PUBLIC MEETING.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 933, 15 June 1878, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

Mtt COX'S POLITICAL ADDRESS.

On Thursday evening, soon after 7 o'clock the Courthouse at Hamilton was filled with. Electors anxious to hear the address of Mr A. Cox M.H.R. for Waipa, who had summoned his constituents togethsr m that, part of the district. On Mr Cox entering the hall he was received with cheers and Mr Yialou, the Mayor of Hamilton having been moved into the chair the business of the evening wa3 commenced by Mr A. Cox, who said :

Electors of Waipa, — I am here by invitation,' and although the invitation referred to has proceeded from a small number of the whole of the electors of the district, I very readily answered the call as it has all along been my intention to address you before the coming session. In speaking at some length of ray connexion with the district as its representative I feel that I run some risk of wearying you, and as great a risk of provoking the charge of egotism. But before entering upon ft recital of things done and ray connexion therewith during my career as your representative, allow me to go back a little, to the time indeed when we net m this building I think for the first time, to consider the important question of the day, the abolition of the provinces, that was m 1875, during the session of Parliament. At that meeting the whole question was raised, discussed and as I think satisfactorily disposed of. I took part m that discussion, expressing the opinion that two things to my mind were essential to be done, the Ist, to abolith the provinces ; the 2nd, to set up m their place an organization, a form of loc-^1 government, more elastic, more capable of extension, and less combersome, less pretentious, less political, • and dually m a word loss Parliamentary than the old provincial system. That it was no part of our plan to leave the towns and country district without a local government, but to establish and perpetuate local government throughout the length and breadth of existing provinces. And this view, so far as I was concerned, was not held or expressed by me for the first time on that eccasion. Ten years before, both m and out of Parliament, I many times expressed the same views, and m Parliament, m 18G7, succeeded m getting a bill passed to secure a modified form of local, government to the district that I re- . presented ; getting for it also a very substantial share of provincial revenue, and ,£30,000 of provincial loan to begin life upon. I allude to the district of Timaru, which I had the honour then to represent, But to revert to 1875. Late m that year and m the early part of 1870, a dissolution and. a general election took place. It is well known to the majority of you, that I gained my seat after a hot contest, and it is equally known that my opponent, Mr JVlcMinn, and myself were not at issue, were indeed of one mind, upou the question of abolition, at that time still the great question of the day, and upon that other equally important question, seperatioD of the islands. I believe the main difference between us was that he had what perhaps I would call a sneaking regard for Sir George Grey (why, I know not;, while I nursed the conviction that on both these questions Sir George Grey's views were certainly not ray views. In short, that his policy was to reestablish and strengthen Provincialism and to effect separation of the islands, and the sequel proved that I was right. Well, you know as well as I can tell you that his efforts .n this direction failed. I appeal to those as well as supporters) who were present at some of the meetings taking place all over the district at (hat time, whether what I say m respect to tho views hold hy my self and Mr

McMinn is not wholly accurate. Well the House then nroceeled to the gieit task of establishing a form of local government, and culled it the County system ; under pressure, making it permissive. That County scheme of Government you are ajvare was only partially brought into operation. Here it was adopted, there rejected, and afe this moment the country has local government, and has i. not ; heuce inconvenience and complications without end. A condition of things that cannot be allowed"to go on. Had the country been suffered to consider the adoption o: the County systoiti m a nonpolitical spirit the confusion resulting from its [/iiiti.J adoption would have been avoided but that perhaps was too much to expect, at any rate, fro 'ii the recently vanquished pro vincialists. But all this happened when the present holders 6t office were m opposition. Now wo hear a somewhat different story, we now hear that it is the intention of the present Government to make the adoption of the County system com pulsory, they are. discovering no doubt the inconvenience, ny.j the .impossibility of administering all local matters from Wellington. Well it is a little hard to expect Ministers to be always at their posts at Wellington paying close attention to their departments and the business of the County, while as it would appear, it is absolutely essential that they should be stumping the country from January to June — and so we read that it is the intention of Government to insist that Counties shall everywhere be adopted. Thus far I agree with them, both as to the necessity of establishing local Government on a respectable scale, and of making it compulsory, comprehensive and uniform throughout the country. Whatever men think or say m opposition, depend upon it when the day comes that, fiuds them m office they will be always ready to lighten their duties and lessen their responsibility, and this can be materially done by establishing and extending a well considered system of local government. The battle of the people versus Provincialism would never have resulted as it has, had not outlying districts painfully realised that provincialism was not local government. That so-called form of local government was tried and found wanting. I am not particularly wedded to the present form of county government as established so far. All I ask for m the interest of my constituents, m the interest of the colony is that local Government worthy of name shall be established, m short, shall be made independeafc and as much a reality, though not Parliamentary as the central Government. And I cannot refrain from expressing my conviction that the question, now that the remant of the provincial

party is m power, has a better chance of fair play at the hands of the present opposition than it ever had or would have had by the provincialists m opposition. There is, I believe at this moment a fair prospect of this question being discussed and settled on its merits. Well you will agree with me that the next question of interest is what revenue, if any, these counties are to be endoweci with. That is m the | future. I cannot assist you much m speculating 1 upon what the present Government may do or iucline to but I understand they desire to lay down a principle upon which, revenue shall be distribute.! amongst the local bodies. As I said, twelve months ago, at Te Awamutu, there must bo a uniform system of local government throughout New Zealand, and any Government that hopes to live must rid itself of the responsibility of central administration m purely local matters, and find funds by way of endowment for carrying on local government ; and this brings us to the question of raisiug money and the incidence of taxation. We have heard a good deal of late throughout the colony on the question of the incidence of taxation. A land tax is spoken of as the one tax legitimate m itself, and likely to be productive of revenue. If the revenue of the State demand an increased ievenue, by all menn3 let it be raised. But, can anyone tell me why land that has grown into increased value through circumstances, lapse of time, and settlement around it, should be taxed to the exclusion of other property. Take the case of two men arriving m the colony, each with £1000 m his pocket, the one invests it m land, which only from year to year after a continuing- expenditure, grows into value realizing rent ; and the other invests his .£IOOO m the building- of a house, a residencs or place of business, which at once when it is inhabited realizes a rental, mother words, has an annual value. .Five or ten years after their investment is made poople crowd round the house and the land giving increased value to both. Why should one be taxed and the others not ? Why should one be helped to make a foitune and the others not. Aland tax exclusively is a one-sided an angernent. If we are to nave a tax for general purposes let it bs a property tax affecting 1 every description of property— but do you quite realise what a land oj property tax means — it means that m addition to the rales for local expenditure (making of roads m a newly formed district for instance,) now raised, you are to be called upon for an additional contribution to the funds of the colony for general expenditure. Pcrf'.-ctb' understand wlvxl this pra-

position involves, and to enable you to do so, sit down and consider it soberly and noli unde r the influence of projodioe, political feeling, or partisanship. The law laid down by such agitato ra would appear ti > be that it may ha a legitiriite operation to invest your money m Bank shares, to lend k to a colony to prosecute public works, to lend it to individuals to carry on business, such as yours, for insfance, Mr Chairman ; but to invest it m land, and spend Urge sums m reclaiming that land from a state of barren nature is indued an objectionable operation, and oaghb to bo pub down. I say this would appear to be their view ; but they are not consistent, ibr, m the height of their folly and vindicoiveuess they hold that capital under any form and circumstances is an unmixed evil and the natural enemy of labour and working men. J.Tave you ever stopped to ask yourself who are labouring men and who are not ? My impression is, that all colonists are more or le^s labourers. That roughly divided they may beclassih'cd thus, the men who labour with their hands, earning their living thereby, and enjoying the pure air of Heaven ; and the men, the larger part of whose time is spent m using their brains shut up m houses planning, and contriving to make money. If I might with propriety say one word more on this subject of capital I m its relation to labour, I would say, neither is independent of the other. You can do absolutely nothing without labour, comparatively little without capital — they are as closely bound together, or ought to be, m the minds of men as man and- wife — their connection is as complete, as natural, as productive m the main of beneficial results as proceds from that holy institution. You will have felt that so far I hare not referred at any g*eat length to what took place from clay to day, and from hour to hour m connection with the decline and fall of the late rise, and progress, and finally, the formation of the present Government. That is, indeed an oft told tale, only to be made interesting by disclosing what took place, not intended at the time for the public ear I I don't hesitate, however, to say this much, this being the result of my own persanal experience, that it often happens that a good deal ot pressure has to be put upon individual men to get them to accept office. I don't blame such. That sort of work has got to be Hone by some one. As an outsider, as oue fitted neither by instinct, education, nor experience for such a position, I feel very much inclined to thank those who undertake the hard task of pleasing all men. Respect the office, respect if you can the holders of the office, as you ought to, whatever your opinions, if they areiconsistent m their policy, and strive to realise that they are not simply the representatives of a section of the community, but owe a duty to the whole colony. My support to the late Government is a matter of history. I went to the House prepared to support any Government showing rm houest desire to give effect to abolition. — taking their stand on anti-separation, and having at heart the establishment of local government as Avell as a strong central government. These three questions the defeated provincialists turned their backs upon, but two of these questions are now disposed of. Time will show whether the present Government will fairly deal with the third, they would certainly have my support m doing so, but my support is no longer of value, m as much as I have already foi warded my resignation to Mr Speaker — and the one reason that I had for taking this step was that my health would not admit; of my again attending to the duties of a representative. Of the many questions that were brought before the House, during the two sessions that I had the honor to represent the district, and upon which I voted I am ready to give an acpount if anyone desires the information. I will, however particularise one or two. In respect to the land fund. — You are aware that it was proposed m session 187G to colonialise it, and what the fate of that proposition was — That m the last session 1877 it was m a modified form proposed and carried, and is now the law of the land. To the taking of it outright I was opposed, and would be still. To take it for general purposes, less 20 per cent, as proposed and carried, for local expenditure, I w.is quite willing, and although absent from Wellington owing to ill health, 1 did not leave until I had secured a pair on the queatiori. In connexion with this motion I have been misrepresented- When last year I addressed my constituents at Te AAVarnutu, I went very fully into this question, promising to vote for taking the — land revenue, if a part of the proposition was to localiß 3 a. percentage, and I kept nry promise. In respect to the education question, how to solve the preb'em ot universal and compulsory education without offending the various sections of Christians, and others professing no religion, is indeed, and ever has been one of those questions that pu^le Statesmen. What the late Government did, or attempted to do, found no favour m the House. All that they proposed to do m any way relating to ro'igion was to opfui school daily with the reading of the Lord's Prayer and of a chapter m the Bible, children, whose parents o^j-ctcd, not 1.0-

--ing required to attend the reading What tho present Government intend proposing, as a permment arrangement, I know; not, as I said m my canvass, ibis tho duty of the Government 'to ' educate all its people ; tliat.it is itnpossibo to establish »ny thing short of a general system; that no system of education is complete want ing: m the reljgious element, and tint, therefoifc a government is bound to afford facilities to the.representatives of all denominations of religion, to manipulate its little flock at suitable times and seasons. The position seems te be that Christians or those professing Christianity are either uawilling or unable to educate their children. The: State then steps m and undertakes the performance of this duty, and as those professing religion ; ! c an no L agree as to the nature or extent of the religion to be taught m schools, the State declines to arbitrage between tlicrf).. I would make education free and compulsory. ' All children should bo required to a fiend some school, government or private. Those among you who have had an opportunity of reading the published reports 6f the debates, will have gathered frprn the perusal the fact that there was much talk during the session of economy m general, and of econo my. m particular m regard, to certain services and administration. I confess I have never baen very sanguine m respect to great savings at the hands of the Government, simply because I never yet saw the thing done. An opposition isever ready to show how a saving is to be effected m current expenditure, but somehow when an opposition is translate 1 or transformed into a Government, we witness or realise no considerable saving, the pity. ■ A3 to enlarging the franchise and readjusting representation generally, all 1 have to say is, that I am opposed to universal suffrage, pure and simple, as proposed by the Premier, but not disincl;ned to accept the so-called authoritative statement of Mr Ballance, which is certainly very far from befng universal suffrage,involving as it does registration and residence from one to two years. If, by the w&y, women are to have votes, I fancy bachelors will fare badly, for suppose none would dream of asserting that a bachelor, whatever his political views, would or should be placed on a par with married men m the estimation of the wiser or, as some have the folly to call them, the softer sex. And now to refer to the Land Bill, about which you have already and recently heard so much. It was first introduced b/ the late Government during tke last few days of the session of 1876, and was thrown out, I believe, by a majority of one or two; I did not vote on the occasion. It was again introduced by the late Government last session, m 1877, and was still on the Order Paper when the piesent Government came into office. They, the present Go/ernmant, having no measures of their own relating to the allimportant question, adopted it, and adapted it to some extent to suit their views. The main alteration made m it related to the general adoption of what is called the homestead system, and a proposal to add somewhat to the rent of the Canterbury runs. I was absent when the House disposed of the question, and did vottt not upon it. I had paired with a prominent member of the then Governinentpart\-, who would probably have voted against tie Canterbury provisions of the Bill, as passed, had he been]present ; as I certainly would have voted* for them had I been present. Our pair was up-m upon Government quesitions. If this was a Government question, then it was, to say the least of it. somewhat singular that the man, who it may be said, formed the Grey Government and was indeed a member of it, voted m favour of the so-called objecfcional clauses m the Bill against his own colleagues. Let me say a few more words as to the history of this measure. It was prepared as I have said, by the late Government, referred as all such Bills have to be, to what is called, the Waste Lands Committee, made up of representatives of all sections of the House. They recommended that it should pass m the form that has become law. The present Government alopted the Bill, agreeing apparently m its principle and m all its provisions, except those specified. Finally, both Houses passed the Bill, and as a matter of course it was assented to. One thing is quite certain, this Bill would have never became law, had not some such measure been urgently needed m tin interest of most provincial districts of the colony. It is m addition a Consolidation Act. It ropoals fifty-six other Acts and ordinances relating to the waste lands of the Crown, passed from timo to time by the Assembly and the various Provincial Councils, and substitutes this one comprehensive Act (an Act that naturally followed on the abolition of the late proviuces) — incumbent on the late Goverument to propose, and unquestionably adopted by the present Government m the interests of the colony. That I may not incur tho suspicion of having overstaied its importance generally, I will read you .an extract from the spench of tho Premier, Sir George Grey, when introducing it at the very end of t\\e session : — " I cannot but believe that this Bill will, upon the whole, commend itself to honorable members. It provides m a vjry simple and effectual manner for a vary grout difficulty. It provide? a way for tho establishment of one uniform jysfc3tn of Liud sales throughout the entir-j <qla:iy of Now Zealand. Tho various land lawi which have been m existciu-e m tin colony Inn" w-oveda luu l^'iinco to tho vo'untii'.v

imd free immigration to New Zealand from other countries. "We feel that one common system of land laws m the colony ,Avill do moretg promote the prosperity and,s.etttf|itoi£of" ! the colony than most, hondriftte? gentlemen, are aware of. I think e-^ery effort made m that direction is worthjbpf their assistance, and worthy of beingV^rateftjlly received by the inhabitants fof Nesr Zealand as an effort made to^pmojgjitheir welfare. I feel certain, Rafter Kftyirig given great consideration to the siibject, that no simpler means of beginning a system cf that kind can be' devised than the Bill which I hold mmy hand . It is simple m its provisions — it can bo understood by all — it can be •brought into operation without difficulty. I am unable to devise any better system to carry out the object which the Government have m view, and which I believe the great majority of the inhabitants have m view at the present moment. I now move the second reading of the Bill." Again, m the Legislative Council, the representative of the Ministry, Colonel Whitmore, Colonial Secretary, m introducing the Sill, is reported to have said : — " Th 9 Government of which I am a member have opposed some concessions m this Bill to the pastoral tenants' of Canterbury, and I shall take that course here if the question goes .to the vote" (but apparently the question was not divided upon). Colonel Whitmore further stated that the groat feature of the Bill was the extension to the whole colony of the prinplo of the Deferred Payment System. Well, the result as embodied m the Act, after conferences of the Houses and compromises come to, is that the Deferred Payment System, under certain limitations as to price, differing m provincial districts, is_ adopted — m the case of provincial districts generally £1 an acre being tho minimum price ; m the case of Southland and Canterbury £2 per acre, and at this moment all the land contained m those districts may be sold at an advance of fifty per cent, upon the ordinary price under free selection, if the Government of the day so determine, and "purely pastoral land " so classified — if classification be ever effected as promised by the Government — after 1882 may be put up for sale, on the deferred payment system, m blocks from 500 to 0000 acres at £100 an acre. What a Minister has thought fit to do m respect to this Land Bill, m its last stage towards completion, m trying to prevent its becoming law, may be attempted at any time by any succeeding Minister if you and the rest of the colony give your sanction to such a step. The question for you to consider is whether the country is to be ruled constitutionally or by appeals to popular passion and prejudice? Anyone who would like to study that Bill shall have an opportunity if he come to me. I hold it m my hands. It provides not only for the licensing, leasing, and disposing of Crown Lands m the Province ,of Canterbury, as some of you may m your innocence have believed, but was a general measure regulating the leasing and disposal of Crown lands m every provincial district of New Zealand. Yes, ib provided for the leasing of lands m Auckland. You would have hardly thought that it empowered the Auckland Waste Lands Board to lease pastoral Crown lands for a term of twenty-one years, oidy limiting the area of a run to 10,000 acres. If the giving these Canterbury license-holders a license for ten yeai's— the whole of the land meanwhile being open to purchase under free selection —be an iniquitous arrangement and an obstacle to settlement, what have you got to say of the power vestel m the Waste Lands Board of Auckland : to give you and your neighbours a - twenty-one years' lease ? The inferiority of what is called third-slass land m Auckland, does not affect tho que.s- --| tion ; the better the land, the less chance a man has of continuing to hold it. Again, take the case of Nelson : Absolute power is given to the Waste Lands Board to arrange with licenses as to terms and duration of lease. Also, let us take the case of Otasfo : You have heard nothing of Ofcago and monopolist run-holders m that provincial district. That is perhaps remarkable. Aye! but we must not forget that this Government was formed by an Otago man. In the case of Otago, where land is taken out of a run and put into hundreds, and thenceforth is declared open for sale, we find well, what do we find ? You will never guess ! Why nothing short of this: that the dispossed run-holder is to be compensated for the land taken for sale and settlement to the tune of 2s 6d per acre for all that he is made to give up. But a word more about Otago and its land regulations. . I hold m my hand a very interesting statistical paper showing the term of lease of run-holders m that provincial district. I observe that .there is no higher term than 17 years, and none lower than 10 years; The longest of these leases would, appeur to terminate m 1884, and meanwhile, as I have already said, if the country should want for salo and settlement any portion contained m the lands so leased, it has to pay compere sation to the holder. Again, there is the

Provincial District of Southland. The system under this Act is now, as m Canterbury, free selection at £2 per acre/ Crown lands unsold being meanwhile leased to squatters at 3d per acre. Well say tho average of the country will graze a sheep to two acres, that, m other words, will be 6d a sheep, whereas m Canterbury it is 9d a sheep. Then take the Provincial District of Nelson. This Act empowers tho Board to grant occupation, licenses, and to fix term and rental. No word of injustice done to men, 1 women, and children here. And m addition to all this there are gen«ral provisions as to runs outside of Canterbury and Otago, as is implied m what I have already stated m respect t? Nelson. Such runs are to be limitel to an area capable of carrying 5,000 sheep, four or five acres is perhaps not too much to allow for the grazing of a sheep. Thu3, a man will have, under tMs .arrangement, m tho North Island from 20,000 to 25,000 acres, ar.d as many more blocks of a similar size as ho chooses to tender for or succeeds m getting at public auction — the Board having tho power to detormine the upset pr:c.3 and amount of rent. Outside of Auckland, the Wast 3 Lands Board by this Act have the power to grant lioenses for tho term of ten years, subject to twelve months' notice,' if required and taken for sale. I have already mentioned that, m the case of Auckland, purely pastoral lands may be loused for twenty-one years, and if, when put up to auction, there are no bidders for the run, the upset price may be reduced, and the run again offered to competition. And further, when runs are diminished by tho action of the Board m selling a portion of them, or malting reserve? out of them, they have power given to them to afritc the rent. Hero again we have, as m the case of Otago, the principal of compensation to tho extent of a refunding of rent upon so much of the run as the licensee has been deprived of ; but a ru-i-holder m Canterbury may, by purchase, lose tho Avholo of his run any day m tho year, a,nd yet get no compensation, although hy the law he \s required to pay a years rent m advance. I have known an instance where, during the last eight months or less, a run-holder out of 32,000 acres has lost by purchase 16,000 acres, just half hfs run ; and I have myselt m time past, eight or nine years ago, hold a run containing 40,000 acres, purchased by me from the original licensee, upon which you could not, find -500 acres of Crown lards unsold. Well, if y«u have not heard enough of Grown lands m ovmiciml. nn'X C nterbury m paitioular, I

have— and if I have ot succeeded m making- clear that m the settlement of this question tbe public interest has been cared for^ and that no obstacle exists as to the acquiring of land f»r settlement m that district, I may wonder, but I must confess that I have no more to say on the subject. If, to noire amongst you, I appear to have exhibited undue warmth m dealing with the Canterbury branch of this question, I ask you not to forget that I have lived mnny^years with the Southern people, and have many friends amongst them. lam proud of that fact — proud of their institutions, and.proud of the great results' that a wise, liberal, and patient dealing with this land question from first to last has secured. In their treatment j of the class called "squatters" they have done wisely, regarding them m the early days of the province as useful auxiliaries and as pioneers of settlement. T,hey very properly utilised them, tind m thus acting they have laid the foundation of a prosperity second to none anywhere throughout the colony.* Their system of dealing with the Crown lands, .compared with that of Otago, for instance, has proved the greatest success. They have sold more land, realised more money by its sale, introduced more people into the country, created more freeholds, and have harvested more grain than that m all other provincial districts put together. In Canterbury, the system of disposing of Crown lands has ever been since the day it was constituted a province under the Constitution Act— free selection and immediate possession before survey even. No general statement of measures passed, and subjects discussed by the Legislature of the country, would be complete were not some reference made to the question which of all others is of Seep, aye, of vital interest to us. m Waikato. I allude, of course, to the "Native Question." Now, m .the first place I desire to place on record my opinion, and which so far as I am conscious has ever been my practice, that this question should be put out of the category of party-political questions. I mean that we living m this part of the couutry, at any rate, cannot afford to make it the battle ground of party warfare. This will prepare you for an expression of my entire satisfaction at the remarks made m Parliament by 'the present Native Minister, Mr Sheehan, when making his first statement as a Minister on native affairs. He spoke m a spirit that deserves all praise. He was referring to the Public Works Policy, and the necessity for peace reigarng m the country, and he said : "In saying that lamby no means disposed to overlook the beneficial results of the Immigration and Public Works Policy, I would also say— sinking all party feeling, and forgetting all past differences — that it Would be unfair to deny that to Sir Donald McLean we are largely indebted for the fact that from 1869 up to the present time we have been at peace with the native people. Whatever may have been our differences with him, politically or privately, there can be no doubt that to him and to his policy, and to his determination to avoid a conflict with the native people, we are indebted for the fact that we have not been called upon to encounter the natives, and to borrow money to carry oh. a war.. It has been said that during the S3 five or six years the old policy has been restored, that the law has not been vindicated, and that the natives have been allowed to do as they thought proper,; but I hold that on entering upon the immigration and Public Works policy it would have been an act of suicide to have provoked or sought for a native disturbance- The essence of our being able to borrow money m the English mai'ketwasthe fact that the colony was at peace. Had disturbances occurred about that time, we might have packed up our traps and left districts which are now flourishing 1 and prosperous m possession of the natives ; and when we are reminded of these things — an outrage here, and a murder thtro— l prefer to look at the general results, rather than to say that the perpetrators of these outrages should forthwith be punished, oi ; that reparation at all hazards should be enforced. I look at the general results, and say that the colony must progress, that it is better to allow these acts to pass for a time unpunished, on account of the greater good which is being performed for the colony "—and again, the Native Minister bore testimdny to the value of the services of the late Sir Donald McLean. When speaking m reference to the education of the native people, he said : " Sir, I am again called upon to speak m praise of the gentleman, now deceased, who for several years held the office of Native Minister. The natives are now and have been for some years past taught the English language, and it was. largely owing to his exertions that that system wus introduced, and the working of it had only been prevented from becoming a greater success by the fact that the country had not sufficient funds to expend >t. >flrryiug it out." These utterances are the more remarkable from the circunifltauce of his colleague and chief having a short time previously spoken m quite an opposite spirit. All honor, however, to the man who, seeing good deeds done by a political opponent, has the heart and manliness to make public acknowledgement of it. The Premier, m contradistinction to tho words just quoted, speaking upon the state of native affairs when he took office, asked: "What was the condition of the native question when we took Office ? — people murdered m the neighborhood of towns, the murderers having places of refuge to fly to, and the Government, daring not to speak upon the matter, meekly holding their tongues, imsoners rescued on their way to prison, and the Government powerless throughout tho greater portion of the country." I will not dwell on this painful contrast, only adding, th.it I trust that the men of Waikato, and the public throughout the colony, will show fair play to the individual, whoever ho may bo, who is burdened with tho difficulty of reconciling apparently conflicting interests between the aboriginal owners of the country, and enterprising and bona-fide settlers, consistently with the view now expressed. I will not criticise the policy that has been partially proclaimed during the last few weeks as to giving back unsold lands to King natives. The proper .time to enter upon a criticism of what is proposed will be when the whole story of the negotiations with its results is made public. At present we hunger after particulars and details. For myself, I simprj say I am not yet m a position to judge. One word more m connexion with this subject. A general belief I am aware is entertained that a very large sum is at the present time spent yearly upon the Native Department, a somewhat mistaken one, I think you Will admit when I read you the figures — I have not by me at this moment tho figures for 1877 or 1878— but I have looked up the estimate fqr 1876-7, and I find that the whole sum under "Class VI., Native Department" amounts to £3-1,600 18s 4d, of which the sum of £11,000 is expended m native schools, over £1,000 m Native Lands Court, and some £600. m other ways not belonging to the Native .Department at all, the nett amount of £21,957 Us being the sum expended on the Native Department, and this amount might be further reduced if to its credit were entered a share of tho salaries of certain Resident >'ttgistrates m native districts, whose office is to a large extent necessitated by tho presence of Europeans m the immediate neighborhood of natives. I don't WJ ttwt tilW 'Hi WUVII tflwuw of saving

an appreciable sum m connection with this Department, if we are to do our duty to the natives and Europeans impartially. The opening of the country and increased European settlement amongst them will add to rather than diminish the amount necessary for schools, administration of justice, and police. And as a proof that, the present Government are not going to ignore their responsibility m respect to schools m native districts, you will find m this year's estimates a sum of .£ 1 ,/500 put down for expenditure under that head — namely, for buildings. One word more. I thank those, m the first place, who m the past actively exerted themselves to secure my election ; ■m the second place those who by a respectable majority pt*t me at the head of the poll ; and, finally I thank those of my opponents who have borne with my seeming disregard of their views, or my i inability to adopt them. And I ask those who were opposed to me politically to forget, now that I have done with active politics, any exhibition of temper or bitterness that active political life is only too apt to engender, and that I may m the opinion of some have been guilty of. Mr Chairman, I have done. Allow me to thank you for' your exhibition of patience. Upon Mr Cox resuming his seat, the following resolution, proposed by Mr Kennedy Hill and Beconded by Mr Potter, was carried almost unanimously, one baud being hold up m opposition. (Three cheers were called for Mr Cox,, and heartily given) :— " That this meeting hears with regret that Mr Cox's healih will prevent him from continuing to represent; the district, and that we accord Mm a cordial voto of thaul-s for! the services rendered by him as our representative during the lost . two sessions of Parliaments.''

Mr Cox, m reply, said that as this i3 my last appoarauce before you m jmy capacity as representative, bear with me with me whilst I say a fow words m the interest of whomsoever may come after me, taking upon himself the office that my failing health disables me from any longer performing to my own satisfaction even. Whatever you do, don't aeek to trammel a man entering on Parliamcntaary life. If he be a strong man he will cartainly and rightly resent such an attempt;. If a weak one, promising to please you at all hazards, at all times, and under all circumstances, to secure your present support and his election, he will, when the day ot trial comes, prove himself weak enough to be dragged m any direction that popular caprice, through its representative, may indicate. Thus to tie him up and cripple him, would be about as sensible as to hobble a colt that you had entered and determined to start for the Derby.

Cheers were again given for tne retiring member, .and the meeting separated.