THE GREYMOUTH MEETING.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 754, 17 November 1870, Page 4

THE GREYMOUTH MEETING.

Mr Curtis having publicly invited the residents in the town and district to meet him at the Volunteer Hall, a large and most influential meeting took place last evening. On the motion of Mr W. H. Harrison, M.H.R., J. Kilgour, Esq., Mayor, was called to the chair. The Chairman said he was glad to see that, in spite of the inclement weather, nearly every business man in town was represented at the meeting, and he had no doubt they were all very happy to meet the Superintendent of Nelson. (Applause.) They might, probably, have received him more enthusiastically if Annexation had been accomplished, but as they were yet very sore on that poirt he would say no more about it. He believed his Honor wished to address them, and he would briefly introduce him, and claim for him a patient hearing. Mr ICURTIS t\en stepped on the plat-

form, and was received with loud cheers. He said that perhaps he ought to offer an apology to the residents in Greymouth for asking them to meet him, as they were not immediately connected with the province of Nelson, but as a large proportion of his audience no doubt belonged to the north side of the river he would offer them no apology. When he remembered the great interest which was said to have been taken in this place during the last session of the Assembly, to bring about a nearer and dearer connection with the Nelson Province, he thought that what he had to say to them would be of some interest. (Applause.) He then proceeded to repeat the remarks he made at the Ahaura meeting (published elsewhere) as to his desire to remove an opinion or prejudice that had apparently gained ground on the South- West Gold Fields, that the several districts had not received fair treatment at thejhands of the Government in proportion to the revenue contributed. He then proceeded to lay before them a few figures, which he hoped would be published in the newspaper in del ail, in order that they might be studied by the people at their leisure. He would read the principal items, however, of revenue and expenditure from the whole Province, and upon the South-West Gold Fields, as follows : — SIJPERINTEN.DENCY OP MR SAWDERS. Year ending 31st March, 1865.— Total revenue of the whole Province, L 44,400. Expenditure on South-West Gold Fields — Coal works, L 2650 ; roads, L3OOO ; proportion of general expenses, L2soo— Total, LBISO. Say one-fifth of the whole revenue. Year ending 31st March, 1866.— Total revenue of the whole Province, L 55.700. Expenditure on South-West Gold FieldsDepartmental, L 10.40 0; roads, &c, 4900; coal works, 1100 ; proportion of general expenses, Lsooo— Total, L 21.400. Not much more than one-third of the whole revenue. Year ending 31st March, 1867.— Total revenue of the whole Proviuce, L 75.700. Expenditure on South-West Gold Fields— Deprrtmental, Lll,ooo ; roads, &c, L 15.100; proportion of general expenses, L 7500— Total, L 33,600. Not nearly one-half of the whole revenue. Year ending 31st March, 1868.- Total revenue of the whole Province. L 135 ,000. Expenditure on South-West Gold FieldsDepartmental, L 33,200 ; roads, &c, LolJOO; proportion of general expenses, L74oo— Total, L 92.400. More than two-thirds of the whole revenue. StrPERINTENDENCY OF Mr CURTIS. Year ending 31st March, 1869. — Total apparent revenue of the whole Province, L 99,100; less deposit reckoned as revenue in previous year, L 12 ,000. Total, L 87 ,100. Expenditure on South-West Gold Fields — Departmental, L 25.600 ; roads, &c, 12,900 ; coal mine, 5400 ; proportion of general expenses, L 7500. Total, L 51,400. Nearly two-thirds of whole revenue. Year ending 31st March, 1870.— Total revenue of the whole Province, L 82.000. Expenditure on South-West Gold Fields — Departmental, L 19.500 ; roads, &c, L 12.000; coal mine, 6,100; proportion of general expenses, L 7500. Total, L 45.100. More than one-half of whole revenue. Half-year ending 30th September, 1870. — Total revenue of the whole Province, L 34.000. Expenditure on South-West Gold Fields — Departmental, L 9900 ; roads, &c, LSSOO ; coal mine, L 3,100, 100 ; proportion of general expenses, L 3750. Total, L 25.250. More than three-fourths of whole revenue. Expenditure in all the other parts of the Province upon public works during the above period, L3BOO, against L 11,600 on the West Coast. Those Jfigiires showed that the mining interest had not been neglected by the Nelson Government. It was impossible to give the relative proportions of contributions by the several districts to the revenue of the Province, owing to the manner in which the accounts were kept by the General Government, still he be- , lieved the Gold Fields contributed twothirds of the total revenue of the Province. But previous to the first date mentioned in the statement, a sum of L 24,000 had been expended in the years 1861-2-3 in the attempt to open up what proved to be the gold fields, in the hope of developing their supposed rich mineral resources. No revenue came from the district then, and that amount had never been considered chargeable against the West Coast ; and, therefore, he considered that a certain amount of credit for liberality should be} given on that account to the residents in the settled districts. He then repeated what he had said at the Ahaura regarding the disappointment felt by residents in districts for which votes were passed by the Provincial Council, and not expended by the Government, simply because the Council over-estimated its revenue for the year ; and he also mentioned the five hundred miles of horse tracks which had been made by the Government over the Gold Fields, the cost of their construction, maintenance, &c. He then recapitulated the negotiations which had taken place with regard to the construction of the Nelson, Westport, and Cobden Railway, the reason why these negotiations had been broken off, and his hopes that the General Government would recommend the General Assembly, at its next session, to authorise a loan to Nelson of L 30,000 for the purpose of constructing a railway from Cobden to the Brunner Coal Mine. He hoped the request would be favorably considered, and there was little doubt that the money would be obtained, and the railway completed at no distant date. (Applause.) Another subject which was generally considered of interest by the people of Greymouth was the formation of the road over the Saddle to the recently discovered Anderson and Murray Creek reefs, in the Inangahua district. Since his arrival here it had been his object to ascertain which was the best, most inexpensive, and likely to be most beneficial and permanent line to reach the reefs. Westport, Charleston, Brighton, and > Ahaura all claimed to have the nearest and best routes, and the Government had directed the District Engineer to explore them and report. But, in the mean time, something must be done so as to allow machinery to be taken on to the ground to thoroughly test the reefs, and the Governmeat had determined immediately to expend the sum of LSOO in making the road over the Little Grey Saddle to the Inangahua — (applause) — but on condition that the residents in Greymouth and the Grey Valley contributed an equal amount, as the sum at the disposal of the Government was insufficient to form the road, and they would only expend it upon the condition mentioned. Indeed, they did not intend to expend this vote at all, but had been induced to do so by the very liberal offers which had been made to them by the residents in the Grey Valley, and which he considered it was the duty of the Government to accept. There

was another matter upon which, no doubt, the meeting would bfc glad to hear a few words of explanation from him — he referred to the movement for the annexation of the two districts of the Grey River. He ventured to say that no person who was acquainted with the circumstances of the two districts could doubt for a moment the necessity and desirability of the whole valley being placed under one government. The present arrangements were productive of considerable hardships to the miners, who had to submit to a double taxation in the i shape of payment for miners' rights, ana great inconvenience resulted from there being two sets of mining regulations different from each other. The union of the district would not only remove these drawbacks, but would simplify and economise the administration of justice and police. It would be advantageous also to place the two coal mines under one authority, so as to remove the check that no doubt existed to private enterprise through the probability of competition between the two mines. There were many other reasons in favor of the union, and he personally felt strongly in favor of it. Still it must be understood that unless the inhabitants of both sides of the river were generally in favor, of that step, it could not be accomplished, nor could he support it. As far as his observations and enquiries led him to form an opinion, he believed that a large majority of the population of both districts did support the proposal of annexation, and should nothing intervene to alter that sentiment he would aid the movement as much as lay in his power. Referring to the late attempt in that direction his Honor 3tated that the Provincial Council of Nelson authorised a Commission to make enquiry into the whole circumstances of the case, but the Council session terminated before any practical result — indeed before the Commission was appointed. When the large and influential petition from the Grey district was presented to Parliament he felt that whilst generally approving its object, he could not give it his active support in the absence of any definite expression of opinion from the Provincial Council. The General Government, however, influenced no doubt by the petition, and still more by the representations and exertions of one of the West Coast members, Mr Harrison — (cheei s) — took the matter in hand, and signified their intention of bringing in a Bill to give effect to the prayer of "the petition. Under such circumstances, although he could not act so unreservedly as his personal opinions dictated, he did not raise any objection to the measure, and was one of the Committee to which the petition had been referred who recommended that its prayer should be granted. He would here mention that Mr Harrison was most indefatigable in his exertions in favor of the proposal, and in enlisting his (Mr Curtis's) support. He (Mr Curtis) considered that, from the manner iv which the Government had taken up the question, it was as good as settled ; but, as they all knew, it was suddenly dropped. When the Colonial Treasurer had determined to allow the Bill to lapse, he endeavored to induce him (Mr Curtis) to request or acquiesce in its withdrawal, but he had merely stated that, as the Government had brought in the Bill, they could, of course, drop it if they chuse to do so, but he (Mr Curti3) would take no responsibility in the matter. The cause of the withdrawal ot the measure had been explained by their member, Mr Harrison, whose speech on the subject he had read. He had little to add, except that the Government were no doubt influenced by the considerations that — Ist. The Nelson Provincial Council had not expressed any opinion on the subject, and that the Nelson papers protested against any action being taken pending such expression ; and 2nd. That there was considerable opposition to the measure displayed in other portions of Westland. He thought that, should no counter expression of opinion on this subject be made by the population concerned, it was probable that the annexation might be accomplished next session of the Assembly. The course pursued by Mr Harrison and Mr Kyn-| nersley, which created so much com* meni, had one good effect. It secured attention to the subject, and no doubt would much facilitate any further effort in favor of the measure. The Report of the Commissioner, appointed on the recommendation of the Council, would be laid before that body at its next sitting, and he had litle doubt that, on full examination of the facts, that the Council would agree that it would be to the mutual advantage of the gold fields, and the more settled portions of the Province, that the annexation should be accomplished. Still, he must remind the meeting that there was a considerable section in the Province who somewhat dreaded the increase of gold fields' population, gold fields' wealth, and gold fields' influence. This might be a prejudice, but it existed to a certain extent, although he had no doubt it would be overcome. The question of the proportion of debt which Nelson should take over, was, of course, an important one ; but he thought that if fairly and equitably apportioned, the debt would not be a serious obstacle. In conclusion, his Honor stated that he had little doubt that next session of the Assembly the object they had at heart would be attained. He thanked the meeting for the patient and courteous hearing they had given, and would gladly answer any questions that might be put. No one appearing disposed to ask any questions, Mr W. H. Harrison said that something more than a mere formal vote of thanks was due to his Honor for meeting them that evening. His very presence there, at a public hall in Greymouth, in order to address his more immediate constituents was another proof of the identity of the interests of the Grey district. His Honor had endeavored, and no doubt with considerable success, to remove the impression that had existed with regard to the expenditure of the revenue of the South -West Gold Fields. Possibly a good deal of the misconception and dissatisfaction that had arisen would have been obviated had the visits of the Superintendent, or some of his Executive, been more frequent. It was gratifying to those who had taken interest in the Annexation question to learn that his Honor was favorable to the propossl, and would assist the movement. He begged to move a vote of thanks to Mr Curtis for. the interesting and instructive statement he had made, and for his courtesy in addressing the meeting. Mr Jas. Wyidb said his Honor had stated that he would supply the press with the figures he had quoted. He hoped

it would be a sufficiently detailed statement to enable the public to know how the money had really been expended. He had no doubt the meeting would like to know upon what works on the West Coast Gold Fields the sum of L 25,250 had been expended during the last six months. — (Hear, hear.) Mr Curtis said he would give the details at once. There was adminis'ration of justice, L 3059 ; gaols, LBl7 ; land and public works, L 1574 ; harbors, L 63 7: hospitals, &c, L 1455 ; roads in Buller Valley, L 3279 ; roads in Grey Valley, L 377 4; coast roads, L 149 7; Brunner coal-mine, L 348 9; streets, &c, L 395 ; branch roads, cemeteries, removal of snags, and a number of items, which brought it up to the sum he had mentioned. A number of questions were asked and replied to satisfactorily. Mr Wyldb seconded Mr Harrison's motion. The motion was put and carried unanimously, amidst great applause. Mr Curtis returned thanks, and proposed the usual vote of thanks to the Chair.v an. The meeting then adjourned.