MEETING AT WALLACETOWN.

Southland Times, Issue 1080, 28 December 1868, Page 2

MEETING AT WALLACETOWN.

(FEOM OT7B OWN COBBESPONDENT.) The self-styled " Retrenchment" Association (which, so long an object of merriment in the Eastern District, appears now to have formed a branch among the more simple and credulous of the farmers in the New River District,) ' called a meeting last Tuesday, at Wallacetown. It was attended by several settlers, of whom some were heard afterwards to complain that they had "lost an afternoon's ploughing, i listening to such rubbish." Mr P. < Dalrymple was there. , notwithstanding s the recent exposure in the Provincial ( Council of his sel&shness, meanness, and utter inconsistency ; but Mr Dillon ] Bell, whose name had been largely j issued as a bait for the credulous — did not, I need scarcely say, c put in an appearance, (discretion waß the $ better part of valor). i

The chair was tftte&Vy ftr#> Sttltetti farmer, upon which Mr George Brown, of L; dbroke, rose and said he relt bound to object to hia (Mr Bu88eir») fitness for j the part tie had assumed. He (Mr- B.) * [ had the interest of. the. Province at heart ; as much as anyone, and considered 1 it his duty to expose the attempts, of tin* scrupulous aiid self-Seeking p^ratinS tti force themselves into public notice. He had to charge Mr Russell with direct falsehood, and moved that he was not a fit and proper person to take the chair *or interfere in any way with the affairs of the country. The Province had already suffered enough- from the intrusion , elf selfjtsh, aijd\ incompetent persons; liitdt thh &dver'nmeht, and ii was time thai there should be a stopv s puti^bj; M Some discussion ensued, "and *mr Brown was requested to state his grounds for I the charge. 'This he was proceeding to I do, when it was objected that it would take up too much time, and ultimately the subject dropped. The following resolutions Were then passed :-^ . : ' ; . 1. " That .this meeting ; cpn4einijs. tfaja manner, in which .-the, goyerjim'ettt jtif jahe province had hitherto been conducted, through the. revenue being wasted in maintaining a needless' number of officials, and through the utter disi«egard for the future shown by squandering the public estate, and hopes the present Executive | Will submit to the Provincial Council I a really genuine scheme of retrenebU mental 2 . , , ; 2. "That this meeting would press upon the Provincial Council the great importance and urgent necessity for insisting upon a thoroughly satisfactory scheme of retrenchment, and not a mere sham of displacing; a few officials to make rodjri fdrfaYdritisi JJ v ,v ■«-. ~V' ' 3. " That, independently of other reasons, the bare fact that the enormous debt has been rapidly increasing, while,. by large sales and. votes ; of. land, the; means for meeting it has been greaffy diminished, renders it an important duty upou the Provincial doiincil to vieAo*\ l'ialise the General Government to reduce the cost of the general expenditure in Southland as much as possibly, with a due regard to the efficiency of the public service!" „' 4i "That a return be re^ueste^ o*f all sums that have been expended during the past four years under the head of unforseen contingencies, specifying to. whom and for what the money has been paid said, return to be examined and certified by the auditor." ( s i '$. ..." That any scheme .^fj-imniigr^tiok will be defective and urisatis 4 factory wTiich does not hold out especial encouragement; to small farmers to settle amongst us, because it is chiefly from their families : that farm laborers and domestic servants are supplied, and that therefore it would be well if Southland could hold out thfe inducements of an econdolidal Gfoverrifinent, with the public burdens few and' light— land for sale on credit, and upon easy terms ; open pasturage, free' from sheep* that they may be sure of feed for ■their cattle; and roads by which they may bring tbeir produce to market,— for such inducements would go far to aecUre 4 a supply of the sort of immigration m<j«ifc needed ; but at the same time, to prevent disastrous consequences, care must "iSe* ' taken not to bring out more people dej pendent upon kbdr, tHdn are likely to 5 obtain employment:" .1 B.— "That the chairman be directed to send a copy of these resolutions to the General Government, and to all the members of the Provincial Council, requesting the former that no further accommodation be given with respect to arrears of Interest or grants of land, and the latter that no salaries majr be voted un" til a satisfactory scheme of retrenchment has ' been eatried through." These resolutions were propose*}, seconded, and spoken to at great length, bui uo thing new or noteworthy was said, if perhaps we except Mr Kinross who., ' enlarging on the ' rights of Britons," &c.'j. remarked that people who did not go to | public meetings were brutes, and even less than brutes, lower even than swine j pigs, &c> <fee. i -„.'. Among these who Assented- waf Captain George Thomson, who" remarked I that a government and paid government officials were hecessaryj aiid existed in every civilised cdtirttty. fie had travelled over a large part of the globe, and the only place be was ever in where a different custom prevailed, was an island to which he was trading for cocoanut oil. He was invited to a royal dinner-parfy there, and noticed that the sole article of of attire consisted of a ' bell-topper' hat which was Worn by each giiest j the 1 king wais distinguished by wearing a silver soup ladle instead. , That, was the sort of community in which there, were no paidgovernmento"fficers,ahdhedid.notcon-^ sider them worthy of imitation. (Laughterjjff|| The truth was the promoters of the meet- * ing wished for places themselves j now ifhe (Captain Thomson) wanted a place,: he would go boldly and honestly, and ask for it, and not go sneaking about trying to take the bread out of other people's mouths. They had wasted a whole afternoon in the most ridiculous manner, nothing had been done but to talk non- ' sense. He could have ploughed half-an-acre while he had been wasting time there. The meeting lasted several hoiira.l Qur New Eiver friends are. fortunate in being able to command plenty of spare time for amusement. - - -; -^