MR, HOLMES AT THE ODDFELLOWS’ HALL.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2662, 18 October 1882, Page 3

MR, HOLMES AT THE ODDFELLOWS’ HALL.

Mr John Holmos, M.H.R., addressed a meeting of the electors of Christchurch south in the Oddfellows’ Hall last evening. There was a large attendance, and the chair was occupied by his Worship the Mayor. Amongst the gentlemen on the platform we noticed Mr W. Montgomery, M.H.R.; Mr W. J. Steward, M.H.R.; Mr Jno. Joyce, Mr C, P. Halbert, and the Hon. E. Richardson,

The Chairman requested for the speaker an attentive and impartial hearing. Mr Holmes, who on coming forward was received with load cheers, said that when he first appeared before them as a candidate for public honors they would bear in mind that ho told them that even then he was s person with strong political principles, and that amongst those principles was one which possibly was not entertained by most representatives in Parliament, and that was that be believed that a person who represented a constituency in Parliament was, so for aa his pledges and promises on the hustings were concerned, a delegate, and that when ho went to the House of Representatives he was as much hound in honor to carry out those pledges as if he were in the position of an accredited agent of a merchant employed to transact particular business at a distance. [Cheers.] And holding those views it followed aa a necessary corollary that such a person when he had discharged, or attempted to discharge, his duties, should on his return account to his master—for so far as a political representative was concerned his constituents were his masters—for the manner in which he had fulfilled le trnst reposed in him. Hence it was that he ppeared before them to render an account of his and to leave it to them to say whether or not ho hod broken any promises he had made on the hustings, or violated the confidence which had. been extended to him. They would recollect that when he first addressed them he told them that he was neither branded with the Hall mark nor colored with the Grey mark—that he went to Parliament a perfectly independent member, holding certain strong political views, and that he would support those views no matter who brought them forward. At the same time he told them on the day when he was declared elected that if the Government wpre of a certain complexion—if they were in the Governor’s speech to promise that they would bring down certain measures, those measures being what were called their previous Local Government Bills—he would oppose them and go directly into Opposition, Now it waa for him to account to them to-night why he first went into Opposition. Parliament was called together on the 18th May. He had been in Wellington some time previously and had sufficient opportunity to learn the character of the members who formed the Ministry, and from what he had gathered he anticipated what sort of a Ministry they |were going to have, and he would ■how by-and by how his anticipations had been realised to the fullest extent. Ho saw that the Government was composed of members strongly interested in the welfare of the North Island —that it consisted of persons who would simply govern the country for the benefit of the North Island; that its measures would ho directed to the enhancement, the aggrandisement, and the enrichment of the people of the North Island at the cost and to the detriment of the people of the Middle Island, and especially the people of the province of Canterbury and the city of of Christchurch. They first came down with a Governor’s speech in which there was nothing, or if there was it was not true. The only new policy they introduced was one with reference to the leasing of lands, which was proposed at the instigation of Mr Rolloston. That policy was subsequently embodied in x Bill which was carried through the Lower House by the exertions and generous smpport of the Opposition. But when it -vent to the Legislative Council its policy was destroyed and when the BJI was returned to the House in its emasculated shape, Mr Rolleston—to bis shame be it said —accepted the humiliating position of having to receive back his Bill mutilated and totally deprived of the new principle upon which he had prided himself so much. So that as a representative, and as a Minister of the Crown, that hou. gentleman had been absolutely false to the trust which the people had reposed in him. If he believed that the measure was a good one, and that the policy was for the welfare of the people, surely it was his duty to have ■tood out and not allowed the Legislative Council to wipe the principle out of his Bill. The fact was, he did not believe in it. It was a sham, and why ? Because it was opposed to the principle* of the gentleman who, he might say, ruled the destinies of the Ministry—Sir John Hall. Sir John Hall and most of the leading supporters of the Government opposed it, bnt it was carried through by the members . £ the Opposition, and that being so the Upper House rejected it with scorn, and Mr Rolleston and the Government received the snub they fot with the greatest humbleness. They ate imnble pie in snob a manner as to prove that they had no independence of character whatever. [Cheers,] He soon found not only that Government had no political principles, but also that they had no majority to back them, and the whole of their conduct during the first six weeks of the session was characterised bj 7 procrastination and a fishing for support. When the House mot it had within its walls no Premier or Attorney-General, and no Minister of any consequence except Major Atkinson. He of course in his own department was a host in himself, but in other departments the inability, inefficiency, and weakness of the Government were bo apparent that no one who had the slightest idea of holding a Government ?in respect could support such a Ministry. A Voice—And yet they did.] He would come to !hat by and by. So weak were the Government that they were afraid to bring down any measure of importance, notwithstanding that they were again and again urged to do so by the Opposition. He would call a spado a spade. The fact was they deferred placing their policy before the country until they had had an opportunity of buying sufficient support to enable them to carry on; and he would show by infallible records that they bought that support, to the disgrace of themselves and to the immense cost of the country. He proposed to give them a slight history of his actions in Wellington, and to leave it to them to say whether, under all the circumstances, he had

done the best he could for the constituency of South Christchurch, for the people of Christchurch, and for the people of Canterbury. Two or three days after the House met, he put a question to the Minister of Public Works, asking him whether it was true that the 10 per cent, reduction in the wanes of the laborers employed by the Government, and especially on the railways, bad been reduced 10 per cent, or more, and whether since that, though the Government had restored to the clerks and high salaried officers the 10 per cent, which had been deducted from their salaries during the year of the panic, yet the same justice hod not been accorded to the laboring men and humbler classes. To show the inutility of asking questions iu the House, the answer he got was that the 10 per cent, had not been deducted from these men’s wages at all. About a month afterwards Mr W. White, member for Sydenham, also pnt a similar question to the Minister, and asked if the Government intended to increase the wages of their laboring men 6d a day, and the answer he received was, that 6s per day was quite sufficient wages for laboring men. Mr White,

assisted by other members, got tip an agitation on the snbjeet. which resulted in the motion tabled by Mr Smith, the member for Waipa, to the effect that the Government ought to increase the wages of the laboring classes at least 6d a day. The Government, to prevent this being carried, resolved to treat it as a motion of want of confidence, notwithstanding that Mr Montgomery and Mr liacandrew both declared that they had nothing whatever to do with it, and the result was that it tell through, although there was a fight over it which lasted until daylight in the morning, and the result of which was that the laborers got a portion of that justice which ought to have been accorded to them six mouths before. [Cheers.J That [was only an instalment of what ought to bo given to them. [Cheers. 1 They would go along by instalments. Home was*nt built in a day, a:u[ it was not very easy to extract money out of Major Atkinson for any other purpose than to obtain political support. The next matter of interest to them which came before the House was the Bill that was introduced to whitewash the Stanmore patriot. [Laughter and cheers,] He took no interest in that Bill. He looked upon it then, as ho did now, as being ajnew and novel system of how to make a trap to catch political rats. [Laughter.] The next of consequence to his constituents was the Eight Hours Bill, introduced by Mr Green, the member for Dunedin East, the object of which was to make law what was the custom of the country, and provide that an ordinary day's work should consist of eight hours, without in any way interfering with the liberty of contract. This inoffensive Bill, whoso very opponents in the Lower Honso said it conld do no harm, so stauk in the nostrils of those who were called our political lords, that they absolutely flnug it out with contempt. [A Voice —We will do away with them.] If we did not do away with them, at all events it would soon be time in some way to modify them. [Cheers ] The next matter that came before the House was the West Coast Peaeo Preservation Bill, a measure for the purpose of dealiug with Te Whiti and Tohn. He had been asked why he had voted against this Bill. Well, he had expressed his determination to oppose tooth and nail any at-

tempt to enforce the proclamation issued before the advance on Paribaka, by which To Whiti was given fourteen days to submit, and in default his territory was to bo confiscated and all promises of the Government cancelled. "When the Bill was brought he turned to the Native Minister in the I louse and asked him if he intended to withdraw that proclamation. Mr Bryce was a man so resolute and of snob an iron will that, in fact, that great man of blood and iron—Bismarck —was nothing to him, and knowing him to be of that character, and also that his promise was sacred, he endeavored to extract a reply from him that the proclamation would not be put in force. He conld not succeed, however. Mr Bryce sat very silent, sullen, and dogged; for as a rule he was silent, looked snilen, and was very dogged. Therefore, as he believed it wonld bo an iniquitous thing to confiscate any portion of the lands of the Natives —which had originally been forfeited most ißcgally, most nnin dly, and most iniquitously—he confessed he got rather heated and spoke warmly, calling a spado a sp ide, and telling them what his opinion would be oi their conduct if they attempted to enforce the proclamation. The result was that next day he was stigmatised as a fire brand—the worst demagog** in creation was not half ns had as he was,

k [A Voi««—"The honesfcest man in the House. Laughter. J If he had been a Danton, a Robei 1 pierro, or a Marat, or any of those dreadful oha L ractero that so outraged humanity during the tim of the French revolution, he could, not hare re eoived more names or more abuse from the Govern mcnt press than were then showered upon him i However, in that matter also ho carried out th< pledge ho made mpon the hustings. He was ii favor of the Bill because it would have the effect© doing away with the enormous expenditure on the West Coast for armed police protection, anc which last year amounted to no less a sum than £140,000, but at the same time he was determinedly opposed to any attempt to plunder the Natives, and therefore he voted agaiHst the ißill. [Cheers. 3 Those were all measures in connection with the government of the North Island, and the only thing they had got to do with respect to them was to pay moneys in order that those moneys might be spent in the North Island. He would show them that this so-called National Government was merely a Government to carry out the views, supply the wants, and meet the wishes of the people of the North Island. The next Bill they had was the Native Reserves Bill, by Mr Bryce proposed that all existing Maori reserves and all lands which the Native owners might desire to brine under the control of the Public Trustee should be vested in that officer, who should have power to lease them, and under certain conditions sell them with the consent of the owners. It would enable the Maoris to have their lands properly administered, and to get the best value obtainable for them. He considered that a measure entirely for the welfare of the Natives, and ho supported it. He regarded it also as a measure which would save the people of the North Island from the great disgrace of having amongst them the PabchaMaori—a person who was used as the tool of certain wealthy capitalists for the purpose of swindling the Maoris out of their property. He gave his hearty support to that Bill when it was first introduced. But unfortunately the supporters of the Government were deadly opposed to it. The gentlemen who came from Taranaki were opposed, to it. Some from Hawke’s Bay were opposed to it. Of course Mr Whitaker, junior, was opposed to it, and all those persons who had been dealing with Native lands, and who had been actively engaged in procuring these lands for persons who had paid them well for doing so These gentlemen being opposed to the Bill, the Government were in a fright about it, and after it was read a second time were very slow in bringing it on in committee. They were asked again and again, day after day, and week after week, to bring it on, but did not do so unti 1 they had secured, by means which he would explain by and by, the necesoary majority to enable them to put their foot down and say we shall have the Bill. It was made a party question of, and when it became a party question he did not vote for the Bill, nor did he vote against it. Barty considerations coming in ho was determined not to vote against hia party on the one hand, nor against his •onvictions on the other, so he did not vote at all. The Bill was subsequently carried with firing •olors, and wai now the law of the land, and in his humble opinion was a very excellent law indeed. 'The next Bill of any importance to them that camejbefore the House was the Employers’ Inability Bill, which was cordially supported by the Opposition, and carried through with very little opposition from any quarter. He fully endorsed its provisions, and helped to pass it through the House. [Cheers J There was then a measure introduced by himself called the Distress Bill. He was afraid its provisions had not been thoroughly understood in Christchurch, or it would have received greater support than it had done from the Working Men’s Political Association, who had only approved of it by a bare majority. It was intended for the relief of small tenants, and provided that a man's clothes and the clothes of his family and hia bedding and the tools of his trade, to the value of £25 in all, should be exempt from distress and bo absolutely protected. No man with any bowels of compassion or milk of human kindness would for a mo r nt think of enforcing the law either against or a debtor to such an extent as to deprive nim of his bedding, his clothes and his tools of trade. [Cheers. J That Bill was read a second time by & large majority, but never had an opportunity of going into committee, and died an unnatural death. The next Bill that came before the House of importance to the country was the Land Bill, which embodied the new principle of perpetual leasing. It met with a great deal of opposition from Sir John Hall, Mr Fulton and two or three other of the well-known and respected Tories of the House. The measure was carried, but when it went tc the Npper House it was completely emasculated by having the sole provision of any importance taken out of it, and the principle turned into a deferred payment system, or what amountedto that—leasing with a purchasing clause. It was accepted by Mr Bclleston in its mutilated shape, and bo became law. In its original form he had thoroughly supported it, believing it would be for the benefit of the working and the saving men. of the community, to whom it would afford an extremely favorable opportunity of taking up land with a few hundred pounds, and making a homestead for themselves. The system possessed the advantage of not requiring a large immediate expenditure on the port of the settler. They had heard that the Opposition were accused of obstruction; in point of fact the great Stanmorc patriot wrote a letter to the newspapers on the subject, in which he said that the Opposition were in a lamentably disorganised state, Well, at that time, wecu they had a little tussle with the Government over Mr Smith's motion, they were defeated by four. He wished to refer to on© or two points in that celebrated letter to which he had referred in order to flatly contradict them. The matter was not taken any notice of in the House, as it was not thought desirable to do so. And not only did they take very little notice of the letter, bat they took very little notice of the letter writer. fGheers.l He started by addressing his Dear Hubbard, and he told Mother—he meant Mr—Hubbard, that the Opposition were in a lamentably disorganised state. Well, to show how disorganised they were, after all the exertions of the Government, after the whitewashing bills, and after promises of money lavishly given, and indeed as lavishly granted afterwards in order to gain the support of the Petries, the Munros, and suchlike men—after all this, the Opposition were only defeated by four votes on one or two little matters. Yet this gentleman, who was supposed to have been a strong Opposition member, who ought to have supported them through thick and thin, and if they were disorganised, ought not to have deserted them, but should have been anxious for an opportunity to give the Government a coup de grace—he wrote stating that the Opposition were in a lamentably disorganised state. Instead of being disorganised the Opposition consisted of two compact bodies—the one led by Mr Montgomery, of which he (Mr Holmes) was a gentle and amiable member, and the other led by Sir George Grey. [Cheers.3 Aud these two bodies whenever there was the slightest pressure from abroad became united, and there was thorough unanimity between them on iall broad questions of politics. So that they were thoroughly well, organised. They had not, however, the organisation which enabled them to conquer. They were not masters •f the public purse. But had they been masters of tho public purse they would have shown an organisation under which they would have gone into battle and gained a victory by at least eight or ton noses. They would recollect that the member to whom he had been alluding was two or three years ago an ardent admirer of Sir George Grey, aud they would remember how he spoke of that gentleman in the letter he had written. He also spoke of Mr Montgomery in the following rude and impertinent fashion :—" Then comes Macandrew with the Otago contingent. Montgomery is temporarily utilised as a figure head,.” His “ temporary ” reign had, at all events, lasted all through the session. The “ patriot ** also spoke disrespectfully of Sir Georg© Grey. Whatever] opinions they might hold of Sir George Grey, everybody who knew anything of him recognised him as a great man—[loud cheers3 —a man of towering intellect, with an eloquence that excelled oven that of the most eloquent of the Greeks or Romans—a man whose very words seemed to set on fire emotions within his hearers’ Jbreasts aud awaken enthusiasm. There was not a word of truth in the statement by Mr Pilliet that a lead-

iu g member of the Opposition told him that if they turned out the Government they wonld ballot for portfolios. No leading member of the Opposition spoke to him after he was elected the second time. Nor was it trne that the time of the House had been frittered away by factions squabbles. He (Mr Holmes) heard Sir Maurice O’Eorke say that he had never seen a less factious or less violent Opposition, or one that had observed the rules and customs of the House more carefnlly than the Opposition last session. (Cheers) So mnch for the letter of the Stanmore patriot. About this time the leader of the Opposition was constantly crying ont to the Government, “ Bring down yonr Public Works Statement. We went to know what yo» are going to do about inblio works. Bring down yonr Loan Bills and your Policy Bills." That was at the end of June, and the Government had sent down nothing hut the Bills with reference to the Peace Preservation on the West Coast. Owing to sitting up in the iHonse late, breathing a poisoned and vitiated atmosphere, he became ill about this time and had to come to Christchurch, and during his absence the Public Works Statement was delivered. That was the first intimation of the works proposed to be undertaken. There wonld be li;tlo doni t im their mind that the intention of the Government was to sell the people of Canterbury—anil he himself was egregionsly sold in connection with the East and West Coast railway—and to make Mr Eobinson’s line. The schedule stated. «■ Main Trnnk line extension northwards, £1PO,000." It did not say where it was to start from —whether from Amberloy, Waikari, Hurnnui, or Waipara, a •tation near Mr Moore’s place at Gleumark. He thought he conld show them that the intention of the Government then—and possibly it was their intention until very lately when the people of Christchurch began to growl and grumble and utter mutteringa of wrath—was to make the line from Waipara along the East Coast through Mr Robinson's property, and so on to Picton. He did not know that it wonld have reached Picton for many years to come, but certainly it was intended to reach Cheviot within a very short space of time. They would notice that the words were, “ Main Trunk Line, extension Northwards. It left it perfectly open for the Government to spend the EISO.OOO cither in making a lino from Waipara np through Mr Eobinson’s property, and thou back to Greta hills and on to Cheviot ; or to make a line from the Waikari on to Hnrnnni, then on to Waiau and up the valley- of the Waian, down the valley of the Conway, and then through Mr Eobinson's property, coming ont by the Kaikouras, and thence on to Picton; or theymight make a line via the Tophonse. These three routes were shown on a large map produced in the

committee room by Mr E. G. Wright—three routes intending to go, not to tho West Coast, bat either to Nelson or Picton. There was apparently no intoution of making a line to the V/est Coast, and the people of Christchurch had shown prudence in making a stir as soon as they found this out. Mr Weston, speaking the other evening at the meeting ®f the Industrial Association, seemed to have taken upon himself all the honor and glory of either making the West Coast line or intending to make it, and he was also kind enough to ment ion the names of certain gentlemen of whose conduct he approved in connection with the West Coast line both in and out of caucus. Amongst those gentlemen ho mentioned Mr leaac Wilson and Mr J. E. Brown, Well, be (Mr Holmes) thought he conld show by and by that neither Mr Wilson, nor Mr Brown, nor indeed Mr Weston, over made tho slightest effort to bring the West Coast line under notice of the Government, and the only persons who did make any exertions in tho matter were Mr John Holmes

and Mr E. G. Wright. [Cheers. ’1 Amongst other Bills which came on of which no approved w:.B tho Municipal Corporations Amendment Bill—a measure which wont in the direction of affording facilities for local self - government. The speaker next referred to the Loan Bills. Tho One Million Loan Bill was brought in, it was alleged, because Auckland and tho North had not received their fair share of nubli* expenditure. Could it have been in fulfilment •f the bargain made with tho famous four Auckland rats whose grievance was that the North had not boon fairly treated in ike alloe&tion of public

( monies ? He was sorry to say the Bill waa suported by most of the representatives from Chziofcjhurch and the surrounding districts. He {need ' hardly say that he opposed the Bill and voted against it, although he did not speak. With regard W the £3.0 '0,600 Loan Bill, not a single word was said about the schedule by Mr Weston or any of the i gentlemen he had named, and two of those ardent supporters of the West Coast railway voted against the hue and for the schedule. He (Mr Holmes) spoke against the Bill, and as qhe newspaper report of ms speech, which occupied about an hour and & wa s condensed into six linos, ho wonld rend to the meeting some extracts from " Hansard.” [Extracts read. 3 1° that speech he suggested the adoption of a principle which was afterwards embodied in a resolution by Mr Shrimski, to the effect that if any line did not pay a special tax should bo levied upon the landowners in order to make up the difference between tbs revenue derived and the amount of interest on tbo construction. The Government shelved this question by getting it referred to a committee. In that speech ho also spoke against the East Coast line, aud quoted comparative figures showing the proportion of public expenditure in tb» North and South. Of the three million loan Canterbury did not receive much more than half it was entitled to according to population. Most ef the money to be expended in the North Island would not be reproductive for hundreds ef years to come. The railways there only paid 2.46 per cent., while those in Canterbury returned 8 per cent. He referred to his action in the House with regard to the railway tariff,? the Crown and Native I*ands Rating Bill, the Road Construction Bill, and the Rating Bill, and proceeded to refer at length to the question of the West Coast Railway, as to which he had to come to the conclusion, after studying the subject most exhaustively and reading all the reports and papers, that if any money was to be spent at all in making a railway northwards, it should be spent in order to benefit the colony at large, and Christchurch and Canterbury in particular, and it should be spent in making a railway to the West Coast; that the line along the Mast Coast should not be tolerated by the people of Canterbury, nor the line down the valley of the Conway, nor the Tophouse route going direefc to Nelson. At an interview with the Minister £ or Public Works, he told him that he had heard that Mr Robinson had employed a certain surveyor to make a flying survey a route along the Coast through his property to Blenheim, and that afterwards Mr Robinsea had used influence with the Government to get this very surveyor employed by the Government to make the trial or comparative surveys of the three lines. If that were true, the report of such a surveyor was liable to grave suspicion. He intended next session to ask the Minister for Public Works if he had mode an investigation and ascertained whether the rumor was correct or not. The speaker next referred to Mr Petrie and Mr Mnnro, members for the West Coast, who, he said, were first supporters of the Opposition, but joined the ranks of the Government after arrangements hod been made to vote large sums of money for the construction of harbor works at Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika. In conclusion he would only ask them if he had performed his promises and done his duty to them as a representative. (Mr Holmes resumed his seat amidst ©o»siderable cheering, having spoken for over tvs hours aud a half.) Mr D. Reese moved a vote of thanks and nonfidence.

Mr Mnffet seconded the resolution, which was carried by acclamation. A vote of thanks to the •hair concluded thm proceedings.