THE ELECTIONS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1200, 5 July 1884, Page 3

THE ELECTIONS.

The Hon. Mr Dick addressed the electors of Dunedin on Thursday night, and received a vote of cmfidenoe. Replying to a question, iiu > h' denied that in the event of his defeat he would be called to the Upper Rouse.

THE PREMIER AT RAWER A. The Hon. Major Atkinson addressed a meeting of electors at Hawera on Thursday night last. Ho defend the Property Tax, saying it was vnsuy preferable to indirect taxation, aud advised ibe people to stick to it, as while they h»d direct taxation they would have lively elections, lively Parliaments and lively Governments. He refuted Sir Julius Vogels assertion that there was now a floating debt of £1,080,000. There was no such floating debt at all. Speaking on the subject of immigration, he strongly favored the maintenance of the nominated system, and the adoption of means to attract small capitalists, many of whom ha was glad to say were now corning to the colony by means of the direct steamers. He said there was nothing in their financial position to make colonists despair, although there was necessity for caution. There was no need for fresh taxation to meet the cost of the services of the year. The revenue of the year would be sufficient for that. Replying to questions, Major Atkinson said that within the past five years the colony had paid £41,000 by excess of arrivals over departures, not counting assisted immigrants. He would oppose any further sale of pastoral lands, but it would not be wise for the colony to rush into any scheme for the wholesale nationalisation of the land. He was io favor of all children who showed capabilities in the primary schools having full secondary education, favoring some form of scholarship*. He was himself a believer in religious education, but was aware he was not in accord with the majority of the people of the colony on this point. This was an open question with the Government. In time, be thought, the colony would come to believe in payment by results and in fees for education, but this would only be in the large centres. In smaller towns it would be impossible. He was not in favor of any reduction in the Ministerial salaries. He believed that almost every Minister lost money. He was in favor of members being allowed reasonable expenses only. A vote of thanks and confidence was proposed, and an amendment of no-confidence was also brought forward. For the amendment only nine hands were held up, and the motion was carried by an overwhelming majority.

THE HON. MR ROLLESTON AT

ORARI.

The Hon. W. Rolleston addressed n meeting of the Geraldine electors in the schoolroom, Orari, last Thursday evening. There was a large attendance, and the speaker was listened to attentively and frequently applauded. Mr R. A. Barker occupied the chair, and briefly introduced Mr Rolleston, who spoke to the same effect as on the previous evening at Temuka. With regard to the proposal to place the railways under the control of a non-political Board, he said the same system had been adopted in Melbourne. A man to manage the railways was appointed at from £2OOO to £3OOO a year. He was a good man and the salary was very nice, but he did not see the good of it when the power of lowering or raising freights still remained in the hands of the Governor-in-Council. Supposing a nonpolitical Board was appointed, what instructions would be given to them 1 Would they be told to raise or lower the rates ? He thought it much better to leave the power in the hands of the Ministry, who would have to account to Parliament for any maladministration. They could see now that the Ministry were turned out of office on account of the grain tariff. Was it not better to have that power in the hands of the people than put themselves at the mercy of a non-political Board . He believed, however, it would be tried next session, and he would not stand in the way of it, but he felt sure they would have to return again to the present system sadder but wiser men. After dealing with several other matters, Mr Rolleston sat down amidst applause.

Mr Ford asked : Are you in favor of immigration 1 — The Hon. Mr Rolleston said immigration had been limited to those nominated by their friends, and the instructions now were that only single women would be accepted. They would not interfere with the labor market. (Laughter).

Mr Bisset asked whether there was a confiscation clause in the perpetual leases. -Ihe Hon. Mr Rolleston said there was not. The conditions were that they should improve and occupy, and if they did not. do that they would forfeit their lease. They could, however, sell or transfer their leases. In reply to the Chairman, he said that only one-third was reserved for leasing, the other two-thirds was sold for cash on deferred payments. Seeing that the leaseholders would get the value of their improvements he thought the tenure gcod. In reply to Mr Biuekin, he said that the limit to the deferred payment sections was 320 acres. They began with 100 acres, but in village settlements the allotments were 10 to 20 acres, according to the quality of the land, The reason the sections at Orari were cut up so small was that there was so little land left to cut up. He thought some of the sections might be grouped together. Mr Ford ; Are you in favor of extorting £lO an acre for these I—The Hon. Mr Rolleston had found they were run up far beyond that—oven to £l7 an acre. It was impossible for (he Government to save people from themselves if they liked to give too much for them. Nobody regretted that tha people had done so more than he,’ but he Would ask them to puf themselves in hie place, lie could not save people from themselves if they were foolish enough to give too much for the land. Last year ha brought forward a plan to capitalise the balance due from

deferred payments, bo that if a man had paid say half he could let the balance remain by paying 5 per cent interest for the next 14 years. (A. voice; That s good.) Mr Bisset asked if lome of the money had been spent recklessly, and instancedthe white elephant” bridge near Terauka.—The Hon. Mr Rolleston said money had been spent recklessly.

Mr J. D. Jones asked whether it was legal for a man who had 300 acrea of land to take up a deferred payment section 1— The Hon. Mr Rolleston said if he did not reside on the deferred payment section he broke the law.

T- r • to a questim re the present tsyatwui m education, he deprecated making any alteration in the present Act. and spoke to the same effect as in Temuka.

Mr Binskin pointed out that more than half the children had to go to work instead of going toH waß not right that these should c m pay taxes for children that remained at school until they were 21 years of age. The Hon. Mr Rolleston denied that the poor had to pay for the children of the rich. The taxes were raised from the wealthy. Mr Twomey pointed out that only £269,000 had been raised from the Property tax, which was the tax raised from wealth. That did not do much more than half pay for the cost of the present system of education. Where was the other half to come from, only from the Customs duties, to which, as the poor were the most numerous they were the largest contributors. He thought that if the present Boards of Education were abolished, and payment by results instituted, a great saving might be effected. There could be one central Board, and extended power given to School Committees, and thus a vast sum of money which is wasted by Education Boards annually could be saved. This system would do away with the cry that is raised every three years, and which creates a good deal of bitterness. Every election leads to a good deal of sectarian bitterness, and it would be a great blessing to the country if that could be done away with. - , The Hon. Mr Rolleston asked, did Mr Twomey want him to answer thatl Mr Twomey said if h® wished to do so he had no objection. The Hon. Mr Rolleston said he had given his views. Mr Ford moved, and Mr Woulfe seconded, a vote of thanks and confidence in the Hon, Mr Rolleston. Mr Binskin moved as an amendment, that a vote of thanks be given to the Hon. Mr Rolleston. Mr Louch seconded the amendment, With the result that it was carried, 12 hands having been held up for it and only 8 against it, A large number did not vote at all. The Hon. Mr Rolleston then moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which wasmarried unanimously, and the meeting terminated.

MR COX AT TEMUKA. Mr Alfred Cox, a candidate for tha Geraldine seat, addressed a largo meeting of the electors in the Volunteer Hall, Temuka, last evening. The audience was a very orderly one, and frequently applauded the speaker as he went along. Mr K. E. Gray, as Chairman of the Town Board, was voted to the chair, and in a few appropriate remarks introduced the speaker. He said that the speaker was well known to most of those present, and trusted that the meeting would be as orderlv as the one over which he had the pleasure of presiding on Tuesday night last. . . , Mr Cox on coming forward was oeived with some marks of approbation. He said he would first give them his reasons for coining forward. Six or seven weeks before, when in Temuka on a visit, he was asked by some of his oldest friends to come forward for the constituency in the next Parliament. He replied that they were in a hurry, and said he did not think it would be etiquette to do so while Parliament was still in existence, and while there was any uncertainty as to its dissolution. It was quite on the cards at that time that Parliament might go on to its natural end at the close of the third session. They all knew what happened. In quick time the Government was defeated aud the dissolution took place. He was not going through the whole story. He had not the advantage of being in Parliament at the time, so he could not tell them more than they knew. It was unnecessary for him to exhaust himself or take up their time with it. Now, Mr Rolleston had explained why he offered himself as a candidate for this constituency. He had told them that at the request of friends, but more particularly at the request of their late member, Mr Postlethwaite, he had been induced to come forward for Geraldine. Now he was not in the prond position of Mr Rob Teston. He could not any that he was the nominee of their late member or of anyone else. It might be however, that there was an advantage in being a nominee, but if he was a nominee at all, he was the nominee of numbers, and not of an individual, (Applause.} It was impossible to go about the country where one was committed to such a contest without hearing some of the opinions entertained by the electors, even if one was a little deaf. He had heard some opinions expressed about himself. He had been called an old man too old to think of these, thugs. He was going to show that he had enpugh l J fe m him to justify himself in coming forward. He ran to win. He depended upon them more than himself to put him in as the representative of Geraldine. (Applause, and a voice: “So we shall,”) it had been said that bis opponent apd himself did not differ very much in their opinions, that they had always been found more on one side of the House than opposed to each other. He was coming to that presently. They might call him an old man if they liked. They might call him it u old horse if they liked. They had started him in this race, and he meant to be first past the winning post. (Applause). He would now give thorn bis reasons for retiring from the cdhstituency which he represented in the North Island aqme’yeafs 'befor.e.' There were three reasons —First, bis general health failed at the close of the session in 1877, and he had to leave Wellington a fortnight before the end of the session. Secondly, he became deaf, tha result of a violent cold which he had been suffering

from. Thirdly, his private nffairs required all his attention. These were the reasons why he had retired from the representation of Waipa. Before he had done ha would refer to the character he had received as the representative of that district. It was very painful to talk of one’s self, but still he thought it right to prove that old as he was he had a kick left in him. (Applause). It was usual in the colonies—it used to be at Home, but he did not know about that now—when a man seeks a place he produces a character fiom hjs last master. When he came away from Waipa, in the Waikatoj he got a character. His friend, Mr Rolleston, had also got a character in his pocket. He was going to show them those two characters. It might not be good taste, but he would begin with himself. It was passed at a large meeting in the Waikato. The meeting was composed of his friends, his political opponents and some strangers. [Mr Cox here read the resolution passed. It was to the effect “That this meeting hears with regret that Mr Cox is compelled to cease to represent this district. ”J Anyone who liked to see the resolution could have it to look at, but he did not like to let it out of his hands. It was said that all the unemployed had was their character, and he was now one of the unemployed. (A voice : Give it to MrTwomey and we can all see it). Well Mr Rolleston had also got his character from his last constituency, and it was—“ That this meeting has no confidence in Mr Rolleston.” (Laughter.) People were so used to speak ot them as so much alike, that they don’t dare to take the responsibility of judging between them. It had been said in the Temuka Lbadee to be a .dangerous thing to interfere between himself and Mr Rolleston, that it was like going between man and wife. He met Mr Rolleston, and told him there must be some mistake there. Although they 1 were not man and wife, yet they were old friends. Mr Rolleston might be looked on as divorced, while he might be looked on as widowed, and they were both looking for another wife. He would now refer to political things. He was not going to weary them by talking at a great length. He would rather dwell on the present and immediate future. He had commenced political life some years ago. Before 1863 he represented a constituency in the General Assembly during two sessions, and prior to the readjustment of seats he represented a very large district, and then he represented Timaru till 1868. He then left the House for some years, hut in 1876 he went back for two sessions, when he had to retire on account of the state of his health. If he did not know what politics were in New Zealand then he ought to do so. He had seen most remarkable changes take place in regard to measures and all sorts of combinations. He had seen Mr Stafford and Mr Weld together on the same benches, and afterwards opposed to each other. He had seen Mr Atkinson and Mr Vogel first in opposition and then sitting on the same benches. He had seen Mr Rolleston in hot opposition and then yoked up with Mr Atkinson. Changes were always occurring. The best thing was the recurrence of changes, Mr Rolleston had said the other night in that hall that he had always looked upon him as being on the same side as himself in regard to politics and was exceedingly sorry to be opposed to him. In the early part of his (Mr Cox’s) parliamentary life Mr Rolleston was.always in the Opposition and as far as he knew was not a supporter of the Government till he became a Minister. He (Mr Cox) was a supporter at that time of the Government. _ At the time Mr Rolleston became a Minister he (Mr Cox) wsb not in Parliament and therefore had not the honor to either support or oppose him. He recog nised Mr Rolleston as a strong man. Before he talked of measures he would speak of men. Public men were public property, and they liked to be discussed about ; in fact, it was as good as a newspaper advertisement. There were three prominent men in the House during several past sessions, viz., Major Atkinson, Sir George Grey and Mr Montgomery, Major Atkinson was'a member of a Government that had lasted for some time, and had done good work for the country. In the matter of finance there was no one better than Major Atkinson. It was easy to follow him in matters of finance, but it was not so with other members. He would admit he had been a supporter of Major Atkinson during more sessions than one. To speak like a cricketer, Major Atkinson had had a long innings, and had either been bowled out by his opponents or had knocked down his own wickets. Sir George Grey had headed the Opposition for many years, and there was every probability he would do so to the end of his time. Mr Montgomery also headed a section qf the Opposition. For the last few years neither could head a party strong enough to upset the Government. They had at last turned Major Atkinson out of office, but neither of them had a chance to form a Government likely to live or be useful to the country. Let them now look in another direction at a man who had recently made his re-appearance in the country— Sir Jnlius Vogel. When he (Mr Cox) went into the House in 1876, the great scheme of borrowing was going on, and public works of some magnitude had been initiated. When he went to Parliament he was perfectly free and unpledged, but lie supported the Vogel and found himself with Messrs Atkinson, Whitaker and others. The moat remarkable thing in regard to Sir J. Vogel at the present time was that he had offers of seats all over the country—=-no leas than six, He was still the imagination of men and when in Parliament would find many a member there who had been elected to support him. That proved one thing and that was that Sir Julius Vogel was recognised in the country as a strong man. He had met men in Christchurch who had said they didn’t know his views but he was a strong man, and it was essential for him to he brought back to the House. Candidates for the Assembly, at the present time did net dare to ignore his presence hut apeak ' cautiously in regard te following him. He would not pledge hi i' self to follow him or any other man, There were hot roanj' persons qualified to lead a party in the House, but there were many who could take second place. Many were not qualified to form a Ministry likely to live. In the House, during the discussion on a want of confidence motien against the Atkinson Ministry many voted far it believing

that a dissolution must follow. Anyone speaking on the present position of the country and ignoring Sir Julius Vogel would be doing a foolish thing, but anyone consenting to follow him, consented to do so blindfolded. Sir J. Vogel did not speak definitely. In speaking of the large loans and public Works, if they failed, he (Sir J. Vogel) said he was not responsible for what succeeding Governments to his own had done, and that he was only responsible for ten millions. He tad proposed to carry on, on the condition that in the event of the railways not paying, the lands through which they ran should bo rated. They should give him the credit for propounding the scheme, but at the same time blame him for not insisting on the condition being carried out. He (Mr Cox) would refer to a measure adopted by the Government that might influence the elections greatly. He alluded to the railway tariff. The majority of those present that evening had heard what Mr Rolleston had said on that question, but there was more to bo said on it. He was not responsible for what he was going to say, but he would read part of the report of Mr Richardson’s speech at Kaispoi on the previous evening taken from the Press newspaper. It was said by all the supporters of the Government that they were bound to see that the railways paid 3 per cent, but they only paid 2 per cent. They must, therefore, raise the rates of freight. The returns made up by their own officer showed that they paid £2 10s2d percent, being a fraction over 2£ per cent. In the face of this Mr Rolleston said they only paid 2 per cent, and, therefore, the rates must be raised. The returns showed a fraction over 2£ per cent was realised, not on railways constructed and yielding revenue, but on the whole of the railways in the colony, those at work and those in a yet unfinished state. It was not a fair thing to include those railways that were in an unfinished state and yielding nothing. The result as pointed Out by Mr Richardson showed that the railways in actual work yielded 2| per cent, so that there was only a difference of J per cent. If that had been known previously it would have itensified the indignation expressed at Christchurch some little while ago, at the action of the Government in raising the rates. If Mr Richardson was wrong, he (Mr Oox) was not responsible and Mr Rolleston would have the opportunity of answering Mr Richardson, if Mr Richardson were right, then the reason given by the Government for raising the railway rates would fall to the ground. He thought that amongst what Mr Rolleston had stated the other evening he said ho saw no necessity for altering the management of the railways, but he (Mr Cox) would say that if men he always regarded as sound in financial matters, took such an important action in connection with the railways, and their calculations were found to be inaccurate, his faith in them was clean gone, and there wore others who were quite as able as them *o occupy the Ministerial seats. Why should not such a man as Mr Richardson be able to take the management of the railways, who was well up in all the details connected with them. He had constructed the tunnel, and also the first part of the railways. It was a matter of fact that in 1881 some person wrote in the Temuka Leader in regard to political corruption. In that article he anticipated what had happened in New Zealand. If a Government was suspected of being corrupt and buying political support to keep themselves in office he would tremble to think of the future. He could say he never encountered such corruption as took place during the last session of Parliament. He did not know if ho should ever have appeared before the electors of Geraldine if it had not been for the blunders committed during the last session, and he felt stirred up with, the thought as to who would come forward and help the country. If he had the honor of being elected he felt that he should not only represent the Geraldine constituency, but also a class of the electors throughout the Colony who had been hardly dealt with, viz., the farming interest. In regard to the land laws, he would refer them to one thing Mr Rolleston said, viz., that Canterbury was more fullv settled on than any other part of the Colony. If so, whsre was the necessity for him to interfere with the land laws. What did they see in this part of the district? In former years he had a pre-emptive right over the whole of it. It was then a wilderness and free selection was the rule. Men bought land every day, and with the Exception of one or two it was bought by men’who had been in his employ and who had now developed into prosperous fanners and settlers. If they must lay down the law in regard to the disposition of the land his theory was that it was a mistake to parcel it out in large blocks only. It would be wiser to have them in large blocks for men of capital to work, but there should be blocks laid off to suit the capital of men of more limited means, even to as small as fifty acres. He would not deny that Mr Rolleston had done good and he did not know a better man in the country for administrative work than he, but he bad drifted to theories and it would be difficult to got him back on the right track (laughter). The land laws were _ introduced into Parliament by Mr Reid, of Otago, but the Government fell to pieces, and then Mr Stout followed the Bill Jup. Great credit was due to Mr Rolleston for carrying the land law out. He would not admit that Mr Rolleston’s scheme in regard to perpetual leases was practicable. He was opoosed to the nationalisation of the land, and he (Mr Cox) was glad of it, but neither the perpetual leasing system or nationalisation of the land were practicable or desirable to be attempted. There were political objections to both. If they dealt with & large number of people in regard to perpetual leases, they would bp. raising up a people who would have, considerable interest in the elections, and who would have considerable influence over the Government. What they ought to aim at i was that every man should he free in reference te purchasing land. In regard to the nationalisation of the land and the perpetual leases, he would be inclined ' to bundle them up together and put them aside. In regard to the federation question, he did not think the colony was in a position to join a powerful neighbor, for they had not as yet even settled their own domestic They had not yet settled the forms of their own constitution, and the less they went in for federation the batter. Fed®'

ration at the present time was about as dead as the late Government. By way of finishing up the land question, he might say one of the great difficulties he bad in being trusted by his northern constituents was owing to having so long been connected with the south. He next quoted from his speech in the Waikato Times 1878, in which he referred to the land laws of Canterbury, and showed that th» system of dealing with Crown lands here was preferable to that in the north, that more freehold was created and more people settled on the land than all the other Provinces put together. He did not think it would be wise to adopt the same system again, because the first man of capital would swamp the whole of the land. H*referred to the “unearned increment,” and said the first land bought in South Canterbury was near his own residence. It was bought at 10s an acre, sold to him (Mr Cox) afterwards at 30a an acre, sold by him again to Mr Tancred at £3 10s. and at last it was sold to Mr Postlethwaite, at what ho did not know. Where was the unearned increment in that instance. He was glad that Sir Julius Vogel had set his foot down against this cry. He thought it wrong of Ministers to go round, ventilating theories they were n*>i in a mood to bring before the House. They ought to leave that to philosophers who sat at home in their studies, TmNational Insurance scheme was not suitable to the country because it would completely crush a man with a larg family. Ministers had no right to go about unsettling men’s minds upon such subjects.. (Applausf). But though he differed with Ministers in many things he was heart and soul with them in their Native policy. Mr Bryce had done a great service to ihe colony, and his policy was a very wise one. He would be very sorry if his services should not again butilise ! in managing Native affdrs. They heard a great deal about rival lines of railways in the North Island, and from what he could learn the Middle was the most preferable one. If men in the North Island made a demand for two lines—and he had seen it referred to in the papars frequently —they were not likely to get them. One line was a very serious undertaking at present, but if it could he shown that it was possible to make one profitably he would not be too stiff in that respect. One line would open largo tracts of rich country, and it would be to the interest of the colony to secure such a result. The Government were right in regard to preventing the Native lands f illing into the hands of monopolists, and he believed that that would be acceptable to themselves ; and he also agreed that the Government would be right in getting from these lands contributions towards the construction of a railway by which they would be so much benefited. He next referred to the confiscated lands, and s«id it was a good thing for the Natives that these lands were confiscated, as good reserves wore given to them, and if that hud not been done they would not be in possession of the land to-day. They would have lost it all, and it was a good thing for the country and the Maoris that the provision was made for them. He thought the constitution of the Upper House was defective to the extent that whether nominated or elected they should not have a lease for life of it. It did not matter much whether they were elected or nominated so long as it was only for a term, but he preferred them to be elected so that they would realise their responsibility to the people. He did not see at all why their position should be ensured for life. One thing in connection with them was that they had lived for 30 years now and that no attempt had been made since to alter their position. This might ba attributed to apathy or that the people were satisfied with them, and he believed if they were so distasteful to the people they would have been swept away long ago. Thirty years ago it was proposed to make the Legislative Council elective but nothing had been done since. He was in favor of nomination being done away with, and the Upper House being elected for 3 or 5 years. (Applause). His experience of politics was that those in office were always conservative and those out of office liberal. That was all the distinction he could see between them. Perhaps those who introduced the perpetual leasing system would like to bate a perpetual lease of the Ministerial seats; they would apply the principle to their own position. (Applause). On one occasion Mr Postlethwaite said the Education Act could not be done without, but favored giving aid to such sections of the community .as educated their children in a manner that came up to the standards required by the State. In 1877 he was in Parliament when the Act was passed. It passed the second reading with clauses in it recognising the necessity of reading the Scriptures and the Lord’s Prayer, and it was afterwards that the religious chaises were expunged. It was said then that as denominations failed to do the work of education it was incumbent on the State to step in. As the denominations were not of one mind, the religious clauses were knocked on the head. The denominations had since striven to do the beat they could with an Act of which they never approved, and some clergymen were trying to educate the children in religion as well as they could, but the work was too much for them. The Catholics have set the example by building schools at their own expense and the Church of England was following it, and he would advocate the payment of a capitation grant according to the results they produced. He saw that denominational schools cost only a little tnor® than half the State schools, while some of them examined near Christchurch produced such results as IQft per cent in passes in one, and 80 per cent in passes in the other* Where were secular schools pro- , duoing such results ? While recognising I the necessity of a general system, he could not see why a grant in aid should not be given to denominational schools producing such results. They provided school accommodation and taught thousands of children, and he saw no reason why they should not be paid for the work done. It the system was considered too costly’, he would prefer transferring tha endowments of the high schools to the assistance of primary education, but primary education must not be touched. The system of education that did not recognise the religious element, and did not implant in the mind and heart s» feeli mg of self-restraint and of responsibility I to a higher power, would result in confusion and loss to the State. Were they I not afraid that the religious bodies would,

uiiuh in their de'iwuni, u t

deal of trout le a ehetio > ( U ; ;it consirtr-rahle ength iu t.*e name «u:.he urged upon the religious to go on doing their duty, and if their cause was founded on justice, they would succeed in the end. And now to conclude, he could not say no to the requisition, and ho was proved to be trusted now in hie old age. He admitted that he w»s deaf, Hut there was snail a thing pul t‘C«l deafness and poiitie d biiu lnet-a (-real cheering) that men sometimes «ufF. r d from. He knew the forms of the House, aud had b-en in it so long that, he believe** tie would see his Wiy about. Although '’tillering from mi infirmity, it w is much better ihan t.h-H>' who h d sod vn u>em«ei’e> oolitically deaf and hlm-1, e<t ap.Paiia:*, amidst which Mr Cox *at dawn.) la reply to Mr Ru-.sel l , Mr Oas could not tell the name of the Inspector who eXitnimd the denominational s-hu >•*

referred to, but the fact* were **> he tail in the appendix to toe roeor s «-f t e House, aod he won! i gi,v.* the mf Tin ttou at some I'ut tire time. He would he in favor of abolishing the grand jury system. He would not g ’ id fu* the branch line from Temuka to H‘C '-o on ! he score of economy. H-j wdmd fav *r the appointment of >* qualifij t map-dor to examine Cii eae comt g into tue country to ptevent the introduction o,t leprosy.

To further questions he replied he w.s not in fivor of meuihcrs of Park and Cemetery Boards hei a elected for life. He waild advocate a prnp-rty tax in pief leno-i to a land tax, but would like to ease it as regards local industries. If a land tax were raised it ought to be spent locally.' He was opposed to tha construction nt the East and West Coasts railways being constructed. He preferred absolute sale of lands to leasing, but would not object to the deferred payment system. He d>d not believe in such small blocks as from 5 to 20 acre allotments as they were not sufficient for a man to live on. If any resolution was brought forward to reduce the honorarium to £IOO ho would favour it. He would favour giving the followers of Confucius a grant towards their schools if they reached the Government standards, but ha never heard of any of them in the colony. In reply to Mr Talbot, Mr Cox said that they could not have denomination d education in small districts. He did not think the children were taught religion in iM-nd-ty schools now as satisfactorily athey would be in denominational schools. Some clergymen were striving hard to educate their children but they were unequal to the work. There would not be a regular scramble for the money for denominational schools, fur they would be paid so much per head according to results. Did Mr Talbot think tint the money would be thrown up for the chi dreu to scramble for? (Great cheering and uproar.)

Mr Talbot asked if it was not a fact that it was on account of opposing the West Coast railway Mr Rolleston left the Avon I—Mr Cox : Not having the honour of being one of Mr Rolleston’s Avon constituents I am not in a position to answer that. (Great cheering) He further answered questions to the effect that he would not borrow except to the extent of putting thiggs straight. He had lost faith in Major Atkinson and would be more inclined to follow Sir Julius Vogel. After some other questions had been answered, Mr D. luwood moved a vote of thanks to Mr Cox for his address, and confidence in him as a member. He was a politician of experience, and his past career spoke for itself. Mr James Austin seconded the motion, and, on it being put, a large number of hands ware held up for it and on ! y three against it.

A vo'e of thanks terminated the meeting amidst cheers for Mr Oox. '