MR BARFF'S MEETING.

Kumara Times, Issue 459, 16 March 1878, Page 2

MR BARFF'S MEETING.

j Mr Barff addressed a crowded meeting i of the; electors of the district at the j Theatre Royal, Seddon street, on Thursday evening. Mr Pearn was voted to the chair, and in a few appropriate remarks introduced Mr Barff to the meeting. Mr Barff, (who was greeted with loud • applause) briefly stated his reasons for not calling a meeting at an earlier date He proceeded to remind those present, that when he last addressed them, he had expressed ! great dissatisfaction at the line conduct | adopted by the Atkinson Government and | the manner in which they had broken the distinct pledges given to the Colony ! before their last election. The suspicions : he had then expressed as to their future con- ■ duct, had been fully realised, and no hope ! was held out of any improvement either 1 in policy or administration. Shortly: after the meeting of Parliament, a new • party, known as the “ Middle Party,” was j formed in the House, and eventually there I was a _ coalition between it and _the old ’ Opposition. When after a wearying and j exhaustive debate, a vote of “ no confi- j dence” in the Government was carried by i a large majority, and Major Atkinson and his colleagues were forced to resign, it then i became apparent that several of the so-1 called leaders of the “Middle Party,” had ! been influenced in their action solely by a j desire to obtain office. One of them | wished to be Speaker, more than one 1 wished to be Premier, and some four or five political old fogies were not only willing, but anxious to accept any portfolio. Before the trial of strength between the Atkinson Government and their oppo-

nents, he (Mr Barff) had thrown in his lot with those who sought to depose from office the then occupants of the Government benches, feeling convinced that they (politically speaking) were past redemption. The Atkinson Government being ousted, and Sir George Grey taking office as Premier and leader of the House, the disappointed office-seekers before referred to, had “ratted,” and fondly believing that their treachery would enable them to revenge themselves upon their, old. friends they stultified themselves by endeavouring to replace in office the very men who a few days previously they had declared by their speeches and their votes to be unfit to carry on the business of the country. Happily for the colony, the “rats” were unequal to the occasion, and the new Government having laid down the outlines of a most liberal policy, right triumphed over treachery, and Sir George Grey’s party, although in a minority, succeeded by good, generalship, in overcoming the difficulties by which they wore surrounded. For his own part, he (Mr Barff) felt proud of, the aid ho had given to the present Government, and he called upon the electors to say whether ho was not justified in the course he had adopted. (Cheers.) As a proof that tho Atkinson Government wore willing to sacrifice any of their opinions or principles to retain office, ho might refer 1 to a debate which took place upon the “ incidence of taxation.” Major Atkinson had declared, on the part of the Government, that no change in taxation was intended, but when on the motion of a private member, the whole question .was discussed, and' it could bo plainly seen that a majority of the members were in favor of lightening the burdens of the people as much as possible, * Major Atkinson and his colleagues at once agreed to consider the whole question during the recess, with the view of doing that which shortly before they had said could not be done under any circumstances. 4 This was only one instance out i of many in which they showed that they would do anything to retain their seats. As so many events of interest to the public had token place during the last j session, it was a matter of no small difficulty to condense his remarks so as not to weary the audience, but he would touch briefly upon a few of the measures which had passed, and he would commence with the Lands Act. For his own part, he had formerly been in favour of the land fund being local revenue ; but when Mr Macandrew took the portfolio of “Lands,” he discovered that his predecessors in office had grossly misled the House, and that by a clever manipulation of figures, It had been made- to appear that the various districts had received the whole of the money derived from the sale of land in those districts;, in reality, they did not receive one penny. Under these circumstances, it was agreed to by the Government and the House, to make the land fund colonial revenue, with the exception of twenty per cent., which would remain local revenue. The presentLands Act was not all that could be j desired, but he called special attention to | certain clauses, which he himself had inserted in the measure, and which provided for the giving of land under what was" known as the “ Homestead system” without payment, under conditions as to residence clearing, and cultivation. He earnestly hoped that advantage would be taken of these clauses feeling convinced that for men of limited means, a chance of obtaining comfortable homes was now offered for the first time hi Westland. (Cheers.) If the Waste Lands Board would only give effect to the spirit and letter of the clauses he had inserted in the Act, the most beneficial results would follow. With regard to the extension of the franchise, as proposed by Sir George Grey, he might say that for his- own part, he • whould like to see every man have a vote, but there would be some restriction as to length of residence in the Colony. A very considerable alteration should, and probably should take place in the representation of the Colbny, so as to give more fair representation to those districts which up to the present time had been outvoted by the rotten boroughs'of the Colony. The Mines Bill, had been in-:i troduced in such a ridiculous form that it ; was found necessary to amend every clause, or in other words to re-draft it. ■ There were good points in the measure, •; but on the Gold-fields Committee there ; were only some three or four, who. under- ; stood anything about the mining laws of [ the Colony, conseqhently, the minority j were almost always outvoted and hence ; the imperfect provisions of the Act. The j Friendly Society Act, would,;he believed, I meet the views of the various bodies af- j fected, and was in strict accordance with : the English Act. The Education Bill had evoked a large amount of discussion in tlie 1 House, and outside of it. For his own part, he considered that the Provincial ordinance under which-they had formerly worked had been better adapted to tho case than the new Jaw. He had opposed the Education BUI. throughout,; believhi" that in Westland,, at all events, no new’*' system was, required,!but that school funds , from the, colonial chest 'should be forth--coming; The J'Lpciil Option” question had been brought before the Hpuse by ’ Mr Fox, who 'in the . line of conduct he adopted had prevented any amendment in ■ the defective licensing laws of the Colony. 1 He (Mr Barff) had opposed the Bill,of Mr r Fox, feeling, cqnvincejd that it was a hollow | sham, arid : .that .the evils of intemper- 1 ance could-.not be lessened, by the ; framing of A law which’ would affect changes’ ait a moment’s notice,' balcu- t lated to interfere arbitrarily and unjustly \ with the trade of a particular section of ” the community. He (Mr Barff) had j always and expressed the opinion that s«ch changes as those proposed,.; should not be made , suddenly," but rather that a gradual reform should be made, ; leading up always to the great question at ; issue—the reduction of the evils 6f intern- '

perance. Holding these views, he would like to see thev. customs duties.takenoff light wine*. If that course were adopted a. direct blow at intemperance would be ,sti:uck. Further* he was one of three, in drafting, and carrying through the sale of Food and Drugs Bill, which Was now the law of the land, and a measure which he believed to be in every sense of the word a temperance measure; and he might mention that ho had received a letter, from, .the .Government, stating that the Act. would be given effect to in this district, as soon as dnatysts could be nominated. On the question of public works, he would merely speak as to that portion °f the question which affected his own district. The bridging of the Teremakau and Hokitika' rivers was a matter which should not be lightly passed/over, and ho was in a position to . state that the authorization of the works referred to, - and of 'pthers was s mainly due to himself, inasmuch' as in spite of. statements to the contrary, the members of the Atkinson Government, after their deposition from officej stated repeatedly that they had not put any sums on Supplementary Estimates, or even prepared such estimates. The resolutions relative to the discovery of new Goldfields been prepared by Mr: Gisborne, Mr Do Latour, and himself,, and considering the importance of, the question, and the adoption by the House of the views and principles involved, he hot only hoped but believed that great benefit would result to the district and the cplqiiy.' • Ha had found it necessary ;to curtail his remarks as much as possible, blit if he had omitted to refer to any question of importance hd Was quite willing and ready to give further information!

•M* Cuming'proposed, and. Mr Byrne seconded a vote of--, confidence in Mr Barff. , . . ,

The motion 'Was carried by acclamation. Mr Barff briefly returned thanks to the meeting for 1 the ’ expressioh' ojp bohfidenca passed. A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the proceedings. ' - , v