MESSRS, BROWN AND SHEPHERD AT THE BLUE SPUR.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 24, 25 July 1868, Page 3

MESSRS, BROWN AND SHEPHERD AT THE BLUE SPUR.

A public meeting was held in the school on. Friday evening last, to receive the members for the Goldfields. A requisition was presented last Week to Messrs. Brown, . Mouat, and Shepherd, asking these gentlemen — not so much calling them to account as to give us their version of the business done, and the business which might have been done in the late Council. We are very glad to say that Messrs. Brown and Shepherd attended punctually at the time and hour appointed, and there were a large and influential company" of electors to give these gentlemen a meeting, the large schoolroom beinpr filled to overflowing. On the motion of Mr. John Cormack'

(whom we are glad to welcome as a resi-dent-in-the township), Mr. Richard Williams was called upon to take the chair.

Mr-. Williams said he was not insensible to the honor .done him on the preseni occasion. lie hoped that he should get-through his part of the evening's entertainment with'- credit to him self, and trussed., that the good sense of the meeting would make his duties verylight. He (Mf., Williams) said that he cordially welcomed our Representatives, and had no doubt r ljhat they would give a satisfactory account of themselves, in connection with the, late Council. The Chairman then read a letter which he had received from Mr. Mouat, explaining that gentleman's absence.

Dunedin, June 13,1868. „ Deab Sih^-tI have just received your note ; and if circumstances permitted, I should be most ; happy, to meet my^ constituents, and give a"n account of my proceedings in the Council, and my views on public matters generally. I look upon the present as a grave crisis in political .matters, especially when considered in connection' with the policy announced in his Excellency's-speech at the opening of Parliament." I have" always been a sincere advocate of insular separation, and in-oonnectiofi there.with, .the.aboliiipn ofe^ Provincial Governments in each Island. As far as I can understand the Stafford Government, it appears to be the constitution of jv number of -governing and legislative bodies, not called provinces, but having fii the faults of Piovivcial G^overnmehts in a multipliedjand exaggerated form. I think it is {ihe'duty of every one who takes an interest in Ms adopted country to take action at' once to obtain constitutional changes of a beneficial character, and such as will relieve the Colony from a portion of that heavy load of taxationu.nler which' it is at present suffering, and which wiu\ never be lightened while our Government, is entrusted with power of taxing- and tbe other is only endeavoring to obtain money to spend, without- being brought face to face with thos3 who have to pay. Had the Provincial Government been compelled to raise even a part of their revenue by taxation, the reokltp waste

aid extravagance that has hitherto characterised it would never have had au existence. With regard to the proceedings in the (Jouaeil, I demur altogether to Mr. Vogel's version of the matter. It is false that the object of the Opposition, or any section of it, was mejelyfaj cL-iage seats with the Government, "or tti b'ruig' Provincial institutions into contempt j The basis of the Oppoajfcion was the avowal ph the Government of ite intention noY tolcaijry out the resolutions of the Council on the» liuid and other important questions^ ther fuefc-'timt they had not expended the public monej* votedibj., the Council, and that they.had'erpended money, without the sauction^of tuo Council, on objects ' of wh4fb .the CquiiCil did uot Approve., Froyfj the vedkless way in whib'u tfie present estimate* wbie framed, the same thing must inWitaftiyl' occur next session: > KThe :i i'€Veti«i^' l *i* l *Bjtima i te,d. at £330,000 ; and it is generally- cousidei!etrt<3o high an estimate,, ami votes to the $mo|m,tjDf; J8433,000 are taken agaiost it: I desire you^.jf j you attend the proposediueetinK, to make theoe^ views &ripwn on^'niy behaft, and "that" myren-TJ gagemeuts in town and tlie.state of the weaiier unfortunately preveut me from attending!. The action of the Government in refusing toi allow me my expenses, as a countig member, J consider as uiif.'.ir, seeing that it has been allov«(J to supportera df .the Government exactly in tiie »au»e way hb I am. The worst that Mr. Yogel could traly say of the Opposi- r tion was th.it, instead of being inxious to rush' into office thejn&elves, they made advances- to some of the moderate supporters of the Government. I should bo ashamed to repeat what'^ know of the actions on their side. It should be. sorry that the exact truth ahouldjbe publicly or j generally known' throughout the. Colony. I have written at considerable length ; but I cannot find time to state my viewa at such length, as -I consider desirable.' However, as Messrs. Blown and % Shepherd will explain matters, I consider' it less to be' regretted, as, generally; they and myself were on the same side. If possible, I shall take an opportunity hereafter of meeting my constituents, ai Tuapeka. ' -'

I remain, dear Sir, ■ - Yours FaithJtuUjr, • • :..-- • John Jlouai. He (the Chairman) would now call upon their respected member and neighbor, J. C. Brown ; Esq., to address the meeting, '• Mr. Brown was received with cheers, | and said Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, when at the last election' I came at the call of duty, to represent the-Goldfields in the Provincial Council, T expliainedtb you my policy, and' that I -should; support I the Superintendent and Executive Council so far as I saw they intended to do justice to the various interests of the" Province without prejudice- io any., Promises were very loud, as they were aware, on the part of the Superintendent, j and some of the Executive, who had the appearance of being the right men in the - right place. Subsequent events, however, proved that in the recess" they had not carried out the wishes of the previous Council— indeed, they- had done the very , reverse ; and hx the face and in defiance of the Council of which they (the Executive) were only the working committe, they took' upon themselves to act quite contrary to the- wishes of the Council. Well, this happy family met the • Council in April ; and you would observe that they were sot>n called to account. It was evident that there was such a powerful minority in the Council who thought differently on many sxibjects, • the land laws more especially, that ministers would find it no easy matter to keep their seats ; and the public ' soon saw' that, notwithstanding the professions of the: Government, the Goldfields had notexpended above one-half that which was voted for public works- by the Provincial Council ; in fact, there was nothing satisfactory done for the benefit of the mining population. Petition after -petition was presented from Tuappka, Waitahuna, the Teviot, and many other-places, for a large amount of commonage and land for settlement. It was well known that the Government were in a position to takemeasures to withdraw a portion •of land from the runholders in these localities ; but no action was taken in behalf of the miner and small set* 1 — We were met by a "ma'/'iifice"' ■•evemi'V dervodfron) the rui^' >'■} •]'), jio ? *ifc targe ftrn-)ui«t of compensation iv.jui-vf] *v relnt"^.lsL parts of these runs, that tl^- Government* hands were tied; or, in other. ■words, that tlieir tennancy- -was more desirable than throwing open the country for settlement. In conjiintion with my colleague, Mr. Shepherd, I. moved for certain returns relative to the waste lands' of the Crown in the possession of the runholders. I shall readyou a few of these returns, the amount of acreage, and the " magnificent rental " derived from them, and will leave it to you whether or not you are of the same opinion as the hon. the Provincial Treasurer. Now, the returns I am about to read are from a Government paper, and got up by themselves, so' of course they are supposed to be genuine, and I have no doubt about the matter. To the, GoMfields population it is an interesting document. I will select those runs -which .most affect you fin this neighborhood. Mr. James Smith [has "an acreage of 26,240, at a rental— or assessment, which is the, same- *«hing — of £262 10a.; Driver and Maclean, 20,080 acres, for £110 12s. 7d. ; they have another of 28,160, for £220 Is. 10d.'; J: .and F;. Fulton, 37,760, tor £195 lip. 3d.; Cargill and Anderson, 64,000, for £499 19s. 6d. ; William Saunders, 44,800, for £129155.10 d.; Meson. Chalmers, 19,200, for £145 16s. Bd.; do. r dp:, 7-1,040, for£7o7 Is. 2d.; Stewart and Kinross, 10,000, for £54 16s. Id.; Cafsill and Anderson, 85,000, f or £100 3s. 2d. ; Low andM'Gregor, 40,000, for. £ls^, 7b. 2d, These, gentlemen, are an average' selection, and will give you an idea of this | " magnificent rental." Now, what do you suppose the runholders wanted. as com- 1 pensation? Considering the nature .of their tenure, Cargill and Anderson wanted 9s. an acre. The Government appointed arbitrators,, who were runholders, and an ; umpire, who is also a runholder and they allowed the parties ss. an~acre~for t^at ; which cost them a fraction ovtr 3d. ; -and this is a sample, of the difficulties] which, your representatives meet with ih their' desire to serve their constituents. A very gre.at number, of- thqse runs, would^ have been out next year, or at, all events^ in 1872;. and the Government, knowing this, they'-should have reserved .sufficient" land for the requirements of the Goldfields and' for settlement, without compensation. Instead. of this, the Government granted -fresh leases, without the consent of the : Co^uieil ; so that you are shut out from receiving larger commonage, or having Hundreds proclaimed .where they are ..wanteji - t _ and as to the '• magnificent revenue/ it is an insult to the common sense of the Council to.. put the sum-total on paper. We could also see that whfen anything' was wante d for Dunedin, it was passed through • the House without difficulty ; thoy had ak

ways plenty of money to expend in works in and around the city— £2ooo for a bridge over the Water of Leith, L 35,000 asagift,to"the,QorporatioB r ,LjJ ;^^)o for . 3redging, f E^rUOlTur purchase ' Js|ff Reyttold's I prop*rty jf dry-doc^ at'^art Chalmers— auyt^ing ( and everything ; and ther country districts' not even gefcting-half the Xmoun^vStett^T. say, taking |fi these 4hiij|S* corisideiationfi f . determined £pj|gkfl ; aiid I Mlfevolf Mr-Keid" l|ia puccSedod 'ix^-m^&^^r -«i#^ GWvdrufe^&t, w» shouKHhive.hid 9 r>B me*Hjr«i<»feju3tic« mete4 c xiut ..tqy %c Gold^^d| ; .^t th© 'though i^ aia^not* succeed, li&i ?toi6mx* \fa^^vv&fflm<%mt they bout , act %diffei»»flySf AhsfcCtofoiskp keep- • %*f m^A^^m^^^m s° od : it 19 tne TeiysouT of Business j and-soit ! 6ughtio^be in politics, '' aiad o i rfft*gdod will 'be effectedV-tha ..Gov^rnmeiit vyill bo for/cedto adopt an hpneßif\pciicK rT7 1 ct'nVider thafth^l^rdaie IslaSld' should *b» "one^GoVernmen^ vW&hkvd asfi«#estate, and if well . mamaged, itii^uaji k i>e. -productive of good to these Islands. "If .1 have omitted anything, I shall be glad to answer any questions- which '-you vaaj ■think -proper to. put to- me, ,. v . - > ; . . N o, questions being asked, the man called upon Mr. Shepfierd ? who, on rising aaid-he was very glad -tof give the preference to Mr. Brown, especially as h# (Mr. Shepherd) had had an opportunity very recently of addressing 'In thw ! remarks which he might make he would' endeavor to; take a different view to that which he gare the othei' evening. His ! experience in Provincial politics enabled' i him to say- a great, deal. . It was a very fruitful theme : .his head was -full of it. Goldfields ijiembera liatJ an onerous duty to performr It'was honorable^to represent a large and intelligent" constituency, and wheie the labors of members could be honorably appreciate! . He felt thfcfr he was deeply indebted to the electors of , Blue Spur and Weatherstones for his success." They were not all "Gladstones ; . but he meant to represent them until j Gladstone did come^ When he entered the Council the first session, he found there was a system of log-rolling going on I in the Council, and that ii' "lie- wanted anything for his constituents he niu*b .of ' necessity assist them in obtaining what they required. Donald wanted a- road' to his back door ; James wanted" a dei)&a£onof the :roa<J r r and then the city member*' and members of Government, alwr.vs bobland and.smartr, in a business^ view, would say, "Of course^ Mr. Shepherd,, you wiil support this, and^ you will support that." Of course he did" neither, -a* such a course would vitiate his connection with his constituents. Of course" Ke had to be on- his guard ' r and he Tiad i^o diffi- | culty in taking their measure- " .'Fo much for the first session ; and with regard to the last session,, he went down to iha Council determined to try, if possible, to make a strong party, in order to have a different line of policy -persued, and by all means to> get" an honest ..execution. , They were all aware how. they had* succeeded. It was a matter of nlstory ; and had it not been for the strong connection, an intimate one, between the merchantr of Dunedin and the rnnholders, the" present Government would nntOer^ this- - have had an inch of ground to stand 1 upon ; for it was well known' th'at the citymembers, and one or two in th« suburbs; represented <he banks, and that the l>ankir .were de.eply:interestedin>the.runhofders r that if they did not make thiugs^pieapant _ the banks would" soon take the oull by the horns, as it was well kno*n the merchants were undfer the tfcuiwt» of the banks, and the squatters were under the thumb of the merchants*. Atd that wasthe large and influential interest which put a veto upon everything which vr"--calculatorl t«» iiHpr>v *he material go r . j of *\\<j Province ; jiqci fie' had 4^^° ' ' l ' c-- .o nrive h r ov. naU' hiir. <\r~ -ijfi.

-.v^nt of t l^, Executive. "V_ Vi&fl.y >• the General Government .. r;ie r-tl Jt, • it -was -the great 'bxipr-'bear ■•,-, *„<' eyes . and' were it not that tiv* Ocic*-. G - .vernment whip was held over ihi'in, hemight have a longer tenure. He trusted a general electron would give them afgreater amount of collective sense .and sound' judgement. There were men •in the Council — and he said it advisedly- whom they would not elect on their school committee ; and others, who had been astraywith the sophisms of Yogel (in case they made everything: square with their constituents), -would return to the Council 1 pledged- to a different line of - polioy to> that which they had hitherto adopted. They- had indicated the future policy to-, be adopted ; and the present Executive (who never had a policy) t would not beable to shirk the responsibility to which events had given birth, in the .organisation of a strong minority — a minority which had reduced the Government majority to the casting vote of -the -Speaker. The Government wanted to reduceUhe hospital subsidies. He opposed thai;.' 1 He also opposed the sale of the Wakatip runs, and the handing over of a large amount of land !at Waitahuna to one family(Here Mr. Shepherd gave, a series of readings from Mr. Vogel's speech at To- | komairiro.)^ Mr. Vogei-had said that the Committee were chosen. Yes, very carefully packed.. Any one who knew the hon. Treasurer -knew-full welt .that he could pack. anything. The wonder was; that he did not,. pack up his carpet bagf and leave New Zealand. He (Mr. Shepherd) was in favor of haviMg"/ttie best education they could get; and money, snent under this head was well spent. They got a fair return in the education of tneir children. An education I such a3 ■they Earl iii Otago was second to none in the British Colonies. In conclnsion r aHow him to - say, that .Messrs, Browa •and 'Mouat ,l and himself httd acted uprightly and with honor in endeavoring to support theOftnterests. He should never 'consent to serve s constituency by using the back door of the Government ; and as long as he could .serve them w^th honor to himself and with satisfaction, he should be glad when again an occasion occurred to renew that amity which had existed betw'eea them.— (Cheers.) Before the hon. membet-sat4lawn_he intimated that he would be. happy -4jp' answer pny qneetionß which the meeting, might" desire to put. Calls werf>;raad)e fp£ JMrU Morris ; but that gentleman was not forthcoming ; and all appeared to he* of .opinion thnf; -their -respectiva-_claims _ had.' Jjeen well " Shepherded n during the session. ' Mr* ---M'ConnacU propos,ed,^and -Mr. Hutchison seconded, "a, vote "of thank* to Mewrg. "Firsts 3^d FSieriiprJ.''