THE POLITICAL CRISIS. Meetings Hamelton. THE POLITICAL CRISIS. Meetings Hamelton.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 637, 20 June 1876, Page 3

THE POLITICAL CRISIS. Meetings Hamelton.

'The Town ll. ill E.ust Hamilton was fU'od Hast ni^'lit-, . despite fcl-io -short notice gnor, to ilisciKSS 1b.3 political crisis at Woliiiv;tto'i <md give expression to tho vit'w-, of -settlors ci -the -suVjeco. Mt-T.M t - T. •iS 3elJon, J P, occupied the -chiii 1 , un<l • opened the nu e:ing by rciding the second of tk> Waucato TrMi-s published ton .Saturday. Hj folt gliiil to see &o' .many present, and callod upon the mover - of the first resolntion. Mr R W Hammond, J P, pro} osed the ifirst .resolution as follows : — Jgt — That this meeting is of opinion that the action of the • opposition in shelving the question of Abolition which the House •was elected to settle, is a breach of con. >$dence with the constituencies, and that the ministry should not resign their posirtion except they are defeated upon the .Abolition .measure. i He said the .great question at issue •tlnring '-the late elections was that of Abolition, and that question should have been brought about, before a, trial, of strengtk •oi the kind now before : the House was The present tactics of the •^Opposition were a direct, breach Of con6d- j tence with .the constituencies. The question was not the swamp, (question, but a Ftrial of power,. whether Sir George Grey and his minions should occupy the Gov-' ternment benches, or. Sir Julius Vogel and the present ministry. The present Ministry whatever .faults they had had done! i their part by the .W-aikato- and the* country. « districts. \ We . ought not to allow the object of the- elections, Abolition , or no AboUition, to be set aside by a side wind. He' 1 trnstedi that the, people of Hamilton would ►be unanitnons in showing t their sympathy '■wilh the ministry in i its present crisis. — {(Loud cheers.) r, Mr" W S Graham" M P C, was snrprised, astonished, and deceived by the action of ithe Opposition, which hid caused tho present meeting. Sir G Grey had deceived the whole Province in- his present action. As . n member of the Auckland Provincial i Council he was surprised that he should : not in his first attack have brought forward the question of Abolition, and stuck to it. j "VVuikato would be untrue to itself if it did not pass a unanimous vote of censure on . Sir George Grey. My experience. of two > sessions of Provincial institutions has confij mcd my opinion that .Provincialism should be .abolished. His present action ; has forfeited any confidence I -miglit have t felt in' iSir George Gi ey. Mr McPhci&on asked if there -wa3 any direct communication fiom cither ci the local members. ; The- Chairman .rpplicd: -Not that he iwasawnreof. , The motion was thcu put - and carried' unanimously. Mr Potter in moving lhe next resolution as follows : — " '1 hat in the opinion of the meeting the . occupation i nd improvement of the Piako, Swamp is an univusal benefit to the Wailfjito District and that such occupation find improvement, can only bo effected by a largo Company with capital, the Swamp being totally unfit for settlement by persons with Hnnll means," pa-id that doubtless those, present knew ho was opposed to the alienation of land in large blocks, and that many present shared such opinion with him. But there were occawons when special features of the case rendered' such a course advisable, and desirable in the public interests. This block was not given for political services. -We had eetn blood spilt and money spent for the land wo now stand on. We had seen Sir G Grey contending with his. ministry as to what should be the. confiscated boundary. That which the then ministry wanted was from 'Knuhia to Tauranga. Sir George ""Groy fought, hard to .tho fJauagatawhiri the -boundary. "The ettlement of the Piuko land was a part of the native policy, the placing of European settlement upon a part of the country that vtculd secure the peace of a large district. •It was true that the price' given was- not .a large one, but it had been r the means of establishing the surrounding country by bonaJJfide settlers. The' Co- 1 pnny had cut 20 miles of. a main line ot road through the swamp and cut 100 s miles of dKch-ing. 'They hod spent from £35,000 to £40,000. Before the end of 1879 ,ihey would still have to expend another £100,000. .This i cost i entailed i upon the Company must be taken together •with the first cost of £13,000 as benefitting the public. ■ 'As to Sir Geoyge Grey's talk of putting 1 400 families upon it that was -simply absurd. ' The price- 9s a- day given tby contractors showed families could not Jive there, for the high wage was given bei cause earned, the men. returning after some s month's work, fever worn and sometimes i even broken down. )How . could families, women and children have lived on such a Bwamp. :I3y false assertions Sir .George ■ Grey' has led raw Southern members astray . and so gained a temporary credence to his fallacious statements. Nob«dy without . a large capital could reclaim or opeu such . a swamp. Mr Harris seconded tho resolution which *was carried unanimously. Mr Johns thought tho .Pi.iko Swamp i Com paTiy able to take care of i* self. He thought the Company ought to havo its title, but if there -was anything wronjj . about- tire title it ought to be investigated. lie tlwught that tin 1 investigation would thorn in. a bettor [wsition than ever. Mr Potter proposed that the resolutions ndoptod at this meeting be at once tolopraphad^o the 'Representatives of WaiTkato and Wnipa and to ■ the' Colonial Secrotary. Seconded ty Mr Mr Graham and (Cairied unanimously. A vntA nf ifionLti fr> iho filinii-mjin fpr-