ME. SHEPHERD, M. H. R. AT ALEXANDRA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 222, 2 May 1872, Page 7

ME. SHEPHERD, M. H. R. AT ALEXANDRA.

Mr. T. L. Shepherd, M.H.R., for the Dunstan, addressed a meeting of his" con-"' stituents a£ JMasoMhS- Hail, Alexandra, on the evening of Friday last. J. C. Chappie, Esq., Mayor, occupied the chair, and briefly explained the object. of the meeting. Mr. Shepherd said that" he "had had the honor,"6f addressing many meetings in Alexandra during the last five years, on occasions when he sought their suffrages and other 3 when he gave an account of his stewardship. The present speech must be ranked amongst the latter. He thanked them, especially the miners of the distr'c', fin. the hearty and enthusiastic support they had afforded him at the last election, and that in the face .of a power- j ful opposition. fie accepted it as an acknowledgment of hii unswerving Jklelity to the mining interest. He would now refer to some of the chief subjects that came before the House of Representatives .last session. RAILWAYS. . ] " He had always been m favour of rail? way 3 where the population and extent of crown lands suitable for agricultural purposes warranted their construction, believing that they would materially assist in developing the resources of the country arid' increasing the population. ' But while doing so, he wa* eatirely onposed to the construction of lines in portions of the colony which we? c sparsely populated and mountainous, and he was sorry to say that in spite of his opposition, jointly with that of the members, railways had been voted that came ' under .that description. As an instance", he -would refer to the Mastertqn and Wellingt-on line; which was carried through the log-rolling abilities of the Wellington members. That line if made will run through a .mountainous dis.tric f , to a thinly populated one, and "although the time might arrive when the colony would be warranted in constructing^ such a line, yet the expenditure of. money for*£h«,t purpose at thepresent time would be the means of preventing the, construction of other lin j s possessing ten times the prospect of beinj remunerative, 'both as regard* the present and future. 'He had travelled throughout the colony and visited every province in it, and he had no ' hesitation in asserting that no line had greater .claims a3 a colonial work than a line from Diinedin to the Dunstan via Tuapeka, tapping as it .would nearly all the Goldfields of the province, commanding a large carrying trade, both of goods and passengers, and opening fertile valldys teeming with mineral wealth and agricultural resources. Having these views, he had in the.most energetic .manner spoken in his plac,e in, support of them, and .they had been endorsed by the Speaker of the '.House,' the Hon. F D. Bell.. The government, influenced by the arguments ■Used, consentedtopla'cease'ction of thatline .in thd first-Schedule of the Railway Bill, -and'he had a well-grounded hope that it .^will shortly -be commenced: • He would not „ceas,e., his., endeavours while their representative,, until ,he heard the steam .whistle on the Dunstan plains. -

\ . BROGDEN CONTRACTS. , . } '/'The speaker gave^ the history of the famou% Brogden contracts, an^. explained I the part fee took in opposing .No. 1. con-

tract, which he characterised as one which would, had it been endorsed by the Legislature, have proved most disastrous to th& interests of the colony, but it received such opposition from all sides of the House that the Government refused to recommend it, and the result' was that the Colonial Treasurer, the Hon. J. Yogel stood alone in his opinion of it. The' alternative — No. 2. contract — was made the basiso f a fresh one, the amount being increased from £500,000 to £1,000,000 sterling. It had caused some surprise that Messrs. Brogden have not yet contracted for any lines. Northern papers have stated that the reason is that proper plans and surveys had not been prepared, but he did not ascribe it to that cause entirely, but partially to the fact that the limit of price in the Schedule of the Railway Bills did not meet their j views, and -he believed, that Brogden had been searching about the colony to find a line that would suit, and with that object he was doubtless at the present time in Otago. He trusted his visit would be successful, so that the province might at once get a share of the millidn. FINANCE. Mr. Shepherd then gave an elaborate statement of the financial position of the colony,- both provincially and eolonially. in the course of. which he explained that the indebtedness of the colony, including the L 4,000,000 now being raised under the Public Works Act of 1870, would amount to about LI3*QOO,OOO, and would require a sum of L750J000 per annum to pay interest and provide a sinking fund — a sum equal to the entire amount raised by the Customs. It was therefore clear that unless the construction of public works resulted in causing a large increase in the population, further taxation was inevitable. It was the opinion of those best infoßmed that that taxation would come in the shape of a land or income tax, or both. That such a result was feared by capitalists was apparent by watching the utterances of certain men and certain newspapers, for it was well known that it would be an impossibility to prudently raise the tariff. THE LA.ND QUESTION. If there was one subject more than another that affected the future financial position of the colony, it was the land question, for upon the passing of a liberal Land Bill depended the increase of population, and profitable employment of immigrants brought out under the auspices of the Government. Lutlense would it be sending home a number of immigration agents and lecturers unless they could proclaim and assert in a loud and clear manner that the best Crown lands in the colony were open for their selection, without competition, on the most liberalrtfcernis. Especially was this necessary'to attract to our shores the most valuable class— those with a little capital, for it would be of no advantage to the colony to intr >duce paupers unless they possessed other qualifications suitable to the circumstances of the colony. The Otago Waste Lands "Bill, which passed the House of Representatives last session, but which reached the Legislative Council too lute to enable it to pass,, will be . reintroduced next session. Although not a perfect measure, yet it was a great; improvement on' the present system, "providing as it does facilities for taking lands from the pastoral tenants, and throwing them open for free selection, upon a system, of deferred payments, extending over a term of years, coupled with moderate grazing rights — the latter of which was an urgent necessity to make farming pay in the outlying districts. The Bill passed its second reading in the House of Representatives by a majority of five, after the most active- whipping-up on both sides. The squatting interest opposed it, and he thought the Goidtields must rejoice that i ou this question, with one exception, they I returned good and true men. He desired to refer to a policy advocated by one of the largest runholders in the proviuce, the Hon. P. D. Bell. He referred to a Bill including the principle of free selection. The system advocated by that gentleman did not provide safeguards,and was one, if carried into effect without them, would result in the bast lands — the eye 3of the conntry, as it were — passing into the hands of capitalists and the pastoral tenants. Mr. Bell suggested that reti lence on lands sele -ted should be compulsory, and was opposed to deferred payments. The former condition was a mockery, a delusion and a snare, and had proved, so in Victoria and New South Wales, where, to meet the law, they had j travelling shepherds' huts ; and there were otlier ways, and simple ones too, to enable large blocks being bought up by capitalists. Mr. Shepherd referred tothe history of land legislation in Victoria, and pointed out there would be no safeguard for the colony unless a Land Bill provided for compulsory cultivation and withholding the granting of the Crown Grant until certain conditions had been complied with ; and at no time were the pastoral tenants iv a better position to spot the couniry, if they had the chance, they being in such a good financial posi- j tion in consequence of the rise in wool. He hal no hesitation in asserting that they could get i unlimited supplies of money fcom home" and the other colonies, to buy up the fertile portions of their runs suitable for agriculture, at a rate of interest not exceeding 7 per cent. He trusted, therefore, the people' would- not permit the wolf to .take care of the sheep, and would not listen to the silvery and plausible utterances of the hon. gentleman referred to. THE MOA FLAT JOB. This was a subject he approached with mingled feelings of regret and anger — regret that those who had sailed .into office on the strength of their protestations and assertions that they would never be parties to- the sale of large blocks of land to the pastoral Jenants ;" anger to think that they had been such doubledyed traitors to the province, especially to those who had waited and fought for years -for the opening, of this block to bona fide settlers and farmers. He would proceed to give the true history of this transaction; and as he had been the only Goldfields member who had spoken or voted against this act of spoliation during the last session of the Provincial Council, he was in a position to speak without fear, favour, or .affection. The primary cause was the couduct of the Reid and Duncan Executive in expending a sum of about L 85,000 in excess of the revenue*. It is true thafwhen they took office they

took over a small proportion of that sum, but although.they.knew that the previous Executive had carried on an expenditure in excess of the legitimate means of the province by "forcing land sales, they endeavoured to vie with them ; and not having, like their prediscessors, reserves and lands iv old hundreds to .sell at ten shillings per* acre, they ran the province into debt to the extent he had mentioned. The revenues generally falling off, the Superintendent sent down a message last session, with "the concurrence of Messrs. Reid, Bradshaw, Cutten and Bathgate, inviting the Council to consider whether one or more blocks of land should be sold, in the way that has been done, to Clarke, in order to clear off the indebtedness of the province. A resolution was moved by a member of 'the Executive, affirming the proposition. It was carried on a division, there being only three who voted against it, viz., Messrs. Matthew Holmes, Green, and himself (Mr. T. L. Shepherd). During the debate, he (Mr. Shepherd) ' spoke very warmly on the stibject, and stated that he would be no party to condone the conducjb of Messrs. Duncan and Reid in expending a large sum in excess of revenue, by sacrificing a large block of the finest land in the proviuce, and permitting it to pass to tlie-^liands of linen who would use it for a sheep run. That was what he had fought against and warned the Council against for years, and he regretted and grieved to find-that such a proposition should partially emanate from Mr. Reid— a, man with whom he had worked for many years. It was clearly understood by him, and by most members, that the block of land to be affected by the resolution was the Moa Flat Block ; but it made no difference to him what land was affected, as it was the principle he wa,s opposed to. That his. views, standing almost singly as he did, were the views of the great mass of the people must be admitted ; and when he reminded them of the petition that was presented to the General Assembly, and the indignation universal throughout the province— in fact, to sum it up, he believed it to be one of the greatest abuses of representative government that had ever occurred. This was uot the only instance of the administrative incapacity of the Provincial Executive. He had only to remind them of the. Island and • the Shingle Block, and last of all a block lately selected on the run of Messr-j. Bell and Stafford, ostensibly for farms, which consisted of broken, uneven, rocky country, containing, as he was credibly informed, not' more than 100 aqi.es of land adapted for cultivation, and that, too, after a letter written by him on tlie 19th December last, which he read as follows : Quoenstown, Dec. 19th, f072. To the Superintendent of Otngo. Sib,— ln reference to the block of lanil to be selected from the run of Messrs. Bell and Stafford. I nin desirous of impressing npon you the •Advisability of selecting purely agricultural land, «nd would recommend that in the event of Mr. JM'Kerrow being unable to select 7000 acres of suitable lajyl in one block, he shou'd select a smaller block, as it would be no advantage, in my opinion, to select land not fi'tetl for the, p!o igh I have spoken to Mr. S. Worth, Tiger Hill. Blacks, who has consented to assist Mr. M'Kerrow in selecting the block. I think hi& services will be of value to him. I would therefore recommend that you instruct Mr. "M'Ken-ow to' place himself in communication with Mr. Worfh I confidently rely that the many,, errata of.th* past-will h«f--avoided In.the throwing open of this block of land for settlement. THOMAB L. SHKrHI RD. But his warnings, even solicitations, were disregarded. Mr. Worth was never communicated with, and the result is another Shingle Block in the Dnnstan district — a district that is in urgent want of land for settlement and increased commonage m several places for the people. When he looked back to the last five years, during which time he had been connected with the Goldtields of the province as one of their representatives, he felt weary and sick at the many disappointments the inhabitants, jointly with himself, had met with, and often said to himself, How much longer is this state of things to continue ? When shall we get a majority of able and .honest public men ? He regretted ]to say that the political horizon doe 3 not show the . wished-for state of things has arrived. PROVINCIAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT., The question as to the advisability of continuing *he present form of government has forced itself upon every thinking man in the proviuce, and the time * has arrived when the representatives of the people should give no uncertain sound on the subject.* In years gone by there was no stronger supporter than himself'of the provincial system, as one calculated to retain, for local expenditure, the revenues of the province ; but a change has taken place. The moneys will not remain at the disposal of the Council, as formerly. He therefore felt that a more economical system must be substituted for it. The Colonial Ministry admitted holding the same views, and to give effect to them brought down a bill which provided that the Provincial Council of Otago should be reduced to nineteen members, and that the Superintendent should have a seat therein. • The bill met with little or no support from either party in the House, on various grounds. He himself could not sup^poit it, because it did not provide for a system of local" government in the outlying districts— his view "being that counties, or call them what they may, should be established, with powers of local rating, the revenue so. raised to be subsidised by a share of the gold duty, miners' rights revenue, land sales and pastoral rents accruing therein— the whole to be expended in the construction . and maintenance of roads and bridges, or other works of a similar character. It is likely that some such measure may be introduced next session ; if so, he proposed giving it his support. These views he explained at meetings held during the present week at Cromwell and Clyde, and as he 'then received unanimous votes of confidence, he had every reason to believe that they were'the views of his constituents. To say that the Provincial Council should be continued in- its present pomp and state, would shock the good sense and judgment of any intelligent man.

WATER SUPPLY TO THE GOLDPIRLDS

It was very doubtful whether this subject had yet been dealt with iv ihe best possible mauner. ' „ Many -miners " had spoken to himJnnd sjfcated tliat they could' not avail themselves of the regupAtions now in force for the purpose of assisting them in works, of utility, calculated. , to develop mining- enterprise. Ue would be very . glad to receive suggestions from

practical miners, and if he thought their suggestions good, he' would take means of bringing them under the notice of the Legislature. He believed that the General Government were desirous of admin- ! istering this portion of the Act in the best possible manner. He was aware that it was a task of great difficulty to provide on the one hand £ov the development of mining districts, and on the other to prevent the dissipation of the money in illconceived projects. GOLD DUTY. He had strenuously supported, as he had done for years past, the reduction and final abolition of the gold duty. His speech on the subject had been reported in the "Dnnstan Times." The Government strongly opposed any reduction, and thereby prevented justice being granted to the mining interest. He would continue his exertions, as he had done in the past, and hoped they yet would be crowned with success. The rest of the •people outside the goldfields were too fond of looking upon the miners as a a milch cow, to be well milked, made a means of revenue, and thereby save themselves from increased taxation. Such opinions were fallacious, as he believed the encouragement of .mining industry, by lessening its burdens, would have the effect of increasing the population of the colony far more than the- importation of pauper classes from Germany and Scandinavia. THE GOLDFIELDS BILL. A bill was bronght,before the House by the Government last session, and was referred to the Goldfields Committee, of which he was a member, and he found that the bill was so crude and ill-con-sidered, that he felt it was advisable not to deal with it that session, and advised the Ministry to place it, with all information, including the Report of the Otago Mining Commission, in the hands of a competent draughtsman, with the view of its being brought before the Assembly next session. He understood it was to be placed in the hands of Mr. Whitaker, formerly Attorney-General, and acknowledged to be one of the best draughtsmen in the colony. He should give it his best attention. IHE EDUCATION QUESTION. Mr. Shepherd said he was in favour of a national system of education. He was well aware of the cl.vims put forth by the Roman Catholic portion of the community, and that they desired to have separate schools, and Government aid thereto. He should consider their claims in a liberal and fair spirit, and in a spirit of toleration, and if they could convince him that supporting their views would not impair the efficiency and effectiveness of the national system, he would support them '; but if they failed to do so, he would oppose them as far as his vote went. He was well aware that it was a subject of great difficult}', and that no matter what bill was passed, it would fail to satisfy all classes of the community. He might possibly' be more explicit, but he was determined to keep himself free in order that he might listen fairly and impartially to every argutrent urged on all sides to the veiylast. moment — in fact, until the division bell rang in the Assembly, and he wsuld deal wiUi the question fri an honourable spirit, and one, he hoped, that would be beneficial to the present and future interests of the people. SAN. FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE. This was a subject he had watched over for many years— in fact, as far back as two years ago he had moved a resolution in the Provincial Council to the effect that the subsidy contributed by New Zealand should not exceed. L 20,000 per annum, the mail steamers to run between Victoria and San Francisco, calling at a port in New Zealand not further north than Wellington. That proposition was rejected in favour of an amendment, providing that steamers should run from the north to the south of New Zealand, and that Port Chalmers should be the terminus. What he then foretold, Victoria would not contribute to such a line, and two years' expensive struggling on the part of tlie Ministry had resulted in his policy being given effect to. He had come to this conclusion by the reoorts of the Victorian and New Zealand of the terms of the last contract signed by the Colonial Treasurer on behalf of the colony. Certainly he did think that the contribution of New Zealand should not exceed, at the very utmost, L 25,000 per annum ; but he was afraid that it would be found that New Zealand will be mulcted in a larger sum.

IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT.

He had voted for the abolition of imprisonment for debt, excepting in cases of fraud. The bill passed through the Housa of Representatives by a large majority, but was thrown out by the Legislative Council, without any reason being given. He was informed that it was in consequence of the representative of the Government in the Council not being in his place to attend to it when its second reading was moved. It would be again introduced next session, when he would again give it his support. Imprisonment for debt at the present time forced people whose liabilities were small into the insolvent court, and he believed that many individuals so forced would, if not afraid of being imprisoned, refrain from filing their schedules, and eventually pay their debts.

NEWSPAPER PRESS BILL.

A Bill was introduced by the hon. member for Oamara, Mr. W. J. Steward, professing to provide greater liberties to thepressthan they at present enjoyed. The hon. gentleman entirly failed to show any necessity for it. He accordingly moved that the Bill be read that' day six months, which was carried by an overwhelming majority On the voices. Tft the course of his speech, which is reported in " Hansard," he Msed some very strong language in reference to some obscure newspapers published in the Colony. He pointed out how they were made the tools (tf party, of private interest, and to gratify not only the malice of the editors and proprietors, but even of the many scribblers to be found in. an up-country goldfield. He referred specially to the conduct of the " Cromwell Argus'' and "Dunstan Times " towards himself. He mn»hfc say in- a few words that they carefully suppressed everything calculated to place hfe.cnndnct aud abilities in a favourablelight; while on the ofcherjiand they had --systematically attacked him in a covert and dastardly manner,., not by

direct* assertion, but by imrendo and inference. A friend had informed him that these papers were in the interests of: the squatters of the district, to whom he was very obnoxious, in consequence of his bold and unswerving advocacy of the interests of the people on the land question ; and that they worked to weaken his influence with the electors, with the view that one of two squatters sho.uld be elected in his place in the event of another election taking place. If such be their policy, and their conduct proves the feasibility of the supposition, he was quite sure their labors will be futile, as he was sure he was advancing in the good opinion of the electors, and trusted he should always do so. He would always be ready and willing tomeet the conductorsof those j newspapers on any public platform in the district that they may appoint, and there obtain 'the voice- of the electors j whether their petty and malicious attacks j meet with their approval. The votes that .he had received during the present week at Cromwell and Clyde, and which he trusted to receive in Alexandra, would surely have the effect of teaching these newspapers that their labors were thrown away, and for their own good and the good of the- district, they should throw aside their privatefeelings, ai-d co-operate withhim for the public good and the interests of this district. conclcion. . Mr, Shepherd then dilated upon the Insolvency Kill, Justices' Protection Bill, Permissive Bill, and other matters. In conclusion, he would state that he had always been a working member, both of the Provincial Council and the House of Representatives. Last session he was Chairman of the Committee on Private Petitions of the Provinci il Council, which Committee was the hardest worked of any. In the House of Representatives he was a member of the Public Petitions Committee, which is the hardest worked Committee in that House. It dealt with over two hundred and tifty petitions, and sat throughout the whole of last session. He was also a member of the Goldfields Committee, and he had given his best assistance to it. He considered his appointment to the Public Petitions Committee a compliment, as, although tha labor was arduous, it implied a fitness for the heavy and important duties required. Mr. Shepherd was asked a number of questions, in reply to which he promised' to use his best exertions to obtain an increased commonage for Alexandra ; a sum oi money on the estimates for the repair of the road to Butcher's Gully ; the "attendance of Clerk of the C<mrt at Alexandra twice a week iustead of once, as at present, and the attendance of the Warden once a week instead of once a fortnight. Mr. Hillhouse moved, and Mr. Simmons secnnled "That this meeting approves of the conduct of our member, Mr. T. L. Shepherd, in the Assembly and Provincial Council, and trusts he will continue to ; look after the interest of the district," which was carried unanimously. I Mr. Shepherd moved a vote of thanks i to the chair, which brought the proceedings to a close. " j