THE SUPERINTENDENT'S MEETING.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1050, 28 February 1873, Page 2

THE SUPERINTENDENT'S MEETING.

The meeting held at the Masonic Hall on Tuesday evening last was numerously attended, nearly every male adult in Westport being present. His Honor arrived punctually at 8 o'clock, and, on the motion of Mr E. J. O'Conor, Mr J. W. Humphrey was called to the chair. The Chairman read the requisition to his Honor, and his reply thereto, and begged on his behalf an attentive hearing. His Honor was received with applause. He said when he came to the Coast he had no intention of addressing any public meeting, but at Charleston he had been requested to do so, and hence he had no hesitation in consenting to do so here. At the same time he knew it was not a favorable period to address a public meeting upon the subject of Provincial Government, especially among a community suffering under grievous losses, and misfortunes. Westport was at preeent

under a cloud, and held a truly unfortunate position ; but he was convinced such misfortunes were only temporary, and would result hereafter in its increased and assured prosperity. Still when men did little- trade; found their prospects', languishing,, and had to encounter repeated disappointment, it was perfectly intelligible that they should lay thoblame upon the Government of the day. In prosperous times; when the price of wool, a rise in the money market, or any other event over which the Government had no control, caused the public mind to be elated, then the Grovernment obtained the credit, and hence no Government had a right to complain if, when a contrary state of affairs existed, blame was laid its door, howsoever difficult it might be. to obtain, under such adverse circumstances, a patient and dispassionate consideration of actual facts. He proposed, in the first place to make a few general remarks on the Provincial Government as it now existed, and thereafter to touch upon local matters affecting the welfare of "Westport. It would be remembered that during last session of the General Assembly a petition had gone up from the South-west Goldfields praying for the uniting of such Goldfields to Westland. It was well known that Nelson Province was in a tolerably good condition as regarded provincial finances, and that Westland was very deeply in debt. But independent of this, which should have been good reason to make all sensible people pause before consenting to join a hopelessly insolvent concern, there were other strong objections to the proposed combination. Westland had not successfully carried out the experiment of self-government. The county, had a large revenue, double anything derived from the South West Goldfields, and even in excess of that from the entire Nelson Province, and yet, withal, the county had less to show resulting from the expenditure of that revenue that Nelson had. In Westland there existed a few miles of good road made by the County Council, leaving out of notice the Government road from Christchurch to Hokitika made for the most part before Westland became endowed with local Government; and the roads made by the General Government during the past year. Independently of those, Westland could boast of but few good roads, although the county contained a large extent of auriferous and agricultural land through which tracks were needed. Nelson had on the contrary made bridle tracks to open up the back country. Within the last few years nearly 500 miles had been made, some of which was pretty good, while some, it must be confessed, was bad, but still such tracks were sufficient to enable the prospecting of the country to be carried on, while if the Westland system had been adopted, of making alone a few miles of good and wide roads near the principal towns, in all probability the Inangahua reefs would not have yet been discovered. Probably by and by, when Westland adopted the same system, similarly good discoveries would be made there for he believed the County would be yet found exceedingly inch in mineral resources. Meantime the Nelsonpolicy had led to better results than had been achieved in Westland, and looking to these facts he had thought, and was still convinced that any combination with Westland would be prejudicial to the interests of the Nelson Goldfields, for all moneys accruing as goldfields revenue would, as an inevitable consequence, have gone to pay Westland County debts. He had perfectly understood the wish of the residents on the Goldfields to manage their own affairs, but he could not see the wisdom or reasonableness of the expressed wish to unite with Westland ; and hence he had done all he possibly could to prevent it, and, in doing so, had, he thought, rendered good service to the South West Goldfields, and he would as long as he had any voice in the matter, continue to oppose any such movement. (Applause), There was another point also to be considered in reference to this subject. A constant agitation for change prevented good Government and had already exercised a bad effect in the control of matters affecting these Goldfields. He might tell them that last year, during the session of Parliament, the feeling was distinctly manifested, that the General Assembly would not consent to any cutting up or subdivision of the Provinces as now defined, or any alteration of the existing boundaries except on some general scheme of reconstruction. Changes in that direction were impending, probably in course of time this island would form one separate province, but he thought that things, as now existing, would be better left as they are for yet awhile longer, until the affairs of the entire colony could be entrusted to one general government. This seemed the ultimate concltisjon to which affairs were tending, but it would be necessary that we should carefully feel the way first, getting local powers and authorities first well established, and become thus, to some necessary extent, independent of direct government interference. It must be remembered that, beneficial as might be the results of General Government control, that government would be at a greater distance off than provincial authorities, and that all the embarrassment of redtapeism and official routine would not tend to lessen the trouble of obtaining attention to local requirements. Last session of ths Provincial Council he

had introduced two Acts which were passed, each of which were devised for the benefit of the Goldfields as much as any other portion of the Province. The first was the Towns Improvement Act, giving certain powers to levy rates for local purposes, but no township on the Goldfields had availed itself of that Act. The other was the Highways Act, giving power to the Superintendent to proclaim districts in which Boards migh be appointed to manage roads and levy rates and tolls for the maintenance of such roads, but neither had the provisions of this Act been yet adopted. The people of Westport, instead of adopting the Towns Improvement Act, had gone in for obtaining the powers granted under the Municipal Ordinance, as being more adapted for their requirements. He hardly knew whether their anticipation in this respect wonld be fully realised. In Nelson where the population was as one thousand to every hundred on the Coast, the people had thought the Act too complicated, and had contented themselves with powers similar to those conferred by the Towns Improvement Act,which had been found comprehensive enough for all practical purposes. He was fully aware that many smaller towns than even Westport had adopted the Municipal form of local government, and derived great advantages therefrom, and he hoped it would be found to work equally well here. He had seen it stated in the local paper that he had put obstacles in the way of Westport being declared a Municipality ; but the very contrary was the fact. As soon as he had received the first petition he had forwarded it with his assent to his Excellency. A delay arose, from some reasons of which he knew nothing, and a second petition had to be forwarded, and with this he did precisely the same, assenting thereto and forwarding it at once to his Excellency. So far as putting obstacles in the way it was more to his individual advantage to further, in ©very possible way, the petition, as it would relieve him, as Superintendent, from a considerable amount of trouble and responsibility. Tho Mayor and Corporation would perform duties now incumbent upon himself, and probably being always on the spot, would fulfil such duties more effectually. He had heardsince beingin Westport thatsome doubts existed as to whether the Governor would assent or not to the Municipal Ordinance being put in force here. He could assure them the Governor's assent was a mere matter of form, a Gazette proclamation and nothing more, and there was no possible doubt about such formal consent being granted. The people, he thought might rest satisfied that after the 15th April next the Municipal Act would be in operation in Westport. (Applause.) There was another charge that had been made against him by the local press, at which he felt much aggrieved. The charge had been made, not alone by one paper, but by every one published on the Coast. It wa3 that he had been guilty of breaking many promises made to the public. He had lately seen in the Charleston Herald a very strong article chargiug him with this, and while addressing the public there he had challenged any one present to bring forward any one single case in which the promises he had made had not been fulfilled. No one had made reply, and he therefore considered such charge refuted so far as Charleston was concerned. He now made the same challenge here. He asked the Editor of the paper, or the writers of any of the articles in which he was accused of breaking promises, to come forward and say what he had not done that he had promised. There might have been small matters that had escaped his recollection, or want of funds had prevented his Executive from consenting thereto, but to the best of his belief and conviction, he had carried out every promise made to the full extent. Eeferring to the present system of management of Provincial Government business; he said it was proposed some time since that one of the Executive should be appointed a Member of Goldfields, but after twelvemonths experiment the office was abolished as of little practical use. In bringing down the Provincial Estimates last session, he had made provission for £4OO as payment to a Resident Minister on the Goldfields, but the item was struck out, mainly by the action of the goldfields members themselves. Under the present management of the Goldfields all responsibility rested on the Superintendent, who was to blame if any thing went wrong, and perhaps this system was better than aping the formal ceremonies of more extended systems of government, and deputing such duties to a responsible ministry. He proposed next sessio" to bring in a bill to divide the South-west Goldfields, and perhaps the whole Province, into Districts, each district to be under the management of a Board, say eight or nine persons, and endowed with a certain proportion of the revenue raised in such districts, in fact all that could be spared after payment of the cost of Provincial institutions. He had not yet matured the scheme, and had in fact waited until he had visited the Goldfields and consulted with residents there before deciding on its details. Whether it would pass at the next sitting of the Council or whether it would give satisfaction if it became law, time alone would show. He now intended to speak as to matters more particularly affecting the town of Westport, The most important sub-

ject was the recent coal discoveries at Ngakawhau. He bad since arriving at Westport gone up to see the mine at present opened, and was greatly pleased. It could be worked very cheaply, and would yield an exceedingly large quantity of coal, sufficient for all possible demand for a long time to come; and there would be no difficulty in making a railway from Ngakawhau to "Westport. "When the first discoveries had been made that coal existed at the Ngakawhau, in a workable position, he had at once sent to Dr Hector and had applied to the General Government for a full survey and report thereon. He had suggested, twelve months, ago, the feasibility of a railway being made from the Ngakawhau to the Buller; the former stream being too small for any satisfactory trade therefrom. The only course open to develope the coal trade was the formation of a railway to this town which possessed the advantage of being the only good port on the West Coast of the Island, until goign as far south as Milford Sound. The Government had the means to do the work, as £ 100,000 had been voted for Mount Eochfort railway, which would be amply and perhaps doubly sufficient; and seeing that Mount Eochfort and the Ngakawhau district formed portion of one vast coalfield the Government had all the powers at their command to commence immediate action. He would as soon as he returned to Nelson urge upon the General Government to at once commence the survey and push the work on with every possible expedition. It might be remembered that he had before suggested the further explorations which had resulted in the later coal discoveries on the coast, and had indeed six years ago when in "Westport predicted the magnitude of the discoveries. In the last session of the General Assembly £25,000 had been voted for public works on on the goldfields. Of this only £IS,OOO was available as £7,000 had been expended in excess of a previous vote. Of the £IB,OOO he had recommended £6,000 to be spent on road between the Ahaura and Arnold; £3,000 on road between Ahaura and Amuriri, £3,000 on road from Westport to the Nine-mile Creek, and £6,000 on road from Lyell to the Matitataki. But the General Government had said the £IB,OOO would not do all the work. They wanted to spend £9,000 on the Arnold and Ahaura road, £4,500 from Arnold to Amuri, and the remaining £4,500 between Westport and the Nine-mile Creek. For the latter work instructions had already been given for the survey and the construction would be soon commenced. Upon the question of the removal of the township of Westport to the new site. It would be recollected that last year there had been a discussion thereon, and he had recommended the people to agree to adopt some place that would suit them all. Steps were taken resulting in a petition asking for the removal of the Government buildings, and such petition was laid before the Provincial Council, who in all substantial matters adopted the views therein expressed. The work had since been partly carried out, and the Executive and Provincial Council would, so far as possible, continue to carry out the wish of the inhabitants as expressed in such petition. Of course, since the time the petition had been framed,circumstances had changed; the ravages of sea and river had increased, reducing the township to a state of unexampled difficulty, and it was his anxious wish to relieve them of that difficulty with as little expense and" hardship as possible. In the allotment of sections by Mr Commissioner Sharp, he thought the duty had been performed in an able and impartial manner,and had given general satisfaction. In settling the terms upon which such sections should be held the Provincial Council had determined to withdraw the Colliery Be' serve from the Goldfields and proposed that the same rate of payment heretofore made under Business Licenses, namely £5 per annum, should be continued under lease. But since coming to Westport he had found that owing to the necessity of removal of buildings the inhabitants looked upon the proposed rent of £5 per year for 14 years as far too much, and after fully considering the subject he was now inclined to agree with them ; and he would suggest that instead of asking them to sign leases for 14 years rental at £5 per year, the terms might be £1 per annum for the first two years, £2 10s per annum for the next five years, and £5 per annum for the last seven years, thus making the burthen lightest when difficulties were most pressing. (Applause) "When the Municipal law came into operation in "Westport the reserves in the town would not pass into the hands of the Corporation, with the exception of the Municipal Beserve, which might be handed over at once by the consent of the Provincial Council, which he would seek to obtain, excepting for that portion whereon the Government Buildings are now erected. The Corporation would thus be enabled to at once derive some revenue from that reserve. Then as to the whole Colliery Beserve. It had originally been specially set apart for the development and proper working of the Mount Bochfort coalfield, and had not the town of Westport been laid out essentially as a colliery township on this side of the river, the original township survey would have been probably made on a safer site on the other bank of the river. Hence seeing that the Colliery Beserve was to all intents and proposes a reserve for a special and im-

portant purpose, he had felt some hesitation in deciding whether it should be handed over to the Municipality or not. At last he had come to the conclusion that it might be. Not to be sold or alienated in any way, but to be dealt with precisely as the Provincial Council would deal with other portions of the town; that is the Municipal Council would receive the rents thereon at the rates he bad mentioned, which would at once give the Corporation a certain revenue in addition to the rates to be levied under the powers of the Act itself. And hereafter, when under the scheme suggested the yearly rents became increased, the Corporation might, if they thought the rents too high, diminish them, but that would be a matter for the future consideration of the Corporation, and needed no present comment. (Applause.) His Honob then expressed his willingness to answer any questions or further explain any matters the meeting might wish. Mr Bafferty: The freeholders your Honor. The freeholders that were washed away. His Honob : You refer to their claims for allotment of sections ? It was arranged by the Provincial Council that sections should be given them, and fifty sections were set aside, but it was found that eighty persons were entitled, and therefore it was necessary to wait until the Provincial Council had authorised the setting aside of a sufficient number for all. It would be hardly fair that some should stand out in the cold; nor would it be advisable to cut up the present sections into smaller divisions.

Mr E. J. O'Conor asked if his Honor would favor the establishment of an escort from the Inangahua and the Lyell to Westport. At present merchants and miners alike experienced much inconvenience in sending down valuable parcels. His Honor would be well pleased if all the gold from the Inangahua came to'this port, because at present much of it went to G-reymouth, and the return of revenue became mixed in some measure with the returns from Westland. Respecting an escort from the Lyell, he would consult with the Inspector of police. Perhaps the best plan would be when any amount of gold was ready to send down, to make application for a police escort, which he thought could be obtained. His own impression was that the gold parcels from the Lyell though heavy were few, but he hoped they would increase daily. Mr Raifert* : Could not the fifty sections be given to those at once who could prove the best title ? Mr Sbarp promised us we should have them in six weeks, but six months and more are gone and no sections given. His' Honor: Eighty titles have been established, and it will be better to wait until the Provincial Council meet. I don't know what Mr Sharp promised, but really we have not the power to divide the fifty sections at present. Mr Eraser : Will holders of freeholds from the Maoris participate in the division. His Honor : No ! only those who hold Crown Grants. Mr Eraser : But they hold Crown Grants. His Honor : Yes! but in one case the Maoris got the money from the freeholders, and in the other the Province. Hence those who held sites from the Maoris have no claim on the Province. Their claim should be made on the Native Eeserve Fund. Mr Eraser : But the Commissioner gave us Crown Grants, and they are held from the Governor. His Honor : The Maories got the money and have since received large rents until the sections were swept away. Their money passes through the hands of the Native Commissioner, and he should be consulted. The natives have been benefitted in any case and should be looked to for compensation. The matter has been fully discussed, and the members of the Provincial Council has fully made up their minds on the subject. Mr Eraser : Was it not the fact that the natives got their Crown Grants for work done in laying out this township, and thus the Provin M benefitted by their labor ? 1 His Honor thought not, but that as in other places all along the coast, some of the best patches of land had been granted to them unconditionally, Mr Dunn of Giles Terrace: I want to ask whether there is not an Act in contemplation that will be detrimental to miners, an act whereby a tax of £2 or £3 per head will be levied for the use of water. Miners needed free water to procure gold, and obtaining that could find abundance of ground to work, but a tax on water would be a heavy tax on their industry and would tend to clear the miners out of the country. His Honor : No tax on water waJ proposed, only when the Government expended large sums of money to bring in water races, it was proposed that a rental should be charged in proportion to the cost of such work It must be remembered that no other section of the community got such work done free. Mr Dunn: It will be all right if the Government does the work, but Dot if the miners work is taxed. Mr Braithwaite : Thought tho Superintendent hardly understood what the last speaker referred to. There was an Act proposed last session levying a direct tax oh all water supply, and under which, for instance, a race now in use at the Caledonian, for which the miners paid half-a-crofffl

a year, would under that Act cost them about £ll. Hib Honor : That bill wag thrown out as being entirely unfitted for any practical purpose. Mr Bhaitwaite: Thought it was only shelved and might be brought on again next session. His Honor : No it was thrown out. He thought the first speaker had referred to the Groldfields Water Supply Act. Mr Bbaithwaite: Are you in favor of a further reduction of the gold duty ? His Honor : No. I was strongly opposed to the late reduction of sixpence' per ounce. The reduction of the duty makes just so much less money to be spent on the Goldfields, and the miners themselves will ultimately be the greatest sufferers. Mr Dunn • In dividing the Goldfields into districts would the expenditure in each separate -district bear any proportion to the revenue raised therein. His Honor : Exactly. A certain share of the money raised in each district will be expended there by the board of that -district; after providing for Warden's Court, Hospital, and other Provincial expenses. iFor instance, if one-fourth of the total revenue was decided on—lf one district raised £SOOO revenue and another *only £IOOO, one would obtain one-fourth of £SOOO and the other one.fourth of £IOOO. Mr I\ 'Courtney : Why should you' propose to spend £6OOO in the vicinity ■of Nelson, when the General Government has decided to spend a larger amount between Beefton and the Grey. His Honor : The nearest point to Nelson at which I had proposed to spend any portion of the money voted for public works is on the upper portion of the Buller Galley. If you call that near to Nelson. Mr Coubtnet ; What will be done as regards the claim -of the Buller Towing Track Company'for compensation. His Honor : I should be glad to see the Towing Track free. The company are to make a -proposition for giving up their present rights upon receiving payment in land, to which I shall willingly concede, provided they are reasonable in their demands. Mr E. J. O'Conor : Would beg to make a few brief remarks before proposing a vote of thanks. He did not agree with His Honor in his Views on the gold duty, nor with his proposal as to dealing with the holders of Crown Lands upon the Native Beserve. He thought it manifestly unfair to propose to give compensation to those who at any time had paid, however small amounts, into the Provincial Ex•chequr, and withhold it from others who, not paying anything thereto, had suffered equal losses, and had .equally good rights to claim compensation from the Provincial Government. On •other points he agreed with His Honor, and was thankful for his clear and explicit explanations. It was a great relief to his mind to find that His Honor did not persist in his expressed intention to heavily tax section holders in that part of the bush which Hiß Honor was pleased to call the New Township. He thought the proposal made for handing over the Colliery Beserve to the Municipal Council, was fair and equitable, and would tend to the advancement of the town. He was also thankful to His Honor for his promise to aid in developing the coal trade. He was happy to be able to endorse the statement that His

Honor never made promises to break them. He had personally found that it was'hard at times to prevail or His Honor to make a promise, but the promise once made he kept it to the letter. They had that evening the satisfaction of obtaining several promises from His Honor, which all present would be sorry to see broken. He proposed a formal vote of thanks to the Superintendent. Mr Mtjnbo : While to some extent prepared to endorse the encomiums of the last -speaker, would fail to do his •duty if he did not show that there existed good and sound reasons for the •complaints made from time to time ; against the Superintendent. His Honor bad challenged the Press or any one else to show wherein he had ever failed to redeem his promises; but this was a bit of special pleading. It was not so much a cause for complaint that promises had been broken, t>ut the misfortune had been that his Honor had never promised anything. It WBS pleasßnt to listen to his Honor's agreeable delivery and eloquent flow of words, in fact he, the speaker, had not listened to anything more gratifying for a long time, but in reality his Honor admitted very little personal responsibility in any matter he had referred to. Everything seemed to depend upon the result of consultation with the Executive, the District Engineer, Inspector Shalcrass, or some other authority; and, in point of fact, the promises made by the Superintendent might be, as yet, found difficult of fulfilment, and were rather indicative of a line of policy that might b< adopted if the Executive, and otheri could be prevailed on to consent; rathei than an express determination to act Still he thought the Superintenden would improve on acquaintance, if h< would only-come amongst the Coas people a little oftener, and could bi induced to alter his very bad opinioi of them. He, Mr Munro, would tab the opportunity of stating, as he ha< lately done before, that he saw no us in longer opposing the actions o wishes of toe Superintendent., an<

would advocate, as a sai'o policy, an acquiescence in whatever he said or did, as the only means those who were in a helpless minority on the Coast had .of gaining anything at all from the Kelson Government, au at present constituted. With this qualification, he had much pleasure in seconding the proposed vote of thanks. The motion, on being put, was carried unanimously, and his Honor bowed his acknowledgements amid prolonged applause. A vote, of thanks to the chair, proposed by his Honor, closed the proceedings.