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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 255, 18 December 1880, Page 4

'-■ ((jovtinverf ftom Second- Page ) wTucli was adopted. It was atbes but at bungling attempt to do what was right, and I trust it will be put into better sliape next session. (Cheers). That is one thing, which, if elected^ I shall endeavor to put right,- for to me there is nothing more galling than anything in the ehape of an injustice, euch as I believe this to be. One of the Commissioners showed that the railway department was beingruinorisly over-governed, that there were numbers of officers in it who were not required, and that in that department alone £100,000 might be saved. Much has been said of the cost of these Commissioners. What it has been I don't know, but I am sure of this that the money will have heeu well spent, and will have a beneficial effect upon our finances if this one recommendation alone is carried out. I claim credit for the Hall .Government especially for appointing these Commissions as well as for commencing the unpleasant iask of reduction with ■their own salaries. But there are oilier ways in which money has been wasted. I allude to the political railways, harbors; and other works, which, now that we know they can never be of any good, ought to be stopped. To begin with, there is the Timaru breakwater, which, not only will never be of any use, but is actually inflicting serious. .damage upon the railway to the north of it, and I,' for one, sincerely wish that Mr Blackett's recommendation to blow up the wbole thing with dynamite could be carried out. Nobody believes in it except those interested, and they only, although perfectly, honest in their convictions, because self-interest has blinded their judgment. I include the Central Otago railway in the same category. Already is there a perfect network of railways in that province, and it is galling to see further sums spent there when such miserable provision has been matfe for other parts of the. colony, "which have to bear their share of the expenditure. This, and other works like it, have been proceeded with partly in order to find employment for the unemploypd who were brought out by the Grey Government at the very time wbpn they well knew Ihat the labor marked was overstocked, and as the, result of this we have had, in order to keep these unfortunate immigrants from starving, to pay them, fcr doing work that was not of the slightest use. Then there are the Greymouth harbor workp, rpnn' which vast sums have been thrown" away, the whole thing from the first having been a miserable job. And here I shall be only- doing bare justicetojm Old. friend of all of w, Mr Cur-tis, if I remind you that' it was against his earnest remonstrances that the Greymouth railway was taken where it was by thf^Vogei Government, and that it was "entirely owing to his gallant struggle that the work was charged to Westland instead of to Nelson. I had always mride up my mind that, if ever. I again addressed a large and intelligent audience, such, as this, I would mention this fact, and I am glad I have now had the opportunity cf doing so. I must also refer to what the Agent-General has been doing lately. Sir Julius Vogel, ' as A gent- General, was in receipt of a salary of £1500, a year and had lots of clerks to help him, but : in addition to this he has been trying . to get a percentage upon the last loan raised. Now, although I would be the last man to wish to see others insufficiently paid* I do strongly object to : paying for. thpsßme work twice over, and thil we ebould be doing if we acceded tb Sir Julius Yogel'fl wish, end if I Btn rejected X,Bb»ll gj ve my, ear nest atten tion J to" weipg jihat"'be /does not pet lit. ,(Cbeeri.) Before leaving- tbis T Bubject 1 1 'most BBy » word with regard to 1 ihe Ia8t;loen. Oar .present debt is about 1-28 --millions -and -the yearly interest. end consequently ilb^re Was »o little difficulty in raising the Jaßt" five Bullion*, which only realised 97£ in London and 95| by the time j it reached New Zealand, besides certain' r < oonqesfiions being granted to the .bond- / tolders'es advßntßgeous to them bb (bey %*i* to (be. coloiy. Now when euch difficulty is experienced in borrowing it is a pretty broad hint not to attempt to raise aby 1 inore loics t»t leaßt for the present, abd "*thrrb"irit,"l. think, is one that we lire bound to act upon. I will now speak pppn , taxation, , an unpleasant sdbJjfecitr . 'tot', »VI ..tunes. At; one time • our taxation consisted almost entirely : of Customs dutieß, an easy method but; ••»dt a fair one, for it, falls much, more hardly upon the. laboring man then upon the" wealthy. Then there canoe the land tax, which I also regard joe roosi unfair in its operation, for it fall? "onlylipon those who are unfortunate "enough to have laid out their money is land, in improving which ibey have helped to mßke the colony what it is, while those who derive their idoooipb ■from other sources go absolutely free. (Cheer*;). I ebell always vote against the land. tex by itself, lam a Buff^er ityjt-^L,fiee no reason why I ehoulri not admit that-^for-I have a lot of htdi •jwjbichpßys roe very little, for which; I am taxed, while otbiers who have lajid out their money in other naye aod pjei l»rger returne ' " ptfy nothing. I think -tjho" property, tax in. a njodified foijm'and lupplfmeifted by an i it come tax would be tbe ; faireßt woy of getting jai all. An alteration in the property tax «. as 1 it itsnds at present is, it eeeme We wanted.^l «b ink tools, machiDerjy, fii/ppgh horeee, and euch like by whijjl. a man geis .bis living should be exempted, but I am opposed to eu?l exemptions as those proposed by,j Sp?oebrge ,Grey, who. wanted statute, pictures, and so on to be free. These, aon't bring in money, certainly, but they represent money's worth, and'l,, . -ihink -that -those who can afford to have such things should not object to pay for them, and if they do object, that shdnld be made to pay. (Cheers.^ Tbis" is" a subject on which ,1 bold very 'strong op'ittipns that I am not at alj likely to alter or to modify. On the anbject of protection and free trade, I, viould say that I am a free tiader. but "tbere is"one article on which I would like to, see a protective duty, and that ijr timber.** I object to duties being '^pV)ped nierely for thesake of fostering some induct ry that would not proijper without it, as Ijy doing this the 1 inside to r payior the benefit of the'Xfew^f liti timber "^ we have all

over the country; it hss not grown us the result of an industry that cannot be carried on without protection, but there it is in large quantities ? on our hills and in our valleys, and I think that by putting a tmpll duty on imported timber! we ought to be forced to use that c>f our own, which we have in euch abundance. Coming to the 1 subject of Education, I would say that I will yield to no one in my desire to see all our children educated, and that it is my earnest intention that the children of the poor should be educated free, but there T. must stop. Now, under the present Act, there are many children educated at the public expense whose parents are not only well able to pay, but are perfectly willing to pay if we would only allow them to do so, and in such cases I think that at all events some fees should be charged. The Education Act has been in full play for two years, and, as giving a general idea of jts coßti, I may state, what I dare say many, of you know, that in the first year it amounted to £467,198, but as a large portion of this was expended upon buildings that were required, I do jaot object; to the large amount. The yearly cost now, however, is £289 89?, that, I think, ought to be, and might be, reduced without impairing the efficiency of the syßtem. Every child goes to school coetß the country £8J 9s 7£d. Freely and willingly would I Vote thfct for alt whoso parents cannot pity. but those who can tifibrd to pay fees should, I think, ba required to dolso. While I wobld not interfere with the present system of secular education!, I think; there Bnould be another system running alongside of it, namely, (bat of payment by resulte. I believe I am going to enunciate au unpopular doctrine, but in doing go you must, even ii you do not agree with me, give me credit for sincerity. (Hear, -bear, ) I think that we are losing a very large educational power when we take it away from the religious sects* It' ie not lair to those who coccientioualy object to sendiDg their children to schools where religion is not taught to ask them to bear their share of the coat. Those who prefer education without religious teacbiag have a perfect right to get if, but I think it should be allowed that the argument cuts both ways . If any spqc— I use the word tor watt of a bette'r, and not in any < (Tensive sense— is prepared lo say' to the State. We will 'bring up our, children to any standard, you require, but let us teach them in addition otlier things that you do not n quire, but which we consider necessary^ ; then I ibiiikthey have a perfect right tn ttieir ftbare of the education vote. (Hejar,~ hear.) There are one or two Bills lon which I should like to take your, opinion. First, there is the TriennjiaT Parliaments Bill. Now, this is' a matter on which I am absolutely indifferent, although I have, if .nny.thinpj a leaning to the five' years Parliament?, but "l shall be quite prepared to vote any way you like in the matter. Ad it ie, we have a great many elections ! of one kind and another, and a good deal of time is pleasantly, perhaps, if riot prc fitably, spent upon them, and to make the Parliaments .triennial would only add to the number. Personally it would affect me very little, for I have alwoys made it a rule to meet my cooatituents once, if not twice, a year, and if they 1 do not approve of my actions they have only to teli rue bo, and I would- resign at once. Payment of members is snotber sulject to which I „must ref^r. Our rfpreeentntives did reduce their eaUries a- little last year, but I 'tbibk ;: they ehould have struck more off them; ; for £200 a year is rather too, much. Some of the members may be worth 'it, but I don't think many, of them. are. (Cheers and laughter,) I referred just riow to the ten per cent reduotibo. That, it is only fair to thje Government to soy, forced on them by the House, and when members were insisting on|tifking ,that eff the salaries |of poor clerks and under lioge, I think they OBght to have reduced their own pay by at least onelbßlf. (Applause.) -I am no tW advocate for no pay u at all.' When I was last in 'the House I got £1 a day, and I think that was enough. | I dbn't think there is tiny other subject o l ' importance for me to addres^you upon except the proposed redistribution of by which" Nelson "would "idsp members,- and I' should 6f course figbt against that. It is a difficult question to argup. Numerically speaking, we have too many, but I don't; think , thot is altogether a fair ; basis to go upon 1 , but situation and centres of population ehould be considered. In this matter I shouldstrugeje, very ..urgently. for_wb ; a t I believe to be our rights. If you elect me I shall be very pleosed indeed. I not: Jhave , come forward without .being.' aeked^ having resigned before because it; appeared to | me to, be bp^eless^r;^ niai^ of my wiy of tbinkingr to remain in, tbeHouak Whetfl'Was fiVstasked the other dayll | declined,, but ofl recprjaiderationl could pot r b,ut, f£el r; t|hat jtwas ar honor to be invited id^retfresent them by those wlip fcoew -my ifatfltsi 7 an r d; shaft I'iiay, my virtues, or, rathfr shall ; I ;i say;riwn6 knew me to be what I aopP Jtherefoi'e overcamev^y dislike, and now I am as anxious to be elected as I ought to be; for I bold that no one Bbotild do any.thiDg by .halves. The present is.acritjical time, and I think tnat a man who hss jtl,e „ time, apd. wh.o fancies ;t»e possees^B ihe brains fOenable him' to do good to \\H fellow settlers should come forward arid .aiye.bis services. I.amrVery-tbankfpl for the; kind arid cburtebus hearing you heye piyen me, end sball no r w !be happy to r^p'y f i ' ° Q u !?Bf ion^o" (toud ad d contictied applaußP)! - . ! 3|f ,TalbX)t :-Whet is your opinion with' re^B'rd to the LpgißlaUye, Council ? Should itk constitution' be altered or re-

main aß,^t present '?. '"■ u ''Mr. Co'tiiNß : I prefer to see it as it is, for on the whole I think it is a great 'advapfflge. . ' ■ ■

Mr Joseph Hark w ess : Are you in favor of payment of Legislative Coupciliors ? ''"•■■' ;

Mr Collins : I can scarcely give a decided answer, for I have not thought over the matter sufficiently^ K 'l 'think |t very strange that th^y should Consent to receive .payment, and, that it would be niuch mote "to 1 their hrfnor if they did not, but to' Bif that they s^duld not be paid asserta the broad Principle that

(be Council must.be composed entirely of wealthy men» whereas I think tbere should, be poor! asl well as rich men among "them'. r

Mr J. Hae&ness : What i'b the cleea of the present Councillors ? Are there any needy men amongst them ? Mr Collins i Yes; There are ebme I should ba yeiy sorry to ask to lend me £5, I have not' many acquaintances among them, but I think there are ae many poor as rich. At all events 1 don't want to get into the Council myself. v ' ■ ' " ■" '

Mr J. Habkness : You said Sir George Grey gave a railway to ! hia constituents. Do jou mean a wbiok railway or only half a one ? ! Mr CoLiins : I don't mean to fay that he put a railway io his pockot find presented it to them. I meau that he placed a railway on the schedule for

which there was no vote.

Mr J. Hakk^bbs : I say that be only gave (hem cm extension, and not a railway, •.■•:•■... ■ , !

No more queelioDS being asked, Mr ! Bareness Sen., proposed; and Mr jit Mcßae seconded a Vote of thanka j to -Mr Collins for bi& address, which was .carried UDBnimoußly. 7 ; | A vote of tbahks to the chairman closed the proceeding, !