MR. A. P. SEYMOUR.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume III, Issue 317, 28 November 1881, Page 3

MR. A. P. SEYMOUR.

AT MAIiLTOEOUCIJ iTOWN. 'l’ll K Public I fall, I'dnrlboroughtown, was ; filled ('U •SPihmir.y evening, Kith an ordeiJy | nml attentive audience which had assembled ; to hear .Mr Seymour's? views upon political j nut Her:', 'i’lic chair was occupied hy Mr ■ ,1. If. Kedwond, who in a brief speech explained the object of the meeting. .Mr Seymour's speech necessarily went j ov«r much the same ground as at the pre- ; vions meetings, tic dwelt at some length , upon the important measures passed last j session and his aolion in regard to them, j After referring to the Chinese .immigration i Mill, the Licensing Mill and tire (laming j and Lotteries Bill, he alluded to the Pro- 1 perty Tax, and the amendment made in j reducing the amount to Ad in the pound, j When the Kadi Ministry took office they ! had found the Colony on the very verge j of bankruptcy. To restore its credit it was j absolutely necessary that money should lie I raised, and that expenditure should he j reduced. It was therefore determined to; put on a Property Tax and take the tan j per cent, off the salaries of the Civil servants. Sonic thought this was very unfair j to the Civil servants, but be thought j that in a time of dire necessity like that I the Civil servants should bear come share | of the burden. (Hear, hear). A Civil j .seivairt’s salary was always safe, was ready j to the day and never inarrear, and he was | sure of retainim.; his position if lie carried j out his duties properly. 'The deduction j had lasted only one year, however, and on \ account of the returning prosperity the. , Civil .servants were now paid Cue same as i before. The speaker then went on to contrast tlie working of the Property fax with j a Land and income Tax. .It was a matter of j fact, which could not bo challenged, that the ; Land Tax had keptenpitaloutof tho Colony, | but. this was not the case with the Property 'fax, for since tin- former had bet a aboli-bvd ■ and the latter substituted, foreign capital— | the ver\ life blood of industrial enterpii.se j • —bad (lowed in freely and money was i never cheaper than it is at the present j time (Applause.) Government were, how- i ever, quite rigid in reducing t! Property ; Tax, and if the colony improve: ■; mm h as ; it diil last year, it would proba * soon be still further reduced. .Speakin; the customs duties, lie pointed out tin*. the taiitV ] had been altered in the direetio of foster- j iug loe. 1 industries and eve ding the ; necessaries of life. If the M stry continued in that directioa he th glit they were going rigid and would civ them bis • support (.Hear, heir.) He then lokeupon the Hallways (.'onstnietion A ; ami the various liberal electoral mess, es passed by the .Hall Ministry, Aliud :g to the Corrupt Practices Hill lie said • ho clauses were more stringent than befeu : and the penal!it-s were greater. With >uorense of population there liad been a gvnving tendency to make elections more expensive, and lie was glad this bad been cheeked as if allowed to continue its cir'ect would have been to confine camhdaL s to a fewer mini- i lwr. The Qualification of Hiector.. Mdl luul given them the l evidential franchise, anti (

they were also enabled to register at any time during the year, instead of only at a certain period as before. He alluded to the Representation Bill, and explained his action in regard to the stonewallcrs, his remarks being received with loud applause. He remarked upon the Hog Tax am*ndm«nt introduced by him, exempting farming and shepherd do;:s from payment. This clause he had given to a friend to introduce into committee while lie himself occupied the chair. The Rabbit Nuisance Act lie had also succeeded in getting made optional as he thought it was right that his district at least should have an opportunity of saying whether it would bring it into force or not. (Hear, bear.) He iiad also obtained av extension of the Sheep Act for one year, During last Parliament lie had also got the Union of Rivers Districts Act passed, which would enable districts to amalgamate and treat the question of rivers conservation upon a larger basis. This Act was also optional and left it to the people themselves to decide whether they would bring it into operation or not. He referred to the A water** Shearing Reserve Bill and the fact of his having obtained LI-000 for the construction of a road through the Reserve, The road was’now in process of construction and ho hail succeeded in hnvingtlic management of the work left to the Avatero Road Board and induced (lovernmont to let it in small contracts. When the Reserve was sold it would also he disposed of in small blocks, as ho had requested the Surveyor-t tenoral to have it laid out with that object. He expressed the same views upon Local (lo-ve-rum cut and Education as previously reported, bis remarks upon both subjects being loudly applauded. Alluding to the Public expenditure lie stated that by a return furnished to Parliament it was shown that Marlborough bad received, up to last session, its share out. of loans, all but LI(5.000. The LI 1,000 for railway extension sion forwhieh tenders hadju»tbeen received the money for the Clarence bridge, and the roadsthrough Awatere, Rai Valley, I’clorus, and the tracks in I’clorus district anil Kaikonrn. ike., would amount to more than the L-IO.OOOand the Provincial district would

j thus have had its share. Me had also • obtained LJOO for erection of a drill shed in Blenheim, and a. turn for improving ! the navigation of the Opnwu. He had latterly lwen rather .sneered at and called. Hie second member for Ricton, but he was only too glad if lie could get his own work done and assist an adjoining constituency. (Hear, hear.) lie had not forgotten (bat it was a part of the old provincial district of Marlborough, and that tin: improvement of its means of communication was a benefit to Ids own constituency. Besides be always gave a helping band to those who helped him in return. He should continue to help that constituency, and hoped he would, have as his colleague for the Provincial District, Mr Conolly, (Applause.) Hointemled lo support the Hall Ministry so long as it proceeded on the same lines. It had extricated the colony out of its difficulties, had saved a large sum of money, and had expended v, hat if had fairly amongst the different districts. it was L'oiog in the right direction in regard to taxation, both direct and indirect. It had also decided that the land fund should not be spent a- in the past, viz., that we should not, as it were, spend our capital upon our every day requiremoiil;*. In native matters it had shown great discretion, and he. was glad Mr Bryce had again joined the Ministry, lie was pleased that!he Volunteers had come forward as they did, especially from that district, and no doubt manv others would have gone had their services been required. Their appearance upon the scene he firmly believed had prevented bloodshed. The Maoris might have tried their hands upon the Constabulary, whom they were familiar with, and did not look upon with so much awe as upon the Volunteers, who were a new sort of animal they did not understand. (Applause and laughter.) The local force had also most nobly sustained its credit at (lie target. Captain Hammcisley bad stated that their opponents could not understand how it was these Marlborough men shot so well. The Hall Ministry hail also to an infinitely larger extent than previous Covet nmc-nts opened up land on deferred payments, and thus assisted and encouraged the true settlement of the country. In a very short time three millions of acres in Otago would he offered, and it was also hoped that the same course would soon he taken in regard to hind on the West Coast of the North Island. In immigration also their policy had been satisfactory. Oilier Oovcrnments bad poured in immigrants too fast, but the Hall (Ministry had stopped this and restricted it to a great extent.

He heartily approved them for the action they had taken in this matter. (Hoar, hear.) The speaker then explained his views as to the. constitution of the Legislative Council. Alluding to the approaching ballot lie said his opponent had not ytt ventured to let them know what his opinions were, and be was unable to contrast their views. If on the day of the poll, however, the electors would vote on political grounds, and no others, lie would be perfectly satisfied with the result. The speaker sat down, amidst great applause. The chairman inquired if any electors wished to put questions to the candidate. Mr. F. Howell asked whether Mr. Seymour would use bis iniliiencc to have the Spring Creek, and the other large railway bridge, opened for foot traffic. Mr. Seymour— Mas; a favorite scheme of mine was to have the road through here, and tiie bridge was once floored to make a thorough connection. Mr George .Dodson Don’t you think a better place would be the old ferry line, and would you support it? Mr Seymour at the present lime, and will endeavour to get a bridge constructed there. At the time I alluded wo were only able to floor the old bridge and had no funds to construct a new one. Mr Brownlee said fie had been informed Mr Seymour bad lost several votes by voting at a meeting in Blenheim against the Babbit Act being brought into force. Mr Seymour explained tiiat it bad at llrst been thought desirable to form a voluntary association to put down the pest, until the Act could be amended by working it under local management, but r. minih r of gentlemen bad objected to this and all idea of a voluntary association was abandoned. lie heliived that the Act would have to be brought into force hero. Mr K. Caul said lie would propose that this meeting thanks Mr Seymour for his address. Tim wording of his resolution was simple and he hoped all would accord him hearty ihanks for his aide address. In looking round be saw many comparatively new faces, and was quite certain there were not many so well acquainted with Mr Seymour in the Provincial Council when fin: province was: in the same state as the colony was before the Hull Ministry took office. At. that time Mr Seymour nobly cmiu: forward and said that as Superintendent lie would accept no payment except mere travelling expenses. He thus showed himself to lie a liberal-minded man who will support a liberal Ministry. (Applause.) Mr F. Sewell seconded the resolution and trusted the electors would use their own ideas and vote for the right man when the day caipe,

'The resolution was putand carried unanimously, and the proceedings terminated witii tiic customary vote of thanks to the Chan man.