MR. G. BEETHAM AT MASTERTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2513, 1 February 1887, Page 2

MR. G. BEETHAM AT MASTERTON.

PROGRESS OF THE WAIRARAPA.

About two hundred settlers were present at the Theatre Royal last evening by an imitation from Mr 6. Beetham, M.H.R. who made bis annual visit to hie Masterton constituents to give an account of'his actions during the past session, and to ventilate any questions of importanco that were agitating the minds of the public. Mr M, Caselberg, the Mayor, occupied the chair and asked for a fair and impartial hearing for their representative during his speech, andsaidthat.no doubt Mr Beetharn's account of his stewardship, and his opinion on public questions of the day would bo listened to with interest by all present, Mr Beetham commenced by observing that no doubt they would prefer to listen to one of Miss Srnithson's entertainments than.to his statistical and dry political speech. He thanked Mr Caselberg for presiding for the third timo .at his meetings, and congratulated him, on, being elected 'td the Municipal Chair for. the third, time, and folt : 'he was only echoing the-bob-timpnts of the settlere\of the' district when he saidcthey were Very, fortunate hi.getting such' an "able 'gehflohian To fity the o%e. (Cheer's);;He must also, he said,, popgmtulate Jfr .Caselberg .on having'the Borough', lighted with, p during hiß terms of office,, an institiir tioh t that marked an important -©ya-.' ftV theprogreßß-pfthe.town r ■ ':; .<• "PBOORESB OF THE BOBOUOn, i '. .-. As•'■ he''had'represente.d the.Wajrarajka distifiofM'ten years, before and after it was divided, he.would speak of the progress of Masterton during that time, 'He said that things changed-do" rapidly that unless 'on? Bat \<|owi» and" •wentthroughttielist of ?vejjts,' would': have no "'idea of the pat 1 dhanges that had" taken place dui'jng jhe time stated,-! Masterton wasllien 'electing-its firstvlayor, Mr B, 6. Williams, and ho v was sorry Jhey : had sot fjiat gentlemMfamong tiiem how,.: «He was very proudtowe that' they h'ad risen to be the premier' inland towij/in the colony and contrasted it nald, Port .Chalmers; Blenheim, G-reyi? , mouth,' A'sjiburtqn, and Palmerptpn North, the whole of which Masterton had gone ahead of,' in point of population .and prosperity,-a fact that might be attributed to .its linje of good' Mayors! 'He alluded to the-gas -loan awl-iioped the time was net far #

tant when the Borough would'go in for a loan for water-purposes,'as he considered it was one of the greatest and most important additions to a town. '. PROGRESS OP THE COLONY. During the.time±e had been in the House oi'Piepresentativcstho" Frisco" Mail Service had-been inaugurated, telegraphic communication with the Old Country had been established, and .many, other., important things'. had been done pojning qnt the great strides the colony had made duringthe past ten years. As an instance of its'progress be '• quoted: the following statistics of 1876 and ".1086;fto show" tp what extent the colony had advanced. In 1876 the imports were £6,905,175, being jtt .the rate of £l7 15s 6d per head of the population; The exports were £5,678,465, or £l4 12s lOd per head, In 1885 the imports wore £7,479,921, or Jl3 4s '9d per head, and the exports £6819,939,,0r £l2 Is •4d per head. The' total trade of the colony for 1876 \mt £12,578,686, or £Bl9sßd, aM for 1885 £14,299,000, or £25 6a '2d. per head. 'These returns excluded theNative'population. He said that although the paßtoral and agricultural exports were in excess of 1876, the mining-exports had fallen about £400,000, kt this had'been compensated for 'in a groat measure by the increase in .other industries, such as .fisheries,- .frozeirineat; butter and cheese, ; anihe hoped that they would' still increase, and more than niake up for any'deficiency in the gold exports.. .'He said that the price of wool greatly effected ; , the returns of this commodity; and: if the: price of 1876 had been maintained, the returns now would be something considerable. He alluded to the number of wool works that had been established inthe colony, which; helped; materially the wool industry, and pointed to a great future in the manufacture of colonial goods, With regard to railways he briefly alluded to the number of miles (about 1800 miles) which had been constructed at a cost of £7300 per mile. In speaking of the population'of New Zealand and the adjoining colonies, which now number 8,405,158, indicating that a vast nation was growing up in the Southern Seas, a matter that all should be proud of, seeing that it had been accomplished in such a short time/' (Applause).

With regard to this district, no doubt the wool industry had been tho staple product. To show its advance since 187G, he would quote tho following figures:—ln 1876 the number of sheep were Wairarapa North 820,441, Wairarapa South 855,408, making a total of 675,819; in 1885 they were-North 548,581, South 464,851, total 1,018,882, being an increase of 837,588, As the returns ho quoted from were, the Sheep Inspectors figures, he said they, were'not to be relied on, but to bo taken.as ; being below the mark, as tho sheep. owners were more likely, to give under thatf over the number, seeiug that they had. to pay for them, and would endeavor to escape' paying. the taxes; In speaking of tho wool industry, rhe said he must congratulate the Wairarapa and the colony on being comparatively free from scab.. They- ; bad been shut out from the, New South Wales trade, owing to.the prevalence' of scab .here, but ho was ■ now f)leas)d to say that 1 in'the North wis' would be'free.from it, which meant an 'annual' £200,000 benefit to New Zealand (cheers).. LAST SESSION, The last session of Parliament was not a very interesting one, and.heconsidered more ought to have been done. The

LOCAL BODIES LOANS BILL which was a repetition of Major Atkinson's Roads and Bridges Gon-. struction Act, had been carried-throu'gh' by Sir Julius Vogel, and he must tell them that he did not agree with some of its provisions, one especially, where Crown and Native lands were omitted from taking their fair share of the burden;of the loans raised for works that benefitted them. He had in conjunction • with his colleague Mr W. C.Buchanan, almost convinced the House of this injustice when the astute Sir Julius Vogel said, if tho measure was not passed, he would bring down a Bill to repeal the Crown and Native Land Eating Act, which would mean a serious loss to local bodies, in this districtwhere the Actliad contributed largely to local revenue. He was of opinion, "however, that if tho local bodies went to work properly in.raising money under' this Loans Act, they would reap great benefit, from it in the future, The

HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AIDS DILL ; wasoriotlia'the could not congratulate the Ministry and the colony upon, and lie considered; a,great injustice had b(sen done to this and other country districts in forcing them to.join the towns in supporting their poor, their expenditure being was ■ out of all proportion;'.;to ' the benefits -which they derived. "He had opposed this rneasurean the House, and had re- . great sunperJ; fro?n Mr Buchanan, and thoy, had bepn so "far gujcassjul in ;.se;paratirig"the Wairarapa fi ; orn.\Ve|-. 'lingtp'n with regard to hospital manage? niont. He : contended that-if |r Robert' Stout had' been in earnest in' fostering' tlio spirit of self-reliance he wbuld'have assisted them to his utmost instead of compelling the country districts to keep the torn.poor without giving them a proper representation on fbp Boards; go }iard had % Buchanan and himseir wor'pd agams't this jneftsuro that Sir Bobert Stout to drop thb amendment Bill entirely if tho ; opposition-was not removed, and this action obliged the town members to do a rank injustice to the country districts by tacking their, poor onto . them for support In referring to the Mppt demanded from the Wairarapa DytlieUnitedPistriptßoard,,he said ha considered it 'a great injure, anil he could not understand why lUfj'of 40' per cent of the costs of supporting 65 children 1 in" the - ndustrial school should be charged to tins disjf Joining that only two camt j

from hero, .'He should do his utmost, in getting this Acfrrepealed, and ho knew he should have the support of Mr Buchanan in the work.-T-(Cheers.) NATIVE LANDS, \ • They had been told by Sir Robert Stout that Mr Ballanco had done lots of good by his Native Lands Bill;. With this he must tell them he disagreed, as anyone would do who considered the question at all, It was tothe bpst interest of the colony as:'? whole that the' native lands should come into profitable occupation as soon, as possible, as the people have to pay' heavy rates and taxes, and it was only right that these lands should be put to profitable use to assist to bear the burden of the colony. He considered' the Bill would prevent the natives from dealing with their lands and was'mtroduced to compel the natives ; to put their heads under the heels of .the. Government, but he did not .think they would do it. They had been told that all the natives agreed to the Bill, but lie could not find any but what abhorred the very name'of it and would be pleased to see it repealed. EAST AND WEST {JOA'ST RAILWAY '" f A Bill was pugged last session handing over certain. Crown lands to '-'some capitalists for the construction of this line of ; railway. Whether the land was goodor bad h« couldiiot say, but thought, the colony was to be congratulated in 'getting the matter settled, •.as it was a source of annoyauce, .and impeded the business of the House, I 'forthere was,.a,plain threat from the Southern members that they: would oppose the public works of the colony unless arrangements were come to for the construction of this line. THE FORTY MILE BUSH. They were aware that he had just been'through the bush- districts, and lie was pleased to tell them that he could see evident signs of prosperity everywhere, and their future prospects were better than he ever anticipated. (Cheers). He said he should be sorry if the Masterton people thought he was, casting a slur upon them in appearing first at Pahiatua. He had promised the people of that district to attend there and discuss local questions and on considering the matter he found that he could not spare the time for two visits to them so arranged to embody the two meetings into one. , He could assure the Masterton electors that he had no intention of overlooking the fact of thoir district being the. principal polling place, and hetliought his visiting Pahiatua first had its advantages, because he was abjetojtell them the great 'progress the bush districts had made, seeing that, the town and country were bound up one with the other. (Applause). . ....-,- SPECIAL SETTLEMENT.

Referring to Mr Balance's: special settlement jgjieme, Mr Beetham said he, did iSPthink;it was the most satisfactory .system'of settling the land. Ho considered a large of "surveyorsshould have been, employed opening up land years ago,, and every time the question was brought before the House he "did lushest to urge the survey of the Crownlands of this and the West Coast district with'a view to Settlement,-'but without effect.-' He' could oot.but congratulate Mr B'allaiice ,iit taking Up the special' settlement soheme, and:.to inimical to him, directly lie heardthat the ibfieme wis to be oarried out, lie gffered his sejnees; ajthealways would ByMJlippig gptilation on the Imowledge of the bush and country districts and its requirements, he would be able to offor good sound advice, and considered he knew more than a newspaper man did, about such matters. His offers however, were not accepted, There had been 45,000 acres in the Wairarapa, and 42,000 acres on the West Coast applied for under the special settlement scheme during the past twelve months, and 97,000. in the 'Pahiatua district. This represented—assuming each holder had the full amount of 150 acres—--646| familios to bo settled upon' the land (cheers). 'He could not say where or how the half came in, or whether it was the better or worse half (laughter.) He hoped that before long, if the scheme worked satisfactorily, that between seven, and eight hundred families would be settled upon these lands, as one of the conditions was compulsory residence, which meant settlement^ CAPITALIZATION. j As there were'a great many ptesent who were, no doubt, interested ■ in special.settlement,'ho would like to 'point out to them the advantages of the capitalization clauses .of the Act, It was a most important factor to. new settlements, and not so generally known as it ought to": he .among-, the , Bpeciahe.ttta,' : Asari example, "if : a settle/had'to pay in usalments £BSO, he could'after paying (for one year, apply to the. Land Board to capitalize his unpaid instalments, and he would find when this- ; wa&donethat the capital value would- riot be more than £2BO so. that the settle'r would reap the benefit of a deaf saving of a'difference between £BSO atrfpjO. At the time when he wanted the mon'ey r ' instead ofpaying up his instalments-he would onjy be called upoir-to pay 5 per cent on the capital value, and the Land Board could grant him four years additional in whjehtpjay up his liability, •If 'a'settler availed:himse!f of this protislon.'ha would lave mora money available for improvements at a time when he most wanted it. which besides being'at a very low rate of interest, would;be repayable by easy instalments. .*'■

. QUALITY OF THI BUSH .-LANDS. .He was glad to report upon, making jm esarainatino of the land throughout •'.the bush districts, that the country nortfa'pf Mastertbn wc-uld be of in'caloulablo' value to the cbl'onf as a whole, He could say from his Jtnowledgo of sheep farming that thojand throughout ihose districts would-be ablo tocavry fully 400,000 sheep, a fact that should show how important it wasihat the*, settlement should be extended there without delay. (Oheers),'. RAILWAY '

, Since h'e'lasE met 'tli'em 'he was e]a<l to say the railway had been ("xli-ii'tol to the Forty Mile Bush', and he bad no doubt before loug" ihat the Eketa--

huua extension would bo completed. He should.be pleased to see it, as it would bo a groat means of opening up tliecountiy, At the satuetimehedidnofc think it would bo carried further on tor some time to come,, and he believed, with Sir JRobert Stoat, that they should , become more self reliant, and did nob "think the.colony would be able to-get raonev .r.fl u i te S( J readilf as fornterly. Ho was not opposed to borrowing if it wasffor some important work/ but .takiiig.iuto consideration-the- manner in which'thelaitlOan-ha'd-beenrftimid,. •the colony must : bevery 'Careful of the way itgoes to.workwitJi.:ibe,English: - capitalist. to .several lines'oi railway that were A of'nlore ornament than use to the tolonypMr Beetham spokeof the .■. <■■

EETRENCniIEST POLIOt t of Sir Robert Stout, who stated' a few 1 days ago that he would "meet Parlia- • ment'with a saving. of £60,000, in ' departmental expenses.'" Mi'.Beetham » said he had often heard-theso things ' apoken of, but never saw' 1 them, come ' off yet.' His experion'oe has been that, it meant increased ex-penditnre, and hoped the present, projwsed' saving . would be an exception lo the rills. Ho 3 had looked forward for Sir-Robfir.fc 3 Stout's epeeoh to have dealt with the [ reform ot the CTpper House, the laid ; question more fully dealt with, and expected that thore would have been f sound food for thought 'in the speech, , there would. be. something to i talk' : aWut.' with reference to „the ■ coming session. _ ( He dealt,,upon "tho I {apt that: Ministers bad too' much > private business to do, and were seldom 3 able to be at the seat of Government. •theconsequence of which was, that the Government of the Colony.was left in the hands of tho Civil Service. He j said it waa rather amusing to Bee that I uo notice waa taken of it, especially as ! the Atkinson Ministry we.re charged 1 with being lax during the sessions, and ' they did treble the work of the present ■ Ministry out of session, He believod | that Ministers should travel about and ' ascertain the requirements of the ' colony, but could not appreciate the plan of leaving the work of governing 1 to the Civil Servants. Mr Ballance | had promised to consolidate and ; economise the Civil Service so as to ' show a saving there,; He (Mr Beetham) did not believe in cutting down the 1 wages of men. If they did a fair day's work tbev should be paid accordingly. 1 He passed a high compliment on the 1 'efficiency of the Civil Service, and said ; that if Mr Ballance could consolidate ' it without at all spoiling its effect he would be doing good .Bervicojo the J -Colony; but he considered they were a t deserving lot of men, and should be ' paid well/ REPRESENTATION. Sjr Robert Stout had introduced a representation Bill last session, with' . which .he - agreed'on some points, , especially on the population basis. The" 'Bill would have the effect of increasing^ j. the number of merabersin, tho North Island, although'he would prefer to see I tho number decreased rather than i increased. .'After-.-.explaining -the i objects-of the Bill, Mr Beetham said . that Sir Robert Stout knew woll enough that-the Bill would not pass, i-because of the opposition' of the Southern members, who were not just enough to. give the North Island what wad duo (o them; ■-The Southerners bad raised their numbers under tins' system,' but when- it. came 'to recip'roeating, with the Northerners they entirely front,- and v a,lthou?h knoffing'full wejl;they',were entitled to tbreo more membera. Sir Julius Vogel could not risk the support of the South Island, and the Bill.was thrown out. _ In speaking of the basis of America, and comparing it with'' New Zealand, he said that iii tho former place it required a population, of 500,000 for one member, whereas hero there were ninety-one for about, the name number of. population. With regard to tho Wairarapa, he thought they would just as well be represented with on* member as wititwo, and he was of opinion that a member could do equally as much for the whole as for the half of the district, FREETRADE. As he had already spoken on this subject several times they might accuse hirii of continually repeating his opinions, but the subject had not been beforo the House, and he did not know if ever it would. He considered that at present there was quite sufficient protection for our industries, and he thought it a better principle to offer bonuses for establishing new industries than protecting' them by excessive import duties, 1 for in the first place they-:, would know the amount they were.paying, whereas for the latter they would nevor know. He also considered that the amount of duties now charged quite sufficient to foster any industries that might wish to-be established in the Colony. • He said he would not; go dny furthor into the -subject, but;., would be .pleased to auawor.any queatipus .relating' 'to it, if required; , .. .' Education. : ■ '■.,. There, wa? every reason to believe that tliis would be a- serious question next session, as Sir Robert Stout' had. said that the expenditure had increased so much that something must he done. There was every reason "to belie've that the expenses wquld have to be cur- ' l/iiled.- They might rest assured that'. ( Sir Robert.'Btpnf,'' Hp was. a'great advocate for edqpation, would not' let | the primary- education dfthe Colpny . 811%, and there was no doDDt.that.tbe , higher brancoa of'eiluoation would be i those dealt wjth in the reduotion. As J Sir Robert Stout was well known to be in favor pi giving every child, no i matter what its rapk or station, the i chances of'receiving every..; branch of. < education, porliaps j]e would by , establjshfDgfHigh Schbo! lw Gn'd College-fees' make : j (Hear'!;' Hear,) Hvuaid.'that it ; wag , teoessary that the utmost care should 1 ; be exercised in the future, witlr regard , lo tho management of the Primary j Schools,'and as far as he could sety; tie" .;, Colleges and High Schools, would have. , , to be ma'de.s'elf-supporting. I ■- PER3ONAI,, •'- i Mr. conclusion paid.'it < ftlwiiyg JiffbVdeU Jiim'"great' pietuiire, to ( >iieet'his couatituebts, and he'always < felt it'his duty to' cOme forward land. •< an .account: of bis Btewardabip; •{

and at the same time give, tboni an opportunity of discussing any "njikioM that might be agitating ths?§ublio mind. It would also give them an opportunity of ventilating their, grievances and have them placed before, the proper authorities for redress,' if they were in any war connected with' the Government. He. said;' they tad a right aa voters and .citizens..'.to .exercise those privileges, and he Hoped he wtfitfd havethe opportunity of ; beitfjfible to grant them thai right foryearjjfeiwm'e. He thanked them* forther.|)Rtiejit""hearingihey had. given him,' and.left him* tions that might be aaked relating to his speech or actions, or of any public 'interest.'.'' Mr Beethaiu then' resumed his seat amid prolonged applause. '; Mr; Edward Jones then mounted fb platform and wantod to -know if MjK Beetham thought he had been treated rightMproperly, in the way he had carried the mails. (Uproar). Mr Beetham; Malo or (ewfcjm Mr Jonesl(Lou'd Laughter). W , MrJoriesrTll.lobfcafterthefLaJao right enough Mr Beetham, let m alone for that, what J moan uj the .Kurupum mails. (Continued uproar), •Mr Jones then went into frlonlg history of the way he went to, work to. carry' the mail, how he was obliged to wait when tbe'f rains wero altered, how Mr Baggo.had falierioufc with.'Mm-.hoeauae bis horse stuck him updoing. taKuru. puhi, until he wag out short •% tit* chairman who told him that hie ■ grior. ance had : nothing to. do, with-thu meet* Irig. ."Has'nt it though/.'-.,retorted •Jones, ''l'll just show youiit fa. (QHea of go it Ned). Mr Beetham ii a friend of the working man and lie will see a man gets what he works Ik. and lam going to see. whether Government won't, pay me' for the delivery of the Mauriceville mails after the line was opened, as I hav'nt .got* penny yet. . (Loudjheering). ' Afar my horse stuck Bagge up, he lays, look here Ned you will have'to keep squar* else you will lose the mail.. >I gaya have lever been late wkh don't I meet every train''? 1 IfffijaV isn't the old woman or the boy afwavß ready to go?- What have you jet to grumble at? (Uproar). With thai he writes down to Butts and tell* { him I was on the spree. Tip comes a l' 1 j : letter from Butts, saying, that 11 should have to put on the blue ribbon I >; or else it would bo worsr-for mo. s.> Things went on for soma, time pretty vs!'' smoothly, and I got. ar letter from'yl: Butts, saying that he Was pleased I '"s*''' was sticking to the blue,'and finished up by : saying stick to.the blue-anl I'll stick to you. -(Loud-cheers)*' The Chairman here -again interrupted, but Jones said, "I won't be a minute, I've just done," and then'tobkadrink amid loud uproar, and criesTof "itlok to the Blue, Captain," Jonei then attempted to explain that Mr Boathaa bai looked into the ...affair. lik« a gentleman, but tho Chairman insisted that the meeting should hot be made fools of, and told Jonesjto leave ths- ■ . • platform. Jones. weaf eventually/ induced to kvo,. .but''kept up a •' N running fira of romarfa,; about it took a wise man t'o'bVa fooVpeopl* ' ; ought to have what .they wo>k for,. he would see whotheßlef wwldu'ii ,*£-" get his money, '".■',jt The Chairman was.-there to jiYsaiaccongt bflifo pui aotipiis, and to veiiti|te anylaabjocs pertaining to pnblio' affairs, and hs Bhouldi'ot permit any :..natur|'b«ing brought forward (kear,. •heart) -Aa long as-he was'toWrhiw of the meetingsliq vto'u!d; : eii'deavjjr'to \ keep order, audnot .«w-$eW-mjd| /" ipols of, ' ..j gentleman.-had 'anythinOf ii ask Mr Bp|am'/.- Xt no ono; came 7or\yard, any. --"-" . ■ #<y. '■■•;; ._ ,'■'?■ Mr Renall,- who was greeted) yitk i> loud and prolonged' cheerini;, .g»id, I ;i '*' suppose you like ■■' voice Mr Chairman,. jronld . H ' liketoaskMr "' to take up Lis residence, in' Maslerton;, if he does, he wont do for our Borough Council or Town "Lands Trust, becaun those bodies shirked meeting the public, whereas Mr Beetham said hn isalwayg pleased to meet his cons|ituent» (load applause.) Mr Reualllhen went iato : a long bißtory of the jttijut Land, and : Borough Coimcil, Municipal Corporations. Act : alnke•-'' Trust Lands advocating »n " ouster of office'! clause in the litter " to get rid of some of the ..useless, met- ■ bers that cropped-up from time to tim». He said he was sorry Mr Beotham M not touch upon the question of i the Borough into wards, asaome of the ' papers had jaid the Government had .acted illegally. Tho Chairman': So they have (bear, hear,) .''. .'. ;.-v;f, ■

Mr Mail; I say they, have: net, (Cheers,),.' ' ;'• ■' ;• Ohairmkrif.laay they hare, (Boar*) ' Mr'Roriall: Now, Mr Mayor, left -'; havfr'it'out, {tTfn-oar.) Ugdg«d th«' petition-with'the' Town -Clerk within" : ' seven daya, according toi&v, " : Chaicman: Youdidnot; ...'.. '"■ ■■■■■: \ Mi- Rehftll: laay.ldid. Daiayouf ' :L: Clerk deny it? (Cheers) •;. ..;.. Chairman.: Yes.,(Loud cb'e%) ■.''■:'•■ Mr Rehall: Pat him up thgre, and let him deny it if h»caa.: (Rbitt.) «• :?\..\■; :Obairtaan: 'Put:hlraj"iip,youfsald'' ; ' You-kvo v '(Laughter.) : -k. v^'^-l'V''^* ■ Mr fienall i You,-baok he does, Ton fetch' himWiaee :ifWwon't say that you .tried .'aUma.anep.9f: means to ovortifrfiw.tfcatfpttTwa*d ■■ petitionfora.threWard : 6i». (laidX cheers,) ,- The Chairman said always pleased to meet Mr KenaJ}, when' and where ho liked to, di'scaif t\k ■ question, bat did not tIM thepfweii pms %%' ■''' 'questions, and I 'he. .was .rather Wftm thatMMenallaboßld cw4o**artk andvasTcsuohquestions, ifter'h&jring .. Mines'remarks.?; ■"• ■ > <■■ s'aid,'tl-8t as' Mrßjetham' (j;! iad|loaohed; : upon Borough as& : ho''s"' the'jSanie, :«tofftie»> '(/■';. wentsiflS jnto'ta.history-.qfc'tWnow-: , '..- famouk|etiiJDD,j%- '.'•■ t . thrown by' %&%&&( the:e^ibs : : L I 'i and :«iQ^QM'y*&^ij.!!M.-1£ .; ■' apsenoe was'a'loWfo the Opurioijt'ag a'« couldt'ell tTiemrnoroaboutthflMuriicij>ftl Act than the whbleboxand dicßoFtheii."'J'' .put together.•/(Laughter;)'fyfyftbgty- - '%

IflflpMi' Bcctliara's" speech* lio' said' lie! •appeared to tread lightly on tho GoWnment •}. not that ho appeared to bo •- '. afraid of them, as ho thought ho was a different man from that, Allndiig to gp.ecial. settlements, he said he was' lofty that Mr Eolleston,. who was in ',i tli&jMinistry Mr. Beetham supported, ~ '_' ; .was'. v not favorable, to' them, as they i "^'^v,.>i.;i^ftttls;.doubtless. be .a great success, ■;* -'''ijtend/' instanced the settlements of• - ..*, > v;. Qjs) T fown ; and MasteVton as ; success. '.' .-.,.; •■.■..•iff''this 1 direction, : He' sa(d' ho v >bad ~ ••■••, /foretold what would bo the result; of -.. -r:.\ ihwwliig Native lands open to private '.. ';•'•' sale,- and It had eventuated,' as he had ■:..-'-■?■ -said,inthedißgracoful proceedings of, •' the Auckland land ring. . Mr Becthain said : as far as he could iA , ece the Auckland land ring had not '-*(• gained much by their transaction, their land seemed absolutely .valueless, » A. voice—How about,tho Piako swamp!; 1 ittwilrßeetham: That has turned out ||,8ef1;..,'..' ~,,.. ..A;voica—How about Horetaunga \- ~', "Mfi Beetham : .That is the only block thoy have got any good frotu. | i A ; voice.- Yes, it was bought for '' £22,poo,'and is now worth a quarter • •„„',. W a.millioii. Mr Beetham : -Thoy 'deserve-- to ... 'Jiavo good laud,-as they havo speut ~., enpuqh money on it; ;'• -■ • >.. ; ' .Mr Renallsaid' ho hoped tlio meet- :,. ing. would not go away with the idea ~. /that all nativo lands were shut up for , ,;,;., Mle, the Act'only'rpferred tojlie.largo .;,. . blocks and land which had not .passed ~,: through tho Nativo Lands Cpwrt. .He ~ referred to tho large blocks that had ~,■■ been acquired and caused such great .*,., Immorality among tho Auckland land ,% ring. Speaking of the Forty Mile ...,: . Bush Mr Renall grew prophetic and ... said it would be the future sugar 'producing country of the colony, as ...': it was in every way adapted for the Industry. He said the life of a man whoß.ct to work to subdue tho forest vas a long and dreary one, and be .ttcommended those who set their foot ■JgLa, piece of freehold land to stick '■ Wit, for the time might come when ; . , fortune would shine upon them, as It' had upon him and they would wake up some fine morning and find themselves pretty well off. Ho con- „, ( eluded his remarks by proposing a • Tote ,of thanks to Mr Beetham for ■ ,hV ablo and interesting address, and .the .manner he had conducted the ~.;. -political affairs on behalf of his con- '..' .; stituents. rK : [' Tho.Chairman put the resolution, |, ; . f which w»3 unanimously carried, and *4 r said he would like to seo a vote o( 'confidencocairtedaswell, and moved • accordingly. (No I no.)' Mr Boethfim said he must refuse to 1 , allowtheChairman to oaove a vote of ■ oontidenco, although, ho must thank ' ,:brm .tor his kind intentions. He • thought tho proper plactr for confidence Jo.be shown was the ballot-box, and he ; could not fail to recognise that hie was M* l s£ / >f°' ;; , tt beaven-bom politician, assomo "y/ji 0* bis frionds tried to mako him believe :;''•' bawas. Ho concluded by moving a . ; . .. ■, rote of thanks to the Chairman, which ' ;,ii ,:i^'. ; . brought^the- meeting to a close.