Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1871.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 953, 25 February 1871, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1871.

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS. NOMINATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF NAPIER TOWN. [concluded.] Mr Carlton said he had had some experience of the working of provincial institutions, and he had been in the Council of the Province for four years. The conviction to which he had arrived was that the best member in that Council was the one who kept the most complete silence, and that that member was no I only the most useful but the most economical. He did not wish to make invidious comparisons, but if the brevity of the candidates' speeches in Council only equalled the brevity of their published addresses to the electors, the business of the Province could be conducted at a modet ate rate indeed. (Applause.) Now the gentleman he had proposed really possessed this gift of silence Only one candidate —Mr Ferard —had done his duty to the electors by issuing a proper address; and he (Mr C.) gave him credit for it, though, be did not quite agree with the ideas contained therein. One-half of our provincial bills had been disallowed by the General Government, and what was the cause 1 Simply the apathy of the elector?, who, as a rule gave their vote to the first candidate who asked them for it. In Mr Ferard's address he noticed that he recommended something like the Westland Act in the place of provincial governments. Now, as the functions of provincial governments were purely municipal, the difference was only in name. Or did Mr Ferard want to see Mayors all over the country —at Poiangahau, Waipawa, Hampden, Clive, Meanee—Joe Rhodes and all that lot *? They would only have to be paid for what better men were doing without pay. Our present Superintendent, he believed, gave general satisfaction, and such a change as Mr Ferard proposed would be productive of no advantage. One-half of our provincial bills had hitherto beeen disallowed The only way to prevent such a discreditable state of things in future was :o return candidates with extensive legal knowledge, and an intimate acquaintance with the powers of provincial assemblies These powers Mr Britten possessed in an eminent degree. (Laughter.) Mr Wilson : "What about the Permissive Bill? Mr Carlyon : You ought to ask the candidate. — Every member should be in most intimate and constant communication wich his constituency, and Mr Britten certainly possessed this important qualification.—He had said enough to place his candidate, if not at the head of the poll, very near it. An Elector : The Permissive Bill ? Mr Carlyo;n : Well, I think he goes against it. (Laughter.) —Mr Jacobs merely seconded the nomination.

Mr Lindsay proposed Mr Kobinson on the ground of his great colonial experience. He was well known to take a great interest in* all that concerned the public welfare of the place.—Mr Hooper believed him to be an upright and honest man, who would further the interests of the community by every means in his power.

The candidates were then called on to address the electors, if they thought proper to do so. Mr Ferarb was surprised at being the first candidate proponed, that position being generally occupied by a more experienced representative. "When the Napier public first did him the favor of returning him they knew little of his opinions, and the only pledge that he then gave was to give a general support to Mr M'Lean, the Superintendent, and to endeavor to bring the provincial revenue more under the control of the Council. He had devoted his time fairly and honestly to this latter object, but had not been successful. Very few of hid constituent's had ever spoken to him of politics, which might arise from one of two causes—they either had the fullest possible confidence in him, or else they did not care anything about the matter. He had thought it necessary to place some statement of his

opinions before the public, and was glad that it had occasioned some talk. He had not however, as had been represen ted, said in his speech that he wished to see the Westland system introduced; what he wished to see was similar power of meeting at any time given to the Provincial Council. There was a great difference between a body meeting at fixed times about once in a year, and one which could be called together at any time by three members. In the Westland Council, too, the whole of the public accounts were always open to any member's inspection. By law, our provincial accounts must be published etfery quarter, yet we find in the last Gazette, of the 13th February, the provincial accounts only up to the end of July, 1870. If the Council were called together to-morrow, the members would be in total ignorance of the state of the provincial funds. (An Elector : You did not raise that objection in the Provincial Council.) He had not done so, because the Council was powerless in the matter. The only way it could bring any influence to bear would be by appealing to the Assembly. In his opinion, the less the Council meddled with legislation the better it would be; the power was in the hands of the Superintendent ; the chief duty of the Council was to. elect a suitable man to that office; and that was a duty which would be more advantageously perform ed by the public at large. (Hear, hear ) He had been told that the Council had broken faith with the public in retaining the Education Act when it was intended to be a temporary measure. He did not see that faith had been broken, as the Act was intended to provide the means of sustaining education until a more comprehensive measuie could be passed. He was the introducer of the Bill, which the Council adopted unanimously, believing that no fairer tax than a uniform household rate could be proposed. If the Council inaugurated a system of valuation of property, a very large proportion of the funds, instead of going to their legitimate object, would be absorbed by the valuers. He knew the tax was. unpopular, but wished it distinctly understood that he would still support it, as he did not wish our educational establishments to come to an end. All the other Provinces had taxed themselves for education, and if we did not, the General Government would quickly do it for us. Not only were other Provinces equally taxed with us, but they devoted the proceeds of large reserves to educational purposes. (Mr Morrison : Are there not larger educational reserves in this Province, in proportion to its size, than in any other 1) Certainly not. The reserves in Otago, either as regarded population or the extent of the Province, were far greater than iu the rest of the Colony. As for taxing shops and other buildings, that was a detail which did not appear in the original draft, but was added by the Council. (An Elector : What about the Permissive Bill?) He had not made up his mind on the point. He doubted the desirability of a public canvass such as had taken place in Auckland, and did not think it desirable that every time a license was applied for, a whole district should be thrown into a ferment. He belies ed, if such a law was in force, in many instances the body of publicans would bring their influence to bear and would in reality dictate whether any new licences should be granted or not. He would oppose any measure which could have the effect of stopping the public sale of liquois, believing that such a law would be unjust. The permissive scheme had certainly a better face than any other he knew of, but he did not approve of married women having a voice in the matter. He would not object to a vote on such subjects being given to single women who were ratepayers; but he believed if there was a measure proposed to prevent married men getting their dinners from home, their wives would vote for it. (An Elector : Payment to Country members 1) He would vote for its repeal, and hoped the country electors would set themselves against it. It would never come to an end unless the constituencies determined to put it down.—He again repudiated the idea of a Municipal Government. If we had a Town Council, its members would immediately be imposing fresh

taxes upon us, if only to snow their activity. Mr Sutton had. consistently opposed the education rate ; he had brought in a bill for its repeal last session, and though he had not succeeded in carrying it, he would endeavor to. have the Education Rates Act wiped off next session. He did not so. much object to the tax as to the objectionable manner in which it wa& raised. He could not propose a substitute, he admitted; the subject was the most difficult and important a Government could have to deal with, but the present unjust rate should be abolished. We had been told that the General Government would introduce a comprehensive scheme ; he did not believe it. Otago would resist anything of the kind to the utmost, and Canterbury would, do the same* The educational establishments in Otago. were better than anything the Geneiai Government could supply, and;, the public would not tolerate any interference with them. He believed, therefore, that it was to the Provincial Council, after all, that we must look for our education schemes in the future. He had always opposed the payment of country members. Those gentlemen: talked of their expenses, but the town members were put to quite as great inconvenience by devoting valuable time to the business of the Province. If the town members only held together, this JE3OO a year might be wiped out (hear,., hear.) (An Elector : How about the Hyderabad-road. ?)• He would oppose any expenditure in that direction. Last session he opposed a vote of £ls to the road; the money might as well be thrown into the Iron Pot. If the Province had £SOO or £6OO to spare it might do some good there. (An ; Elector : There are many people living in that neighborhood, and there are no means of carting coals to them. Twenty pounds there would do a great deal.) (Another Elector: What about thesubsidy to the line of coaches 1) He knew very little about it. (A Voice : Then I don't vote for you.)

Mr Lee said he came forward at the request of many of the constituency. Mr Ferard's long address had taken much of the wind out of his sails. He believed it was necessary that the Council should have a much stronger control over the provincial funds ; and if it was always in session,, aud could meet at any time, it would be a great gain tothe Province. As for unauthorised ex pendit-ure by the Superintendent, it should not be allowed. The fault lay with those members who permitted it, who were content to salve over wrongdoing rather than make themselves personally offensive to the Superintendent. He was aware that the education rate was obnoxious to the public, but he could not oppose it unless something better was put forward in its place. As a rule it was those who benefited by it who were the grumblers. The schools to which the working population sent their children were assisted from this fund, and without it they must fail altogether. Those who could not afford to pay the rate couJd be excused from doing so by making proper application. (A : Has the collector a discretionary power ?) He believed so; if it was not in the Act it: ought to be. (Laughter.) Those who opposed the rate should propose something better. Mr Ferard who had devoted much consideration to the subject, had last session brought forward an education, measure. With its provisions he (Mr L.) did not agree, but he gave that gentleman great credit for his energy. Had one member looked at that bill since the session? It might not be pleasant to people who did not send their children to the common schools to shell out£l or moi e—he paid,£3—but if they were too proud to avail themselves of the advantages of the Act, they should not object to pay their share towards general education. (An Elector : Has the Council no power over the School Trust Fund?) No. That fund was raised by subscription in the early days of the Province, and had since been accumulating. It did not in any way belong to the Council. (An. Elector : Will you support the Permissive Bill?) The Permissive Bill was a new measure, and he believed the one which had been brought before the English Parliament was not the one which had just been passed in Auck*-

land. Under the Auckland Act he believed a publican applying for a license must get a certificate from the whole ot the householders. He could not approve of this. Under our present la* 1 , if a public-house*was misconducted, the police or householders in the neighborhood could have the license disallowed. He believed nearly all the evils of drunkenness arose from bad liquor. (Mr Troy : Do you not know that the Permissive Bill is the question of the day at Home and in the Colonies, and that most of the members of the General Assemblv have gone in on that question ?) We must wait and see how this new law worked elsewhere. They must be good reasons indeed which would warrant the placing of restrictions on a trade which had been legitimate for ages. He could not counsel a leap in the dark such as this, the consequences of which might be frightfully monstrous.

Mr Edwards did not appear. Mr Tiffen had little to say to the electors. He had been known to them for fifteen years, and required little introduction. He would be happy to answer any questions. As for the Education Rate, he would willingly support a less oppressive tax, if such should be proposed, but could not vote for its abolition without any other provision being made, as we must either submit to be rated or close our schools. As for the Permissive Bill, he knew little dbout it, but if the effect of it would be less public houses and more sobriety, he would vote heartily for it. Payment of members he had always opposed, and would continue to do so. Mr Newton said he felt it incumbent upon him as one of their late members again to offer his services. In former se>sions he had done his duty to the best of his ability, and there was not one of his public acts he would wish to recall. He did not approve of the education rate —for his own part he paid £o a year, and leceived no personal benefit—but he would not vote for its abolition unless something better was substituted. Regarding the Permissive Bill he knew little, but agreed with Mr Lee that it would be a leap in the dark. We must watch its action in other places before adopting such a measure. He had always opposed the payment of coun r ry members. The £2OO or £3OO per annum would be better spent in education. If it v-as worth a man's while to sit in the Council he should do it without pay. Mr Kennedy was at a disadvantage in coming after so many good speakers. Last session he had joined Mr Sutton in seeking the repeal of the Education Rate; but he must acknowledge the force of what he had heard in its favor. Like Mr Newton he paid £3 annually without receiving any direct benefit; but we were all indirectly benefited by the children of the Province being educated. The tax pressed very unfairly on *ome, but the same might be said of every tax. He would oppose the payment of country members. He was sorry to say he did not know much about the Permissive Bill; but Mr Troy, the gentleman who was bringing the matter so prominently before the meeting to-day, had been the means of doing much good in this town, and he would willingly support any moderate measure to assist him in carrying out his views. (A Yoice : What about foreign immigrants') He had not given the subject much consideration, but thought picked foreign immigrants would be better than some who arrived from home. Mr Colenso was not present.

Mr Britten was unaccustomed to public speaking, and might truly say, "Kude I am in speech." If the electors chose to return him he would do his duty to th e best of his ability. Hitherto he had never given any consideration 10 any measures whatever; but if elected would support all measures that, would tend to the good of the community at large. He knew nothing of the practice of Councils, but could study that in future. We had not do with the past, but with the present and future. He would leave himself in the hands of the electors. (A. Voice : The Permissive Bill 1) Perhaps he ought to say a good deal on this point, but he was not acquainted with the subject, as the law had only been in force a few days in any part of the Colony. One thing he could say

with confidence—for a small community like onrs there were enough houses at present. (Laughter.) MrEoßiNSONhad almost been dragged by his friends into his present position, and felt that it was an awkward one. The duty of the nexj Council would be to tax us, or the Government could not be carried on. (A Voice : Why, we are taxed up to our eyes already.) At present everything in town had to be done by subscription, which was only a voluntary kind of taxation. These subscriptions fell very heavily on storekeepers. As regarded the Education Rates Act he had been a consistent grumbler. He did not see why he should pay ,£2, and others only pay <£l. Some could do it without grumbling ;he could not. He was also a grumbler about the toll-gate. It was a great injustice to the town of Napier, and speaking as a business man he could say it damaged the business of the town. He had no desire to be elected; and if not elected would not be »orry. (A Voice : Will you support the Permissive Bill ?) He could easily promise to do so, but it would be mere clap-trap. It might be his ignorance, but he knew nothing about the subject. The meeting then adjourned to the Court-house, where the show of hands was taken, the result of which has already appeared in our columns. Mr Ferard demanded a poll, which was granted.

Mr Bochfort then informed the meeting that he would attend in the Court-house on the Ist March (the day preceding the polling) for the purpose of explaining the new method of voting to those who did not understand it. Mi-Jacobs moved a vote of thanks to the Returning officer, which was carried by acclamation, and the meeting terminated.

ELECTORAL DISTRICT OE PETANE. The nomination of candidates for the representation of the Petane district in the Provincial Council is appointed to tyke place at the school-house, Petane, at noon on Monday next, Feb. 27.