THE ANNEXATION BILL.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 736, 6 October 1870, Page 3

THE ANNEXATION BILL.

We have already given at length Mr Harrison's explanation of the causes which led to the defeat of the Annexation Bill, and we think it only just that we .should also publish the two very excellent speecht s made by Messrs Hall and Kynnersley, when the Government announced its intention to withdraw the Bill. The reports are from Hansard : — Mr Hall would like to express the feeling of regret which he entertained that this Bill ' would not be proceeded with during the present session. No person who knew anything of the Grey District wmil I deny that it was a signal instance of the evils to which New Zealand had been subject by its peculiar form of government. The Grey Valley, taking its mineral and agricultural resources into consideration, was one of the finest districts in the Colony, but those resources had been almost sacrificed by tlie manner in which the government of the district was provided for. It was a tract of country vhich, looking at its physical conformation, at the occupations of its people; looking at the channels in which its commerce flowed — looking at everything which constituted a natural commercial unit, was an entity in itself. Yet it was cut into two by an arbitrary political line — one half being placed under one Government, and the other half under another, each Government having its own set of officers, and there being no provision for harmony of action between them. The want of this harmony of action between the two Governments was felt in the case of the railway which had been projected : the construction of that line had been postponed, j to the loss of the. Colony at large, by the want of co-operation, and even rivalry, between the two Governments. Again, a miner could not go from one side of the river to the other without taking out a second miner's right. There were two magistrates with separate jurisdiction within sight of each other. They had a splendid wharf at Greymouth, sufficient for the requirements of the whole district, and yet he heard that the Government of Nelson were going to spend L2OOO to establish a wharf over the way — just across the river.

The cost and machinery of government was doubled, and the efficiency of the administration impaired, by the fact that what nature intended for one district the New Zealand Government had made into two. It was quite true, as had been stated by more than one speaker, that the people of the Grey district did not ask to be put in the same political division as the rest of the people of Westland, but ■when that portion of the Colony was separated from the Province of Canterbury, it was at that time unavoidable that the .Grey district should be separated with the rest of it. He had always advocated the placing of the whole valley, in some mode or another, under one Government; that might now be done by putting the whole valley under the Nelson Government. He was sorry that the Government thought it advisable that this state of things should continue for another twelve months. He was, among others, especially sorry for two reasons —on account of the projected railway and the Grey coal mine. It consisted of a magnificent seam of coal running across the river, and to make profitable use of it, it was desirable that the whole should be under one authority. Mr Bakff : Why 1 Mr Hall would tell the hon. member why. The coal had to be conveyed to the shipping port. The authorities on the south side of the river, in order to dispose of the produce of their mine, must provide a railway or tramway from the southern half of the mine to the place of shipment. The people of Nelson, on their side, must have a parallel railway running on the other side of the river. They would thus have two wharves. The Colony had not used the people of the Grey well, and he felt for them. With regard to this question of the proposed Nelson and Cobden railway, the people of Nelson proposed to make a railway through their mining districts, and very naturally proposed to carry the line to Cobden, on the north side of the river. He believed that few people who had looked at the district would deny that the best side of the river for the railway was the south side, but that, as matters now stood, would not suit Nelson. Yet the House had made provision during this session, for letting that contract during the current year. That would not only render a double railway necessary, but if they wanted anything like a main trunk line running south from the Grey River, they would not have to cross the river at the mine, where it was easy to bridge, but must carry the line to Cobden, where it would cost an immense sum to erect a bridge ; or they must come back from Cobden in order to cross the river at the mine. These were some of the evils resulting from the provincial system. The people of the Grey Valley had always asked that they should be put under one Government. If the particular remedy they suggested had row changed, it was because they felt that if they could uot get their claims satisfied in one way, they would get them, if they could, in another. There was no iucor.sis.ency in that ; it was simply an evidence of their earnestness. He thought that the hon. member for Westland Boroughs had good reason to complain of the treatment he had received at the hands of the Government. If the Government had told him, at an earlier period of the session, that they could not go, on with the measure, he had no doubt the honorable member would have taken other steps to bring the case before the House. The Colonial Treasurer now said the Government had new information, and that difficulties had been raised by the representatives of Nelson ; but that information was received by the Government some time ago. If, when they found that there was a difficulty in making an arrangement with the Superintendent of Nelson, they had told the honorable member that they could not go on with the Bill, they would have given him an opportunity of making other arrangements with respect to it ; but, having told him, at an earlier part of the session, that they would take the matter out of his hands, and then leaving it until the last week of the session before they let him know that they could not fulfil their engagement, was a line of conduct not calculated to win the confidence of hon. members. He thought that his hon. friend the member for Westland Boroughs and the people of Greymonth had very good reason to complain of the treatment they had received. He trusted that the Government, during the recess, <vould endeavor to provide a rernedj' for grievances which they could not deny. There was one point which this Bill dealt with to which he had not referred, and for the postponement of which he had heard no reason assigned, namely, the alteration in the mode of appointing the Chairman of the County of Westland. It would be remembered that when the Chairman of the County of Westland was first appointed, he was nominated by the Government, and the system worked well. The Colonial Treasurer had not told them that he had got any fresh information to induce them to abandon this change ; he had lost no opportunity, earlier in the session, o? telling them that some change vm necessary, and of holding up to the ridicule of the House the manner in which the Government of the County, of Weatland was conducted, and at last the Government brought down to the House a resolution to effect the change. If it was right then, why did they refuse to go on with it now 1 Why did they leave matters in the unsatisfactory state which they had described ? A large district like Otago, for instance, with many votes at its back, would not have been treated in that way. Although ho agreed with the honorable member for Westland South, that the form of government in the County had been a success, he thought a change necessary in the mode j of appointing the Chairman ; and although i he (Mr Hall) was a party to making the Chairman elective, he thought that the change proposed by the Government was a necessary change ; and he was sorry that they had abandoned it, especially as they had shown the House no reason whatever for doing so. If they had any reason, the honorable' member had failed to mention it. Mr Kynnersley would certainly oppose the motion of the Colonial Treasurer, that the order of the day bo discharged. Before going into the merits of the Hill, he would sty a few words with regard to the action he had taken on the previous day, and in reference to the remarks of the Colonial Treasurer. He adopted on the^previnus day, with great regret, the very extreme and unusual course of obstructing the Government business. He had stated, on the previous day, that he intended to do so, unless the County of Westland Boun-

dary and Government Bill was brought before the House. He very much regretted having to take that course, but he did so because there was a great principle at stake. The people of the County of Westland had sent petitions to the House for the last three years, and they sent up this year a petition signed by 2000 of the mostrespectableinhabitants in the district, which was referred to a select committee, who reported favorably. They reported : — !t The Select Committee of the House of Representatives, to whom was referred the petition of the inhabitants of the Grey Valley and Teremakau districts praying for annexation to the Province of Nelson, after taking into consideration the petition, and the i-eport of the commissioner appointed by the Superintendent of Nelson upon the subject, have the honor to report, and are of opinion —That it is desirable that both sides of the Grey Valley, together with the district northwards of the Teremakau River (which is commercially connected with the town of Greymouth), should be under one Governmeut; and are further of opinion and recommend that the prayer of the petitioners be complied with." Now, he considered that a petition setting forth a grievance from so many inhabitants of a district, who had petitioned the House for three yeai's for the remedy of the same grievance, should be brought before the House and considered. That was the point for which he was contending on the previous day, and the fact of the petition not having . received that consideration at the hands of the House to which it was entitled, was the only reason which induced him to adopt the extreme and unusual course which he did. He was not altogether satisfied with the Bill. He would vote for it if it came before the House, but he did not consider that it was altogether satisfactory ; at any rate, it was certainly not satisfactory to him. He had to chose one of two courses — either to put the House to inconvenience, or to cause great discontent in the district which was interested, by allowing the petition of the inhabitants to be burked. The Colonial Treasurer had stated that the House was disgusted with the action taken by himself an :l the honorable member for Westland Boroughs. If they were disgusted, it was with the action of the Government, which had forced himself and his honoi'able friend to take the course which they did. He had never stated, as the Colonial Treasurer had hinted, that the Government had been guilty of a breach of faith with him ; he said they had been guilty of a breach of faith with (he honorable member for the Westland Boroughs and his constituents. The Treasurer had stated that, in an interview for himself and the honorable member with the Westland Boroughs, he understood that he (Mr Kynnersley) was not going to support the Bill before the House. He was sorry the honorable member had misunderstood him ; but he told the honorable member what he had told the people of Greymouth when the petition was being signed — that the annexation of the Grey to the Province of Nelson was not the most satisfactory way of bringing both sides of the Grey Valley under one form of government, but that it was his intention to support any measure which would accomplish that end. He told the honorable member that he considered the provincial form of government totally unsuited to the circumstances of the West Coast, and that, if the Grey were annexed to Nelson in the manner proposed in the Bill, before twelve months had elapsed there would be the same auimosity between Greymouth and Nelson as formerly existed between Hokitika and Chrisxchurdi ; but at the same time he would, as he said before, always be prepared to support any proposal for bringing both sides of the Grey Valley under one form of government. The Colonial Treasurer had indulged in a great number of personal allusions to what he characterised as disgraceful proceedings, and had attributed his conduct to youth, and inexperience, and so on. He did not care about going into those wretched personalities, and he thought it was a lamentable state of things when the welfare and progress of one of the finest districts in the Colony should depend upon whether one or two representatives ©" that district happened t ) be on go>d terms with the Colonial Treasurer, or happened to support the Government or oppose it. He stated, on a former occasion, that the Government had been guilty oi a breach of faith towards th« inhabitants of the Grey district. He came to that conclusion because he knew it was the intention of the honorable member for Westland 'Boroughs to have brought the petition before the House, arid have endeavoured to obtain a remedy for the grievances complained of ; but the Colonial Treasurer took the matter out of his hands, and not only told that honorable member, but stated in the House that the County of Westland Boundary and Government Bill, for the annexation of the district in question to Nelson, should be a Government ; measure. The Government brought in i the Bill, and it was read a firsb time on the 22nd August, and it had been on the order paper ever since. It was considered so safe as a Government measure that his honorable friend the member for Westland Boroughs telegraphed to his constituents that the matter was as good as settled ; and now, within two or three days of the end of the session, the Colonial Treasurer told the honorable member that it was not the intention of the Government to proceed with the measure. He considered that that was a breach of faith with the honorable member, for if the matter had not been taken out of the honorable member's hands, it' would have been brought before the House long ago, and settled one way or the other. If it had not been for the action himself and his honorable friend had taken on the previous day, the Bill would not have been brought forward at all. He considered that, under the circumstances, he was perfectly justified in using the strong language winch he had used in reference to the conduct of the Government in the matter. He would now address himself to the subject of the Bill itself. He could speak with some knowledge oh the subject, because he was in charge of the gold fields north of the Grey River, and had control of the public works almost from the first occupation of the Grey Valley. He formed the opinion, when he first went to the Grey, that it was a great pity that both Bides of the valley were not under the s/une Government, as ib was n considerable drawback to the business of both districts. He was debarred, however, from expressing any opinion on the subject, on account of his position as resident magistrate. The great disadvan-

iazes and inconveniences which existed | under the present state of things, with regard to tbe government and boundary of those districts, had been fully set forth in the petition, and had been referred to oy the honorable member for Westland South and the honorable member for Heathcote. It was hardly necessary for him to point out that the devided government necessitated doub'e expenditure. There were two sets of mining regulations, two wardens court, and two police offices, all within half a mile of each other, and it could be easily understood that the miners and business men in both districts experienced great inconvenience therefrom. Miners were constantly crossing the river, and they were required to take out a miner's right for Westland and one for Nelson, when they were carrying on operations in both places, and, of course, they were subject to two different regulations. The business people were chiefly resident in Greymouth, and their customers were on the other side of the river, and both miners and business men experienced great inconvenience every day of their lives in consequence of the boundary line passing through a populous district. There had been various petitions on the subject before the House, each containing distinct propositions ; one had been to connect the north bank with Westland, another to erect the Grey Valley into one territorial division, under a form of government of its own ; and the third to annex the south bank of the Grey to Nelson. He took it that the main question to be considered was as to the best way of bringing both sides of the Grey Valley under one form of government. The proposal for annexing the north bank of the Grey to Westland would be, in his opinion, the worst of the three methods. One reason for that was, because of the rivalry which existed between Greymonth and Hokitika. These two ports and towns have grown up together, and there had always been a rivalry between them ever since they were first established. It was very undesirable, and, if possible, to be avoided, that there should be any Province, County, or any territorial division of any kind, in which those places are united. They had seen the evils arising from a similar action in the case of Picton and Blenheim, the reresult being a great drawback to the Province of Marlborousjh. The same result would ensue if the north bank of the Grey were annexed to Wetland. It was, at that time, impossible to unite them, inasmuch as they had no petition before them to have snch a project cavrred out. It would be better, he thought, to establish, some seperate territorial division — he did not care whether it was called a Province, a County, or a Shire ; whatever its name mi'jht he, it should have one object. He had told the Colonial Treasurer, during the interview that he hail had with him, together with the member for Westland Boroughs, that the provincial institutions of this c< miry are entirely unsuitable so far as the West Coast gold fields are concerned. The Colonial Treasurer stated in the House that it would be useless to abolish provincial institutions, because, even if they were abolished, the provincial feelings would remain. That did not apply to the West Coast of the Middle Island. They there had no provincial feeling, but, on the contrary, they enterta'ned strong anti-pi ovincial feelings, as htd been formerly shown between Westland and Canterbury. There was at present a strong feeling of animosity on the part of the people on the West Coast gold iields against the Nelson Province. He was quite prepared, as an anti-provin-cialist, to admit that the provincial institutions had worked well in some parts of Ihe Colony. He believed that in Otago and Canterbury they had worked well, and, having said so, he would ask provincialists, in return, to consider the position and circumstances of the West Coast, and they would find that provincial institutions were altogether unsuited to their condition. The people of the Nelson gold fields had principally come from Victoria, and they knew very little about the machinery of the Government of New Zealand. They only knew that there were two Governments — one at Wellington, about 280 miles away, and another at Nelson, some 200 miles distant— and that one of these exercised one class of functions, and the other another. They could not draw the line between them, but they wondered what necessity existed for such a form of double government. The form of government best suited to the West Coast would be that of a County, not like the County of Westland, but something like a road board or board of works at each centre of population — Hokitika, Greymonth, and Westport— with power simply to deal with the revenue which was handed to them by the General Government, and to be expended on public works in the district. They should have no legislative powers whatever. He did not see the necessity, in these days, for a number of legislative bodies being scattered all over the country There might have been a necessity for I them when, the Colony was "being settled, i and when the means of communication between one part and another were very limited ; but that necessity no ionger existed. The whole population of the Colony was only equal to a second-rate town in England. There were ten towns in England with larger p ipulations than New Zealand, and yet there was no neceisity felt for legislative bodies being scattered all over the old country. To those outside New Zealand the form of government prevailing here appeared ridiculous and absurd. No other small country possessed any similar constitutiou. He might, refer to the neighbouring colony of Victoria. Ballarat, with all its suburbs, included a population of 80,000 inhabitants, and yet they did not require to produce a legislative body. It possessed more inhabitants than Auckland or Otago, and they were quite satisfied with having a mayor and corporation. If they took any of the large towns of England — Liverpool or Manchester, for example — the same would be seen. Why, then, should they have those legislative bodiea in New Zealand distributed in every direction ? He was not satisfied with the proposal contained in the Bill to annex certain portions of the Grey Valley, or any portion of the West Coast, to the Province of Nelson. There was no probability of the Bill being carried that session, but, if it were, he thought there would be very little stability in the arrangement. If Greymouth joined Nelson, before the lapse of twelve months there would be just the same animosity between Greymouth and Nelson as there had been between Hokitika and Christchurch ; in twelve months they would be sure to separate. Tbe people of Greymouth

would be too strong for Nelson ; they would not be content to be governed by Nelson. He knew the Province of Nelson well, having been for three years in the service of the Government there, and he knew from his own experience, that the Government had always been a drag upon the Province. If the Province, which possessed large mineral resources, had been properly governed, it would have rivalled Otago. The idea of government in Nelson was simply to drift;. It had failed in almost every particular ; it had not induced immigration or opened up the country. It had remained satisfied with simply keeping the expenses of the Province within the income, and, having done so, they thought they had discharged their duty to the Province, for which the people should be proportionately thankful. For some years past there had Veen a general feeling of discontent with respect to the government of the Province. Such a method of governing the country as that pursued by the Government of the Province of Nelson was not consonant with the views of the people of the West Coast, and if Greymouth were joined to Nelson, the people of the former place would demand more than merely making both ends meet at the end of the year. They were smart men on the West Coast. They thought that a Government should lead instead of following the miners, and not to be a drag upon them. Greymouth was a far more important place than Nelson. It had a larger population, and was a finer country, than the little valley at the head of Blind Bay called Nelson. The Grey Valley was a larger and more fertile country, and could support a larger population than the Waimea district. It was also inhabited by a vastly different plass of people. They had more trade and customs revenue in the port of Greymouth than in that of Nelson. The people of Greymouth were a vigorous, energetic, and progressive class of people, and they considered — whether rightly or wrongly he was not prepared to say — that the peopte of Nelson were the embodiment of all that was dull, torpid, and stagnant. It would soon become a case of annexing Nelson to. Greymouth, instead of Greymouth to Nelson. He spoke from a full knowledge of those districts. It would soou be much more satisfactory to place both sides of the Grey Valley under one distinct form of government, and he was prepared to vote for any scheme that would bring about that object. He did not think it necessary to refer to the speeches made by the other members upon the question, He would only remark, in reference to the honorable member for Nelson City (Mr Curtis), that, having regard to the report of the Committee, with which that honorable member had agreed, he could not. do otherwise than support the Bill. He did not think it necessary to reply to the remarks of Mr Barff, as they had mainly reference to a report, taken from a West Coast paper, of a meeting that was said to have taken place in a little village, no one knew where. The Teremakau River was not open to the same objection as the Grey River as a boundary line. The Grey River was navigable, and had a large town upon it, and was an important port. Its exports exceeded those of Wellington, and its customs revenue was fully equnl to the port of Wellington. He had been looking for satistics, and he found that, as regards customs, it was the sixth port in New Zealand. The Teremakau River was not navigable, and there was no town about it. When he was last there, there were only two or three houses, and only a few inhabitants settled there. The country was very rugged, and not fit for settlement. The Teremakau would be an admirable boundary ; large enough to distinguish the boundary between the two Provinces, and not large enough to be navigable. He did not wish to detain the} House longer. He could only say that he was not altogether satisfied with the Bill. He did not think that the Bill, if carried, would give permanent satisfaction to the neighbourhood, but yet at the present time they felt a great grievance ; they had a most inconvenient boundary line, which had been injuriously felt by every miner and business man in the district for the last three or four years. He would ask the House to vote for the second reading of the Bill, and, by so doing, endeavour to remove the obstacle to the progress and prosperity of what he believed to be one of the very finest districts in New Zealand.