MR J. B. WHYTE AT HAMILTON.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1468, 29 November 1881, Page 2

MR J. B. WHYTE AT HAMILTON.

Mr J. B. Whyte addrensed the electors of Waikato in the Oddfellows' Hall, Hamilton Eist, on Saturday evening last. There were about 200 personii present, and on the raation of Mr W. dimming, C<ipt. Steele took the chair. The chairman said it afforded him muoh pleasure to preside' on that occasion, and asked for a fair and patient hearing for their late member. Mr Whyte who, on corning forward, was received with domonstrations of applause, said more thau two years had -'lapsed since he had had the honor of addressing them in that town. He therefore gladly took tha opportunity to lender them an account of his stewardship, to speak of what had been done, and to glance shortly at tho probabilities of the future. When he last appeared before them in 1879, he was, aa now, acaudtdate for their suffrages. The contest on that occasion, was, as they were also aware, a hardly fought one, but it was fought out in a manly, straightforward fashion, and reflected no discredit on anyone. (Ap plause). He was again before them aN a caudidate, and was again threatened with opposition, and he had little dou'^t that the coming contest, if there should be one, would be fought out in, a similar spirit. His only reason for referring to it was to point out the effect of a measure which was passed last session called the Corrupt Practices Act. That Aot makes it exceedingly dangerous for a candidate to be at all generous to his friends or, his enemies, even to the extent of giving them a glass of beer. Neither could he employ canvassers, or convey voters to the poll. This of course limited the candidate's natural generosity very much, and in tint respect, perhaps, they would not approve of the measure. But then, on the other hand, their geuerosity was not limited in the least ; in other words, while he could not " shout '" for them they were at perfect liberty to "shout" for him as often as they pleased. (Laughter). They could also, if it pleased them, bring voters to the poll in their traps and give them as much as they could eat and drink, provided they did not tell him (the candidate) anything about it or expect him to pay — (laughter), and provided, of course, it was not done to influence a vote. That would be very wicked indeed, and, what was woise, it was penal ; they could be punished for it. Nevertheless, although the candidates would be unable to promote it, he had no doubt the same jollity and good humor would prevail upon this as upon other similar occasions. (Applause). It had become the fashion to say that the last Parliament had done very little, but he was of a different opinion. He thought a very great deal had been done. With their permission, he would touch upon what had been done and would refer to 'vhat they had failed to do. He would also touch upon the probabilities of the future. Many useful measures, it was true, had been burked ; but, on the other hand, many really useful measures had been passed, and much really good work done. He could not pretend to deal with these subjects fully within the limits of one speech,, but he hoped to be able to explain the principal measures and if he failed to make himself clear ho would be happy to answer question-} which might be put to him with the object of elucidating anything which he might have overlooked. In 1879, when he stood before them for election, they would recollect that the main planks in the liberal platform were : Extension of the franchise, triennial parliaments, native lands reform, retrenchment and taxation, • representation upon a population basis, and in local politics the securing, if possible, of a greater share of the public expenditure. All these measures had become accomplished facts with the exception of that affecting native lands legislation. Before proceeding further, he felt bound to congratulate them upon the progress which the district hud made during the past few years. Hamilton had not, perhaps, kept pace with the rest, but he looked forward hopefully to much better days. During the past three years the population of the distiiot had increased 54 per cent., a result greater than any other in the colony except that of the district around Hawera, on the Waimate Pl'iins, where, as they knew, large quantities of Government land had been sold, and a larjre influx of population taken place. He had only just returned from a visit to the Thames Valley and Te Aioha, and he felt sure that in a very few months, or in the course of a year or great progress would be made, both in mining and in agriculture, in that district, in the benefits accruing from which tho whole district would, of course, participate. The fir>t and principal plank of the liberal platform was the extension of the franchise, and now they were possessed of m.inhood suffrage, subject only to the condition that a voter must be resident *>ix months in the distiiot, and 12 months in the colony. The more advanced liberals wished to abolish the property qualification altogether, but he objected to this, and he would tell them why. They would feel it to be a great hardship if they had property, for instance, across ' the river that they would not be allowed to have a voioe in choosing the lepresentative for that district, whoso duty it would be to conserve interests of which they possessed a part. Mr Swanson, who had been a working mau himself, and who was understood to represent the working man, had always stood up for the property qualification, which he regarded as an incentive to get on in the world. In fact, the theory was that anyone having a stake in the district should also have a voice in choosing its representative. This subject of tho frauchise, indirectly led to that of education. Now that the franchise had been extended, it became necessary that every child should be fitted by education to exercise that franchise sensibly and intelligently. There were, of course, reasons much stronger than this in favor of education, but this was one reason. They would infer from this that he was opposed to any tinkering with the present system. He admitted that it was a very costly one, but he preferred to run all risks rather than see any children brought up in ignorance. They should not for the present interfere in education. Regarding triennial parliaments, he had promised in 1879 to support such a measure, and it had become law. He would tell them however, that he did not now look upon it as either a liberal or a good measure. A member has only properly served his apprenticeship when the term is up. As it had been justly said, the firat two years a member devotes to learning his business, and the third year to talking to his constituents The question of legislating for native lands was the most important one for the North Island, and he regretted to say that very little had been done in this direction. A few minor bills dealing with the subject had be<*n passed, but nothing which grappled with the main question, One very important measure was passed, bat unfortunately it did dot receive the Quten's assent. That waa " The NatiTe Lands Court Bill." They knew how difficult it was to go into the market to buy native lands. None bat large speculator could affjrd it, and in this respect tb law required altering tery muob. J$ [

present the natives do nob get full value for their land, because owing to the risks and annoyancesattendant upon purchasing from them under the present system, no one can afford to give the full value. For this reason he hoped and trusted something would be done before he had the honor of again addressiug them. The measure he had referred -to as not having received the Royal assent went a long way to remedy the evils he complained of. Under its provisions the natives could apply to Government to have their land surveyed and put through the Court at the Government expense, thus doing away with the necessity for speculators advancing sums of money to the natives for surrey and Court expenses. For some reason or other, the bill had been refused assent, but that as not the fault of the Government. Mr Bryce, then Native Minister, brought down a measure exiled the Native Lands Sales Bill, the object of which was to make the Waste Lands Boards the medium between buyer and seller. As he had before stated, he believed this was an honest attempt to deal with the difficulty, but it was unworkable. Its effect would practically have been to close the lands up. because the natives would, in his opinion not be likely to avail themselves of it, at all events for some years, nor could they be expected to give up their privilege of choosing their own market. There were certain minor bills passed dealing with frauds prevention, succession, etc , which it was not necessary he should further refer to, but the Government had promised next session to deal with the question in a thorough manner. He sincerely hoped they would, as the question was one of the utmost importance to the North Island. This led him to say a few words regarding the subject of the Government pie-cmptive right. It had been freely said that the policy of the Government in abandoning that right was bad. It, was unnecessary to go into the subject at length, because the question had resolved itself into a choice between two alternatives. In 1879 there remained a certain portion ot the five million loan, and the question arose, should this money be spent in completing the purchase of the native lands then under nogotiation to the total exclusion of public works, or should they abandon the land purchasing and continue the public works policy, carefully distributing the expenditure over the three years during which the colony could not go into the money market? It was plain they could not do both, and he thought they would all agree with him that to have stopped the public works would have been a very great mistake— one that would have had a most disastrous effect upon the colony. (Applause). When, too, it was considered that native land putchase by the Government had never been a success, they must come to the conclusion that of the two evils the lesser had been chosen. It was also open to question whether it was fair to restrict the natives to dealing with one purchaser. At that time the liability for completing native land nurchases was over a million and a quarter, and they had bound themselves not to raise any fresh loans till ISB3. To have devoted what remained of the loan ro buy native lands would, therefore, he repeated, have been most disastrous. He now came to the question of representation upon a population basis, and as this question had agitated the minds of many in the North, who could not understand why he voted for that measure, he wished to clear away some false impressions which had grown up. The difference between the extra voting power given to the South and North was only three and not 17 as they had been led to believe by some people, five additional members being given to the South and two to the North. However, this might be, he knew the popular thing was to vote against the bill, and he knew also that, no matter how he had voted, the bill would have been quite safe. But he liked to do the right thing, and would vote only in the direction, which he believed to be right. (Applause.) Well, it was> admitted that some redistribution was required, owinaf to the pocket boroughs about which so much used to be talked. There were districts in Nelson with a populition of 1500 which were as largely represented in Parliament as districts in Canterbury with a population of 15,000. It was also admitted that a population basis was the proper one, subject, of course, to certain conditions as regarded country districts, narmal boundaries, &c, and upon this basis the bill was as near peifection as it oould well be. So far as he had read, the great cry seemed to be North Island, v. South, but he had tried to regard the question from a colonial point of view, and not as though he stood upon a hill iv Waikato. (Applause ) People were in the habit of saying that the North Island should have as many representatives as the South, and this was all very well when addres-ung 1 a Northern audience, and would no doubt be received with applause, but to hhow the absurdity of it just let the position be reversed. Supposing 1 the North hai over 50 per cent, more European population than the South, and paid over 70 per cent, more to the revenue, what would be said jf the South demanded equal representation ? Where would the justice of such a claim lie ? Would we be at all likely to admit it ? And further ; if the North were to deny to the South what was justly their portion, what claim could the North put forth for justice when their time came rouud ? He strongly deprecated the cry of North v South which had been raiaed. Mr F. A. Whitaker, at Cambridge West, had anticipated him in saying that he did not regard Cook's Straits as a political boundary, and to illustrate clearly what he meant he would point out that there was more community of interest between Melson and the West Coast of the Middle Island and Wellington, than there was between those places and Otago and Canterbury. The West Coast was cut off from the latter by lofty ranges, while Wellington was their distributing- port, and tbeir chief business town. If the colony ■ftere ever again to be divided into province", the West. Coast of the South Island should certainly form a part of the Wellington province. He had told them that he rep-arded this question from a colonial point of view, but he was willing also to look at it from an Auckland standpoint. Auckland was, in a measure, cut off from the rest of the colony, but it certainly had as muoh, perhaps more community of interest with Otago and Canterbury than with Wellington. Considering this, and considering also that despite the fact that the population of Canterbury exceeded by 14,000 the European population of Auckland, it had only the same number of members, twenty-one, it would be the fault of those who represented the northern province if it did not obtain justice at the hands of Parliament. He might perhaps be asked why were not the Maoris taken into account in settling the basis of representation ? Well, in the first plaoe they tnat pat themselves out of Court in refusing, when pressed and advised by Mr F. A. Whitaker and himself, to forego their special representation and 1 claim as settlers, as it was well known that the House would not consent to increase it ; but even if they had agreed to abandon that, it might well be asked whether in the interests of the Colony their representation ought to, be increased. It was said that they contributed largely towards the customs jeyettue, and 00 should be repre*

sentod ; and so they wore ; but a people who occupiod country practically closed to Europeans, and through which the Queen's writ could not run were not entitled to the full privileges of representation. (Hear, hear). When they became ratepayers and law - abiding subjects, and undertook the burdens of the European colonists, he would support the giving them equal rights, but not till then. (Applause). There wa« another strong reason why he had voted for that bill, and that was the danger of separation. Strange to say, some voted against the bill on the very same grounds. Their reason was that additional voting power given to the South would hasten separation, but he took quite a different view. He believed that nothing would so- surely bring about separation as a refusal to give the South its due" The great majority of the settlers in Otago ami Canterbury, or at any rate their representatives in the House, were not in favor of separation at all, but it could not be doubted that an act of injustice, such as refusing them their due share of representation, would tend very much to change their opinions upon the subject, and, in fact, -would make separationists of them. To prove this he might mention that Mr Macandrew was anxious that something should be done to bring about separation, and when Mr Gisborne moved as an amendment that members should be divided — North Island 45, South Island 46 — the former superintendent of Otago told hisn in the lobbies that he wished it had been carried, because he knew what the effect of such a measure would be. He (the speaker) repeated that if Auckland, with 21 members, could not make itself heard, then the fault lay solely with the members. He now came to the question of the necessity for retrenchment and extra taxation. The Government had effected a saving of no lebs than £300,000 in the departmental expenditure. This, they would admit was a remarkable saving, and the Government deserved the thanks of the whole community. (Hear, hear. The duty which the Government had set themselves was a most disagreeable one. In reply to an attack made upon him in the House, Mr Bryce said he had never spent such a miserable six months as when he was engaged in the work of retrenchment. Half his time was taken up in replying to communications from the sisters and cousins and aunts of those who had been reduced. This retrenchment helped to a certain extent to equalise the expenditure and revenue. But, in addition, the Customs had been raised from tO per cent, to 15 per cent, ad valorem ; heavy duties were put on luxuries such as spirits, wines, tobacco, beer, etc., and with the help of the property tax, the expenditure had been brought within the income. They were indeed able to make a remission in taxation amounting to £20,000 upon articles used in local industries, and on the cheaper kind of clothing consumed chiefly by the poorer classes. The Government had at first proposed to put a tax of 6d per gallon upon beer, and he was himself inclined to support it, but on further consideration he thought the tax too heavy to be borne by one industry, and supported its reduction to 3d, which lie regarded as a fair and just contribution to the revenue. The other tax which assisted them was, as he had said, the piopcitytax. He had given his views upon this tax fully at Cambridge, but as some of them might not have read the published report of his speech on that occasion he would touch upon it again. The taxes proposed as an alternative to the property tax were the land and income taxes — not one but both together. Now that would be manifestly a double tax upon the same thing. The people in the country would pay twice, while the merchants, shop-keepers, and other people in towns would only pay once. It had been said th.it the property tax was a tax upon improvements ; what was the income tax ? People made their income out of their improvements. Again, an income tax would be difficult to levy in the country. Farmers, it was well known, spent nearly all they made upon improvements, and ifc would be necessary, in order to arrive at a fair estimate, to value the properties every year. It was said the property tax was a tax upon industries ; so was the income tax. Let them consider the ca^es of two farmers having equilly good farms, one of whom, by his industry, made an income of £500 a year, while another slothful and inxlolent only made £200. The income tax would make the industrious man pay mere than the lazy one. (Hear, hear.) It was contended fiuther that profpssional men trot off free under the property tax, but this was not the fact. If they spent ihe « hole of their incomes they contributed largely to the revenue through the customs ; if they saved money it w<js invested in property, and came under the operation of the tax. The property tax, it had been advanced, was inquisitorial, but surely an iaoome tax would be much more so. Personally, the tax was altogether againsr his iuterests, but he did not believe it to be right that people should bo allowed to hold large blocks of land unimproved, and in voting for the tax he had carried out his pledges. (Applause ) It was proposed in the session of 1880 to exempt personal effects, but as these were chiefly owned by the rich, he thought the alteration would be quite unfair. He opposed it, and he was glad to say the alteration was not effected. His own opinion was that there should be no exemption at all ; they were altogether opposed to the principle of the tax. It was argued that machinery, for instance, should be exempt ; but if it were to go free, why should cattle and cheep be taxed ? The machinist and the mill owner were just as well able to bear the tax as the strucgling bettler. (Hear, hear). He would be in favor of making: the tax a one with no exemptions, but that no sums under 5s should be collected. No workinsr man who had £120 -worth of property would object to ss. If he understood them aright, they would be proud to pay it. Last year alterations had been made iv the Property Assessment Act, whereby owners of property and stock residing outof the colony were made to pay a fair share. Without drawing odious comparisons, the present Government, who -are supposed to represent the propertied classes, had surely acted in a most liberal manner in extending the franchise to every one, and in also furnishing them with a screw to wind up the propertied classes. Moreover, it was an unsound tax to which only two out of ten of the electors contributed. That was the proportion some time ago, and he believed it was still more unfair at present. New he came to the necessity for their members endeavouring to secure a fairer share of the public expenditure. Considering the shortness of the time— a little over two years — and the financial condition of the colony, he thought they had succeeded very well. He spoke in the plural because he included the member for Waipa, Mr P. A. Whitaker, who, in every way, had helped him to secure what he had obtained for the district. Mr Whitaker was deserving of the hearty thanks of the people of Waikato. (Applause.) He had of ten put fresh life into their member when he was inclined to be despondent. Considerable sums had been voted for the Thames- Waikato Railway, and a vote for the construction of the Cambridge branch had been put upon the Estimates. The last might not appear to them to do the Hamilton portion of the district any good, but he was of opinion that eventually it would. No taw than £0000 bad to»a apo&t, Md

£4000 would be expended upon the Rotorua road, and he hoped to see a coach running upon it before long. He looked upon this as a very important work, as it was the only link needed to establish communication between Auckland and the rest of the North Island. The Taupo road was also being 1 pushed on, *nd only required a few hundred pounds to complete it. A grant of £2000 had also been made for the Tauranga road. Another work, which he had regarded as second only to the opening of the road to Rotorua, was the establishment of road communication with the Thames was being pushed on. He He had so far accomplished this object that the only link remaining to be completed was the bridge over the Waihou at Te Aroha and this the Goverment were about to construct, an engineer having already drawn oat the plans, &o. As they were aware, punts were to be established at Huntley and Churchill; bridges hid been built in various parts of the district, and a number of small grants had been made to road boards and county councils, and when they considered what had been done on the other aide of the river in the Waipa district, they would admit that the Government had done as much as was possible in the financial position of the colony to make up for the injustice which the north had suffered f rum in the past. (Applause). Speaking of borne of the other measures passed he said the Licensing Act, inasmuch as it consolidated 51 other acts, was a good measure. It also introduced the system of local option, which he approved of as only the right of the people. But he was opposed to Mome of the features of the bill, and especially the principle of an elective licensing bench. In practice it would be found very difficult to get respectable men to stand for the position. It was difficult enough to get them under the old system. < t would also cause endless wranghngs in a district 6iich as their own. They would find also th>tt the contest would he between the interested pii'iliCrins and the indifferent public. The foimer having a direct interest would be at pains to put in their men, would spend money over the elections, hire buggies, &c , but who would go to this trouble and expense in. the interests of the public? He thought the principle would bo found not to work well at all. It might be said that the Good Templars would work in the matter, but he was of opinion that the Good Templars and the publicans would often be found working together. At least they would be found to agree in preventing the issue of new licenses, and thereby establish a monopoly which would not be well for the country. (Applause). He did not mean to say that the publicans approved of the Act, but the effect would be what he had pointed out. It had been proposed to maki3 the election of the licensing boards trienni.il, but he opposed this because he thought, the sooner its defects became apparent the better it would be. Regarding the Chinese Immigration Bill, he did not t-ee the neceasity for it, because the number of Chinese in the Colony had de01 eased rather than increased during the last few years. But in deference to others, whose judgment he respected, he voted for the bill. Some of the more enthuMastic wished to make the tax £50 instead of £10, but tins was rojeoted, as it would have shelved the bill because the assent of the Upper House, or Royal assent would not have been fjivtsii to it Auother veiy useful little act was the Patents Act Amendment Act, which would be found to work woll. Ifc was ba-ed on the American model, and very much simplified and cheapened the modo of obtaining pateuts, and would effectually protect a man's brain*. The Railways Construction Act was a measure to aid companies to construct railways. He did not like it at first, and thought it might be abused, but he found it was so hedged round with conditions that it could not possibly do much harm if it did no good. On the whole he looked upon it as a useful measure. Another very excellent measure was the Town Districts Act, which was admirably suited for towns such as theira, hai they not become .so ambitious and gone in for a Corporation aud a Mayor. (Laughter). For Cambridge, Ngaruawahia, and other places similarly situated it would be found to work well. It would give them nearly all the powers without the expensive machinery of a borough. Why he said it would work well in such places as Hamilton and Cambridge was because it would still enable those places to participate in Major Atkinson's scheme of local finance. Over 200 acts had been passed during the last Parliament, so that it could hardly be said they • had done nothing. Amongst those brought down and dropped was one introduced by the Attorney-Genpral entitled the Alienation of Lands Bill — a measure which would prevent land drifting into the hands of a few people, and would do away with entail. The law of entail, as they were aware, was one of the main causes why the land in England was in so few hands. There was another bill dealing with fixtures on leaseholds, giving the lessee power to remove buildings, providing no harm was done to the property, and another to abolish distraint for rent, on the ground that the landlord ought not to have a preference over other creditors. Regarding local self-government, few, he said, had brought down any practicable scheme. it was generally admitted that the subsidy system must be abolished and something substituted for it. Mr Ormond, the most prominent member of what might be termed the Opposition, in opposing Major Atkinson's scheme, complained that there were too many local bodies ; there were harbor boards, municipal councils, domain boards, school boards, highway boards, county councils, and a host of others, and his scheme was to amalgamate them and make one board do the work. But this would not do at all. At present they got different men to take an interest in each particular work for nothing, but if they had to do it all they would have to be paid. They could not afford the time, and it would be necessary to have a short session. In fact, it would be nothing more or less than a return to provincialism. None of the local bodies clashed except perhaps road boards and county councils, and the latter were not needed in this district, The road boards could do all the work, and the counties might be abolished. A bill called The Counties Act Suspension Act, brought down last session, and dropped with many others would have conferred the very necessary power upon counties to hang up the Act. Major Atkinson'H opinion was that what was mainly wanted was a permanent syntem of local finance. He (Major Atkinson) was willing 1 to go the length of giving them additional powers, but thought it was mainly a question of money. The revenue accruing from land should go to be spent on opening up the country. In order to develope this scheme, it was necessary to give it a start out of loan. Under this Hcheme certain roads'would be declared main roads towards which the Local Government Board to be appointed, will give £3 for every £1 raised by rates. This might look like a return to the subsiny system in an aggregate form, but there was this very material difference: Many local bodies in the South levied large rates in order to get the subsidies, in order to find the money and thereby be able to go on in future without any rates at all, but it was not likely they would tax themselves, even for the sake of getting £3 to £1 spent upon unnecessary works. The effect of tiw byobe^a would be, thmiote,

to benefit country districts where roads weifc not made, — such as Waikato and the districts beyond, He then proceeded to indicate the roads in this district which would be declared main roads. It would be manifest to them that such a scheme would confer immense benefits in this district. In addition, the *cneme provided for granting borrowing dxwers to road boards for carrying out district works, though he did not think they would require to avail themselves of that power. Major Atkinson also propoaed to rate Government and native lands, a principle which he approved, because it bore very hard upon, certain districts that they were obliged to make roads through Government and native lands. It was objected that the proposed Local Public Works Board would hare too much patronage in their gift, but the bill 'laid down their duty very clearly, aud they could not take advantage of their position. Another matter which was agitating the public mind at the present time was protection vertut free trade. It was useless to attempt t» argue upon this great question at present. In the present condition of the colony neither policy in its entirety could be carried out. Free trade was not possible until they could do without their customs duties, while to institute a pro* teotive policy would keep many things out of the colony which they could not do without. The only thing to do, therefore, was to foster local industries by means of bonuses, and to take off the customs wherever doing so would have that effect. It was, therefore, quite impossible for a politician to commit himself to either. There were two other matters of great importance to the country. In the first place it was gratifying to reflect upon the altered relations between the king natives and the Europeans. Those who remembered the position two-and-a-half years ago had reason to congratulate themselves. The king was now livinsr at Alexandra, and was actually petitioning the Government for money to make roads and bridges. For this great change they were very much indebted to Major Mair, and it should be the duty of those returned to Parli unent to see that those services were properly recognised. (Applause.) The other matter was the settlement of the West Coast difficulty. It was not all over, certainly, but ifc was in a fair way to be completed, and they might be said to be about starting a new era, and the Government, and especially the Native Minister, deserved the hearty thanks of the colony. In conclusion, Mr Whyte spoke as follows :— Now, Mr Chairman and gentlemen, before sitting down, I wish to say that, as your representative, I have simply endeavoured in the past, as I will in the future, to attend to your interests, and to those of the colony, to the best of my ability. lam one of yourselves, and my interests are identical with yours. I have aimed at no high flights of fancy, but have simply tried to attend to the welfare of the colony and the people in it. My ambition, if I have any, ia to take a humble part in the history of a country which I feel certain has a very great future before it. I also hope to assist in framing measures which will have the effect of making capital and labour work harmoniously together, giving no undue preponderance of power to either. They a« - e naturally a sort of Siamese twins. They are inseparable — the one cannot do without the other. I also hope to assist in extinguishing and keeping down anything like class feeling. There is not the slightest reason for it in a colony like this. Hitherto there has been little of it, and henceforth, I trust, there will be still less. In conclusion, irentlemen, I may say that'if returned I fully expect that at the end of three years I may, perhaps, appear before you not as a candidate for the Waikato seat, but for one of them. If the district progrosses as I think it will, another representation bill will be needed, giving our district another member, and that then, if I still retain your confidence, I may go down to Wellington with a colleague more able, if not more earnest, than myself. (Loud applause.) One or two unimportant questions having been asked and answered, Mr A. Potter rose and said he had much pleasure in proposing a vote of thanks to, and confidence in Mr Whyte. He contrasted the present condition of the district with what it was some years ago, and gave it as his opinion that the district had never been properly represented till now. The motion was seconded by Mr McCarthy, and, on being put to the meeting, was carried unanimously amidst enthusiastic applause. Mr Whyte, in returning thanks, referred to the fact that, whereas when he was returned as their member in 1879 the number of electors on the roll was only 577, it was now over 1100, and consequently if again sent to Parliament he would have the honor of representing a much larger number of the free and independent electors, an honor which he would fully appreciate. (Loud applause. ) A vote of thanks to the chair concluded the business of the meeting.