POST-SESSIONAL SPEECHES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5353, 24 May 1878, Page 6

POST-SESSIONAL SPEECHES.

SIR AVILLIAM FITZHERBERT AT THE UPPER HUTT.

On Monday, April 29, the Hon. Sir William Fitzherbert, the member for the Hutt, addressed a numerously attended meeting of electors at the Upper Hutt. There were several visitors from various parts of the district. , The Hon. Sir W. Fitzu’hrbeut, who was received with ..cheers, said: Mr. Chairman and electors of the Hutt, it is with very great pleasure that I am hero to meet you. At the same time I am afraid that a groat deal too much has been made of this meeting/ I will tell you what I mean. Articles have appeared having the effect of making it probable that T was contemplating heading a party to obtain the government of the colony, and not long after the appearance of such articles it is announced, iu large type that X am about ■ to address the electors of the Upper Hiitt. Commentaries ' are made upon ■ that - announcement, to the ■ that “ we shall now see whether Sir William’ Filzherhoft is about really to head the Ojapush; tion and oust the present Ministry.” I assure you that in nil this I am no more than anyone of you whom I have now the honor to address. Let mo express to yon, to the electors of the Hutt and the adjoining districts, to the whole of the electorate, that I am deeply indebted to them for long-continued confidence, for much land consideration, for mniih indulgence; without which I may truly say that at times my heart would have failed mo when I have had onerous and difficult duties to perform. Expectations have been raised that I am about to make a political speech to the electors of the Hutt, and to talk ov©r-their heads to th© people of New /aeuland _that X am about as it were to make a political manifesto. No snob thing over entered ray head. It is no doubt something of a dereliction of duty, of a plain duty on my part, that X have not asked you before this to meet me. It is a good and wholesome plan, one which I have’ very frequently adopted, one I think right, one which is entirely consistent with the whole of my. 'political views, namely, that representatives should take opportunities, frequent opportunities, of making the electors acquainted with their views, with the conduct they have pursued, and with the reasons for that conduct. I have been trespassing too much upon your kind indulgence, and have been somewhat negligent in not asking you to meet me. I should be very sorry if therefor o asigniflcance should be attached to the present meeting it never had in my mind. In truth you have ■ asked me to meet you rather than I have asked you to meet me. That is the simple .narration of the facta of the Having, thus somewhat cleared tha ground I may say that there are some subjects which, as Speaker, I may, without violating, the duties of the high office I hold, refer to, and that may ho of some interest. There may be au absence of that kind of stimulus that would he present if I were simply a member of the Parliament of New Zealand, sitting amongst the other members on the floor of the House. If that were so there is ho doubt my tongue would be loosed to say many things to you. I have never hidden my light under a bushel, and I have never been deterred from expressing ray opinions freely, whatever might be the consequence, hut the position I hold necessarily precludes me, necessarily puts trammels round me ; and if you came to-night to hear, and if gentlemen in other parts of New Zealand are on the tiptoe of expectation to hear by telegraph utterances from me of a, sensational character, I am sorry to say that all will be as much disappointed as anyone .would be who went to see the Derby and found that the favorite had to run with hobbles on. (Cheers and laughter). I have full confidence in your indulgence, and be-, lieve that you will not misinterpret my reasou : in sneaking with the care which a man in the position of Speaker must observe, holding as he does the scales equally and fairly, so far as lies , in him, between contending parties, sometimes inflamed to white heat, —and to do that is no easy matter, I hope X may conut upon your indulgence, and that you will not consider it any disrespect to you if I keep 'to myself opinions that I have; for I believe that yon will attribute any such proper and dutiful silence to the cause to which I have referred. But do not think that because a Speaker cannot go to his constituents and make them a spiced speech suitable to the palates of even those whose digestion has become somewhat impaired from over-indulgence in sensational Phillipics,—do not think, therefore, that a Speaker is necessarily a mere rot. faineant, a mere idle person, a useless appendage. He has a great responsibility and a graat influence. As to whether I have succeeded in performing the delicate duties of that office so well as I might do is for others to judge,—it is not for me to say.' One thing I may assure you, to the very utmost, and to the best of the powers within me, X have endeavored to perform those sometimes very difficult duties. (Cheers.) Many eventful political occurrences have taken place since you did me the honor last to return me as your representative. A great political change—l will not use the word reform, for ! conscientiously I do not believe it suitable —a great political change; that which Is called by those who made it—l use their term—a revolution, has occurred. You will remember that when the last general election took place the position of New Zealand was this: A Bill had hcen passed to abolish your local institutions; but _ it had been passed with this proviso, which had been secured by those who opposed the change I was one of them—that this law should not come into force until “ after the next session of the General Assembly.” Prior to that next session of the General Assembly there was to be au appeal to the people by way of a dissolution. Tha t dissolution took place. That appeal I may call a partial appeal, because it was an appeal not against a law proposed to be made, but against a°law already made, an appeal as it were against a foregone conclusion, which was au exceedingly handicapped affair. Nevertheless these were the best terms which could be obtained by those who held the same views as myself. There is no doubt whatever that the result of the appeal to the people of New Zealand was to confirm the action of the Assembly. The people of New Zealand said most unreservedly,' “ We will have none of such institutions ; we are tired of them; they ore done with ; we have grown out of them;” auo it w-as for wise and prudent statesmen to acquiesce in the verdict of the country. (Hear, hear.) I told the people of this electorate that if the opinion of the people of. New Zealand, through*the majority of their representatives, was in favor of the change, I for one should regretfully, but respectfully, bow and observe their verdict. But a responsibility did lie on those who brought about the revolution.; Let us consider for a moment what it consisted in. It consisted in taking from the people of New Zealand the power, of electing their own chief officers, of electing their own representatives in their own small Parliaments, of keeping that chief officer in check, of having from him year by year a detailed account of all the executive action that had taken place during the year, of examining him, of having him up before committees. It is impossible to conceive any other form or adaptation of government ever imagined by the wisest and most consideratehead fa which broad democratic principles were laid down with greater generosity and with a fuller confidence in the inhabitants of the country than in the constitution which the people of this country have, after an appeal to them, condemned. A terrible and grave responsibility rested on those who proposed each a revolution, upon those who so wrought on the public mind as to induce the people to deliver up as if it were an unholy thing a privilege so great that I scarcely know any country in ancient or modern history that had a form of government laid down more liberal than that which you deliberately renounced. If the description I have given be true, what a grave responsibility rested on those who destroyed that edifice, what a great responsibility to build up something that should be better, more suitable to the people, and more In consonance with those liberal views which Englishmen, thank God, have up to the present time, in every part of the world, labored, and toiled for, and aspired to. Have those reasonable hopes been realised ? Have those who so cruelly, as I think, deprived the people of this great colony, given us anythiug tetter in exchange? What have they given in exchange ? I tell yon plainly, tfiat from the experience I have had, and I have been » watchful observer of what was placed in lieu of those institutions,—l declare to yon I know of no' illustration more fit than to, say for bread they have given you a stone. Will anyone pretend .to say that the system which has been the only thing preferred to this country in lieu of that which the peopie have lost, ie capable of performing all that waa performed hy the system it replaced? But I require, more than that. The of any country have a right when a revolution takes place—God forbid that should ho one who has so, read .history as to say that revolutions had nut done good in the world,

for if there had been no revolutions we should not have been so progressive as we are. (Hear, hear.) Don’t thiuk, therefore, that I am an enemy of revolutions if they are needed, and that is the true crucial test. The people have a right to require at the hands of those who have .effected and compassed’a revolution, that what is to replace that which has been destroyed shall bo better than the thing which has been cast out. Am I not right ? Is that not plain sound reasoning ? The answer can he only in one direction. Certainly a better thing we have a right to have, i I will only ask you if yon have got a better thing ? You don’t know what you have got, or whether it is as well adapted .to carry on the administration of the country as that which you have lost. The utmost has, I believe, been done throughout New Zealand to carry out that administration effectively. .1 do not complain of that, but I say that the lines of the vessel have not been so laid that she could sail in the manner of her pi edecessor. Throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand there is not a man who, if he tells you the truth, will say there is anything that has replaced our provincial institutions. The new system is but a stranger among you ; it is not appropriated, it is not assimilated, it is not a part of yourselves, and it cannot be. What was the .grievous ; fault of provincialism? What was the liorrid thing that had to be cast out ? It was because the people of this country,, those who in another country would be called 'the • unwashed, had tne/ power of electing their representatives, of criticising and questioning them, and of examining and knowing the bottom of everything that went on., What have you now ? You have got nothing throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand but a mystery, • I ask you to consult your .own consciences and your, own experiences; I appeal to the people of the whole of New Zealand to say whether they know what takes place in New Zealand at present. Formerly they did know something. God fiirbid that I should profess to you that what yo\i lost was perfect. It" ought to have been reformed, hut it ought not to have been abolished. Nothing took place in your own representative assembly which yon had not an opportunity of criticising day by day. What takes place now?- Do you know anything about it ? Little articles are put in the papers, and sub-leaders, but all information ,5s bottled up, and you know nothing, about it. (Cheers and laughter). I am now freer to speak upon this subject than I was formerly. When a man speaks in favor of anything from which he draws his daily . bread, his sustenance, bis luxuries, it is but human nature to make certain, reductions and discount on what he says. Wo all do it, and it is a proper thing to do. When as superintendent a man draws £3OO a-year, has a great many luxuries, is in’ authority, is capable of appointing here and dismissing there, and of doing a variety of tilings, of a-surety men would say, and very properly, that man is speaking for his bread. “Speaking for his bread, friend, speaking for his bread.” I recollect coming suddenly upon two men conversing. One was dancing about, I - will say, like the inhabitants of that island so admirably described-by Disraeli, —(“It looks down upon the melancholy sea”) —like a man dancing on Collegs'Green and trailing his coat behind him, and ho was saying, “If I had £BOO a year wonld’nt I fight ! fight ! fight! wouid’nt I fight to the death for it/’ There is no doubt - that on this occasion I stumbled upon a conversation referring more particularly to the unworthy gentleman who is now addressing you. That is the kind of way-that great subjects are often distorted and held up fu a malignant and odious fashion. I am now free from that, for it does not affect me personally, and my opinions do not affect my position. They are free from the suspicion of being in any way biassed in a certain direction and from the suspicion that my daily bread is' dependant upon them. (Cheers.) So far from altering ray- opinion, I now say that one of the most grievous wrongs that was ever perpetrated was committed by that act to which X have referred, —I give you that as my deliberate opinion, free from any possible misinterpretation, and free from any suspicion of bias. That being my deliberate opinion, I would be very wrong as your representative if I did not give it you. What an extraordinary thing has lately occurred in New Zealand ! For' some months attention has been arrested in various parts of New Zealand I may say iu every chief centre, and in many subordinate centres of population —-by elaborate and powerful speeches. I have not had an opportunity of hearing any of them, but so far as I gather from the unanimous assent of the public press they’have been powerful appeals made by a most powerful orator —a man who is identified with New Zealand by many a year of toil in early days and in later days. The country in all its centres of population has been appealed to, but in what general direction ? In the general direction of democracy. Do not let us blind ourselves by using long words without meaning. What I intend to convey is this ; the people have been directly appealed to on the principle that the people are powerful; that they are the masters ; that they ought to have full control and sway ; that they have not had .enough ; that they have been comparatively speaking down-trodden, and" that this now Evangel”, this new Gospel of democracy; is to raise them to a proper sense of self-respect, and to cause them to assert their political rights. I do not think that is au -inapt or incorrect description of what has taken place, in New Zealand for the last six or seven months ; I believe it is quite, correct. If this be true, what are we to comprehend when we are now told to assert our rights as British freemen? I cannot understand a doctrine which is an insult to the people of New Zealand, that is to say, that the gospel of democracy should be preached to a people who a few years ago threw in the dirt the most democratic principle : ever given to any people in the world. It is not only men that have suffered iu the cause of freedom. Women have been martyrs as well as men, and amongst those martyred stands one who lived in France and might well hold a high place. In her last moments of agony she exclaimed, “ Oh, liberty,; liberty, what horrors have been committed, in thy name.” I say that to utter words from your lips which mean one thing, and to do another thing, is to he guilty of hypocrisy. I detest sham and hypocrisy. I ask' you in this case whether you have not given up the substance and got the shadow ? whether, you have not given up the real power and 1 taken things which are showered upon your head in the shape of blessings ? What is the good of raising a pretty vision of something that you have nothing to do with. Tbo people themselves have done away -with their freedom, and it is simply ridiculous to preach the gospel of democracy and freedom. I have already told you that great changes have taken place since we last met. You' must not think that these words of mine tend to any inclination on my part to bring back that which is lost, the provincial form of government. That is like a river that has passed on : it has gone. What is taking place in Europe now is not a bad illustration. I think we have heard a great deal about the Bulgarian atrocities, and our Christian feelings have been horrified at these things; hut do you think that if you gave those people a constitution such as yours to-morrow they would keep it ? No ; they would lose it; if not to-morrow, at any rate shortly; because instead of their making it themselves it would be made for them. Have you the same affection for a child you have adopted as for one which was born to you in the natural way ? No. Do not misinterpret what I say. There was a conspiracy wrought out in the province of Canterbury to destroy that which I have referred to, hut the people who entered into the conspiracy had not the courage to put their hands into their pockets and take out that which was their own. I- refer to the Land Revenue of this colony. It was that which brought about the revolution I have referred to; and those who brought it about had but little idea'of what would be the result. What was it that chiefly brought about a change in the Administration last session I Why, simply that laud revenue question; but it is a singular fact that those who were most opposed to that measure last session are now the warmest supporters of it. They said, “ If we arc to be a great nation -wo must have one common purse;” and although it. was done in a land of faltering way, they took 80 per cent, and they might just as well have taken 100 per cent. It has been considered, and with some degree of justice, that the South Island was the milch cow that supplied all the land revenue, and that none but unscrupulous politicians in. the North .wished to get hold of this enormous revenue and appropriate it to their own purpose. Well, let ns see how this greedy North Island stands in respect of land revenue. I I have a map in hand, and you will observe that the prevailing color is brown ; all that land which is painted brown is native land. The only island in New Zealand that lias anything like an interior is clearly the North Island. It has a breadth that you find nowhere else, ond you see that the brown tint goes over nearly the whole of it. The consequence is that wo are almost entirely hemmed in. One of the great things wanted iu the Hutt, ami particularly in

the Upper Huttf is an'outlet—hot’a mere etd dt sac, hut an outlet to the West Coast of this Island. (Applause.) Do you suppose that if the provincial institutions had continued in existence that would have been the state of things to-day ? , I say no. I say that the land between. Manawatu and Waikanae .was bought by me while I was Superintendent, hut the matter was pigeon-holed; I can, however, tell you that if provincial institutions had continued to exist there would now have been at least ten thousand people settled between the Hutt and the Mauawatn, and there would have been a railway running between the two places. The fact is that Ministers do not know anything about the country. I say that if you go to the Minister for Native Affairs or Public AVorks on any subject relating to this part of tire country, his mind is a blank. The valley of the_ Waikanae consists of as fine land as there is to he found in any part of the world. Between Waikanae and Egraont there is nothing to stop you but the rivers ; but excepting a few ferries, the means of communication are not iu any way improved. AVas this a thing to boast of ? In the Upper Hutt there is rich and beautiful land and a splendid climate ; hut it is absolutely as great a waste as it was when the first settler came to it. ’When I became Superintendent I looked about in order to see what would be useful to develop the resources of the province. I knew that the acquisition of land was the great desideratum, and I set myself heartily to work to acquire it. On my own application I was appointed a Commissioner for the Purchase of Native Lands, and I met the chiefs who owned the land between here and Waikanae and purchased it. I went to ; the Government, the Prime Minister then being Mr. Waterhouse, and told them I would require £30,000. They offered to give rae£lo,ooo, but I would not accept that amount. I went to the Bank of New South AVales, with which I had kept au account for a long time, and on the personal security of myself and Messrs. Hunter and Bunny obtained an advance of £30,600. But when I was going to purchase the land ! was told by the Government that Superintendents wore not allowed to do these .things, and, that is why the Upper Hutt is hemmed in as it is. ‘ Do you know what the scheme is? It is to connect you with tha Manawatu, that is to say, you are to go by way of the Manawatu Gorge, and so on to Foxton, and then to communicate with the Manawatu. I went to the previous Minister for Public AVorks, Mr. Ormond, about this line, and he met mein a very fair way ; but of course he knew nothing . about the line itself; hut I do not complain of the men, I complain of the system. Mr. Travers, the member for, .Wellington, also brought up the subject in the House. He strongly advocated the making of the Hutt, - Waikanae Railway. There was a general scramble for land wherewith to make railways. AVe had to do something of the same sort, and we went iu for about 400,000 acres for the purpose of making this Hutt line. I may claim to be the father of this line, for I always advocated it. Mr. Barton.and my son at last picked out a route. We have on this side a leading valley, and on the other side a leading valley. I have been two or three times to the present Miuister for Public Works, Mi - . Macandrew, who is a man of life and progress,-and ho seems to he iu favor of the line. Some years ago it was not au easy thing to come to the Upper Hutt, although it is an easy matter to-day. : That would not have been the case if provincial institutions had continued in existence. Why should we be compelled to go back to the beginning ? -After you have got,: say, as far as practice iu arithmetic, is it not sickening to have to go back to addition ? The question of administration at present is thorough trying up, the problem being access from the East to the West Coast. All the work has to be done over again. They are to-day actually trying up Kaiwarra. The whole thing is so supremely ridiculous that if I did not solemnly assure you of it you might think I was chaffing you. They have been trying up.Nga-; hauranga, and now they are trying up Belmont. Of course that is absurd, but nevertheless these are the facts of the case. I have recommended Mr. Macandrew to employ a gentleman, Mr. Charles O’Neill, to survey the projected line of railway, so that he might have an estimate of the cost, and have plans before him previous to the next session of Parliament. Mr. O’Neill is here to-night, and I think he has done well to come here. (Applause.) Some few years ago I employed Mr. O’Neill to make a survey of this line; .but. the Government said they could not approve of the route proposed by him, because they were hound iu the interests of the public to go round by Ngahauranga and other places, in order that they might ascertain which was the best line to be made in the interest of the country. In this district we can only go by railway as far as Kaltoke, while in.the South Island they can go from Christchurch right through to Dunedin.. Some years ago I requested Mr. O’Neill to come down from Auckland and make a survey of the proposed line over the Rimutaka, and He did so. His estimate of the cost of a line by that route was £90,000. I presented his report to the Government, and they sent up some bigwigs, who gave it as their opinion that the whole thing as proposed by Mr. O'Neill was au impracticable route. But I say that by-and-byo the route proposed by them will be abandoned, and that of Mr. O'Neill will he adopted. These bigwigs proposed that the line should have a gradient of 1 in 15. Ido not think that such a line will ever do. I hope that before this week is over Mr. O’Neill will be able to form these lines and surveys, and that the Minister for Public Works will have these plans in his hand, so as to he prepared to ask for d vote of money for the purpose of making the line ; and I would ask all of you to render him any aid you can. You want to have your arms extended to the West Coast. The Upper Hutt has a great future before it; you have a more magnificent country before you than you are aware of, and I believe it will .yield minerals as well as timber.. I believe that the present Minister for Public Works,as I have said, is a man of progress, and will consider this matter iu the right light, and cause a vote to be put on the Estimates next session for the making of the Hutt-Wa^auae, railway. Otago and Canterbury, which form but a small portion of the country,, last year produced 3,713,018 bushels of wheat, 1,414,188 bushels of oats, 689,OOObuahelsof barley,or altogether upwards of eight million bushels of grain ; but these provinces have been fully opened up by railway. Our own mother country has actually to come out to this. country .for . her grain ; and yet thirty-five years ago New Zealand was peopled with aboriginals. AVe in this district cannot take part in producing this grain, because we are hemmed in. Sir AVilliani Fitzherbert then thanked His audience for having listened to him so patiently, and sat down amidst great applause. Mr/ Johjt Rush asked Sir AVm. Fitzherbert what his views regarding manhood suffrage were ? - . - •

Sir Wm. Fitziieehert, ja reply, said : Well, I do not know a prettier sounding term than “ manhood suffrage.” Why confine it ? Why he so illiberal as to say that only men shall exercise it?. Manhood suffrage ! As if the only human beings on the face of the earth were men ! I do not see why the right to vote should not be held by women. The truth is this: this cry of manhood suffrage is a catchpenny, but I will be the last to turn the cry into ridicule. If it is the creed, honestly believed, that a man, whatever he has been', may. be allowed to climb up to the highest position on the ladder, 1 shall support it to the beat of my ability. That is what ,1 have always advocated, and I do not believe there is anyone who has stated that to be his creed more thoroughly and clearly than I have done. It is a mere catchpenny to say, “let us have manhood suffrage,” while you do not want it.' I have always gone in for democracy. - 1 say that any man who is honest in bis beha;' vior should have the chances of rising to the highest point. I believe in true manhood suffrage, but X do not believe in “loaferhood suffrage” in conjunction with manhood suffrage. I say that the rich and overgrown people aro those who, if they could only get loaferhood suffrage, would rule you for ever. Avoid as long , as you can any of these high sounding terms which are unaccompanied with the reality. If the manhood suffrage cry is a reality I support it, but if it is a sham I do and will denounce it. ' If it id meant to apply, to . men such as Burns the poet referred to when he wrote “A mau’s a man for a* that," I will support it. A man is a man who does the work of a man, and who in trying circumstances shows himrelf to be a man. A man is a man who abhors cruelty, who does not beat his wife, arid who is at the bottom a man. I say that every intelligent, honest, arid conscientious male being is a man, and he should have the right ,to vote—aye, oven though he were only Id years of age. ; I should like to see the franchise extended to those only who have proved themselves to bo men, but until they have proved that 1 do not want to give them any voice in the government of the country. I would: not give, the right promiscuously to claim the privilege of voting. Noluss than 2'l years ago I was asked by Mr. William Allen yvhatmy.;,opinion, about man-

hood suffrage was. r, He asked me whether I would support it, and I said,“ Certainly not until a man has resided for a certain time in a place and proved himself to be a good citizen.” It is now, however, hawked about that 23 years ago I told Mr. Allen that X was in favor of manhood suffrage pure and simple. A man will not live for any length of time in a place if he cannot get a living there. As regards the lodger franchise I say it is a proper one, and X must say I cannot see any reason why women should not have votes. If a woman be intelligent enough to give counsel to her husband in regard to the ordinary affairs of life, she is intelligent enough to have a voice in the government of the cohutry. But I ask of you not to allow yourselves to he blindly and thoughtlessly led away by a mere catchword to give votes to unworthy people. In reply to the same elector, Sir William said that though he admired Sir .George Grey as a statesman he would not promise to support him or any other man. He would always vot s as his conscience directed. A vote of confidence, proposed by Mr. J. D. Cruickshank, and seconded by Mr. Jamies BuowN, was carried unanimously.