PUBLIC WORKS AND LAND SETTLEMENT.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 145, 13 March 1886, Page 5

PUBLIC WORKS AND LAND SETTLEMENT.

Address by Sir George Grey. Auckland, March 5. In response to a request from the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Sir George Grey last night addressed a public meeting in the Theatre Royal upon railway expenditure, public works, and land settlement. At S o'clock precisely Sir George Grey arrived, and was received by the audience with acclamation, the ladies in the gallery waving their handkerchiefs. On the motion of Mr Shera, Mr Graves Aickin (Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce), was voted to the chair.

Prefatory. Sir Geokge Grey, on rising to speak, was received with renewed cheering. He commenced by «?aying that he would first tell them the objects for which that meeting had been convened. The Chairman had stated to them the views which had actuated the Chamber of Commerce in requesting him to again speak to the people of Auckland. But he wished to amplify what the Chairman had said, becauso he really thought that their having called this second meeting would, when they considered the matter, satisfy them that he Chamber of Commerce M^as really entitled to their thanks. Let him tell them that in July next, he thought it was the first general congress of the Chambers of Commerce assembled from all parts of the world would meet in the city of London. Now that was an extraordinary movement, in his opinion, a hitherto unknown thing — on the part of the city of London — and would bring togethsr men representing the views of the commer cial classes of every portion of this great empire, and attention would be paid to many subjects, several of which had never hitherto received attention. What had the Auckland Chamber of Commerce done ? It was the first bedy of that kind that had attempted to collect an expression of public opinion from the inhabitants of the country which they occupied upon certain subjects which would be brought before this congress of the Chambers of Commerce in London. And it was done, he thought, in a remarkable way, because the Chamber of Commerce had requested him to express his opinion upon points already brought before them, which were not fully understood. Having, therefore, asked him to express his opinion to them, they had also called upon their fellow citizens to hear what he had to say, and to judge whether the view ultimately taken by the Chamber of Commerce was the correct view, or the contrary. He thought nothing could show greater consideration for the feeling of the inhabitants of Auckland than the step the Chamber had thus taken. He believed it was the first time that the Chamber of Commerce had taken the whole of the public of Auckland into its confidence on an occasion of that kind. (Applause ) Well now, the Chamber of Commerce represented the commercial classes in this city, and this meant that an approach had been made by the commercial classes to the citizens. It was a better means of gaining public opinion than by asking, as Mr Gladstone had done lately, that each person should send a letter recommending what course he thought should be taken — because he thought this rather a complicated means of arriving at public opinion. He thought that under euch circumstances the modest and quiet would not care to obtrude their opinions, and perhaps the forward and those who had thought very little on the subject would alone take the trouble to write out their opinions in such away. The Chamber of Commerce had taken the best way to ascertain the opinion of the city. Therefore, he thought the Chamber of Commerce were entitled to the thanks, not only of the inhabitants of the City of Auckland, but of the inhabitants of the whole of New Zealand, for allowing an expression of public opinion to be made on such an important question. Now, the first question that he would put to them was this ; they were in the habit of often questioning him when he stood on the platform (laughter), and it was only fair that he, in return, should put a question to them, because what he had to say that night was based on an understanding of these subjects. They were aware that Great Britian was probably the most important empire the world had ever seen. Great Britain had possessions in every clime —in every portion of the globe. Here we were at the very extreme end of the earth. Great Britain was under our feet — she could not get further away from us. We had Australia close to us, and on the other side the American possessions, and he might say that in heart and feeling the whole of the United States were with the Anglo Saxon people. Then we had South Africa and India, for many parts of India were fit for colonisation, such as the country along the Himalayan Mountains, in the northern parts.

Lands for Colonisation. We had the whole earth teeming with wealth, with lands unoccupied, capable of carrying an enormous population, and he believed that they would all agree with him in this, and this question he put to them : Did they wish to see the whole of the British Empire administered for the benefit of all the Eng-lish-speaking people ? Did they wish our statesmen at Home to wake up from their lethargy 1 He could hardly call it lethargy, because they were sunk in indolence themselves and determined that we should be sunk in indolence too, as well as almost every j other part of the Empire. And yet these parts of the Empire had fertile islands lying around them in respect of which British statesmen had said until recently, " Bold. You shall not go further. We shall allow no further extension of our subjects upon the face of the earth." They said, "Back from these Pacific Islands, which cry out for aid, and call upon you for your protection. Let foreign nations come in, however, as they like, but no Englishman shall lay hands upon them." (A voice : " Shame !") Well, he believed the time would come when every British subject and statesman would cay, when millions within the British islands were in penury and having no proper home on earth — "Werequireyoutowakeupandadminieter the whole of the British Empire for the good of the whole British race. " (Loud applause. ) He interpreted their applause to mean that they agreed with him in this project that he had eet before them that night, and that they were prepared to listen to him while he developed at greater length the plans by which we could achieve this end. What he said was this : That they being there that night at the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce, were asked by them not only to consider thissubject.butto befellow workers in it— (applause)— to help it. And as that was the first meeting called to consider the great subject of the peopling of the world which was to come before the great congress of Chambers of Commerce, they should say, " We are determined that the British statesmen of the present time shall be recalled to a sense of their duty, and that while God's blessing holds out to men throughout all these

countries homes of wealth and comfort they shall no longer be shut against the British race. We will call upon the great men of that distant land— our mother land— now to stand firm and do their duty to their follow men in every part of the earth." Now the question that he must bring before them that night was this ? How could we aid in this object in New Zealand ? What example could they sei that night that should rc-ocho through every part of the empire s What words could they utter which would be hear 1 in every place, and give hope to millions ? It was for them to determine wisely what we must do They must consider these points, and these were the subjects upon which he would address them -namely, the general position of Ihe colony at the present moment, the relations of town and country districts to one another, the railways, the modes of communica' ion that we had throughout the country, and what we must do to further public works. (Cheers) JNow, the first principle that he must lay down in treating upon this question for their guidance was thi3 : He owed a duty to the Chamber of Commerce— that was, to the commercial classes— as he stood there that night. He must not ask them to stamp with their approval anything wrong, and he must ask them that no injury should be done to any human being, lie must ask them to see that any plan thej r adopted was for the benefit of all, and for the injury of none.

Indiscriminate Annexation. Now, let him recall a subject to their minds, he set before them some years ago, and at that period of time France, Germany, and other nations seemed suddenly to have aroused themselves, and the feeling had gone abroad amongst men that they were jastifiod in seizing any country, any nation, without reference to tho wishes of its people, without taking means to provide for their welfare, and he asked the people of Auckland to agree with him in one great rule with regard to the Pacific. And he said let this be our plan : We will go into no country, will take possession of no island, will attempt to subject no people to our rule, until wo have first obtained tho free and intelligent consent of the inhabitants of that country. But to enter into another land and annex it was wrong, and he felt that the whole population of New Zealand would agree with him in that principle. He brought the Bill into Parliament, and the whole of the New Zealand Parliament, he believed, without a single exception, unanimously adopted the Bill in which that principle was set forth.

The Land for the People. Well now, that night he asked them to affirm another principle, and that was a principle which he had stated to the Chairman, viz., that whilst they would get the land for the people upon advantageous terms, and throw the whole of it open to all, they would do no injustice to those who were the present holders cf property. And now, whilst the world was agitated on this question, how were the lands to be taken for the people in all parts of the earth ? How were the wretched that had no homes of their ov\n to obtain land to live on ? In that firet meeting assembled to determine upon the plan which those who were to represent them at the General Congi ess should follow, it was for them to say that the basis of their plan was the land for the people, but justice to all. (Applause.) It could be done justly and honestly. And now let them, as the first of the British people who were met to consider that great question which was to be discussed in London, affirm that great principle as an example to all other meetings that might follow. (Applause.) What then were we to do 1 How should we proceed ? How should we throw open our country in every direction ? How should we attract people here — people with capital -people with energy to come and give life and spirit once again to New Zealand, and employment to all who wanted it? (Cheers.) How should we do that with perfect justice ?

Necessity of Land and Income Tax. First, then, as he said the other night, it was necessary that we should havealand tax. (Prolonged cheers). That was the essential point. They all now understood the question of the unearned increment. (A voice : "Pretty well.") They knew that an enor nous value was given to certain properties by the labour of the people at large, and they were all agreed that at least for the future— he looked to them for this— the unearned increment should be got at by aland tax (applause), and that those who benefited most by it should pay the most. (Cheers.) That they had agreed upon as a necessity. (Cheers.) Further, they agreed that there should be an income tax (applause), by which those who obtained enormous incomes should contribute to the State in proportion to the incomes that they had. (Applause.) Those were the two points they settled the other night, and he believed now all sensible men agreed in them.

Our Laws and Their Obscurity. Many people were leading the inhabi tante of New Zealand astray- and particularly the farmers astray — upon theee points The farmers were placed at a disadvantage in living at a distance from the mass of the people. Thoy had but few public meetings — but few opportunities of knowing what laws were made — for he defied any diligent farmer to spare time from his work to master the innumerable statutes of New Zealand (Applause) They had known of nations which had only ten commandments, which all could learn, and yet in them had every law that was necessary for the interests of mankind. (Applause.) But we had laws which no human being could commit to memory, and which he believed no human being understood. (Laughter and pro longed cheers.) We had recently had a case in New Zealand in which the present Premier of the colony - (A Voice : "Stout") —a learned lawyer himself, having a client who was in possession of a Crown grant that authorised the leasing of the land for 21 years only — because it was intended to conserve the whole of it for a drill-shed— yet persuaded his client to allow the land to be offered by public auction, and let the lease for successive periods of tv/entyone years, so that ib was virtually let for ever. (Laughter.) And when the attention of the Courts was called to this, and the attention of Parliament was called to it, the excuse was that it was believed that half the lawyers in Dunedin would have thought the Premier right, leaving the other half to think him wrong, but it was said that one half the lawyers of Dunedin would havo done the same thing. (Laughter.) JNow, he asked if those wise Scotchmen (loud laughter), because they were wise, could not understand a law written in the plainest letters, what chance had they — the masses of New Zealand—to understand one fiftieth part of the innumerable laws that issued forth every session of Parliament ? Well, such being the case, he would cay this : that the laws which affected the people at large in the way he was going to treat of that night should be simple in the extreme, and easily understood by all.

How Public Lands were Alienated. Now the great difficulty we had to deal with at present was this : Wo had towns enough, country lands enough, av\ railways and roads connecting them. But in many of the districts between these towns there was really no population to occupy the lands in them— at any rate no population to sufficiently use our railways and roads that ran through them. The great difficulty that arose in every new country was this : When a colony had to be settled, those lazy statesmen of ours in England would not move thomselves, but left it to companies— and most improperly, too, left it to churches. ("Hear, hear !" and cheers. ) For instance, to a favoured church these etatosmen had said: "We are weary. We have too much to do. We do not like meddling with those troublesome fellows who go to the other end of the world because they are not satisfied to remain at home. It is difficult to please them. But you do this : Choose a million acres of the best land in New Zealand. Go thore, and we shall pass a law which shall say that every one of the inhabitants in buying an acre there shall give £1 for that acre towards the support of the Church of England." That meant that every Presby terian who came to the colony — every Wesleyan — every Catholic - every man of every othor persuasion— should be compelled to contributo his share of a million pounds to provide salaries for bishops and clergy. Such was what waa said ; and even lately we had had what he might call a noble example of what men would do in the same direc tions if left to companies, because we had had the case of the New Zealand Agricultural Company, of which tho present Premir and the Minister for Lands wero provisional directors, and which was managed by the present Treasurer (laughter) and by other Ministers, and they, in thoir beneficence, said in point of fact in their adveitisement in London in a pamphlet which they issued to recommend everybody to their lands— that one object which greatly occupied their minds, and for which they had exerted themselves, was to take caro that thore was ample religious instruction for tho people that went upon their lands, and that a eufficiei, supply of churches and chapels was pre vided for them. (Loud laughter ) They saw that these were the means persons in times past — the Governments boing lazy and idle — had endeavoured to attract people to new countrie?, and it was found necessary to put forward some inducements, and to get men to supply money which was to purchase the?o lmds, and which waa to provide means for the support of tho colonists. But all that had passed away now absolutely. They could see that the land regulations made under such circum- ■ stances and with such objects could not be suited to a future time (a voice : Hear, I hear '), for necessarily a period of time must arise when, owing to a bad distribution of land in the fiist instance, the people would suffer from the way in >\ Inch the lands were held and a change become necessary. (Cheere.) Well, now, we had arrived at that period.

A Fresh Distribution of Land Necessary. And whatdid he propose ? It was neither more nor less than this - to sweep away the pa&t distribution of lands, an'! in it^ place to make an entirely new distribution of our territory. (Applause.) They could see at once that if we affirmed that, we had as a basis a principle of justice. When we examined this wo could see at once what it meant for the rest of the world. When England was settled under the feudal system, it Wc(S parcelled out amongst the great leaders of men. Warriors in the Meld got enormous estates ; groat Churchmen got enormous estates ; great statesmen pilfered onormous estates — (loud cheers) — and state of society was thus set up which ended in the misery of millions for a great many years, both in England and Ireland. (Hear, hear, and applause.) And if -we saw that in any other country a real distribution of territory could take place, suited to the present time, without injustice to any, what greater ble&sing to mankind than anything since the establishment of Christianity ? (Applause.) And that was what we were to aim at, He had shewn the kind of taxation that was necessary to carry it out. He would now attempt to show them the classes with which they had to deal, and thoir simplicity would astonish his hearers In JS'ew Zealand they had an easy task. First of all they had the public lands, the miserable reminiscence of the great estates which they once had. If they approved of the system which he proposed, there would bo no one to purchase and no one to consult. The lands would be absolutely at their own disposal. Native Land?.

Next they had the nativo 'ands to deal with. Under the system which he would propose, the natives would willingly yield their lands to be administered under the Act. The jobbing in native lands would exist no more, and the natives would not be robbed of sections of hundreds of thousands of acres. That would be put an end to for ever. No natives would be made drunkards to induce them to pare with theirlands, or be dofrauded of their property by an inadequate payment to be shared between agents of various kinds. They would sell to the Ttate and get fair and full value for every acre they possessed — (applause) — and that without injury of any kind. Thoy would receive justice to themselves and liberation from the vicious system that had prevailed in this part - drunkenness, death, and every other kind of misfortune that could fall upon the native race, and leading also to the people losing that which was their common property, and to that establishment of estates in this country which in magnitude and worth left all that was done in Ireland and Great Biitain far in the rear of what was done here. (Cheers.) All that would end, and the native lands/good and valuable as they are, would be opsn to all.

Land Sharking. The next thing to consider was this : That large blocks of land hadalready been granted to private individuals. Well, he proposed to attain co great an object as this — an act of absolute oblivion as to the past — that New Zealand as a nation should rise and affirm a principle which is a true one and that was both honest and true, and that our Parliament could at any time take land required for the entire nation for its welfareandaucceassubjectto onecnndition, viz , the payment of the full value of such land to the holder from whom it was taken, (Applause).

Auckland's Present Position. Now that they might know, therefore' what they had to do, and how it might be done, he must ask them (leaving this theatre cut of their minds for a time, and out of their sight), to cast a bird's-eye view over New Zealand at the present moment, They would find the great towns, almost wherever there was a really great harbour, towns of great magnitude with population larger than the capitals of several European monarchies ; magnificent stores built by merchants, magnificent wharvgs and accommodation for shipping

hardly surpassed in any part of the world. They would find merchants in every store, and there^ were many store?, and everything in that town assembled capable of supporting by the supply of goods, and by the proceeds of their produce, large farming districts round a prosperous town aa a centre. In addition to that, they would find around these towns railways running, roadg made in many places, and the lands through which these railways and these roads ran lay almost unpeopled. In some places a few shepherds and a few shearers formed a miserably small population, and there were lands fenced off, but absolutely or almost destitute of human beings as inhabitants. i Well, now, the towns were, aa it were, I tho heart of some great being, the railways and the roads wero as the arteries and veins which should carry blood and life into the extremities. A great skeleton was there with these arteries, these veins, but where wore the muscles which should feed it? Whote was the flesh to supply the blood to tho whole animated being, which made it live as it should do ? They ware absolutely wanting (applause). They would see, therefore, that if they provided the means of filling that country up and filling it up pretty quickly with farms and producers to occupy the soil, there was everything there ready for them. The momont they were there this great being - each town and its centres — now lyine:_ almost inanimate, would be galvanised into life, wake up into perfect being, and the whole of this vast country would be instantly altered for the better. (Applause.) They might think that this would be difficult to do, but he felt satisfied that it was not so ; that it might be easily clone. If they allowed the Parliament to take tho power of *he purchase of the properties lying between their great cities j if they allowed them to do that, and to pay for these properties in a way which would not impose a national debt on the peoplo, and yet at a fair rental on every individual who benefited. They could sec that this would be almost as desirable a scheme as any that he asked them to accomplish.

Small Farms. Let them put this question to themselves, assuming that they were in the possession of these lancta, divided into small farms — he had fixed a limit of 160 acres in the bill which he had drawn up— that, of course, Parliament would alter in accordance with their wishos. Imagine the spaces between these great cities to be even tolerably filled v ith men settled upon these farms, families settled there, flocking in from Great Britain, Australia, and other parts of the world. He asked them to consider what the state of the country would be if they allowed them to como in on a fixed rent, which was never to increase, but sufficient to compensate the owners fairly and properly. They would use up the capital that they had brought with them. Instead of a man being unable to obtain a farm until he could pay £10 an acre for it, perhaps baying it only in small quantities, and mortgaging his farm to pay half that £10 an acre, paying a large inteiest perhaps eight or ten per cent. ; instead of that he would enter upon a farm and have only six months rent to pay, and that would be a very small rent. The land would be his forever, the whole of his capital would be at his own disposal to establish himself upon his farm and make improvements upon it. (Cheers ) This was diiFer ent from the property tax now imposed. In the property tax the farmers had to pay upon the land a land tax The land was valued. (A voico : And heavily, too.) Yes; and heavily, too. Every day's work a man gives ia valued as it were, and while this property is worked and valued according to the work put upon it, the idle speculator with property close to him would haro no taxes, because he had made no improvements. It meant that one was taxed for the work he did every day, whilst the other escaped. He wished them therefore to bear in mind that this tax was totally different from the Property Tax and Land Tax. They would see that the man having the whole of his capital at his disposal could employ labour and effect improvements. He had told them that Parliament was to authorise the purchase of these lands. Supposing the estate to be one of 50,000 acres — it might be 100,000 acros, and supposing such an estate was purchased and the price settled. (He would tell them what they paid for it presently.) It was to be cut up into farms about the area stated and valued according to position, in relation to railways and roads, soil, size, otc. The value of t,he farm would be lixed in that way, and the sum total value of those farms w ould have to make up the purchase of the whole estate to be equal to it. Then the land having been purchased by the Government at fair prices, a rental would require to be paid at the rate of 4 per cent, with a slight percentage added to provide for losses that might occur through the land being held for some time, and the individual would thon be put in possession of his farm without any outlay fur the first six months, and afterwards he would only have to pay an annual rental. Any man could take a farm when he had only to pay that rental, and yet be like a freeholder. All he would have to pay would be the interest on the amount originally paid to purchase the land. That would give hope to every individual, and would give new life and energy to the colony. Supposing such a system were adopted in some groat city such aa Melbourne, Sydney, or in Rio Janeiro, then the settlers would have to go further outside as the population increased, and they would also oncountev great difficulties ; but in New Zealand they would have cities all round them, where they would find markets for their produce, and they would pasa through land carrying stock — land that had already been partially cultivated ; infact, they would be like the Israelites going into Canaan, but at the same time they would not have robbed the previous possessors of the soil, as compensation would have been paid ; and in many instances the people would be glad to be released from their lands, and, in many instances, their mortgages. In addition to that, to every class it would prove a boon. The artisans would then find it worth their while to take up these farms and place their children upon them, and thus have somewhero to retire in their old age. (Applause.) This would make many wealthy— not with immense wealth, but with a fair competency. (Applause. ) They would see that it some such system were in vogue in New Zealand, then the farmers who were flying from England would gladly avail themselves of the opportunities afforded in this colony of making a 3ivine. Then truly the earth would give forth its increase, and they themselves would blesa the Lord. (Applause. ) He had shown that the plan was feasible, and yet simple in carrying out. They would also see that a new field oi hope would then be opened for the inhabitants of the towns.

How the Land Would Tbo Paid for. They might ask how the land was to be paid for. Well, what he proposed was, that payment should be offered to the

present owners of the land in land bonds, which they should not necessarily be com polled to accept, and if they did not choo3e t® accept them, then the bonds could be sold, and he believed that there would be many who would be willing to accept the bonds. He did not propose to make them value for too high a sum, but keep them as small as say £20. The bonds would haveto bear interest, and be payable to the bearer like bank-notes. Each bond would be a mortgage on the property, the Government collecting the interest and assuring the security. The bondholders would thus possess the double security of the land and the guarantee of the State. The bonds would be formed similarly to ordinary Government bonds. Such bonds would soon be at a premium, as they mustprove a good investment. Prussia had tried a scheme similar to that with their bonds, and the result had been that in times of general depression Prussian bonds had remained firm in the market. Men knowing that they had bonds worth £20 would not feel poor, and would have courage to look to the luture This would not be a national debt, as every year the bond must increase in value, as they would not be taxed from time to time to pay the interest, as they would if it were a national debt. He believed that the bond would become largely held in the colony, and thus, instead of millions going away every year to England as interest, the money would be secured within New Zealand. (Applause.)

Public Worlcs. He now came to the question of public works, but as the hour was getting late, he must not detain them long. They knew that their Chairman was greatly interested in that subject, and they would see how carefully he would listen to him now. (Laughter.) It was certain that the present scheme of public works must be carried out— in fact, it was necessary for the good of the colony that it should bo, and if the people of the North Island would not accept them, they could depend upon it that there wore those in other parts who would be only too ready to do so. It was necessary that the land should be opened up with railways. When he was in office ho went to Hamilton and turned the first rod of a railway that wag to connect them with Te Aroha, and ho was turned out of office. (Laughter). His opponents said, " That extravagant fellow is opening railways that will never do any good. He has opened one at To Aroha, and now he talks of starting one up North. He must be turned out of office, and we must stop all expenditure." So he was turned out of office, and the works were stopped for a time, yet he had lived to pee 1,300 people going from Auckland to Te Aroha to attend the opening of the railway. (Loud applause.) He had aUo lived to hear his opponents thanked for having carried out the work — (laughter) — that they had prevented him from doing. (Applause.) And they all thanked him now. Not a single sigh of sorrow went out on his account from all that 1,500 people, and the Whangarei railway was made at last, and a quantity of coal came into their town from that part. And did thoy think that the Northern Railway could be stopped ? Don't let them be bribed by enormous borrowing. Let them borrowwhen they wanted it. One of the charges made against him when in office was the Napier line, which he had surveyed. It would soon be made. A branch line could be made to Napier and Taranaki, and he believed it could be done but for the main line. If hi 3 way had been carried out, the Taranaki line would have been opened now. He believed he had met every question in connection with lines in the North. Regarding the East and West Coast lino, he believed it ought to be made, and if people would judiciously settle along it, it would soon pay for itself. A line that would unite two great populations, unite two great coasts, should be made. But what was the proposal last year— 2,2oo,ooo acres, a tract larger than Switzerland— was to be given to the contractors, and a subsidy of £90,(100 a year, he believed. While he would protect their interests, he would never stand in the way of other people getting their rights. It ever it came to a question between North and South of adjustment of accounts, they would not be unfairly treated. He remembered once, when financial separation was proposed, a number of leading men mot, and the Southerners made a proposal as to what the division shouldbe. TheNortheinersobjected, and then stated their wishes, and it was at once agreed to by the Southern men. Howevor statesmen might quarrel on other subjects, he believed that full and ample justice would be done by the South to the North and the North to the South. If he came back from the South and told them that ho had deprived the South of what they ought to have, they would treat him very badlyindeed. Buttheyshouldbewatchful,andohepressshould be watchful, but when the great settlement came it would be done justly. He could not believe that there was an individual hearing him that night who would peril the future of his children on the inhabitants of New Zealand to support a loan of £10,000,000 for self interest. He did not believo that the working men would rush at a bait of that sort. Let thorn think of the millions of children to be born here, and were they to mar the future of them for all time to get a few shillings to drink and spend about town now ? What money they borrowed should not be spent with a niggard hand, but fairly and well. In his own mind he firmly believed that to offer tho suffering millions at Home land on the terms ho had mentioned, with property amongst themselves with a fertile coil, he looked on it as a solemn act of worship, and doing what was acceptable to our Creator and beneficial to tiis creatures. In looking through some letters lately he came across one containing the dying remarks of the late Baron Bunsen. He stated that in the face of death how greatly all he had done and struggled for melted away. So far as they promoted and achieved this work for the millions who would yet people this great country, and the millions yet to be born in it, so in like proportion would be their cause for satisfaction and sincere self gratification. Not one feeling of unworthiness could arise in their minds to lessen that sense of satisfaction. He confidently believed that the plan he had laid before them would contribute most powerfully to the true welfare of the people of New Zealand. If anyone had a better plan to lay before them, he would readily espouse and support it in preference to his own. At any rate, he felt sure that his or any other similar plan was such as would further the real progress of New Zealand, and render us conspicuous marks for the admiration of every part of the known world. Sir George Grey thea resumed his seat amid loud and prolonged cheering. Mr J. H. Upton proposed a vote of thanks to Sir George Grey for his instructive and eloquent address. The proposition of such a vote in Auckland called for nc argument whatever. The people here were accustomed to listen to Sir George* eloquent and instructive addresses, and nc argument therefore was needed to elicit foi them votes of thanks. There was anothei point he wished to bring under the>r notice Sir George Grey — in a manner m which n( other man could compete with him— wai the representative of the Auckland peopli

— 'that was of the great mass of the Auckland people (A voice : "And of the col. Ny too," and applause), but hitherto he hid not been the representative of the whole o the people cf Auckland. He would pon out what he meant by this. That night Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce v> as the Chairman of the meeting. The v er- ■ chant piinces of Auckland -the heads of its • commerce — had turned to Sir George G roy and asked him to addrees them on subjects that perplexed them. This was the lirst time the merchant princes had done co. Hitherto he had gained- and in an unparalleled manner — the affections of the people of Auckland. But this was the first occasion in his (the speaker's) recollection on which Sir George Grey had been a^ked by our merchants - as our great leader— to address the people, the merchants themselves, and New Zealand generally upon subjects which perplexed them. (Applause.) Mr Vaile seconded the motion, and in doing so, said that as a boy he had seen Sir George Gvey land It was many years ago, and though he had at one time differed from Sir George Grey, he had lived to see that Sir George was right and he was wrong. He was certain that on some future day, when the history of the colony was written, the gentleman who had addressed them would stand out as the master mind of the colony. Alluding to the matter of railways, he said that if the insurance account and the depreciation account were kept by the Railway Department they would not pay one penny of interest. He was not prepared yet to say that the plan advocated by Sir George was right, as he had not sufficiently examined it, but he believed that a more minute subdivision of the land was necessary. Within a short distance of Auckland there was a quantity of land that could be bought from £>3 to 103 an acre. If they put the people on it they would starve, because the cost of transit of produce was too great. They must have cheap railways Sir George Grey had referred to the inordinate growth of the great towns in com parison with the country district?. This was a great evil, and must be got rid of by some means. The system of transit must bo cheapened and the system mast be altogether changed. The Chairman, in putting the resolution, thanked Sir George Grey on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce The motion was carried with loud cheers. Sir Georoe Grey moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was carried with hearty applause, and the meeting terminated with three cheers for Sir George Grey.