MR. O'CONOR. SUBURBAN. NORTH.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 265, 4 November 1873, Page 2

MR. O'CONOR. SUBURBAN. NORTH.

Mr O'Conor held a meeting at Suburban North last night, when about fifteen were present. Mr Gilbert having been voted to the chair, Mr O'Conor said : I feel that the first thing I have to do is to apologise for the short notice that bas been given of this meeting, but I wish to Bhow that lam not to blame in the matter, and I will commence what I bave to eay against Mr Curtis by stating tbat it was my intention to have called a meeting in the town of Nelson to-night, and that I applied to him for tbe use of the Provincial Hnll. which he granted, bat later in the day I found it ha<ji been already engaged for the purposes of a bazaar, and was told that to bold a meeting there to -night would cause great inconvenience to those who had so charitably undertaken a work in aid of their church. I therefore gave up the idea, and as the time at my disposal ia veryshort I thought I would invite you to meet me here this evening. I consider that the Superintendent has inflicted a great injury upon me in this matter. I believe we are to treat one another as fair belligerents and not be sparing in attack, but I am sorry that it has already descended to mud throwing, and tbat gross misrepresentation has been uaed with regard io me, as I shall presently show. The election time tbat is now approaching is one tbat will largely influence our future. The provinces are entering into competi- j tion one with another, and those wbich can boast of the most vigorous administration must of necessity go to the front. Oar own. possesses great mineral resources, and the wonder is that we are now in that state of depression which prevails in both town aod country. Mr Cartis has told you that the Government is not to blame for this, whereas I intend to prove to you that it alone has brought us to the brink of ruin on wbich we now stand. It is to show you tbe guilt of your administrators that lam now here, and it is because I have always disapproved of their conduct that I now come forward to ofkr myself in opposition to Mr Curtfr, and to effect a change in a Government ihat has been the curse of Nelson. This is no bombast on my part, but what I say I feel in my inmost soul. Our depression, says Mr Curtis, is due to the inaccessible nature of our mineral wealth, and that, whereas the agricultural resources of which Otago can boast aire easily developed, ours must occupy a long time in being turned to "account. I say exactly tbe contrary. In*an' agricultural country mucb time is necessarily taken up in bringing the land into the market and disposing of it for settlement. With minerals it is different. A lead ol gold is discovered to-day, tomorrow it is brought into the market, and the benefits to the surrounding country date.from tbe very day of its discovery. Again, he tells you that rich patches were found in our goldfields in their early days, but that these are worked out and nothing is taking tbeir place. Why are there no new discoveries? Because the money that should be devoted to the opening up of the country is frittered away on incompetent officials. Mr Grove bas referred to the Hodgson family, but there is another family who are living on tbe province, and being sent recklessly about the country to inspect the roads of which they know nothing. I refer to tbe connections of the, Provincial Secretary. Are there none others better fitted for the work, or are all appointments to be made from favoritism and without regard to merit ? The Government has been a " ring " and its members have worked witbin a certain circle, ruling the land for their own benefit. None of the Executive ever visit the people, 1 and it is 1 not to be wondered at if : they are anxious to get rid. of tbem. It was th_ Superintendent who gave rise to the clamor for separation. I told him he sHpuld go to the 1 Coast, but did he eve* tell you tiiat when I urged him lo this he replied that; he was constitutionally , unfit' td travel ? Did be tell you that wh^ri he 'did go I accompanied him and stood between him and tbejpeopla whom I advised to respect the; oflice he held ? He ; was spoken to about it at Westport, and told that be had ' neglected ' the Coast but that the "people were willing to condone his .neglect if be would visit them more frequently for the future; He promised, and he went. He was carted about in a spring cart, and took ten-mile walking stages along the road, but that was not seeing the country. He sboold not depend upon his engineers. Who would leave an eßtate entirely to the management of a steward ? I have beard of absentee landlords, but I' never before hqprd of an absentee agent. In a province divided as this is, the man who .is constitutionally unfit to travel is constitutionally .unfit to be Superintendent. The i jeasoq itbat. Nelson people do not grumbie so much as those on the West Coatfc ia because the Superintendent is

amongst them, is to be seen every day actively walkiiig from his house to bis office and back again; Mr Curtis says it is upon our minerals we must depend, and I agree with him, but their development must be encouraged, not •by encouraging monopolists but the bona fide* workers. He, however, contents himself with sitting in his office and blandly receiving those who come with cunning speech and, accompanied by lawyers, to make applications, while the working men are ignored and treated with neglect. That is the way affairs are managed by an absentee Superintendent who knows nothing of the affairs he has undertaken to overlook. What occasion is there for him to remain in town ? What iB there for him to. do there ? If he can go away to Wellington for threo month?, surely he can effbrd to spend a few weeks in visiting the country. In three weeks I have been all over the goldfields canvassing and holding meetings. Why cannot he visit them ? But he does not, and out of consideration for tho people and for his own health ho should give place to another and a better man. Without wishing to be egotistical, I may say that I have been inviled by one third of the province to defend it against his bad administration, but it was not till I had travelled through all the centres of population in the Buller, and found it was the unanimous wish of the people, tbat I consented. My desire is to obtain an office in which I may bring credit upon myself by adopting a system which shall be creditable to the province and satisfactory to the people. If I did not think I should succeed in this, no pecuniary consideration would induce me to come forward. One most culpable part of the* Superintendent's address to you was that in which he sought to pit one division of the province against the other, to set you against me because lam from the West Coast, whereas unless we are united, unless nil feel confidence iu the administration, a lamentable future is|in store for lis. My policy would be to attract Marlborough and Westland to unite with iie, and unless this is done, Nelson must soon cease to exist. But this is impossible under tbe Curtis administration. His name is execrated throughout the goldfields, to the residents of which justice is always denied. It is all very well to tell them their revenue is spent within their boundaries, but what they want to know is, what good is done with itj they want to see value for their money. Only one work deserving of the same name bas been executed on the goldfields, and thafe is a road made by the General Government which Mr Curtis strongly opposed in the House. He always opposed what was for the good of the l > rovince. When the Loans Bill was introduced what did he do? Following the bent of his inclination to do nothing, he walked out when it came to a division. Was he seot to Wellington to shirk giving his vote? I, knowing the want3 of the Province, introduced a Bill early in the session to borrow £60,000, but was met with a statement from Mr Curtis that it would be locking up lands required for security for lho railway, and he continued to raise objection after objection until I began to wonder what it all meant. lat last discovered his reason, which was that, knowing the bill would be popular in the province, he feared, if it passed, that my political reputation would overshadow his. I read tbfa in all his bows and scrapes as he raised one objection after another. None of the Nelson members but Mr Sbepbard supported it, and in consequence of the division in the camp I threw on those who opposed it the responsibility of allowing it to drop. Afterwards, though he did not support the Loans Bil), be introduced a measure to sanction borrowing for a road from the Lyell to the Matakitaki, but I was so indignant tbat tbe province should be called upon to borrow' and give laud as security for such a patchwork job that I protested, and with the support of others, managed to get him to frame it so as to be more servicable. When the parent Bill was rejected, the others dropped and then there was a-ineeting of their supporters to see what could be done with tbe Upper House, but Mr Curtis did not appear, and again did nothing. There is but little to criticise in his conduct in the Assembly. About half bis time he was absent, not, I believe, from carelessness, but ! because bis health was failings and he had to retire to 'repose early. If he can be constantly absent from the House and neglect bis duties, surely it is not essential for him to be there as he says it is. Not only do I find fault with bis administration aa head bf tbe Executive Government, but as holder of the delegated powers. He displays the utmost ignorance and 'neglect of the goldfields, throughout which there is an unanimous cry against him except from the barnacles. They will canvass for him iu every direction and take his money, or tbat of those who subscribe to pay his election expenses. ; The Chairman: I consider that Mr. O'Conor ia altogether out of order in

throwing out inuendoes that subscriptions are raised to pay Mr Curtis's expenses, unless he is in a position to prove it. Mr O'Conor did not see any harm in saying so. Parties frequently combined to assist the candidate they were supporting. However, Mr Curtis was there and if he contradicted it, he would at once withdraw what he bad said. Mr Curtis t Really tne matter is of very little importance, but since I am appealed to in this direct way, I may state that no one ever subscribed a penny towards such an object. ,- Mr O'Conor : Then I withdraw it. But people in the pay ofithe Government are actively canvassing for Mr Curtis, and are in receipt of your money for doing that which it is quite out of their province to do. [Mr O'Conor then referred to the forma and restrictions by which the granting of agricultural a.nd mineral leases were surrounded ; and having alluded to the petition against separation, which was set on foot by Mr Curtis last year, as " one of the darkest violations of the rights of the people ever heard of," went on to say] With regard to the Executive, we are told that there is to be a change, but if this was necessary, why not do it before ? Because the necessity was not upon Mr Curtis then. Mr Henry Adams, however, is it appears alone to suffer dismissal, and yet he is the only one to whom no guilt is to be attached iu the past, as, being merely the solicitor^ it was not his business to interefere with the Government. I see no chance of Mr Curtis or Mr Greenfield resigning. The fact is that the change is to be this — every member of the Council is to be induced to support Mr Curtis by the promise of a seat in the Executive. It is a good bait but old birds are not to be caught with chaff. Mr .Curtis has said he was able to economise when Mr Shephard resigned, but now he proposes to add to tho executive again and to saddle you with additional expense. Since he has said he is going to dismiss his Executive you had far better ask hira to go with them. Why is he going to make a change? Why do his papers talk so much about it ? Simply because he will do anything to get your support. With regard to the Foxhill railway, my opinion is still unchanged. If it was put to me whether £100,000 were to be spent on that work or handed over to the province for other works, T should prefer the latter, Mr Curtis no doubt thought he had done a clever thing in quoting , from a speech which Mr White made, probably at his instigation, but he only showed his teeth and completely failed to bite. The position * of affairs however, is now altered, aud with Nelson as the terminus of a main line, it is a different matter. Mr Curtis played me a dirty trick in Wellington on the railway question. When a deputation was convened by him to wait upon the Government, he carefully avoid* asking me to join in it, although he knew I looked upon the main* line as desirable. This was done to make it appear that I was against it, and he haa never yet apologised to me for an omission which is entirely due to very small motives. He has alluded to a Bill I introduced to give the Goldfields the control over their revenue) and said that I wanted to give them tbe power to deal with the revenue of the settled districts, while the latter were to have nothing to do with appropriating that of the Goldfields, but what I proposed was that the Goldfields revenue was to be locally appropriated after sufficient had been deducted for provincial charges, aud this was shown by the terms of the resolution. Surely Mr Curtis can never have read the bill, or if he has,, he has been guilty of wilful misrepresentation. He has also charged me with personal motives in finding fault with the Waste Lands Board, and I am sorry that anyone pretending to be a gentleman, should have made such a statement. He Baid it was because they had ignored an application of mine, but he should have remembered that that application waa never before the Board. As chairman of a Select Committee I was called upon to look into their books, and I found them kept in a manner far from creditable. I took . part against them because I found them to be incompetent, as was was shown most glaringly > by their granting a prospecting license to ono Albert Walker for 15,000 acres of the coal fields. This was at first for six months, but. was afterwards extended for twelve moths on very (i elight grounds, and made to appear on the books as though the new grant had been made a month earlier than was actually the case. I say that the Council was perfectly justified in saying tbat three members should be added to the Board, and it waa not even opposed' by the Government. To say that I was influenced by small or petty motives, ia to make an assertion that Mr Curtis cannot substantiate, and must know ia untrue. I am sorry he commenced the contest in this manner, and if he had not done ao I should have referred to his administra-

tion in general terms, and not have mentioned his name at all, but I will not suffer my character and reputation to be black-' ened by any man. To apeak of tbe present state of the province. When Mr Curtis first took office, it was prosperous and people were pouring iD. Mr Kynnersley was adopting a wise course in opening up the country, but Mr Curtis changed that policy, increased the, number of officials, and entered upon a useless expenditure. Nelson got a name for apathy arid neglect; a clamor for separation arose in the Amuri and West Coast ; the town alone seemed satisfied, but it was not so really, and why should it be. Look at tho wretched appearance of the Harbor. There is the finest site in the colony for a slip or dry dock, and yet nothing is done. On the dock Mr Curtis first rode into oflice, then on tha railway, bat what pretty little bawble he means to extract from his repertoire to dangle before you tbis time Ido not know. Let him give a satisfactory account of the funds he has wasted and I will cease to oppose bim. With tbe ghost of the murdered province before him I wonder at his coming again to you to ask for your votes. Does he want to ' kill us all outright? But notwithstanding his do nothing policy, perhaps he keeps up a magnificent establishment in Nelson and so pleases the people. Is ifc so ? He thinks be will be re-elected, but when the day comes when you are called upon to exercise the trust that ia placed' in your hands, I ask every one of you to pause and consider before lie assists to condemn the province to another four years of wretchedness. I, too, feel sure that I shall be elected, and if so, I wish to say that if any attempt be made to remove the seat of Government to Westport, no one will oppose it moae strongly than myself, first because it would be an injustice to Nelson, and secondly because I look upon Nelson bb the natural centre of the province, and I hope to see it one day the centre of a province extending from " the north of Marlboraugh to the south of Westland, but in order to effect this there must be a change in the administration. I tried to get some one else to come forward from tbis side: but either want of spirit, means, or time prevented them, and therefore when my constituents asked me I consented. A hireling press may vilify and abuse me, but what of that when all my constituents support me ? What will it avail, even though Mr Curtis does get the papers on his side either from grati- , tude for past favors or hope of those to. come? The corruption of the press by tbe Government is of itself sufficient to condemn Mr Curtis. See how he silenced tbe Colonise whicli at one time was strong against him. Mr Luckie dictated who he should have on his Executive, and Mr Curtis took them in order to close his moutb. Thenceforth he led a peaceful life and floated quietly along, sometimes in bed and sometimes out of it, until the time came when the Council would no longer suffer n buffer to come between it and the Superintendent, ,The Ordinance was repealed, but still Mr Shepherd remained, and it was not until he resigned that the Colonist again took up a respectable position and found fault with Mr Curtis. The Mail and the JExaminer are both in the interest of Mr Curtis, and support him as much as possible, and this very evening the editor of the Mail, and writer of certain letters signed "F.," was driven out here by him. When newspapers descend to become, servile flatterers they are no longer entitled to support but siuk beneath contempt. To me praise is loathsome, as I always think that those bestowing it are aiming at my pocket^nd expect something for it. I. believe I am the best abused man in tbe country, but it has done me, good, for I like to be told of my faults. Ido not like to see the papers silent, but I warn you against being led away by them. If elected, I shall effect a thorough change in the Executive, not only shall, Mr Curtis, but all the others, shall retire into private life, not> on account of any illfeeling towards tbem, but because, J judging from the past, I am sure I cannot calculate on any, energetic .assistance from them. 1 shall devote my whole tima to the. work, not in travelling in aen»i T regalstate,jbut in going about to obtain in-i formation and to see what sufferings of the people require alleviation. No -tatte-"' how good^the engineers may be^they are the better, .for being looked . after. . At present the works are utterly disgracefulas I discovered on my ride' "tip through the Buller. The { only way. to secure, act ,' economical and useful expenditure of the revenue ifpl am sure, by a change in the administration. It may be said that I should be no, better than Mr Curtis, but f I have a character for always doing that which I undertake, and I have a conviction thatl can do the Superintendent's work well, and on the day bP election P aek you to put your, shoulders to the wheel and in helping me to heh> yourselves. At the end of my term of office, I shall ho£ ; niak'e a speech to you, but ask'

you to look at my past actions and let them speak for me. / Mr O'Cpubri having, stated his willsngnesa to -reply; to! any questions; :n ' yyMr Martin asked frqmVw^at(''.part,of i the province he should select* _iis Execulive. : -' i .' '. /' '■'/'■ ;li ' v ;'^ ;; ;;: Vi ”; y il 'y . Mr O'Conor :In jus«-ice to (.tlip - &sss■« districts, X should appoint gentlemen ifrom : them. I have experience -of 'the^gdlfl-; fields, and ani' as itlwere, ! iheirV-b-if-ee^' and siiouli be, able 'to , tookf jafter,'!^^ interests. '-„-... .•./..':, y-7':unh •:,'•!■•;. Mr Martin 1 : Db'ybu think r it 3 wbttld be desirably 'to bbrro^ or slip,?, ",.'7 :.;,-'•;• '.,'. ,... : ..-.. \7.yyyy7y^y,7 Mv. O'Conorn Certainly, iand Iconsidar it a disgrace to the people of Nelson that 15 tion, as it wnuld^riot/pnr^^^^ increase the trade of ther place; -Hadq 'l. ■■-. nbt been; for theprbpribtbrs of the Nelson p strainers Ty, believe; the ; port 'wbul^.'hiijrd' 1 been in a /far wqrseJcondUi^ The port of Nelson is r. admirably 'adapted for transshipments, and this reminds 'ma thajjlhs^^^ sidy.for au tl 7nterproyi^ which so much has beenasatd, n.l^taii ihsp it "pn the;distinct iiuderstanding ?tbat the'? boats were b'^ the , Baßt,, i: Cqast,.. calling; ; at all $\£ 'jinfiSr- 4 ' mediate ports, and .leaving room /for, cargo. to^be taken in : at each, and alsb' under the inipressibii that'lar^ ';boiatsv j fi^eh'lisJ ; r '^f- r < ; N.Z. Company'^ far- as Nelson*; where they would transship, ■ into 'smaller steamers* thus increasing rtheti trade 'betweenhere and ; the' $F§slfc Coast. °'- s Mr Wastney. i bo.'/you^v/thiD- -iltlter Superintendent should be W the' < Asaem- ■ bly? ' /-7y7'\-'^' ! \ --^j-iijii. :>: /-MrO?qquqrY-,l;„i^ the resolution for the exclusion of Super-i intebdenta ft-bm the ; House.- '_f they sare paid for^ their ; . office^ ' ; they haves ' _o : right to leave it to the detriment ' of 3se,. people. As for Mr; Curtis,! the* topfejno,-. part in the proceeding's; " ! "However,: matters go on. just as !;/^mi6 r 6tbly ; 'fwhej^^b- r is away,, for _ Jti^^^^TS-i^-P^l. *(: **^ -^4. fi^iff. . • entirely by.clerks.. .•■':. '; ; .-'^Hl;.' ; '. ".!,; .-i!**! '<-!•. One or two other unimportant questions' having been, -'asked add ofj thanks tb .Mr, Q'Conbr ''w.^alproj^ajß'^^ Mr; Martin/; seconded! by. Mf'7^Aßinejt X m^ u carried urianimously.r'; > v; '^ .■ir-JWH':-:^ A vote brtbatiks to* ffie°ch>lPM~a\.teftii^' nated, the- proc^djngs. ;;!i| . f ,' '"'.;^'^"^l. l> " r^ '