ANNEXATION TO OTAGO.

Southland Times, Issue 1190, 9 July 1869, Page 2

ANNEXATION TO OTAGO.

PimiJC MEETING: AT THE EXCHANGE ■'■••. ■:■-.. . HAW : ;■" ■. ■•■ A public meeting on the question of :4;he of Southland to Otago was held in the Exchange Hall, Dee-street, in the afternoon of Saturday last, 19th inst. The_ meeting was called by the committee appointed at a previous semipublic meeting to take such steps as to them might seem meet for effecting reunion: After waiting for about half an hour beyond the advertised time, a goodly number of persons, chiefly country people had assembled, and by the time the first speaker- was fairly on his legs the hall was respectably filled, .On the motion of Mr ¥m. Craig, seconded by Mr J. H, Smith, Mr William Eussell, of Eyal Bush, took the chair. The Chairman stated that he was not particularly well- informed regarding the object of the meeting, as he had only just hurriedly come into town ; he understood, however; that it was touching re-union with Otagb, and'so far as he could yet speak on the subject he was inclined to favour the proposition^ He had, at least, come' to the conclusion that action of some sort was indispensably necessary to get '„. iis out -.°f : the state of in "which we now were, but in the meantime he would prefer not to identify himself either .with those, who went in for re-union to Otago, or with any other; party. ; He; would call upon MrT. M. Clerke who was to move the first resolution. : : Mr Clebke said he hoped to see a much larger meeting, considering ..that, the* question they had met to discuss was one of the very, utmost importance. It was one which called for the greatest consideration on the part of all present, inasmuch as it involved the vital interests of every individual of the community. It w? 8 one which, although to some, it might at present seem of no moment, .would tell in the future, and on the result of which would depend to a great extent, the future of the district. J It was one on which he felt warmly, interestedly, for whatever affected the welfare: of the place and people affected hinv he bemg the. owner of property in the place> so that he was by no means a disinterested or indifferent advocate of re-union, • but supported it because he believed it to be for everybody's good. Hcwould like them, to hear, one thing | distinctly in mind, viz., the effect of the passing of the resolution he had to pro-r pose. It would. not accomplish the fact ] of re-union, hut would simply put things in train for coming to a decision on the question. - Some might object to the motion as committing them to re-union, ■ but such was not the case. It was simply meant to put them in the way of obtaining, the best possible information on the subject, and afford some tangible grounds to proceed upon; at present all was vague and misty. None would desire re-union without conditions, and the passing of his resolution would form the starting , point from which: to arrive at what the conditions should be — would afford something tangible to goon. It would afford the Council an idea how to deal with the question^ should it be brought forward there. But even in the Council it could . not; be settled;; at once ; they would merely have to appoint delegates; to meet and confer with other delegates similarly appointed by : Otago, and the question j with the light thus thrown upon it, would then again have to come before the people for its final discussion. There could be no doubt there was much need for something being done to -set the place agoing again. They all wished for something to do good to the Province, and to every one of them, and the resolution which he would now read was, he> • believed, a step in the right direction .-—"That 'in the opinion of this meeting the time has arrived when it is expedient for the i interests of Otago and Southland that re-union should take place on v fair and < equitable •;■ terms." You all know that for years the: Province has been going to leeward and general decay. ; : ; < • has been gradually going down, stock is depressed, and the hopes held out of ".prosperity have proved fallacious; -There are no signs of coming prosperity. .He felt Btrongly on this subject because: he owned property. Men felt such a state of things acutely when it;i*ffected .their pockets. (Hear, hear). Xou must. bear in mind at the time that this Province was separated from Otago, the > people of tnat province were more exclusive^ and sectional than they are.now. At tiW present . moment, Otago possessed a mixed population, and we had now a right to expect to be legitimately treated. He was not prepared with elaborate statistics in support of his viewfe^hut believed he was correct in stating that the debt of this Province, represented something like £60 per head. If -we were annexed the average would be reduced. An old resident lately asked him a question, ".would Otago wish reunion if it was not for her benefit." He (the speaker) had asked him another question by way; of reply, "would Southlanrt^sjjeJtjrj^nion were it not for her benefit, s ' "and he believed the reply toboth would be the same — it would be a mutual benefit. He hoped that all present would take an interest in the matter because this question affected p,'l interests directly and indirectly. We are bound, if we do not wish to see the place ruined, to take a part in politics. It was owing to our: letbargv that we are in the position ; w'e' fare: now iv. (Hear, hear.) Had all properly and nones fcly exercised their franchise the Province would have beenin avery different pos'tion. (Cheers.) He would also suggest, for the sake of. those in favor of railways, that unless annexation took place he could not see

how the Oreti Baibray would ever he finished; although he did not think that s matter of great importance. He would allude to another subject. ' His Honor stated, in answer to a question at the Bluff election, lately, that he hated annexation as he did the devil. He would put it to the meeting if that was a dignified expression to use. Although he could not blame His Honor in one sense for. hating it. If he^^the speaker) was in a similar position .perhaps he would hate it as much. (Laughter.) He must say that hecouldnotunderstandthe course pursued by Mr Longuet. Although he professed to be in favor of re-unon, yet he went and resigned to make room for one who expressed his opinion of re-union in the words just quoted. The fact was Mr Longuet appeared to look upon the Bluff as a pocket borough, and he believed it would be seen that when the Superintendent gets his purpose served, he would resign, when he (Mr Longuet) would go nto the Council again. (The speaker coa j eluded byreac^g out a list of the points on which he considered re-union desirable,) making a few comments oh each as lie -WGo.cee.de.d._ Mr Abmstbong, from "the body of the hall, intimated he had an amendment to propose, and: mounted the platform, reading first the resolution as follows : — " That the provincial system of government in New Zealand has proved itself ;far too expensive, and now that that form of government is in a high state of decay, it is not good policy to perpetuate it by re-union with Otago, but that it would be better to endeavor to establish in this colony the system of government under which the* Australian Colonies are prospering, viz.— by governing the colony as a whole, and thus do away with a number of petty provincial Parliaments which create expenses quite out of proportion to the population." (Cheers.) He (the speaker) proceeded to state that he had resided in Otago eight years, and two in Southland, during which period he had opportunities of forming a fair judgment of the mis-rule which had been adopted under the Provincial system. (Cheers.) 3f,however, Provincialism was a mistake, and its present decay .was ample proof, re-union was a more grievious error. (Hear, hear.) The existence of Superintendents, and the number of provinces were one vast mistake, and the only remedy he could see, was a system of self-taxation, in the institution of municipalities, by which our roads would receive proper attention, and the expense of the conduct of which would be of little moment as compared withthe present mode of indiscriminate and lavish outlay. He had not come prepared with any tabular statements with regard to Provincialism or Centralisui, but to advocate the policy pursued in the Australian Colonies. He would, however, be glad to hear what .arguments the supporters of re-union would advance, and these had failed to, convince him that they were based upon sound views, or would remedy the evils of the present, which reminded him of the Kilkenny cats— their tails •made to appear before the bodies were consumed! (Cheers and laughter.) Mr Bain proceeded to . catechise Mr' Armstrong regarding the expenses of shire councils, when — Mr Hajjvey rose to order, stating he would be ashamed of his fellow-citizens if they did not allow lair play to the speakers who were adverse to what he would term " sneaking" to Otago, and on being pressed . The CHAiRMiLif ruled that it was out of order to demand statistics from Mr Armstrong. Mr Haottait, who was received with applause* said— l have much pleasure in supporting this amendment. Annexing this Province to Otago is a more important question than many people think it is (hear), and requires a man of much wisdom and political experience to decide it, whether it is for good or for evil, whether it is for the benefit or for the further ruin of- Southland; it simply means giving up the management of our own affairs, and allowing the Government of Otago to manage for us^ and take the whole of the revenues that the Government here now receive!, (Hear, hear.) If you want.roads and bridges made you will ibe continually getting up petitions, and ending deputations to Duoedin, a. distance of 145 miles ;". and their. answer will be— gentlemen; you see it takes more than your-own revenue to pay the interest on the debt you have contracted, but we will manage it another way for you ; we will pass a law to enable you to do it by making every settler in your district pay 6d or Is per acre annually, which will raise money enough for the purpose. This is similar to what they did in Otago ; they made the poor, industrious settlers pay for the roads to the Lakes, a distance of 220 miles, and then allowed the heavyladen waggons and Cobb's coaches to cut them up without paying anything, so that you see the settlers here, by supporting the cementing of this Province to Otago, are only making a rod for their own backs, and which they will have cause bitterly to regret, lamenting by their own firesides, [f you want the streets or footpaths repaired, and a sum of money put upon the estimates, you will be told—gentlemen, we will give you a Corporation, and you can elect your own Mayor or Chief Magistrate ; make every house and shop in the town pay 2s in the pound annually for repairing the streets ; Is in the pound to pay the police, and 6d, in the pound for the support of the poor and destitute ; make every horse and dray, every baker's and butcher's cart, every express and carriage in ' .tho town pay a license of about £3 10s per year; for nothing .delights a government official more than itaxing the people and raising a good revenue— this is something like w'aat will come to pass. "It is better" to ibear the ills we know of, than flee ;to others that we know not of." ilt is well known, that the people of every j country are apt to be too much dejected 'with/ every, misfortune, and rejoice too much with every success or prosperity they meet with — are always unsteady in

their opinion — not long of the same mind — not having time to study political subjects which are out of their calling, and there are in every country discontented politicians, who because they cannot get government pay themselves, are trying to turn those that do put. A short time ago it was stated in' a newspaper what enterprising men the Dunedin merchants were ; that they had pushed their trade to Invercargill, Riverton, and Queenstown and many of the stores in this town were supplied by them with goods, and even the Dunedin hawkers had overrun the borders of Southland. This is in consequence of the high price demanded by the wholesale stores here ; in fact, there is not one in the town that could supply a store. All the manufacturing industry will be developed in Dunedin ; your pier at the Bluff will go to decay, and dry docks for the repair of the shipping will never be built at the Bluff, which is by natural position admirably adapted for it ; in fact we have everything to lose, and nothing to gain by annexation. These are a few of the mny reasons why the people of this town and province should not support this movement of welding this province to Otago. "Welding, gentlemen, this is too substantial a word, it should have been fusing, for the sparks will leave the substance as in welding, till there is nothing but the skeleton left of the original body of Southland. The supporters of this movement say that they wish for annexation, because we cannot pay the interest on a debt of £400,000. Now I think the Government here could raise the money: to pay, off all the debt by adveitisiner Stewards Island for sale m

the newspapers of London, Dublin, and Glasgow, and have a company formed for its purchase, or several cpmpanys in each town to cast lots amongst them to become the possessor, for I believe it has mineral resourses enough to pay the debt 100 times over, and many capitalists would take shares if they were guaranteed the exclusive right to the whole mineral resources as well as the freeeold of the Island— -if that was found not to be a sufficient offer, the waste lands as well—or it is easy enough to think of other plans — it only wants an energetic business man to carry out this movement, and all would be right again. We have had lately a Dunedin draper and shoemaker open business in this town encouraged by the high retail prices. In fact there is not a wholesale store in the town that could supply a general store. I . wish many more of them would come and settle among us to make up for those that are going away ; so that the remedy lays with the leading men of capital and importers of this town to get .. suitable goods from home to supply the stores #ith, and retain the customs revenue that now goes to Dunedin. To make, a country prosperous, there must be a large population in the chief towns employed iv manufacturing the common necessaries of life, as in Melbourne, so as to cause a demand and consumption for the farmers produce. If the promoters of this meeting were to advocate and agitate for the possession of tihe natural boundaries of this Province, which were withheld from it at Separation, they would become more true patriots, and study their country's cause far better; that is all that piece of land lying west of Southland to the sea, which the people of Riverton wanted the other day to form into a separate Province. Can I believe thgre is some secret service money afloat from Dunedin for the support of. this movement. Can I believe there is anyone base enough to' sett their political birthright for a mess of pottage, which will supply their wants for the present, and leave .them destitute for the future ; two men in the street the the other day were so sanguine on annexation, that one said to the other, the anniversary ought to be on St. Andrew's day. . Oh no, said- the other, it ought to be on the 17th of March, but in. my. opinion it aught to be on that memorable day in ancient history whea the most valuable thing inßome was precipitated into the yawning chasm, and disappeared for ever. Now the most valuable thing we possess in Southland is the management of our own affairs ; are you going to part with that for ever ? I say no, and I hope I shall have | the support of this meeting. The promoters of this meeting are men without hope, and unable to do battle with the difficulty before, them like a drowning man grasping at a straw that is unable to support him ; but let them rely on the strength of their muscles to keep them afloat, and help , "wilt be sure to come and relieve us of pur difficulties if we only put the right man in the right place. (Applause.) Mr John Weight announced he had another . amendment to propose, _and to use the language of some celebrated writers felt himself "all in a muddle." He came there to be informed that Otago would put us all to rights. . He would ask why could not shire councils effect that ? (Hear, hear.) Opponents of the ' latter and advocates of re-union had been holding meetings and preparing statements. Could they not have found time to enquire into the . merits of shire councils? (Hear, hear.) Did the fact of our having been prodigal leave us no other resource than to go back to our elder brother ? No, rather let us throw ourselves on the parliament of the colony. (Hear, . hear.) The prodigal son had wasted money, but had ,not Otago been equally lavish, and squandered money on objects which were calculated to take away from Southland her best resources? (Hear, hear.) What could we thus expect from Otago ? He wondered how this movement originated — whether the much talked of Executive squabble had anything to do with it, and whether this was not got up to put the "kibosh" on the squabble. (Laughter.) One benefit it might have, viz., to stimulate the people to take action in pub.He matters. (Hear, hear.) The system he would advocate would be local boards., (Cheers.) Give liiverton a municipality. JLet these boards consist of five or seven,

according to population. Let them have simply a clerk (if one of their number could not do the work), let him do all the work of rate-collecting, valuing, &c, and representatives would be on the- spot to watch their own interests. (Cheers.) ■The present system showed the way our little money evaporated on returns, clerical assistance, printing, (laughter), they might laugh, but he could assure them printing was a very heavy item. One, thll| was a certainty; things could not gopn.as at present, let us petition the .G&eral- Government in favor of local boards, and a stronger but simple Government. He was no advocate of separation from the North Island ; for while we were suffering the greatest depression in the south, he would, make due allowance for the Maori rebellion, which we would hope would soon beovercome. He would point out the rapid strides Auckland was making, and the development of the riches of the goldfields at the Thames and elsewhere. The speaker concluded his remarks, while agreeing with a good deal of Mr Armstrong's remarks, especially as to road making, by proposing the following amendment: — " That it is not desirable in the opinion of this meeting that this Province should re-unite with the province of Otago, ! but rather ask the General Government to abolish by act of Assembly the present Provincial Council and establish Shire Councils, or any other mode of managing their affairs economically." (Loud cheers.) Mr H. E. Osbobne announced that though not fully prepared to endorse the sentiments of the previous speakers, he would, pro forma, second his amendment, believing, as he did, that a radical change was necessary. Much had been and

could be said on either fide, but he considered the promoters of the re-union movement had not come prepared with a sufficiently tabulated statement of present expenditure, or what better position would.be gained by the adoption of the plans they had submitted. The speaker dwelt at considerable length, and very forcibly on the present embarrassment, arising chiefly trom the liability of the G-overnment to pay weekly for interest a sum he computed at £427 per week ; how impossible it would be to keep up paying such an amount, and that therefore the debt must be paid. Bather than let the interest run on, a depreciation in the value of land must be submitted to, and Stewart's Island be sold. A previous government had committed a fatal error in free selection previous to survey, which resulted in the best land being sold, and the refuse left. (Hearhear.) This was noreason why Pro vincialism was of itself bad, the present state of things had not arisen from administration of a bad system, but from mal-ad ministration of what might prove best if properly handled, and therefore it was uniair to condemn what had never had a proper chance. (Hear hear.) The Chairman here pointed out that that the speaker was not agreeing in his remarks with the amendment he was seconding. . Mr Osbobne claimed to be heard on the ground that he had previously announced he did not entirely coincide with the proposer, but rather seconded his amendment projorma. He proceeded to advocate Provincialism, but a still further reduction in the expenditure far better that any alteration ; for the present depression was not limited to Southland, but extended to the whole island. That great observer of passing events, one whom be had not the pleasure of knowing, the Rev Mr M'G-illivray," stated atßiverton, that this was the worst governed colony in the world. "What a pity the people had not sooner taken an interest in these matters, but it was better now than never; let the stir be made, and the franchise be used to some purpose, instead of putting into the Provincial Council, as unblushingly had been done, contractors and government officials, contrary to all precedent (hear, hear), let them be business men, and above all, a business man for Superinten dent (hear, hear), let them get out of debt, get rid of that racking interest, eating into the very vitals of the Province, and sell Stewart's Island, if only £10,000 be got for it. Mr Dalbymple would not trouble the meeting with many remarks. He had heard and read a good deal about the county system, and was favorable to Mr Wright's amendment, but for ' one difficulty. If he could be enlightened oh this'subject, he might perhaps j.oin him in this county system. He was desirous of knowing how a Eoad Board would be affected as regards the heavy burdens of interest on our debt. Mr Kinboss stated he had come into town to recognise the importance of the object, but not prepared to make more than general remarks. The choice lay between a county or re-annexation, the latter of which would receive his support, though more complete figures should '■ have been brought forward, and more ample statistics. The speaker's arguments consisted of our liability for' interest being £27,000, .and our income but £30,000, with nothing for public works, the advisability of Southland's debt being merged into that. of Otago, followed by a comparison with England; the manner in which Otago had done her duty in opening up roads, and by send? ioggood representatives, Southland would get her share ; the impossibility of Wellington, from its central position, giving this province fair consideration, while Otago was a natural adjunct ; the equal difficulties local Boards would have to , contend against as the present system — the absurdity of Mr Armstrong's comparison with Australia, by reference to the peculiar conformation of New Zealand — the incorrectness of Mr Hannah's remarks on self-taxation, inasmuch as government furnishes supplementary aid in proportion to each taxation. The speaker then alluded to the injustice of imputing interested motives to the promoters of the re-annexatiou movement, or Otago

influence brought to bear upon any concerned in it. He fully agreed with Mr Osborne in nig views of mismanagement. G-overnment had impeded progress iv the discouragement of manufactures and ■ introduction of capital, and now provincial governments had no longer power to issue debentures, and believing in the strength of union he was favorable to Southland again joining the sister province. (Hear, hear.) Mr Habyet stated that his object ia attending the meeting had been to occupy the position of a silent listener to what he expected to be carefully prepared arguments and statistics, showing the desirability of re-union with Otago. In this he was disappointed — no facts or figures were produced, and the consequence was, he could arrive at no definite conclusion. He had taken some pains to gather the nature, and take some notes of the numerous reasons urged by Mr Clerke why such a step was desirable, but unfortunately the echo in the building was so great he had been unable to arrive at the whole of them correctly. One, however, of which he had a memorandum, had Btruck him as peculiar, viz., " because Southland was the heart of Otago." This the speaker commented upon in a physical point of view, as an unhappy metaphor, the inference being that Otago would drain the blood from " the heart," and such he was afraid would be the case. (Applause.) Such had been the case. He was not a resident of Southland at the time, but had good authority for all he stated, while at the same time he was liable to correction. The present

Superintendent, Mr Macandrew, at that time,;held-the same official position as he does now with regard to the province of Otago, and when he came here for the purpose of using all his endeavors to oppose the separatiou of Southland, he was guilty of grave misrepresentations. Some of these related to orders given to the captain of the steamer " Queen," as regards that vessel calling at the New Eiver, and which statements of Mr Macandrew, the captain distinctly denied. He was most averse to making use of any personal remarks, but with these and other facts before him, and knowing what a judge has publicly stated — (Uproartor some moments, and cries of " shame " on the platform), fie was not. to be put down whea a sense of duty compelled him to make such things known. It was a fact that Mr Macaudrew had made overtures to certain parties. (Continued uproar). He had no intention of giving names, it was quite sufficient that he had seen the letters. (Sensation). He was not afraid of stating all he knew with reference to any public man, and had come there as a perfectly disinterested man, not having previously formed his own opinion — nay, further, he would support re-union, if what had been embodied in the requirements of Southland, could be obtained. The arguments that had been brought forward were the getting rid of the debt, and being better, represented. The speaker then expressing his firm belief in retrenchment, and keeping up a small staff of officials, reminded his hearers of the salaried persons under the Provincial system being consumers, and the public money" being thus expended in the province. He acknowledged the better system of roads prevailing in Otago ; in referring to the re-union argument of having immediate monef for this purpose, these were, however, at a cost of £42,000 per annum, or £300 a mile to maintain. He was decidedly of opinion that the construction ox railways, where remunerative, was of material benefit to a country, but strongly deprecated the outrageous expenditure which had taken place in this Province on such works — and instanced how Otago with her better roads, had found the necessity of making railways. The appointment of delegates at this time was a premature step, which if carried out, might lead this Province into a position from which it could riot well retreat. (Heat? hear.) He would like to know how it could be expected that Otago would better administer the affairs "of the district than she does those of her present outlying districts. If, as was not denied, her inland towns now had cause of. complaint, how could we expect that she would act differently towards us, that our interests would receive that first and favourable consideration which she denied to important outlying places already within her borders, and which had claims upon her quite as strong as which could be advanced on our behalf. With regard to the extraordinary prosperity of Otago, of wbich so much was made, he had to remind them that it was not due to any peculiar energy or enterprise on the part of her people, but to a combination of exceptional and favorable circumstances — her great goldfields. Any other province with the same ppportunities and advantages would, no doubt, have made equally rapid advancement, as was evidenced by the more recent prosperity of Auckland, a prosperity purely contingent upon the development of goldfields. A short time since that provnee had appeared to be on the very verge of ruin,' almost of annihilation. One of her merchants had told him (Me H.) that he used to be positively afraid to face his office in the morning, being in terror of the dishonored bills he expected to be waiting his arrival, and that his was by no means an extraordinary case. Look at Auckland now, ' how she isrißing, but it is herminesthathas done it all. "We had never had a goldfield of any consequence, or we would not now be seeking annexation. Another thing to be remembered was that we could not expect to be in as good a position as places bo much older than ourselves, as Otago and Auckland. He would like some of the speakers who might follow to show how re-union was to benefit us. That point had not, in his opinion, yet been established. If it was said we would derive a benefit from an increased expenditure on roads and > public works, he would ask from what

source the money was to be derived. Mr Bain, interrupting the speaker— you had better cut it short Mr Harvey, your remarks are getting distasteful to the meeting (mingled cheers and hisses.) Mr Habvet-^I have no doubt what I am saying is very distasteful to you, Mr Bain, but I don't think it is to the meeting, if it is I will stop. (Loud cries of no, no, go on, and cheers.) Mr Habvey continuing — From what source was the expected monies to come. Erom Otago or Southland. If it is. to come from Southland do you expect your six representatives in the Council of Otago to be able to raise for a revenue there, when your twenty cannot do it here. Do you think it likely that at that distance, with the whole business of the larger province to attend to, six men will be able to administer your affairs better than twenty can here, at hand, with nothing but your interests to attend to. Certainly not. (Hear.) It is notorious 1 that you can scarcely get members here willing to devote the time required even for our short sessions of council, when the place of meeting is at hand; how then can you expect you Will get men willing to leave their places of business, their runs, or their farms, to attend the longer sittings of a distant council, and I devote their minds to the discussion of subjects in which they were but little interested. The result could easily be foretold. It would be that members would be wearied out in the protracted discussions of the important questions I more immediately affecting Otago, or Dunedin rather, and when they had retired in weariness or disgust, the affairs relating to this district would be

hurried through by Ofcago members at tlie fag end of the session. (Hear, hear.) This, he contended, was a fair way of putting it, and he would urge them to consider these things before they parted with tneir rights. He believed that one legislative body for the whole of New Zealand would be the best, with local boards, but did not think re-annex-ation to Otago a step in that direction Neither was he in favor of separation of. the two islands. He would not shirk the responsibility of the war. No doubt it was a burden, bat was a mere pecuniary consideration to make desert our fellow colonists in the north in" their extremity. Were we to do ourselves what we so strongly condemned the people of England for doing — leave the north to fight their battles single handed ? No. We had* not to bear the sight of butchered relatives, ,and burnt, houses, in addition to the drain on our resources, as the people of the north had. It was a. libel in our race to insinuate that they wished a continuance of the war fur the sake of the war expenditure. Such an idea was contrary to the instincts of a British community, and is dishonoring to those who could originate or entertain it. He would be in favor of one G-overnment for the, whole colony, and a vigorous prosecution of the war. The latter, he believed, the people of the North to be as eager to see terminated as we ourselves were. He had heard it said that this meeting, or movement, had been got up by the members of the late Executive, for purposes of their own. This he did not believe. The fact was that nobody could interest themselves in public matters here without having dishonorable or selfish motives imputed to them. Those insinuations were no credit to their originators, and did a deal of harm. Men got disgusted when their actions were constantly misconstrued. For having been lately active" in public matters himself, he had been said to have an eye to the Provincial Solicitorship again. He would move as an amendment— "That this meeting forms into an association for the purpose of procuring a pi oper adjustment of the boundaries of Southland, and for developing its resources." He believed we should, and could meet and surmount our difficulties, and would not run to others for help. A few more meetings for the discussion of our position and prospects would, he believed, do good, as likely to elicit ways and .means for wbrkiag our coal, lime, and otherresources. (Applause. The CflAiKStAir, on rising to read the resolution, said that he might jufffe remark that it would be advantageous if speakers would address themselves directly to the question, instead of talking against time. . Mr C. D. Ibyiwb (from the body of the hall) seconded the resolution. . . ... Mr Clebke then came forward to reply, and said he had been, much astonished to hear Mr Harvey insinuate that some of the members of committee were influenced by certain motives in the action they had taken. Mi* Harvey (remounting the platform) — I said nothing against any of the com- . mittee, and nothing against Macandrew, except that, feeling Provincial Institutions to be shaky, he was anxious for re-union. (Cheers.) ./....- Mr Clerke continuing, commented briefly on the several amendments brought forward. The Chaibmait then put the amendments to the meeting, seriatiam, beginning with the last, when he declared them all lost on a show of hands. The original motion; Mr derke's; was then put, and also lost, by a majority of two to one, but: the chairman declared himself unable to decide by show of hands.- This ■ decision created much confusion and r ! dissatisfaction, during which the chairman. called upon the meeting' to divide. ; A portion did act in accordance with* the request, but the ,great majority left the hall, apparently disgusted with the manner in which the amendments and motion Jiad been put. In the confusion^ the chair-' man, acting upon the suggestion of some pue at his back, declared the motion carried.

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