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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 200, 23 August 1881, Page 4

UNKNOWN.

A Doroerouply attended meeting was held st the Provincial H*ll last nish« to t»ke ir-fo c- our er»jjoi3 tho BeprpBentsM'on BM>. Tb^ Wir was taker. by hiss W rship th* Mnyor, who rea * the r quisition sdrrpFs-'d to him, upon tbe e'!>T£Jh o* which h ht*»d convened thf m* e(in». H a'so read the following 10«.r.r fr Dm ftf, Rr-'an'iprs : My Dear Sik, — I wish to explain that I am prevented being at the meeting this evening on account of being unwell. And, I may add, tbat I greatly regret being absent, for the object of the meeting has my fullest sympathy, and I hope the hands of our members, through the meeting to-night, will be strengthened in opposing in every possible way the passing of so arrogant and unjust a measure as the one under discussion. — I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, James Sclanders. Mr Baddow said he hsd been asked by the Committee to move tbe first resolution, wbich was " Tbat this meeting expresses its indignation at the endeavor of the Ministry to deprive this Provincial District of three of its member*, and earnestly protests against the it-justice of the Redistribution of Seats Bill now before the House." He thought tbe resolution was none too StroDgly worded. The present Ministry wai supposed to be compose! of men ol honor, integrity, and justice, but how had they acted towards Neleon ? One of tbetr first acts was to grossly deceive th«m with regard to the railway extension, and now they brought forward that uDJuBt Representation Bill. Mr Pitt, io his speech published in ihat evening's " Mail," had said we bad not much to thank any Ministry for. No aore we had, W-? once had a resi ent Judge, whom we all honored ood respected, but he was removed. And here be might tell an anecdote of Mr Justice Richmond He wes at one time a member of a MioiEtry. A close party division was about to take place, end every vote was of consequence. One member wanted a Resident Magistrate for'his district, and that was the prioe of hia vote. Thiß wes told to Mr Richmond, who replied tbat if the Ministry's existence depended on tbat gentleman's vote, he was prepared to let the Ministry go Tbat was tbe stamp of Mieiaiera we wanted now, but could not get. We were not only deprived of a Judge, but also of a Resident Magistrate, and it waa now. proposed to take away three representatives from one of ihe most intelligent end law-abiding communities in the colony. He could not believe that the Government knf-w what they were doiog in thus arousing tbe discontent and indignation cf 26 000 people. He hoped the people o( Neison would uni.e rs one man in urging their members to prevent one of ihe meet iniquitous measures that wes ever proposed finding a place on the Statute Book. Mr, Bond seconded tbe resolution. He wished the Committee had selected one more capable of expressing himself for the purpose, but be could aaiure tbem that they cooid not have chosen one who felt more deeply on the subject. For eighteen yea. she had watched the course of events, and bad seen hew irjusiice slier injustice wcs perpetrated on small commutiities euch as Nelson. Tiue, we had not the population, but population Bhould cot be tbe basis of representation io a new country where pnblic worka were being carried on wiib public money. The proposal to give one-balf the representation of the colony to two provincial districts was simply monstrous. We had never bad much to thank any Ministry for, but bow much lees Bhould we get when we had lest half of our representatives ? It was a duty we. owed to ourselves end to every eettler in the community to fight to tbe utmost and ie all earnestness against this grosa icjustice. The present Ministry were supposed to be great on retrenchment, and tbey bed shown it by knocking eff ten per cent from even the mest poorly paid of the Civil servants, yet now they proposed to increase' the expenditure by aiding seven to the already too large number of Tepresentßtives. 'ihey were going to Uke representatives from the poor dietricts acd add them to the wealthy ones in order ttat tbey might the more easily, rob ne of our share of publi*works, end the result would be that, if rot wiped out altogether, we should bt reduced to a paliry village with a fe* scattered ir.habitsa^e. If he spoke warmly on this enlject it was because h* felt strongly. He spoke not only for himself, but for his children, for whose sake he was deeply interested in tbe welfare of tbe district. We should loee our share of the poblic funds, bot would not be lightened of aoy of our abore of taxation. Ofc»go end Canterbury got three qnar era of the money, and co increased thtir population aof then BBid, "Now we have the population, let ns get tbe representation." A more dishonest measure was never proposed and it was time that aU wot kei together to c ff^r every possible-obstruc-tion to it. We were to have onr representation reduced in the Lower Houte while in the Upper we wen scarcely represented et all, and it was well known that in the Council were men who with tbeir money assisted in getting representation in the Lower House for their own particular districts, It was time for Nelson to rouse itsolf, to demand fair treatment, and to show any Ministry, whoever they might bp, tbat we would not submit tamely to such an itjostice being perpetrated. Mb B. Bcbn showed bow unfair was tbe population bosis by quoting the propoiiioD tbat London's representatives would bear to tbe rest of England if snch a measure cs this were carried at borne. He also objected to the proposed number of representatives, stating that the United Spates with a population of 51 millions bad only 270 representatives. He would cordially support any proposition calling upon our members to offer every constitutional obstruction to tbe paseage of lb_ Bill. We had been deceived by meny Governments beginning with thst oi Mr Yogel to whom we bad listened and given way. [(A Voice: Yes and gol snuffed out for our pains.) Mb F. Atktkson hoped tbere would be a strong expression of opinion thai evening. Tbe fact was we were feed«

H ••*n v:'m\\ Sii.&ie- panp*ra He hopeJ VeUon tout' let ihp omopus of the iou h saetbatithadkiadleltheßlamberng flame. I* was the duty of every >ne <{ our representatives Jo do all hey oo oli io prevent the passing ot bis Bill, ani he hoped they would Lb it ou? to (he bitter er.d. The resolution was then put and jtirried unsnimouely. Ms Akebsten thought tbat the Bill ;nrried ita own condemnation in projosing to give heif of whole number of j ■representatives to the South. An sffort must be msde to stop it, for if ;arried Ot-igo and Canterbury would at •mcc rush into further borrowing. _They would be aided by Marlborough ivbioh would be bought by the promise if tbe extension of tbe railway from he sooth to Blesbeim, though they would never get if, for that would not soit the Union Steam Company wbioh, was a purely Otago Company, and was ilready a power ia the slate. Let the Bill be carried and the Hall Government whicb had already humbugged Nelion, would in their turn be humbugged as they deserved io be, for so Hire bb Otago and Canterbury got the power, oot would go Hall and in would go Macandrew. Then the first pill would be for Wellington which would loee lhe seat of Government, but this he did not mind, as if there was one province thst had got more tban another by log rolling, that place was Wellington. Then Taranttki's time wouid come, for she would assuredly lose the hat bor works wbich Mr MacBndrew would never allow to be proceeded with. Then tbe colony would be plunged still more deeply into debt. The present Ministry were supposed to move io the direction of economy, but surely there was no economy in increasing the number of members which in his opinion should be reduced to sixty. [A voice : Quite enough to batten on ue.] Then we could well fctford to do Bway with the Legislative Council. The population basis was altogether a rotten and unsound one. Tbe country districts should be more, and the towns, which could well look after themselves, less numerously represented. If there was a sick child in a family that wes the one that was always best looked after, not the strong tnd eble bodied one. If the good example once eet by Neleon in the endeavour she made, and which was nearly carried into execution, to get a railway constructed hy a company whose payment was to be in land, had been followed by the colony we should not now be owing our 25 millions, but Mr Yogel cajoled us and we sold our birthright for promises that were never performed. That was bad enough for the colony, but when Nelson came to be deprived of her fair sbare of the expenditure and of representation ifc was no longer to be tolerated. The object of the resolution he had to propose wa*. to encourage our members in stonewalling. This was, he was aware, an objectionable course to pursue, and one that was only to be resorted to under extreme circumstances, bnt such circumstances now existed, and, after all, stone-walling was not half so objectionable as giving all the power to tbe south. As it was, we were not treated fairly in the matter of public works. There was a large number of unemployed, and wages were gradually falling lower and lower. We had been too lax in attending to our electoral privileges, and the time*had arrived for thorough organisation and the infusion of new blood into the Parliament. The wcrking-men were bufc poorly represented. There were but half a dozen of them, and when they got up to speak they were ridiculed. They should make a stand afc the next election and let half at least of their representatives be working-men. He would move " That this meeting calls upon the meirbers of tbe district to use every means in thwarting the proposals embodied in the Representation Bill, and pledges itself to support them in such action as they may think desirable." Mr Field, though a comparative stranger in the place, was yet deeply interested in its welfare, and had much pleasure .in seconding the resolution. He did not tbink the Bill had received due consideration at the hands of the Government, but was just brought in at the end of the session and attempted to be rushed through, whereas it should have been before the public much earlier. As a rule, he did not approve of stone-walling, but it was said tbat everything was fair in love, war, and politics, and if they all worked together le thought they could prevent tbe measure passing, even though this was called Sleepy Hollow — it always amused him to hear that term applied to Nelson, for siuce he had been here he had found the people quite wide awake erough. When he was removing from Melbourne to Dunedin his friends expressed surprise, telling bim he would not find a European there, for they were all Scotchmen, and then when he was about to come from Dunedin to Nelson he was told he would find them all asleep, but he said he would cbance that, and, as he said before, be found tbem pretty wideawake, and be was glad now to see them standing up so stoutly for their rights He would second the resolution. Mb Moobhouse moved— "Thafc in the event of the Redistribution of Seats Bill passing through all its stages in the Lower House, a Committee, consisting of Meßsrß Dodson, Everett Levien, Haddow, Akersten, Wilkins,' aDd Bond, be requested fco draw up a petition to tbe Legislative Council,requesting tbem to use their prerogative and throw out the Bill." Ifc was a very strong resolution, bufc looking afc tbe treatment they had received from various Governments, he thought ifc time to use every legitimate means to protect themselves. He did nofc think the pasfc conduct of the South bad been such as to warrant our placing implicit confidence in them for the future. Mr Geat seconded tbe resolution. Mr R. Burn said tbat Mr Akersten bad spoken of organisation. He would remind them that there was a Reform Association, and would ask the working men how many of them bad joined ifc. He urged them now to do so without delay, He did not altogether approve of the resolution, as he thought we must be in a sorry plight indeed if reduced to appealing to the Legislative Council.

Mr Moobhouse liked begging as little as Mr Burn, but thought they should use every means in their power. Mr Akebsten said that when a candidate came forward as a representative of the working men, he was snubbed and told that he was setting claes against clns, but could anything have a greater class bearing than the Legislative Council and Grand Juries ? The direction that legislation was taking was to lower the working men to the earth. Even Mr Hursthouse, who pretended to be a working manfthough he did not believe him, bscause in the next breath he spoke of being a member of the reigning family, wanted to reduce the wages of the working man. They might depend upon it that the first thing Otago and Canterbury would do when they got the power would be to resume immigration in large numbers, and they must guard themselves against that. Mr Rowell bad not come forward as the proposer or seconder of a resolution, bufc he wanted to give the Nelson people a lecture. He had always ! opposed the public works and im- i migration scheme, for he did noti see why the tax-paying working men should have been called upon to subscribe to introduce competitors into the labor market, or to make public works to enhance the value of the properties of the rich. Bat they were taken by tbe idea of there beiog plenty of money to spend, and they wonld have it. This Bill was nothing new. It was known that ifc was coming, and yet Messrs Pitt, Collins, and Hurethouse backed up to the Conservative Ministry who were going fco introduce it. When the no-confidence motion was on they should have voted against the Ministry, then there would have been a dissolution, and we should have been safe for at least three years more, and no one knew what might happen in that time, bufc they were tied hand and foot to the Conservative MinistryPeople might say what they liked, but the Liberal and Conservative parties were jusfc as clearly defined in New Zealand as in England. Let them look round the room that evening and see where were the broadcloth gentlemen. Of course they were not there, for they would nofc oppose tbe Conservative Ministry. Then there was the Evening Mail, which backed up the Conservative Ministry, although ** it knew perfectly well that thia Bill was iri\ store^ and ought to have tried to turn them oiit in consequence. What ha<£ the Conservatives; done but rob us first of our money and then of our representation .?■■ And yet the Etbnins Mail held out against Sir George Grey, Jho'u'gK he (Mr Rowell) asserted that there was nothing in bis policy but what was right They should no longer be led : . astray ; by. tbe Conservative. Ministry and the Mail,, but wake up and send home to Parnell for somebody to help them. Lefc them establish a Land League, too, as they had done in Wellington and Invercargill, The resolution was then put and carried nem con, though only a few voted for it. Mb A. Robebtson moved "That copies of the foregoing resolutions be forwarded to the Premier and the members of the district." He had not much to say aboufc the resolution, bufc would like to say a few words on other matterß. He would ask them to suppose what Nelson would have been now had the original plan of the railway to the Coast been carried . out, and they had not suffered , themselves to be hoodwinked by Yogel ? Then thay would have had a far larger population, and even upon the proposed basis would have been entitled to a larger representation, although he did not agree with that basis, for if acted upon afc home, Glasgow would send up one-third of Scotland's representatives, and London more than Scotland altogether. Mb T. Kakley seconded the resolution, and in doing so would like to add something asking our representatives to get some money put on the estimates for making the road round the Rocks to find work for those out of employment to whom many of tbe speakers bad referred. He was in Wellington afc the time of the no-confidence debate, and had spoken to one of our members aboufc a patent slip, and he had asked tbe Government and almost got a pledge thafc ifc should be carried out. He also wanted bim to propose the road round the Rocks, and removing the railway from the hills to the Port. He would second the resolution, but was sorry the meeting was held so late. It ought to have taken place a fortnight ago when there would have been more cbance of ifc doing good, wbich he feared it would not now. The matter should bave been dealt with when the no-confidence debate was on, and our members had some power in .their hands They had returned Messrs Levestam and Pitt as Liberals, snd Mr Pitt should nofc have voted as he did on that occasion. He was nofc at all sorry Mr Rowell had shown the Evening Mail up, but was glad it had got its deserts. Tou only wanted to give some people rope enough and they would hang themselves. It had been amusing to him to see so many strange faces on the platform that evening, but knowing that an election was coming on he supposed they were practising for the occasion. Tbe resolution was then put and carried unanimously, as was a vote of thanks to tbe chairman, and the meeting separated. »" ' - .