GREY VALLEY ELECTION.

Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2279, 27 November 1875, Page 2

GREY VALLEY ELECTION.

MR NEWTOS AT GREyMOtfrH, Mr Heber Newton addressed a crowded meeting of the electors of Greymouth in the Volunteer Hall last evening. His Worship the Mayor took the chair. Mr Newton said that when on a recent occasion he addressed a meeting at Reefton he had felt considerable diffidence, but it should be borne in mind that on that occasion he was addressing comparative strangers, still even there be met with such a favorable reception that it soon dispelled that diffidence. He felt different on this occasion— rhe was amongst friends from whom he had never received an unkind word nor experienced an unkind action. Tt was not necessary for him to ask the patience and indulgence of the meeting, as he was sure the request was granted before preferred. In proceeding to refer to the various political questions upon which it was his duty to speak, he must, of course, to some extent go over much of the same ground that he had travelled before at Reefton, but it was impossible that a speaker could upon the same subject make a different speech at each place. With regard to the Provincial question, there were those who thought that the fate of the Provinces was scaled — that in fact they were abolished, but that was not so. The Abolition Act was not actually in force, as it did not come into operation until after the expiration of the first session of the next Parliament. But in his opinion the days of the Provinces were numbered. Provincial Governments were not yet dead, but they were in mortal agony, and he for one would gladly help' to stamp every vestige of life out of them. [Mr Newton here gave a description of the provisions of the Abolition Bill, but as our readers are more or less acquainted with them, we need not report the speaker's summary.] Under the old system the land revenue was secured to the Provinces by Acts, which revenue, after the

defrayment of certain fixed charges, was madeavailable for Provincial appropriatio < but this revenue had not been righteously expended. In 1870 the Colonial Treasurer (Mr Yogel) proposed a capitation grant of 40s per head, to be reduced 2s per head every year, but this was reduced in the following year to los. The principle feature of th« Abolition Bill was the abolition of the Provinces, and this was the best thing for the Colony, and especially for this district. No doubt the Provinces had- done good in their day, but now that telegraphic and other improved communication existed he could see no reason for their continuance. They were now useless, expensive, noxious, and obstructive. The evils of Provincialism had been many, and some of them had had particular force in this district. The unsuitable boundary line which they had for many years endeavored to get rectified was one of them. Miners were most vexatiously subject to double taxation for working upon ground within a mile or two radius. And then look at the absurdity of a Warden and R.M. coming down 60 or 70 miles to hold a Court at Cobden when there was another Warden and R.M. at Greymouth. Then they had numerous sets of mining regulations in the Colony, whereas if ihe Provinces were abolished they could have one set that would answer for all descriptions of mining throughout the Colony. TheD again they had numbers of different land laws, whilst he saw no difficulty in there being one Act applicable to the whole country. The petty jealousies of the. Provinces were not the least evil; they led to disunion and log rolling — which latter was carried on to such an extent that it became impossible for the General Government to stand the pressure brought against it. The Government could not carry measures for the benefit of the whole Colony, because the Provinces were always agitating for, and helping, each other for works not Colonial. Under the Provincial system there had been the worst form of centralisation of expenditure. The outlying districts were'entirely neglected, and the money had been spent in the more wealthy and populous places. They had not far to seek for examples of this kind in their own district. Under the new system there would be a fixed special sum for local districts, which of itself was a great advantage. There was no longer any uncertainty as to the means which, small or great, would be at the disposal of the local bodies. Ne# Zealand had been over-gnverned ; there were ten Governments when one wonld suffice. In New Zealand ihey had 350 legislators — 240 in the various Provincial Councils and 110 in the General Assembly, whilst Victoria with a much larger population managed to conduct its legislation with 136 legislators A system such as that which existed in New Zealand must necessarily cost much more. But there were many other evils which were evident to their minds which he need not particularly describe. The Abolition Bill provided beneb'ts which were the antitheses of the evils of tlje old system. It would secure for mtance that a miners' right would run over the whole Colony \ that there would be one code of mining regulations instead of ten, and that the Gold-fields revenue would be localised. Under the old system the revenue — as a case in pomt — of the South-West Goldfields of Nelson was mainly expended for the beueQt of Nelson -proper,- Bridges were lefc unbuilt, roads unmade in the districts which contributed the bulk of the revenue, whilst the other parts of the Province were allowed the lion's share. Now the Gold-fields revenue is to be appropriated to the necessities of the districts in which it is rais,ed-^fa difjfecenoe he thought was one of vast importance. The results of the Abolition Bill would be of benefit to the community at large. First of all there was the simplification of finance. Sir Julius Yogel had complained that his chief difficulty had been that he had not only to finance for the Colony, but for the Provinces also. Provincial Treasurers had been in the habit of making up estimates of expenditure in the hope that if the local revenue was insufficient, the General Government must come to thg rescue. This,, of course, made it impossible for any Colonial Treasurer to calculate with any degree of ac* curacy the demands for which he would have to provide. Under the Abolition Act all these difficulties were removed ; legislation was simplified, there would be no conflict of Provincial laws, and there would be one code of legislation for the , Colony. Another advantage of the Abolition of the Provinces was that a greater interest would be created in Colonial ' affairs as distinguished against those of mere local character. One serious evil that had grown up under the Provincial system wa? that persons, devoted their energies chiefly to tfte djstrjcj; in whjch they resided, leaving out o| account the interests of the whole of the Colony. The localisation of expenditure was the principal feature of the Abolition Bill, and it was promised that the amount contributed by the State should bear a proportion to the self-imposed taxation of the various districts. There had been arguments used calculated to show that the promised subsidies would not be Continued, but they had the statement of ths Treasurer tj)at they would be continued. But even ff this" should nqf be the case, the money required could bg raised by extra taxation. ' It mighjt be B^id that the General Government had spent money recklessly and improperly, ljut this was due in many instances to the effect qf Provincial' pressure. Works had been undertaken which in the absence of Pioviucialism would not have been entered upon simply because the Government-could not withstand the pressure brought to bear upon them. What really lay at the bottom of the opposition of the Proviucialists was that they thought that the land revenue would pass away from them. This was undoubtedly the main reason for their opposition to the Bill. What was waned was a central Legislature and local administration, and the question was now, seeing that Provincialism was virtually destroyed —what is tg take its place ? He ha 1 given the question some attention, but as he was not an experienced politician he could not venture to speak very positively on the subject. He was, however, of the opinion that the best plan would be to divide the whole Colony into Shires, each having a Shire Council, with a subdivision if necessary into Road Districts. The Shire Councils might either be elective or composed of representatives elected by the Road Boards. He thought that the amount to be allocated to the Provincial Districts, (which, as proposed,

were to be conterminous with the Pro vinces) should be given to the Shires— 'he Shires to take over half the sum, and the balance to be handed to the Read Boards pro rata to the rates levied. There would thus be a fixed sum for the minoi bodies, and it would enable the Shire Councils to undertake the larger works which could not be conveniently done by tho Road Boards. It had been said that the Colonial Government should do these works, but he not think so, for he could hardly consider that these works devolved upon the Colonial Government. The Shire Councils 'should perform all these functions, and he should like to see them empowered to borrow money to the extent of ten years income by rates, and even to levy a special rate to repay the loan. He thought .also that the administration of the waste lands should be left to the Shire Councils, thus saviug expense. The system he wouli propose would be something midway between the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works and the Local Government Bill introduced by the Government last session. The fault of the Tiraaru and Gladstone Buad of Works system was that a fixed proportion of the land fund was allocated to the district to be applied at the will of the Board leaving only a balance at the disposal of the Road Boards. The fault in the Abolition Bill was that it simply professed to form Road Boards, and permitted them to amalgamate and form themselves into a Shire upon which event the Boards ceased to exist. He thought there should be both bodies. He wa3 opposed entirely to insular separation— for if such scheme were carried, it would simply be an aggravation of the evils of Provincialism. Regarding the gold duty, he thought that the tax was a special one and indefensible, except that now it was proposed to accept it in the same light as if it represented general rates after certain charges had been taken out of it. Under the old system the mining districts did not get the benefit: of their own taxation, and this was a wrong thing. Stuart Mill had characterised a system of this kind as " amounting almost to confiscation." But now that the gold duty was to be treated as .rates and; subsidised accordingly he thought it would be unwise to asjii ate for its reduction. He would adduce sume figures to show how the electoral district of the Grey Valley would stand should the provisions of the AbohV tion Bill come into force. Taking the.returns for 1874 he-calculated that the gold-fields revenue and gold duty for Westland, and that portion of the Southwest Gold-fields of Nelson included in the district would stand as follows :— Gold-fieids revenue Gold duty ] Westland ... ... : ... £5,000 — £7,700 .Nelson (Grey Valley portion .;...". 9,900 -> 8,570 making a total of L 31,300. Now, supposiug the electoral district was a "goldfields district," there would be at least a subsidy, after allowing for expenses chargeable upon the gold-fields revenue of L 26 ,000, thus leaving nearly lAO, OOO for expenditure upon public works. He must confess, ho w§ver, that he thought that the Colonial Treasurer had not quite comprehended the effect of the amendment made by Mr O'Conor when he assented to the proposal to subsidise the gold-fields revenue, and he (Mr Newton) could hardly hope to see the proposal realised. However, under the circumstances, it would be folly to advocate the abolition of the gold duty. It was not the most grievous burden upon the miner — for be had only to pay the duty when he had something to pay it upon. It was the ceaseless charges for miners' rights, certificates, &c— in fact, a miner's hand was hard|y e.ver put of his pqp.ke.Wr which crippled' his industry. He'calculated that a man who was earning " tucker" should make an oucco of gold per week upon which he would have to pay per annum—duty, L 5 4s ; miner's right, Llj and certificates, &c, which would bring up his special taxation to about L 7 per annum, whilst the average taxation of the. Colony was only L 3 7s. He should certainly advocate the reduction in the charge for miners' rights and certificates. Speaking upon tlje question of taxation generally, there Was no doubt tKat the colonists were most heavily taxed, but under existing circumstances he could not see that ,it would be wise to reduce taxation. The debt of the Colony was very large, and he was of opinion that until the works under construction had proved successful it would be unwise to incur further taxation by increased borrowing. But the incidence of taxation should be changed. The holders of land, who had most benefited by the large expenditure upon public works, and whose property had largely increased in value in consequence, should pay a fair share towards the cost of the woyks. 'phe immigration and Public. Works policy had conferred threat benefit upon the Colony, but it had resulted in great indebtedness, and whilst he could not advocate further large borrowing, he thought they might look forward to a time when the Colony would be in a position to borrow again. As to the distribution of ' the Land Revenue which was really at the bottom of the fight upon the Abolition Bill, he thought that the land had practically already gone from the Proviuces, and he could not see why it ghoijld no| so go. The land wa3 the property 6i the Sjtate, and its orqeeeds should not be applied to one portion of the Colouy only, but for the" benefit of all, He was certainly in favor of the centralisation of t^e land fund, A cqdiT fication of land Jaws was very necessary, and he saw no difficulty in accomplishing this, for provision could be made for dealing with all classes of land. The land law should be extremely liberal, and he thought the Nelson Waste Lands Act a good model to adopt. Under this Act a man could take up land, paying ten cent, per annum upon its assessed value for 14" years, at the end of which time he became the owner. But this could be improved, the per centage of rental might be reduced, and a condition provided that the lessee should be compelled to occupy and make certain improvements. Speaking of the question of Education^ he was aware that it was an awkward one for many reasons, It was almost impossible for anyone to express any opinion upon this subject without giving offence somewhere. He had been accused of shuffling out of this question— that he denied. His only reason for not going into the subject at Reefton was, that he was anxious to keep out of this election the elements of party strife or religious feeling. He had not "shuffled" out of the question; he had stated broadly what his views were, au4

in reply to questions put to him . he had stated that he was in favor ; of a secular system. Another question which, of course he replied to in the nega- , tive.was — as to whether he approved of .. the State tampering with parents ot „ guardians in the religious education of i their children. [Mr Newton then referred to certain comments that had oppeared in , the Argus, and denied that he had in any r way held any communiction with Father Cummins in relation to, the election, or to his views upon the education question, except on the occasion of the public meeting at Reef ton. J He was in favor of a National system of education, and held the same views that he did when he was elected a member of the Local Education Committee. But whilst a nationalist^ he was not an illiberal one, and if it could be possible that aid could be given to other, than State schools, he should not be opposed to it ; The first duty^of the State.was to provide sufficient secHlar education for its subjects, but no doubt there: were many who conscientiously held that religious instruction was paramount; And he saw 1 no ( difficulty in meeting, those views. In the centres of population it might occur that, in addition to the State schools, means were. available for aiding ; other schools, and, providing they were subject to State inspection, and that , there was no compulsory 1 religious' inajiraction, he did not see why aid should be" refused. But if ; it became a conflict as. between secularism and\ denominationaLUm,.: he should decidedly be a secularist.. 1 He did not think that; the ; State should interfere with high-class, edocatiori, it (wa3 sufficient to promote, ordinary education for the masses, and to r allpw those who could afford it to pay for;themselye's;for high education. . ; ' !l /.;;'? Witq regard to local matters, 'he was in favor of subsidies to works on ;gold-fields, and referred to Mr Haugh^n's report of last yearj .in which : the • question was raised whether "gold-mining relative to other occupations was more profitable to the worker; or less profitable to the State, "with the view of showing r that ir a3 1M the gold obtained simply ; represented! ,the value of the labor expended upoif'it^the mining industry should receive equal encouragement with agriculture or any other branch of labor. ■ He Jthought that the necessity for wages men '%pld|ng miner's rights should be abolished, for practically the law was evaded and' the : condition was an absurd one. • As to the harbor at Grey mouth, he thought it was , a, work which the Colonial 1 Government sKdiild undertake, and every pressure should be brought to bear in that direction. Still it was possible that this failing, they would have to fall back upon themselves. Respecting the claims of the Tramway proprietors, he thought, the, companies were entitled to fair compensation,' which he would| endeavor to. obtain. Asrto .the Native Reserve he was afraid there'would be great difficulty in ; getting the fee simple, but from conversation he had had j with MrMackay, he thought that-buildi-ng leases might be obtained for 9§ ye^rg —a bonus to be paid at t%e end of the fi.Jst 33 years, and so on each period of the same duration. After, combatting objections that had been raised to him in consequence of his profession, Mr Newton stated that when he was askecl some.eight or ten months ago if he would . staud'for the district, he replied that he could hot afford to do so ; but since then he had found that he could make arrangements which would enable him to absent himself from Greymouth without sacrificing his practice here. If, however, he could succeed in obtaining practice in Wellington he should certainly accept it, although we would still remain connected with the disjjrjct. • IJe ha.d no des|re to refqr tq any Qf his r\valß, he hoped tlie eleotors would judge of each candidate upon -his merits, fairly and impartially. For him* aelf, he. was satisfied to abide lthejissne. The Mayor having asked if. any person, desired to question the candidate, ■• - / ; Mr Glenn asked if Mr Newton wariii favor of the Government placing a sum of money on the estimatesfbr the purpose of a reward for the discovery of new goldfields? , And if MrNewtpn-would-aclYgi cate the removal of Residents Magistrate! and Wardens ey,ery five years. (Laughter.) Mr Nekton : To tne-firat ques.ton-=yes.' To the second— l do not see the necessity for it so far as my experience goes. Mr Ke.nne.dy: Mr -Newton is aware that the money authorised to "be,.raised: for Immigration- and Public 'Worlis la mostly, if not all, , engaged. for,^worlbi under construction antt Authorised ; how doe 3 .he expect the Government to construct the Grey Harbor. Works if he is opposed ; to 1 the borrd wing of f urfcher loans? And with regard to his remarks upon the Education question, did he (Mr Newton) consider that Hokitika and Grey-c mouth would come within the appiigation of the prinoiple he had enunciated f '..'*. SlrNE^fp ( N-: Regarding "th 6 inadyjsabi:' Jity of further borrowing, he'wasreferrjiilg, generally to the policy of Immigratwn> and Public Works, but he would certainly ' advocate the borrowing of money for the Harbor Works at Greymouth. As to the other question he thought Greymouth and Hokitika did fulfil the conditions he spoke of. - In answer to Mr Glenn, Mr Newton said that he would do his best to obtain the improvement of commumcatiin ■ between Greymouth and Reef ton., ■ N/> other questions being. . put,, Mb* M^sxer^ mo^ed, -.anc[ Mr. VOb^iß.^ seconded, that Mr Heber Newton was ; was a fit and proper person to represent the Grey Valley, » ; . .- Tee resolution was oarried unanimously,; Prior to the close of the meeting^ Mr ; W. H. Harmson desired to inform the; meeting that in consequence of his professional engagements, and his inability to) devote time, to a canvass of the. -district, . it was his intention to withdrawyfrom the contest. He had some satisfaction in looking back upon the . .eight : years ; he had . represented the ; district, for': he felt that he \ had done '■:, iit' good service, and regretted that circumstances compelled him for a time to leave political life. The electors had^ however, ■ a large l field of choice, and if the candidates were : inexperienced it should be remembere| ; tjhat everyone m^st have a "Deginning, and, for his part, whoever was elected he ; would gladly aid and assist his successors in any way he could. / V „" I A vote of thanks to the Mayor having been passed, the meeting closed.