SIR GEORGE GREY AT AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4384, 8 April 1875, Page 2

SIR GEORGE GREY AT AUCKLAND.

It has already been announced that Sir George Grey was elected unopposed to represent Auckland City West in the House of Representatives. The following was the baronet’s speech on the occasion, as reported by the Southern Cross : \ Sir George Grey was received with cheer!*. Ho said Gentlemen, electors of Auckland City West, I return yon my best and heartfelt thanks for the honor which you have conferred upon me. I succeed a remarkable man, and a good man, whose death I shall always deplor —a man who I admired whilst living, and whose memory I shall always reverence ; who appeared to me, as he grew in experience of public life, to grow in prudence and wisdom,. And I firmly believe that, if I had him to help me in the present crisis, and his counsel to rely upon, I should have a great support, which I want now in having lost him. I feel that any points in my conduct which require explanation should be mentioned to you—that I should not merely give yon my thanks, but remark upon anything that might have been said with reference to the views I hold, and explain any subject which seems to require some observations from me. Amongst other things, I observe that it is said that I have done wrong in stirring up provincial jealousies. I could not help thinking of the fable of the lamb and the wolf drinking at the same stream. (Laughter and cheers.) The wolf is at the highest part of the stream, and the lamb below, and the wolf says, “What do you mean’ by stirring up ’the’! dirt and muddying the stream !”—the intention of the wolf beiim to quarrel with the lamb. Now, it is the wolf that has stirred up the question of provincialism. (Laughter and cheers.) Good Heavens ! They come to us and say, “ We, one set of provinces, are going to take away representative institutions from you in Auckland and am I to hold my tongue and to raise no provincial jealousies upon that subject? I presume that what they really mean is this : that I explained to the electors of the province the rights that they possess under the Constitution Act with regard to the place where tiie General Assembly is to be held. Those ririit are not only their own, but were given as rights to last for all time in New Zealand— the same rights that every country possesses in order to preserve freedom of debate. The head of the Government for the time beiu<i- has the liberty of assembling, at such portion of the colony, and at suck, time as ho may please the General Legislature of this country. It is distinctly stated that the General Assembly has no power to make any law to take that right from the inhabitants of New Zealand and I announced that. What harm did I do in telling the people what their just rights are ? We ought to protect that liberty? I hold this question of where the General Assembly sits to be a mere matter of nonsense • Wellington must be a great city in spite of everything it has done. It has a magnificent harbor—the only harbor on an immense extent of coast to the east and to the west—and when the railroads are' completed over those

fertile districts, one of which, that between Wellington and Taranaki, X believe to bo the most fertile in the world certainly it is the most fertile I have ever seen. When those railroads are completed, Wellington must be a great commercial emporium ; and the question of whether a Governor is occasionally to reside there, and an Assembly to meet there, is a mere matter of nonsense in as far as the importance and the welfare of the place is concerned. The same way in regard to Auckland ; what is it to us ' If the people of Auckland had taken up the suggestion that I warmly supported when the Assembly left this place—if Auckland had then become constituted a separate colony, as- it might have been, it would have had a Government of its own equal in importance to anything that can assemble in Wellington. (Cheers.) It is all nonsense to undervalue this province in the way it is undervalued. It nearly approaches the colony of Victoria in sice, and it possesses this peculiarity : That there is no portion of the province of Auckland, which, being cleared, will not carry a considerable number of sheep to the acre—l say at least two or three—the very worst land in the province so improves from sheep feeding on it that it can support ultimately large and most important flocks. But not only that, but the sheep bred in this province are amongst the very best in the world. It is admitted that the wool that comes from Auckland, and from a part of the province of Taranaki, is the best wool that enters the markets at Home. (Cheers.) In Victoria and all the other Australian colonies there are enormous districts of bad land which can never carry English grass at all, and, in fact, will carry nothing ; whereas there is no portion whatever of the Province of Auckland, that I am acquainted with, that is not capable of carrying a population, and, in many instances, a very dense one, and you mi'dit of yourselves become a very important country. I do not point that out to you as a thing which should be done, but it must be held in view. If the worst comes to the worst, there is that fate, which would not be a very bad one, and which we can certainly obtain. (Cheers.) Remember when the people in Australia chose to be split up into separate colonies what a disturbance there was ! Hew South Wales said that Victoria should not be taken from them, but the Home Government would not allow the wishes of the people of Victoria to be trampled on by a more .powerful and distant rival, and they were constituted a colony without any difficulty; and the same thing could at any time he done here if such a necessity arose. (Cheers.) Another objection made to what X have done is this, they very much regret, or do not thank me for having raised the questions I have done. How I have not raised any questions at all. In June, 1552, a Constitution Act was passed, conferring certain rights and privileges on the people of this country, and I think since that time about twenty-three years have elapsed, and no one has explained to the people what those privileges were. How, reflect for one moment. You don’t hold those privileges for yourself alone; vou and I hold them as trustees for the future generations that are to come in this country. (Cheers.) That is our position ; and when 1 come forward into public life, and as one of your representatives here, am I not to tell you the rights you have, and instruct yon what those rights are ? (Cheers.) It was the argument of the governing classes, I recollect, in my youth—and many of you must recollect the same—when they said, “Don’t educate the people at all. We shall have no end of trouble. Education is the worst thing you can give them. (Laughter and cheers.) Am I not to educate the people here now ? Am I not to say that in 1852, the Queen, Lords, and Commons of Great Britain, in providing for the future of Hew Zealand, placed in your hands, the electors of this country, as trustees, certain powers to be exercised for your own benefit, and not for that alone but for the benefit of all who were to follow you. I will not hold my tongue on such subjects for anybody. (Cheers.) And what is more, I hope none of yon will hold your tongues either—’(renewed cheering)—that you will see that the men you will return will he like me, and not hold their tongues; that they will neither be afraid of those in office, or be anxious to obtain favors from them. Stick to those points and we shall get our rights. I see nothing myself very admirable in the present system to those who have the Government resident with them. It may be a delightful thing to see a sort of procession march down to the House of Assembly, and a mock imitation of what goes on in Great Britain produced—(laughter)—which Dickens said, when he went out to Hova Scotia, put him in mind of sitting at home, watching the proceedings of the English Parliament through the wrong end of a telescope. (Laughter.) To me there is nothing so grand or fascinating in that that we should pay enormous sums to obtain it. I have seen some grand sights in Hew Zealand —as grand as were ever seen by any man. I have seen a body of your own Volunteers and your fellowcolonists ordered off upon a duty of very great danger, and I saw the young officers, one after the other, come up and shake hands with me as I wished them good luck, and I saw tears start up in young eyes—tears not of apprehension, but of gladness, that a noble and dangerous duty was given them to perform. (Cheers.) That is what I call a grand sight. Those are the men who should get great rewards. They vot no -Teat incomes or rewards whatever. In the same way I hear it remarked by good men and clever men, “ Oh, but after all, Auckland is a petty place, you can’t compare it with Melbourne, and places of that kind. Auckland has no magnificent public library, no very 'Teat buildings, no memories or associations which attach” people to it, It is not like Melbourne in that respect. I tell you Auckland has memories and associations which future historians will ponder over with delight, which future generations will read with admiration and pleasure, and set up as an example to themselves. (Cheers.) I tell you that here a few people—men, women, and children set themselves down in the very midst of barbarous tribes —tribes to the north, to the south, to the oast, and to the west—in hourly, in momentary, danger of being destroyed; and neither man, Woman, nor child quailed. Is that a great memory ? (Cheers.) Is that an association attaching to this place of which wo ought to be proud ? And I will tell yon further, I will give you one instance of my belief in the people of Auckland in those respects. AVheu I came here first—it mast be in the memory of many of yon—we were selling arms and ammunition to our foes, who were about to destroy us, and people feared to put an end to that system lest they should raise othciy tribes against them. It was the first subject to which I directed my attention, and the very day I was about to give my assent to the Act I brought in to prevent for the future arms and ammunition being sold to the natives, a letter was laid on the table before mo, warning me not to consent to that Act, for, if I did, many tribes who were then friendly to ns in our immediate neighborhood were likely to join the others against us. In a few minutes I argued in my mind, “ Shall I run this risk ? Shall I subject the people of Auckland, their, wives and thenchildren, to the dangers which I am told will beset them if this Act is passed! I said, “Yes, we will not bo slaves. _ AVe will no longer sell arms and ammunition to our enemies to destroy our countrymen in other parts of Hew Zealand. I will run the risk. I believe the people of Auckland will stand by me if the danger does arise. I believe they will come triumphantly out of it. If they do not, I believe they will perish, as would become men who would desire above all things to do their duty.” And I assented to the Act. (Loud cheers.) I say, then, that being' a people who have done these things, groat memories and great associations do linger around them and the city which they occupy ; and I ask them now, in these coming times of struggle, to feel in no respect behind those who have preceded them—to lot, still, memories and associations cling round them ; to let, if if possible, this be said ; Auckland was the province that was not only to be trampled out iuj a province, but was to lose its representative institutions, and yet Auckland is the province from which those measures have come, which have secured liberty for all New Zealand for the future. (Loud cheers.) Let us all act together to attain that end. See that your

representatives are kept up to the point. If I do not do my duty in it, reject mo. Reject any one who will not do what he ought in this question. (Cheers.) One other subject I will allude to : Since t have been in office, I have been able to look into the finances of the province, and I find that large sums of money have been most unjustly withhold from us. If we get our rights—what we are fairly and justly entitled to—we have still the means of going on with vigor, carrying on our public works and doing all that is necessary for the prosperity and welfare of the people. And I say that it is wrong that a distant authority should withhold from ns money that we arc entitled to spend ourselves. I do not only speak of the funds for purchasing land, but I refer to a sum of £BO,OOO which was voted for public works to the north of the AVaitemata —those are the express terms — and which sum has been misapplied by a distant and irresponsible authority. (Cheers.) I ask you is it right that a Premier, abandoning liis duties here, should take a person elected by no constituency, responsible to no single individual in the colony, and that myself, now returned by a constituency of nearly 14,000 persons unanimously, should not be thought worthy to spend the sums which were entwfeted to us I (Cheers.) Is it right that a single individual, unknown to ns in any representative capacity, at his own caprice, should have the power of dealing . with these moneys as he pleases, and give ns no account upon the subject ? I say no. That is one thing which must be altered, and my firm belief is that if the Governor of this country does Ms duty lie will allow the General Assembly forthwith to meet, and he will do that so that the province of Auckland may obtain that justice and those funds to which it is instantly entitled. (Loud cheers.) —For by no other means can we get them. AVhat is the kind of answer that is made to me ? “ Oh, it is a plausible thing that, but what can be done i The present Government can do nothing without Mr. Vogel ; they would fall to pieces instantly. (Laughter.) They are incapable of conducting the business of the country. Ho Governor will subject them to such a risk as _ that.” If that is true, are we for months to be put under the Government and control of individuals of that kind ? Are all our interests to be sacrificed to people who cannot meet the Assembly because they are unable to manage or conduct the public business ? I say no, let the Assembly forthwith meet ; let this question of the funds that Auckland is entitled to, he instantly settled. If it were done within the next six weeks, or two mouths, I' guarantee that in three months from the present date Auckland would be in the full career of prosperity in every branch, and would be exercising that influence over the councils and the destiny of the colony, over the future happiness of all in How Zealand, which its population, its sufferings formerly* undergone, and, I will say, its intellect, and, I hope I may add, its daring, entitle it to. (Loud cheers.) Those are the things that I wish to see attained first. I have not shrunk from making a full exposition of them to you ; and you will find that I will never shun meeting you, and telling yon what I have done. Yon will find that I shall never shrink from hearing your advice. I won’t say I will always take it —(laughter)— but if the great majority of the electors at any time conceive that X am acting adverse to theninterests I have no wish to hold the position which yon have this day conferred upon me for one hour after you have come to that conclusion. (Sir George resumed Ms seat amidst great cheering.)