THE SUPERINTENDENCY.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1124, 14 November 1873, Page 2

THE SUPERINTENDENCY.

MR O'CONOR'S MEETING. Immediately after the arrival of the Kennedy on Tuesday, with his Honor the Superintendent and Mr O'Conor on board, the latter caused public notification to bo made that he would address the electors at the Masonic Hall at 8 p.m. At that hour the building was crowded. Mr Humphrey having been called to the chair, Mr O'Conor addressed the meeting, speaking for nearly two hours. The subject of his speech had reference to Mr Curtis personally, rather than to general political topics, and will thus bear considerable condensation. Mr O'Conor said that he had come before his Westport friends immediately after arrival because he wished to give Mr Curtis an opportunity of meeting him face to face with the Westport electors. He was very glad to see Mr Curtis present because it would enable him, Mr O'Conor, to state unreservedly what he thought of him as Superintendent, and of his actions as candidate for re-election, even to the extent of statements that would reflect very seriously upon Mr Curtis, not only as Superintendent, but as a gentleman. Recounting the events of his election contest since he had left Nelson, Mr O'Conor said that at every place but Ahaura he had received votes of confidence. At that place the meeting was attended by fifteen persons only, four of whom were government officials, and only eight others electors. At Nelson, having applied for the use of the Provincial Hall, the Superintendent had granted it, but, as it afterwards appeared, then knowing well that the use had been promised for a charitable Bazaar to be held the same night as Mr O'Conor's proposed meeting. Rather than interfere with this arrangement he, Mr O'Conor had advertised to address the electors at Suburban North, but the Examiner paper, in which the advertisement appeared—a paper in which Mr Curtis had a strong interest—was kept back from the subscribers in that district, and conseqently he had but a poor meeting. Referring to the Examiner and Mail papers, Mr O'Conor said the writers therein had descended to the lowest style of abuse and scurrility towards him. At the report of his meeting in Nelson the Examiner had said only 400 persons were present, and the Mail had said 600, but the room was crowded to suffocation, and on measuring the area the next morning it was found that not less than a thousand persons must have been there. And he might tell them also that although attempts were made to confine resolutions to a cordial vote of thanks, that motion was rejected, and he received a most flattering vote of confidence. And attaining that in Nelson he felt more than ever certain of success. At the meeting Mr Curtis had accused him of voting on the tariff question against the interests of the working classes, of seeking to obtain for the goldfields not only all the revenue raised thereon, but also a portion from the settled districts. But these changes he had refuted, and clearly shown that Mr Curtis, as Chief of the Province, had been guilty of jobbery, evasion, and misapplied patronage. (Mr O'Conor then dilated at some length upon the action of Mr Curtis and the Waste Lands Board under his influence, in the matter of coal leases and the "Westport and Ngakawhau Railway, and also the tactics adopted by Mr Curtis in aiding the manager of the Albion Company to work adversely to Westport interests. Statements already made familiar to the public, and not needing present repetition) To show still further what he termed the audacity of Mr Curtis in claiming credit whore no credit was due, he said Mr Curtis had professed himself in favor of loans to the provinces for public works, but what had he really done to aid public works in the province during his seven years of office ? Why, nothing. Even in the House, when the question of Provincial Loans was on the tapis, Mr Curtis at the critical moment, when his presence was needed, had walked out; and in this, as in all other matters affecting the province, had shown his so-called earnestness. Touching on other matters, he said Mr Curtis had represented to tho voters in the settled districts that he, Mr O'Conor, had strove to extend tho miner's franchise simply to swamp tho voters in the settled districts by giving greater power to vagrant hordes of miners on the Coast. Then again

Mr Curtis had said ho, the speaker, was an untried man and influenced only by West Coast proclivities and that if he (Mr O'Conor) was elected, the settled portion of the province would soon become quite as discontented as the £oldaelds had ever been, but he (Mr O'Conor) would ask them how could a Superintendent possibly be dealing justly with one portion of the province if he did not strive to act justly to the whole. He would be glad to hear Mr Curtis express such opinion before the present audience and obtain from those present their honest opinions on this subject. Besides these and other misrepresentations which Mr Curtis had found of no avail, he had stooped to foul abuse, and got a servile press to back him up therein, and charge him, the speaker, with similar accusations. Mr Curtis had amused the people of Nelson by telling a little tale about what happened at the Governor's table where he, Mr O'Conor, and other members of Parliament had been invited. He told them that the Governor had perpetrated a joke against him, Mr O'Conor, on his little failing as to pride of ancestry, but Mr Curtis had forgotten that in relating such gossip at a public meeting, even supposing any foundation existed for it, he had abused hospitality, and insulted the representative of the Queen. Referring to the Foxhill railway he said that his opponent had sought to make political capital out of the objection he had made to money being expended thereon to no good purpose, although his only object and wish had been that such money as the Province could command should be spent profitably for present roads rather than for works only really to be needed in the distant future. Talking of really useful works he would ask the meeting what had been done during Mr Curtis' seven years of office, or what existed to show how the vast sums of money, passing under the control of the Superintendent and his Executive, had been profitably expended. Mr Curtis was fond of flourishing before the public that 500 miles of provincial roads had been made, but where would they find those roads. He remembered travelling once with Mr Curtis, and at length, after passing over the usual miserable tracks and quagmires, they came to a decent bit of metalled road, and gazing on this Mr Curtis referred to it in self—gratulation as one of the works of the Province. Presently they met Mr Fletcher, and Mr O'Conor introduced him to his Honor as the man who had actually made this nice bit of road himself in despair of ever getting the Provincial Government to do it, and Mr Fletcher then and there claimed payment. Then what could be said of the public works in Westport ? Had not money been squandered in erecting wharves and trumpery works begun at the wrong end, and washed away before finished ? Had not the groins put in diverted the course of -the stream, and worked more mischief than ever ? causing to the pro.de of Westport the destruction of their town and the loss of £16,000 worth of property ? Loss that might be laid at the door of the present Superintendent, who had acted against the advice of engineers and men of sense and experience, who had told him that mone7 laid out on imperfect works would only lead to further destruction. Mr Curtis had in this, as in other matters of neglect or mismanagement, a heavy account to render to the people he had well nigh ruined. Then again gross neglect had been shown during his whole administration in not giving any encouragement to permanent settlement. Emigrants just landed in the Colony had been and still were better treated than people in Nelson Province who had struggled against difficulties for years. Those present knew full well the difficulty of getting even an agricultural lease granted. Applicants were bandied about from one official to the other, treated with contempt, referred from the newspaper office to the survey office, and put off month after month until often their little means were exhausted. And why ? Simply because the officials would not do the work they were paid to do, and the Superintendent took no trouble to look after their departments, and contented himself with just pocketing his salary. Mr O'Conor then referred to the Anti-separation petition got up by the Curtis Executive against the goldfields, and also to Mr Curtis' brief tenure of office as member of the General Government, a position which he, Mr O'Conor, said had been given him to get him out of the way to make room for a better man as Superintendent. Mr O'Conor then again referred to the coal lease question, and averred that concessions lately made by Mr Curtis had merely been for the sake of securing a few votes, and although Mr Curtis might now avow himself as a staunch friend of the Westport people in pushing on the construction of the railway they would still have to watch him as one who would if he could postpone action. Not openly, hut by a shrug of the shoulders, by hidden actious, or by the little finesse in which he was so proficient. Leaving these subjects, he, Mr O'Conor, would now tell them what in his opinion a Superintendent ought to do. He should exert himself to become intimately acquainted with every portion of tho Province. To this end he should travel aad trust alone to his own actual knowledge. Acting on that knowledge he should bo able at the end of his term or office to say to the electors, I have nothing to explain to you, nothing to extenuate or plead for, judge me by my actions alone, and if

you approve ro-elect me. A Superintendent should above all things relieve the miners of the trouble thoy are now put to in dancing attendance on officials for the smallest thing concerning the laws ruling their industry. He did not so much blamo Wardens who were not active in their duty for the trouble now given to miners, but he blamed their chief who should keep them up to their work. And with the Executive also he considered the Superintendent should as actively exercise supervision and leave to no subordinate the entire control of any affairs or department of public business. If he, Mr O'Conor, was elected —and he felt very certain that he would be—he would not, as had been said, clear out every public servant, and put in a fresh lot, but he would make a riddance among the present Executive and would take care that every other public servant should be efficient in his duties and honestly earning the money paid him. To the electors he would say that in the coming election of their representatives in the Council they would have to put forth their strongest energies to send in good men to support the Superintendent, whose best efforts without such assistance would be useless. After giving expression to views on the land question, loans for public* works, opening up of coal and goldfields, and other matters of minor importance, all of which Mr O'Conor had freely dilated on in his previous addresses to the electors in Westport and throughout the district, he expressed his willingness to reply to any questions put to him. A venerable looking individual named Peel, better known as the Whaler, wanted to know how Mr O'Conor, if he went in to " borry" money, intended to pay it back again. Mr O'Conor explained, for the particular benefit of the enquirer, the securities he thought the province could weil afford to offer in the shape of land fund, and that source failing, other means would be available. Mr Peel wanted to know what "other means" meant. Mr O'Conor said taxation.

Mr Peel said, Oh ! ah ! taxation ! "Wots the use of talking about land. We aiut got no land. You'll tax us, will yer ? Thereupon some goodhumored chaff arose among the audience, hut no further questions were asked the candidate. Calls were made for " Curtis " but the Superinintendent did not respond, and ultimately Mr Shapter rose and proposed, " That this meeting is of opinion that Mr O'Conor is a fit and proper person to become a Superintendent of the Province." Mr George Clark ssconded the resolution, which was carried amid cheers, aud the meeting then dispersed.

MR. CURTIS'S MEETING

On Wednesday evening, at the Masonic Hall, Mr Curtis addressed a densely crowded meeting of electors Mr Humphrey in the chair. Mr Curtis, who was received with some manifestations of applause, said he had the pleasure of hearing Mr O'Conor on the previous evening, as he had before in Nelson, and the impression produced on his mind was that Mr O,Conor relied more on attacking his opponent than on any claim of his own as qualifying him for the office he aspired to. He would not follow Mr O'Conor's example, but would treat on matters affecting the welfare of the district, of the proviuce, and of the colony—referring primarily to the Mount Rochfort Coalfield, the Ngakawhau Railway, the Westport harbor works, and other matters of importance, and afterwards he might ask the meeting to listen to him while he replied to one or two of the numerous charges hurled at him by Mr O'Conor. As to the Buller coal deposits and projected railway, he would explain first the present state of things and then refer to past transactions. Recently when in Wellington he had been asked by the Government what security would be offered, in terms of the Public Works Act, for interest on the proposed outlay for the railway and Westport harbor works. He had offered for the one the Mount Rochfort coalfields, for the other the colliery reserve at Westport. The latter was accepted, but as regards the former the General Government proposed to make as additional security excessive charges as royalties and rents upon the coal produced, and to this he had strongly objected, considering that such restrictions would deter capitalists from investing their money. For instance they would have to charge one shilling per ton royalty on coal instead of threepence. To this he objected, but knowing the necessity for prompt action he had considered that mere matters of detail should not be obstacles, and he had been in constant correspondence with the Government, and would now read extracts from the telegrams forwarded and received; as follows : 1. " I trust you will not delay proceeding with railway and harbor works pending discussion of comparatively unimportant questions." 2"23 rd Oct., 1873. Minister of Public Works, to Hon. O. Curtis.— If left as you suggest the security which under the Act is intended to be a reality might be rendered valueless. I propose to write to you again to state on what conditions the Government will be prepared to go on with •works. As matters now are in connection with the reserve I consider it inexpedient to do anything." 3. " 24th Oct., 1873. Oswald Curtis to Minister of Public Works.—Rather than you should make the conditions

respecting the management of the Buller reserve a ground for refusing to go on with works to which I attach such great importance. I will agree to those conditions so far as I have legal power to do so, and will urge the Waste Lands Board to do the same. But I wish you to distinctly understand that I do so under protest, both generally on account of the inexpediency of checking an important industry by excessive charges and specially on account of the unfair position in which your conditions would place the Buller Coal-fields, in competitition with those of the Grey, where, in the case of the Greymouth Coal Company, the Colonial Government has pursued a course so entirely the opposite of that you wish to force upon the Pro vincial Government in the case of the Buller, namely, by granting under precisely similar circumstances as to security required, a lease of one thousand acres without any royalty whatever, except under certain almost impossible circumstances, and at a nominal rental of less than five pence per acre, instead of ten shillings per acre, which you wish to impose in the case of the Buller, I trust that nothing will now prevent works being immediately proceeded with."

He then received letters on this and other subjects and forwarded in reply this telegram:— " Nov. 3. O. Curtis to Julius Vogel.— In reply to your letter of the 29th, forwarding the Hon. Mr Richardson's letter of the 29th Oct., I have obtained assent of Waste Lands Board and accept conditions stipulated by Mr Richardson, subject of course to all existing engagements namely, Ist. Two pence per ton per mile carriage on all coals exported, being rent and royalty combined. 2nd. That after survey and division into sections, each section to be offered by auction or public tender with such conditions as to to rent, royalty, &c, as Colonial Government may approve. At the same time I trust the Government will not persist in what appears to me the excessive charges they propose for rent and royalty, and the consequent discouragement to a most important industry, and I renew my protest against the extremely unfair position in which 1 consider they will theieby place the Buller Coal Pield in competition with that of the Grey. 1 again express my earnest hope that the Government will now immediately proceed with the construction of the railway."

5, " Nov. 4th, 1873. JuliusVogel to Superintendent of Nelson.—Buller coal leases. Minister for public works wishes to know whether there are any existing engagements beyond lease granted to Albion Company, and if so, their nature and extent."

6. "Nov. 7th, 1573. Oswald Curtis to Julius Yogel. Tour telegram received in my absence. By consent of Minister of Public Works numerous applications for prospecting licenses were granted on my return from Wellington as Government have already been informed. Tou shall have full particulars by post. On reference to Buller Reserve Administration Acts, Provincial, 1863 and 1866, you will see nature of engagements entered into. No lease has been granted or promised except to Albion Company, and none will be granted until conditions have been submitted for approval of G-eneral Government as arranged. Therefore I conceive there can be no reason for delay in prosecution of works." The correspondence had thus been brought up to the 7th instant, and he might inform them that Mr Dobson,the Provincial and District Engineer had since received instructions to immediately proceed with the survey of the line. So much for the present position ; and now a few words as to the past. In the Provincial Council of 1871 Mr Alexander Reid, then member for the Buller, had proposed that the General Government should be requested to provide out of the loan for public purposes a sum for the construction of the railway. The resolution was passed and forwarded by himself, the speaker, to the Colonial Government, but coupled with an additional request that a proper geological survey should be made so that the best course for the line of railway might be decided on. In the next session of the General Assembly the recommendation was carried out and a bill authorising the expenditure of £75,000 for the railway was passed, and to Mr O'Conor credit was largely due that the recommendation was carried into effect. Then followed, not exactly the discovery of the Ngakawhau, but the real proof of its value, and in the Provincial Council he, the speaker, and the Provincial Secretary moved resolutions expressly devised to promote the opening up of that portion of the coalfield (Mr Curtis here read extracts from reports of proceedings in Provincial Council, 1572-73). About that time the Westport Coal and Railway Committee was appointed, and that body came to a decision that no further rights ought to be granted on the coalfield pending action by the Colonial Government in constructing the railway. This he considered an unwise step, seeing that coal was scarce, capital plentiful, and every chance offering of getting the coalfields worked advantageously. It was true that until the railway was made not much coal could be brought to market, but the preliminary work to do would take some time, and although it had been said that the railway could be made in 9 months, he for one did not expect this to prove a fact, and even supposing it effected, then there would be much to do still in making connecting lines with the various mines, which would cost perhaps half as much as the base line

from Westport to Ngakawhau. Considering all these things and that it would be a long time before any company got into working order, he felt surprised at the tenor of the telegram received from the Westport Committee, but in deference to the wish of the Committee no further rights were granted from that moment. But to his surprise three days only after that resolution was telegraphed he received a letter from Mr o'Conor, who had suggested the resolution to the Committee for adoption, applying on behalf of himself and Spence Brothers, of Melbourne, for large rights in the Mount Rochfort Coalfield. The application he would read to them

" Westport, March 31st, 1873. Presuming upon the supposition that the Provincial Government are desirous to enlist private enterprise for the construction of railways and other works necessary for the development of the mineral wealth of the province, we, the undersigned, beg to submit to your Honor's consideration that we are prepared to undertake to lay down a line of rail to connect Westport with the Mount Rochfort coalfields if the Provincial Government will concede to us a sufficient area of the coalfield to ensure us in the possession of an adequate supply of the mineral from the most advantageously situated portions of the field. A free site for the line, offices,

wharves,&c, required for the purpose of trade, and such bonus in land as may be agreed upon. Should your Honor desire further to negociate with us upon the basis submitted we have only to assure your Honor that we will have great pleasure in affording a material guarantee as to the bona fide nature of this proposal. We may also assure your Honor that should the work be entrusted to our hands it will be commenced immediately and vigorously proceeded with, in a manner that will conduce greatly to the advancement of the Nelson Province. We have not stated the extent of bonus as probably that may be affected by terms which your Honor might think proper to impose.—(Signed) Spence Bros & Co, E. J. O'Conor & Co."

That application in face of the resolution of the Westport Committee was put aside for future consideration, but when Mr O'Conor came up to Nelson he, the speaker, asked him what bonus he expected, and he, Mr O'Conor, mentioned the following terms which were taken down in writing, namely, 20,000 acres of land and the whole coalfield reserve to be held for selection of three blocks by applicants for two years such blocks to contain in all not more than 1280 acres. And to this proposal Mr O'Conor pressed for a written reply, presumedly to submit to his intending partners. It was given thus : " Bth May, 1873, I have the honor, in reply to your letter of the 31st March last, to inform you that pending the decision of the General Government as to the construction of the line from the Colonial Funds the Provincial Government is not in a position to give any. definite answer to your proposal. In the meantime the Government would be glad if you would supply the following information:—The area and position of the coalfield required. The extent and position of the land required as bonus. Alfred Greenfield, Provincial Secretary "

To this Mr O'Conor replied, under date May 9th :

" The area of coalfield required by us would be about 2000 acres in five or more blocks, having frontage accessible from the proposed line of railway along the coast between the rivers Buller and MokihinuL The extent of land required for bonus would be about 20,000 acres, to be selected by us from the waste lands of the province situated within the Nelson South-west Goldfields and Valleys of the Grey, Inangahua, or any other lands not comprised within anypayable goldfield. I will take this opportunity of pointing out to the Government that any unnecessary delays in the matter of our proposals are against the interests of all concerned in the opening of the Mount Rochfort Coalfield.—l have, &c, E. J. O'Conor, for self and Co. and Spence Bros, and Co." Mr O'Conor represented that in this matter he was doing a good service to the province, and that if the General Government could be made to understand that if they did not at once make the railway the people would, thus by pressure the Government would be stirred up to action, but he (Mr Curtis) thought exactly the opposite, and that the Government would have thrown up the undertaking and left the people to the tender mercies of Messrs Spence, O'Conor, and Co., who, having the whole coal country. at their command would have done just what they liked. Afterwards in the Provincial Council Mr O'Conor moved a resolution of a somewhat similar purport, urging that the General Government should at once go on with the work or leave it to private enterprise. This he (the speaker) believed if given effect to would have had the same mischievous influence, and thus he opposed it, and the resolution was rejected. The first persons who really drew attention to the true value of the Mount Rochfort Coalfield was Messrs Field, Chambers, and others, and on their application for a lease at Ngakawhau, he had proposed granting them an area of 400 acres there as a somewhat substantial reward for their enterprise, but Dr. Hector objected, and said 20 or 30 acres would be an ample area to grant to a company. To him (the speaker) this seemed a perfect mockery because 16 acres was the ordinary area granted for quartz-mining, and under many circumstances thirty-two acres.

However, he was adverse to act in op. position to the trusted adviser of the General Governmont, and it was not for a long time after that he got Dr Hector to alter his opinion, and was enabled to grant a larger area. In getting this concession and securing it to the Ngakawhau, or as it was now termed the Albion Company, he considered ho had done a good thing. He thought also that the company were entitled to further concessions to enable them to fulfil the terms of theiv lease, which they would be unable to do unless afforded "help to open up the Ngakawhau river. He had not the slightest doubt that on the completion of the railway every ton of coal from the Albion mine would be carried thereon, but if the company could get it away by any other method equally as cheap he would not be one to place obstacles in their way, and compel them to use the railway. The line would open up very many other coal mines, apart from the Albion Company's property. Mr O'Conor had questioned the statements he, the speaker, had made before the committees in Wellington, but the evidence given Was a general statement. He had said the manager of the Albion Company had told Mm, the speaker, that the company would never use the railway, but his impression was that the company would. The promoters of another company, projected for operations on the top of the plateau, said they intended to use a wire tramway or self-acting incline. His opinion was that if they found that or any other method the best to let them follow it, and not force them to use the. railway. Against this he had and would still continue to protest. Referring to the granting of Walker's application for prospecting license, His Honor ex. plained that the intention of the clause in the Buller Reserves Act, 1873, giving power to the Waste Lands Board to extend licenses for two years, was to allow time for capital to be introduced from Britain, as at the time of the passing of the Act money was scarce in the Colony. The practice of late had been to restrict the time to six months, with j extension to one year under any reason. ' able circumstances. In Walker's case it had been shewn that it was proposed to se>'k capital in Europe, and the longer term was granted. Mr Walker did not go to Europe but to Australia, and there be was unsuccessful, but in Dunedin he obtained the needed association of men of capital, and if they were inclined to take up a lease, he, the speaker, would be delighted to give it to them as furthering the interests of the province, and of Westport particularly, while encouraging private enterprise. With respect to the date of the prospecting license, he explained that although Mr O'Conor had sought to show that something underhanded had been committed, the real fact was that the license had been dated back a month to the date of the original application, simply to avoid giving the license for thirteen months instead of twelve. After such license had been granted to Walker, a . discovery of coal was made at Waimangaroa by M. Organ and others, and it was found that the line on the plan defining the position of Walker's prospecting area included this newly discovered ground, whereupon Walker was immediately informed that no lease would be granted him on that particular area, and since then a prospecting license including the Waimangaroa seam had been granted to Organ and M'Leod. Proceeding to ansNver two or three charges brought against him on the previous evening by Mr O'Conor, His Honor said that with reference to the trick Mr O'Conor had told them he played him in reference to the use of the Provincial Hall in Nelsc.,-' the statement Mr O'Conor made was untrue. He (the speaker) had never promised the Hall to any one but Mr O'Conor for use on the Monday, and no one else had ever applied for it. The people getting up a bazaar had asked for its use on the Tuesday and Wednesday, and knowing this he had, when Mr O'Conor asked for it for Monday, also granted his request. The fact was, as appeared afterwards, the people getting up the bazaar wanted to make their preparations on Monday, but had neglected or forgotten to ask permission, and hence the misunderstanding. He appealed to the common sense of the meeting to judge whether he, as Mr O'Conor's rival, would do anything so stupidly suicidal as to give his opponent a cause for such complaint. Referring to the alleged " breach of hospitality," Mr Curtis said he was not present at the dinner referred to, and first heard of the little joke from Mr O'Conor himself. As to the accusation said to have been made by him against Mr O'Conor of voting for the increase of Customs Tariff, Mr Curtis denied having ever said anything of the kind. What he said was that the Government had made a great increase in the customs dues, and that when a motion was made to lessen it Mr O'Conor had voted against such motion, and thus against the interest of his constituents, as the tariff had increased the tax on necessaries of« life more than on luxuries. Mr O'Conor had attacked his administration, accused him of malexpenditure of revenues, and asked what there was to show for all the monies that had passed through the provincial exchequer. He (the speaker) would remind them that the expenditure of public revenues was similar in rcsulls to the expenditure of privale incomes. Let any individual look back for a series of years, and recall what he had received and how it had been expended, and he would soon be convinced of the little remaining to him in proportion to his outlay. The provincial revenues had been spent in providing for what

might be termed the domestic requirements of the public, departmental ■expenses, gaols, hospitals, lunatic asylums, &c, &e. Then as to public works, his administration had aimed at opening up the country by tracks rather than making small patches of macadamised roads in the neighborhood of towns, the object being to enable miners to obtain their provisions reasonably and prospect the country. (Loud cries of oh! oh! and expression of dissent.) In Nelson Mr

"O'Conor had attacked the appointments made to public offices, and charged him with favoritism to hangers on and family connections. The people who heard him would insist upon names being given, and after wme hesitation Mr O'Conor mentioned two of the "Wardens, Mr "Whitefoord and Dr Giles, as being the leading offenders. He (the speaker) could •only say that be had not seen Mr Whitefoord half a dozen times and had never even -spoken to Dr Giles previous to their appointments, 'which were made solely on the reputation of those gentlemen for ability. Mr Grove, at the Lyell. had

told the-electors, according to'the Lyell Argus, that one family, consisting of three brothers, three brothers-in-law, and a nephew to a -brother-in-law were in receipt of pay amounting to £I4OO per year, for doing nothing Tiseful, but this interesting family -circle of brothers, brothers-in-law, and nephew to brothers-an-law, were all 'myths. Other similar -'charges had been

made, but he defied anyone to

point out a single case of favoritism, or the appointment of any public servants except such men as were most fit for the places assigned to them. The charge made by Mr O'Conor as to a

grant to Mr Akersten of a site for a

patent slip at a pepper corn-rent was also absurd. The Government were

only too glad in the interest of the Province to thus get people to do work for the public benefit which the provincial 'revenues could not provide for. Mr

O'Conor had not favored the Coast j electors with a very explicit declaration i. of his policy, but in Nelson he had said he did not think a Superintendent need have any policy at all, but should consult with bis Executive and act on their suggestions. He, the speaker, held a 'different 'view. If a candidate had no policy why should'he come forward for election? The Superintendent was not •a nominee but elected by the people on the ground'of a declared policy, which ■should'be accepted as a criterion of his fitness for dfiice. Mr O'Conor's policy was one of attack on his opponent, and •definingnothing beyond that. Referring to his action on the question of vote for road in the Lyell and Buller districts,

Mr Curtis said that he had endeavored 'to obtain the expenditure of money in

the direction Mr O'Conor had con.-

'derailed, because he thought as<£l2o,ooo 'was voted to be spent in the neighborhood of Westport for railway and harbor purposes, the loan for road purposes should not be exclusively spent for the benefit of one part alone of the province, '(Then -as to the charge of wishing to get a road by his own property at the Matakitaki, he must tell them that his property there was some seven acres of land, situated at Hampden, a township : at present only existing on paper, and to that extent he was content to plead guilty to Mr O'Conor's insinuation. As to the anti-separation petition,Mr Curtis ■reminded the meeting that his opposition fliad not not -been" so much against •separation as against annexation to Westlacd, a County then, as now, insolvent, and that in taking steps to

counteract the -mischievous intention of

•so called separationists, he considered he , had prevented an evil being inflicted not alone on the Nelson settled districts but

more especially on the goldfields. In ■conclusion 'he assured the meeting that ;if re-elected he Should endeavor, as he always had before, to administer the

affairs of the province without fear or favor, without attempting to advance tthe interest of any one part, •of the .province to the detriment •of another, but in all things respecting the general interests. As 10 the oft repeated assertions that he had Tiiade frequent promises only to break 'them, he repeated the challenge he had made on bis previous visit to Westport •and Charleston, calling on any present to prove the truth of the assertion by 'one single instance. At the conclusion of his address Mr Curtis was heartily applauded by very many present. Ahost of questions was then asked the candidate. The majority of questioners reading their queries categorically from •written documents. Want of space precludes full re'cital. In reply to the questions Mr Curtis said he was a member of the Waste lands Board. Walker's application he believed was accompanied by a sketch of the area applied for, but on that point he was not quite certain, as sometimes a verbal description was taken. He had Teceived a telegram from the Westport committee on the 28th of March. Consideration of applications for prospecting licenses made by Organ and others were postponed in deference to the express wish of the Westport Coal and Railway Committee. Mr O' Conor did bring in a bill for a Provincial Loan, and he, Mr Curtis, opposed it. He opposed also the deduction of gold duty on principle, believing that the miner would be the greatest sufferer, owing to diminishment <rf funds available for works on the goldfields. Did not know why Mr Metcher had been compelled to make a bit of road himself between the Landing Wd Eecfton. Probably like many others he had made a track for his own

and the public convenience, and if he had chosen, might have obtained protection for it. He did not think that bit of road was included in the 500 miles of roads and tracks made under his administration. A private complaint made against constable Meredith bad been referred to Inspector Shallcrass for enquiry, and he had reported that there was not the slightest foundation for the charge. It was not customary to make such reports public but every enquiry, made by parties interested, was always answered. He did not recommend the expenditure of £15,000 on the Ngakawhau harbor. He was one of a committee wlio made enquiries on the subject, and, after hearing evidence, the committee recommended that the money should be spent, and as two members of the Government were on the committee he did not individually object to the expenditure in addition to the money voted for the railway. Afterwards another resolution was proposed that until the £L5,000 had 'been ispent the commencement of the railway works should be suspended. To this he objected, and that second resolution was withdrawn. He had stated what was true, that Mr O'Conor, in advocating the Counties Bill, had desired that the whole of the goldfields revenues /after deduotion for share of cost of G-overnment, &c.) should be expended on the goldfields, and that the goldfields members should still have power in their places in the Provincial Council to vote for the appropriation of •revenues derived from the settled ■districts for general provincial purposes and thus exercise a power beyond that granted to the representatives of the settled districts, and to this he, Mr Curtis, had objected.

Mr Shapter read extracts from a report of Mr Curtis's speech in Nelson, as appearing in the Examiner, as to statements made by the Superintendent in the Council in reference to the County Bill. The exact gist of Mr Shapter's argument the reporter did not catch.

Mr Curtis proceeded to read report of same meeting as appearing in the Evening Mail and differing from that in the Examiner, but loud sounds of disapproval greeted that version. Mr ShapTer, from the body of the Hall, then read volubly long extracts from the Bill, calling on Mr Curtis to define the exact meaning and applieacation of the phrases " general " expenditure and " departmental" expenditure. The explanation as given was not received with approval. Mr Liddie then made some remarks on what he considered defects in the management of public affairsand the conduct of officials, and then more questions were asked. In reply, Mr Curtis said if re-elected he would, in terms of his address, reconstruct the Executive in accordance with the views of the new Provincial Council. He had opposed the Miners Franchise Bill, because he was opposed to special class legislation in any form, and thought miners could if they choose register themselves as electors as easily as any other section of the community. He had opposed the bill called the Mining on Private Property Bill because in point of fact the bill was not to regulate mining on private property, but to take away private property from the lawful owners, if gold should be ever found thereon. He held that the gold should not be locked up, but on the other hand no man should have his property taken away. That was the precise distinction. The bill was a false pretence, and the title even had been altered from *' Mining on Private Property" to " Eesumption of Private Property for Mining." He had not voted against the Ballot Bill, but for it. The dray road from Cobden to Mokihinui was not all included in the 500 miles of road he claimed as having been made by the Provincial Government. If elected he would pledge himself to the Westport community to promote the railway construction, doing in the future as in the past, all that he possibly could to that end. In the beginning of the session he had recommended the expenditure of £50,000 on roads above the Lyell, but the General Government had decided to spend £12,000 between the Lyell and Westport. Mr O'Conor very possibly had some part in bringing about that vote. He (the speaker) was in favor of a trunk road beingmade from Nelson to Westport and Charleston. That was part of the work contemplated by the Bill for the proposed loan of £IIO,OOO. The continuation of the Eeefton road down, wards from Christy's to the Nine Mile would be part of the original plan and would have his support, but the question of which side of the river it should be brought would require and should obtain investigation. The Westport Colliery Reesrve was not now in his control. He had requested the General Government to convey it to the Westport Municipal Corporation. As a matter of law the Waste Lands Board had not yet relinquished control over it, but under the circumstances the Board could not well exercise any power.

Mr Dunk proposed a vote of tbauks, but the proposition was received with mueh noise and confusion.

Mr Shapter proposed as an amendment: — "That while thanking Mr Curtis for his attendance to-night, in the opinion of this meeting the Curtis administration has heen such as to seriously retard and prevent tha development of the resources of the "West Coast G-oldfields, and that his re-elec-tion as Superintendent would be looked on by the mining community as a disaster to the whole of the Province."

Dr Thorpe recommended that as an act of courtesy Mr Duun's proposal should be adopted. The meeting was adverse to this, and Mr Shapter, after defending Mr O'Conor's tactics, and asn * 'ng that in seeking election against one who sou»ht re election, Mr O'Conor was perfectly justified in adopting an "attacking policy" towards his opponent, formally proposed the amendment, which was seconded by Mr E. Suisted.and carried by a show of hands —nearly every hand in the room being held up. After some more talk of no particular importance and much good humored chaff among the electors Mr Curtis proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman, and the meeting dispersed, giving three cheers for Mr O'Conor, which were, however, mingled with some hisses and expressions of contrary opinions.