MR. HUTCHISON AT TE ARO.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4988, 19 March 1877, Page 2

MR. HUTCHISON AT TE ARO.

A crowded meeting" of .electors was addressed by Mr. Hutchison at the Caledonian Hotel, Adelaide-road, on Saturday evening. Mr. S. Brown, builder, was voted to the chair, and introduced the candidate. Mr.. Hutchison said he would not weary the meeting with a repetition of, statements with which they must already be familiar. If he had the honor of being elected as their member, he would be found giving a loyal support to the present Government so long as its members continued to carry out necessary and reproductive public works' vigorously and economically. He should contend for the utmost economy in every department of administration, and Bhould make it his business to help in amending and improving the Local Government Acts of last session, so that everywhere the people might have the full management of their own local affairs. He should keep.a clear eye on every measure likely to affect the interests of 'Wellington, arid take care that nothing fell'out to its. prejudice. In this direction he. should have the greatest pleasure in co-operating and working harmoniously with the present member for the city,. so as to give • Wellington its due measure of influence in the Legislature. After referring to.several other topics, the speaker went on to say he was sorry to find that Mr. Travers was evidently losing his temper. His speech at the City Hotel the previous nightexhibited traits of character which had hitherto been kept in the background. But bad temper could do no good, and might do some harm. The electors of Wellington would not vote a bit the more readily for Mr. Travers because he gets cross ; and the Mayor was not greatly discomposed by intemperate language. Mr. Travers said the Mayor had talked unmitigated bunkum about (private streets, and Mr. Travers gave the public a legal opinion on the subject without charging the usual fee. He (Mr. Hutchison) could not doubt that it was a very able opinion, although it seemed hard to understand. Perhaps that was a proof of its ability ; ; and it was wonderful how fresh ideas dawned upon Mr. Travers. Only a few days ago he held an opinion about these same streets different from the present one, which led an elector to say that he would not vote for Mr. Travers. But it would be a pity to lose & vote for an absurd law, and on further examination the law was found to be all right; at least, if he understood Mr. Travers, there were now no private streets. He most sincerely wished it were so. It would be a boon to a number of ratepayers, arid a relief to the City Council. All that he should then have to care for would be a clause to recoup those who had hitherto paid for the making of these streets. Still, he had his doubts. He was not presumptuous enough to question Mr. Travere' legal opinion, although both gratis law and election-given law were not of lauch account; but lawyers differed, and to plain people certain sections of the Municipal Corporations Act (which Mr. Hutchison read) bore a rather different complexion. It was all very well for Mr. Travers to stand or fall by his opinion, because nobody was affected thereby, but unfortunately the ratepayers .had to stand or fall by the Act, and he (Mr. Hutchison) wished the Act amended, so that those connected with private streets might stand and not fall. He was unwilling to refer to anything personal in this contest., He had hoped it would have been carried on to the end in good taste andgood feeling, but Mr. Travers posed at the previous night's meeting in a way which rendered some remarks necessary. He told his select audience he was vain enough to think [Mr Hutchison was quotiug from the Times, whose reports he said were, as a general rule, very accurate,] that he had larger knowledge of the colony than the Mayor had. He wished the Mayor had not instituted comparisons (the Mayor was not aware that he had done so), but he had more knowledge on every subject than the Mayor. Well, if after that advertisement the electors didn't rush to the polling-booth for Mr. Travers, it would be a caution. He (Mr. Hutchison) at all events mußt hide his diminished head. No wonder, with these great abilities, that Mr. Travers could not descend to such trifles as planting. trees and getting seats in public places ; no wonder, as everybody draws the line somewhere, that Mr. Travers draws it at old men and nursemaids. A gentleman who, as he learned from the morning paper, was taking photographs of the sun, would not be likely to let his eyes rest_ on such small deer as old men and nursemaids, more especially as, if the nursemaids got seats, they would "talk to their sweethearts, and he gathered from Mr. Travers' re-

marks that this would be a terrible enormity in the learned gentleman's pure eyeß. For his part, on the other hand, humbling as the acknowledgment might be regarded, he confessed to a feeling something like that of the old Roman—he was a man, and nothing affecting human weal failed to interest him. He liked trees, and he had no objection to seats ; he believed in old men, they had once been young ; and he believed in nursemaids ; th§y were young now, and by and by would be wives and mothers, without whom the country would cut but a sorry figure. He had nothing to say of his ewn ability, or of anything wonderful that he had done. He had simply tried to do his duty, whatever it was, faithfully and courteously, and the electors must judge for themselves between the two candidates, in as far as the means of judging were afforded them. Whenever a stray paragraph appeared in a colonial newspaper in favor of Mr. Travers the evening papers gave their readers the benefit of it at once, but never a word about the Mayor. A quotation in his favor would be high treason. He would therefore be excused for giving them a short extract from the HawMa Bay Herald, [The extract was read.] Of course the editors were at perfect liberty to please themoelves, but a little fair play might do them no injury in the long run. The local newspapers, however, were on the whole good fun. •He was astonished to find Mr. f ravers troubling himself about them. Not content apparently with pitching a writ for libel against the clever humorist of the Times for making a joke about sticking a little flag into a big whale, imaginary, he presumed, &b that of Polonius, which was only very like a whale. Mr. Travers says he had gone and complained to the proprietors of the conduct of their editor. It seemed beneath the dignity of a gentleman whose attainments were so great to do such a thing. Very clearly, whatever liberties Mr. Travers was anxious to conserve, the liberty of the Press was not one of them. He (Mr. Hutchison) did not believe in takiug actions against newspapers, although he had abundant opportunities; let them fire away their small shot ; but he was compelled to believe in such actions being taken, remembering that Mr. Travers had sometime ajogone, with keenest relish and con amore, as counsel, into one against him, for saying that some theatre people who chanced to be in Wei lington were a rubbishy lot, which was the plain and simple truth, although he had to pay for saying it. But think of the Mayor rushing off to Messrs. Blundell Brothers and entreating them to save him from the attentions of his quondam friend the editor of the Post. By the way, he observed that this person had taken to looking after his (Mr. Hutchison's) morals to-night. It was quite a merry conceit. Or think of the Mayor begging his friends, the proprietors of the other evening paper, to put a stop to the calumnies published against him by its editor. No, no. He could well understand that these gentlemen were disappointed that their own property should be used to forward views with which they had no sympathy, but they had too much regard for the courtesies due to the position of an editor to interfere even in circumstances so annoying. (Applause.) Mr. Hutchison intimated his readiness to answer any questions that might be asked of him. An Elector asked if the proceedings taken by the Council, in connection with private streets, had been taken in accordance with the advice of the City Solicitor ? The Mator : As a matter of course they had. Another Elector asked if the candidate would be in favor of assimilating the. land laws of New Zealand to those of Canada ? The Mayor : I have but little knowledge of the Canadian land law, but there is nothing on which I feel more strongly than the necessity of our land laws being so framed as to permit the settlement of a numerous and industrious yeomanry upon the waste lands of the colony. (Applause.) Several other questions of no great importance having been asked and answered, Mr. Alexander Wilson proposed and Mr. William Petfood seconded ajnotion. to the effect that Mr. Hutchison was a fit and proper person to represent the city of Wellington in Parliament, which was carried by acclamation; and after a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting ended.