MR. ARMSTRONG AT THE ODDFELLOWS' HALL.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 108, 24 March 1871, Page 3

MR. ARMSTRONG AT THE ODDFELLOWS' HALL.

f: Mr .-Armstrong, pur newly-elected M.P.CiV met his : constituents at the Oddfellows' Hall, on the evening of Monday last. Mr. Hertsletj having been called to the chair, said that the present meeting had been called in order that Mr. Armstrong, who. had been unable to be present either at*the nomination or the declaration of the poll, might have an opportunity of returning thanks to the electors for the 1 honor they had conferred upon him by electing him ,as their representative, and by placing him by so large a majority at the heacL of the poll, Mr. Armstrong was, however, there to speak for himself, and he would therefore call'.upon that gentleman to'address them. Mr. Armstrong, who, on coming forward, was received with cheers, said that he felt extremely grateful to the electors of Mount Ida for having placed him at the head of the poll for the largest, the most populous, and the greatest gold-producing -district of the Province, with the exception, perhaps, of Queenstown since the discovery of Moke Creek. The eseort.returns would futly bear him out in his assertion. the election was over, the duty of the electors was not over by any means. Before he could do his duty as he desired to do it he must know the requirements of the district, and this knowledge he must obtain from the 'electors themselves. Mr. Armstrong went on to point out the way in which this district had heretofore "been neglected, if not ignored-. He said that, .whereas at Ciomwell and other places of less size and importance than this place £SOO had been voted for the erection of post and telegraph office, half that sum only had been, voted for similar buildings at Naseby. He would strongly' urge upon the electors to get the place created into a municipality. He felt sure that the creation of a municipality would give this place a stahis with the Grovernment which it •could'hot.by any other means possess. To be in a position to get what they required they must possess a body recognised by the Grovernment. Look at Clyde and Cromwell, and see what municipal institutions, had done for those places. Had we possessed a municipal body here h e would venture to say that that great want of the place —the sludge channel—would have been long since constructed. He knew the idea of a municipality was not very popular here. For that he did not care. It would, he believed, be productive of much good to the place and people, and therefpre he recommended the question to their consideration. He was already armed with the votes of the electors. To be able to do his duty properly and effectively he must be armed with their opinions also as to the wants and requirements of the district. For himself, he had nothing to gain from it. He would impress upon the Government the propriety and advantage of opening a road between this place and Oamaru, via the Maerewhenua Diggings. He thought that one of the members for this district should be a member of the Executive. He looked upon Mr. Mervyn as a fit person for that position. Mr. Mervyn would then be entitled to advise his Honor, and he (Mr. Armstrong), from the position in which they had placed him, would be entitled to Mr. Mervyn. He had been throughout the outlying districts, and at the Serpentine found there was no post-office, though there was a population of over a hundred miners. On a recent occasion he had himself acted as their post-boy, and had brought their letters to the postoffice. There was great need of, a school at the Kyeburn, as there was a large number of children beinobrought up in comparative, if not in absolute ignorance. At Hyde he had ' told the electors that he was the best man in the field, and they were, he'was glad to say, wise enough to believe him. I Hamilton was the only place where he

h.-d not beeu at the head of the poll, and there he had not addressed the electors. He believed in responsible Government to the fullest extent. When a member accepted office he should go back to his constituents tor re-election. This had not been done in New Zealand, though the principle is admitted in all free countries. Mr. Vogel, Mr. George M'Lean, and Mr. D. Keid had all at different times accepted and enjoyed offices of considerable emolument, and had none of them gone back to their constituents. Though he had been an opponent of Mr. Macandrew he would now support him, as the country had given its verdict in his favor, though he certainly would not consent to follow him in such vagaries as the introduction of German girls. It was his full intention to come among the electors at the end of each session, to giyo an account of-his stewardship. A few questions were then put and answered. After which, with a vote of thanks to the chair, the meeting broke up.