PUBLIC MEETING.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 224, 13 June 1873, Page 6

PUBLIC MEETING.

MH OLIVES AT NASEBY. A. crowded meeting of the electors of ISTaseby was held in the Masonic Hall, on Monday evening last—Mr G-ogarty in the chair. The Chairman - would explain that although talcing the chair, he did not wish the meeting to understand that he identified himself with Mr Oliver's principles, as he never saw him before, and was ignorant of, the views he held. Mr Oliver was compai'atively a stranger among them, and .he trusted the meeting. would give him a fair hearing. He. then introduced J Mr. Oliveb, who said: The Chair-! man had very properly stated that ho was a stranger among them. He was known to very few only, and he came before them as a candidate this evening to solicit their suffrages. He begged most sincerely to assure them,that he had no selfish aim in so doing. He . had been. a r resident in the Colony for. nearly eleven years, and had looked after his own business affairs during that time, without. in-:' terfering with politics ; but • he • was- now in a position to do so, and would briefly and succinctly pat before them his views, i It had been stated, he believed, that he had been put forward by a clique—in fact this; was alleged by the speakers at the .public, meeting on Saturday last. This was a, mining community, and he believed no clique could exist. Only one interest existed, and that was the mining interest—all others being knifc together and combined with it. By some accident, a telegram.had been forwarded to the Miners' Association j (per favor of Mr Wilson) which had- not been delivered until this 'morning. It* was altogether a mistake on the part of Mr Wilson, and he wished to lay no blame on him, as the matter had been satisfactorily explained. He wished to disabuse the minds of the miners that there was a clique. He had not meddled much. with politics, but would briefly state bis claims. The large and important disti'ict of Mount Ida had not been properly represented, and of this he was convinced. He was a merchant and importer in Dunedin, and his interests were identical with ours. He was obliged to sympathise with us in our efforts at progression, and to suffer when we suffered; and he thought on that account Dunedin could better represent us than Roxburgh. . He was, not particularly anxious to represent them, but if elected he would endeavor to prove himself a faithful servant. ■ Had a claim as a miner to be returned, as he had been born and bred in a mining community, and lived among miners the most of his life ; he had also invested large sums of money in mining, principally, he was sorry to say, in quartz claims, to his loss. When making his hurried trip up to Naseby he felt, being a man of progress, the shameful and shockingly bad state of our roads. The main artery of communication between Dunedin and Queens town reflected little credit on our late representatives. He woulcl touch lightly on the events which led to the present crisis, and explained at some length the position of affairs last session in Wellington-, when Mr Donald Seid was appointed one of the Stafford Ministry. The Provincial Government was frequently in the position of an agent of the General Government, but was always discussing with the G-eneral Government the propriety- of its , Provincial measures. Now the Province could not p.roperly exercise its powers, while the. Provincial Secretary, whose duty it was to discuss and object, was, at

the saine : time, a Colonial Minister. The two offic.es could not be held by one man. The. Superintendent, crediting Mr Keid with.the good sense, we know he possesses, expected a communication from him relinquishing office on. his appointment to the Cabinet,, but in vain. His -Honor then wrote requesting him to resign—the result of which you are acquainted with. Mr jß'eid was nettled at this, although the letter was mild and courteous, and he replied sarcastically. The end was that his Honor dismissed Mr Reid and his Executive, and it became necessary to select other men who would show a greater desire to advance our public works, &i. Mr Tolmie's presence on the Waste Lands Board was obj-ction-able to him, as well as to Mr Armstrong. The rights of the squatters he respected* but they must give way to settlement, even though compensation, might be necessary on land which was taken from them. The Executive, he believed, must ultimately be]the Land Board. When Mr Eeid went out of office, on the resumption of power by the Vogel Ministry, his former' position in the Provincial Executive was offered to him, but whether from pride or piqne, he could not say, he declined to accept it. It was Mr Keid and his party who brought on the present dead-lock, by, asserting tint his Honor, had. acted .unconstitutionally. The speaker then .referred to the signing of the: round robin, and was frequently applauded during his -remarks, and t'hat although Mr Eeid had a ''tail," his head was Mr Staff>rd. -Attributed great influence to the events' which were to happen during the next four years, and that much would depend upon the action taken by Mr Vogel and his associates. It would be to our benefit and the Colony at large, to strengthen his hinds. So far as Mr Macan'drew was concerned, it was i*efreshing to see a.man holding such enthusiastic' ideas in the cause of progression.; and his respect for Mr Eeid was such, that he trusted to see him also advocating, ideis. As a proof of his Honor's enthusiasm he would read what he said at the late Dunedin nomination. [Mr Oliver read the extract referred to whii-.h. was .loudly cheered.] Thought that in a few year's Provincial Councils would be done away with; but, although cumbrous in their operations, in the meantime they had wo k —and important work—to perform.' Was a member of the Separation League, and, he thought it wise, with a Maori war star-, ing us again in the face, to support -the movement for-insular financial separation. Would advocate connecting the districts' of the interior by railways- or good 'metal roads, and it would be. a poor country that could not pay for the construction" of light lines of railway. New Zealand in this respect was. far richer than America, and. pur resources would never be fully developed until this was done. Communication with the sea-board was necessary,, and roads or railways absolutely essential. Victoria has a system of railways wlv ch cost £34,000 or £35,000 a mile, which pay a low rate of interest, but, in New Zealand, they could be constructed for £5,000 a mile ? If, then,. Victoria can stagger under her railway burden, surely New Zealand can get along with her railways, at £5,000 a mile. A railway which would connect this district with the ,sea-~ board could probably be constructed for £5,000 a'mile. With reference to landadminstration the runholders must give way to the agriculturalist. Let the.lands be ploughed and occupied, and that beautiful valley of the Taieri be teeming with population. The Education question was next touched on; and. referred to Mr •Mervyn voting last time for a national system, and now he (Mervyn) was prepared to eat his leek, to catch the wind ;that was blowing—by stating that he .would vote the other way next time. He !.would not alter his opinions in this way, and he believed that it was the duty of the State to educate the children, and' 'State education must be secular. If he .was a Catholic he would not permit hU jchildren to be tampered with. 'His opinion was that clergymen of all denomina- , tions should be permitted to give religious instruction in the schools, and should have access to the children at specified times, which would be a means of fully occupying their time. This duty , prqpcrly belongs to clergymen. By this means children of all the denominations would grow, up side by. side, and receive good secular education. It is not fit that schoolmasters should teach religion —it is the duty. of. ministers only. .The district, as a mining community, would be aware, that some years ago the Provincial Government sent to Britain for- a geologist, and.. got Dr. Hector. A geological survey of the Province was after his arrival commenced, but it was only partially made, as the General Government engaged him. He would, of re'tifrned as-the representative of Mount Ida, urge upon the Government the completion of this survey. Was of- opinion that the gold duty should be yet considerably reduced, and that exports should not be taxed, as he was a free trader. New

Zealand lias a/protection, duty without desiring it, for tl the Colony had imposed' on it protective duties to raise revenues for the Maori wars. The miner is the man who, most r quires free trade; but he hoped the heavy import duties would soon be lessened. He could say a good deal in criticisim of-the - remarks which, fell from the gentlemen who appeared before them on Saturday evening last," but he' appeared before them on a distinct platform. He would now b» willing to replyto any questions. The following are the replies made by Mr.Qliver.to a number of ((piestjonsi:-d-Was not connected with squatting either directly or indirectly. Opposed to the expenditure of £60,000 in Dunedin -harbor. With reference to the gold duty was thoroughly, averse to-the i taxing.of exports. 1 Would advocate a sum being | placed on the Estimates for the development of the mineral wealth of the district, provided there was the remotest cause to suspjpt that it s existed. If : the crisis had not occurred, thousands of acres 6f4and | would have been opened for sale, but not ' more than 30,000 acres could be opened during the year under' the .existing Act. Was decidedly not in favor of the. alienation of, large blocks of land, 'in favor of a .reduction in the price of, miners' rights, but did not. thinlE .it was. a for the Provincial Council to,deal with. .-Did not-think the Immigration scheme'a. satisfactory one for the 1 -miners. The Superintendent was disgusted with the system! Tioads arid railways could be made from loans ; plenty of money in the "English market. 'Was in favor of a miner's right running 'the whole length and breadth of the Colony. Averse "to toll bars ; and accredited himself as the author of the agitation in Duriedin for the removal of toll, bar's to "three, miles from the City/ In. reply to a question if he wouldadvocate placing upon the Estimates a sum for the erection of a lunatic asylum in the district, thought it .-.would not be necessary if they placed him at the~tpp of the poll. Mr H. B. M'ljttosh proposed, and 'Mr James Hore seconded—" That from the able and satisfactory statement made by Mr Oliver, he is a fit and-proper person to represent this mining' district in the Provincial Council." Mr Ross : As three votes of confidence had already passed, .on the candidates,,at present contesting the representation of the district, he, would propose, as an amendment that- this- meeting thank Mr Oliver for his address. (Confusion.) Mr Sullivan seconded the,amendment. Mr Bbemneb remarked that Mr Olij ver was Chairman 1 of the Chamber of Commerce in Punedin, highly respected there, and was above the.honqrarium. ; If I he:;were returned to represent iVTount Xda he, would, be a credit to the district. . TJSe speaker then mentioned the. great,,necessity.that existed for the election/, of^gentlemen who would and could properly represent them, and particularly; during the next four years, when, worksjof such-im-portance and magnitude were being carried out. The Chairman then put the amendment. Only six voted for it. The resolution was afterwards put and carried. amidgrea£ eni thusiasm. ' ' -...-'•"- A vote of thanks to the Chair concluded the proceedings. ' ' '

The idea of an extensive sludge channel at Waipori Flat, has been developed, and steps taken to get a survey made' to its practibility. The '* Tuapeka Times' is informed that the Provincial Engineer has been instructed to proceed to Waipori for the purpose of taking the necessary levels for the work. Juiiies. —Jurymen who have other engagements of a more agreeable kind, may take a hint from the following taken from the ' Bendigo Independent':—" One of the juryman in a case at the Circuit Court lately stated that he was prejudiced in favor of the prisoner. The Crown Prosecutor said that, seeing the juryman (Mr. Menogue) had made such an honest statemennt, he had no objection to his remaining in the box. The juryman, said, however, that his prejudice extended, so far that it would influence his verdict, and it was thereupon deemed advisable to-dis-charge him from his duties.