MR. MONTGOMERY, M.H.R., AT AKAROA.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2235, 1 June 1881, Page 3

MR. MONTGOMERY, M.H.R., AT AKAROA.

Mr W. Montgomery addressed his constituents in the Oddfellows' Hall, Akaroa, on Monday evening. There was a fair attendance of eleotors, his Worship the Mayor (Mr Garwood) occupying the chair. The Chairman introduced the speaker, for whom he said there was scarcely any necessity for him to claim a fair and patient hearing.

Mr Montgomery on coming forward, was loudly applauded. He began hie address by remarking that, in accordance with the custom he had observed during the seven years he had represented that district, he now appeared before them to give an account of his stewardship during tbe past session—to answor any questions that any of his constituents might ask him respecting any of the subjects he should touch upon, to give any explanation deemed necessary, and generally to make his constituents acquainted with the views which he held regarding matters that were likely to oome before the House of Representatives. Before proceeding to general questions, he might touch upon one or two matters of local interest which were of considerable importance to the people of this district. He would first of all, say a few words about their railway. They were, doubtless, aware that somewhat more than a year ago a deputation of gentlemen, representing various parts of the Peninsula, waited upon the Hon. Mr Oliver and obtained from him a promise that this railway, which was not being proceeded with very fast, should receive attention forthwith at the hands of the Government, of which Mr Oliver was then a member. They obtained a guarantee that seventeen miles of the line should be constructed ! without any stoppage whatever. That, he thought, was the exact purport of the promise made by Mr Oliver. But the railway was not carried out to its completion thus far. A small sum of money would have been sufficient to do the work, and he regretted that the Minister of Public Works did not see the great importance of the work and of carrying it out in accordance with his deliberate pledge to the people interested. A matter of two or three thousand pounds would have finished the line, a comparatively trifling expenditure, which would have resulted in great good to the community. It would have given employment during the coming winter to many people in Little River who would now find it difficult to get work, and many others would have profited by the extension. It was exceedingly unfortunate, therefore, that Mr Oliver did not keep to his word, especially for the particular district he had referred to. No doubt an additional vote for the completion of the present section of railway might be put upon the estimates next session; but in the meantime one winter was lost, and an industry would be at a standstill which would prove a souroe of profit to a few men and give employment to many. All he could do now was to assure them that so far as he was concerned he would do his best to move the Government for the purpose of getting a sufficient sum of money to complete the line. f Hoar, hear.] A resolution passed by the Oounty Council and forwarded to him, he had sent to the Government, from whom he received a reply to the effect that the work was being carried forward as funds permitted, and that the matter would not be lost sight of. Another matter whioh had caused a good deal of annoyance was the extra charge put on telegrams from this place and the Head of the Bay. He could well understand that the extra charge of 6d was a source of great annoyance to those sending telegrams, and he entirely disapproved of tbe alteration. He waa of opinion that there should be one uniform rate for telegrams all 1 over the colony, in the same way bb the postal charges were arranged. He looked upon the increase in the price of telegraphic messages as a distinot violation of the principle established ten years ago, whilst at the same time no considerable addition was made to the revenue. If the charges made in our telegraph stations were to be exaotly commensurate with the amount of expense incurred in the maintenance of such stations, then the same rule should be made to apply to postal Btations. How, it was perfeatly obvious that 2d a letter would not pay for the maintenance oE out-stations. But the fact was this, that but for those districts the lar»e towns would have no existence ; they would, but for these out-stations, be a mere nothing. Therefore, to say that an extra charge should be made for means of communication upon the people of out-distriots was manifestly unfair—was, in fact, unduly handicapping those districts, which were the support of the large towns. [Applause. J He would now turn to matters of general importance. They were well aware that before the meeting of Parliament last session there was a cry throughout the length and breadth of the land that retrenchment was absolutely neoessary ; that our large and overgrown Civil Servioe would have to be cut ■ down till it was brought completely within tho means and requirements of the colony ; i and naturally he, with many others in the Home, looked forward to retrenchment when the sesaion opened. He wished to be par-

tioularly clear in discussing this question, and make himself thoroughly understood, because it had been said that the present : Ministry had saved the country by their 1 1 retrenchment policy and economical administration. Now. he did not wish to detract from the present Government in any way, but he wished to put the facts of the case plainly before them, leaving them to judge for themselves. In the first place he desired to point out that from the telegraphio summary of the proceedings in Parliament, which was wired all over the colony, only a very imperfect idea could be gained of how things were going. Therefore it was all the more necessary for members when addressing their constituents to be explicit and clear in dealing with suoh important questions, and he intended to be so on this oooasion. But to proceed. He referred to the proposals brought down by the Government in 1879, when they had not time to make fresh estimates, but asked for a vote of the money contained in those they presented, which were virtually those of the previous Government, and they promised to bring down revised estimates, showing how reductions could be made in the cost of the public service. The House voted the money, and left it to the Ministry ta make the reductions. When Parliament met in 1860 they looked for the principal important measures they ezpeoted the Government to have prepared—namely, that providing for retrenchment in the public servioe, a Local Publio Works Bill, whioh would plaoe the finances of municipalities and local bodies generally on a satisfactory basis, and the Native Lands Bill, which would enable the Natives to dispose of their lands at fair prices and upon fair conditions. He would deal with these measures separately, first taking that of retrenchment. When the House met, and the Colonial Secretary made his statement, he observed that the 'Native Minister, Mr Bryce, had made substantial reductions in the Native Office. This was quite true. He also promised that the Minister for Publio Works would make reductions in the railway estimates, and suggested that as Government had not had time during the recess to frame fresh estimates, and as it was necessary considerable reductions should be made at onoe, a sum of £50,000 should be struok as a lump sum, leaving it to the Government, with the assistance of Heads of Departments, to make reductions in the various offioes ; and, farther, they suggested that if the Heads of Departments did not §ive the assistance ezpeoted, a uniform renotion of 5 per cent, could be made in the publio servioe all round. Well, the House considered this was cheese-paring retrenchment, and that it would be necessary to reduoe expenditure to the extent of a oouple of hundred thousand more at least, and the Members of the Opposition, as well as many Government supporters, thought the sketch of the Government for the reduction of expenditure was quite inadequate to the occasion. Now, it was natural to expect that the supporters of each side and their respective representatives on the Press would give particular versions of the proceedings, and be therefore proposed, by way of avoiding any charge of exaggeration as a party man, to direct their attention to the pages of "Hansard" for the settlement of this question. An eminent colonial politician, Mr Ormond, who, he would remark, was a supporter of the Government, considered the retrenchment policy of the Government to be quite out of the question, as they required something much more extensive, and, in the course of an able speech, he expressed his views in the following terms: — ' My opinion is, and I say it deliberately, having looked over the matter and thought it out, as far as I have been able to do so, that we must add £200,000 to that sum, and if the honorable member for Waitemata will bring forward suoh a motion, I shall be prepared to vote for it, and I believe the great majority of the House will agree with him if he does so. It is not by small reforms that we can improve the position of the country. It is only by a reform of the wholesale character that I have referred to that anything can be done, and we must throw on the Government the duty . of making that reform. I see my honorable friends on the Treasury benches laughing, but they will have to do it. The country will insist on it." Mr Hall said—"Do it yourself;" to which Mr Ormond replied—- " No; I want my friends to do it." And Mr Ormond made them do it. He and three or four others took a prominent part in the matter, and said this thing must be done. And the Government had to accept the position into whioh they were thus forced by men who loved their country better than their party. [Applause.] He (Mr Montgomery) did not speak of that hard and fast rule of 10 per cent., which operated so cruelly upon men in the receipt of small salaries; but ho spoke of the total amount whioh Mr Ormond and his friends obliged the Government to accept, and whioh Mr Hall now says will extend to £250,000. As he had before said, he had no desire to detraot from the Government in their administration of the colony's affairs; . but at the same time he must say it appeared evident to him that had not this pressure been I brought to bear upon them, that retrenchment, whioh was of suoh vital importance to the safety of the country, would not have been effected. With regard to local finance, Major Atkinson had said he would carefully ■ elaborate a plan for placing the looal finances i on a permanent and. satisfactory footing, and they thought to find this measure—the Local i Publio Works Bill—in the financial state- i menfc. The subsidies were to be taken from i the Boad Boards and Municipalities, and the 20 per cent, of the land fund from the ooun- . ties; and in lieu thereof these bodies, were told they could borrow to any extent, and rate themselves up to 2s in the £, or as much more as they liked. [Laughter.] A Board of Works was to sit in Wellington, its funds to be derived partly from proceeds of the land sales, partly from loan, and partly from trust funds. This Board was to distribute money as they thought the necessities of the country required. Thus when a district wished for money they would make application to the Board, and the amount required would be partly granted and partly lent to them. Now, he need hardly tell them that suoh a Board as this, whatever Government was in power, would inevitably be considered as one buying votes throughout the colony. Any distriot making application to the Board would naturally expect their claim to be favorably considered or otherwise in proportion to the amount of support accorded to the Ministry of the day by its representative. Hence, such a Board would be a dangerous body to have in the Assembly. Another bad feature in the Bill was that referring to the Native lands in Boad Board distriots. The Boards were to make the roede, and the Maoris hold- ! ing land in the distriots over whioh the Boad Boards had jurisdiction were to be rated, but their rates were to be paid by this Board of Works out of money contributed by the entire oolony. So that money belonging to the Middle Island would be taken to pay the rates, perhaps, of Maoris in the North. Suoh a proposition was, on the face of it, altogether unjust. As to the Bill generally, it was, perhaps, the most cumbersome pieoe of machinery ever put before a Legislature, expeotisg it to pass. The supporters of the Ministry condemned the measure, and Major Atkinson had to let it fall through. And thus his great soheme for setting the finances of the local bodies on a satisfactory basis died in its birth. And they were to get in its stead unlimited borrowing powers, and a wholesale capacity for rating themselves as well. He now came to another measure, whioh was seoond in importance to nene—namely, the Native Lands Court Bill, to regulate the sale of Maori lands. Its object was to enable the Maoris to obtain a fair price for their lands, which were to be disposed of in open market, so that all classes of her Majesty's subjects oould enjoy a fair chance of buying land. This was a very important question. In 1877 Mr Bryce (then a supporter of the Atkinson Government) and Mr Ballanoe, severed their allegiance to the Government on acoount of a Bill brought in by Mr Whitaker, whioh would have facilitated the acquisition of Native land by speculators. No man had stronger feelings upon this subject than Mr Bryoe, and when that gentleman became a Minister, he (Mr Montgomery) hailed his appointment with very great pleasure, because he felt that a man had come forth who would sweep away this iniquity, which had caused so much trouble in the land, which utterly demoralised the Maoris, and a considerable section of Europeans as well. And he was not disappointed. Mr Bryoe brought down proposals admirably calculated to meet the case. There were two Bills—first, the Native Lands Court Bill, to enable the Natives to individualise their title; and Beoond, the Native Land Sales Bill, providing that after the title had been acquired the Natives wishing to dispose of their interests, &e., oould do so, the Government to purchase through the L%nd Board, and the land would then be plaoed in the open market, where every man in the country should have a chance to pur-

[ chase, the land having been surveyed, on application, at the instance of the Government, :, and out up into suitable sized blocks. Certain ' minor provisions of the Bill were well considered. For instance, it was provided that i the oost of the survey should be a first charge upon the land ooming under its operation ; then from 10 to 30 per cent, was to be retained to make roads through the land, and the balance was to be handed over to the Natives. This measure had been looked^ forward to with hope—it was greatly required, and he (the speaker) was well pleased to see it among the list of the Government proposals. The seoond reading of the Bill was carried on a division, members of the Opposition expressing themselves exceedingly favorable to it. He held the opinion that one or two alterations were desirable, but stated that sooner than imperil its passage through the House he would, if necessary, refrain from proposing any amendment. The oruoial test came in Committee, and with unfortunate results. It was the question whether the land should be sold as proposed in the Bill, or freedom of purchase allowed so that speculators could purchase direot from the Natives. A division on this vital principle was taken. The Opposition gave thirty-two of its members to the Government in support of the Bill, and fourteen of the Government members voted against it. In introducing the Bill Mr Bryoe declared it to be an absolutely necessary measure. He pointed out how the past (and present) system had a most demoralising effeot upon the Natives how mea in the employ of speculators and land sharks went to five among the Maoris for the purpose of cajoling them out of their lends, how they plied them with drink for the same unworthy ends, and made advances to them of money in order to extraot promises from them to sell their lands. When Mr Bryoe spoke thus he thought there was a man who meant what he said, and whose very political existence depended on the passing of the measure be had in hand. He and Mr Bolleston were the strongest men on the Government benches, and were thought more of than all the other members of the Ministry put together. Therefore, it might have been assumed that the Bill would have been dearly fought for. But the Government supporters said—Go on with the Bill at your peril, and they (the Government) dropped that highly important measure, which would have removed from the oolony a crying evil. The Government, anxious to retain the services of Mr Bryce, besought him not to throw up his portfolio, and pictured how urgently he was needed to settle the West Coast difficulty. So Mr Bryce dropped his darling soheme and remained in the Ministry. And when he eventually left the Government, what were the grounds? It was not on a question of constitutional importance, but on a question of taking an armed force into a part of the country with a view of subduing a Maori chief of great influence among his tribe, and extinguishing his power. Mr Bryce might have aoted differently and progressed more rapidly in popular esteem. Had he said to the Governor — " This is my measure, one which I regard as of vast moment to the present and future interests of the colony, and if you desert me I cannot longer hold my position as a Minister of the Grown"—had he said that he would have occupied, I am sure, a higher position among thousands of people in the colony than he does at the present time. As a matter of : fact, the land was now a thousand times more at the meroy of the landshark than before. I He knew one man who had lately acquired 37,000 aores, and he had heard of hundreds of thousands of acres passing into the hands of private individuals. And this land would be held till they oould obtain for it a good ' price from men coming from the South or somewhere outside the oolony. These men were getting rich at the expense of the Natives and the white people alike, and were retarding the bona fide settlement of the oolony. [Applause.] This brought him to the question of the unearned increment, whioh he spoke of in the House in 1877, then expressing the opinion that they. were not going the right way to work to get the unearned increment. He said at that time it would probably become a question of policy whether large holdings of say 20,000 acres and upwards should not be taxed on a graduating scale,rising as the extent of the land increased. And it now appeared to him that the action taken last session in reference to the matter he had just been discussing,whioh permitted men still to acquire immense tracts of country, would preoipitate the kind of thing he foresaw in 1877. He would now say a few ' words about the property tax. There were differences of opinion. Some people preferred a ' property tax to a land tax and others vice ' versa. Personally he was in favor of a pro- ' perty tax, bnt he never considered that machinery and farm stock, the working plant : of the colony, should be subjected to taxation. ' Properties oould be valued in the same way as I Boad Boards and other looal bodies made ' their assessments, and it was not necessary to ' take a man's word, as it was with regard to - stock, whioh was very difficult to value. ' Years ago he advocated a property tax —he wished to see a tax of a halfpenny imposed then ; and if that had been done ' five years ago we should, probably, not have : been in our present position to-day. He did not ' mean to say the property ;tax was a pressing : question— indeed, it would be much better if ' ■hey could do without it; but it was absolutely necessary, for two or three reasons, to aid the revenue and [f or the sake of eoonomy, that a property tax should be put on. Besides, those parts of the oolony that benefited ' largely by publio works should, in fairness, contribute something towards the oost of suoh works. He next referred to the Bedistribution of Seats Bill, which was a measure of great importance to the whole of the colony, ; but of particular interest to the distriot of Canterbury. Under the Bill brought down by the Government last session, Canterbury was five members short by population, and whether judged by population, wealth, or contribution to the revenue, there was still that number short. The measure was looked forward to with great interest. He himself was an advocate of the representation of manhood, and therefore he wished to see it brought in on that basis. Others thought the towns would have far too much power if a population basis were accepted, fearing that the large towns might oombine together for one object. But this he regarded as a fallacy. Fancy, for instance, the towns of Dnnedin and Christchurcb, or Auckland and Wellington, combining together—they were too muoh divided in feeling and interests. Provincialism had been abolished, but the provincial feeling was by no means destroyed whenever publio money was to be distributed, and he thought it was of the highest importance that eaoh provincial district should be adequately represented in the House. The Bill brought in last session would increase the number of members to ninety, which, in his opinion, would be an impolitic step. They had at present eighty-four members in the Lower House, representing about 480,000 people, whioh was quite sufficient. To have more members would mean an increase of expenditure on the one hand, and it would not, on the other hand, conduce to the despatch of public business in the House. A remarkable feature In the Government Bill was the fact that whilst it was supposed to be based upon population, its proposals frequently departed from the rule. He would give them a few examples. Thus: New Plymouth, with a population of 2680 in numbers, was to have one member; Egmont, with 2562, was to havo a member—one of them being a tawn and the other a country district. Now, turning to the East Coast, a country district in the North Island, it had a population of 5100, and Manawatu 5586. Why should Bgmont and New Plymouth have two members for 5200 inhabitants, whilst two other districts have only the same amount of representation for 10,000? The reason was plain. Major Atkinson represented Taranaki, and Taranaki had a balance of power. They must know how much truth there was in this from experience. Supposing them to make an application to Parliament for money would they get it were their member not there ? The answer was obvious. He disapproved of the Government Bill, which did not advance to the second reading. One of its principles was that the towns were not to have so many members as the country districts. But what they had to consider was how the proposals would work if carried out. With regard to two of the principal centres —the population of Auckland and suburbs was 18,500, with four members; Ohrißtchurch ani Sydenham, 26,000, with four members. Generally he supported the representation of manhood, but held that at any rate the provincial districts should eaoh be adequately represented according to population. With reference to the Election Petitions Bill he was pleased to recognise the {improvement on the former method of deciding disputed elections. Ho would now speak briefly on the question of the financial difficulties of the colony, as discussed by Major Atkinson and the Premier. It appeared now from the Government that we should be able to make two ends meet, and

!and that it would not be necoceary to put on an increased tax next session. That was cor- , tainly important, bat was not unexpected by those acquainted with publio affairs. They ; might remember that Major Atkinson made a speech in October, in which he drew a gloomy picture of the colony. But the depression had aotually passed then. Many people thought it would take a long time to partially recover from the depression ; he (the speaker) did not. Ho felt that by thrift and economy they would emerge from their difficulties with comparatives ease, the country being so wonderfully rich in climate, soil, mineral wealth, and general resources. He had given utterance to snob an opinion last year, when speaking in the same place to his constituents. [Hear, hear.] Now they were told that the finances were restored to a state of equilibrium. And what bad brought this about ? Not any magnificent arrangement on the part of the Government. The explanation was simply this. The property tax gave us about £160,000 ; then there was the Customs duty and excise upon beer ; £50,000 additional ad valorem duties, and duty upon beer, £275,000 a year; and retrenchment, £250,000. Take away the subsidies and put on additional taxation. That was how the equilibrium was restored. [Applause and laughter.l When that dark picture was drawn by Major Atkinson, it no doubt tended to prevent money coming into the country, and reduced very considerably the price at which the Government debentures were sold. He could quite understand that Major Atkinson never intended to bring distress upon the country. But he wished to blacken the administration of the former Ministry, and he used the weapon he held in bis hand recklessly. But he would not dwell longer on this subject. The oolony was fast recovering, and its credit was saved, and he understood that there was a considerable sum of tho last five million loan yet remaining in the colonial chest—something like one million and a half. He now came to a question which, he believed, transcended in importance any of those which he had yet spoken upon— not so much in regard to its present operation as to its lasting effects upon this colony and future generations of its people. He referred to. education. latterly, there have been great differences of opinion, and reports have gone over the colony as to the changes which it was supposed would be made or attempted to be I made during the next session of Parliament, and he now intended to express his own views on the subject. It had been said that the cost of education in the colony was excessive ; that the system was too cumbersome ; that it must be considerably reduced, the country could not stand it ; that it was a godless system; that we should provide for religious teaching; that we should have school fees and make those pay who were able to, and so on. Now he had obtained some statistical information from Wellington on this subject, which he proposed to lay before the meeting. The number of children on the school rolls in the Deoember quarter, 1880, was 82,401. For the instruction of this large number of children attending schools in the oolony there were 1971 teachers, including pupil teaohers, but not sewing teachers, and of the 1971 there were 482 pupil teachers. And here he wished to pause for a moment, in order to show the importance of the pupil teaching branch of the department. The pupil teachers, who had to serve four years, were being trained up to give instruction in our public schools. They had to be under bond for good behaviour, must of necessity be bright and clever in order to receive and be capable of imparting education, and passed through a regular course of study and training to fit them for the important positions they were afterwards to occupy in life. Taking these considerations into account he thought no one wonld deny that young people who had attained the necessary acquirements by a long course of study and apprenticeship, fitting them to be instructors of the young, should be fairly paid. If it was held that a lower rate of pay would be sufficient, then the result would be a falling off in the standard of teachers, and a retrograde movement in the eduoation of the young people of the oolony. Proceeding further with the arguments used against the present system, he denied that the standards at present ruling were too high. He demonstrated this by explaining the class of instruction given in the higher schools, and with respect to the science subjects introduced he quoted irom one of the elementary works used in the schools, by way of showing that the instruction under this head, whilst conveying information which every one ought to possess, could not in any way interfere with the other studies. On this head he remarked that-an expert on the subject of education in public schools, Mr Rathbone, gave it as his experience that after taking up the special subjects in schools, a greater number of children were passed in the three B's than formerly, and other testimony of the same kind might be adduoed; but he would not on this occasion do more than refer to Mr Bathbone's opinion and a Philadelphia, report recently published, which strongly confirmed that opinion in detailing the experiences of teachers in publio schools. Therefore, in relation to the standards, he would strongly advocate their maintenance on the present basis, and he could assure them that nothing would induce him to vote for an alteration.

[Applause. | Another silly objection to the present system had been raised, to the effect that education would make the children of the poor discontented with their lot —all men would be equal, and there would be none left seemingly fitted for the rougher walks of life. In answer to this he said, all men were born equal, with one common heritage of freedom, and were entitled to all the blessings that an enlightened civilisation had in its power to beßtow. It was not wealth that made the distinction in class, it was education, superior culture, and good oonduct. Give every man a fair chance, and each would "find his own level in good time. In the meantime the prizes would always go to the stout of heart, the strong of purpose, and the enterprising. [Applause.] Coining to the cost of education, he remarked that the figures had been greatly exaggerated by certain persons who, either from interested motives, or through ignorance, or a desire to abolish the system, had variously estimated the oost of education in the colony from £400,000 to £BOO,OOO or more. But let them take the facts. Last year the vote for education was £240,000. The education reserves set apart by Otago and Canterbury, and now become colonial funds, represented £20,000, thus reducing the actual vote by the country for schools to £220,000. As to the cost of working in detail, he would again remind them ot the immense number of children being educated, over 82,000, and the expenses were as follows :—Scholarships, £4800; inspection, £4000; training of teachers, £7500. That was to say, £236,300 was the cost of education, as provided by the statute of 1877. The expense of the system was neoessarily larger in a new country than an old one, the population being so scattered, and many of the schools consequently small. He did not think a house tax for the maintenance of education would be an improvement on the present method of placing the rate. Every one contributed to the Consolidated revenue, and that appeared to him to be the natural source from which to draw the oost of educating the children of tho colony. He deprecated any reduction in the expenditure on education, as there were many districts at present insufficiently supplied with accommodation for the children requiring instruc- ! tion, and anxious to attend the schools. The school buildings he thought should come out of loan. They had upon record, from Sir Julius Vogel's speech in 1875, that he spent one million and a half to bring about his scheme of public works. Half that money would bo sufficient to provide for thousands of children in the matter of education, whereaß the department had not tho wherewithal at present to put a roof over the heads of those children. To reduce the system of education at present established would be false economy, and a most disastrous thing for tho country with especial regard to its future. [Applause.] Ho then referred to the questions |of denominationalism and religious instruction imported into the consideration of the education scheme generally. He favored the maintenance of the Bchome on its present bas : B, and pointed out with reference to the frequently urged desirability of religious instruction being imparted to the young attending Btate sohoolfl, that there were ample opportunities of giving such inßtruotion outside of tho school-hours as fixed by the regulations. A good deal of voluntary rehgiouß instruction was given by the benevolently diuposed in many districts and by clergymen, and if teachers oared to give such instruction in the same way to those who desired it, ho saw no objection to thoir doing so. But as ho had said he would preserve the system intact. [Applause.] Turning to other subjeots, he said there were a number of Bills to be considered next session. There lroa one for

regulating the conduct of elections—a very propor measure—and another of equal importance, namely, theßribeiy Prevention Bill. The Redistribution of Seats Bill he had spoken of, and they knew his opinion upon it. He should vote for equal electoral districts, and failing that, he should advocate the representation of large provincial districts according to population. The Hospital and Charitable Aid Bill was another measure claiming their attention, and of its provisions he might say that, in the event of the different districts having to contribute towards the maintenance of the institutions affected, he saw no reason why they should not be under the control of tho local bodies. He hsd already given his opinion on the Licansing Bill—that local option was a very good principle in districts where public bouses were not established, and where licenses had not been granted. There was a Fenoing Bill also to come before tho House. It came down from the Upper Chamber. He had sent a copy of the measure to the County Council for their consideration, as he thought they were a body well able to give a sound opinion on the subject dealt with therein, and he could assure them that whatever opinions they might express with regard to it would receive the utmost respect and attention from him. They were also promised a measure to abolish the law of entail—a law .which he thought should have been done away with, like that of primogeniture, years ago. Mr Hall had told them that he was going to submit a Bill altering tho mode of appointing the Legislative Council. He quite agreed with the Premier that a time when no large question wob agitating the public of a nature to cause a conflict between tho two Houses, was the most suitable and desirable time for making an alteration in the constitution of the Upper Chamber. But it was not a pressing matter, and he would say at once that what the Premier proposed would not have his sanction at all events. He (the Premier) j proposed that the House of Representatives should eleot to vaoancies in tho Legislative Council. This he felt confident would be an undesirable alteration. The result would be in such case an increased amount of that lobbying of which so much was done already whenever a personal matter was brought before the House. His idea was that when a change was to be made the members of the Legislative Council should number about ■ thirty, or one-half the numerical strength of the House of Representatives—that tboy should be elected by the people in large electoral districts, three or four times as large as those electing the House of Representor tives, upon which it would be in the power of the Government to resolve. But the matter was surrounded by great difficulties. A good deal might be said on both sides. He should, however, strongly dissent from any proposal to place the election of the Legislative Council in the hands of the House of Representatives. He had now gone through the most important matters he desired to speak upon. But he would say a few words in reference to certain passages in the Hon. John Hall's speech at Leeston. In the first place, that gentleman soaroely treated the Opposition with fairness. He referred to the unity on the Government side, and their energy in supporting certain constitutional measures, and that the Opposition, on the other hand, were entirely wanting in unity of purpose or political influence He (Mr Montgomery) would draw attention to a few facts to show that there was, upon examination, very little in that boasted unity on the Government side. Take the subject of education as an example, even the Oabinet were not agreed. Major Atkinson supported the principle of limited religious education, Mr Hall unlimited, another member advocated school fees, and Mr Bollcston was in favor of maintaining the system of education as it was at present. So that it would be seen that there was not much unity on the Ministerial benches on that question. And what was it with regard to the supporters of the Government ? Wby, many of them went in for sweeping it away almost altogether—at all events reducing the amount expended on education by at leant one half ; reducing the system to instruction in the mere A, B, Oof education. The same want of oohosion in the members of the Government was notioeable with respect to the Native Land Sales Bill. Then Mr Hall warned the people that there would be a party favorable to leasing the railways—a most dangerous policy. He (Mr Montgomery) quite agreed with him, and would support him there ; but, as a fact, those who wanted to sell and lease these railways were some of Mr Hall's supporters in the House. Another difference in the Government was on the subject of further borrowing. Major Atkinson had said in his financial statement we should have to barrow more money, and yet there were supporters of the Government who said, we are dead against borrowing another shilling. So much for the unity they had heard about. Mr Hall would find out to his cost that it had no reality. The Government supporters were, in fact, only supporting the present Ministry because they thought that it would be injudicious to throw them over and get something in their place infinitely worse. [Laughter.] Proceeding further with the Premier's speech, Mr Hall had raised up something he could knockdown with great ease. He said—" We are told that a gentleman of great influence is forthcoming as the leader of the Opposition." By that, Sir George Grey was meant, of course. He then proceeded to say—" We aro told that be has a partly new platform. The planks of that platform appear to be—first, the abolition of a Legislative Council and the substitution of a Single Chamber; secondly, the abolition of a Queen-appointed Governor, and the substitution of an elected Governor ; thirdly, the taxation of tbe English bondholders; and fourthly, tbe dismissal of all the civil servants whose politioal opinions do not coincide with those of the Ministry of the day." Now, he would answer these absurd statements in detail. As to the abolition of the Legislative Council, Mr Hall must know that such would not be one of the planks of the Liberal platform. The reasons for two Houses of Parliament were so overwhelming that he could soaroely advocate a Single Chamber. As to the elective Governor, that statement was equally absurd, seeing that the Opposition had declared the Queen's representative a link between this and the Mother Country which they would be sorry to see separated. As to the taxation of the English bondholders being a plank in the Liberal platform, he felt confident in saying there were not half a dozen men in the House who would stand up and say that the English bondholders should be taxed. The fourth imaginary plank referred to was that all civil servants should be dismissed who did not coincide with the politioal opinions of the day. Well, Mr Hall might as well have accused the Opposition of having a desire to introduce a measure for the legalisation of picking pookets. [Laughter.]

Mr Tosswill—ls not Sir George Grey the moutbpieoe of the Opposition, and are not Bomo of the inferences of Mr Hall to be drawn from that gentleman's speech ? Mr Montgomery—Sir Geo. Grey was no more the mouthpieoe of the Opposition than Major Atkinson was the Government when advocating limited religious instruction in schools. Sir Geo. Grey was an able speaker but not loader of the Opposition. Mr Montgomery then proceeded to remark further on the speeoh of Mr Hall, and concluded by saying the Liberal party have always been for the extension of the privileges of the people. Ballot, manhood suffrage, triennial parliaments, representation acoording to population, education of the people, and for every measure which will give every man an equal chance to obtain whatever position intelligence, energy, and good conduct should entitle him to. The party is opposed to land rings and all their acts; to class legislation ; to jobs, suoh as the purchase with publio money of private railways f romsupporters of the Government; to secret negotiations by whioh publio money is to be given particular districts to gain over political opponents ; to the violation of the secrecy of the telegraph, and it is of comparatively little importance to us who is in power provided they will administer honestly—if we can get placed in the statute book laws securing equal rights to all—for this wo have striven and will continue without ceasing, being quite sure we shall succeed. In reply to a question, Mr Montgomery said he had not been a follower of Sir George Grey sjnee the latter resigned the leadership of the Opposition, and so far as he could see it was not likely he would be. A number of questions of no importance were put and duly answered. Mr F. W. Williams then moved —" Xhat this meeting thanks Mr Montgomery for hi* able and instructive address, and desires to express itß entire confidence in him as their representative in Parliament." Seconded by Mr Bates and carried nsinimously. A vote of thanks to the chair brought the meeting to a close.