MR. JOHNSTON'S MEETING,

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 68, 23 August 1879, Page 2

MR. JOHNSTON'S MEETING,

Mr. Johnston addressed the qicctov m.. Whyte's H»IU Foxton, on Tuesday evening,, Th§ _*$efc*fog* was rather more numerous thai* the one held m the same hall on the evening previous, ajid that Mr. Johnston carried his audience, with him wa* manifest front the frequent applause ;with which the caudU date V.9& greeted. Mr. Thynne was called to thaohai^ and? iii a few introductory remarks, explained, tjl'.e apparent inconsistency of presiding at^ the meeting bf two rival candidates. At Mr. Snelson's meeting he had taken the. . chair as a friend of that gentleman,, bnt had. [ guarded himself by stating thafein, so-doing-he did not pledge., himself to support him. In presiding on tlie. present occasion, whiohi he did with much pleasure, he avowed hintself a supporter of Mr. Johnston. Though, fa^oi;ahle to the return'of a local-man he. . thought the best interests of the County: would be. served bjj- %tbt- •uppbrting Mr*. Johnston, whose influehee ia ui%H°a?4 was . freely acknowledged. He would npt ocoupy,their time, but would call upon Hr. JohW stoa to addrets them. : ay v- .; Mr. Joj^w^tbeitKMe. and prefaced hi»L address by observing," that a "short time, a he had: determined to retire: from political life, and ho doubt, if onthe? defeat of tha. Grey Government on the. want of confidence, motion, a new Ministry had been formed^ he should not have come forward again. He should have been content to have seen.theuj. railway from Welliugton commenced, andi : ah. extension of representation secured ta Manawatu. There '^ something iiii the. domineering attitude of Sir 'Gjtorgt Grey "»- his defiant course, hpwever, which seemett to iudicate^that he -as determined to carry it out. After the kindness which he .(Mr. A Johnston) had received at their hands, and} the offers of support which bad been made* r to hhn, he. b^. great pleasure m againj coming forward, and *moi& particularly be*. cause one of the (^ndidates who was : soliciting their suffrages, had declared himself- a. supporter of the present Government.^. When he first heard* this' he thought it waa : a piece of idle slander on, Mr. Snelson, until; h,e read the report of his speech onthe pre*. vious evening. If they did him (Mr.. Johnston) the honor- of returning hhn he, would do hu utmost to oust Sir George Grey. (applause) because he had outraged our con-, stitutional rights, and had treated the people, m. a *manuer^bsoluJ/ely intolerable. Various : instanc^ibjght: be adduced to show tbe un.imcohsfitutional manner m, which he (SLrGeorge Grey) had dealt with, the publio. estate, the pubUc Überties^ and tte po]__o. funds. He would relate some . facts ' which; woujd show bow. arbitrary Sir Geqig* Gmjtnas m h\s pursuit of despotic power. He, would fljjrst show hpw.Sir George Grey deal% ; writb the public estate. "VXhen he (SirGeorge), first took oflSge, a Bffl was before, the. House for- the purpose of seHinf land oh, deferred payments, m order to obtain fund*, to. pay the interest on the debt of the Colony.. The Bill was hailed with satisfaction by botksides of; the. House, ag d when MajorAtkinson was ousted from office, Mr. Stout, toot charge; of it. a ir Qatorge Grey seemed friendly to tha. Bill excepting m the matterof tiie Canterbury rnps, but wben the. division, took place he voted against his ooK leaguea.' After the Bill had passed through, both the Houses, he/advised the Governor. tavetp^heßilli ajad *h#a he. failed m, hia, endeavors to induce his Excellency to 'do so- he refused sign, the usufd recommencbv tionrfor his aasen*fc until bis signature wae. wrung from him X hjf his colleagues. He*. would pass over Sir- George. Grey's conduce to the House and hi* treachery to bis own. colleagues, but ha would ask them was ifc, Iheir wish that the mterest* of the oolony should be entrusted to, 0^ despotic will P (Applause.) Then again* Sir George, Grey was Governor of tha oolpny Sir John, Pakington had told him that the disposal of the Crown Lands should be. vested m a Legislative Council, but until the^ Couneilj was called together it rested vpth the. Governor. But the very day before the., notification appointing the time and place of = meeting of the Counoil appeared, Sir Qeorga. Grey issued a proclamation reduoing the, price of land m the colony which had pr*. riously ranged from AX to £2 per acre, to IQs. and ss. per acre; The price at' ; whioh s the land hid been previously sold was suJK-J ciently high to prevent any land mbnopafy. hut theeffeot of the reduction was that it. was bought *ip by speculators. It suited Sir. George Grey at the present time to rail ,a* and run down the land speculators^ but he, forgot that it was he himself who had brought them into existence. (Applause.), Though the Land Act, providing for sale oa deferred payments had been passed m 1877, he did not think that Sir George Grey had^ aetaside one single acre out ojf tha^OpO,ooo. acres which he alleged were m Canterbury, fon the; working man. So 'theA' sincerity of his professed interest m the. working men of the colony (applause.) For. two years that law had been left on the, Statute Book a perfect mullity. He |-_N Johnston) would next show how Sir Cteoifft, %&f 4.««AVw\% ft^ c^w^ttft .

fciohal rights. .When 7 : that gentleman introduced the Franchise Bill; he." told tha House that tliere were 70,000 men m New Zealand deprived of electowVquidificatipn, and before that he had asserted m Dunedin that there were 110#00. This showed what a '-pressing need there was*- for reform, and yet because the House refused to sanction an iniquitous dual vote, to Mabris,. which would have com- , pletely swamped several constituencies m the. North/Island, Sir, George Grey refused to give the *7Q,OW fche nghts which Parliament had secured to them, and yet it suited his purpose to stigmatise those who passed the Bill as wicked Conservatives. With regard to the readjustment of Representation, Sir Oebrge (xreyfo \_B77 pointed put the uncqustities* and anomalies existing at that time, aiid said that be had a "Bill which wcu'd remedy the evil and which he would: bring m thei following SeMsion, but m; 18J_78 when .£ rewlhtion was.bjpfore the House .that; the' Bill be introduced, he actually, voted against it. I'Hedid not introduce his Triennial Parliaments Bill m 187.8, when be had a powerful majority, and could have passed^ What^meMure, he /thought proper, aitnply because '4he ; H6use''- wai v theii m its . thi.-d session, and he feared the result of an election. , All this showed rery^ plainly how much -he "»Ted for ; 'f_e 'rights of the people. Ho (Mr. Johnston)*' would 'now: go on 'tb ■how how Sir George Grey dealt with the public funds of the colony. In 1878 a sum hnd' b?en placed on -the^estimatesfor the. Waikato . i^irway-~from;;Waikatoiltb the "Thames. But Si? George Grey when he went to Auckland '^t^ed the first sod "of a totally- djl^ent h^r-one that'ba|l,'n6t been authorised by the House. He could not imagine anything that would show a more perfect disregard of their rights' than that (applause.) /I rHe;;; had not. the* least* doubt, however* that ;the colonists would at the approaching.l ection relegate Sir George Grey to the obscurity of private life. He^needunotrgiveadditional reasons for his- avowed', purpose,: bf Sir Georga Grey -frbin^bfflcei* still - the maladminiifcration bf^tbe^preaent Ministry m Native affairs had involved the cpuntry m •normous v expense''- -The 'military expense to whibh the country had been put was but • small item. Over, a, large 'portion of .the colony, from Patea northwards, the industry of tlit settlers had been paralysed, tbeir financial accomodation' .restricted, and, iin. •everal parts, they had had to send their wives and families into towns; He could not, and no one outside the Native Qffice could, te^ shbwftthe/ present complication j had developed, but he had > found out that .. when Sir George X Grey *Wl Xiiri <»me into power; the relations between the two rices were bf tbe moat friendly nature, j Mr. Sheeh^in^ttdHth* ;.llati*»s !tb;Md ; meetings to discuss 'their 'grievances, with a ; view to. ttojir~l_»ing"*re3reste3/*-d accordingly meetings .wen; held at Waitara and -at Waikato. He thought it was not politic to pursue such a course.- ; . Sir George .G-i-ey could not go the: l_abn King and promise him so many things as he did without giving the Mabris. ah inflated idea ! of their own importance; so that jt, was not" strange, th§t. Bewi afterwards;deina'uded v the restomtibn of the confiscated h\nd. T j,7D_ring the ensuing recess nothing obcur&dhut tlie mtirder of Mr. M'Leah, a surveyor;- by Hirpki. When Parliam^tai^m^ formed fh'at'a ksen-search fer^ the' murderer was be Ugi prosecuted; and the fioqse was .led tb b„tfiye\thatufiis surrender would be demanded. But Th the*recess >the searcH appeared to be abandoned, 'Then came the 3_opua meeting, the,aubsequent turning off of the surveybrs'by the Natives,. an'd finally the enreri_y^«^iL^fie^etii_^ ploughing it.up. ., As he had said before, no one outside r the l^iitive Office could tell how this bad all come about, bburb r he thought . sufficient monuments wew m exjiteticff, to disprove the assertion*; 6jf : %he"G^y ; Ministiy ,7 that their .'invofficg: wert;'to ; blame for it; The -Tatiye disturbance might have been much wbise but for the determined attitude/Aof the 7 settlers. , He could not express his disgust at the cowardly telegram sent by Sir George Grey, refusing to give advice. Butthe settlers had not been afraid to take u^n thekselfes'tbe responsibility of action (applause). It was, of course, impossible to predicate" the result. He thought there 4 w«uld be no war if the present Ministry wero 'turned out, but the Native dis'trust'of them Was so intense that; if they remainJKl' in* •iBBce /.war might'take place. Sir George Grey had offered, without tbe consent of Parliament, to give up a large -portion of the confiscated land;! The; power of dealing with, such land was formerly vested'iri 1 the' Crown, -^ut how it is vested m. Parliament. No bne^was louder, than Sir George ; {3h*y "in Adacryihg the 1 blcl system, but as isoon as he got. into power he proposed to put fc m force on an exceedingly large scale (applause). L TheAMimstry on acceding to power promised to effect great retrenchments— Minister* were to , draw > only part of their. salanes, the civd servants were to be reduced, th'e.Hinemoa was to he sold, and a reduction of £100,000 was to be effected m Departmental I'expenses1 'expenses alone. What had follqwed, Ke would 'Oak. P-LMU-sisters had nbt bbly drawn the> full amount of their salaries, but had received substantial augmentations m theshape of travelling' expenses; tbe Civil Servants rha'd not .been reduced; and the Hinempa, . JhsteacL of having been /solcfTJhad -.been employed jin visiting various' parts/of-the colony ■ oni Sir George Grey's stumping ; tour, and a large amount of our taxes^hw<beeh scandalously corrupt manner r (applause).. . Qne r pr two , facts had some jaut> showing the corruption ' existing. Mr. Larnach, had ..drawn £2000 m a lump sum. M*^. M*Cullbch Beid; who reported the Kopua meeting so nicely, had been aent HomoA?ri<;h^a sahwy of £1200 a . year, besides haying £200 passage ,mpney. Then the Govemor*jicopntry i residence— instead of being sold by the Commissioner, as was usual— had bean 'given, fo an auctioneer—a zeaJqi^s partisan— to sell,, and, £1800 paid to him as cbnimissibh. (Mr. Whttb.— Tfame ?) He did not think the name maitorad,j but it *lij*JSsl' Mr^Duncarii He thought that if another Government came into powers apd Aievealed'hbwimuch had been expended'-upou the. Land Tax, there would-be a r sßomSr-pf indignation from one end of the.lsjla_hd.to iherotheri (applause). Where" noV'obrruptj 'tlie admmlatration of thepresent Government had been weak.!/ When <tbty~carrie intopowethere was a balance of i 52,250,606 m hai"d easb. They promised not to spend this ; but it was all gowj / ;wh 0 n <m the wharf that morning, he observed a large lot of sleepers piled up, aqd on en-; ■* qmry whatitheyr were doing there he" was told that they bad nptbiseh paid for. Suoh i reckless extravagance as the Ministry had had been guilty of-must,, ha. thought, resuit m wide-spread jnoiatvy.. He would now tell them how he intended- to vote. He should vote for the extension ot the suffrage, as manhood suffrage, .would not be- very -. different from the present system, -under whioh every freeholder, every leaseholder, and every ratepayeiLwefe qualified to vote. Lodgers and miners .had also been included . m the. list, and' then because^ they would not take the itibqljlfl to put. their names on the roll, public offiejisra had, been instructed to do so for them. '°^'{sn..^l:.the>i'e/weW consolidated into one, with' residential qualification, it would remain pretty -much .ps at present. No doubt there were many, persons, such as farm servants and others, who had no qualification, and he was glad to find that it was \o be extended to them. Aj tb« ITtivi? IWvWnt 9? Citensipn wo«ld

be small, and he was satisfied with the di-rectum-it would take, he should vote for the Bill With regard to Triennial Parliaments, there was much to be said On both sides. It had been argued that changes m the colony were so frequent that therefore . Parliaments should be shortened, but on the other hand there was the question of ' the great additional expense. He did not know on which side 1 the baljince lay^ but if he found his; constituency wished it, he would; vote. for the Bill. He was of opinion that the Land Tax ought to be abolished. It hnd cost a great deal ali*eady'in objections, and there were two great fundamental objections to it. The first was. that the depreciation of property caused by it would bear no proportion to the amount' paid into the Treasury. ; The Government had estimated that it would yield about £105,000, which, at 7i percent., represented a capital sumtof £1,500,000. But taking into account the further depreciation 7 which invariably; follows any sudden aud g;-eat depreciation of property, the whole amount of deux'eciation might be put down at £2.0 C ),090. This, heconsidci-ed, was quite sufficient to warrant its repeal. . But there was another great objection to it— : nanieiy, that the! persons taxed are not the owner's of; the property. People coming out to New Zealand, did not come with their pockets full of money— genei'dly the reverse— and they might have sufficient' capital to purchase landj they, would have flo borrow ,for imprpyemehts. To -What an extent this was. the' case might be gathered from the;, .fact that mortgages;,; mL: New 1., : (Zealand : amounted to £21,000 l o_o,*-and'; the whole burden of the tax fell on the unfortunate jaoitgagors. If theymusfc have direct jtaxar; tion ; let it bean Income Tax, towhich all ' would cqntribute^njoney-lendeM.a .chants included— and ep the burden would, not be left on the shoulders of those least able to boar it. He was. of onimpn'tbat di- - i*eet taxation was not good for the- vrpvkingTOan, alt'iough thei*e had.been.xsiioh.'a great cry about putting the, burden on >-_hbse best able to jbear it. Diiwct. taxation tended to deter-jthe influx of capital into the country, aiid, thus to curtail employment and to reduce wages, and fortthis reason wasidetvimental to the working-man, ' who wbi'ld find but poor cpnaplM ion for^nbnfemplby'. ment orjreduced wages m having his sugar La half-penuy per pourd cheape--. ,It was. for that reason that lie should also support the re-imposition of the timbe" jduties, as it would give profitable eoiployaient to large; tturabe.-i. ' >DhbVe dbuht, . have to pay k. tri_fe : more iFor their timber, * but that would hot bear comp'avison with the beaefit of increased employment abd higher wages. (Applause.) ,; No doubt they wire desirous'^te kripwliisopinipn is .to the best point of junction for the Wei-iingtpn-Maiiawatu Raihvay with /the exist-. ing hnei (Applause.) No repbrts had yet been received by the House, and m the absence of such accessary documents it would be impossible fptvhim to give an opinion bn -the subject! Such informatien as he had been able to obtain o;dy bewildered -hi-n. t , It bad ] been proved that Foxton was the. best point, of junction ; it had .been; ;vic-. toriously -proved' that , Palmereton was the: best point of junction ; and '■> it ; ihad alsq-; .been ])"- , pved that a spot between the two WaV'thej best, point of rjiinction daughte-.')i.i , The questions whidiwoidd have to be con*-,; sidered, j however, we'-e^whichAline would. . be the Cheapest, which' would yield -itlie i most reye rue, and which would best' open | up cpuntryi-..' :lJntil~; these, questions were decidedi.it would be premature that he should say that anyone place should be the . _Pbiuti.fJlunotion.-^HeJjad^ them: Jiis .ooliticol views, but there were personal' mait/rs upon which he should Hke to say a few words. On looking 'bver 'the tepbrt-bf' Mr. Snelson's speech he found that, that; gentleman bad, referred to him. The first charge was that bwitfg to bis' (MrLJbhn-' •ton's) action or inaction, 25,000 acres of Manawatu land ,( had gpneLby default.". JHe hari|ly knew what it meant-^for the* land was still there — unlets it was-that; the proceeds! had gone to improve the West Coast instead; of' into- the Treasury, to 1 be •petit on unauthorised public works. For his ownl part he like, 'to,- spp mprfc money spent on improving the \\fo«t Gbast.The'next charge was that while he had represented Manawatu the, district had, not \ received j its fair share of Government expenditure. • He j[Mr.John»fcon) thought it had. If :'ni. Snelson wbtdd go over this ranges and take apeep into the Wairarapa^ : Plains, or go across the Straits and ice what , has. been done m Nelson, hejfanoiedMr. Snelson j would see that Manawatu had re-~ , ceived its fair share. (Applause.) The. last charge wasLthat ; if be- had done hi* duty, Manawatu would have had two members.. He fancied Mr. Siielaon must haye , considered that upon the Government's refusal to bring m the Representation Bill > last Session, he (the speaker) shbidd have brought m M a Bill;-to readjust -the repreV sentation of Maniawait'u." ; He would 'nave looked vpry ridiculous if he ! had 'attempted to do so| and he was'qhite sure" the House ] -would not have passed- it. He* had hoped that the,conteßt woidd have been free from personalities, and was sorry to see they had 1 • been introduced. friHowever,. he ; was; not going to: follow the example of the otber candidates, as personalities were distasteful ■■■■ to him. , At the last election— which was morevclosely contested.* than the present one was likely to 1 -, (-pplausey-^in the'la'st election,) he repeated, there was not an un- , .pleasant i word passed betweenLDr: Buller ' and himielf. '1 Mr. Snelson," cbntinued,the speaker, j" states'thathe has had considerable political { experience m .the County.; All honor then to Mr. Snelson m County, matters, but I A cannot say that I .wish him .success m the present contest/ * (Laughter;) • ' Mr.] Johb«ton resumed his seat. amid loud and' prolonged applause. Tbe CHAißKAN'iritimated that Mr. John- '■■ ston would be happy to answer any question' that the 'electors wished to ask. V Mr. Tl|f_H_ra'_ON.--Will you, if elected, visit yonr constituents each during the recess? A LAALi,A ; X.Y.Yi *.-.'. -■''- Mr. Johnston.— l am glad that the. question, has 'been put, as it gives me the opportunity of expressing, my regret at having^ been unable to do so*. T cannot pledge mj'X self to do so m future, as to meet the electors at the various 'centres ;of population would take at the least a, month, and' I . canhot afford the time m addition to that de/voted to Parliamentary duties. But this I will Say, that if at any time my constituents are dissatisfied with my conduct, my resignation shall; be placed m their bands at once. j- : )Sx. LdTOpN.— -Ateyyon. m favor of the Government loans being deposited m one bankbnly? * : /Mr. Johnston.— l believe that for a the interest of the commerce of the country they should he distributed. If deposited m one bapk, that, bank is thereby induced to 'give unrestricted accommodation, .and : when they are withdrawn, financial difficidty ensues; If divided, the depression would not be felt sb much as it is at present by tbp bank m which the G^overnment deposits: are lodged. Mr. Loudon. — HaTeAybU seen the plans for improving aiiddevdbping Foxton harbor, and if so, are you prepared to take steps for carrying out the same ? Mr. Jqhnbton. — I have not see the plans. Buti shall be glad to see the Government and get sums placed on the Estimates for improvements m Manawatu. (Applause.) *__ M?i _OTP*9_<— Whst steps are you pre*

pared to adopt for developing the land on the east side of the Manawatu River ? Mr. Johnston.— _o far as I know, the lands referred to have been proclaimed as having been acquired by the Crown. Ministers said that they were negotiating for a large block, but it has not yet been proclaimed. The land between the Waikanae and the Manawatu will be sold to recoup the cost of the West Coast Railway. Mr. Loirnoir.-— What are your views with • respect to the liquor traffic P Mr. Johnston.— l quite recognise the large consumption of alcoholic liquors m the colony as an evil of great magnitude. .1 "confess, however, that I have no great belief m legal restriction. Still, if it is the wish- of the constituency, I will vote for a Bill which, provides for compensation; I think the only effectual way of stopping the habit of drinking is by providing places of recreation to which people could leso-.t 'without: drinking, as is done m France and other countries m Europe. * T aoi 'convinced that recreation is the best way of overcoming drunkenness, and if a movement is got up for that purpose, I shall be happy to contribute (applause). I recognise the fact that there is a generation growing up that have not acquired the 1 habit, and will not do so if places of recreation be provided. It would be too muoh to a&k tie Government to do this unless we make an effort ourselves. .Mr.LoiTDON. —^What are your views on the Education question ? *iu<Mr. 7 Johnston.'— So long as the' educaition provided m tlie colony is a Sfcateeducatiori, it 'must ba secula;'. Speaking as a Catholic, who number only one-seventh of :'the population^ I think it Would be wrong for theii ,to insist on thrusting down the throats of ethers that which is ivovialptable -to themi ..jStillirConsideriog that the Catholics payj one-seventh :-of tie taxes, it woidd not be ungenerous if the House gave them some portion of the grant. But this is quite outside the principle on which* education should be provided. , Mr. Gbay proposed, and Mr. Loitdon seconded, a vote of confidence m Mr^ Walter Johnston, which was carried unanimously, amidst prolonged apulnuse, and was followed by three cheers for Mr.Jphbston. -...,,-. L Mr. Johnston briefly .acknowledged the compliment, and the meeting' separated.