PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 161, 9 March 1871, Page 5

PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS

WAITAHUNA DISTRICT. -

Mr. G. F. C. Browne and Mr. Thomas Grundy addressed tho electors at Chalmers' Halfway House, Waitahuna-road, on Monday evening last. The attendance was small. The chair was occupied by Mr. Alexander Eraser, who, in opening the meeting, hoped the candidates would get a fair hearing.

On being called upon, Mr. Browne said that in appearing before them as a candidate for tho Provincial Council, he might state that it was not by bis own desire that he did so, as it had been far from his thoughts to launch into the sea of politics. He would give them his views on the principal political topics of the day, and if they agreed with those of the electors, he would be glad to serve them to the best of his ability. If his views did not agree with theirs, he would gladly return to the isolated position he had hitherto held. He only wished to lay before the electors the views held by an ordinary mind. The first matter he would refer to was the Financial Scheme of the Colonial Grovernment — not that the Provincial Council can alter that Scheme, but ho thought that the person who came before the electors should be capable of expressing his opinions on that scheme. The speaker first referred to the questions of railways. It had been said the survey for 395 miles had been authorised in the North Island, as- against 185 in the South. They were asked to construct these lines in tho North to be the means of preventing war with the Maories by showing them tha luxuries and great riches of England. He remembered reading of some sanguine believers in this railway scheme who prophesied that To Kooti, the rebel chief, woiud be the first passenger. "With regard to immigration, he thought it objectionable to borrow for that purpose. Tho only class of immigration likely to come to New Zealand for the construction of railways was the navvie class, who would just come and suck up the honey while they were here, and go oft* as soon as it was done. The next thiug in the scheme was a million of money for defence, viz., protecting ourselves against outsiders, such as the Russians, or internally against the Maoris. He objected to borrowing one penny for those purposes — if defence was required, it should be maintained at their own expense. "With reference to the sum of £300,000 set down for water supply for the goldfields of the colony, it was far too small. Had the two million which were voted for immigration and defence been devoted to a water supply, the scheme would have been a reasonable one. Mr. Browne then touched upon the feet of the North Island having no land fund of any extent, the land being in the hands of the Maoris, and the consequent inability of the North Island to pay for the construction of public works, whereas the South Island had a land fund, which, if entirely at the disposal of the General Grovernment, would doubtless be used for other than its legitimate purpose. If the scheme can in any form be modified, and if any outside pressure can assist in modifying it, such as the action of the Provincial Council, he would do his best to bring such a modification about ; but if the scheme must be carried out in its present shape, then he would say by all means let us get as much of tho money as we can. The Hundreds Act, 1869-70, had caused great discussion. He did not see any probability of its being repealed, but there were some very obnoxious clauses which he thought should be struck out. He opposed the system of appointing commissioners to tell him or any other person' what w.as, and Avhat was not agricultural land. "The people themselves were the best judges in these matters. After making . reference to the land in Hundreds outside of goldfields, he touched, upon the Question of land in' goldfields.. So nje', parties in the "Waitahuna- district, lie said, Avere averse to thelancl laws within goldfields — some diggers dou't like to see the agriculturist on the goldfields. This, he thought, was a great mistake, as the means of living were greatly reduced, and so long as the land they occupied was not auriferous, he

could not see why the agriculturists should be objected to. He referred to the great advantages which had accrued from business licenses and miners' rights system, by which a man could take up a piece of land and cultivate it. As a proof of his remarks, he stated, some six years ago, when mining, as there was a scarcity of water, he set to and cultivated a garden, by which means he accumulated about L3O, which kept him out of the storekeepers books. He was in favour of the agricultural leasing system, full protection, however, being given to auriferous lands. He was in favour of the rents now charged going towards the purchase of the land. He had taken considerable action in this matter when the petitions were got up to present to the Assembly. He regretted that Mr. Macandrew did not allow their petitions to take their course, but instead, proposed that the petitious be referred to the Provincial Council. He would now refer to that part of the Financial Scheme referring to a Water Supply. In Waitahuna, the most of the miners have not made a sixpence since Christinas, and he thought he hacl good reason, on that account, to be in favour of an increased Water Supply. Thoro was only L 300,000 set apart for this great work, but very little could be done with such a miserable dole. The work might be accomplished byaGrovernmeut gaurantee, or it could be constructed by the Government, but the plan which hacl forced itself upon him was this — that the Government should provide sustenance money for those who are willing to undertake the construction of races, which, when brought iv, would remain the part property of the miner, who could take out the balance of his wages in water. Pie was quite convinced that such a plan would work well, and that it would be largely taken advantage of. There were no fewer than 20 men who came to him aud said they would jump at such a chance. He believed that were this course adopted by tho Government, Waifcabuna, in a very short time, would have an escort of 200 instead of 100 ozs., and there would then be plenty money flowing about. The next quostien he would touch upon, was the export duty on gold. This was a direct tax upon the mining industry. Some people say it is charged as a royalty for extracting the precious metal from the ground, but ho was of a different opinion — for a miner might work his claim for a year and get nothing out of it. The miners' right might justly be considered a royalty, but not the export duty. From his miners' right, the miner receives the advantage of running a certain number of cattle, but no advantage is gained by him from duty he has to pay on his gold. He did not believe in the present system of immigration, which only supplied the country with the sweepings of Edinburgh and other towns. At present they have an ageut located in some out-of-the-way place that no one knew anything of. He would be in favour of an agent who would travel through England, Ireland, and Scotlaud, and who would inform the public of what was really required for New Zealand, and thus induce, not only the proper class of labour to our shores, but also the capitalists, who could work our coal to profit, and take advantage of the bonus for woollen-factories, and so on. As it is, we have lots of the youth of thecolony growing, andwjeinust either putaplongh or a long-Kandled shovel in their hands ; for there is really nothing else for them to do. On the question of Education, he would make a few remarks. Some parts of the education cf this province ho considered good, but he thought they were drifting into a wrong course. Take the High School for ins+ance — that institution consists of some eighty scholars, educated at an enormous expense to the province, who must be 13 or 14 yeais of age before they can enter it. Generally speaking, when boys get to that age they are required at home. He said it would be better for the province if the lower branches of education in the country were more attended to than the higher ones in the meantime. He thought the school committees should have power to compel parents to educate their children ; and when it was found they were unable to afford it, then let the Government pay for their education. He would be in favour of some alteration in the Law Courts of the district. He saw no reason why seven or eight witnesses should be dragged away to Tuapeka when a case could be heard as well at Waitahuna. Mr. Browne strongly objected to the wholesale creation of Magistrates lately made. He doubted whether if he owed. a storekeeper £5, and that person was a J.P. on the Bench, he would get justice from him. He did not think so. The system was a rotten one. .Referring to the local wants of the district, he said their late member, Mr. Hughes, had not brought a sixpence into the district. He could only say if returned he would make it his business to, look after all local interests. He thought they would do well to bring themselves Tinder the District Road Board Bill, so that tbey would -.be- able to tax themselves, and obtain the subsidy for the making of district roads. He thought he had -now explained himself fully on the" -most important-. -sUbjects engaging attention. He would now submit himself to being cross-examined. — (Applause.) \f A great many-questions were asked the candidate, - the answers to all of which gave satisfaction,

Mr. Blair then moved a vote of confidence in Mr. Browne, as a fit and proper person to represent the district in the Provincial Council.

Mr. Brydie seconded. — Carried. Mr. Browne expressed bis thanks. A vote of confidence was more than ho expected. Mr. Browne then moved a vote of thanks to the chairman, which brought the first meeting to a close. MR. GRUNDY'S MEETING.' After a few minutes interval, Mr. Brydie was called to the chair, and introduced Mr. Grundy, who he hoped would receive a fair and impartial hearing. Mr. Grundy said, in coming before the electors at this time as a candidate, he had done so at the request of a number of the electors of the district. He had not come before them with a speech which would reach from the Bluff to the Bay of Islands. He intended to confine himself to their own district. They were all aware that matters had been in the hands of people who had done nothing whatever for the district. This was the first opportunity the electors had had of sending a member of their own to the Council, and if they thought he was a fit person to represent them, he would give his undivided attention to the interests of the district. They all knew that the district had been receding instead of progressing lately. Neither the mining nor the agricultural interests were what they should be. Anything he could do to dcvelope the resources of the district, would be done. Now that the hour had got so late, he would only make a few remarks on some local matters of interest. And first he would refer to tho "Water Scheme. lie believed a sufficient supply of water would be a great acquisition to the district, and on that ground he would support any scheme which would meet the requirements. He was not in favour of railways, believing the country was not yet ripe for them, and that at" present they would not be reproductive works. If the great loan scheme were carried out they would rereceive no benefit from it excepting for the "Water Scheme, and of that a very small portion of money would come to Waitahuna. "With regard to the land laws of the country, he had now been residing in this province for the last fifteen years, and he had noticed the working of all the land laws that had been introduced. The best land law he considered they had had was the one that made 10s. an acre the upset price for lroid, with a clause making it necessary that improvements to the value of 4'Os. should be put upon the land in a stated time. There were some persons in this province, however, who saw what they considered a flaw in the Act, and went in and made large purchases at 10s. an acre ; amongst those one oi the foremost was Mr. Harris, who, at that time, contested the Superintendency, after which the case against him fell through. The present land laws, he considered, were nothing more nor less than a monopoly, and he would support any new measure, and new Land i\.et, as a worse one could not possibly be introduced. He maintained that the Hundreds Act, 1869-70 had gone very much much against the interests of the province. If a liberal land law was introduced and inducement offered for people to come to the country, he believed the present population would make the best immigration agents. "With reference to agricultural land in the goldfields, which is taken up under the lease system, they wei'e paying more for it than was paid for land outside of goldfields. He found that under the Hundreds Act the squatter was allowed 640 acres, whereas a settler cannot take up more than 200. He, with some others in the district, took some action to get the agricultural rents to go towards the purchase of the land, and from the promises made by Mr. Macandrew, whose object was, as he stated, to settle men and women on the land instead of sheep, he certainly expected different treatment from him than he save to the "Waitahuna petition. He (Mr. G-rundy) sent him that petition, but he got no reply from him. Mi\ G-rundy then referred to the Mount Benger petition, which, although it received better consideration, was ultimately consigned to the same tomb as the "Waitahuna one — in other words, they were all recommended, on Mr. Macandrew's motion, to be sent back to the petitioners. He believed that one of the best things that could be done for the district would be to get a Progress Committee formed. By a committee of this description, consisting of from five to nine members, he believed much good might be accomplished. Such a body would have great weight in it* recommendations to the Council. There was more local agitation wanted, and if the electors did not do something for themselves, he was afraid ifc would be found that others would not assist them. "Was it not a fact that they had not a single district road ? . Mr. Browne had recommended them to organise local boards, but he was sorry they had not the power of doing so on the goldfields ; as it is, they were simply leaseholders or tenants of the Crown. At the election four years ago one of the first things Mr. Macandrew was to do was to erect a substantial bridge at Haveloek. That he failed to do. Then, lower down the creek, he had constructed an expensive bridge, entirely for the use of one man. A road was also wanted to the saw mill for fuel and building material, and many other matters required looking into, If re-

turned to the Council, he Avould use his best endeavours to get money set apart for these important matters. Ho ; thought they were entitled to twothirds of the revenue raised in the district being expended in if. In referring to the Survey Department, Mr Grundy said it had been anything but what it should have been. He had had a deal of correspondence with the Government with regard to the surveys of the district, and he believed that it was chiefly that the contract system was adopted, by which the survey has been greatly reduced in price ; in fact reduced to something like a shilling an acre. "With regard to pounds for cattle, Mr. Grundy thought if they were required at all they should be placed in the centre of the population, and if sent to the Council, he would see that there was some redress for that grievance. Several other local matters wore referred to, which we find it impossible further to enumerate. Mr. Grundy explained his connection with the Board of Wardens, and gave a full explanation of his reasons for resigning his scat in that Board. With regard to Provincial Councils, he approved of doing away with thorn, and substituting Shire Couucils in their place. He believed if these councils were, introduced, men could be got to represent them without any honourarium, and that would do away with a deal of the expense at present entailed on the country. In conclusion, Mr. Grundy said he did not expect, if returned, to shine in the Council, but he was certain that no effort of his would be wanting to obtain the very last shilling for the benefit of any reproductive woi'k in the district. A great many questions were asked the candidate, and answered satisfactorily, after which Mr. Alex. Frazer proposed that Mr. Grundy was a fit and proper person to represent the Waitahuna district in the Provincial Council. - Mr. Grundy was a man oi stern and determined character, and he was certain would make a good member. Mr. Isted seconded.

The motion, on being put, was carried.

A vote of thanks to the chairman closed the proceedings.