Public Meeting.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2843, 26 March 1878, Page 2

Public Meeting.

A crowded public meeting, convened by Mr 0. A. Comes, for the purpose of devising means to obiain lands for the people, the abolition of the gold duty and inquiry into, r.nd expressing an opinion on, the waste of County and Borough Funds, was held at the Academy of Music last evening. There must have been upwards of 6C3 persons precenc.

Mr Comes proposed, and Mr McLaughlan seconded, that Mr E. H. Power lake the cha>r. This was carried by acclamation.

The Chairman laid that he felt highly honored by being called to the chair. He considered that the promoters of the meeting had been actuated by a patriotic spirit m calling it. His experience of public meetings on the Thames was that they gave every speaker a fair hearing, and hoped this would be no exception. (He read the edvertisement calling the meeting.) He said that he anticipated that great good would result from the meeting. The first business —the opening of lands for the people, was a matter of justice. As to the gold duty he thought it should be abolished.and he thought they could do it. The South was wiU them. It was said that down.South they had roads, etc., and could afford to dispense with it; but he remembered the time when the roads were few, and then its abolition was agitated. The next business, the expenditure of the Borough and County funds, was a fit subject for inquiry. Before sitting down he might mention tt at it had been hoped that the Hon. J. Sheehan would be present. He would not be able, however, as .the follow* ing telegram had been received from him:—"lmpossible to attend meeting, as steamers do not leave here to-night. I would suggest that the meeting to night appoint a committee to wait upon me tomorrow, when I shall be happy to give them all the information and assistance in my power.—-J. Sheehan." (Applause.) Mr Comes on coming forward was received with deafening applause. He said his object in calling the meeting was the getting of lands for settlement; for the people. The miners had been trying to do this for the last dozen, or at least ten years, and had hot got them, and were beginning to get the worst of wear. He might say that he had his family up on the side of a hill, and they were making a living, and he thought if he could get a good piece of land he could not only knock out a In ing, but make it pay. He thought that the Broomhall grant by the Waste, Lands Board was illegal. Whatever was illegal was wrong, and they must do what Sir George Gray advised them to upset it. They must agitate. They must unite and make a grand effort to ge: the land. As to the gold duty, he could not see how they could get good by it. Most of the men now working were on their own hook, and he did not see why they shouldbe taxed to work other people's property. As to the last point, it could not be said: that he did it out of disrespect to the Governor, as he had been to the Star office a fortnight before the arrival of His Excellency on this very matter. Only lately a number of those present had been summoned for rates, and .had to go to the pawn shop, and should they let their tax«s go away without knowing how they were spent ? To-day he had been told he was drunk. He might be ; but as a ratepayer he had a right to inquire into the expenditure. He did not come there to attack Mr Brodie, but they would all remember how those who ha 1 agitated for the County system had all now got nice snug little billets. (Laughter and applause.) They were working a point, anil put the winkers on us. (Cheers.) He hoped they would give every one a fair hearing. (Loud and prolonged applause.) Mr W. J. Speight said he considered that Mr Comes deserved credit for calling this meeting. It was advantageous to have it called by an uninflueniial citizen, as ho could come before them without suspicion. He had been asked to move a resolution re lands for t!ie people, and he had drafted one. If they considered it too long he would explain that it was neccssai j that all their wants should be embodied in' it. He would road it:— " (1). That, inasmuch as the people of the Thames have recently learned that, by

the sale of the Arolia block to Messrs Broomhall and Co., the residents of this district would be practically precluded from obtaining Thames lands upon which to settle, this meeting protests against the completion of the sale, and earnestly urges upon the Government the necessity of causing the agreement made with Mr Broomhall to be cancelled. (2). That the Gorernment be further requested to set apart, out of the first suitable land available, sufficient to meet the requirements of tho°o residents of this d'Strict who hare so frequently intimated their desire to settle permanently on it. (3). That, as the present mode of constituting Waste Lands Boards, by nomination, places an undue power in the hands of the wealthy, to the injury of the people vt large, it becomes inoperative to demand that such boards shall, in the future, be. elected s by the people." They would recollect that at a meeting called some time ago ii was attempted to discuss the BrootnKall settlement. It was said that it would be unwise to oppose the introduction of capital and labor, and that showed that they hud not bren actuated with a dog iv the manger spirit. They had been perfectly willing to help the settlement as long as advantage was not to'ten of tHm. They had bren promised distinctly that they would get an equal amount of equally good land to that given to Broomhall, at the same time and price. (No, no.) He knew it as he had been to the Waste Lands OJBce. The otlur day a number of persons from the Thames had gone up to Auckland and interviewed Mr Sheehan. And what had they he_rd P They were told that every acre of good land was included in the 60,00 acre grant to Mr Broomhall. (Sh»me). Would they let it pass P (No, no). He had a peculiar interest in sreing the Broomhall settlement established at first, but when the lend was obtained from them on false representations it behoved them to take the earliest and quickest opportunity to have it prevented. The resolution required no long speech to commend it. If it were true that all the good land was given to Broomhall, at whatever cost to the country it must be stopped. (No. No.) It had been a private sale between the Government of the Colony and Mr Broomhall, and they were responsible. Mr Corncs had made a, mistake when he said whatever was illegal was wrong. This transaction was legal, but it was nevertheless wrong., It was too legal. He would read them the 29th clause of the Waste Lands Act. (Clause read.) They h«d now only to go to the General Assembly wi'.b the matter, and call on the Colony to compensate Mr Broomhall for the intercut he had undoubtedly obtained, in the land. Let them pay every cent. It was said that the purchase Was a mere land sharking speculation, but had it been the purest speculation possible if it shut them out of their rights it must be stopped. He would throw out a suggestion to the young men: let them follow the action of Mr Broomhall. Let them unite and make the same proposal to the Government that Broomhall did. They could get the same assistance from the Government that Broomhall had, and if they tried he believed they would succeed. It could not be refused. The speaker here referred to the increase of price of land, which, however, he took to be a mere temporary measure to stop the sale of lands in the South. The third part of the. resolution referred to the constitution of the Waste Lands Board. Some people said that they were getting too democratic. That too many elections were brought in. They were not so in regard to land which was their common property. Every man, woman, and child that came into the colony had a rested interest in the land of the colony, as when it was sold the money paid for it became colonial revenue. This Broomhall matter showed that those who had political influence could obtain land, while the men who bad only a few hundreds and his children, which were worth hundreds more, could not obtain any. -They did not desire that a few local men should obtain the land. If that was intended it was time to put it down. With regard to who should constitute the board, it was said that Counties should elect so much, and Boroughs so much, and Highway Boards' so much. They should free themselves of,their own little cliques and swindles. (Laughter.) The people should be the electors. Let them understand that they forfeited their rights by transferring them to another. Sir G. Grey told them to agitate. Let it be done, but not end with the resolutions at a public meeting, but follow it up. He moved the resolution he had read. ■

Mr Stephenson said he rose to second the resolution. He was only identified with the procuring of lands for the people, and not with the other business of the. meeting. He believed he was the firit: person.present who had taken the matter up, and had agitated it in the pres?, and, had sereral times interviewed the Board on the matter. Some time ago he had wrenched from them a resolution to give the first land available to the Thames public, but it had been sold to speculators in England. He questioned the nomination of the Boaru. The land was. the heritage of the people, and they alone had the right to interfere with it, If they went north, south, east, or west, they found the land belonged to Brown, Campbell and Co., or some other influential personages. (The speaker here referred to the advantages of the deferred payment system.) He said if they could, not get lands from the Government, letthem go to Mr Whitaker, who had plenty of land in Thames County, and offer him £2 per acre for some of his 50 acres. (He concluded by remarking that the time had come for the profitable occupation of the soil by the people of this district.)

Mr Brodie on coming forward was received with applause. He said he cordially endorsed all that had been said by the previous speakers. Many of them knew that he had waited on Mr Sheehan, the result being that there was really no land available to .the Thames people. He had always been in hopes that the Wairakau block of 10,090 acres would hare been reserred for the Thames people, and he was surprised to find it was all included in Brbomhall's 60,000 acres. He had respired to bring the matter under the notice of the Thames County, who did hoi meet til! next Thursday week, and not give these people peace till lands had been obtained for the Thames people. He cordially agreed with the action taken by the meeting. Like many of them, he had a young family growing up, whom he did not want to become serfs to those who were laying the foundations of dukedoms and earldoms in the country. He thought that the sooner the waste lands were brought under local control the buter. He had much pleasure in supporting the. motion. Mr McJUughlan said that they hid

brave volunteers here — let them take 1500 or 2000 bravo men into the back country, and squat over tho land, and see if the Government or Broomhall either could turn them off. (Cheers, laughter, and hisses.) Mr Jury said that though the motion was a lengthy one he thought that something more should be added to it. Provision should be made for getting the land on deferred payment. In "Victoria they hud tried that system, and found it to work very well. Mr Speight explained that the second part of his resolution included the obtainance of lands on deferred payments. A gentleman in the body of the hall asked if they could not get a special act passed to give them land on that system. The Chairman said undoubtedly that would be done next session.

The motion was then put and carried unanimously, amidst loud and continued applause. Mr Carpenter said that on Saturday a letter of his appeared in the 'Tiser re gold duty, and it was his opinion that the matter should be fully discussed in the papers before the public meeting was held. When that letter had appeared he had not intended to speak, so that there would be a lot of the same ground to go over again. He was of opinion that the gold duty should be abolished. (No, no.) Let some of those who said "no, no" come on the platform and lie would take them one after the other. (Cheers and laughter.) The duty was neither & rate nor royalty, but an export duly, and therein lay the principle of injustice, which, should be remedied as soon as possible. It might be very pleasant to those who had the spending of the money, but let them look behind and they would see wherein the evil lay. He defied them to say that it was not unjust. (The speaker here referred to the attempt to put a duty on gum.) If he raised a 1000 ounces of and used it to roof a home with, what royalty or rate would he hare to pay ? (None). That showed it was clearly an export duty. Then let them just think and question themselves as to the expenses of the goldfields, and they would see that a gold-mining community contributed more to the customs of the country than any other people. Yea, they contributed 50 per cent more and had they not a right to get a return for it F Well, besides that they, had to pay the miners' right and' gold -duty, which burdened them far too heavily. When they came to consider the actual coat of working this field the conviction must force itself on them that the intrinsic ralue of the gold raised here was less than the money obtained in getting it out. (Cries of questions; shut up, and uproar.) The more they interrupted him the longer he would speak. The Is 6d per ounce ; duty was often the difference between profit and loss to the tributer. (A voice: How much do you lose by it P) Had it not been for that tax many pieces of ground now lying idle would here been worked just now. He was only the mouthpiece of others who entertained the same opinions as himself. The goldfields had a claim on the people of the colony. What had brought them here but the gold ? The goldfieldi had been one of the most, popular colonising agents. (A voice: Some of them got a free passage.) He thought some of them who were continually interrupting h:m had got free passages. 'He asked them to consider the matter fairly, and ask themselves if the goldfields had not a claim on the colony. He would more the following resolution :— " That this meeting is of opinion that the duty on gold is unjust, exception^, and oppressive, and should be abolished, and that, goldfields works should be prosecuted by means of' contributions from the general revenue of the country." (Cheers, groans, and uproar.) . Mr Gillan rose to second the resolution. They had an industry and he thought it was high time to abolish the unjust tax oh that which had been the stronghold of the Colony. (Cheers.) Why should a bonus be given to every other industry P The only good they got from the Gold Duty was to keep m old water nole going. : - Mr MeLaughlan, amidst groans and hisses, and cries of "Go it, Andy," related some of his goldfield experiences. He said 't was only a few loafers who wanted the duly continued. All true Englishmen, Scotchmen and Irisbmen wished it abolished. (Laughter). Mr Pulleine said that in old days the duty was spent all over the country, but now the duty was spent on the field, so it was an entirely different natter. -. (A voice: You know more about pumpkins.) Mr Carpenter would lead them to believe that the duty had done no good. ;■ The road to Punga Flat had been made, and the Pump kept, going. (Cries of Ho, ho! Go it pumpkins.) Three thousand feet 'of driving had been done at the 640 feet level of the Pump (Cries of—For the Auckland people), and had roads been made people would have been sure to say that the deep levels should have been prospected. He moved a negative to the motion V That the gold duty be not abolished." (Uproar.) Mr Leydon oh coming forward was received with applause. He said it was not fair that people should be called loafers, as some of the previous speakers had done. (Mr MeLaughlan: You're ft loafer, and always was one.) If you say that again I'll pitch you off the Btage. (Uproar;)" The only way to get at the absentees was through the gold duty, and were it not through that they would not contribute a cent to the roads. >(A voices There are—few.) He knew all about it. He bad been on gold fields while some of these were digging gum; (A voice: You know more about digging spuds.) He bad much pleasure in seconding the amendment of- Mr Pulleine.

Mr Cornel said he wished to nass a Few remarks on this matter. The x'ump had only benefitted a few, as it had enabled the Caledonian and other claims to work put tbeir gold, and they were not game to ] prospect their deep levels; As^ long as there was any prospect of something being obtatnedt no one objected to it, but they were now in a limestone formation, in which no gold would be got. (Mr Comes referred to * the evil results of the formation of large companies.) He supported the resolution. Mr W. 8. Aickcn, who had some difficulty in getting a hearing, supported the amendment. He said no one was likely to roof a house with gold, nor had they any claim on the Government. (Cries of —This is a paid man; Kick him out, Ac. Uproar.) The Chairman endeavored < o silence the meeting, but without avail, md Mr Aicken had to retire.

Mr Nolan said there was no difference now in tho matter of the gold duty than at the time when the meeting on the same subject was held some time ago. The

arguments'express d then held good now. Mr Loydon's argument that it was a tax on absentees was a good one, and if they did not get much gold they had not much to pay. (A voice: There's a Big Pump contractor.)

Mr J. Brown, who was received with applause, said he supported the resolution. There were scarcely any of the companies paying expenses just cow with the exception, perhaps, of the Alburnia. This was one of the strongest proofs that the mining industry was too heavily taxed. Even the Moanatiiri wai not paying expenses. (Vl r Comer: Yes, sir.) Mr Comer might be a good miner, but he is not a financier. Ho was perfectly entitled to speak to the resolution as it affected his pocketa. It was no argument that the Gold Duty got at the people in the old country. It got at a few, but made a lot out here suffer. He considered the spend* ing of the money in the Big Pump a nal> appropriation. The Kuranui Hill was the only company that took advantage of it. Mr Brodie said, that besides the Eluranui Hill, the Imperial Crown and Tookey Company were also working from the Big Pump. Mr Quint laid he rose to defend one of his servants. (Hisses and uproar:) Exit Mr Quint. F '

Mr Oilo attempted to speak, bat the cries for Mr Brown were so great that ho could not obtain a hearing. Mr Brown again appeared amidst roud cheers, r He said they would shortly have some decent fun, slating the Borough and County. He had hid hissajr. ./■. < Mr McQowan said that they would all remember when the question wai brought tip some time ago the only argu« men t m favor of it wai its expediency. He had always considered it an unfair tax. The expediency was.that certain gentlemen used it to prospect their own ground. He referred to the project 6f putting a tunnel through the hills, which would be a more profitable expenditure. He hoped they would affirm the abolition of tbe tax.

Mr Speight ipoke to some length in •apport of the.motion. He Mid that on the prerious occasion when; the qaiatioi was considered, there was a whip made from the, Major of the Borough downward! to OTerawe the rdiee of the working miner. The, same thing had. been repeated to day. (Cheers.) The amendment was put, and two or three roted for it The motion was then pot and carried unanimously, amidst loud applause.' ''" " "■• ' •' ./ t\ Mr Coraes < mored—" That, in the opinion of. this meeting, .; the Borough and County Councils hare been" unnecessarily expending public money, and that fuller accounts should be published for the information of ratepayers/ He said he wished to know how many foremen or bosses they had on the roads. They had an engineer, bat erery time there was tobe a bridge opened, or some > famines put over a swamp, a lot of Councillors, horses and all, had to. accompany him at one guinea per day. He had to pay rates, and would like to Me where the money went to. They had been led to beliere that the County system would almost lift them up to hearer (Laughter.) They only saw a lot of men who had nerer taken oft their coats since they had come to the field. The County system of tendering; was this: Tenders were called for mak-'ng a road, say 18 inches of stuff to be put on the facines. The successful man sometimes only put on two inches and it was let to pass. Mr Queen bore out what Mr Cornea said on the matter of the contracts. He seconded the resolution. Dr Kilgour endorsed the action of the meeting on the" land question. The present resolution was hot chosen at a fitting occasion. The visit of the Gorernor ——- . ; • i The Chairman said that that was not the cause of the resolution. '

DrKilgour said he was glad to find their action wasn't challenged. Mr Brodie said so far as he was concerned he was always willing to give all information to ratepayers in his power. So far at the lerious charges against the County Engineer, he would consider it his duty to bring them before the Council. Mr Gibbons rose to defend Mr Aitken, who was absent, but such an uproar.ensued that it was impossible to hear what was said. The resolution was then put and carried. The following gentlemen were, appointed a committee to meet Mr Sheehan as iv the terms of-the telegram:—Dr Kilgour, Messrs Brodie, Carpenter, Speight, Comes and Brown. Mr Stephenson moved a vote of thanks to Mr Comes for calling the meeting. j Carried unanimously. Mr A. Hart moved that a heart/ rote of thanks be accorded to the Evihiho Stab for its able and consistent advocacy of the abolition of the Gold Duty. Carried amidst enthusiastic applause. The usual compliment to the Chairman concluded the meeting.