MR HARRISON'S RESOLUTIONS. PUBLIC MEETING.

Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 973, 8 September 1871, Page 2

MR HARRISON'S RESOLUTIONS. PUBLIC MEETING.

A crowded meeting -was held last ovening, at the Town Hall, Gresson street, "to take into consideration the resolutions for the better government of the gold fields, introduced into the General Assembly, at Wellington, by W. H. Harrison, Esq., M.H.R." The Mayor (E. Wickes, Esq.,) having ■ taken the chair, read over the resolutions : as* proposed by Mr Harrison, and asked the meeting to express an opinion. There was no doubt but that the object of the resolutions would tend to the abolition of the County Council, and place them under the General Government. Mr Coe thought it would have been better if the resolutions had been brought forward before Mr Harrison went to Wellington. (Laughter.) fylr Nichol said he came there to listen to something that might be said in favor of;Mr Harrison's resolutions, and to ascertain whether they were viewed with favor in the district. For himself, he viewed the resolutions with reserve. In fact, they went farther than he chose to follow. The measure was a sweeping one, and would do away with the County Council, and therefore they;should. look -at dt with caution. The chief cause, pf failure of the County .Council was want of revenue, and if they g^e, the County .Council revenue, the Bystem would work well enough. The County Council was limited in its operations ; 'but if the Nelson South-west, Gold Fields were added to the County of Westland, he thought it would work better. There was no doubt the. system would work better if they had better men ; but he could not see that the remedy proposed , by Mr - Harrison would jpeud matters. Mr Harrison proposed a system of Road Boards, but this,; he thought, would only increase ' the difficulty ; for, instead of having one governing body, they would have five or six pettifogging Governments, and they would not get men of ability — men of standing — to devote their time to carry out the necessary duties devolving upon them, and therefore the proposed alterations would be no improvement. Mr Harrison proposed, that instead of the County Council, that the General Government should .take over the administration of : the ' various' departments. It would net be supposed for one moment that the., General Government would pay all the expenses of the departments without payment from the xcr r , venue of the district. It was true they might have better administrators, but that; was all. The General Government would not relieve them of any burden. It was urged that the Road J3 ; oarcjs w.ouldhave power to make rates, but oh whom would : thejrates be.levied v They could not jraise revenue from the diggers/ for t"tiey were taxed, and enough too,, in, the of gold duty.' Were they to look tidl the General Government to subsidise the Road Boards— if so, he thoughtthey would ',

not get much. The object, -of Mr, Harrison was to alter the bound»iy; jit, preset one half oi the district was uncler Neliscn and the other under: Westland If /the whole were either iinder Westland or Nelson, the SoutteWest Gold Fields, would become powerful in tho Assembly. Mr Harrisdh tried last year to get Greymouth annexed to Nelson, and so far he went with him. When* he proposed^©' abolish the present Government he did riot go With! him, and in fact he must say' he did not exactly understand the pur--port-of- Mr Harrison's resolutions.- He thought they should .hesitate before plunging front the system of County Government into that of half-a-dozen petty road boards. (Applause.) - # ? Mr Coe wanted the people to do their duty. (Laughter.) . ..,. Mr Kennedy was not aware of any motion before the and he thought the first thincr they should fdo was. to express au opinion upon Mr Harrison's, resolutions, and therefore he should move — " That this meeting fully endorse the resolutions brought forward in the Assembly by Mr Harrison in . relation to the Westland County and the Nelson South-West Gold Fields." If any change was to take place it must be for the better, as they could not be in a much worse position, and he was sorry to see the course Mr Nichol had adopted. They had had sufficient experience of the County Council, and he thought they had rot muchreason .to congratulate themselves on improvement. He believed thatths measure, as proposed by Mr Harrison, giving power to Road Boards', , would cause the revenue to be expended in the district. What they wanted was local administration subject to the direct control of the General Government. The measure was of such a sweeping character that he would not be at all surprised if it was not acceded to. If it did nothing else, it would, have the effect of arousing the House, and drawing attention to the { condition of the West Coast Gold Fields. (Loud applause.) He concluded by moving the resolution. Mr M'Guegor seconded the motion. Mr WooicocK said, so far as he understood Mr Harrison's resolutions, he supported them, and therefore was in favor of Mr Kennedy's motion. "Provincialism and the County Council had had a fair trial as far as that district was concerned, and they had had enough of both of them, and for what good. they had donetp the district he might say — " May they be buried in oblivion, ; And long and peaceful may their slumbers be." jXaughter.) But then it might be said,' it was easier to destroy than to build up ; and he must confess that he hardly understood what this Road Board system meant. He would like to ask whether the Grey Valley would be under one or separate bodies? He thought ' that it should be divided -intoseparate districts,yet acting under one central Board. The local Board should 'have" power to raise and distribute revenue ; for what body was so fitted as a local body to' tell what was needed? For who could know the requirements of a district so well? If a bridge was broken, or a road required repairing, by the judicious outlay of L 5, perhaps LSO act m unison, Tor he would be very sorry to see them ' in antagonism. It was not too much to ask or to expect; that' the governing power should rest with the people, and as tho measure proposed to confer this power upon the people, he supported it, and they must persevere till they obtained it, and this put him in mind ot the old nursery rhyme— „ '\ ' '- If at once you don't succed— ...'. Try, try, try again, .... '. (Cheers.) He most cordiaally supported the resolution. Mr Glenn observed that if the system of the Shire Councils divided into ridings, similar to those in operation in Victoria, were introduced, they would work well. Land speculators should be taxed, and the" Shire Councils should have; the revenue derivable from publicans' licenses. Mr GißDwpoD observed that he had not gone into the matter thoroughly, but woulrl rather prefer taking the clauses seriatim. Mr Girdwood then read the first clause of Mr Harrison's resolutions. The clause, he said, was a sweeping one, and if they abolished the County Council what were they going to substitute in its place? He was of opinion that they should, get the whole district from the Karamea down to Martin's Bay under one Government, but he thought that Road Boards would not be able to deal with the district so constituted. Mr Girdwpod read over the whole of Mr Harrison's resolutions, ahd concluded by observing that there was much evil and much good in them, and that they should; be received with caution. There was no doubt but they .would be very materially altered in committee, but he considered that Mr Harrison was doing what he thought best for the County and the district? j Mr Nichol inferred that Mr Kennedy had charged him with inconsistency . Three years ago he advocated the addition of tho Nelson South-West Gold Field* to the County of Westland, and it was only through an accident that it was not carried out, and last year he agreed that it would, be . better to .annex to JNTelson rather than that the district shQuld.be divided. Under these circumstances, he should move as ,an amendment— - tf That •the South-West. Gold Fields of Nelson be annexed, to Westland, and that the-seat of Government be settled by arbitration. "; Mr PARKiwSbN seconded the amend-' ment pvo.fortna. . - • . . Mr Joyce supported the motion. The wish for annexation to' the Province of Nelson was in consequence of the bad treatment they had received -from Hhe County Council. (Hear, hear.) Mr Hill contended that the amendment was scarcely in order. The meeting was called upon to assent or dissent from Mr Harrison's resolutions. Mr G; S. Smith wished to 'knowif Mr : ; Harrison had requested the opinion of the nhabitants of Greyihouth on the resolutions ? : .- :;; s , •:■•• ''■-] ' !f. - ; - Ii '■■ -'i The Chairman ; having replied in the: affirmative, the amendment was> put and lost, only one hand being held up for it. The original motion was then carried, the mover of .the amendment only-holding*up* his hand in opposition,,-^ (V/r, -£ A vote of thanks to the Chairman brought the proceedings to a close. ;- ; .;--" :'