The Address in Reply.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3300, 19 July 1879, Page 2

The Address in Reply.

The House resumed at 7.30, Mr J. Sh&nks (Mataura), moved that a respectful Address be presented to his Excellency in reply to the speech which his Excellency h d been pleased to make to both Houses. In moving this resolution, Mr Shanks said ho was not fully acquainted with the usages of the House, 'when he proposed to bring it forward that 'evening, and so, probably, would be doing an injury to the country through putting off a motion of greater importance which the , Premier had unsuccessfully attempted to set right. He was glad to find that the Governor of the colony had during the recess been able to visit the leading towns of the colouy, and had been reoeived so .loyally, wherever he went;, tie f was-glad to see that the measures to 'be introduced were such as* would lead to the pood government of the'people, and meet those wants most pressing. As to the native troubles on the West Coast, he was assured on the best authority that the natives had substantial cause of grievance in unfulfilled promises and the legacy ( of disorganisation left by the Home au; thorities. In such matters he paid a tribute to the Hon. the Premier and Honi J. Sheehan for the tact and energy they had displayed in the management of native affairs (hear, hear). The revenue from railways during the year had shown aq increase of over £60,000, and this was a cause for congratulation, and an assurapce that Br Gearge Gray was rnght Jrnen he brought forward his Lpan*Bill.; which he regretted had aot been disposed, of, as the Premier wished; He was sure, all would join •Wm^in congratulating Ministers on the spirit in which they, proposed to meet, the House. After some ; further remarks jie /concluded ;bj |ropos-j ing the Address.' ' ' j Mr Beeves^Girey ; »ey g } s econded the^Auaressrey^ressinVifr 6 terms, ,his concurrence r iMhe^..excellent^ohcy 'enunciated in the Address, the policy jof which he characterised as the, one for tjie; country. He would not detainee House, 1 on that occasion, as he would have other 1 opportunities, of airing >is e-loquence; '"YpfiaersV The Speaker then read thedraftAddress as Follows:--« Thata res-! pectful Address be presented to^his Excel-; kney, tocongratulatehisExce lency^upon; his appointment to the Governorship of New Zealand ; to thank H.s, li2?cellencyj ;for-.the speech he had been pleased ;to make to both Houses of Panmment; to assure His Excellency that wphave heard; with pleasure that he has been much; gratified by the loyal and cordial receptionwhich has been accorded to him m every, part of the colony he has yet visited ;. that he has been impressed by the even-' tual great resources of the country, and; by the industry and energy of its people ; to thank His Excellency for informing us that measures relating to electoral law, and to the representation of the people, ■ as well as with reference to, dealing with; native reserve lands, will be submitted to us. and that it is under consideration how far the principle of public auction may be fairly and beneficially applied to such native lands as now remain unsurveyed or. titles to which have not been investigated by the Court; to express our regret at the growth of fanaticism amongst the natives on the West-Coast of this Island, and our earnest hope is that a peaceful solution of the difficulty which has thence resulted may. be found; to express the gratification with which we learn that the behaviour of native people generally has been loyal and peaceful, and that.the: position taken by the wellknown chief kewi is a guarantee for the continuance

of peace in the Waikato district, although negotiations with sections of the natives there have had to be suspended ;.* to express our pleasure at learning that very great progress has been made in the acquisition of native lands as public estate, especially in localities through which the proposed trunk lines of railway in the North Island are likely to pass ; to assure His Excellency that we have heard with satisfaction that the revenue for the past year had, under nearly all heads, exceeded the amount estimated as receivable, and that it was e»f»©cially gratifying to us to learn that the estimated gross .revenue from the railways for the current year is £950,600 ; to express our regret that the falling offiniand'ravenue, past and prospective, „.,, should render requisite additional taxation, and to offer assurance that the measure for imposing a tax on income, as well as any, others affecting through.taxes the revenue/of the colony shall receive outmost careful consideration,; to .convey, to lency an expression.of our belief that the results of the expenditure for railways is such as to encourage us in extending works of the kind, and to rissurd'him that the proposed Loan Bill shall be considered with an nnxious desire to pronfcte^ the permanent-welfare of the colony; to* thank his Excellency for informing us ~ Kthatf? mddificaiiSnaf" in *tfce County System of local self-government are necessary and desirable, and to give his Excellency the assurance,, that measure! calculated to'place'Hfiat 1 system of local self - Government are necessary and /desirable,' And) to, give'; to iiisjExeellency the assurance that measures calculated to place that] v ay«temi r ;upon a better footing, as well as various other measures promised, shall receive attention from us as early as possible after their introduction „:i and; shaH; be earnestly discujsed; and we have to add that we reciprocate His Excellency's desirejjpr union incarrying out the wishes of our most Gracious Sovereign, for the welfare and happiness of Her Majesty's subjects of botii races an New Zealan.dk.and to express our hope that Divine Providence may bless our endeavors to attain those bene-ficent-epds. '; ,* -; p .'• t,- -,r 7 # The Hon. Sir William Fex rose, amidst cheers, to propose rap. amendment, and intimated he did not wish to detain the' House by, remarks^o£ any; l«Bgth, because he did not consider there was anything' new in < the of•sfroe Government calling for lengthy remarks. They had he^rd all the! measures; discwied in the House before, and really nothing new had been brought fot'#artl :ikf lfftll. They had Electoral and Bribery Bills before' the Premier' brought them down. Ti^ey had all the measures which thejiresent Government sought to lay before the people as the means of their salvation, , and release from serfdom, of which they heard' sO much duringthe famous'stamping tour of the. Premier roupd the colony. They had only the^ funeral baked meals served up again ad nauseam. 'The position of the colony was top criticalaposition to enter upon the consideration ot imeasures for, the amelioration of, theimman race, whilst they, stood, a precipice and had a serious; native difficulty, staring them in the face. „, .\ \ Air Joyce rose to a point of order., ,He wished to know if the Address shouldrbe respectful or "disrespectful." i ..- , rj The Speaker stated that the < coolie pursued was proper. - ■ ' r "''^[ The Hon.' Sir W. Fox resum)ea7 Jfre could arraign the' Government 'on'various charges of incapacity and other "serious matters calculated to imperil the safety of good'government of the colony:"''"The House was strewn: with: the.'broken promises of this Administration,-. iThey had been incapable as administrators, and had carried out none. of ' the promises made when on the stump tour. Was there ever such a breach of magnificent promises as had been shown by the '■ present Government P They 'Itadi^he same bill of fare to-day as last year, 1 and would have the some again if the Government were permitted 1 to remain in power. They had an utter failure on the native question,, and, the, -same with every; other question 1 of importance; 'nothing' but error upon error. They had seen a bill kept back , on, its , passage for the Governor's''afcsent, jnscdss* an expert sharper would keep back ,a card in shuffling. Such an'acV'was'a fraud, and but for the expertness of His Excellency in detecting this,it would, have been,, accomplished/ vWhat hai been^ddtte Wthe Thames ? They received the consent of the House to r make. a, railway „firom Ha^tpn'^to^tUe'^'WbeV^UTelrTr'wtiioh-': was -navigable all the way, but the Ministry -had.cpmmenced;,at,;the .w&ang end ; thef tiaM WoWthe" wrontf sen&YW would have to make the other end afterwards, and all this without^plans,,heing authorised or any appi'Opriati'okra^d^for ■ the same- And yet in the face of this the Premier takes off his coat, and turns the first sod or a'itne never authorised, and every step of which was unconstitutional,,,,. Tjhen .., they had the additional uricdnVfitatibbll attempt to pass a Loan Bill through the House on the, strength of an emergency which 'mtistf'have"beSn^Mowtf^W'th* Ministry for months past, and which th«f House should have, been called, together to consider. '''Nbr tU6y r}&wiu^ifirry . together on a short notice, and be compelled to pass it without Aime^to,consider a bill of such impoVfaiicer torilin6'fol6ny, and without any attempt to explain the necessity for the same. He could not conceive that any* Constitutional Government would conduct business in the way they seeni;to do under thei sham of a Government of the people's choice. It was a family Government —a happy family, they had seen. Sweeping off old bauds in the service, and mere boyajpujt in their-places, the service was becoming a bye-word in. the colony. . In Wanganui they had a very efficient Postmaster and telegraphist, a man of the highest character and integrity,'but" this post was wanted to reward a political asistant who was placed over his head,'although only an inexperienced,youth. That was only a sample of. many-such instances. ; Heknew one who had been au able servants against whom a groundless charge had. been preferred, and an inquiry was held over Mr Booth, R..M., lasting a long time, and ho ' was" of 'course acquitted' ; the Commission of'any' blame; and he wag then restored to his positioa/butagrettlt injured man.-^after 17' years''faithful service. Then they had the case of Mr Luckie* a gentlemen quite competent to fiii tj a sinecure-office and draw. the f salary attached thereto,;.ho ( was appointed tq c *l office with a largo salary and notajnjj.to do, over the heads of other and more 1 deserving, officers ,of ihe-publioHiervioe , k? cti$ eM % ■ Wi editor/and' Wi. 'idfluence over a .newspaper,..,'Jf;%'Ser.»:i« - was demoralised, so were MinistesatilANvT selves. They had h^^|gfll| '

dog life in the happy family of Ministers carrying piit great Liberal principles of Government. That war, laughable if.uot so serious, when one Minister sent for a messenger and told him to take his colleague ''by the scruff'of his neck and pitch him out (laughter). The hori. member at the head of the Government sent for the Colonial Treasurer to his parlour—as (he spider flid the fly, It was early morning, and he was fresh to his work. The Treasurer wished to remove an official's salary, and the Premier told him he made him bluah. He thought it would be the first time for fifty years that man, or womanjhad made him blush. iVtr Joyce rose to interrupt, but was called to order by the Speaker. Hon. Sir W. Fox resumed — The Premiar had behaved in an indiscreet manner, and allowed matters to appear in newspapers which should be secret. Sir W. Fox then narrated an incident "in the Cabinet between the Premier and Colonial Treasurer, and said it reminded him of Dr Watt's song, about children of one family, falling out and fighting, which was a disgrace to any Government. At this time he thought Ministers ate humble pie at every sitting, and the messengers had. hard times of it inthis| Cabjinel, jHe next referred to the mis•Hfttfriagement of native affairs. No Minip*xy took the reins of power under uch favorable, circumstances. •At preset the Ministry said there was no symptom of dissatisfaction in the minds of the .native race. Cp to that time the King parity proper, after its defeat in the "'Wjaikato,' settled quietly down, lived , peaceably, and .did not interfere. The ,','tr^bfl?,.,did > not even lift a little finge^ against and the policy of the Government should' have been to leave them alone. All who had dealings with the| natives knew that it was the worst thing; to appear anxious to procure their lands/ and.yet;Gover,nment went to work quite; „ (differently, without the slightest occasion! for it. They began to make political •capital :ont>rof < the natives, and offered i'them^all;manner of things,, so that the^ (•Premier 'insight be thought the greats saviour of the race. The Premier went to Hikurangi aud made a holy showj of himself, attended by his retinue, and! then 'theyi Werei'told in the House that! peace was assured, although it had never been questioned by others. Then they j had the 'March meeting^ with its preliminary meeting at Orakei, arid those efforts of which they had heard so much to prpr cure an invitation which did not come ; and tho;Minister crawled 6n all "fours. Then they had the speech which followed, in which Tawhiao said he would have nothing' to do with that man Grey. He could not understand how the Premier could have been so deceived by the King and other Maoris, who had told him .to lick the,floor; and he was like a rat in a pit, frofcn tohich there was no escape. The Mabyi"knew 'their, failings, and showed ft' prescience not credited to them. Tho&et;., men. who were entitled ;to tne'^^aimatejland came to him and assured him they did not wish to fight, but-wanted their reserves marked off, that they, might have lands to reside upon and cultivate. The Government did nothing, although told that was all:,the Maoris wanted; and they knew the result. The Ministers made no attempt 4o keep faith with the Maoris. At iParihaka'the Native Minister was evfen*"tol& he 11 Was a thief who had stolen Te Whiti's, land, and he had to retreat. THeY' rhad .sh'bWh more ignorance, in native affairs and management than any new comer. They had caused the settlers as well as Government to be dragged through the.mire/and disgraced them in tne eyes of Europe. They could not travel in the native country without hearing tales that would make them blush for their wa,nt of -moral courage, and the humiliation of Europeans who held such positions of trust and responsibility (hear,' hear). Then there was the panic on the West Coast, and the request for arms— which were not sent—but a reply to the effect that when they-were wanted they would be forthcoming. He sent a telegram at the request of the settlers on a Wednesday for arms, and got a reply' on the following Tuesday regretting the delay which had occurred^and stating no attention could be paid to such requests unless they came from the Commissioner who had been sent for to make his report in Wellington; ; If they, wished to preserve the dignify and .integrity of the Ministerial Benches, they should ask his Excellency to rid Ministerial Benches of those who occupied : them—(cheers)—and in order to sqeure this, he had the pleasure to mo^ethe Hsplution placed in his hands tb^th'e.'effect that. .Government does not possess the confidence of that House (loud and prolonged cheering). The Premier ; regretted to say that the utterances of the leader of the Opposition were .contrary to fact. He looked arqund 5 and, saw .those whom he had offended .because he had not allowed them to regain some, fourimillions of ill-gotten funds. There were those around him who were., defeated in*«efforts to obtain grants of land by unjust means, if they could, and they sought to annoy him bruise they were defeated and chagrl^d in their efforts. He would first nojJß> some of the accusations made, whi'ctf' Were in revenge for his action in thejnterest.of the.whole of the Colony. In the matter of the Thames railway he maintained that the law had been carried out, 'because when the question was before the I|ouse he asked was it intended to run/ to Grahamstwn, and was answered in the affirmative ; so that alls the'-House-knew as well as he did that Grahamstown was meant, and not the; head of the navigation only, as alleged; by the leader of the Opposition. As to his action on the Loan Bill, he saw the Governor on the Wednesday before the House sat, and told the House the • result of his interview, andoyethe was accused of a great conspiracy, and. made the subject of a viohjnt:attack; but he did not think the speaker believed one-half of what he said. [Mr Foxj I fully believe it.] Then he was sorry for it, because such a belief jcould- not. emanate from the best of hearts. It had been . said that the Government nererr held Cabinets, but that .m*t alsptintrue, as frequent Cabinets had Deen held, and always when asked for. Such an assertion ■'■<. was malicious and uncalled for* rThe lion member for Wanganui said, ;wheri he came into office, all was pea|Je io the native districts ; but that was untrue, for there was no safety for life or property, .and the hon gentleman knew It., Sfti knew that, the late Government had inaugurated certain proposals, and the only changes made therein weflP^ff-'an' "exchange of land for the benefit of the colony. , He.determined tharttirsMera should be.taught the use of ( ¥^;ai^ ;tl*^ ms. w^v )Ufch! Q tkdrwommon that they wight be able

to make a proper use of them whoa occasion should ariso TT-i* Ifmughl: the proper course to adopt on tho West Coast was to divide tho land into lots and allow it to be settled upon by tifts-ieuUnral settlers, instead of being handed over to land speculators ; arid in bringing forward such a proposal he thought lie deserved tho thanks of the colony instead of tho abuse that had. been heaped upon him by hon gentlemen that evening. He knew that when triennial Parliaments and a ! liberal franchise were prop >sed, to be ! introduced, ho would have opposition .to j contend with, but he did not care for ::that. He was working in a good cause, J and cared not for the opposition of inter- ! ested persons. He did not go on all fours jto tho natives, as the lion member for Wanganui did,. to get his spurious honours from the Home Government. If some honest yeoman had wanted to procure land at a price, when i,fc was worth ten times the amount, what would be said to him ? and yet that was the position they were in whilst attempting to acquire native lands, and so long would they hare difficulty to encounter. They had now to see whether a dissolution' would be granted and an appeal made, which he believed would result in a confirmation of a policy they had pursued, in spile of the' action taken by a section of that House, who sought to keep the people from the enjoyments of their just rights (cheers). The Hon. the Speaker called the galleries to order., ; > Members had joined the Government with alacrity, because they knew the strong effort that was to..be. made to (do the, Government an injustice. . They were acting in the interests, of the country, and endeavouring to open lands, for the people, instead of.allowing the public estate to be squandered amongst a few who sought to control .that estate to the exclusion of poor people. But Ministers intend to make these peraonß contribute their equal share of the taxation of the colony, instead of allowing them to have all their own way as hitherto. The hon. member had told them his 1 telegams relative to West Coast matters was a cold-blooded one, and. showed; that, he "cared nothing for Human life. "He aji"pealed to the House to review, tiS, career; and challenged them to point' to a single incident in that career which would justify such a remarkrrwicked, and malicious, as it was untruthful,.. and opposed to his whole career Iv this arid many other countries. - , ; At this stage the House adjourned 'until 10.30 , ,

Why are balloons in the air like vagrants r 1 Because they have no visible means of support.

(For remainder of News see Ist Page.)