PUBLIC MEETING.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 100, 5 April 1884, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

mr. McDonald addresses his constituents. Mr. McDonald addressed his constituents last night in Parnell and Boylan’s Hall. There was a large attendance, the hall being filled. Mr. C. Smith, who occupied the chair, said—This is not the first opportunity I have had the honor of presiding as chairman at Mr. McDonald’s meeting, and I hope it will not be the last. Mr. McDonald now comes here to say good-bye before going home. I believe we shall see him back again contesting this seat, and I hope successfully. About five years ago I think you will remember a dinner was given to Mr. McDonald on the eve of his intended departure for home, and it was his honest intention to go home. In fact he was anxious to go. But when he got to Auckland, the leaders of his party put pressure upon him, and ho consented to stand again, and was elected. The session following party feeling ran so high that they again put pressure upon him to stand, and he was again elected. This time, however, he intends going homo, and you will have to elect some man to take his place, and I hope you will get as good a man. Tho only thing that could be said against Mr. McDonald is that by a very curious fate nearly all the time ho has been representing this district, ho has been in the Opposition, which is bad for the place, but it is no discredit to him. I consider that it is an honor for him to stick to the party like he did. I' fully assuroyou thatthe obligations which the party to which he belongs, arc under to our member, arc so great that they will not forget them. I feel sure of that. There is one subject that I wish to touch upon, and that is one of the first importance to the district. It is tho harbor question. Tho question has now assumed a more hopeful shape. A few years ago, tho county settlers did not seem to take a very eager interest in the harbor scheme, but I am happy to see tho residents are taking it up. A very important industry has sprung up in the meantime, which promises to be a good one. That is the freezing industry. And the people see that we should have a harbor here. If the present Government did not support us in the past, they will not do so now. Mr. McDonald on one

occasion—(Voice : Let McDonald speak for himself) —Mr. McDonald introduced a Bill in the Lower House and to the surprise of the Government the measure passed there, but they managed to shelve it in the Upper House, and I feel sure that the present Government will not give any assistance to the carrying out of that scheme. On the other hand the Grey Government are pledged honorably to support a Gisborne Harbor, and if anyone can read the signs of the times, and if we are to take the newspapers of the Colony as an index of the following, the signs of the times are that the present Government is played out. We wish the Government to tackle some good hard practical work. We don’t want to be stumping the country about with national insurance, <fcc. We want to put in that party which will support solid work. As I said before, the Grey party are’under such strong obligations to Mr. McDonald that they are bound never to forget the fidelity which ho ■ has shown, and they will not forget it, and although Mr. McDonald is going away, I advise those gentlemen who supported him to ’ stick to their colors, for which ho and they ■ have fought all along. They will have a prei dominance of power. If you put in a man , representing the other side you will again have a man in the Opposition. (Applause.) Mr. Me.Donald rose amidst much ap-

plause, and said :—Mr. chairman and gentlemen, I am sorry to announce to you, that I meet you to-night on a different footing to what I have done when addressing you here before. I regret it very much. Gentlemen, you will all remember, at least the most of you, that it was my intention to go home long ago. Private business called me. I got as far as Auckland. I had all my luggage on board ready to start, when I received a telegram from the Grey party asking me to contest the East Coast to keep Captain Morris out. I did so, successfully, as you all know. I agreed to contest for that Parliament. I asked the party to try and get someone for the last election, as I was anxious to go. Then party feeling ran so high that they asked me as a favour if I would stop till such time as the oountry was with our party. I say the majority is with our party now, and I say I want to go home. I say the electors of this district, if they stick to their colors, the colors that they have nailed to the mast, they should return a member to represent them the same as I have done. It is useless for a man to say that he is independent, there is no such thing in politics. If a man is independent and does not support any party, he drops between two stools. At the last election the Government were very strong in the country, especially in this district. The three candidates who put up against me announced themselves Government supporters. I saw the Government were wrong, the Opposition were right. The Opposition

I believe in. I believe they are liberal, and I believe their land laws are better than the present Government. (Applause.) I went in on the Grey ticket, and I stuck to it loyally. Now the only thing that induced me above all to allow myself to be nominated as a member for the Coast was this : The district was neglected; there was nothing doing. When I came here twelve years ago there was hardly a house in the place. I saw it was a fine district, and I made up my mind to settle here, and fight for the interests of the district. I did so, and I say now that this district has been neglected in every shape and form. I did my best to get a breakwater. (A Voice : Why did you not get it ?) I expect that is a Government man who spoke. He belongs to the people who are afraid of being taxed, and who are afraid of a breakwater. (Applause and laughter.) Let me tell you that it is necessary before you can move in introducing a Bill to get the consent of the Government; that is if the Bill deals with crown lands. In one case I brought in the Tauwhaparae Block, 40,000 odd acres. I got the consent of the Government, who were then the Hall Government—the continuous government that it is called. They gave me their consent, thinking that I was a new member and that I had not sufficient influence to pass it. They found their mistake. They voted against it at every stage, and then I passed the Bill through the Lower House. What was the result ? Why the Upper House threw it out. Last session I brought it on again—exactly the same kind of Bill. I could not move in it. They would not give their consent, knowing well that I had a majority in the Lower House in favor of it, and lhat they dare not throw it out in the Upper House a second time. I only got their consent the first time, because they thought I had no influence in the House. (Voice, Of course you had no influence in the House at all). Now it was only the other day it was announced in the Telephone I think, stating distinctly that if this Government were to go out, as it is an understood thing they will, we would have a poor show for a breakwater. I say this, that whoever wrote that, knew little about politics. All the Government supporters voted tooth and nail against it, and all the Opposition for it. That is how the thing stands. One party is actually pledged in black and white to give us a breakwater, and the other party is pledged never to give any Crown lands for that breakwater. I say I was doing justice to the district in supporting that party. Now, I say this, with regard to the papers in this place, that they are not doing justice to the district. If I was editor of the papers I would never be satisfied, I would fight for the good of tire district, but these papers get advertisements from the Government, and of course they will not fight against their own bread. I say now what I said before that I shall abuse the p. ess the same as I would do any private individual. I don’t care for the press. Why, with regard to this breakwater, I took it up some five years ago, but then the Councils would not back me up. Why did they not back me up then as now ? They cannot deny that I saw the wants of the district five years ago. But they threw cold water on all my endeavors. (Applause.) These are the men that you return to the Councils to back me up in the House. They have never done it, they were afraid to be taxed. They are the people who have got a big stake in the district, and they are afraid of being taxed. I tell them now that I have got as big a stake as they, but I am not afraid to be taxed. I do not think I will say any more about the breakwater. Another thing I did my best for, was to have good roads. There was a time when in going to Ormond I have had to go through fields, but now the road is quite good. I I don’t ask for anything, but I say there the roads are, whoever got the money for them. 1 remember, at the last election, there was read at Wairoa at a public meeting, a telegram stating that the Govennent did all for the district and not me. It was strange that the Government should do that for the opposition. I do’nt believe the Government knew where the money "-was going, for they knew very little about it. I believe if you got £16,000 or £12,000 voted, the Government of the day would have no idea where it was voted for. They would not know whether it was for Cook County, or, we will say Waimea County in the Middle Island, and it is useless for them to take credit for the like of that. Another thing I went in for strongly was a Bill for dividing the land. What was the result ? Pressure was again brought to bear. I passed the Bill for the sub-divi-sions. What is the result ? Some settlers who had influence here trying to grab everything as long as they could keep buying from the Natives. But when this Bill was passed, all the land was sub-divided. I refer to Makauri, Matawhero 8., and other blocks. Is not that a benefit to the district? (Applause), this was done only two or three sessions ago. The next thing I tried all I could to get here was a Supreme Court, I succeeded in that after fighting for years. (Hear, hear.) Thon I did all I could to get a Registrar of Deeds office and a Native Land Office here, I got all these grants. I tried to get the Native Land Office hero, which is now at Auckland, but the moment that was announced all the Auckland members got up a cry against it. Mr. Bryce was I apprized that he could not carry the Bill through the .House, and that it would be thrown out. I went to him and I said the East Coast wanted a Native Office, and that if he would arrange with me to have an office at Gisborne, that it would be very likely I would support his Bill. He said he would not promise anything of the kind, but he said if the Bill passed, he would see me afterwards. i the Bii! ]>ass.ed. Mr. Shf flian and other influencial men voting against it. I succeeded and the result is that Napier has to send their deeds up here to be registered. I say now that we are fairly entitled to have a Registrar of Deeds Office, and Stamp Office here, and I

hope whoever is returned will insist on tliit being done. (Much clapping and applause.) Another thing I wont in for, and that was a Waste Lands Board, so that wc can have the control of the lands here instead of the Board being at Auckland. But I did not succeed in .his. Bui surely they can get men here as good judges of land as the men employed in Auckland. Well, I lost this Bill by one vote, I brought in the Bill from Wairoa and Cook County, but Mr. Sutton turned round and voted against the

Bill, and we have to thank him for not having pulled it through. I did all I could to have a Judge of the Native Lands Court appointed for this place. I mean a District Judge. I don’t mean a portmanteau judge. I wanted to see a judge for the district settled down here with office and staff. I say there is plenty of work here in Wairoa and Cook Counties for a good number of years to come, and would keep a judge going. With regard to the papers again, I don’t say that the Herald is right or wrong, as a rule they are generally—(Voice : Very wrong)—As a rule they go and give news to one another. Now these are the papers we have to depend on, but I don’t say whether they were right or wrong. Now there is one other thing I should like to refer to, that is with regard to what took place between myself and Mr. Bryce, re Te Kooti. I was accused—(Clapping and loud applause)—l was not here at the time of the massacre when the people were butchered in cold blood. (Interruption). I thought he did a great wrong in shaking hands with a man that had committed such acts. (Applause). I was accused and twitted in the House that I had no right to the confidence of the people I represented. I say if it is the wish of my constituents that a man of that name the name of Te Kooti, who has committed all these outrages, should shake hands with a Minister of the Crown. I think it was my duty to say what I thought, and I say so now—(loud applause). Now, as I have been at loggerheads with the Press, I may as well be with the Councils. You will remember, with regard to the Taruheru bridge, that there has been £1,500 obtained for it. The last time the Council put in an application under the Roads and Bridges construction Act, I saw Mr. Blackett, and he and I came

to the conclusion that it would be better to alter the application, and we would get £3,000 instead of £1,500. They did this, and everything was arranged before I left Wellington, and we were to get £3,000. When I came up here I was surprised to find that the application had been altered, and therefore we only got £1,500. Now, only the other day Mr. Mitchelson informed me that if they (the Council) had left the application as it was, we would have got the £3,000. I told the Chairman of the Wairoa County Council how to go to work in making their application. They did exactly what I

told them, and they got the full application. I will come back again to the newspapers. It is only the other day they were in a state of mind as to whether I was going to resign or not. Leading articles and reports were out, and they abused me for not giving full information. I gave anyone that asked me the same information —that I had made up my mind to go home; everything was now arranged, and, bar accidents, .1 would go home first opportunity. It is my duty to tell you publicly what I am going to do before I tell them. You are the men that placed confidence in me, and I should abuse that confidence if I did not do it. They further abused me by saying there would be no time for an election. Now I telegraphed on the Ist of April to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. “ Parliament meets 29th May ” —They did not know that Parliament met then, for they cannot summon Parliament before the 17th of May—(much disorder) — I telegraphed, “ That the Parliament would meet at the end of May. If I resign within ten days from the first of April, can another Member be elected in lime ? Kindly reply.” Here is the reply “ Sorry resigning. It would take six weeks to return another Member.” Now there is two months from now, the Parliament will meet on the 31st May, and will adjourn till the following Tuesday. Nothing is done the first week that Parliament meets. All I can say is that I shall not sail one of the electors of this district. I shall give them ample time to elect another member. I am not going to detain you any longer. I may tell you I did not think I had half the work to do until the other day. I have been run off my legs, and I hope you will excuse me, as I have not had even half-an-hour to think of what I was going to say to-night. Another thing I should like to say—and what I would not have done if I was going to contest this scat again. I refer to a certain thing which took place in the street a time back. I was accused of being the working man’s friend by one of your wealthy people, who told the secretary of the Hospital to go to me for a subscription as I was the working man’s friend, and he would double what I gave. The Secretary came to me and asked me, but would not tell me the name of the other party. I told him I would not agree to such a thing, as it was extorting money, and I would publish him. At length he gave me the name, and I thought then that it was my duty to the men that stuck to me. I saw the slant. (Laughter.) I saw if I gave £lOO he would get £2OO from this other individual. (Laughter.) Then there would be the Government subsidy which wold make a grand total of £6OO for the hospital. I said if I never do another thing for the working man, I shall do this. I told the secretary I would publish all this, and I did, and you got the money. Now, take my advice ; I have been a working man, and I say stick to the party that gives you power to reject or elect anyone you choose. (Applause.) Now gentlemen, I have to thank you kindly for the honor that you have done me in electing me every time I contested, and I say that whether I am in the House or not I shall do my best for the interests of this district—(much disorder). I have made up my mind to make it my home. I am only going Home for a trip, and I will always remember the electors of Poverty Bay. Again I say I believe the the party I supported will be the making of this district—(loud and continued applause). Mr. DeLautour, who was received with much clapping, said: —Mr. Chairman and gentlemen,—Having now resided among you for, I think, more than two years, and being an elector, I claim your indulgence to say a word or two to you to-night. I feel the more impelled to do this on account of the peculiarity of the occasion on which we have met to-night. I could see that when Mr. McDonald sat down there was no spirit of captious criticism of the working man, but a sort of subdued expression, “Well, you are going and we are not going now to critisise and question you,” and therefore I did not wait any longer at the back, but ventured to come up at once, just to say what I want to say. So long as Mr. McDonald has been in the House, he and I have been wo” <ing side by side for the same cause and purpose, and I do not know that we have disagreed in anything, because we have both taken this view, “ That come what may, we must stick by our party.” (Hear, hear). If the case is sufficiently great to make a man feel that he must assert that individuality, then the time is come to meet his constituency and tell them so. Shoulder to shoulder is is the rule, and men cannot flinch. That member who thinks his constituency is to be gratified and future elections are to be won by haunting the cabinet door of the Government, I say that member sinks into individual insignificance, and is despised by his party. Li Mr. McDonald we have never to ask “ Where is he,” when he is wanted. Party Government may bo wrong theoretically and much may be said of the views put out in Dunedin the other day by Mr. Braithwaite of favoring the American democratic system, but wc have the constitutional form of Government. There is no man in tho House so popular or more thoroughly trusted. You may get a man with qualifications in excess of his, but you will not get a man, 1 fear, with the same power and will to aid you. He has got no enemies and makes many friends. (Applause) Our color has been Grey, and I do hope, gentlemen, that in this contest, whatever wc do let us pul in men of color, not colorless men. We don’t know who arc the candidates are yet, but I suppose we shall to-morrow. I have nothing more than to ask you now to join with me in according Mr. McDonald a most hearty vote of thanks, and our joint wishes for his f.iture prosperity. Groat applause). Mr. File endorsed the former siioaker and seconded the motion. A vote of thanks to the chair brought the proceedings to a close.