WAIKAT0 EAST NOMINATION. RETURN OF F WHITAKER, Esq.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 566, 6 January 1876, Page 2

WAIKATO EAST NOMINATION. RETURN OF F WHITAKER, Esq.

Thicbi vu n large gathering of electors yesterdnj when the Returning Officer, W N Searaneke, Esq. opened the proceeding! for nominating candidates to represent Waikato East in the General Assembly. Afierjthe uiual preliminary proceedings had been concluded, P.itnck Leslie, Ksq, moved the nomination of F Whitakcr, Eiq.of Auckland, aa a fit and proper pei son to serve the constituency in the General Assembly It was he said with no ordinary foelings of pleasure that he did so. It was almost superfluous to ipoak of the qualifications of one to well known throughout the whole Colony, as Mr Whitaker, but he would say this that thero was not one there who did not feel that in his iramciuo energy, large ability and undoubted integrity, their intoreiti would bo fully and ablj cared for. Mr Whitaker was no tyro, but for yean had filled the higheit political positions in the Colony. He vrai, too, one of themselves, one "ho held largo possessions in Iho district, lie, Mr Loilie, had been asked by outsiders whether there were no men in the district capablo of representing it. Ho would tako this opportunity of tolling such persons that good men and of a far belter class than the average of members sent by Auckland to Wellington, could be found within the dutrict, but they were nut to conceited as to suppose that they could find one of themselves tho equal of Mr Wbitaker, It was do matter where their representative resided, the question was what figuro would ho culi how would ho aivanco their interests and those of tho Colony from tho floor of the Assembly. Mr Whitaker when thore, ho felt, and ho knew his.brother elector! folt so too, would be an honor to Waikato. Mr Whitaker was not a man to accept the position tied by promieoß and bound by them in mattei s of detail, but in selecting him they wero selecting ono whoio political views and feelings were in unison with their own. The present Government had ft groat clnim on tho support of Wuikato in the 1101130. No reasonable request made by the district had ever been refuted. Let tho settlers look back to a period just six years ago, whon orery adult male was under arms, whon crops wero rotting on the ground, catllo and ibeop straying untended, ruin staring the district in the face. What averted that ruin P What but tho po.icy of that groat and good man tho Dofenco Mimstor — but for that policy Waikato would not now bo the flourishing district it is. All was due to Sir Donald McLean, and may tho day be far distant — continued Mr Leslie — whan W.ukato shall forget the man who made her what she it. Ho had toen & telegram in which local men wero asked to itand in tho " Grey " interest, but if Sir Georgo Grey camo hitniolf to Waikato, and. went round the district on his knees, be did not believe he would gee a vote, No Waikato sottler was such a lunatic as to give him ono. Sir George Grey would snenflce Wuikato to-morrow for one howl of adulation from the mob which flatters him in Auckland, and which he panders to in be dirty a manner. The f blowing telegram, received by Mr llunciman, was then read by the speaker : — " Auckland, 1/1/7 G. Captain Runoiann,— Wi'l you contact Waikato in interest of Sir George Grey's party. ] wish to communicate your leply to Sir George Grey. (Signed) J. M. Shera." Mr Leslie then rpad the opinion of the " Australasian " on Sir George (whi(h we v ill publuh on Saturday ) Personally he (Mr Leslie) bad not known Mr Whitaker longer than a couple of months, and this was only the second time he hid mot him. He need not, therefore, tell them that it was purely on public giounda he now proposed Mr Whitaker &s n. fit and propel person to repiesent them in Paih.ament Captain Kuucimin in a few appropiiate wordi seconded the nomination. No other candidate being forthcoming, tlic Reluming Olliecr declare 1 Mr Wlutake' duly elected, an announcement which was received with loud and geneial cheering. Mr Whitaker 6aid it waß now his duty tn return his thank* to the electors, not only for having returned him, but lor the complimentary manner in which they had done so. During tho last two months the fiold hid been opon but not ono man had boon brought out to oppose him. It was not beoauso attempts to induce the e'ectors to do so had not been made, for, to bis knowledge, some four or five such had boon tried. Such .attempts had, however, failed. Although he had more than once siid, that ho should be quito willing to allow the nomination day to be postponed to give an opportunity of opposing him, no advantago had been taken of tho offer. lie could not but thcroforo heartily thank the electors for the confidence placed in him, and the compliment paid him. Ho thought it was now duo to explain to them his views on the different qmstions which wore at this present timo agitating tho political mind. They were all agroed that the new Parliament would be called upon to diseusi measures of tho utmoat importance to the Colony. The first of these was tho question of Abolition, and ho would refer to tho course he intended t» pursue in res pect to this matter, because ho was now their Oiember and should have to uponk both for himself and them. Thero wero three courses opon for the Colony. He would point theso out, and then ho would indicato that ono which ho intended to follow. Ist, there was tho restoration of l ? ro»inre§ to their former stata. It was easy to do this. They had only to repeal the Abolition Act. If this were done, Superintendents and Provincial Councils would still continue as heretofore. 2ndly, thero was separation. When tho Provincialisti found No 1 impossible, Sir Georgo Grey started the cry of separation. The third course* wm ono Government for tho Colony, ono Legislature, one Executive, ono pur«o (loud cheer#.) The restoration of Provincialism, continued Mr Whi'aker, was out of the question. In the early days of the Colony it wai impossible to govern it from one common centre with Otago six weeks distance from the capital at Auckland, but steam and the telegraph wirci had removed tho=e physic.il diflkmltiei. It was ncccisary then to loraliio Government and this was done by tho establishment of Provincial institution*. Thoy had dono their work in tho past but tho pro^rocs of tho country had rendered them no longer necoitary. Provincialism hsd, indeed, it might have been 6aid, killed itself. Tho mode in which their functions had been exercised by Superintendents, and exeou'ives contributed tabling about its downfall earlier than othfrwito might havo beon. Tho piotemions of tho Superintendents and the diffi 'ulties caused by the clashing of Superintendents and thoir Councils had dingmted peoplo with tho system of responsible Government in the Provinces. Did it not appoar absurd that a population of somo 350,000 should liavo ten legislative auembhes making laws for them The necessity for Provincial institutions had parsed away. Thoy had beon useful in their timo but Suporintondonts thoir councils, 'and executives had outgrown their boots. Thoy might bavo been 11 mriohing institutions to this day bad they confined themselves to their own local functions. Ho could understand that all icnaible men wori> prepared to oppose course No 1. Thon came tho question was it to bo separation or one Govern mont 9 Separation had been a scheme of hit own ton years ago. Ho had taken a great deal of trouble in connection willji it, and had brought it beforo tho ilouio. There wero rcatous then why we thould havo boon better off with separation. Now the times were changed and wo were changed with them. Circuinilanccs were now totally different. Thon lie did his best for separation, but was separation dosirablo now ? It was possiblo to induce the legislature to agree to snpura'inn as an iib-tract question but when it enmo to a matter of detnd tho whole affiur would bro*k clown. Thero wero matters involving tho respective intorostt of North and South to which neit'ior party could bo brought to agree, and at to simply out ting the painter without, a roasonablo adjustment, that would be too much hko two horse-dealers chopping horses turned taU to tail and would not suit u§. In 1536 ho was asked what will you take with separation, and he replied £100,000 a year but efsn tfaoi* term* would not bo satisfactory

to us now. There was, howover another p^infc of view from which it was to bo considered — was it possible? It was not. It was beyond tb« po«-er) of tho Legislature. Thoy must go to the Imperial Parliament for an Act to separate the Colony into two. If it would work, if we would agree on terms, wo could not do it at Wellington. We mast go to the Imperial Parliament and it was exceedingly doubtful if they | would consent. Their policy with regard to the Cape and to Canuda showed that Great Britain was rather in faTour of federation and the aggregation of Colonies, than in Ihe other direction. But with tho Abolition Act on the statute book, how were they to carry on till tlie I.i perlal Government decided the matter? The country wont Teyert back to Provincialism — what thon would it do in tho meantime, nnd it would take two years from now to have the Impenal decision, lucre was but one conrse — that which he had already sketched — one Government in Now Zealand, one Legislative body, one Executive, one puree. Ihe question however arose was the Government to be conducted as now, or were we to hare reformation ? The luttor certainly. We needtd reform in parliament, in finance, and in administration. He would endeavour to see this oarried out. There was gotting to be an excess of members in the House. He believed the number should be reluced to 60. To reduce tho number would be a saving of talk, time and money, at u embers had to be paid. Ho would be prepared to rote for a redistribution of scats every three years and on somes settled basis of population, to save the unseemly •crambliag which disgraced the last few days of the last session. With regard to tho duration of Parliaments he was in favor of reducing tho term from five years to three, and of a much greater extension of the suffrage./! Extending the suffrage was the reverse of encouraging democracy. In England, year after year a concession had been made in this direction, and what was the result — that after ono of the strongest governments that ever existed, that of Mr Gladstone, had appealed to the country, a strong conservative majority wss returned. These were all matters for consi. deration, and if not brought before tho House by others, he would bring them forward. With respect to Finance a reform was needed. They had got deeply into debt and ht> thought it waa not prudent to go deeper. They had a number of financiers — There was Mr Wood on o>jM side.&ndMajor Atkinson on the other, and ahofl of small fry, such as Messrs H. H. Lusk, Ecei and others. '1 heso talk of figures and finance, but he was sure he didn't know what they understood of it. The financial pooition needed to be mado clear and distinct, which at present it was not. Mo3ars Atkinson and Wood might understand something about what they talked, but he was sure the small fry did not. Iheso latter began by assuming postulates which themselves needed demonstration Give me two postulates only, said Mr Whitaker, and I will logically give you either a surplus or » deficit — and this it was on which the small fry based their calculations. We must go at one© iuto this question of finance, see if we <in pay interest and how — or if we can go further That, however, he thought we could not do — and. certainly notif the Provinre3 exist, concurrently with which and their influences there can b* no sound general §y«tein of finance. As to th« administralion of government, reform was needed thore also, and with Aboliiion and starting on a new footing this could be effected. The country could be bettor served for less money. In glancing at tho question of the land fund they had first to consider tho position in which tho matter stood. In all English colonies the waste lands theore ically and practicably belonged to tho Crown. Its right was absoluta. Neither the provinces nor the colony, as such, had any claim. 'Jhe Crown, however, having been otherwise provided for, handed them over to the colony — not to the Provinces or to any locality — out to tho colony. The Crown as first possessor had abandoned and given over the right to them to the colony. And what had the colony done with them ? It had pissed a lot of resoluti ns in respect to them. There was the so called " compact " of 18.jf> proi ldmg that the land fund shou'd become pi ovincial revenue, but one clause of tlut Act expressly declared that if the Imp rial Parliament did not give it its sanction it should bo no more than waste paper. The Impeiial Pail lament had never yet « lV cn this sanctiou, and tho Act of IS.">(} was not worth the parchment it was printed on. The very Act cairi'S with it its own nullification. It was nonsen-a to call a demand to set asirfe this Act a breach of faith. It provined for its own destruction. Ho had not yet had an opportunity to go iuto this question, but he was pn pared to do so on its meats In 1858 an Act was passed appropriating the funds in certain directions, but this Act like any other could havobeenlegally repealed in the next session Thero would have been nothing wrong — nothing illegal in doing so. Ho would yet give the Hou*c the opportunity of so *cting. Referring to the public works schema he thought Auckland had not received its fair share. In 1871 he went 'nto fibres to ascertain this, and had no reason to change his opinion noiv. It was difficult to say where railroads could bo made other than those in hand, but he thought those latter should be pushed along. In Wellington thoy had an Ea*t Coast and & West Co»st line, each feeding the capital city from both coasts. We want our own railway extended to as to tap both coastlines, and get our ahareof what now goes to Wellington. We might not be able to cairy out an cast cast line, but that on the west could bo extended to Taranaki, and open up a magnificent country. The road tr> the Hot Springs from Cambridge was an important one. For himßclf ho did not care to go by Tauranga He would sooner go fifty miles by land than one by sex and there were numbers who thought the same. The native difficulty had stood in tho way, but that no longer existed. The Waikato and Thames railway was another work absolutely needed Sir George Grey had said he could do it in three months. However he differed with Sir George on other point*, on that p^int he would pat him on the bsck. A railway at the bead of the navigation would be of vast benefit both to Waikato and tho Thames, and would be a work of no engineering difficulty. The system of purchase of land from natives had got, he thought, into an unpleasant and unfortunate position. i^, explained the action taken by the Assembly in 1862 and subsequently, and said that it required grave consideration whothcr tho right of preemption should evor bavo been given up by tho Government. It led to confusion and misunderstanding and nothing could bo moro disastrou* than native complications. He should reserve his right to voto on such matters as circumstances might leid him to believe to be tho wisest at the time. With respeot to education he believed in a national scheme paid for from tho consolidated revenue, and without resort to an Education rate. Wo should avoid direct taxation as long as possible. c wanted ppople to romt to the Colony and nothing would keep thorn away 10 much as the dread of tho tax-collector. The education rato was due to Mr Hugh Lusk and would probably lose that gentlrman his eleotion for Franklin (Mr Leslie : Please God it may Tho question would also arise whether the resorves set apirt in parts of tho Colony should not bo all mado applicablo to «uoh system, and be thrown into one common fund. The education imparted should be secular, every facility being given for religious toachmgs by the clergy of various denominations. A groat de»l had been said against tho squatters, but they had ho thought been of great public service. The, twenty -one yoai s tenure would expire in 1880. He would thon look at them as tenants whoso leases had expirod. Tho land thon reverted int~ the hands of the Colony. The Colony had a right to deal with its property as it thought lit. Jte would rehcrve a right to sanction tho course ha thought most beneficial to tho public interests. A great deal of tho lands were not fit for settlement and should bo dealt with as runs. V'hero fit for settlement every provision should be made to secure thoir improvement and cultivation and to keep them opon at any timo to seleotien by bona fid© settlers. Alluding to the position of parties, that for instance of Sir George Grey and tho Government, Mr Whitaker thought that when the Hout* next met they would bo in a poouliar

-•i- Thni)re-ent coltosio of parlies ar>)so ?eador and the man wbo came nearest to crying out the views he had enunciated him he would oltow In oonclu-ion, he would prom.oe them that £,wo?ldbfingalltheie matters ho had alluded SSSSthinoueeoftheHouM. They could w> uo ..„ _ Al . .TftrTtbine dono at once— but S ";„ ude.ir.ble would be »»"•''• «• would le«'t, •» «>"' """ »•" brought b.to. the Hou.e ond wb.u ho camo b.* . « her