HORSE PARADE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1503, 8 October 1883, Page 2

HORSE PARADE.

The annual horse' parade of the Wairurapa and East Coast Pastoral and Agricultural Society came off on Saturday last at' 'Carterton. There were ten entries this year, viz.: five thoroughbreds, three draughts, one coaching, and one'hack sire, being two in .excess of last year.' The attendance of visitors; wn's very limited owing no doubt to' "the postponement of the parade from the previous Saturday. The ariiraals looked in splendid condition, and for their pedigree and per formances we must refer readers to our advertising columns. The following I are the names of the horses and owners:

THOROUGHBRED. ! J. 0. Hayward's Danebury. T.'farewell's Dan O'Connell | T. Ray's Lillipoe ■ P. F; Tancred's Premier 1 E,,Buckeridge's Traitor, , ; ''■ COACHING. ■■■■"'■■ I D. Guild's Young Camden, • ■ J. Devonshire's' Mischief ...CLYDESDALE. .:'.'.: ' J, Harding's Gladstone W. Lawrence's Lord Nelson R, Greek's York.

N'ORTH W AIIJ A RAPA SETTLERS .ASSOCIATION. "';■■' \, :\ PUBLIC MEETING. ' ■ ,: :

The meeting called to Hear and consider the objects of the above Associa-, tion took place on Saturday evening in the Tlieatro Royal, Masterton, and was attended by about eighty settlers. Mr 'W. Lowes took' the chair, . and having vend.... the advertisement' .convening .the;meeting; called upon Mr Hawkiiis,who.spok6 as follows : Before I go into the purposes for wliich the AssociationJs jor-med I find i.'h'at lVis'hecessiiry that Ishould by a distinct and unmistakeable declaration j 1 malar.''.plain' inf 'own position ' withj regard 'to it. It- has' been suggested '. that lam making.a, stepping: Stone. of it 'for tlie' House of Representatives, lam not doing so. If I had tlie desire •to'enter'tho House, which I have not, I ain not in a position to do-so.'" Ido not say that never, nor under any circumstance's would "I ever enter the House, but I say that' the time is to my mind so remote; the Occurrence of those circumstances' apparently so improbable that they do not enter into the range of practical questions with me, and in no way have the least bearing or influence on my actions, .1 will go further and. say that the founding (if it should, be. founded) of. this Association, and my acceptance of the office'of President is rather a pledge, to you in the opposite direction., No person, in my judgment;'who'liiwaiiy present intention of seeking your suffrages ought to hold any office, in

this Association, For myself I desire as long as I am President to bo absolutely free:l want to be able to speak out boldly what I believe to be right and true whether it is pleasing or displeasing. [do not want to have the least bias, the least motive forswerving from what I know to be right, In plain words I am not making a bid for popularity of any kind, I will win your respect, your esteem, and your confidence by honesty and by truth, if I cannot 1 will retire from the office the Association has conferred on me. I have been in this colony for three years. I hud before that a long, and arduous experience in business and public affairs in England, and the three years I have spent here have been years of great trial and of'hard fortune, and I know no schoolmaster equal to " Adversity," If a man has the stuff in him he will soon learn in

her school. lam repeatedly told that lam not sufficiently up in colonial matters to justify my taking so pro-, niinont'a course as I have taken, but when I come to press home my questions as to what it ii> I am to gain by ajo.nger experience of the colony I regret to say I almost always find that the experience is not a "gain," but a '' loss." lam to learn that the small settler and the workman and the big sheep farmer and the squatter are all at daggers drawn, constantly watching one another with jealous eye. lam to

learn that the towns are'hostile to'the country. I am to learn that Napier is to grudge at Auckland, and Auckland and Napier are to fight Wellington, and that the North Island is

alwayslo oppose the South, and tlntthe only means of reconciling these hostile interests is a policy of balanced jobbery. That if a wise and profitable expenditure of public money is proposed in Auckland it must be Id meed by mi equal or larger expend hu-iun oirtgo, however unwise or iiiipn '■ iMe thai, expenditure may be. That ut two able and honest men can bo found in Dunedin to become Ministers of Stale, and none can for the timo be found in Auckland, you must take only one of the able and honest men from Dunedin, and take one incapable man from Auckland. That Government in this colony on any other terms is impossible. Well, gentlemen, I refuse to learn these lessons. I refuse to believe that it is necessary to continue these sordid traditions, and I appeal to you to help to bring about a belter state of

tilings, because, remember, that the people of the colony are really masters

of all. It is before your tribunal that legislation and Government have'to

stand their trial. I refuse to believe (hat you desire jobbery, incapacity, or injustice, and I appeal to you in and by means .of' this association to bring

about a better state of affairs. Now, what is the position of the House of Representatives at this moment ? You have a Government that exists not because of its real worth but because theie is literally no other set of men to take its place. Sir George Grey, of whom I desire to speak with all res-pect-a respect his past life entitles him to, for he was in old ■ days a courageous explorer and a capable officer; has held ; the dignity ,of Governor in this colony, and the high post of Premier Statesman—has by the course of action of the last few yeais not only alienated public confidence from himself, but is a serious

impediment to the existence of a strong Opposition, by which alone any check

can ever be obtained on your Government, The House of Representatives under these conditions consists simply

of a mob'of men entirely at the disposal of. the Government. Well,

among the laws of the first importance to a few people are those under which its lepresentative governing body are

elected. Because if those laws are defective, if the constitution'of the House is unsatisfactory, you are not likely to be well governed. I find that when this Government resolved to extend the suffrage they resolved to re-arrange the constituencies, and to add to the ]a\vs. against bribery and corruption. They knew that in grant-, ing household suffrage- they had handed over large power to the working classes. They were afraid of the effect of this; ■ they feared that the working classes would send men.: to the House pledged not to do their best for the colony, but to pass laws which would tend to throw all the burden of taxation on the rich—laws not for the good of the colony, but in the present interests, or. apparent interests, of their own class,' I cannot now go into the question 'of representation of,, minorities.' The Government did, and they believed the "Hare" system to be the best. But they took no pains to have tins syatem explained and its working made

pimple ajid'familiaivto the people, and: 'to lind/Muvftthe .people would accept it, they took it for granted'th'ey would; ;iiot r &d set to work to ihandioap the 'popular vote ,in towns way.' They split up the towns into 'electoral 'districts, their idea was'that if say the whole town of Wellington returned three rnepibers, and. every man had three votes, the working.'man, .and smul.l trader '.vote would return three candidates in: their inWiW,TulTiFthey split Wellington into three districts they would only give the working men ii preponderance in one district, and so they would only get.ono pure working class representative! Now this was a I fatal error, one in every; rcsp<s!\ calcuI latod to lower and I jot to-raise the ; personnel of the House. Reduce the thing to an absurdity"a"nd divide your ! constituencies still lower niiiLgive a member to Tenui, Alfrcdton, -"Mauriceiville, Bideford, and Khripun£ [Would those members be likely to be'.as good colonial representatives as men-elected by the whole Wairantpa including towns, townships, and small; farm settlements. Is it not apparent that the almost certainty is" that "such a representative would be a less capable man, more limited in--his views,, more bound to the narrowiriterests of his little less independent, lesspowerful, than a man chosen by the 'wider-constituency with all its varied intorestsl -Is it nofapparent that a House of Representatives so elected would, scarcely furnish fit men to govern the colony, The wider the constituency, the more it embraces various interests, the less is 'its representative under the control of narrow clique's' and specialjnfluences, the more likely, is; the■ constituency to.choose a goodcapable man on whose ability, honesty, and sense of fairness, all may rely. Bufc'there was a remarkable plea put forward by Sir J. Hall for harrowing the constituencies, He.said'ic was for the convenience of candidates! Thisis the first time, and I trust it will be the last, that I ever heard of constituencies being framed for the convenience of candidates 1 But the Government parsed a Corrupt Practices Bill. Pardon me if I say that of all the practices I deplore that of " shouting" is fore-' .most. It is a practice I will admit has its origin in the idea of good fellowship; but it is become a fruitful cause of poverty, sickness, and I will ever, add " crime." Of all dangers you would have expected the Government to combat that, of unlimited shouting by a candidate should certainly have beenone, bufcnot a bitofiL-They enacted that a candidate should not give "refreshments" the euphonious .term for •'liquor," after 12 o'clock of the night prior to the day of election. ' In other words he might give unlimited liquor to liis voters during months of auh vassing provided lie', stopped after the, public house was closed the night before the day of election. '■" That is the contribution of the present Ministry to purity of election, Was the result of the last elections 'satisfactory f, "Let any one read debates of the Hansard, he will find pagaafter page of bickerings, of imputationsof jobbery ,'of suggestions of peculation and misappropriation of public money, of pdious"'miputalioiis. and vulgar retorts, and then .let him say if he is satisfied with these men as legislators of this colony. I hold my own opinion on the large sums paid to members, I do not see that it has LiUiiiiieiUthe object proposed. "' Let us lonic at the sums 'paid;- The amount paid yearly iii honorariums is .£24,500. Ifor two months' residence in Wellington and attendance'at the House every ,;iau, rich or poor, received .£2oo—or, at the rate of £1,200 a year. Besides this he gets a free pass over every railway and his "expenses." Now what these expenses are I cannot tell The schedules,to the financial statement are prudently silent, but I find' that last session the Colonial Treasurer stated that there was'an increase in legislative expenditure of-,£3924,chiefly in.expenses' of members. If. the increase was over £3OOO, what "are the normal expenses? Now, not content with this large salary, and these considerable '•' expenses," and these free passes, the members are-demanding to have" their wives' expenses paid to •Wellington, so' that sopn, v geutlemen, we may expect to be under complete petticoat government, and f' really am hot sure that we should -be worse off, Now no one desires more than I that the rich .should; not monopolise the House, hut I dread still more an astute Ministry supported by a'House many of the members of which depend'largely on what they can get out of the taxpayer's' pocket for, a livelihood, What economy can you expect .from' men who aro interested in getting the utmost out of'lis taxpayers for themselves! And if the object be to get capable and honest men into the House who have not the, means to' pay their expenses to Wellington,,or the cost of their residence there; or to bear the loss involved in the temporary sacrificeof their handicraft or occupation let an allowance, say „£1 Is a day and expenses of journey to and fro be paid to such men—but why on earth should we-pay-all the'rich men who form a majority of the, House! .-The evil increases and tends to increase. The free pass system is extending '.SJLover the colony, and becoming an organised form of corruption. ' I am told that often,2o per cent of the passengers in the train from Wellington are "deadheads" travelling with free passes.! It Is" a fraud on us taxpayers, and ought to-be ended, but your legislators are all engaged in this petty peculation, of public funds. Now, while on the matter Q>i legislators, I wish to direct your attention to the, what I believe, very uncalled for and mischievous attempt of the Government to alter "the constitution of the Legislative Council. It occurs to me that if you are to have a second Chamber at all, you had bettei leave this alone. This Chamber is only bad because successive Ministries haye made it so. They have put-men into it, not because they were'tlie best or 'fittest men, but to gratify-tho.'vanifiy of some, provide pensions for others, or give a seat to some prominent supporter who had been rejected by his .constituents. The Government have abused their power, degraded the Council in the eyes of the people, and now want to turn it upside down under pretence of putting it on a popular

,toilijy\[ thi&titSould bo better to do thaii tpxlo jmeddjng 'Government proposes Chamber elective is t6,giye. it thp'same'tone as tbe House if elected with the House of Representatives, it should he dissolved with it. They propose to givwt ten. What will be the result ? The House of Kepresentatives or- the Legislative Council may ...be originally elected under certain pledges to carry out a certain'policy, perhaps on. a; mere temporary issue, • A new state of affaire arises, the House of and, on a jiiei? pqlicy; aiuri total; different issue, a ; new House of Represeatatives.is elected ilho old Council' ffttoiris.-iand, remains i 10 longer representing jt-ho colony, and 'constituted of men hostile to .the .policy of tlie new House of Representatives. The Council is not judiciously weak as at present, but strong, as'-being-an elected body, .uml yoi\wilL have a.dpad lockinaffairs, as they had in another colony. . We do,not. want a- strong second house; .The second house should Consist of notables—men experienced in public ;affsh:s. f . ■ The,chief' use of the Upper House is to stop a measure which has passed the Lower House, either "by being smuggled through, without discussion, or which has been passed under, some/.unreflecting lit of popular commotion, measures which involve the sacrifice of principles,vital to, the colony, and on which the people have' neither been consulted nor informed. I hope, if you support this Association, one A of the. first things youwill express aif opinion against is this foolish uncalled for meddling with the Upper House. I have gone'into this question of electoral Jaws,, and the character of our representatives, because they lie at the fountain head of legislation. You cannot expect good : laws"fr6iii incompetent and bad legisJators. ; Your representatives are what you mako them; a.ndnf ; yoir'leb ft? man' ■ buy the constituency, or elect a "man, not because,of his integrity "and-his ability, but-because he panders to some class prejudice, or promises, to filch for your district the lion's share of public .moneys, you must put up with/the con" sequences, and be content to have bad laws, wasteful administration, and unequal and burdensome- taxation. Now let us go to the question of tion and see whether the present House, of Representatives and the present Ministry have shown any capacity in this matter. This is one of the most.important of all subjects; because it is this that controls, the. whole. policy, of the Government. Loans, public'-works, railway management, departmental services, all depend on _this, while the progress of the colony and well being of the mass of the people are closely dependent upon it. Montesquieu; whose book on the spirit of law, written in the first half of the 18th century, contains the soundest principles of liberty propounded with an indefinable charm .of language, says in speaking of taxation : "Thereis nothing wisdom and prudence might more carefully to, adjust than the portion that a Government takes and the portion.that it leaves to the governed. It is not by what a people can give that you' must measure the public revenue, but by what it ought to give.' r You must not Hike from what are the real neccessaries of the people to supply what are imaginary necessities'.of.'the 'State, and he defines these imaginary necessities as those-which are demanded 'by the passions or the ..weaknesses of the •Government—the charm of grandiose schemes, the unwholesome craving after glory, and the inability of certain weak minds to resist fantastic ideasgrandiose schemes: useless railways, impossible harbors, and torpedo,boats; fantastic ideas: national insurance. Now what wisdom or prudence do we find in the management of our finances? What attempt'do We discover to limit the amount 'deducted fiour the pockets of the people? Let 'mo' point out that this talent of taxation, of what we call'finance, is.that which very few men possess. It is one thing to be a master of finance, another thing to be an arithmetician and statistician. -is a financier of the highest order. He so arranges his policy and his finance as to liteially add to the wealth, of the. country,'and to' increase his revenue out- of the increase of its wealth. While here we have a Treasurer as Montesquieu says: " with a mind weak against the pressure of fantastic , ideas" who impoverishes the colony, and: taxes its impoverished necessities. Let jus' take,the Property.. Tax.aud our .local taxation, What has happened? The Government find that they cannot •make income and expenditure' meet, 'lnstead of honestly and resolutely refusing to increase' expenditure" they resolve to increase taxation. They , devise a scheme of valuation which, shall out of no greater actual wealth than before existed, produce a 'larger revenue.' They take no pains to have this valuation made with justice or,equality, and, then they increase tlie tax, and then. they throw on the local bodies additional duties, .and they so "arrange tilings that the valuation, and the colonial and local taxation based on it shall all be, as it ivcre, simultaneous. ! They themselves strike a crushing blow at the, taxpayers, and they compel the local bodies'to strike a second and third one on the top of it. Is not this true, 'gentlemen,' and'do you call this wisdom aud prudence ? Now, I have, strong: doubts as to the fairness of this Property Tax, and to the Soundness of''the'principles on which it is levied. •' lii'lßß2' the Colonial :Treasurer Justified -the tax by saying".;that.,by. means.'of., it ,he, got £42,000 Out of 146' large' property holders, whereas by an income and land taxhecoiildj in'liis 1 opinion^"only have;got £33,000'...vN0w Lhave'no return except'that of 1881 to refer to,' and I find that th^ v werei2i;933 persons ,over and above the 146 large property holders-.who paid property tax, and if this tax is wrong -in principle, aud levied on an unjust valuation, it is to my mind a monstrous fjhingto justify 'it : againsttiie; 21J933, because it }(ow. •we khowltjiattheivaiuationi-'is unjust: and ' We -'have'- abundant proof'of that in the Wairarapa, But is the tax.bad 'in principle? I say it is. -It is essentially a : tax on savings,

,6n thrift, on ihdiUtiy;.\ The harder a 'mart;-works, the'more''ho saves, the more?)he| improves/;his land or his position, the-; niovjp, he/is ,'taxed. The manjvho lets his'land lie'idle to grow in value by the industry of his neighbor, the man who, spends his ■entire income in luxuryjind amusement, gets, no increase of taxation The "man who puts his income into wages and labor, into increasing tlie'lvealth' "of the colony, gets taxed .on his savings. But [ have no sympathy with, these, financial tricks for getting at big men. If the colonists, really, intendr-.to,' attack ihe large" estates,-if'they really desire to begin the dangerous policy of differential taxation, .let. it be:'done openly, not by srich devious'paths as this. I myself decline to join in making •taxation.-apolitical engine'to; do ah' injustice 10 anyone. Individual and excep • tional- inconveniences and anomalies exist in thiuna'ter of big os ates. But if you l'o 'o make laws to meet these you will dp tun. tipes more harm than good, far

iey have occurred and grown up under

the laws of the colony. -You know these men have legally acquired theie'properiies and they bold them under the same hws as every little freeholder .among. Us -holda' his few acres-of land or his house, and you cannot' touch the liile right of the one without weakening the title right of the other. We have time on our side and! airi'cert do and confident that the day is not-''! >r distant when one after anolher of'lhiHi! big estates will 'burst up and that wiihout-any-violence to'thelaws but under the,natural Liwsnf ihelimita-

ion of human lite,''and the 'pressure,of

the laws of supply and demand is of public opinion. To attack by.apeoial legislation these great properties which were' acquired and are held under the laws of the colony is to resort to a violence which will shake public credit and public confidence, There is no princii lo on which yuu could so attack them that would not beoapabloof indefinite extension down wards or which would not ' ultimately reach the pressor of .a single acre. < I implore you not to violate a principle that you may despoil a man. Now let me say some few words.on the lis'o'of land. I think by.doing so I may lelp to clear away some misconceptions, winch.are- mischeivous. Land may. be ■ tUßiT.fur small ctiliivation, for large cultivation, and for sheep •'and cattle pasturage. Small cultivation—by which I mean spade labor —can only be profitable where access to

the market is certain,'constant, and cheap. 6i?en these conditions small culuvatots

■may-pi, and go profitably, on to liml where lirge cultivation cannot profitably g>. I couple with thii spide labor, cultivation, d..iry, the roiling of poultry a few calves, the' production of fruit, vegetables, the'wre of bee*, (lowers, fa. It is marvellous what rough and hilly ground 'may he profitably cultivated in this way. Livge cnltivaum, hy winch I mean ulough husbanding an'J the fattening of stock of all kinds can only be

profitably worked on Hat ground or long rollin'g.downs, where access to the maiket is alsoceriain, constant, andchoap. Then ciiinea'the hill"land, the broken rough ■precipitous country, which can only he profitably used for the pisturage of sheep and cattle.'. Now the largest possible .amount is got out of land hy the stndl cultivatioo,"and it main'ains the largest

number of persons. The large cultivation como3 next. The. pas'oral use Comes

last', produces loist per acre and employs fowest men per acre, Let us put it thus —The' extreme amount' of the carrying power.of tlie.best.surface sown grass bills in the Wairarapa is four sheep per aore. The very best land in the Wiiirarana plains will growfifty bushels of wheit to the acre. I tea • that the Chinamen who cultivate" Mr llenell's plot of land in Maslurtou will not lell'iis what thoy mako of that land, but if it is true that they pay Mr Kenall ElO.an acre animal rent it.is quite clear they make that land produce a vast deal more than could be made by large cultivation, Take theuross produce of the pastoral land nt 7s Gd a sheep it gives £1 lOj per acre. Take the gross produce of wheat 45 bushels at 4s, that gives 19 an.aero, take the gross produce of the Chinamen's cultivation, 1 think we may put it at the very least at !'2O an acre,-1 suspect £3O would be nearer the mark. Now gentlemen.jhero are hundreds of. tliou&tmls of 00i'63 of lard lying quite waste which are adapted to large cultivation and to small cultivation, and there are thousands .of acres in this' county now carrying one sheep to the

acre which aro adapted to small cultivation ; but you cannot employ them because you have no roads, By roads I

do npt'moan.Mr.McCardle's bush tracks. .1 am astounded at a man advocating bush tracks, hut the fact is that an " old

colonial" will advocate anything. Because

A.man came wrh the first donkey over the limutaka, he' thinks he is the only wise man in the district. Now the old

donkey that,came over the Rimutuka died sloughed in the Upper T.moru bush road, unci i think I will ergot a'monument over him fur he is the type of a certain few old colonials who came first over the Rimutuka and will stick in the mud all their lives." 7 'l want to have nothing of the old but its lessons. I want the now. I am of the same opinion as the Yankee •when a shopkeeper in London pointed proudly to his shop front and said, "See,' established 1784." ' We'll now'if we'had a store in the States we should write up "Established .yesterday," Wo cannot in these days of railways, electricity and telephones, go back to old ways and old 'ideas. I say that'the prosperity'of this colony depends on the development of our land wealth, and our land wealth depends on uood sound permanent metalled roads and bridged rivers,. Well we will now come closer home and consider the question of local Government. The County Oouncil—they committed this •error, ,o'hey,uad a very plain duty before them, which was to tnx the districts where special works were to be done in special rates, and to strike their general rate for the responsibilities transferred from the Highway Boards to them, and require the Highway.Boards to .oollect.it- They, alleged that there waß a difficulty in defin•ini» the district of the Lower Tauern, though they, admitted that we on the Upper Taueru had so defined our district that it presented no difficulties to the levy of the special rate. Well', these difficulties as to the Lower Taueru. could not have been insurmountable, and it<-was clearly their duty to surmount them. Instead of thia they used considerable ingenuity in dividing the benefits into tenths «nd striking' a general rate" over the whole county of a half-penny tdcover.speoial and general expenditure. They.tried to equalise the tax. and its .expenditure ,by. allotting the amount in two, three, five, six or eight tenths to the several districts by'which they balance .of. .£4OO, which they proposed to hand back to-the Masterton Board to spend on, the- Opaki and what I .will' call tbehome Masterton districts... Now this, scheme may have been logically.and mathematically just, I dare say it was highly ingenioui, but its justice and ingenuity were so obscure thai it needed the mosHntricate and'patient investigation. It amounted to this. You had to p.efsiiade!a.ratepay.er..oathe.Qpaki. that though he had paid \\ rate, he didn't really pay it because,he might get it baok. Now I 'daresay' youmight with a great deal of display of arithmetical power and a good deal of inge.iinus argumeut make a man almost fceli-ve it while you wore, talking, but the

instant yon loft the room, he would shake himself togeiher and say: '• Oh ! - lli-it's all vory fine, but I've got. to pay the half penny rate," ami no logic or nrithmeiic could ever talk or calculate him away from that very gainful fact. It was a blunder. It has ken s iid tlia' h blunder is worse than a crime, but when I see how many blunders wo all make with the very best intentions I cannot concur in ordering the criminal out for execution. One word arid let it be very short" as to a ■ personal question., 1 promised '""Men jot" I would refer to : it, You- ail; know; tliat Bowhwdsis on tho Upper Tauerii, and that the UpperiTanoru was declared » main road. I don't want to bring any proofs,'my.word is enough to Vouch for the bulk ot what I say, arid'if it'ia not I am not fit to standhere and address you. .-, I giva you'then mywurd that : F never direotly.or indirectly asked Mi;B l eetham or anyone' else to get ( that road 'oh the schedule of main roads, and that it never entered my. head that i t ■ would be 'declared a main road, nor had J any knowledge at all on the subject till it had actually been 1 placed on the schedule;'"When I heard that it was on;lyßßked;;The reasoa. and was given to understand that it was looked upon «s an. important road.giving jaccossina "direct line of'Co'mih'ii'hicatiori! (between Mastertou, Tiraumea '.and other disii'ictSj and as boing'a central'■line between the"Te'niii arid Forty-Mile Bush roads. "The road, does npt end at the river but goes, nearly, two miles bej'ond my homestead, where-two district roads meet it, and I must remind you'that the Waugaehu District road also urns into it. I believe no less than five district roads are laid off into this main road, of which three are partly formed, And in course of formation. Now how can iho existence of the Cuunty Council affect this main > road ? If you suspend the County Counoiljp to-morrow the main road will-not be less a main road, nnd the Highway Board would have to deal/with \ym a main road. Therefore I hope' it is quite plain that! have n.'i'interest whatever.in,,copecti»n with this road in maintaining,tho.County Council. I have always consistently advicated tho. maintenance of a Blrong ; loc;.l authority in the country, f>r tliis I , pressed fur amalgamations? the two ■ Counties. It is only by this im-ans iW ; you can hope to prevehl 'cen'ti^liaaiTo'iT i f ■ all'admiiiisiralibn in Wellington.' .You . can never succeed in fighiirig ihisceimalisuiou if you have nmhing to take up the work here, but a" series of petiy Highway . Boards. I think that the administration i-y-W'ii'e Lands might be transferred to a li-ciil authority. The cost of hdruiuisivu-t-imi appeared io be fifty per cent of. the income. I may be wrong, but in the 1881 ■'-.. Financial Statement I find that out of £206,000 realised, £129,080 went-to-pay Land Boards and Survey Department. I may be wr-'im, but I believe it all went for.- that. What would you Bay if Messrs Lowes & lo'rns sold a bit of hmd for you for i'loo,.and deducted SO for cost of survey or sale ? , Now, let us look at the position of the colony, We wore told in 1881 that a new era was to begin, that there was to bu thrift and economy and wise goverm nient, and the colony was to cease being ' spendthrift, iuid giw iiub. Well, here is 1883, and'what do we'find',? Lot is take the industries of the Colony. G Id— The export of gold has decreased st»• .Jily, In 1868 it'was i' 2,492,793, in'lßß2,l was L 921,644, and mind, what ispioduced now is produced.by mure labor and at griper cost. The value of;woo) export h<s also decreased, how much. I cannot suv-,. but its tontl decrease in live years, ending 1882, was L 870.396, and when I find that the increase of sheep in the entire colony for 1882 was only 217,891 that the long, wools aud crossbreda are over 5,000,000 and ihe merinos over 7,000,000, when" you consider that long wool and crossbielwool has at this last yuar's sales declined from Id to' 2|d"per . lb; w|ieuyou consider the yearly-increas-mg co t of production, and the large sunn expended in improvement of land ; wlK'ii you consider tha*, ihe rabbits alono have caused ut loss |o ihe sheep farmers of from fifteen to twenty per cent yearly tin their net.inconio if their sheep farms, you will, I think, agree wiiii me that the wool industry is not in a satisfactory state. Now, the Colonial Treasurer turns with relief to other exports, and points to the increase in produce of grain, skins, ■ hides,. tallow r gum, leather and • sawn timbers, -Well, tho increase m exports in theso iteniß in five years has been very great—nearly n year, and this is the only blight spM in ut durk'liorizon. Now let us lake commerce.' The Colonial Treasurer' admits that we imported to the extent of a' millbm more than we might. The Chairman of the, Dunediu Chamber of Commerce in September said: "In my former address I touched upon the. depression which existed in business circles. Trade has not improved since that time, I am sorry to Bay; I think it worse,"—while the Chairman of ilni Wellington Chamber, in the pieced* i i/quarter had to announce bankruptcies M-M amount never before attained. The im .", is have.fallen off so that there is a deficiency in the Customs' return of £87,000 for Ihe five months. The Post makes much of what it calls the" August Recovery." But this is a great fallacy, August is a great import month... If August did not exceed the average there would be nothing to keep tho average up; and even the last August returns did not. ; come up to the returns of August 1881 by £6759. The Colonial Treasurer, estimated therevenueto produce- £9o,oooless ■• than it did last year, and he put on an ex'ni iax to moot the deficiency. But up io iho present the Customs' pr miiscs to produce less by J!200,1m) Hutu his estimate. Well, the Government have thought fit to take up a new iuun of and I confess I think this was a 'deplorable step. Idp not say that ;.3,000|000 might not be invested to piolit in this colony, but I see no sign of this 13,000,000 being invested to profit. I think the time is .come .when -some - finite policy should be announced as to these leans. About the polioy ■of finishing the railway c immunication between Wellington and ' Napier and Wellington and Auckland, and Wellington and New Plymouth, I have no doubt.''Fromthe time these lines are completed and the services, repairing , works, ic, I'e-organiaed a large reduction ought to take place in expenses. I know, nothing of the Otago central except chat its position on tho map indicates a possibly paying concern;' but the Canter- ' bury central seems tome to imply a waste of money/ It is somewhat thus; if we made a railway found the coast from, Wellington to the end of the lake, then build a'branch to join it from Featherston, continued the Greytnwn lino to the.other .; side of the.. M.ey...-an<L then-continued-'from the end of the lake; close under the hills, and.brought it out at To Ore Ore 1 and so in to Masterton, This last would 'answer to the Canterbury central. Thereare already branch 'railways' in" the Middle Island which cost '£432;403 and which are worked ai_anJMpil_lo.Bß.-jnJ'.'. pett and expenses of, J7393 a. year, yet more money must be spent,on these useless lines^eciuie_tha_Middte_.. Island .vyiHJiaye (is. share of every loan; - I have another measure 'of the Governmeat to ball your, attention to. /Here,isa ■ Bill introduced: at, the olose of last session by which the Government proposo-totax the lands of every settler within five 1 milos of any railway begun after September, 1882, and if they think fit to take a man's land away from him and sell it, Now why are they to tax Ihe land-say, of ihe Mauriceville and Pohiatua settlers—be-

oauso nn essontially colonial ■ railway is carried past them after tlio magid date of September, 1883." Tiro 'towns of Wellington and Napier will bon'efit by this railway moro than the settlors of.Mau'ricevilloand Pahiatua, but they are not to be taxed. Mr Hawkins referred to Mr Whitakor's J6lnt Stock Company, nud to tho cost of now portfolios, and.'ended by ursine settlers.not to bo treated liko colts which the Iwwoib'reakor uentled •and'iin'ite'd till ho had got them hnrneued in the break, and then came down on ihem - wi'h iho lash when it-was too la'te'tn'rosi t lie bogged them to watch tin- (i • er mom and tho Legislation, ami ti/'sliow iiuin that they intended no longer- 10 leavu their, interests blindly in.their lumU, and resumed his seat amid hearty applause. '•'■'' Mr J. Herbert then moved tlio'following resolution without comment:- " That this meeting having heard the statement of the purposes of the Wnirarapa. North County Settlers'. Association resolves to give it a hearty support." .....,'■. .

Mr A. W. Cavo seconded. - Mr W.W, McCardle, who was received ; with applause, said he hardly thought the present meeting' could do the matter justice at so late an hour, and hoped it would bo adjourned to another night. Mr Hawkins had travelled over a large area, and it required time to thoroughly digest his speecli. He (Mr McCardle), would not have spoken on this occasion had he not been alluded to personally by Mr Hawkins. He explained that when he advocated bush, tracks, he did so bebc i C W lie believed in fairly dividing the SWll amount of money at their dis° posal. flu was quite as much, in favor of good metalled roads as anyone if the I money to make them could be obtained. With,reference to the Waste Lands Board, he had long hold similar views to Mr Hawkins. He would move—

_ " That the meeting stand adjourned till that night four weeks."

He thought' if the general public were consulted in tHo matter they should have the privilege of eicoting the delegates.

Mr K. Meredith, wlio.said lie spoke with considerable dilfidence on the qurstion, thought Mr Hawkins had put the cart before the 3ior.se. He •should have called the meeting before sending out his circulars and settling the aQ'airs of the Association. There was no doubt Mr Hawkins wan a clever man. He had at the previous meeting .shown them his books-he now had shown them his brains, if lie once convinced, the public that he was earnest in this movement, there was riot a man in ; the.: Wairarapa who would not givo him his hearty support, (Applause.) He regretted Mr Hawkins had pulled up short at locul taxation. With regard to the statement of Mr Hawkins at the last meeting that ho (Mr Meredith) had better not stand for the office of Vice-President as he was one of the'upper ten thousand, lie could hardly understand the objection. He disliked entering into personal matters, but he Was an old settler, perhaps the oldest in the district, with the except tMiofMrW.H. Donald. >'Ho was al.i. ihe-son of an officer who never tii.nrd'his back on friend or enemy, and he did not intend .to do either. He hoped Mr McCardle's amendment, which he seconded, would be carried. Mr Hawkins said it was for the meeting to say whether it should be adjourned. He, of course, could not please everybody, but though Mr Meredith appeared to think the matter had began all wrong, he held it was all right. Prospectuses of the Association had been sent to every person on the vate roll, The present meeting had been called by public advertisement, and the result, ho ventured to say, was a very fair representative gathering. He therefore failed to see that the meeting was incompetent to decide whether it could support the Association or no,

Mv McCarille, claimed the right to reply as mover of the amendment, but the Chairman said he would first ask if any other person wished to speak to the amendment. .

Mr'Hogg said he should not have spoken that evening were it not that he considered it prudent to wait and let the; meeting come to a conclusion on what had been placed before them. Mr Hawkins had travelled over a considerable' amount of political ground, and had endeavoured to give, the objects of the Association.; but the scheme was obscure and indefinite. It was also a singular feature of the Association that its leading promoters were thosewhoare identified with the fight for the county, and, as far as he could see, although Mr Hawkins had gone' out of his way to show that tho Government taxation was all wrong, he said nothing about the county government which the settlersahiresent were suffering from. He /arffißfended Mr Bracken's action withTespect to his wife's passage lutoey, and held that Mr Hawkins' speech required to be closely criticised, The speech said a good deal about the present system of taxation, but nothing about what should be substituted, nor about the county tax. He (Mr Hogg) warmly attacked the county system, and asked if the Association was a. Settlers' Association, or .a..County Association, If the latter he would do his utmost to oppose it. He' would support the amendment.

MrE. Jones asked how long the objectors wished the Association"adjoiirned to 1 He had had a circular about two months ago, and he thought the meeting was quite able to pass the resolution proposed that night.— (Applause.) Mr McCardle then claimed his right to reply to the objections to his amendment, and-was proceeding to traverse Mr Hawkins' speech, when he was called to order by tho chairman; with, ■whom he had a long argument on' the point of order. Ho continued,: amid interruptions from tho meeting and occasional remonstrances from' the chairman, to address the audience, He held that though John Chinaman might be able to make £2O per acre there whs not a market in the whole district for more than two small cultivations of this kind.' The meeting now became more decidedly impatient, and the chairman declined to allow Mr McCardle„to speak except as to the amendment; Finally he (Mr McCardle) said he had hoped his persistency would have had the effect of clearing the Theatre as it was getting late, and thus make the meeting fall through. (Storm of hisses.) Ho did not mind

hisses as long as he considered he,was doing right. , ~,-,..'■ The Chairman: I will now put the amendment.. Thoso'ifi favor say f'aye," (a few ayes in response), those against, " No>".(a Ijirgb mimher of.iipes), •-"TJifi noes hiive it. . ' • , . - (Cries of "the ayes have it," and " tlie noes Jiave it.") '/" .'!,!' ..Hie Chairman:.l will now,put,the resolution in favor of the association.' This was carried-first on the voices and then on a show of hands, only two or tlireo being held up against it, . ~:

Mr McCardle .asked, Mr Hawkins how ho intended 10-'amendtho Waste buds administration. .. ,„, ... Mr Hawkins: I intend .nothing, the matter, is one .for tho association to deal with. •■ - : The meeting then terminated with a vote of thanks, to tho Chairman.

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