TUAPEKA ELECTION.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 280, 12 June 1873, Page 6

TUAPEKA ELECTION.

MR. PYKE AT THE BLUE SPUR. Mr. Vincent Pyke addressed the electors of the Blue Spur on Monday night, at the Assembly Room. Mr. Robert Grieve was voted to the ckair. The Chairman said he felt honored in introducing Mr. Pyke to the meeting as a candidate for the representation of Tuapeka in the Provincial Council. All were aware that Mr. Pyke was a gentleman possessed of very great abilities in political and public matters. Ho had no doubt, if Mr. Pyke were elected, he would use his great abilities on behalf of the district that returned him, as well as in promoting the welfare of the province generaily. He felt convinced, if Mr. Pyke were returned to the Provincial Council, he would prove a star of the first magnitude in the political firmament. (Applause.) Mr. Pyke (who was received with loud and continued applause) said that for the first time for eleven years, he was freed from the bonds which had long fettered him, and was able to take the political position which, from the first time he had landed in Otago, had always been his hope and ambition. He had had some experience of politics, 1 bufc would defer the question that had been raised of his being a stranger until later in his address. He would first I call attention to the real question at I issue in the present contest. It was not a question between Pyke, Bastings, and Brown, as had been stated. The constitutional question upon which the Council had been dissolved had not been put before the electors. He (Mr. Pyke) intended to take strong ground. He would not go over the events which had happened during the last few weeks in the Provincial Council — the vote of censure on the Superintendent, which had led to the retirement of the Executive, which was best known as the Bastings Executive. That Executive was the first in the history of Otago which had attempted to do justice to the up-country districts. (Cheers.) And that Executive oughtto havebadthetuppc rt of every up-country member, and of every up-country mau. They had attended a previous meeting, and he would not weary them by a lengthy disquisition upon the constitution ; Init would draw their attention to a few points bearing directly upon the question at issue. He would fir3t ask the meeting's attention to the terms of the amendment upon the reply to his Honor's speech proposed by Mr. Reid, and by which Mr. Bastings' Executive was thrown out of office. That amendment was, " That this Council is of opinion that che appointment of the gentlemen at present occupying the Government benches and their retention of otfice is in direct opposition to the system of responsible Government sanctioned by the Council. And this Council hereby records its protest against any Government being appointed or holding office under such circumstances." The question therefore was whether his Honor was right or wrong in calling to his council the Bastings Executive. The great legal star of the Reid party, Mr. Stout, had professed to give to his constituents at Caversham a straightforward view of the constitutional question. With all due respect to the legal acumen of Mr. Stout, he (Mr. Pyke) would venture to state that he did not, as a legislator, sink the lawyer, but had pleaded his case in the pettifogging spirit of an Old Bailey practitioner. Mr. Stout read an extract from Sir John Pakington's, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, despatch to Sir George Grey on the subject of the constitution. That extract was as follows :—": — " Nor have provisions been inserted giving Executive authority of any kind to the Superintendents, This is a point upon which her Majesty's Government did

not feel that they had sufficient information to adopt any definite, course, while the general prerogative of the Crown and the powers of the general and local legislators seemed amply sufficient to provide whatever might be ultimately deemed advisable." Apparently that despatch could not be found in Dunedin, but lie (Mr. Pyke) happened to have it. To show Mr. Stout's unfairness, he would quote from his speech in reference to that despatch : " From these it would appear plain that the Constitution Act made no provision fcr executive or administrative power of any kind." " Mark now, how plain a tale shall put him down." Section 8 of Sir John Palrington's despatch premised that no provision had been made for the payment of Superintendents ; and also omitted all provision for payment of members of General Assembly, or Provincial Council, feeling satisfied that the manner and amount of such payment (if any is thought necessary) will be best settled by those respective bodies. Section 8 is that quoted by Mr. Stout. Section 10 continues :: — '• It is, hoioever, my wish that any such Executive poioers as may he found necessary to carry on the functions of Government in the respective settlements, may be entrusted to these officers (namely | Superintendents.) This may be done by your own authority, as represent- j ing the Crown, or by the Act of the Centi'al Legislature, as the case may require." So instead of the Home Government refusing to give the Superintendent powers, it left it to the colonists to invest them with what powers they chose. The Constitution Act was wide enough to give them all administrative powers. (Cheers.) He would now refer to Sir George Grey's letter, which called forth the remarks of Sir John Pakington. •' "With regard to the nature of the powers which should bo conferred upon the Superintendent or other officer administering the affairs of a province, it is only necessary for me to state that I propose that he should be invested with all the legislative powers which are conferred upon him by the enclosed Provincial Councils Ordinance ; and that in addition thereto, he should exercise the powers usually entrusted to Colonial Governors of remitting fines, fees, and penalties. . . . and of making Crown grants of land to persons who may have legally purchased the same as part of demesne lands of the Crown." Yet Mr. Stout said that it was not iutended to give the Superintendent any administrative functions. What did the Colonial authorities do? The first Ordinance on the Statute book of Otago, passed in 1854, contained the following clause : — " The Treasurer, and the other members of the Executive Council, shall be appointed by, and hold office during the pleasure of the Superintendent." The Council repealed that Ordinance in 1861, and went a little further. Their amendment in that year vests the administration of the Provincial Government in the Superintendent, and provides that the members of the Executive " shall be appointed by and hold office during his pleasure." (Cheers.) In 1562, the Ordinance was amended again as follows : — " The administration of the Provincial Executive is hereby vested in the Superintendent ;" and it was again provided that the members of°the Executive Council " shall be appointed by the Superintendent, and hold office during his pleasure." That was the law as it existed at the present day. (Cheers.) He wanted to know how Mr. Macandrew was wrong in dismissing Mr. Reid, when the latter occupied his anomalous positions in the General Government and Provincial Government. When Mr. lleid left his office in the General Government, Mr. Macandrew asked him to resume his former position in the Provincial Government, but he (Mr. Eeid) refused to do so. Mr. Eeid on that occasion, acted like a political dug- in the manger. He said, " I won't come back, neither will I let anyone else take the Government of the province." Mr. Maeandr^w had acted with very great consideration to Mr. Eeid, and most constitutionally. A statement had been attributed to that gentleman, that he could govern the country with the assistance of 4 or 5 clerks"; and really Le thought if they were to have Executives similar to many usually iv power, that would be the preferable plan. When Mr. Harris was Superintendent, Mr. Dick, Provincial Secretary, and bis colleagues resigned their offices. Mr. Harris said nothing, but carried on the business of the country for six weeks, until Mr. Dick came and said, " Please let us back." (Cheers and laughter.) Mr. Macandrew had not acted so unconstitutionally, but when he found that Mr. Eeid would neither go in or stay out, he gave them Mr. Bastmgs' Executive, which had proved ■a blessing to the country. (Cheers.) He deprecated personalities, and would uot indulge in them ; but on this matter he felt compelled to allude to the actions of a local member. He would endeavor to tread upon his toes as tenderly as possibly. Why was he (Mr. Pyke) there that day ? Because they had on one side, Mr. Bastings, a prominent member of the best Execu tive Otago ever had ; and on the other hand Mr. J. C. Brown, who had assisted to throw that Executivo out. They could not return both without stultifying themselves, and depriving themselveß of any weight in the polit-

ioal scale. When Mr. Reid moved an amendment in reply to his His Honor's opening Address, in order to put Mr. Bastings' Executive out, Mr. Brown supported it. How then could the two members work together? In the Tuapeka. Times extra issued on Saturday, he saw an advertisement announcing that a joint Committee had been formed to secure the return of Messrs Bastings and Brown. That advertisemeut had been inserted without Mr. Bastings' consent, and Mr. L. C. Holmes whose signature was appended, had declared that he never authorised his name to be placed there. That annoancement was intended to throw glamour over tha electors to make them believe that Brown and Bastings were working together, which, from the actions of the two, was impossible. He had Mr. Bastings' authority for saying that he would deny publicly any connection with Mr. Brown. Such dodges as these were contemptible, and merited the scorn of honest men. Then he came to the cry that had been raised " measures not men," about which much nonsense had been talked. JHe took exception to that phrase. They could not get pood crops out of bad soil, and until they got both measures and men, they would hare no proper legislation. The electors had been asked to return old and tried members in preference *to new ones. (L&ughter.) Let them remember that many members had been tried and not acquitted, had been weighed and found wanting. His impression was, that they wanted a change ; but he (Mr. Pyke) was not a new man — in fact, he was a very old one. He represented the Tuapeka district before they had a member in the Council at all. (Loud cheering.,) He got the "Wether-Atones sludge channel for them — (cheers) — and he was the first man to advocate the construction of a road to Duuedin. — (Applause.) They all admitted the immense benefit of the agricultural leasing system. Well, he claimed the credit of introducing that system. He had great difficulty in inducing the then Government to accede to his proposal to allow 10 acres to be taken up under an agricultural lease. After much fighting, he got the area extended to 50 acres, and finally, after a hard struggle with the authorities, to its present area, viz., 200 acres. (Loud applause.) After fighting in years gone by for the welfare of the mining community, both in Victoria and New Zealand, he had been called a new man, forsooth ! Now, he would say a few words about the future. In enunciating his views, he might state that he would not be surprised to hear them pirated and given forth as quite new and original in another quarter. Several of his ideas had already been so appropriated. It reminded him of the scory told by Disraeli, about certain measures introduced by the Liberals. Disraeli said the Whigs caught the Tories bathing, and ran away with their clothes. The first matter on which he would touch, would be the land question. He bad always advocated one system, and would continue to advocate it. He did not believe in patches of 2500 acres being taken from a run. The whole run should be taken and thrown open, the squatter receiving fair compensation. He pointed to Tuapeka and Wakatip as instances of the success of such a policy. Every agricultural lease should carry grazing rights, the same as a freehold in a hundred. This was no new idea, and he was surprised that a bill had not been introduced into the Legislature to carry it into effect. He advocated justice to all — to the squatter, the agriculturalist, and to the miner. He was in favor of free selection with deferred payments, and with improvement clauses to prevent monopoly. He did not believe in a system which turned out one squatter to make room for a dozen others. He was heartily sick of the gold duty question. In Victoria the duty had been gradually reduced to sixpence per ounce, and that was imposed merely for statistical purposes. Here in New Zealand, after 11 years, the representatives of the goldfields had been able only to secure a reduction of sixpence per ounce. The matter had been muddled from beginning to end. He pledged himself, if elected to the General Assembly, to introduce a measure for the gradual reduction of the gold duty, until it was only sixpence per ounce, and he was under the impression that he had sufficient infiuence to carry such a measure. (Loud cheers.) The first duty of a state was to make roads from the seacoast to the interior. The old Komans knew the value of roadmaking; for whenever they conquered a country, they pierced it in every direction with roads, which gave them access and command over the territory. Regarding railways, he was of opinion that wherever there was a main line of traffic a railway should be' constructed in preference to a road. The railway would cost less to make and less to keep in l'epair than a road. Great speed was not required. If 10 miles an hour only was attained, it gave the railways an advantage over roads. The opposition to railways sometimes took extraordinary shapes. He recollected a petition being forwarded from the Taieri — Mr. Donald Reid's constituency — against the construction of a tramway to Balclutha, because, if the line were constructed, the Clutha folks would be able to sell their produce in Dunedin as cheaply as the petitioners

could. (Laughter.) That petition was to bo found on the records of the Provincial Council. Some people had queer notions. He recollected a true story of the early days of the Provincial Council, when an Audit Commission complained of the extravagance of the Government for paying a prisoner 10s. lo row himself from Port Chalmers to Duuedin to be tried. (Loud laughter.) There were not two ways about him. He would nail his colors to the mast, and stand or fall by them. (Cheers.) He would rather be gloriously defeated than ingloriously elected. If he were returned, he would go into the Council to support James Macandiew and his policy. (Loud cheering. ( He did not want office, because he had something better to do. (Oh, oh.) They might depend upon it that he was not the man to sacrifice his position unless he had something better in view. (Cheers and laughter.) He was going to support the man who had don© th most for the country and the province. When he travelled to Dunedin be saw a good road up to every cockatoo's door, while they had not got a passable main road even as far as Lawrence. The enlarged views of Mr. Macandrew were the be3t for the country. Whatever his faults, Mr. Macandrew had done more good for Otago than any man in it. (Cheer.) Mr. Macandraw first introduced steam ! communication between Otago and the outside world, and he caused the construction of the first railway in the province. (Cheers.) He (Mr. Pyke) saw {he other day that some plant had been sold by auction which had been brought to che province in 1860 by Mr. Macandrew, for the purpose of working the Kaitangata coal mines ; and if he had not been ousted from office by the obstructionists, the Kaitangata coal mines would have been opened and worked years ago. (Cheers.) He could not comprehend what was meant by party here. In Victoria there were two parties — the protectionists and the free traders; and in England there were the Liberals and Conservatives. But in Otago there were no parties, properly so called. The parties were : The party of progress and the party of stagnation. Every man belonged to either one or the other of those parties. (Cheers.) They must progress. The stagnation party ask where is the money to come from. Why, if a ready money system prevailed, how would trade progress ? They must borrow money, Let posterity pay a portion of the debt incurred for their benefit. They had sacrificed the comforts and pleasures of home to come to this colony, where they were foundiug a nation. (Loud Cheers.) They had a right to make posterity pay something towards obtaining that comfort which the present colonists could never hope to enjoy. He had now but a few words to say. It was an accepted axiom, that all people were governed as well as they deserved to be, because in a free country they elect their own representatives and law makers. A tree was known by its fruits, and they might depend upon it, that the intelligence of a constituency was guaged by the manner of) men they selected as their rcpresentstive. He did not intend to ask anyone for his vote ; nor would he thank anyone for voting for him unless the voter agreed with his views. It would gratify him much to represent Tuapeka, the oldest goldfield in the country, and if elected, he would use every ability that God had endowed him with on behalf of his constituents, and he would make the name of Tuapeka respected in the Parliament and throughout the country. (Loud and continued applause.) Mr Jeffries made some inquiries regarding the granting of agricultural leases. Mr. Pyke said that shortly after he came to Tuapeka he granted an agricultural lease, and subsequently he received a memorial praying that no more leases should be granted in certain, blocks. Seveial names were attached to that petition by men who attempted afterwards to procure leases of land in the tabooed blocks. In answer to Mr. Morris, Mr. Pyke said he was in favor of Mr. Vogel's policy. Mr. Cormack asked the candidates' views on education. Mr. Pyke said he had not studied the question sufficiently. During his official career his time had been taken up with other matters, and could not at a moment's notice give an answer. He would say that he would study the acts and ordinances, and would do his best for the welfare of the general community. In answer to further questions, Mr. Pyke said that great improvement, could be made in the present provincial school system, and he was in favor of a training school. He also stated that at the time he was elected for Castlemaine the education question never cropped up. He was in favor of compulsory education. Mr. M' flattie asked whether Mr. Brown had voted against the Superirtendent or the Government. Mr. Pyke read from the " Daily Times " of June 9th, which showed that after the Bastings Government had expressed their belief that they were wrongly appointed and their willingness to resign, they aßked for an adjournment. The adjournment was refused, Mr. Brown voting against the Government. On being asked his views upon Provincialism, Mr. Pyke said that the first time he opened his mouth im this

country in 1862, he advocated that there should be one Provincial Council in each Island, and a General Assembly. He had never altered his views, and he was certain if they were carried out, the country would save thousands annually in salaries alone. In reply to Mr. Morris, the candidate said he was in favor of simplifying the means of a miner obtaining access to a agricultural lease. When land in private hands was largely availed of for mining, he thought the Government should pay the compensation and not the miner. He was in favor of a vote for prospecting for reefs. He was not in favor of leasing ground close to auriferous workings. He showed that that was his opinion in 1867, when he was one of a cointnission recommended that a large area of land should be reserved. He was in favor of altering the present tenure of water rights to one more secure. He would propose tbe Victorian system of a rental, and 7, 14 and 21 years leases. Mr Hales moved a vote of confidence in Mr. Pyke. — (Cheers.) Mr. Keppel seconded Mr. Hales i motion. He dwelt on the interest Mr. Pyke had always taken in matters affecting the welfare of the mining community. He had held high offices both politically and in the ciyil service, obtained through his own great ability. Of Mr. Pyke's political experience in Victoria, no one could say anything but was meritorious. (Loud applause.) Mr. M'Hattie, amidst confusion, moved as an amendment, " Tbat Mr. Pyke be thanked for his address, but need expect nothing more from the meeting." Mr. Morris addressed the meeting on behalf of the motion, askmg the electors to give Mr. Pyke a fair trial. The Chairman asked if there was any seconder to the^amendment, and there being none, put the motion, which was carried. Immediately the Chairman declared the motion carried, some one said the amendment had been seconded. A scene of great confusion ensued — some calling upon the Chairman to put the amendment, and some not to do so. Finally, the Chairman, amidst a great row, put both, amendment and motion. A general state of fogginess appeared to prevail as to which was which, and from the uproar it was impossible to tell whether the motion or amendment was carried. The Cba'trrmin informed our reporter that the motion was carried, thus giving the caudidate the benefit of the doubt. A vote of thanks to the chair, terminated the proceedings.