SIR G. GREY AT THE AUCKLAND THEATRE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5236, 4 January 1878, Page 3

SIR G. GREY AT THE AUCKLAND THEATRE.

Auckland, December 19. The meeting at the the it re was densely crowded ; Hundreds could not gain admittance. About eighty of the principal citizens and members of the Assembly occupied the platform. J. M. Shera, Esq., was voted to the chair, and introduced the subject of the g ithering. ■ He said he was confident that few residents in Auckland would not rejoice that at the present crisis a disinterested man like Sir George Grey was at the head of affairs. He then read the address. Mr. Edward Isaacs moved the adoption of the address, and Mr. J. L. Wilson, a proprietor of the Ileruld, seconded. On being put from the chair, the address was carried unanimously, and with great cheering, which was taken up by the people outside. Mr. Shera, then signed the address on behalf of the meeting. Sir George Grey, on being introduced, was received with tremendous cheering. The whole assemblage rose, and hats and handkerchiefs waved for several minutes. When silence was restored, Mr. Shera read the address. At the words “ We have witnessed with contempt, and no one will gainsay,” and at the conclusion, the cheering was renewed. Sir Geokge Giu;y replied. He thanked them sincerely for the address, and could assure them he and his colleagues had been encouraged by knowing they had the entire support of the people of Auckland. As long as he had health and strength, the people of Auckland might rely on his efforts never being relaxed. (Queers.) He might add that he had no doubt of being successful if the people remained faithful. In conclusion, he thanked them again for the demonstration. He said he regarded himself as a representative man, who stood forward to receive on behalf of his colleagues the honors of the day. (Cheers.) Having replied to the address, Sir G. Grey then proceeded to address the assemblage on public affairs. He first alluded to the debt he owed to City West for making him their representative. Although he was no longer their membex-, he felt it was owing to their kindness that he now represented all classes in the community. What their friends longed for was to forward the interests of the community at large, and with the confidence of the people they would succeed in doing great good. The first thing wanted was fair representation, so that all classes might exercise due influence in public affairs, that all might be trained to be able to do service in the State, and, if necessary, saci-ifice their own interests for the public good. At present there was no fair representation. It was in no degree apportional to the population of the district, but showed the greatest disparity of representation where those who had been most identified with a particular party. The franchise was not fairly apportioned. Counties had large subsidies which were raised from the whole population at per head. Taxation so raised ought to be spent in the same manner, and all ought to have a voice as to how it should be spent. Counties were broken up into ridings, and the law made it possible that many men had no vote at all ; and also, many had one vote only, while others had as many as forty-five votes, so that the former were swamped. (“ Shame.”) It was said that property should bo represented by large estates, wfiich were obtained by unfair influences, and had been increased in value by railways and public works, which were paid for by the people of the colony, and have now therefore given this property its value. They had to submit to one man swamping them with forty-five votes. Both himself and his colleagues were determined to remedy that system, and to make the .voting power equal. They considered that every man resident for 1 a certain time in a district was as much entitled to vote as a man with property. I.ire was much, humauaffection was much,and should be represented. If that primary obji-ot could be attained : if matters were' arranged so that elections could be conducted properly and quietly, they thought • people would be able to keep their advantages, and taxation 1 could be made fair, By every man paying to the State according- to the advantages he derivered from it, the evils of absentees would not be felt. (Cheers.) No man could come from England and live here, drawing a large income from English property, without paying to that Government, and he and his supporters believed the people were willing to follow this example, and make property pay in duo proportion to the State. lu this they fully expected to have the support of the people. They had no fair distribution of public lands of the oniony. He believed that every one in the colony should have an equal chauce of getting land. They were all aware that not only had there been an unfair distribution, but that while some provinces were rolling in wealth, derived .from the sale of public lands, others were starving or languishing in penury. They knew it had been said that if any one tried to alter the compact of 1856 they were accused of dishonesty. When Mx-. Wood (cheers) bi-ought forward his motion to that effect, he only had fifteen supporters; but public opinion had altered, and only two months ago a majority of thirty-one had voted for its abolitioxx. As the ayes trooped- into the lobby with him, he fancied he saw blushes on the faces of some who had been loud against its abrogation. Now that it was an accomplished fact, it seemed marvellous that for so many years the system had been put up with. What was the cause of that sudden change? They were perhaps puzzled to know; but he could tell them the members feared dissolution, and knew that the people would have justice, and they knew that if they, as bad servants, went back to their masters with bad characters, they would not have been admitted again to their former places. (Laughter.) He did not think their masters were such fools as their members took tlxem for. They were not likely to be blinded by one favorable vote at the end of two long sessions. (Cheers and laughter.) There were practical points of statesmanship he had now to allude to, some points of higher than Statecraft. (Laughter.) They had all heard of the secrets of Statecraft. He wanted to see all this done away with. He believed in everything being known to the people, and having it fully discussed by the Press and by the public, so that all were capable of judging. Soxne people took curious views, some selfish views, some partial, views ; but altogether the conclusion arrived at by the mass was generally right, and if a statesman had the pluck to follow this he would generally be sixccessful. The public taste was.-better- cultivated in great cities than in the country, and he had chosen to go into higher subjects in Auckland. They were aware that there.were Governors: in the colonies. An idea had become prominent that the Crown must be sipportecL At Home it; was the Established Church and tile House .of Peers. Here they hhd their sqxxatters,- and these were the Govbrnor’i|, supporters, (Laughter.) They filled place of the great, landed aristocracy'. If this idea wap . to prevail, where would they all hi landed, (A Voice : “ In the Pisko Swarpp,’■’• and- immense laughter.) In England tile poor had no aspirations, suph as we had in the colony,. and he ■ could well understand tliat statesmen would hardly dare-to open a. new track ; but here what interest had the Crown ?. Was it not the policy of the Crown here not to ally itself to no particular class ? If the plan now iu vogue were upheld of allying the Qrovvn with the squatters and Upper, House,'and to endeavor to obtain advantages for them hateful to.the people at large, then the people would rise and create a-form of Goverixmeut chosen by themselves. (Cheers.; Any-pne who placed the Crown in that position must be au enemy to the best interests of the Empire.,, (Cheei;s.) /The only vyay tij prevent that,was to create a real rosp maible 'system of-Government, and to compel the Governor to take .the advice of his advisers, —(immense cheering)— to make those advisers teal governors of the colony. Those advisers, knowing their advice was to be followed, w(mld be careful not to give advice that would bring upon themselves the odium of those who could easily turn them from their positions. Vor instance, let them imagine the feelings of himself and his comrades that day. Did they think they would easily throw away such love 1 On the contrary, they would dare everything to maintain it. The Governor should be like the Crown in England—without power, except to carry out the advice of his

coustituti. ual advisers. Then it would be in the power of the people to reward or punish their representatives—to offer them demonstrations like that of to-day, or punish them by making them slink through the street■« like criminals. (Cries of “Billy Howe.’') They should be ruled by the people whom they ruled. He had tried since his arrival at Kawau

to work out some instances of how, if -they had had things all open and above board, they , would have enjoyed advantages such as lie was . afraid they would never enjoy. In years gone by he had made up his mind that Auckland was destined to be the empress of the Southern seas. Her position was better than any other. He was at that time Governor of New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands. He received requests from Fiji, Samoa and other islands to be taken into the colony of New Zealand. It seemed to him that great federation of the Pacific Islands could have been perfected with a Government resembling the late provincial system. They would have sent out their own Lieutenant-Governors, and have had a magnificent opening for the young men, who were nearly all splendid sailors. This scheme was spoilt by the opening of the Crimean war, and the ceding of New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands to France. Tilings had turned out exactly as he had anticipate. The. slave trade had sprung up, and England had been oblighed to take what islands she could under very disadvantageous circumstances. Had the people at the time known of these negotiations the popular voice would have forced the Imperial Government to accede to them. In 1858, when the mutiny broke out in India, the natives of Taranaki wrote to him, asking to be allowed to raise a regiment of a thousand men to go to fight the Sepoys. This was while he was at the Cape, but I the letters were sent to him by Governor Gore f Browne. The natives made an unfortunate j c mdition that he should be colonel ’■ of the regiment. This irritated the War Office, and they rejected the proposal. He wrote and told the War Office it was no good expecting all those men to st *y at home and try to confine themselves to agriculture, if they wanted to fight the Indians. It was clear they would have to fight some day, and if they could not fight our enemies, they would fight us. Some time afterwards, when the Home authorities had been angry with him through defeating the scheme to endow Canterbury with £4,000,000 for bishoprics, they reproached him as a barbarian for proposing to send savages to fight our enemies. After this, the War Office sent to him, asking him to raise a regiment of Kaffirs for India ; and when he reminded them of former proposals, they were.more angry with him than ever. In this they saw a case in which, if things had been open, public opinion would have sent the first body of men to India. Another instance he might refer to was his recent attempt to get a dissolution. The Governor was of opinion that the power of dissolving Parliament was a weapon given to defend himself. (Laughter.) He should like to know what there was the Governor wanted to defend himself from. At present Ministers* power was very limited ; but it ought not to be, for if it were extended, their sense of responsibility would prevent them abusing it. He could see no reason why statesmen here should not have the same power as statesmen at Home. They must insist upon this point, viz., to have everything in government perfectly open. They must keep their representatives continually before them. It was the duty of all representatives to come before their constituents ; and it was also the duty of the Premier to go through all parts of the colony. He had spoken to them as the-representative of all New Zealand, and as an old friend who had owed them much, and was endeavoring in his old age to repay them ; and who, if he could do.anything to benefit them, would only be too happy to do it. Messrs. J. 0. Brown, Header Wood, Rees, X)r, Wallis, O’Rorke, Swanson, Tole, and Diguan spoke eulogistically of Sir George Grey as a leader. The proceedings concluded with enthusiastic cheering.