to second it, but not finding them, ho with very great pleamre and very heartily would do it. [Loud cheers. | The Chairman then put it to the meeting, and declared it carried unanimously.

Sir Gcorgp Grey, on rising, was cheered lustily. He thanked them for the reaffirmation of their confidence, and for the expressions contained in the resolution. Before sitting down he wished most he-.rtily that, the thanks of the meeting should be given to the chair. [Loud cheering and cries Jof “ three groans for Allwright.” followed by cries for “ Montgomery,”] ' ... Mr Montgomery after a short hesitation came forward, and after assuring the meeting that he hqd no desire to make a speech, said that he 1 was ah admirer of Sir George Grey, and was there tha c night because he felt Sir George had done infinite service to the Liberal cause in this colony. Bo had had assurances of Sir George’s earnestness of purpose and disinterestedness. When large sums were being voted of the public money for the North Island Sir George voted against the iniquity He had also, when between .£400,000 or .£500,000 of the public money was being voted for the purchase of district railways—made as they had bean, trnly told to reach certain wealthy men’s properdes and for the owners’ benefit — fought against the iniquity bravely. [Cheers.] But be (the speaker) did not wish as ho had already said to detain them with a speech. He would say, however, of Sir George Grey, that whatever opinion might bo held of him by some in his bid ago—he was in old age certainly, but his intellect was bright as ever whatever opinions might be held, he might bo sure of their hearty support in recognition of the service—the infinite service—he had done in the Liberal cause of Mew Zealand. [Cheers.] One thing he (the speaker) would impress upon those present. The' power was now in their hands, if they chose to use it, and be would urge them with all the earnestness he was capable of th ,t if they wished to work out their individual * freedom they should see to it that their names were placed upon the electoral roll. In conclusion, he would say that his admiration of Sir Georgo was warmer if possible than ever, and he trusted that he would bo long spared among them. [Cheers, and cries of “Go on.”] Mr Montgomery here shortly referred to the system of plural voting, saying that in all eases this power was held by the wealthy as a means of overpowering the political power of those in less favorable circumstances,. Why it was notorious, he said, that during election times men went from the city to Kaiapoi, Selwyn, and even to Waimate, in fact all round, voting here, there, and everywhere in this manuor; but this he was sure could bo overcome by every man in the community teeing that his name was placed upon the register, thus qualifying himself for an elector. He was glad to see that there was no abatement of the enthusiasm in receiving Sir George Grey, and. he hoped that it would not cool, hut that they would resolve to help tho chairman, Dr. Turnbull, and the other gentlemen who were endeavoring to promote tho true Liberal cause. [ Loud cheering.] Calls wore made for “ Hobbs,” but that gentleman not coming up, the audience gradually moved out of the hall.