PUBLIC MEETING.

Southland Times, Issue 691, 3 July 1867, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

( Continued from lost issue. J Mr Wilson, who prefaced his address by asking the indulgence of the audience on the ground of unpreparedness — having received notice of the meeting only the day previous, and suffering under an attack of rheumatism that rendered his journey into town a difficult and painfnl task. Now with regard to the railway question. Twelve monchs ago he bad opposed the extension of railways for what he then believed to be good reasons. He was now prepared to support it on equally good grounds. (Applause.) When he opposed, the Bluff and Oreti Railways were not finished — two good reasons for not making a third until they were. Now the Bluff line was finished, and proposals were made to construct an Eastern and finish the Oreti Railways. In intimate connection with the railways was the laud question. The Chairman had told them 200,000 acres of land had been sold without reducing the debt of the province more than. .£65,000. ■ This he believed to be perfectly true, and as long as the land continued to be sold \ as it had been — so long as one-tenth part was given to the runholders — the same result would follow. Some might say that it was too late now to discuss the matter, seeing that two years ago the subject was settled in the Council by tha Waste Land .Resolutions. At that time they had what was believed to be the best Executive they ever had — an Executive comprising a gentleman who had, as Dr Menzies elegantly expressed it, " forensic training " — an Executive in which more confidence had been reposed than in any before or since. For himself he (Mr W.) could say that he was never more.disappointed than by their acts. He said this openly, and wished there were more of his fellow colonists present to hear him. (A voice — " The time is against it.") He , had remonstrated with them, and he divided the Council on the question of extension of leases and 2d an acre rental. Where were the representatives of the mercantile and country interests then? The amendment he proposed was to the effect that there should be no extension of lease, and no rent exacted. His supporters were Messrs M'Nab and Howell. What was the consequence. That for 8 years from that time on all land sold on runs there was 2d per acre compensation paid to the runholder. That would not have been the case if the extension had not been granted, and many of the squatting licenses had only a few years to run — : some only two or three — when they would be open for lease again, and more likely fetch a shilling an acre rental than twopence. The consequence, however, was plainly that if the land was lowered to 10s an acre they were compelled to give away one-fifth of the public estate. That deed was done by " the best executive they ever had " for their own interests. " Free selection " was held out as the bait — what did it mean but a licentious freedom to the gentlemen in possession (the squatters) to, so to speak, " pick the eyes out of the land." One of them, Mr M. Holmes, had spoken last session about the desirability of locating men and women on the land instead of flocks and herds. But what had his firm done after coming into operation of the Land Resolutions ? Why they " spotted the country on which their station was in numerous blocks of 20 acres, the .lowest quantity they were allowed to take in one piece. Was that to encourage the settlement of men and women, or to keep the land for cattle? Tet the public stood by while those things were being done and did not exclaim against them. They had heard much said of the frauds in connection with railway compensation, but the compensation to runholders was a greater fraud. He had gone into the Council because he felt strongly on the land question and that he was determined, if he could not do good to try to prevent evil, but he had not succeeded. He wrote a letter, published in the papers for the information of representatives in the G-eneral Assembly, but of what use was it? The majority of them belonged to the class the most opposed to progress, producers whose market was not here but in England, men for whom the more the population of the province was poverty stricken the better. He might make enemies by speaking thus plainly, but he ought not. If they simply bought as large blocks of land as their capital would compass it would be perfectly fair, but the system of spotting they had recourse to was a robbery of the province. Why some of these men had actually employed ;j surveyors to mark out sections in the passes between mountains in such a manner as virtually to lock up the conntry. And for this they were given 2s an acre for what? for having the remainder of the country for next to nothing; compensation for the loss of what never belonged to them. He (Mr Wilson) wanted an extension of Hundreds, in his opinion — formed after a residence of 26 years in the colonies, a period during which he must have learned something of the matter or have a very thick head —by far the best system extant. But the class (apatting) h$ h&4 a^dy Eluded

to as everywhere opposed to progress, had overwhelming influence in the G-eneral Assembly, and until the people bestirred themselves and looked for other representatives, the same evils would continue, if ever worse did not happen. That question of the land was the most important of any, railways were nothing in He had said that for a poor man to be a freeholder of 100 acres on a run, meant ruin to him — he was bound to fence it in and could not run a head of cattle outside, but at the risk of impoundage. But what could one member do. There was only one way and that was to endeavor to get an alteration of the land laws so as to give away some of the 2d an acre estate. Supposing for example that 20 acres were given to every person paying his or her passage from the home country — they would probably buy as much more, and add at the same time to the Customs revenue. Even from the paltry threeeighths—if they were allowed to retain, it — from every 100 acres so disposed of they might expect (by the location of five persons, to get £10 per annum, instead of the 16s 8d at present obtained. The only difficulty was, could they be got to come and take it? If they could, in five years, by giving away 100,000 acres, they would have the population of the province increased to 10,000, and the whole of its debt paid. (Applause.) But this would be quite an impracticable scheme if gentlemen were to be allowed much longer to buy "spots" and render the bulk of the land valueless. He was willing to admit that it was a bad, thing to change land laws — but they had been changed to what they were by the men who would raise an outcry against another change. To men who raised the cry of " reduction to 10s an acre " he could say they had better buy freeholds at ,£1 an acre before the "spotting" was completed. It might be said that the present land laws • were like those of the Medes and Persians — unalterable, but it was not so. [Mr "Wilson read extracts from proceedings in committees of the General Assembly in support of his view.] But to effect anything the people must put men in the Council and House of Eepresentatives who would carry out their wishes. Eeverting to railways Mr "Wilson said that Mr Holmes was last session a special pleader against them. He (Mr "W.) could call to memory that before he sold out of the Mataura district Mr Holmes was in favor of them. If railways could be cheaply made anywhere it would be in Southland. Quoting from the " Australasian," of the Bth met., he found a report concerning a railway between the district of Eiverina and Sydney, in which it was estimated on the authority df competent engineers, that the line could be constructed for .£3OOO per mile. More than that, it was stated that responsible contractors had offered to do the work at that price. Now, he believed, there was no part of Australia, unless it was over a dead plain, that was equal to the country to the Mataura in suitability for railway making. He (Mr W.) saw elsewhere in the report that .£6OOO per mile was estimated as the cost of a railway over another part of the (Australian) country. But the surface was difficult and mountainous. Of course if things were to be managed here as they had been, 150,000 acres would not be enough, but there were checks provided in a Railway Commission Ordinance, and the supervision of a Greveral Government Engineer. Mr "Wilson then reviewed at some length the past transactions in connection with the railway spointing out that those who had endeavored to do their duty by obtaining a full investigation had been attacked by the then conductors of the press, and charged with interested motives. Yet the public stood quietly by while the province lost more than £70,000, (as Mr Holmes had since stated), by the failure to investigate. The public were silent until it was to late— the misdeeds were done and covered up, and the kind of Commission appointed " whitewashed" the whole affair. He could never forgive some of those in high places — drawing large salaries — connected with the affair. ("Name.") Even in more recent transactions contracts had been let at three times the money they should have been done for: Yet they had -'professional men" about the government, gentlemen whose capabilities admirably fitted them for the nice adjustment of a finger ring, but whose practical use was such that the province would have been better without any such "profeSisional men." Had they done their duty the Government could have stopped the contractors — there would have been no " compensation," but they (the contractors) would have had to pay a penalty. But after all there was no force in the argumentt that because the Bluff Railway cost so much that the Mataura line must necessarily cost the same. As regarded the completion of the Oreti line he was bound to disclaim any personal interest in its completion, which he desired on altogether public grounds. He had seen an anonymous letter in the papers (for bis own part he thought no worse of 0} on that acoounij j it wa,s not

of what was written) in which the writer inquired where were Wilson, Armstrong, and others when the things of which he had just spoken were done — when those Land Eesolutions, &c., were passed? He hoped he had shown where he was. In his opinion it was not the contractors who were to blame about the railways but the officials— the Eesident; Provincial, and Consulting Engineers who had permitted the wrong done. These were the men who stood quietly by to see the country robbed. He (Mr W.) at the time of the introduction of the wooden railway saw a letter in the " Nelson Examiner " warning the people there to wait for the result of the adoption of the "patent" by Southland before having anything to do with it. That letter he thought of great public importance, and went to the office of one of the papers — the "Times" — to ask them to publish it. They declined, but within two days it was said all over the town that Wilson had been trying to get a letter published " against Marchant and Davies." Moreover the only copy of that letter was removed in some strange way from his room at the hotel, and the people of Southland had never yet seen it. Mr Wilson next reviewed some points in an apology for Railways by "Alpha," who applied his arguments specially to railways, although they might equally well have applied to roads. The action of the late government was precipitate, but the gentlemen by whose assistance its members were ousted would not have given it but for their land being threatened. There was a little affair in connection with the Eccles arrangement which it would be well to notice. Two thousand acres of land were said to have been selected for or by him on a certain run. The ranholder heard of it, came to town post haste and the selection was changed. That gentleman subsequently voted to keep the late government in. Then Mr Cuthbertson threw oil on the troubled waters. The late government when pointedly asked, said " that no provisional contract existed," but a glance at the correspondence showed that there should have been. The fact was they were as usual not pre-pai-ed at all, and they were very properly turned out. The ■ Council, he thought, should have simply accepted the offer in such a way that the General Government could not draw back, inasmuch as all the representatives, with the exception of Mr Wood, were against railways, and such matters, although talked of in the Provincial Council, were ultimately dealt with in the General Assembly. There was a bonus of .£IOO for the first 1500 bushels of malt made in the province — that was really a gift to one person, as it was not likely to be competed for by the public. He had opposed it. He would say that the first available money they had ought to be devoted to boring for coal, a mineral, if found good and in abundance, of more importance than gold (applause), and for which a good market could be found. The indications in this province were as good as those in other parts of the Middle Island. He had omitted to notice Mr Holmes' proposition of a tramway to the Mataura. As the proposed railway was to form a part of the main trunk . line, a tramway was manifestly out of the question. But if the railway were made the settlers might have tramways to serve for side roads. With regard to the Eailway Commission Ordinance which was proposed — • as laid before the Council it put the whole power in the hands of the Superintendentit was fraudulently concocted, so to speak. They did not know who might be Superintendent. Although they had nominally responsible government the Executive could really not do much good unless the Superintendent went honestly with them, because through a clause in the New Provinces Act he could exercise a veto on their acts— they might' certainly resign their seats. It seemed to him than an enemy had sowed tares in that field. It would be for the public to support men who would go in to repeal that ordinance. The power of veto vested in the Superintendent was too much for any man to possess. (Applause.) Mr Wilson then spoke of his position as Speaker, a position in a measure forced upon him, and expressed his willingness, if his constituents desired it, to pledge himself not to again accept it. He pointed out that although precluded from joining in the debates, in committee he was able fco exercise a due influence, and instanced a certain new Police Bill providiug among other things in opposition to accepted practice that parties accusod should prove their own innocence, legalising private whipping, &c, that on an amendment he introduced, it was " knocked on the head." (Applause.) Mr Wilson now expressed his willingness to answer any questions. Several ■were put and replied to satisfactorily to the audience. Space will not permit us to give them in detail. Among them was one " who would yoii vote for as Superintendent in the event of a dissolution " ? Reply — « I would pledge myself to vote for no man unless he came forward to give a full exposition of how he would conduct the public business of t his office, and state his views generally." Captain #uJ4 as&tf « wfeat w§r<J ?staft£l JMjfef

in Australia ?" The reply was understood to;be"l9 percent." Mr Perkins said he wished to make a few remarks on the " fraud " of 1865 — the Land Eesolutions. Mr Wilson reproached the public for standing quietly by to see the wrong done. He appeared to have lost sight of the fact that a numerously signed petition was got up in opposition — the promoters being a committee consisting of Messrs Mitchell, Beaven, Lumsden^ Pratt and himself. But it had no effect— the Council carried most weight, not the people who were_ supposed to be represented in a constitutional way. There was another thing to call attention to. The Southland people returned three squatters to represent them in the General Assembly; could they expect to have their interests cared for? Mr Wilson apologised for having by some means lost sight of the facts relative to the petition. Mr Kinross was loudly called for. In reply he briefly explained that he was not an elector of lhe district, and that he had simply attended for the sake of instruction. In the proper time and at the proper place he should be quite willing to explain his views. Mr Beaven then moved — " That this meeting has the fullest confidence in Mr Wilson, as a member for the Waihopai District in the Provincial Council of Southland." Seconded by Mr Beown, and carried unanimously. Mr Brown then moved—" That this meeting wishes to express its disappointment at the absence of Mr Clerke and hope to meet him on an early date." Carried. A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the proceedings.