CAPTAIN PORTER AT ORMOND.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 1004, 26 November 1881, Page 1 (Supplement)

CAPTAIN PORTER AT ORMOND.

At a meeting convened by advertisement to be held in Bruce’s Hall at Ormond, on Tuesday evening, Captain Porter, one of the candidates in the field for the forthcoming election, addressed the electors resident in the district, at considerable length, and received throughout a most earnest, and judging from the applause a very appreciative hearing. The substance of his remarks was more or less a repetition of those enunciated by him from the platform in Gisborne, and which has already appeared in our columns. Amongst other matters referred to, Captain Porter shewed distinctly that his scheme to secure payment of the rates on Native lands was the only workable one, and that though two of the other candidates had opposed it, still they had not in any way brought forth any measure better suited to overcome the difficulty. In referring to his views re Government assistance to those who might be desirous of settling on the Waste Lands of the country, he very clearly showed that the idea was not at all a new one, as many clever administrators of New Zealand politics had advanced similar views in the past. He then read extracts from the speeches delivered in the House on the occasion of the debate re Sir Julius Vogel’s Immigration scheme, by Mr. Stafford, Judge Gillies, Mr. Rolleston, and others, all tending to the same point, and who, it would appear, have ever been actuated by a motive to confer the greatest possible good to the masses, their argument being that if you bring men to the country you must settle them on the land, or in a few years, as the Public Works would cease, great destitution would necessarily result, and an indigent population he left on our hands.

In referring to Mr. Gannon’s statement that he was the “ Hidden Hand,” &c., Capt. Porter stated that there were two parties in the district seeking to acquire land, the Land Company, and a clique of private speculators who were opposed to each other. He had not any feeling either for or against either party. In answer to questions, Capt. Porter stated that he was in favour of an elective Upper House, He thought that the Waste Lands should be administered by a Council, to consist of two members of each of the Cook and Wairoa Counties, and one independent member to be nominated by the Government. He was in favour of free, secular, and compulsory education. A vote of confidence in Capt. Porter was then proposed by Mr. W. H. Sceats, seconded by Mr. Richard Bach, and carried unanimously. A vote of thanks to the Chairman then terminated the meeting.