MR. RICHMOND'S MEETIMG.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 67, 18 March 1880, Page 1

MR. RICHMOND'S MEETIMG.

There was a well-attended meeting in the Agricultural Hall, at Eichmond, last night, when Mr Eichmond addressed the electors. On the motion of Mr Kelling, seconded by Mr Barnicoat, the chair was taken by Mb Joseph Harkness, who said that he had much pleasure in taking the chair, and in so doing showing his sympathy with Mr Richmond as their representative, although he wished it to be understood' that he did not identify himself with Mr Jticuniond's opinions. As was well known, he and others had opposed Mr Richmond at the last election, but he was returned, and he thought that he could claim that they had taken their beating well, and had since done all in their power to strengthen the hands of their representative. The last session of Parliament was of no little importance, and those to come would he equally, if not more, important, for upon their legislators would depend the question whether the colony was to prosper or its future to be marred. Mr Richmond said : Mr Chairman and Gentlemen, — I have ashed you to meet me later than usual thia year, having wailed until the harvest had been got in, especially as I had been found fault with for calling you together on previous occasions at the busy time of the year, and also from experience, finding it almost impossible to get any number of the electors to attend, so I thought it advisable to wait until you were more at leisure, and with more time at your disposal. In giving you a brief outline of the proceedings of Parliament, I must necessarily go over the same ground as others have done, which, .of course, will be uninteresting to thc3o who ha c previously heard and road about them ; but to others in a country distriot who do not get their papers regularly and have not the opportunity of seeing Hansard and other Parliamentary papers, I venture to think my remarks may be interesting, as they will be a truthful and plain statement of our proceedings. As I shall havo a number of different matters to touch upon to-night, and our time limited, X must only addres3 you briefly on each, hut what I .lay 1 hope will give you a clear view of all the subjects. You are awaee we had a long trying session, lasting nearly four months, finishing just in time to allow members to get home before Christmas ; we tad loop; hours and late sittings, which was trying to the health of many, sitting so long in a badly ventilated room, which the Perlmment House is. The seseion, however, had one good result, that of removing Sir George Grey from office, and to which he is not likely to return. We also got rid of Mr Macaadirew, who was so strongly opposed to the extension of our railway. You also know in the session before last the Grey Government were defeated by fourteen votes, the largest number recorded against any Government New Zealand has ever had on the question of their administration. They applied to the G-ovornor for a dissolution, which was granted ; then, of course, followed the general election ; the Government, however, in appealing to the countjy, carefully kept in the back ground the question upon which they were defeated, but stumped the country, made use to a large extent of tha Government atoamera and telegraph, and also brought to bear the great influence which any Government is sure to uosse&s over certain classes of the community, co that when Parliament was called together in September it was doubtful which side had a majority. The then Opposition mat, and, finding they could rely on a small majority, elected Mr Hall their leader, and I may pay tho choice could not have fallen upon a more upright, honest, and conscientious gentleman, and one who is respected by all side*, (Hear, hear.) [Mr Knight More power to hiui.i Mr Hall imraediaely moved a i amendment to the address in reply to the Governor's Speech, similar to the one of the previous session, having reforence solely to tboir administration, and carried it by two j they then resign9d, and Mr Bali came into office, but before he was even sworn in, the lata Government tabled a notice of want of oonfidence. We all thought this unfair, as Sir George Grey, when he came into office pleaded for time to place his policy before Parliament arid the country, and it was granted him. Mr Hall only asked for the same fair-play. It Boon appeared tbat the policy of the Hall Government, was really more Liberal than that of the Grey, and, what was more, they intended to carry it, which tke others evidently did not, for they had been in power two years, with a good working majority, and had not paßand a single Liberal measure of reform, but contented themselves with talking abont them, so no wonder it was their wish to remove Mr Hull and his Government as eooa as possible. If tho Grey Government had been really sincere and in earnest übout these reform measures, which they were constantly aoying were ao necessary for the good government of the country, they would not hava contented themselves with merely talking, but would have Uken proper action to bring them into law. You would then have had, more thin a jear ago, Triennial. Parliaments, more liberal elec toral laws, both as regards elections and regisiration of electors, and also more liberal liind laws, whioh were much needed to encourage people and give them every reasonable facility for settling on the land. Instead of giving you these necessary measures, they did nothing, but tinker with the Tariff, causing serious loss to the revenue; passing the Land Tax Act, which had to be amended before any revenue could be collected under it ; and nearly plunging the Colony into' a Native war by their faulty administration and supposed diplomacy. Was it then to be wondered at that the House of Representatives twice passed a vote condemning their administration, and the country endorsing it ? [A conversation totally irrelevant to the subject before the meeting being carried on in another part of the room, the Chairman had to request that a little more courtesy niight be shown to Mr Richmond.] TRIENNIAL PARLIAMENTS BILL. One of the first acts of the Hall Government was to pass this Bill, in spite of the strong opposition from the great Liberal Reform party, by a majority of 42 against 26— not aB it was introduced by these great reformers, who proposed that the Bill should not come into, ' "operation until the expiration of the present Parliament, five years hence, but so altered that it; is to come into lorce early in 1882, so that after three sessions the electors will havo the opporItunity of making another selection of representatives, Lwbiob, you will agree with me, is a more liberal Act, i&ttd one which the country desire J more than the lone introduced by the Liberal Reform leader. | QUALIFICATION OT ELTCTOBS BtLL Iwas the next the Government introduced, and you

will find it a great improvement upon the old laws. Ifc givea almost every one a vote, and thus an interest in the Government of the country, in fact almost amounting *to manhood suffrage. Every person owning freehold property to the value of £25 will have a vote ; nnd every person who has been in the Colony twelve months, or resided six months in a district, is to have a vote. Natives who possess land in their own right of the value of £25. or a ratepayer's qualification, are allowed to vote. There was an attempt made to allow women to voie also, but it was rejected by nine votes. REGISTRATION OB ELEOTOBS BILL is an important measure of electoral reform, simplifying (which was much needed) tlie manner of registration. A registrar is to be appointed to the several electoral districts, whose duty it is to see that all those who are entitled are placed on the roll, and to strike out those who do not poasesa tha necessary qualification. Another good point in ihe Act is that . you may sign your claim before another elector, and post it to tho registrar. Sir George Grey wished to compel personal attendance, which in scattered country districts would have caused, great inconvenience and loss of time, and would, I am sure, prevent many plaoing their names on the roll. The Regulation of Elections, Election Petitions, and Corrupt Practices Bills were also all measures of electoral reform introduced by the Government, but fiom want of time to maturely consider tliem as their importance) deserved, they were withdrawn, oh'.y to be brought forward again next session. The ! first of these Bills proposed to abolish public nominations, as being at variance wifch the secret vote of the ballot-box, for if you hold up your hand for a particular candidate, you tell all that are present who you are supporting, and of course do away with its secrecy ; but I cannot say I have made up my mind on the subject, for ifc does away with an oldestablished custom, and I think the electors and candidates cannot be brought too often face to face. (Hear.) The Bill also proposed to extend the hours of polling to six o'clook, thus giving two more hours, which would bo a great boon to the laboring classes, and; I think, would ensure mora votes being polled than at present is sometimes done. The Election Petitions ; Bill was simply to provide that all election petitions should be decided by a Judge of the Supreme Coutt, instead of by the House; this is much fairer, and 1 a great improvement, for when party feeling is running high, it is almost impossible to obtain an impartial verdict from any Parliam9ntary committee appointed to try the case. The last of the three Bills wa9 to put heavy penalties upon treating and bribery at elections, I now come to a subject ol great interest to the Chairman/ THE TARIFF. In consequence of Major Atkinson, when he resurred the office of Colonial Treasurer, finding that there was the large deficit in tho revenue for the financial year of over £900,000, it was necessary to increase the Customs duties. The ad valorem duties were increased to 15 per cent, which, I must acknowledge, seemed to me to be very high, considering they include so many necessaries of life. Duties were reimposed upon Australian -wine, grain, flour, timber, and £1 a ton put on fencing wire, 10s par ton on chaff, and 6d upon hops. The reiniposition of these duties, you know, I was always in favor of, and advocated during the last election. I do not think as far as the producers in Nelson are concerned they have any cause now to complain. The duty on spirits has been increased to 14s a gallon, and tobacco to 3s Gd per pound. Both these duties I consider too high. [A Voice : Put on au income tax, and knock it off the poor man's | baccy and beer.] Mr Hursfchouse, in ad j dressing his constituents, pointed out that the people had the option of leaving off smoking arid drinking. [A Voice : I'd sooner go without uiy grub than my baccy. — Another : Gammon, it would want a strong muzzle to keep you from your grub.] I fear, however, that the increase will only lead to illicit distillation in the one case, and smuggling in the other. With a view of fostering our local industries, the duties have been removed from all kinds of carriage and cart work, from grindery and other shoemakers work, also from all articles required, by saddlers, tinsmiths, and others It is only fair to say that the deficit in the rerenue was mainly caused by the falling off of the land sales, which were perhaps effected by the Land Tax. The Government have wisely determined to remove the receipts from that source from the consolidated revenue, and devote it entirely to carry on the public works of the Colony. PROPERTY TAX BILL. In order to further provide for the deficiency in the revenue in addition to increasing the Customs duties, it was necessary to impose a direct tax on property, especially as we were going again to the English money market for another £5,000,000 loan, making our public debt £28,822,311 ; but by deducting the accumulated sinking fund, the net public debt, as stated by the Colonial Treasurer, wiirbe £27,113,304— [Mr. Knight, most earnestly: God save tho Queen] — the interest upon which is about £1,400,000, and £116,176 for sinking fund, making a total of £1,516,176 to be provided for — almost as miich as our whole revenue was a few years back. You will see by these figures, and the deficit in the reyeuue, that increased taxation, if we are to pa? our way, was absolutely necessary. Whether tke Property Tax is the best, there are a number of different opinions. At all events, there is no doubt that it will chiefly fall upon the wealthier classes, for the exemption being raised from £300 to £500, which, after deducting a man's liabilities, will leave little for many to pay. It is thought that not more than between twenty and thirty thousand persons 'in the Colony will pay the tax. [A Voice : Gammon, That will do you. A Non-Elector, named Ball, having previously made many, interruptions, Mr Eichmond requested him to desist or leave the room, and he choose the latter.] You will be glad to hear that agricultural implements are to 'be 'exempt. The tax this year is to be a penny in the pound. We* e-ideavored to reduce it to a halfpenny, and carried it in Committee ; but Major Atkinson said they could not carry on the Government, pay our interest, and meet the deficiency in the revenue if the tax was not a penny this year, particularly as we had increased the exemptions so much. The rate was therefore restored to a penny. But you must bear in mind that it is hot always to remain so, for each year a new bill will have to be passed, fixing the rate according to our wants and the state of the revenue". For instance, some years it may be a farthing and some years nothing. It is to he hoped that will soon be the case, but I am sure i it will not again require to be a penny, if our l

revenue increases as is expected,. s and ak it ought' upon the further completion of the public works, giving greater facilities for settling on the land "and getting produce cheaply into the market. Great reductions may also be maie in our expenditure, and something may be done by a wise economy in our Civil Service, the Government are pledged to the, House to make great reductions, and, being honest straightforward gentlemen, there is no doubt but r th"tft' ; they will fulfil their promise, and meet Parliament next session with very much reduced estimates. 'The tax is supposed to realise about £470,000, but it is thought i that it will be a great deal more. EDUCATION. j While speaking upon taxation, it is right I should draw your attention to the cosfc of our precent education system, so greatly indeed does it p .'ess on the revenue that I fear we Ctinhot much longer bear it. The colony is iiow paying upwards of £4 for each child attending school. Something will have shortly to be done, either by restricting the teaching to the simple rudiments and charging fees for any higher education, or reverting to the old Provincial system of charging fees from : all. We have this year voted £189,699 for schools and £181,000 for school buildings,. making a total of £370,699 for educational purposes. You will agree with me that this is a heavy drain xipon the revenue, especially, as we. have to face increased taxation, and that it is advisable 1 to 'adopt some means to reduce it — not fi'oni the masters' salaries, for we all know how poorly paid tkeykre at present, but the remedy to my mind is compelling the parents to pay fees. The Government are anxious to place the teachers in a better position, and have now under consideration some scheme for allowing pensions and annuities to them when they are compelled to retire either from old age or sickness, in connection with the Annuities Department, which will be a great boon to them, and may induce many able men to join the staff of teachers, X.AND ACT. You would be glad to hear that at last a more Hbera Land Act had been passed, reducing the minimum upset price in certain districts to 10s, arid giving greater facilities for settling on the land under the deferred payment system ; also for the settlement of villages and special settlements. NATIVE FFAIKS. I am sorry not to be able to give yoii a more satisfactory account of our native affairs, but with the firmness with which it is evidently the intention of the Government to deal with the natives, we are, I am sure, soon to have a new order of things, and soon have the fine Waimate Plains thrown open for settlement. The Government, as a first step to smooth away difficulties, have appointed a Commission to enquire into their alleged grievances, which will have a good effect, by showing them that it is our wish and intention to treat them with fairness and justice. The Native Department is one of those where retrenchment is greatly needed, the cost of it having increased so much under Mr Sheeban's extravagant reign. Mr Bryce has , pledged himself to do so, or he would retire from the Government. The large expenditure of £58,000, with £16,000 for contingencies, for this department, would not have been voted but for that pledge. ACTS PASSED. To show that we had not been idle during the session, I may tell you that 94 Acts were passed, 49 public, 39 local, and 6 private. There were, of course, a number of Bills dropped from want of lime to give them proper consideration, some of which I should have liked to have seen passed; for instance, the Fencing Bill was a most useful one, and much needed in some districts, such for instance as their own. (Hear, hear.) It passed the Legislative Council, where it was introduced, after most careful con- , sideration, but unfortunately did not come Idown to us until so near the end of the session that it was impossible to go on with it ; however, I hope next year to see it come into operation. (Hear, hear.) The Drainage, Chinese Immigration, and Licensing Bills all met with the same fate. Mr, Adams withdrew the latter Bill, after carrying it through several stages, upon the promise of the Government to deal with the matter fully next session. IHMIGKATIors. It was supposed from what we .so constantly heard that the late Government had put a stop to immigration, but notwithstanding all they said, ship after ship arrived with them, and although they came out at a good time of the year, there appear to be numbers in every town Who cannot get employment, being apparently unstated to country work. Inconsequence, the present Government wore compelled to find them something to do. They have, however adopted a wise and practical course, by sending a number up to make roads between Taranaki and the Waimate Plains, at the low rate of - 21s a week. The Government have also put a stop to free immigration, and are restricting it very properly to those nominated by their friends, which will be ample for our wants, and it is but right that settlers here should have the opportunity of bringing out their relations to join them. (Applause.) PUBLIC WORKS. The new loan, which was to carry on and almost complete our public works, having been anticipated hy the Grey Government to the extent of £2,220,104, had the effect of very much restricting and crippling the present Government in carrying on the works which they wished to see completed, and our best thanks are due to them for giving us our ' fair share of the money that was at then: disposal, which we never had before. If^ttie Grey Government had remained in office we should have had the same, old story — money, placed on the estimates but never ' to be expended, plenty of promises, and no performances. We have a vote of £55,215 for the extension o± our railway at this end, and £50,000 from Greymouth to Nelson Creek at the other;, but we . had a hard struggle. It was proposed to strike but ' the vote altogether; but we gained the division by ~ one vote . Then it was proposed to reduce the amount considerably, making it altogether useless. We gained this division by six or seven. We then thought our troubles were over, as the estimates were passed, but to our astonishment the ; Legislative Council struck out several of the railways from the schedule, including ours, considering the colony could not afford to go on with works that were to cost such large sums of money. The Government stood to us firmly* and induced the Council to replace the lines struck out in the schedule. I ought to mention that, notwithstanding their previous promises, three of the late Government voted against us, Messrs Macandrew,'

Sheehan, and Thompson, and Sir George Grey walked out. THE BOUTE. . lamaffaid the'; settlers io. i the Upper Motueka Valley will be disappointed with the line the railway is going to take, instead pf going through the settled portion of their district, and by the Hope, which we. have always considered and advocated as the best, but it has been decided by, the engineers that it is to go by the Rouudell, being less expensive by a very large sum, and the gradients much lighter, the grade by the Roundell being about 1 in 50, while the other would be about 1 in 35 or 36, quite unsuitable, for heavy traffic. We were all astonished at this decision of Air Blairs, and went over the maps and plans carefully with him, and we saw plainly that if ever there is to be a through main trunk railway to the Coast and the South capable of sustaining heavy 'traffic it must go by the Roundell. Mr Shephard, who represents the district, of course, naturally took particular interest in the matter, as indeed he has always done upon this railway question, but he wa's also obliged to admit that we must accept this route or nothing. The vote was accordingly taken from Nelson to the Roundell, and I am happy to say tenders are now being called for the formation of six miles of it, whilst probably an additional contract may be let before the House meets. (Loud applause.) OTHER VOTES. We also obtained a vote for the extension of the telegraph to Colliugwood and Cape Farewell Lighthouse, tenders for which are also being called for, thus showing unmistakably that the present Government are sincere in carrying out the votes that have been passed. There were several votes for roads and bridges in the West Coast portion of this district, so I do not think, in the matter of public works, Nelson has, this year, any cause of complaint, but I must remind you that we are now only obtaining our rights, which we ought to have had years ago — a fair and equitable share of the public money spent upon public works in proportion to our contribution to the revenue and our taxation. In a return just published, showing the expenditure on public works in this Island, we have had expended from the 30th of June, 1878, to the 30th of last June £31,161, and have liabilities of £18,391, while Otago has had expended £223,607, and incurred liabilities which, of course, the colony is bound to pay, of £320,494 ; Canterbury, £177,374 expended, liabilities £172,966. I need not trouble you with any more figures, for these will show how unjustly we have been treated. Of coarse, ifc can be justly said that they are both much larger provinces, and contribute far more to the revenue, but I cannot help thinking the,, money ought to have been more equally appropriated. I have now touched upon 'all questions that I thought would interest you, andi have giveta a fair account of our doiugs, but if I have omitted'any subject upon which further information is required, I shall be glad to give it. I have only further to say that I have been exceedingly pleased and greatful for the manner in which my constituents have received me on my return, as I have from all sides received expressions of approval with regard to my votes and proceedings during the session. I can assure you that I attended most closely to my duties, both in Committees and the House, and in reviewing the session I cannot call to my mind any vote I had given that I would not give again, nor a single vote or action that was the least prejudicial to your interests, nor any election pledge that I have broken, so I hope what I have done meets with your approval. Mr Riohmond then sat down amidst applause. Mr Richmond having resumed his seat, the Chairman said they had now listened to what their representative had to say, and he would now be glad to reply to any questions. Mr Knight said that he considered Mr Richmond had given a full and satisfactory account of his votes and proceedings, and if anyone had anything to say to the contrary. he had better step forward and do so. Mr Carkeek said that it had been stated that members had been shown carefully prepared plans of the Spooner's Range route, whereas he had reason to believe that no complete survey had been made. He knew that the Motueka "Valley settlers had petitioned the Government to have a survey made, and they sent a surveyor, who did the whole twelve miles in a day and a half. He would ask whether the members of the Government had ever taken steps to ascertain whether a survey had been made or not. Mr Richmond said that Mr Blair had distinctly shown by plans that if there was to he a through line it must be by way of the Roundell. It was that or nothing. Mr N. JTowLEn said that all Mr Blair had done was to get into a buggy at Fpxhill and drive part of the way up Spooner's range. Was that what they called making a survey ? Mr Richmond said that the survey had been made by his subordinates, and his report was fully borne out by the surveys previously made by Mr liochfort and Mr Wrigg. Mr Knight then made, -a short speech, but the applause which it evoked' was so loud and so frequent that it. was impossible to „hear what he had to say, and as the meeting was becoming exceedingly lively, __ Mr Barnicoat said that he thought it was quite time to give to Mr Richmond the thanks that were due to him, and he would therefore move — That this' meeting lias heard with pleasure and approbation Mr. Richmond's statement of his views and ! actions in '.tlie i yHotise v v'J'lua-was seconded by Mr Knight and .carried' unamiiiousV' The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman. ...