MR. SHEPHARD AT RICHMOND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 279, 23 November 1881, Page 3

MR. SHEPHARD AT RICHMOND.

Mr Shepbard opened his electioneering campaign a* Richmond last night, when about 60 people were present in the OddFellowei' H*>tt. Mr xJabnicOat, who was voted to the chair, said that they had met there a week ago to hear an address from Mr Richmond, and they had now assembled at the invitation of Mr Shephard, the other candidate for the Waimea seat, who might almost be said to be seeking re-election. He hnd long held a seat in Parliament and his views were already known, but still he was sore they would listen with interest to an address from go able and well informed a politician. Mr Shephard said that no one could wish for a kinder introduction than that which be h*d just received from Mr Barnieoat, under whom he had worked in many capacities at various times. The pleasure he experienced in meeting them that night was to a great extent damped by the recollection of the canse that had brought them together. It was not one portion of it only, bat the whole district of Nelson that had besn grievously wronged by the Representation Bill, and it might be as well that ha should at once give on explanation of the extreme course that had bean adopted by bimsalf and fthe other Nelsoa members in opposing it. [Ha then commented upon the Bill, and referred to the action tak^n in opposing it in terms similar to t^ose used in hi 3 meeting at Wakefleld which was reported a fortnight ago.] He objected tc the sudden change of the electorates, which he regarded not as reform but revolution. In England the rights of exist ing constituencies were always respected in making any alteration io the rtpresentation, and representatives were not takpn away unless the population bad fallen off, which was not the case here, neither were there any rotten boroughs in Nelson. It had been argued that the advantages to the district did not depend upon the number of its members, but in the distribution of borrowed money there could bo no doubt that those parts which were moat numerously represented would get the lion's share in the future as they had done in the past. So long as Nelson had six members she might have wrong th*t which was her due from the Government, holding as she would the balance of power between parties, but what was she to do with only three? The power of govern* ing the colony was now handed over to tbe two great southern provinces, and separation of the islands was to ba seen looming in the not very distant future, and that was a fianger which every sound politician mnst dread, so that there were general as well as local grounds for opposing the Bill and demanding that the northern constituencies should be consulted upon it. It had been said that they ought to have adopted gentler measures before resorting to extremes in opposing tbe Bill, but this they had done, and it wai only when they found thst all persuacionß were in vain and that no concession whatever was to be obtained that they adopted the stonewalling tactics, which, but for tbe violent upsetting of the Standing Orders by the Speaker and Chairman of Committees wonld have compelled the abandonment of the meagurs until the country had had an opportunity of pronouncing upon it. He wonld now proceed to refer to Borne of the measures that mnst be brought before the next Parliament. In the la<st three sessions ao measures of much importance bad been fa c 3ed except those connected wi:h conßtitntional reform, and these had now gone as far as they were likely to do for some time to come, and the questions that had now to be dealt with were those affecting the social and commercial interests of the country. In the firsL place, throughout the whole colony the want wag severely felt of some cheaper and more efficient form of local government. The f onds were short, and the necessary power of dealing with every day questions was not vested in the people of the districts affected. This diffi cnlty dated back for some time, but thß starting point wns the abolition of the Provinces in 1875 It was then promised that the powers of local government should be granted in more thorough form and that the districts should be endowed with substantial revenues, and upon this understanding the abolition was agreed to. Bat how had these promises been kepi? The sole measure that had been passed from 1875 until now under the pretext of giving a larger and mor<? direct ebare of tbe management of local affairs was the Counties Act. To this the great objection was that, whila the chief reason for the abolition of the Provinces was the dual form of Provincial ami General Government that then existed this evil was perreJuated in the dual form of government in the County Councils and Road Boards. His opinion was that in dealing with roads the Boards hud dose their work well, and that it wa3 not desirable to interfere with them, bat beyond that the Act conferred no power 3on the Councils beyond empowering them to establish markets, fix the licenpe fees for hawkers and pedlars, ana deal with slaughter houses. This, besides raising money, constituted their whole powers. It need, then, be no matter of sarprise if there was general dissatisfaction with the pvstem Some were dissatisfied with the R.ari Boards and wanted them abolished, while others entertainfd the s^ma views with regard to the Councils, while all were more or lees dissatisfied with the dual form of government They asked where are our substantial reasons ? The answer was, yon can increase your rates, but that was just what tbe country districts were not prepared to do Tbe fact was that everything was now managed in Wellington instead of in the districts by the people themselves. Instead of localising tbe] control of affairs there

had been increased centralisation, and Id this the country was determined to put a stop. It might have been supposed that the Government would have recognised the existence of this feeling of dissatisfaction and attempted to remove it, but no, they were determined to make no alteration. Tho Treasurer had aaid that the Government believed that the country had local government, that it knew it had end meant to keep what it bad got, and that when they went to the people the verdict would be that the County Councilsand Road Boards wcraall they wanted, but he (Mr S.) believtd (hat in their present form acd with their present powers thess did not constitute a satisfactory form of government. They were told they were to get subsidies of ia for every £1 raised, but where were the subsidies now ? This had been reduced to one half, but they did not know how long even that would last or what they were to do at the expiration of the current financial year. Thfy w;re told that police, gaols, charitable institutions, libraries, &c, were to be provided for out of the consolidated fund, but he would ask, bad tra l; been done? What with defective local government and the breach of the piotnise of funds, could it be wondered at that some change was demanded ?

The proposals of the Government were simply to give the power to double the f ates which were heavy enoogh already, and to mske some chargpo in the conBtitniiou of the Waste lands Boards, bat in tbi3 latter the County Councils were only to be "consulted." The measure* were dropped Bnd a cumber of other propositions were rn&iie. There ws? Sir G. Grey's to abolish all existing institutions and to leave it to the various distric's to constitute soeh bodies as they thought fi?, but (his would be unwise ned anwotkable, 2nd would lead to a variety of schemes in different parts of the country. MSheehan proposed the reeiorfition of Provincial institution^, hut they t??rp gone, beyond all hope of reoaH. Mr Mscaodrew had a more ambitious scheme, namely, to make each island a Provipce, but we in this pnrt of tho Sooth' Island would have little chsoee of oar wsnls being attended to under euch a scheme as that. In any reorganisation of the County system he himself would leave all duties regarding roa<?» to tha Boards, and while relieving the Counties of these duties he would cave the municipalities included in the Countiee. The Treasurer said there were thirteen Acts which must be administered by a central authority. Of these the first referred to -Adulteration. Why should not this be left to the Counties us it was to the municipal bodies in Enghnd ? Branding and Diseased Cattle were two morf. Sorely the Counties could look cftsr tbeee. The Gold Miners wa& another, but would it not bs better to leave ihis to loc*l authority instead of to a; Minister who had very littlr time to attend to it. [A. Voice: An« ▼cry little knowledge either.] Exactly; indeed, he (Mr S ) might cay that the knowledge would probably be less than the time, little bs that wse. Would the developme' t of the Mount Arshur reef? and the Wangapeka district have been 80 long delayed had it been entrusted to a local bo Jy interested in opening up the trade of the district. Police, Prisons, Publics Health, Sheep — was it sot possible for the Counties to attend to these matters. The Surveys was another. This was a far more important question than it appeared at firfit Bight, for the settlement of the cosntry was being delayed owing to there being no local authority to compel tb&.S9rveys to be proceeded with, as the people were not able to get on to their land beesuee (he boundaries were sot defined, sod thus the rates suffered and tbe district suffered by losing tbe population in the back country. It was fair to say tba: if tbe Barveys bad been carried oatthere would have been 1000 more people ie the country here, and this would certainly have meant 10C0 more ia the towns snd villages, end thus on the population basis we should bave beeu entitled to larger representation. Could nut ali these subjects be desk with by local bodies instead of havicg to be referred to Wellington ? He would have no nominated Boards, for he believed the people were quite capable oi managing their own affairs, and the waste lands would be just as efficiently managed if the Board were elected. Then with regard to tha redress of of grievance?, wag it resßonable io suppose that this could be obtained from tbe House of Representatives as easily and expedition sly as from local bodies? He strongly advocated a more thorough trusting of the people, and localising and cheapening the inaaagemoat ot local affaire. [Mr ShepLard then proceeded to speak en the re-srjasitaenf of taxation, hot as his remarks were similar to these which ha m;;de at Wakpfield it 1b needless to repeat ihsta here.] He objected to the property tax for several reason^ for one among. others it was calculated to cripple enterprise in trade as much as to create a feelicg of injustice in those occupy .n.' ldpid.f The only tting left w&a bb income fax, which would operate fairly on all, for a main would then pay year by year only on what he ectasliy tuaie, besides which it would reset) tbe absomee cspitalists, and there would be no necessity for exempting Bhippiog and eteameri for fear oi their changing their registry. With respect to the railway through the country, tbe way io which the Government had dwelt with that question was ore of bis reasons for objecting to them. The friend* of the Government in Nelson had said that it w&s owing to the financial difficulties of the Colony that the extension from Bellgrnve not been preceeded with, but in the year endinp 31et Merch 1880, a million and three quarters was spent on public woiks and in tbe following year £1,960 000, while the appropriation for tbe prejent year was £1,892,000 and out of these enormous sums whet would have been tbe little £35,0( 0 voted for our railway ? Toe fact wsa that there *aa a determination to neglect Nelson, b determination to obtain votes under false preteoces, which wat every whit ai criminal as obtaining money under false pretences. Aod farther, the Government had now shown that they intended to take the line from Blenheim to tbe sooth and to ignore this pert of the island altogether. It had been said that we might get oar railway under the Railways Construction Act. bat of this he thought there was little or no chance. When the present election contest commenced, it was his intention to make no reference whatever to the opposing candidates, but when Mr Richmond dragged him into bis address and assailed him as he did, he was bound to say a few words in his own defence. Beferring to the present Government, which ha frankly stated his intention of supporting, he said the only other possible Ministry woold include Sir George Grey, Mr Macandrew, perhaps Mr Sheehan, and pofißihly Mr Shephard. Now in the first plsce, with all respect for Sir George Grey'a coble aims, and high qualities, he need hardly cay that he could not command, and waa not likely ever again to command, a majority in the House. It was idle to think 0! him as Premier, and a lower position he 'woold not accept, and it was well ioowii that it was only the terror oi Sir George that had kept the presec! Ministry in office bo long. Although. » i friend of Sir Georgt Grey be did not heiitats «g v'j

that it was impossible (bat be could ever again be »be head of a party, Bnd so loDg es fee was to the front 'he preEect Government were perfectly safe. Then as to Mr Macandrew, his career as a leader bad been a wretched fsilure ; be ba»i cover recognised in bim soy qualification as a leader, and bad (old him he would never recognise bim as such so long as the world endured. Mr Sheehan was never likely to be a member of a Ministry sgsin. Ho did not wish to say a word Bgainß4 him, for he lisd fought with (hem in the struggle egainst | (he Representation Bill, end be v?se not goiog to revila a mnn who barJ holpad (hem, but he could make far more by his preciica of bis profession, aod was not likely ever to be a Minister egaia So that the Governmeot named by Mr Richmond was eimpiy impossible. It had suited his purpose (o connnct his (Mr Shepbard's) nmne with them with a view to throwing obloquy on him. He had expressed the bnpa that the Waimea electors would not throw themselves into the handa of gambling speculators. Now he objected to being classed with gambling speculators. It was most unfair and arjuet to do so. He never played any gambling game, never bet, never took a chance in s lottery, never speculated. In ail hia dealing with public sfkirp, whether 88 a member of the provincial executive cr otherwise, instead ot being reckless, extravagant, speculative, or gambling, his fault had been that be was too careful. He only said this in self-defence. He would not return railing for railing, but merely referred fo tho matter in orJer to clear himself from an uojuatififcble attack. He would say lei them return a thoroughly independent member who wsa prepared to support the besc combination of men that could be found to form a Government. His reasons for not supporting •ha prespnt Ministry were : their vicious Bystem of taxa'ion pressing unequally, especially in country district?, which, he thought, should be exchanged for a system dealing fairly with all ; their needlessly keeping up oppressive Customs duties which ground down the poorer classes, and prevented the development of trade ; their denying local government, and thß giving to the people the power of managing their own • flairs ; their heing guilty of a grces and to*fi'!y unnecessary hreseh of fni'h with regard to our railway, and for showing no sign of relenting but rataer a determination to take away all chance of the railway while burdening Nelson with the payment of interest on borrowed money ; their passing the iniquitous and unfair Representation Act, for which they had been strongly assailed by the Evening Mail. Mr Shephard here quoted a leading article from the Mail of the Ist September, and said he could not add to these words, but believed them to be just and true. It was said that Nelson should be magnaminous, and so she had been, for had not her Volunteers almost to a man turned out when askeu to do so and manfully done their duty ? But to be magnamious and to let wrong doers escape unpunished were two totally different things. It was tl.eir duty to punish those who had so cruelly oppressed us in order to benefit others, and tho most fitting punish ment was to expel them from office and replace them with better men. He had now briefly indicated what his policy would be, and the principles he had now laid down were those which he had always advocated and supported, and he could not see how anyone could differ from them who was desirors of benefiting the great mass of the people and of dealing fairly and impartially with, the colony from one end to the other. Mr Shephard having expressed his willingness to reply to any questions resumed his seat amid loud and prolonged cheering. Mr Joseph Harkness : Who was the first to propose the Representation Bill ? Mr Shephard: Mr Whitaker, the Attorney-General, Mr Harkness : Was it not Sir G. Grey's Bill, and was not his Government going to bring it down ? Mr Shephard : When Sir G. Grey moved the resolution on the subject I was the only one in the House who spoke against it, and was one of five who voted against it. I told Sir George that I never could or would support any Government who brought down such a Bill. Me Ejelling : Did not Sir George propose to inclose the Maoris ? Mr Shephard : Yes. I have here a compromise prepared by him. It proposes to include the Maoris and a modification of the population basis so that by altering the boundaries one more member should be given to Nelson and the West Coast. Mr Harkness : When the injustice was being perpetrated, did the members of the late Government support you? Mb Shephabd : Sir George Grey aßd Mr Giaborne did. Mb Habkness: Do you think stonewalling was commendable ? Mr Shephard : It was thß only way of opposing a most unjust measure, and would hare succeeded but for the Speaker and Chairman of Committees. Me H*rkness : Is it right to coerce a majority in such a way ? Mr Shephaed: I think to when what is wanted is an appeal to the country. Mr Hacket : I should ]ik<? some explanation regarding the Catholic Reformatory. Me Shkphabd : The Neglected and Criminal Children Act was passed in 1867, when the Provinces were in existence, and it provided for reformatories with the restriction that children should only be sent to them from the districts in which they were established The Catholics have established one without knowing of this restriction, and then found that children from "Westland could not be admitted to it. The object has been to establish a central reformatory for children of that denomination from all parts cf *he colony, and it established, at least 300 children will be provided for, causing an expenditure of at least £6000 a 3 ear in Nelson, so I thought it J my duty to the place, as well as to remove a technical difficulty, to introduce a short Bill, which was supported by the Government, Had

it not been for this difficulty these 300 children could have been here and included in the population on which the ■Representation Bill was passed, so that I think I did good work for the citizens. Mb Habkksss : "What are your viewa on the Education Act ? Me Shephabd : It is a large question. To what particular part do you. refer ? Mr Harknebs: Are you in favor of subsidising denominational schools? Ma Shephard: I think the provision in the Nelson Act was an admirable thing. It promoted peace, saved money, and injured none. There was no denominational teaching daring school hours but it was only a question of management. I think it ia a great pity we lost it and I should like to see it restored. MeHabkness: You rather evade my question. I ask would you take public money from the public exchequer for subsidising denominational schools? Me Shephard : Tou have no right to demand that I should answer a question in your way. I don't; wish to answer in such a way as to be misinterpreted by the electors. I don't admit that the Nelson system was a denominational one. Mr ffABKjTEBS: If your views were carried out could we have a thoroughly national sysfc-m of education ? Me Shephard: Certainly. I think it was an improvement, for it produced competition which had the effect of raising the standard of both the subsidised and the Government schools. Mr Fittall proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Shephard. It had been said that he was a lazy politician and spent little time in the House, but whether lazy or not it was clear that he had given a very close attention to all matters affecting Nelson, and had a full acquaintance with all the questions of the day He thought they were also indebted to him for the decided way in which he had spoken out as from conviction. He considered it would be a fatal error to return a supporter of the present atrocious Government. He then proceded to say that he had for a time been a teacher at the Burnham Reformatory and felt sure from his experience t r -at they would be very glad to have the Catholic children removed, as their presence was very embarrassing when imparting religious instruction to the inmates. It would be better for all parties that tho Catholic children should be gathered together by themselves. Mr Keilikg seconded the resolution. Anyone who accused Mr Shephard of laziness could not know him, for he was a most active politician as he had shown by his address that evening. There were very few people so well posted up in politics as he was. A Ministry who had treated Nelson as the present one had done in respect of the railway and of representation should certainly not meet with support here. Mr Shephard had one remark to make. He did not know what laziness coniisted in, but he could say that there was not a more regular attendant in the House than h© was, and that his name wap'to be found in every division list. He thanked them for their hearty reception and fully believed that the ballot box would show that they had perfect confidence in him. A vote of thanks to the Chairman brought the meeting to & close.