SPEECH DELIVERED

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 226, 28 November 1874, Page 2

SPEECH DELIVERED

BY THE HON. SIR DONALD M‘LEAN,

K. C.M. G., At the Compiimentaey Dinnbb given TO HIM AT Napier ON THE 10TH November, 1874. Joseph Rhodes, Esq., M.P.C., in the Chaib.

Sir Donabd M‘Lean said, that he felt deeply gratified at the kind manner in which they had responded to the toast, and at the reception given him this night. On looking around him he saw a number of old friends witli whom he had been associated in the past, and he regretted that the exigencies of the public service, and his duties as a Minister, had necessitated his absence from Hawke’s Bay. He was afraid that in proposing the toast the Chairman had been too flattering in his remarks. He could however say that, during the thirty years he had been in the service of the Colony, his best endeavors had always been directed to the maintenance of that peace and tranquility which now prevailed through the length and breadth of these Islands. He was happy to find that his exertions in this direction had met with the approval of the country, and he was most gratified with the confidence reposed in him. In reference to the Chairman's allusion to the honors conferred on him by Her •Majesty, he could assure him that he felt most proud of them, all the more so as they had been bestowed without any solicitation on his part, without any recommendation from the Colony, and more especially as they were granted while he was their representative in the New Zealand Parliament. The fact of this recent distinction coming in so marked a manner, no doubt in recognition of past services, enhanced it much in his estimation. state of the colony in 1869, and policy

OF PUBLIC WOBKS AND IMMIGRATION. He would now briefly revert to the time when he undertook the duties of Native Minister. The circumstances of the Colony were then such that it was imperative that strong and. vigorous measures should be adopted to grapple with the existing difficulties, and nothing but decisive steps could have saved the country from ruin. The party with which he was associated were, as well as himself, fully impressed with the necessity of a colonizing policy, which should open up the country and people it. They knew the great dormant resources of the Colony, some of which were only partly revealed, while others lay still hidden, and they felt thoroughly j u stifled in adopting the policy of Public Works and Immigration, with its concurrent expenses, being quite certain that in the long run the outlay would be amply remunerative. Without measures such as they had used, the country would not have been restored to a healthy state, and he could point to the present prosperous condition of the Colony as a proof of the wisdom of the course pursued. Their anticipations were being realised: the progress of prosperity was evident to all, and as far as the resources of the country went, we were only touching the outer crust. From this policy a system of road works and railways had originated, which was piercing the country in all directions through the interior, and along the East and West Coasts, and extending settlement over lands formerly lying waste and useless. They had seen the development of the scheme of Public Works and the manner in which they had been carried on; in many eases in this Island the roads being constructed by the very natives. Who, in former times, had been most strenuous in their opposition, to the advance of settlement. railways. At present there were over 100 miles of line open ; at no great distance of time another 100 miles would be added, and so the Hues would go on gradually extending. It was in contemplation to form a main trunk line with branches acting as feeders to it, tapping the interior districts; and, to carry out this view, the total length of railways now authorised amounted to over 1000 miles. In New South Wales, the first railways commenced fourteen years ago, cost no less than £40,000 per mile, though now they were constructed at something like a quarter of that sum; yet, notwithstanding the benefits of these railways, which carried 800,000 tons and 1,200,000 passengers annually, weye such that it was computed that the reduced cost of transit give a yearly saving to the Colony of not less than 2,000,000, besides indirect advantages. In Victoria, where the expenses of making the lines bad gone as high as £34,000 per mile, last year the railway returns exceeded by £200,000 the estimate of the Treasurer of that Colony. It wa» proved beyond doubt that the further the lines extended in Australia the better they paid, and there was no reason for thinking that similar results would not take place in New Zealand. He could well remember what occurred in Canterbury when Mr. Moorhouse, who was then Superintendent, boldly formed a tunnel to connect the port of Lyttleton with the interior plains. Anyone now visiting Canterbury could see at once how that [fine Province had been advanced by its rail ways; the country was opened up, settlement was spreading, and trains were constantly running laden with produce for export. The receipts of the Canterbury lines were £77,000 in nine months, and would most probably amount to £lOO,OOO for the year. ROADS. But while advancing the system of railways the Government had not been unmindful of road works to open up country which, before their time, might be said to be inaccessible. He could point to nearly 1800 miles of roads, bridle' tracks, and tramways in the Northern Island, and 230 miles in the Middle Island, as an example of what had beeu done. TELEGRAPH. There was another matter which the Government had not forgotten — the means of communication by Electric Telegraph. The system had been rapidly extended in the Colony, and, from 1329 miles of wire which in 1869, the length had now increased to 2530 miles. The wire would soon be extended to Australia, and then New Zealand would be iu direct communication with the mother country. One of the chief objects of his late visit to Sydney was to arrange for the joint action of New South Wales with New Zealand and Queensland in this matter. Queensland had cordially co-operated, and.had passed a resolution affirming the terms settled at the Inter-

colonial Conference ; while New Zealand had acted similarly by an Act of the General Assembly. GOLD MINING. The important interests of gold-mining had not been neglected by the Ministry ; it was felt that a population which had exported £29,000,000 worth of gold should receive attention, and, accordingly, assistance had been given to the mining interest by the construction of water-races, <fcc., on the goldfields. immigration. A steady improvement had. taken place, aud now the tide of good immigration had set in from country districts for our shores. It was not too much to say that by the end of the year the immigration policy would have increased our population by 50,000 souls. ABOLITION OF PBOVINCES. He need not tell them that he was a firm believer in the necessity for such a step. The framers of the Constitution, with the exception of Sir George Grey, did not look upon the provinces as permant institutions. They had been necessary in the infant days of the Colony when communications were difficult; and it was in consequence.of the different circumstances of the various parts of the Colony, and the want of intercourse, that Sir George Grey was induced to advocate granting increased powers to Provincial Councils. We had roads and railways; the telegraph brought all -the towns in the Colony in close connection one with the other; steamers.carried us from portto port and with these increased means of communication the necessity for provincial institutions had disappeared. In order to show that the original framers of the Constitution did not anticipate any settled permanency for the provincial system, he would read some extracts from despatches from Earl Grey and Sir John Pakington: Earl Grey, Secretary to the Colonies, writing in February 1852, to Sir George Grey when Governor of New Zealand, thus expressed himself : —“ With respect to the powers to be entrusted to the (Provincial Councils, I am disposed for my part — notwithstanding the alteration which you state to have taken place in your own views on this point—to think that, in the progress of events, as colonization extends, and the several settlements are drawn nearer to each other in boundaries find interests, they will very soon assume more and more of a municipal character, while the functions of the General Legislature will increase. But I do not think it would be advisable to introduce any special provision either to accelerate or retard such a gradual change. Anticipations as to the course political affairs may hereafter take, are everywhere liable to be. disturbed by many unforeseen events, and most of all in new and advancing societies. Hence it seems to be the wisest course to rest satisfied with adapting the institutions which are to be established, as well as may be practicable, to the existing state of things, leaving their future development and the alterations which a change of circumstance may hereafter require, to be effected by the local authorities thus created.” In the debates in the Imperial Parliament on the subject of the Constitution, doubts were expressed as to whether legislative powers should be given to tile Provincial authorities, and whether Superintendents should be elected. This would be shown by extracts from a despatch from Sir John Pakington, who succeeded Earl Grey on a change of Ministry:—“ It has been thought advisable that the Provincial Councils should consist of a single chamber. They (Her Majesty’s Government) have been led to this conclusion by the comparatively unimportant nature of the functions of these councils, which will be limited to local objects, such as would be considered here to be of a municipal character, rather than partaking of the higher attributes of legislation. Nor have provisions been inserted giving executive authority of any kind to the Superintendents. It is, however, my wish that any such executive powers as may be found necessary in order to carry on the functions of Government in the respective settlements, may be entrusted to these officers. This may be done by your own authority as representing the Crown, or by Act of the central legislature, as the case may require, but they should, at all events, be always included iu the commission of th? peace for their respective localities.” The time had come when a change was required in the North Island, so that the work formerly carried oatby Superintendents and Councils should be undertaken more directly by the people themselves, under a simple, less expensive, and more practical machinery. The system to be proposed in place of the present institutions was already provided for by the Municipal Corporations Act, which was sufficiently elastic in its provisions to meet every possible local requirement. It was only necessary to provide for the requirements of the country districts, by giving them more extended powers of administration, instead of the powers of logislatidh at present possessed by the Provincial Councils, e* Representation could be given to the smaller road boards bytthiting several of them together, who could then send representatives to a general Shire or County Council; and the purely local questions of roads, bridges, drainage, &c., would be carefully considered and dealt with. He believed that the Shire Councils would be inexpensively worked, and that here, as in other countries, able persons would be found willing to act gratuitously as chairmen or presidents. As for those people who said “Let us see what you intend to substitute before you abolish the Provinces,” depend upon it they did so for a purpose—from some interested motive—not from any general desire for the public welfare. The desire of the Government was to give the outlying districts the management of their own affairs as far as possible, and thus prevent the centres of population from absorbing the entire revenue. He did not see any difficulty in the way of the efficient and satisfactory working of such a system which would give a fair chance to outlying districts. There was no doubt that they were now sadly neglected. In the Province of Auckland, for instance, the settlers at the Bay of Islands and about the North were constant in their complaints up to the time when the General Government undertook the formation of roads there. Scarcely a shilling had been spent by the Province in opening up those districts, and the Bay of Plenty and the Waikato also continually represented that they had not their fair share of expenditure; while coming nearer to N apier

they found Poverty Bay thoroughly dissatisfied with the manner in which it had been treated. Some of the requests from this last district were of a very modest character. There was one in reference to the supply of a Provincial Government Gazette, but he was not aware whether even this small favor ba 3 been granted or not, He wished to see the revenue more localized, and, as far as possible, expended on roads and public works in the district in which it accrued. The present duplex system of Government, with its separate survey and police, tended to confusion, to create departments, to cause difficulties, and to increase expense; whereas he felt certain that the proposed arrangement of Road Boards and Shiro Councils would do all the work required from them at a far less rate of expenditure. He had heard it asserted that a reunion of the separated portions with the original provinces would be advantageous; but he was not of that opinion. Hawke’s Bay was now prosperous aud flourishing, and it might be that her revenue would not be altogether unacceptable to theoldparent province. But he would like to know whether the inhabitants of Hawke’s Bay would care, with their past experience before them, to have such a reunion. Taranaki, too, with its fine lands and rapidly increasing estate, would object to be amalgamated with Auckland. For his

own part, he could only say that whatever might be the opinions entertained by others, he never would be a party to such an arrangement, and he believed that on the principle of a burned child dreading the fire, the people of Hawke’s Bay would object to a fresh union with a province of which they had already had quite enough. While on this subject he might mention that it had been alleged in a portion of the Press, and repeated over the Colony, that Mr. Vogel had gone home to get an Act passed in the Imperial Parliament for authority to abolish the provinces. This was entirely unfounded ;—-there was an Imperial Act of July 31st, 1868, intilled “An Act to declare the powers of the General Assembly of New Zealand to abolish any province in that Colony, or to withdraw from any province any part of the territory thereof,” and which gave full and ample powers to the General Assembly to deal with the question. The Premier was perfectly aware of it, and was not so unintelligent as to go home to undertake a work" already accomplished. There was not the least occasion to ask the Imperial Parliament to interfere further in the matter.

INDEBTEDNESS 01? THE COLONY. There were many misapprehensions abroad on the subject of the indebtedness of the Colony, so he would take this opportunity of placing a few facts before them which would show what the position of the country really was. Prior to 1869 the Colonial and Provincial debt amounted to over seven millions, and much of this had been occasioned by war. The total debt of the Colony on the 30th June, 1874, was —Colonial, £9,907,024; Provincial, £3,504,712, making altogether £13,411,736. Against this total debt there were Sinking Funds accrued to the amount of £902,189 19s lOd, so that the ,net total indebtedness of the Colony on that date amounted, to £12,509,546 Os 2d. But . since then, on the Ist of November, the debt was further reduced by the redemption of Treasury Bills to the extent of £lOO,OOO. The sums remaining to be raised were Immigration and Public works loans, £5,327,900; defence loan, 192,000; general purposes loan, £230,900: making the total future debt of the Colony £18,160,346 0s 2d. The annual charge on this sum would be £921,447 for interest. It was, however, to be observed that before this annual liability occurred, more than six millions of money had yet to be expended, viz., Loans yet to be raised, £5,750,800; balance of cash available on the 26th September last, £2B6,l6B—total, £6,036,968. LAND PURCHASE. In connection with the public works and immigration policy, which had been already adverted to,itwas found absolutely necessary to create a colonial estate on which to locate, whether by special settlements or otherwise, the numerous immigrants arriving on our shores. By the Immigration and Public Works Acts the Assembly gave effect to these views, and large tracts of lands were now passing into the hands of the Government. Under the old system of land purchase the Crown had acquired six and a-half millions of acres in this Island, a portion of which was this very Province of Hawke’s Bay; and now, under the present operations, the lands purchased and leased from the natives, or for which negotiations were in progress, amounted to over seven millions of acres. An estate of this extent,. comprising great quantities of fertile land, was of incalculable value, and would, in the nature of things, increase. NATIVE AFFAIRS. Touching the Native question, it had ever been his earnest desire, and that of the party with which he was associated, to establish a reign of peace. He felt that no good object could be attained by continuing unnecessarily a warfare against a fine warlike race of people who possessed numerous good qualities, while they could be induced to live in peace and tranquility. He knew that he was working for the interests of both races in persevering peace and preventing strife, in which the weak and helpless were the chief sufferers; and as representatives of a civilised nation, it was our duty to abstain from any unnecessary warfare. He had experienced many difficulties in the pursuit of his views, and had met witli some obloquy, but he had been able to persevere, and with the support of the Urge majority of the colonists, and of the loyal chiefs, he had succeeded in smothering the embers of war which existed or were smouldering when he took office. As to the remarks which had been on several occasions made respecting his policy, he could ignore them when his conscience satisfied, him that he was following the more humane and proper course. His duty was to consider both races, and he had carried that duty out to the best of his ability. He had mentioned the support given him by the loyal chiefs, and he would repeat thal had it not been for their hearty assistance it would have taken a very much longer time to bring about the present peaceful state of affairs. There had been complaints made about the Native Office, and most absurd exaggerations had been spread about the cost of its management. Everything was really very plain, and the accounts were all made publie, so that no misunderstanding ought to exist. There was no doubt

that altogether the Native expenditure had been heavy. It had cost the Imperial Government £12,000,000, and the Colony £4,000,000; a great deal more than our present indebtedness. But he would like to call attention to a few facts. In early days, when no war was iu progress, the expenditure on Native affairs ranged from £ll,OOO to £15,000 a-year. Afterwards, when the duties of the department ceased to be controlled by him and he became Superintendent of Hawke's Bay, these expenses went on increasing, until one year they reached the sum of £60,000. Now they were much diminished,“and it should also be remembered that included in the £39,000 devoted last year to Native expenditure, £9,500 went to the purposes of Native schorls and education.

He hoped he had not trespassed too long on their time, and in conclusion he must acknowledge with gratitude the able co-operation and efficient support which he had received from the officers of his Departments, both native and military. To them he owed a great deal of the success, if he might call it so, which had attended his administration of native affairs. And for the true and cordial manner in which he had been during trying times supported by his constituents he begged to return them his sincere and hearty thanks.