Sir George Grey at Auckland Central. Auckland, August 5.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 215, 13 August 1887, Page 6

Sir George Grey at Auckland Central. Auckl and, August 5.

Sin Gkokob Grey addressed the electors o-f Auckland Cential at St. Sepulchre's Schoollooin, Symonds-streot,last evening. There was a moderate audience, including a number of ladies. Councillor Holland was elected Chairman* Ho stated that as Sir George Grey intended to leave for the South on tho following day it would be some little time l-eforo ho could address the electors again. He then called upon SirGeorgo to address the meeting. iSir George Grey, on coming forward, was receh ed with cheers. He said that he was particularly anxioun to again moot the electors of Auckland Contral in connection with some remark- made by tho Premier in his Auckland address, and desirous tliat what ho beliexed would piobably lead to misconception* in their minds upon vaiioiH .subjects should be lemoved. (Applause ) Tli.s own impression wa.- that the Premier did not meet any one point upon which they roquii ed iniormation — (applause) — and that he gave them a very eloquent discourse \tpon a great many subjects, but traced out no policy oaleulaied So giw Now Zealand lehef at tho picient poiiod of her distress. (Applause.) He do-ui ed particularly to remark upon one oubjeet, viz., that tho Premier hid avoided touching upon many points with regard to which Auckland had a ricrht to expect fomo explanation. (Applause.) He iirst desired to point out the great dirierenee that existed between lh eat Britain and oui\m<lvc,> in regard to our public men. The eyos of the whole voild weio iixed upon the Parliament of Gioat Britain, and nveiy motion vi interest that wa« di-eu.^od was watched with the threat e»t inteie.stby bunounding countuieo. That which took ]>lace in tl\e Britihh Pailiament telegiaphod to e\ cry part of the world, and the le^ult wa> that liritLsh stntesmen took extraordinary carts not to commit any fatal mistake-, in pursuance of their public caicei, because .such would ciu.se them the losiof charaetot throughout the \vhole civilised world. (Applause) Su])po««ing that Mr Gladstone- had made a motion with the object of retrenchment, and that when after\\aid.-> e-\pluining his action, he had ntateil that the place -uhie!. ho represented would I>b pietty -afc, and that Voik A\ould be hit the hnrdV^t. Then suppose he also stilted that the members representing York had voted tor his motion ! Perhaps they did not think \\ hat would happen. (Laughter.) Why, it Gladstone had said such a thing in tho Hon^e of Commons there would have been one loar of indignation throughout Km ope, and the Premier could never again ha\e -how n his face a«> Premier or ha\o led the House ot Commons. (A])plixn.-,e.)

Auckland and Otago. Xow.heio in New Zealand wo bad just such a st ite 01 (lung- its he had rlesuiibotf. H was duo to Auckland that an apology should be made ro us, and simply this explanation v, a* f hen, that Otago had nob been bonelited at the exp^n^e of Auckland, a btatement which would be maintained by .some and denied by others (AppUu.se.) It was a matter that could be di>eu->ecl in a hundied ditteient v. a>->, hut. the fact that the statement v as made that Auckland wih to .suffer, and that Otaj>o w.ih not to .suffer, wa«i plainly .-hown' by the language that was vied. ' (Applause). To a certain extent that language eanied with it an interfeienco with oheif powers of election, or , ratiiei with theiv choice of candidates. It \\i\-> such a-, to hold up those mci\ to liduiule \s\\o \oted for the u-clvuition of expijnditvuu by which Auckland had been "haul hit." It w a* evidently dcMgncd to l>oint out that it \\a^ by their member \otinji for reduction that the distiict haidcftt hit \\a^ Auckland, and he asked j wu- it rij^ht that .such a threat should bo I made ajyain^b them in the Houae of Reprebentati\e-. Such language having been u^ed, called for full and ample apology to the inhab.taiits of thi-, city. >Such language mibt injuie our youn'T in the HoiiflC, and muot gne them strange inipie^sion as to the means by which one place could be unfairly benefited at the expense of another and that this .should i.ot be derogatory to the dignity of the Hou^o that it .should be a\owed .such a thing had been done. (Applause.) Such a com sc was injurious to the public welfare and to the interests of the whole of Is r c\v Zealand.

No Policy Laid Down. "No policy whatCMn* had been laid down by the I'lcnior foi the futiue of Kew Zealand. The question was : How are we to got relief irorn the omb.in figments under which we labour? The situation wa^ an appalling one, involving a large expenditure. A small sjamiin^ army must now be maintained, and in every wa^new burden* were thrown u.s. Then; w as a gieat forest depat tment established, and that expense imisc be tiTinually met, and so on throughout the sen ice, continually au^mentins; buidens had been thrown upon us. It would h.no been gratifying if the Premier had given us one bioad view of a system which would restore lelief, and brhm upon us happiness and pro^peiity. He tliouglit it wib in the Piomiei'ss power to have done this. We had great lands, great harbour.*., great warehouses, and no population necessary to carry out the trade of the->e cities, and he might have shown how it was possible to li 11 the intervening land by the introduction of desirable farmers. Instead of explaining how this was to be done, the Premier called into existence an imaginuiy Opposition which wanted to do certain things fcluit he (the Premiei ) had at all hazards to prevent being done. He told them that lie would move to prevent the introduction of Kaffir labour. Why, he could not ha\e got Kaffir labour, and none but semi-lunatics would La\ c proposed such a thing.

Village Settlements. Then the Premier told them thai \ Hinge settlements were to be abolished, and no moio land given to settle people on small blocks of land Was more utter non.scnso ever heard ? Our objection was not that people had been put on tho land, bub that they were pub on the land in a wrongful manner, and unlawfully. (Applause.) Ho (tho speaker) had been told that not one-fourth of the village settlers would remain on the land. 0 /her.-: said nofc one-third of them would continue inoccupation. (Applause ) The Government had made certain term* for the purchase of village settlements, the effect of which was bo encourage them to break the law. Was he (the speaker) wrong in opposing such a thing? (Applau.se.) Most onerous conditions were imposed. It was said in tho House by the Premier that they were most anxious to nationalise bho land. Now, the greatest writers on the subject said tho proper way to nationalise tho land was to tax the unearned increment (loud applause) - and nothing but that. The increase in the valus of the land from increases in population, and causes of that kind, belonged to the nation, and they had a right to tax the unearned increment for the benefit of the State, and that was to nationalise tho land. Bub to allow tho rent bo go on increasing was not to nationalise tho land, but to make a man uncertain of his fate. It was also

unjust to say that a L man should not be- allowed to, divide his land, and what Sir Robert Stout really said was that the children of the village settlers would become" i»- thne bower? of wood and drawers of water to their fellow men. To himself (Sst» George Grey) it was impossible to realise that the Ministry intendedother than thwXbhissyaternofleasuigoflandshould apply to> some particular di&trict for some purpose orotiher. Whilst they gave two and a half millions of land to forcignei s living out of New Zealand and to some few fanners in the 1 South 1 , was it right t) croato large- freeholders of that kind, and, atr uh« i .wane 1 time, to give small grants to tenants upon, the most rigorous terms ? (Applause. )' H& believed it was most unjush and' a very slrange way of nationalising the land. If of tluwo 900 families some 500 or 600' are' to throw away their labour, and wo ore to-be ta-cod to pay the large sum of money it cost, whilst the Government gave to<otherd two and a half iniHion ax Tea of land for what it co.-t -if tho people did not resent a- thing of this kind they would not have done 1 th«ir duty to their Queen, their country, or to their progeny. Between himself and the Government there was a serious dSflerence on all tho^o subjects, and ho believed 1 that he would have an assi>t-ance-thi'oughout New Zen lan fl to put an end totlW^etihiiigss-niuch^trong^rthanthepresent Government believed possible. (Applause. ) Sir George 1 Grey ateo made reference to tho oppo^ibion given to his Land Bill. There w ;us laid 1 upon the table of the House what was- called! ai Land Acquisition Bill, and Sir Robert Stout said lie told him (Sir George Grey) to> tsuuk lib l>ill on to the end of that bill. Thiufc bill ne\er came on (laughter), and if it bjad he certainly would not ha.\o required' ov received Sir R. Stout's advice. Sir <>eoi (Jn>y proocetiod to state the terms of tho L;t!wl Ac(|iii&ition Bill, pointing out that noft w single advantage wa© to fall upon the community outride of the A->-uciation funned for the purchase of the hind. Its term> \v~ei-e also .such that nono but rich men couM have obtained land, and could never havt> p/Hsod. Ho boliovcd not one single proposition made by tin; Government for putbiiag tho people on the land was fair or light. Ifc was P.'iid that any defects could havo hot-it got rid of by another bill, but ho doubted if this would havo boon done.

Retrenchment. He lio.xt desired to say a few words concerning retrenchment. Sir Robeib Stout had stated that vcfcienehment was nob to take- place at all. That w a;* in point of fact non^eiibO. Everywhere tho Piemier had caused a great .sensation by drawing a woeful picture of the great injury that would bo done by throwing large numbers of men out of employment. He (Sir George Grey) believed that if people wore in veiy needy circumstances, to mluco tho t*unin of money in circulation and by throwing people out of work would aiU:et the whole community. (Hear, hear.) Suppose,howe\er,tlnit the whole of the great building at Wellington were iilletl with gentlemen who weie, in paib, simply embarrassing one another, what would it benefit Auckland or Dunedin if large sum-> of money were spent there ? (Applause.) If the money sa\ed by reductions there were spent in other p.uts of the colony, very gi-eat as.-it,Uuicc could be given throughout the country. And if these young men were throw n out of oflice by oiieh retrenchment, vine! settled upon the land, there would .surely be a most useful form of retienchmcnt accomplished. (Applause.) To maintain useless establishments of any kind was to entail increasing taxation upon our.-olve.s. (Applause.) ! Really the cry of no reduction of expendiI hire on account of lt^ effects wa& one they could not undeintand. Sir R. Stout was very angry at the proposal made to commence the 1 eduction at the top and go low. He (Sir George Grey) would try and turn e^ery man to tho best advantage. Sir Robt. Stout had said that a reduction in the Go\ornor's salary meant that we would get a .second-clai-s Go\crnor. On the contrary, he (the speaker) believed that by ghing high balaiieo we would get secondclass Governor^. How the Premier could have stood up and said such a thing he could not imagino. He thought the people of New Zealand would got a tirsb-clasa Governor by giving a .salary "that they could afloid. Did they suppose that any ih'ot class man would hesitate upon a question of that sort? He believed not (applau^o), and instanced a case in which Sir Charles Napier was offered a position of LSOO a year as Governor,and was quite piepaied to accept the sum. It was the same with any really Jirstcla^s man, and it was a fallacy to state that good GoAernors could not be obtained by payment of other than high salaries. (Applause.) That was an absolute fallacy, and made him determine on one line of policy. Tie knew that in tho colony two first citizen?, and not the ablest men, had been taken and made Governors elsewhere. When he drafted the Constitution of New Zealand, he reserved power to the people to elect their own Governor. It was said that the Queon Avould disallow the act Of course she could disallow any act, but she would not di>allow an act giving the people such power as this. By electing our own Governor, we would make iirst-class mon. He advised the people to elect their own Governor, and pay him a moderate salary, and tieat him as the United States treated their President. It was said that this would mean cutting the painter with Great Britain, but it would not do so. The people were quite as capable of selecting a Governor as was one of the UnderSeeretaiies of State. Sir Goorge proceeded to refer bo the objections next offered to the proposal to reduce the number of members. It was slid that such an alteration woidd make the constituencies too large, and candidate could not easily canvass them. He thought that argument absurd, and considered the people should insist on the reduction of the city constituencies. Sir Robert Sfcoub had told his audience that wo might do away with the Legislative Council, but that while we had it we should pay members. Now, tho colony never possessed more efficient legislative" bodies than the Provincial Councils, but the members were not paid, and they did not require a second chamber to meddle with them. Sir Robert Stout thought they could not reduco the number of Ministers or their salaries and get the work done properly. Well, now, it was diilicult for him to undeiaband that Ministers would not do their work properly because their salaries were reduced. This was a bad argument. When ho was Premier, for instance, the refnnd which he, as the recipient of a pensionmade, reduced his salary to L 875, and he did not perform the duties in a less efficient) manner because he received bhe lesser amount. Sir Robert Stout said no satie man would reduce tho expenditure by L 300,000, but ho thought that if any sane man gave his tittention to tho matter he might do so.

Retro ctoment n Education. He would now pass to tho very important subject of education. The maxim that the Premier laid down was that if our children wero not allowod to get oducation we would have to import our educated men, and that our children would all he hewers of wood and drawers of water. He did not know why Sir Robert Stoutshould

have raised the educetion question, except that ho wished to show that the expenditure should not be reduced. Now, he thought that a very great saving might bo made [ upon it, and that without very great difficulty. (Cheers. ) Sir George read an | extract from the Premier's reference to tho excellent system of education in the poorer portions of Scotland, and pointed out that the arguments were used in a wrong sense. All we learnt at schools was how to educate ourselves, and no man ever became a great man without educating himselt after leaving school or colloge. Sir Robert would have them believe that these palish schools only existed in Scotland, but he (Sir George) was instructed at tho age of five years in a parish school in Sussex, where his mother and other ladies taught. There was no Government system then. Tho system was common ' in England as well as Scotland then, and Sir Robert should not have given his audience to understand that it was peculiar to Scotland. Sir George referred to th 6 enterprise of tho Catholics in erecting a splendid college at Wellington, and bringing out first-class teachers, who imparted a good education, and they did not lay up any money for it. Ho believed that education of this kind was the result of religious faith. It was so with the Presbyterians in Scotland in the old times, mid it was so now with the Catholics of Wellington. But we could nob have- this system in Now Zealand, because the population was too scattered. Our present system was the best, because the children were gathered together for simply secular education, and tho religious instruction was left to the parents and religious instructors. He j felt certain that a reduction might be made with advantage in the expenditure on education. He hoped that every individual who had heard him that evening would sco that retrenchment was essential and should be carried out in every department of the Government. Laws should not be broken, either in the matter of land settlement or taking for public purposes land that is not required. The settlement of the people on the land jon just and equitable principles was j necessary, ou the principle which he pointed out to them the other j evening, by which all Now Zealand might jbe turned into it guardian. We should see also that wo kept our population purely European. By doing these things w.c should soon find New Zealand one of thomost prosperous countries on the face' of. tho oai th. In reply to questions, Sir, George drt^' said the statement in the. "Heialdi" that? morning related to an Qiphan, Asylum started by Bishop Selwyn and 1 which, was. assisted by St. Stephen's, funds. ITkht© wore other reserves for, tljo &arne piu'pooes, but he did not know, tUo aious* Souaq- of them were gifts from, tho nafcivet*, and three of these were in tills Waikato. Ho did not think thu- total Custom*, tariff should be increase*]. Hjo fcikMitglit fche system of bon owing had, bceni carried to excels in this way,, and he tltought a great portion of the funds, liacl been misapplied, but hu- dhiO/Uiglit tho great works enteied, upon, should be completed. Further than that v*e> should not go. It his system of lands settlement were carried out, and, people placed upon tho land, ho did nob- tioinJ*. much further borrowing would be necessary. Ho thought L<"),000 was too large for the Governor's dteparfcmeut, and that the Legislative Council was unnecessary. He thought tho Native Department should be done .way with altogether The time had come when wo ought to bo dealt with as oils' people. Considerable reduction might} be made with great advantage in tLu> Civil Sen ice. He firmly believed a nation should be trained to defend itself, ami that large reductions should be made in tho defence expenditure. He believed Auckland had been neglected in various ways, and an instance was given in the fact that examinations of students in dentistry had to be made in Dunedin. Cr. Gamitt moved "That the electors of Auckland Central consider it an honour lo have SirGeo. Grey as their representative in the new Parliament, and they pledge thenv selves to loyally support and secure his return. The electors further add that in their opinion it is owing to his constant exertions in the past that so many liberal measures have been secured to the public of New Zetland." (Cheers?). He was satisfied that th 3 motion fully oppressed tho views of 11 c electors of the district, and of those preso.it that evening. Mr Thomas Gee, who seconded the motion, felt that the caniklonce they were giving Sir George would not be misplaced. The motion was carried unanimously on a show of hands, and Sir George Groy having replied, a veto of thanks was passed to the Chairman, and the meeting concluded with enthusiastic cheers for Sir George.