MR H. DRIVER, M.H.R., AT GORE.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 359, 23 May 1884, Page 2

MR H. DRIVER, M.H.R., AT GORE.

The member for Hokonui addressed a large meeting bf{hte constituent! at Messrs Green and Souneaa' rooms, Gore, last evening. The audience was a thoroughly representative one, including a considerable sprinkling from the Waimea Plain district. ; On the motion of Mr. F. S. Canning* Mr Thomas Green (Chairman of the Town Board) was voted to the chair. The Chairman said he had great pleasure in acting as chairman for such a man as Mr Driver, who had represented them well in the Legislative Assembly, He hoped they would give him a patient hearing while he gave an explanation of all his doings in the past and his probable action in the future. As far as he know the distriot — and he claimed to know it well — the people were thoroughly of opinion that Mr Driver was the best representative Hokonui had ever .had, and if he stooa again he (the chairmah) hoped they would give him their uua«;imous support. He hoped theie would be no rowdyism (Oh !), and that all would conduct themselves as gentlemen; Mr Driver, who- was well, received, said that after the way the ohainriian had spoken of him he scarcely knew how to begin his address. At any rate he -had to differ with him in one respect t- he did not anticipate the slightest rowdyism. He had ,'no doubt they would give him a fair and impartial hearing, and, if he did not satisfy them when ne eat down be would be just as contented with the retult an far as he was personally concerned, although one who occupied the position that he did certainly felt gratified with the respect and confidence of those he represented, The large attendance that night Bhowed that they took an interest in the affairs that were now being talked of throughout the length and breadth of the land. He felt some diffidence in addressing them on these subjects, seeing that he was speaking after all the great guns of the coiflny Jja<J let fgrtfr their founder. He did not pretend to any great eloquence, but he woald <jay shortly and to the point what he had to say. It was too much to expect to please all, but he hoped to be able to explain bis political action to the patjsfacjaon

of the majority. After explaining the re Q " sons which had prevented him from addres ing his constituents before, Mr Driver sai th:>t he defied any elector to say that he had . ver made one pledge during his candidature in regard to a road, railway, or anything else that he had not faithfully, or he migli say fortunately, carried out — (applause) —neither had he ever received any communication from an individual or a local bony thai h--; had not attended to. After ) expressing his satisfaction at the signs of progress observable in Gore, and at the fact that the two towns lull < %r ""< • * their unpleasant bickerings and were w ■: ing together for a Municipality, he denicu there was any truth in the rumor that he did not intend to peek re-election, The matter would rest entirely in their hands — if he still retained their confidence they would then return him. Before going into general questions he wished to clear the atmosphere and deal with the much vexed matter of THE WAIMEA PLAINS RAILWAY RATE. It was possible that what he had to say would not meet [with the sanction and approval of all, but as he had done nothing to be ashamed of he was not afraid to meet them. To make the position thoroughly understood it would be necessary to briefly recapitulate the history of the line. People seemed to have awakened up to the idea that the railway had only been built and got into operation during the last three months. Those were the people he sympathised with — the settlers who had come into the district long after the railway was constructed. They were entitled to extra sympathy. A good deal had been said about the matter, and his friend Mr Dolamore had said in his paper that he would be most rigorously crossexamined on the question. He invited that. The settlers in and about Gore had the least to complain of, however ruinous the rate I might be to other parts of the district. If it ! had not been for that railway, which had brought a iarge proport ion of 1 hem to the meet ing that night, what would Gore have been ? i It would have been like Pukerau or Waipahi. Could they expect to get the benefit of other people's capital and and contribute nothing in return f He was not saying that to justify the rate, which he had opposed to a large extent, as well as the mode in which it was levied. The terms of the Act under which the railway had been constructed were these : Before the line could be made, a map of the rating district had to be prepared — he had nothing to do with that map or with the preliminary negotiations connected with the line — and after that map was open for inspection for thirty days people were invited to vote for or against the construction of the line. They did so, knowing that they were in the rating district and liable to be called upon to pay 7 per cent. They declared for the railway, and upon the faith of getting interest upon their money a number of people took up shares in the company. The Taiiway was an entirely different one from what it was intended by the District Railways Act to be. It was not a branch railway, but a connecting link between Duned : n and Gore and elsewhere — in fact, a main -line. It was j not in any way a district line, and it w v as a question whether it was a politic thing | that its construction should have been carried out by private enterprise, and if it would not have been bettei' to wait till the Government made it. Possibly if that had been done there would not have been enough people there that night to £11 the office"! instead of the auction room! The public, thinking that the line was a| r ery valuable property, as it undoubtedly yas, came forward and took up shares largely, which had not been the case with any other district railway, the shares in nearly til the others being held by some large landed proprietors instead of, as here, by a large number of shareholders, including residerts in Queenstown, Elbow, Gore, and Dunedin. The shareholders had contributed \>y calls something like L 35.000, and they jcould not expect them to build the line without looking for some return for their money, The company ,believing from the moneatary institutions with which they were connected that the debentures would float and furnish money tq build the line, accepted a contract for its construction at a ' cost of about • Lllo,oooor L 115.000. Immediately afterwards the tide in the affairs of New Zealand unfortunately turned, commencing with the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank, which shook the commercial credit of nearly every part of the Colony and of nearly everybody in it. The debentures were unsaleable. Defects were found in the District Railways Act, and amendment after amendment was proposed but without effecting the sale of the debentures. As a first instalment to enable the Company to go on with the work the Government came forward and lent them a sum of L 40,000 from the funda of the Life Insurance Department. But that would not build the railway. The idea was that the whole of {the debentures would have been sold, and that little capital would require to be called up. The shareholders found themselves in a difficulty. Mr G. M. Bell, a late and respected resident, visited Melbourne for tke purpose of arranging on the best terms he could for a loan, he having in the first instance unsuccessfully made application to every financial institution in this colony. He obtained it, but at a usurious rate — at 10 per cent., with all sorti of commissions and charges addsd. They had to borrow the balance of the debenture money — some L 35,00 they went on paying interest. This was where the calamity occurred. If th« Government lines could not pay three or four per cent, on borrowed money, how could they pay 10 per cent and prosper? And ao the debt kept on increasing till the money lenders — it was not necessary to mention names — made a demand for what|waa owing. They I were imperative— they would have it at any price. They sent an agent over to New Zealand, who hovered over the line, and after living in Dunedin three or four months he finally got out a writ against the Company with a view of putting it in execution or selling the line. He (Mr Driver) applied to the Government for further assistance, showing that the security was'perfectly good, and that they had a property which if well managed would |pay them to lend more money upon, and eventually the Government did come forward to this extent : they said — "If you will convince our Crown Law Officers that you can offer good security to tho department, show your ability to pay the interest, and that there is no flaw in the Act under which you exist, we will help you." Tho shareholders had to submit to that. Months of negotiations, • during which various proposals and alterations were brought forward, followed until |last ssession was reached. The Government were thenjwilling to advance money ,but the Crown Law Officers could not advise them that the company were in a position to levy a rate, and able to pay interest. The h.on, gentle, man proceeded to explain all about the rate. It had been said that the Act passed last session — the amended Act — was iniquitous and improper, and was shoved through at the last moment. He had seen these things in print ; but he could assure them there was not the slightest foundation for them. The Act of last session only contained one clause that referred to the Waimea Plainß line, and jn $hat it coupled it \ w;th the Ashburton Forks line. The main port of the bill was introduced in the into- j rests of other railways, was promoted by other companies," and prepared by their solicitors. The latter were in a worse position, and could do nothing, because they had not completed their lines. For instane, the Hnkateremea Company had only made qnp half of t^eir ljne. and did not intend io complete it. Not having comjplicd with the Act they could not levy a rate. The only difficulty in connection with the Waimea Plains and the Ashburton lines — the only thing that prevented them from carrying out all their powers — was 'that in 1882 a Bating Act was passed which did away with all the former modes of rating and made it compulsory on all .local governing bodies, to act under its provisions from and after the. 31st March, I{JB3, The Cpmjpany had \6, go. under that Act, By some mistake ' it was found impossible to dovetail the rating power of this with the originalDistriot RailwayaAot. In other words, the Company had all the power which they now possessed of levying

a rate ever since 1880, with the exception j ■ that there was a deficiency discovered ac the last moment — a deficiency which did not exist till the new Rating Act was passed. The only clause referring to the local line simply enacted that whereas certain things were intended to be done, and whereas they could not be done under the Rating Act of 1882, further legislation was nesessary and was accordingly brought into operation. That was the whole story of the iniquitous Act. He was not the promoter of that Act. He did not want to deny or retract or try to i""'"' any part he had taken as a prominent loi 1 m the conduct of the Company's aiiairs. He was willing to take any odium that might accrue — he wps going to say God knew he had had enough trouble himself and had had many a sleepless night over it ; in fact, if he had known at first what he did now the line would never have been built ( with any assistance of his, When. the books of the Company were audited it was found that this enormous rate would be necessary. [A Voice : It is not paid yet 1 Mr Driver : No ; and if I were in your place I would not pay it, nor any other rate if I could help it.] When -it was found that such a rate would be necessary he was perfectly astounded, and then and there did all he could to get his co-directors to mitigate it. They had other heavy liabilities in connection with the line, and not one penny of this, rate or the one to follow would go into the pockets of the shareholders. When he argued with them at the Board and public meetings they said if it were a question of simply doing without their interest they would willingly forego the rate, but when they were asked to put their hands in their pockets and contribute mors in the shape of calls they were not prepared to do . it. He was only one of a large public company. He had had. a duty to perform to them as well es to the electors. It was not his; intention to prevaricate, but simply to state what he had done in the interests' of the Gpmpany and those of his constituents," and if his explanation were not satisfactory to them it was his misfortune and nqt his fault. The rate turned out to be something enormous, and personally he felt that he would much rather contribute by calls to. pay up their debts than levy it. He had stated so publicly, and now said that he sympathised with them, and further, that the line should never have been constructed as a district rail way, for it was to all intents and purposes a Government line. A district railway started from one point, went up a valley till it came against a hill, and stopped there. That was a district railway ; but here were tourists from England and people from Australia and all parts of New Zealand travelling over the Waimea line as if it were a main thoroughfare — were the shareholders to go without benefiting from the investment of their capital simply for the public interest? The .Government had sold thousands of acres of land between Gore and Elbow, and only the other day had parted with' a' number of reserves at prices so much greater than these which could have been obtained before the line was formed that the difference would have been equal to its cost. Land had been. sold for L 8 to LlO iper acre that would not for- 1 merly have brought more than 30s;. De* f erred payment allotments, had been Isold in hundreds, and a' great many> people were settled up and down the plain through' which the line passed, who would not have been .there if itha.3. npt r been niads«j IQifliering. as he did with his co-directors with "regard to the rate and its amount, he had sent, in his resignation and was no longer, a member of the Board. [_"A Voice : It was time. Laughter.] He had therefore now no more connection with the Company than any other shareholder, j but he would do all he could .wherever he was to bring about some change to irelieve them from the heavy rate that was h'ahging like a cloud over the district. (Applause). Although the investment, as far as, the shareholders were concerned, was a good one. tho feeling of the majority was that th^y would sacrifice a considerable portion of itheir money ! rather than go on collecting a rate which the district was not able to pay. With j others he had never dreamed when buying land some years ago that the rate would 1 be required. The country was Jgoing on! well ; . everything was prosperous, and fihe. "people, were happy, never thinking that i a rate of this or any other kind would be necessary in connection with the line. Its magnitude' surprised him as much as it had then*, i What he wanted to convince them of was that he had no special personal connection With it and that it had nothing whatever Jo do with his duties and position as the menjfa§r for the district* (Applause.) If he haa cfone anything unfair, unmanly, or improper in connection with that matter he was willing to defend himself , but he contended "tnat he had not done so ; he had acted in a perfectly, straightforward manner. He had. no more to say about it except that if he were in their place he would leave no stone unturned to cause either the Government or somebody else to prevent the rate from being perpetual. (Applause.) He sympathised with them, but he had no power either then or now td prevent the imposition of the rate. He \yisned them to bear in mind that if the power had not existed — and properly existed— for the levying of a rate, the line would; have been sold. Perhaps some men would say they would sooner do without the line j than have the rate. They might think so ; but the railway was there and the powera he hid referred to existed. The shareholders,: merchants in Dunedin, and others (their worthy chairman was one of them) expected to. have interest.for their money just as anyone, else would. He had explained his whole connection with the line, and if he had not made himself perfectly clear, he would be glad to answ er questions at the close of his address. THE DEPRESSION. The question was continually put, What was the cause of the depression that now exists ? They had heard a number of public speakers —Mr Montgomery, one of the leaders of the Opposition; Sir G. Grey, the Premier,; and Sir J. Vogel — all of whom had referred to the dullness that now prevailed, some without attempting to give any cause, and others giving all sorfs of causes— -to his mind any but the real one. He would take the case of laboring men who had' been working hard. They had had a good time for six months — been harvesting and got a big cheque. Unfortunately some of them (he wonld say " them " so as not to be personal) would go tp the nearest public house and knock down the cheque. What would be their feeling next morning ? He would say most decidedly one of depression. That to his mind was an example of the depression in New Zealand. They had first of all been fed with prosperity— it had been farced upon them. There was the gold excitement, which lasted for some time ; a period of depression ag bad as that now felt followed } then Sir Julius Yogel appeared on the scene with his Public Works policy. He was to make us prosperous by importing ten millions of money- which was to bejex- * pended on works in various parts of jthe Colony. The money came and it was sp&nt. Everybody ran headlong into wftd speculations in land and otherwise. Then came large failures. a,n,d. we began to go down. We had continued to do so, but he did not wish them to understand that he had Jthe slightest want of faith in the future prosperity of New Zealand as a Colony, but merely that they had been overfed and were now feeling the reaction. As a matter ctf fact, want of faith in ourselves h,ad^ a good deal to do with the present state of things. If they were tojd, in, the silvery language of Sjr Qeflrge Grej that they were a lot of paupers they would listen to and cheer him ; but if he (the speaker) in his blunt way told them that they would throw him out of the window. (Laughter.) There was tfce difference. He , flaid they were not a lot of paupers. And. the cause of the depression was, that} they had expended a very large su.nij of; bprrowed money, and for w&ich, they, were now being tajqd^ uppr\ unproductive, worka. There had betai no intentionally improper expenditure, hut in "many cases men comparatively new to the business had to be employed, and their experience had to be paid for. Another cause- of depression, and one to which nobody had jet referred, but which he could bring home to all present, was the enormous loss that the colony, and this island especially, ;

j had sustained from the rabbit pest. Babbits had rendered a number of runs almost worthless. £A Voice : Who brought them here f Mr Driver ; We won't go into that. Would d that he had been in heaven before he did A so I] It had been estimated that the Colonyi^H had lost within the last ten years some-IB tbiug like ten millions sterling. TheHß remedy for the depression— the extent of«H which the fears oE some had exaggerated— |H wps the adoption of habits of thrift andflH the realisation th >t they wonld have to sub-^P mlt to the altered condition of things. He believed that if they did so and tried to make both, ends meet .New -Zealand would pull them through. lie would., cay to them : " Believe in the future ; return men to Parliament who have an interest in the country, whose desire will be'to keep "taxation within reason, .and make you happy and prosperous. Do not .be carried away with the idea that we are all going to be ruined. If you do there is no body of men, whetker the i Government or the Opposition, or whether Yogel comes iuto powep. or not* that can help you. They cannot ftaia^tiiiiiwiure money for you." For his- own part? he was inclined to think that' no Government would be able to carry on without further dipping into the pockets' of"; the British public. Whether it would be advantageous tom,- , crease their, burdens, or not ?»aa a matter for consideration. .'They bad tastedlblood, and the question was whether th'ey*could suddenly stop bppowing without aggravating the present position. Another means of remedying matters would be to increase and encourage evefy species of manufacture, so that as little as possible would have to be imported. He was)not[ what w4s called a Protectionist/ but in a 4 country 'likp this, where they had to pay long freights and where children were'growing up and awaiting some occupation, every description of manufacture should be encouraged a? far ss possible. That he Relieved would tend greatly to bring about etna Paired result.

: . . : SEPABATIOM.

•p e 8 nofc 9 ne °* tbvM who sought officeit was not good enough for him ; he coal d not afford to take it— but there were plenty of politicians just now who were as anxious to get into the Government as those sitting on theiGoyernment benches.were to be kept there, consequently when anything untoward happened there were always people ready to get up cries with which to carry the electors away. ., There was a strong feeling that a con* stitutidnal change was required. It had been asserted that we were contributing more to the taxation. , of , the, cquatryrin v this island, without^glet&ng a • dtfe 'prop6rtioh of the moneys spent, as compared with the North Island. That had been contn» dieted, and asjar as he could gather he did not think they had suffered any by the ex* penditu^efof islands, | Considering £he : way in which goods were 1 distributed from various large centres all £U over the colony, the Customs,', .return* gave jH no indication! of the money Belonging to the special district wheire the! Customs Vere paid. X Constitutional 7 Reform . Association had been established in 'b'unedin. They called themselves -fc> 'Vigilance': : Committee. In the country.^^hat he.oCAme niirom that word was applied to a ~ body of men who tried a' irian 'and "■ meted but summary justice. Be — did not think the gentlemen in (IJunecCLn* had. any jintentkm of doing that) but it was a very nasty name at the best. Their idea was that oTßrything should, be absolutely; loca,]J9i'iJ. !»ut it was doubtful if such a thing were p •'•ti.-nble. It was not for the gentlemen f<»rnii tha* committee' to decide! these things.! In 1 ( fie House there were ninety jjdd members. A'majority of them had to be convinced before anything could' tie carried out, and when some of them came from districts, th.it werb without railways and had ney'er had a shilling of the borrowed money spent there they naturally objected to be; taxed without sßai^a in the benefits. His own idea was that' the Aesoeiation should gOi.in}boldly at once for financial separation between the two islands. He had moved in that matter during the last session, and believed that it coald be very well ML carried out. '. But'it-wbulft'lbe lik<| jl'diaaolti-^'JH tionjof "partnership, a'ndtliey wonfi- have to pay the North , a large bonus * tq^. jgo out. He would not .be opposed to one Government ! in ; %'ach ( ; " island' " " provided matters of detail were carried out equitably. The cry of centralism arose greatly from the fact that there was a large staff of officials who ha;d.been ean^^tfjabttdi^aidw easily a request made by tfte public could be given effect to, but* to" try 'to put as many obstacles ; in, the way : ,as .possible. ,-, If , that were altered and people could write to Wellington and get a sensible answer immediately, they would feel n,o, more jnconyeoiencegkhan if Government were established, gay, in Christchurch. Even- if- that were done, and the present system, of red tapeisift continued, thesame dissatisfactiotfwduld-ife felt, and th» would also be the case, if the Seat of Government were removed io Dunedin. Even in the old Provincial days there was a cry about centralism. Invercargill would not have anjP tjhing ; to do, with^ Dunedin', {&■s tfamaru refused to send a^member to the Provincial Council,but petitioned to have a district like Timaru, separate from Otago. If they cama dowm to County Councils^ jt^evrSiwuld find the two sides ;k& * tKe li ~ Wfiff- Plain* like the Kilkenny cats ; one CouxMnk wanted; everything ce > ntred^at'.;Q9ti!sm, kbA i the other wanted all at Mpsgiel, ||J -.- ■■ .THB,9iynASKRT.IOBi 1 N;-rT 1. reduction in the' service . had> 'been > talked of f or a long time j /but, t nothing , , w^s done until Major Atkinson came into .power, and he had only ir attempted' to ' effect" reform to & very moderate extent. ! 'T>h«, best way to go about the work would be to concentrate the' differerit departmental as far t» possible under one headrißjict.aoidofiaway with some of the most expensively mid Undersecretaries. There" would then be fewer officials, but the work would be don* better and. at a less cost— in/fact, <a^gaving of from. L6O' s OOO to L75,(J00"* mig'Kt fie effecttd by a. proper pruning- ~of the service. Any attempt in that direction r would receive M* support, FEDERATION. He thought that the conference held in Sydney; on this subject had teepr productive ■of 'good^he believed thii^if 'jjoeft- gatheringn were more frequgr»V*l> the Colonies would benefit by them, but at the same tima he doubted, very much if it'wQuid^be. Ao the interest of New- Zealand fc ihit^aefseil up. with such a movement. He was, however, prepared to hear the arguments, pr^ and con on'both sides, but meantime it was n^taiecessary for the Colony to : take, aby f trrtrin the , EDUCA.KK)£ ' - r '' ; * The cost of education hnd.jt goo 4, to do with the pieserit^aepressioni^He had supported a motion brought forward in the House for the reduction of the rote, considering as he did, that |he,cpst|fa the colony, in view of the population, Was out of all possible reason. They were spending between Lsoo,oooand L6QP,OOOMr n a§mim,,on edu- ; cation— a thing tßai'was'perfectly preposterous and out of oar ability to pay. It was thought by some, people .thsit jwera cer* tain Qo^atk)Hal?reaerves^inith«^strl«, but that was only a myth. The coloriy«coulti take them at any moment it liked, and ifc would do so Borne day. The sopner the matter was put properly the\beti:^rv ; If they were asked to pay, a poll tax aggregating' L 500,000 per anuum, fixed at- the rate of LI per head on every ma% wopan^ asdacffild in the^colonV; thef wojifcl ttiftik if'VST^lard— especially \$ they had a family of eight or nia^ ; They, .woujd;, tuff J^'naa an ssora?pu3 thing, but at present they sat and qn^e'tly lopke.d, on; while, this large amount was being- dragged out of the * public revenue^ — a sum -which would otherwise go towards lessening taxation, and Vhic|L waa now thrown away in imparifciiig l *kn education that was not wanted. By that he meant the education of the children; gfj#friP a ' ent * ™ high' ichobls— the cmldfen of people who were quite able -to pay for them. These schqols, to his mind—and . he instanced the Dahedin one— were not at, all welTmanaged. ChUdren were, honeret, beia^iseiit?

it the expense icTffie "colony,; and the insti. tutions which might be established by; pri rate enterprise were behjg kept down (Hear, hear.) The money so expended, to gethej with that devoted to universities and professors, was out of all proportion to th« ' value received. They were perfectly,. useless <*is»|at presenifc'.^alidf/it was time an effort were made to reduce the cost of the educational system, which, as at present car- . 5 -i tied on r did more harm than good to the » Y\ eommuuity. He (Mr Driver) did not; wisfc that the children of the colony should 'be ,t ,-raised'ip.educafcional pauperism, or in pthei I " words, ignorance. The S ; tate could afford, a1 . a very small proportion of the present cost, 1 'to give every child a fair education in read,i^c r . ing writing, /and- arithmetic. If they goi ' that, it was all he had to start in the world with, and he might say the same of ninetenths of the audience. , If children displayed "* "exceptional 'ability, there' were "scholarships • . , j«nd endowed, institutions, by means of which they could develops their talents, But at present' we were going wrong. In a place like 7fll Dunedin.we,wererearing.up;a class of young ' men and women who,by being over-educated, were Wade" to believe that they were too good for honorable work. Tb.6 result' would .it bejAhafy they> would; gradually sink into I " pauperism/ (Applause.) . A tradesman :in tnfe 'Rosiyhi district had asked him to get his son (who -was leaving the High School) into an office. He (Mr Driver), ad vised him not • ■ ' W seelc 'such a" position for his boy. Ey.ery ;,!.-/ -frttsiness institution had a long list of applicants, from which vacancies . were filled up, " ;1 aWdheWd the tradesman that he. should ■• i •■'■■ rath'e¥sen<l fits' 'son into the country and - -earq his living byjhonourable work. Speak : • big with "the knowledge that, he would, be pitched into for expressing himself so plainly, he would say that they were doing an absoV r lute iwfongt^.poflterity /and ? ;to the people " ! now growing up,., by this system of over•educating/"The'result was seen, even now, for if -applications were invited iri'Duriedin ,_ r foraclerkjoranOjfßjMboy, or any position!Jlin wbichHhemost' ixioney^ could be had .for the least labor, there } wou|d be ' 600 applicants, whereas il a ploughman, a' "shepherd' or agricultural ilahorei^eje wanted it would;; be the liardest thing in the world to get one. he would say "that labor and capit'al should go hand in hand. .' He, ■Jt't aftsJnotrsin/elo4ußivt/man,i . but with . a little, preparation he could get up a harangue and make them believe they wer* all downi: 'r^trridgenv atad'tnatr.ha was their'saviour. But lie did jiot.wish to do that, but to address them as sensible, men, „ '" HJ&F tfi^Kiiie8 r( were i: yowy worked; peopl* very -often — put up with great hardships, bo diffipujt wm it to have BMgiiivaV^ pi^mpjiwmedied. , The cure for this r n was the bestowal ; jp| t} . larger * powers Upon ttie officials in the Various centres. He was not, however, prepared to support a system of non-political management. That would be just as corrupt! and they would be without the power that; they now had' over the Government. It w&S' .»' good thing, when anything was. mismanaged,, to, ' have somebody to blame. In tne case 'of & nQibnpliticai board they could iayi nothing if; mjfej&e^o^tJ.wrSng. He thought,^that a ; great saving might, -, r effected' by the OTgfefiJgam^fcmfbfi phe [Working! Kail ways iltepartmelii-EMciral l?uraicPWoriß Departzneut. Greater convenience would also follow from the adoption of T that course. it Vrf •{ }\ '', A Ljn** 1 ??" «. L1" 'i "■•'■ TheiprograwmejOf the leader of the-Qppo-;; sition was tbat the" property tax should be done away With in favor } of a.progreßsi've'lan'd •!■ n fax, which ! meant, 5 in ' tlie ihoutlis-ofr other people, thre bursting up of estates' by ,pv.er : .w . .tiMPtion. „« ThatvWjas just <wlia% ; tlg3y had been Ll^'S^cting^%' ok'Uhe l - PlIiM. lB .-had* tasked .atfittteuof thatipolicyj-andi. did not appear to, like . it. .Well, he did not blame F l6Sn. : '' o He t -was not a believer in that— co Hho did not believe in a land tax at; all. Because, a man, owned 50 or 500 acrba in the was it right that he Bhoula be taxed exceptionally" to the. man who. livecj, say, in the town of %dr'e : ,'and who" drew hxs income from sharesin the -Bank^ dt New (Zealand I Why ahpald he not pay the same ta?c as the f aimer 1 '? He (Mr ; Driver) believed! that the i.T ftFrbperty Tax, if fairly and justly distributed j: ? wag.the most equiteble^tax they could pos- " nmj have, and^ he ,sa,w no reason r -vjrhy they ■ho.ujd depart f from lf it. "At the" same time, if the ; iraViingSi.'he: thadi Ssaggfesled were carried out, the tax might 4 he reduced — indeed, the ' - ? - "time^migHt come* when it wo r uld be hardly. neceßsai^.'^.Thfe'p'iF63erit : falling" r os in the ipT^nue. was, he beljey.ed, simply temporary, caused by the. feeling of depression which 4 i^ekistedandth'e l fact'~that the importations ..• „ .had^been. considerably lessened. With proII pfer management their revenue wpnld resume Its former buoyancy, '^nd there' would' then be no? -need -if or excessive taxation. ; , : . , When addressing,; the electors oduring his candidatare , ,he ,had. expressed his, : . disapprovaf' T of ' ftie ' Triennial Parliaments opinion that there was not a.moje/ Conservative measure on the Statute Books' a£ cblbny v it enabled the ■ i^isri'wfitn^he nfoat'mbney to run an flection, . nf mtouts>part.£*om that,- ?if^ the present! system continued they would not get the |most de- \ ftrable ( clasß ",of. m^en p, ..cqme forward as 1 7 - z^Wndidates: They would not' care] to go through all' ; the trouble and worry of ia con- •/* ilested/j^lecjion jfio: 'freq[tiently.i -Under the present orjier of things the, first session 1 Was spent fty 'a! new member ik "learning his bnsi- •; l fcesß itytt&j^WWm to know bis w.y' Kik-£sioiib'i and the third was generally devot d to making Speebnes through • Hansard f l q the ' electors, in view of the next election., .The mn »ej*arf»Jnhiß.opinion, q ,fa||||ftd|one, and 8 v*ii^fo^«|ilhicb Bhpjfllij66mm[Md.iteelf to poor wisTedlo be.represented by the best >.'n J n*'i/v ■:■- • ;DIBKOT STBA& SB»VlOB. j I- ■ The establishment of a magnificent direct iteam service between New Zealand and the ! Old World was doing much to make the ' ' colony and its products known j whiles ;by vu&t our shores..,. lt wouW Tesult in more good than 1 anything else itat they could do, . mad he, would,, not, grudg?, mqney^ if that 11 Hi M Been required, in order to promote such an undertaking. But when he saw the oppositton "companies building splendid steamers without a subsidy, he did not reffiet having lasti session „been the proposer of k'Ve'sdlulion' which' opposed, and succes, c, fnUy, the . Gpv,ernmejijt:'£, resolution) in favor o$ "subsidising one particular, li^e. ! (Applause:)- He said^ ttteri that r to do "so would keep other lines out, and would xesnli in an Inferior service,.. and, s .hiß words had; been verified l^ I " '■""""* "■ : ..-. , '; ' He had bc^en a supporter, of. the. present Go- ; >' liT vemm'ent, iand although he. was" not particuj? •'.» '- !1 Iturly^edded 5 their' opinions, he had ;-\ > beeniunai?le', )6wing; ;to : the ' discontent, and - wanfc.of polioy,- organisation, ' and statesman- '•■'""■ ship in "the Opposition, to find , anyone who eonld successfully form "a hew Administration. While -he would support the, present Government, he , would, .not* should they be turriea^oulf Df' (> dffibe\ J offef factious o^posi-<aon-to.>their successors. He wouldo.support "ffl » s Sai wffi» brought forward , - honest >^u"eSßuresp and' 1 wished 'to "act for ithe %,jjeueiafcgPQ^ : , tfhe government was blamed tor many things over which, iti had.-pocpn-tmongTottiers''the present depression; S A«ilfethe.^batute:Bbok*ere! 'cdnßuMd-ifc ™ld be found that they had passed more liberal gga^usefttT me&urea than any five Gfovem. *»n-ymUnt» viprficMiiig -them.-- He -did not *"• like»,thft»,.iw»Tdsf "independent member^ The term meant. that such a member was a a^fWo&oay^M' WerHouse. Now he djd not dneaßiWbtelhatU He wished-W sajr : that he did not belong to, any Government, and thai he wouM only support one when he had conSIB JULIUS yOOBL L ; "ppei^ ' with .^,f,i'*omelfeelulg^o2 friendship, of . lqnfe ;politlcal i ' rißrfe^^Rnbt; < 'prepaied i to r say whether it was 'i*£d& tfdaAißii J«lius ; or a good • Snff for the colony at this •particular time, that .he should go into It w^as a n«u£sAbi£firUßn theO&nseM and those who SJSa to do bo were the best judges! If

he entered Parliament wjth the feeling that he wwars r as 'Some' people 'thought, going, to relieve them from the depression; arid' raise theiri to a state of great prosperity, it, r would he (Mr Driver) believed be his downfall. On the other hand, he could conceive of Sir Julius doing some good through his personal knowledge of the affairs of the colony, and by -means of his great ability. He might use his influence to bring parties together, and stop the bickering that had occurred in the House. .If- he sought ' a .seat in the Assembly he should receive : every assistance in his^ efforts to benefit the colony. Whether he would be successful in doing so was, however, very doubtful. After some remarks, Mr Driver, . who had received a good hearing, concluded by inviting questions. . • A number «f these were put, the first being in reference to the Gore.-Kelso .railway, the : coastructien of which Mr Driver premised to promote in every possible way, irrespective of ronte. He thought the County Council the proper body to deal, with the erection of a traffic bridge over the Mataura at Gore, but Government would no doubt assist." The purchase by Government or someone else of the Waimea line was the oly remedy, as far as he could see, for the burden under which the. settlers were placed. If the people who had bought land of the Government without being made aware 'of the contingent liability petitioned Parlioment to be relieved of the rate,he would dpjjhis best to have their prayer given effect to. „,. On the motio of Mr B. S. M'Gill," seconded by Mr X., Hamilton, a vote of confidence in Sir Driver was, passed by a considerable majority, although a good number of those present did not signify their opinion in any way. , , The proceedings terminated about 10.45 pani