SIR GEORGE GREY AT CHRISTGHURCH. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Christchurch, Wednesday.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1847, 8 May 1884, Page 2

SIR GEORGE GREY AT CHRISTGHURCH. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Christchurch, Wednesday.

The meeting held in Tuam-strcet Hall this evening under the auspices of the Woiking Men's Political Association to hear Sir George Grey's lectuie on political topics, was one of the largest political gatherings held in Christchuroh. The building was densely crammed, over 2,500 persons being present. The Mayer occupied the chair. On the curtain lising and showing Sir George Grey on the platfoi m loud ai.d piolongecl cheeis burst torth, which were renewed when Sir George Grey rose to speak. He .said that for the first time since a memorable election he had the honour of addressing those who then rendered him so great a service. The universal opinion of those who fairly considered the question was that he was tinly and justly the member for Christchurch. (Cheers.) The loss of his seat had not depiivcd him of his place in the Houso, nor had it impaiied his power to do them good. The time would come m hen the record of that transaction would be e.\punged from the records of the House. (Applause). None of the bpeech.es yet delivered on the political situation touched the leal point at issue so as to impress it on all men's minds. The Government in particular had greatly neglected their duty in not laying before the people a full and cleai statement of policy, in order that the people of Canterbury and the working men might understand their real position. He would lead them back to tar distant, times. If they consideied the way in which this district was colonised they would see that at that time the seeds ot many futuie evils had been bown. Before that when groat misery pievailed thioughout England and Europe, and there was a deep sense of the e\ilsof the system of land teinue, people were striving their utmost to emigiate to new lauds. Those evils now greatly augmented and people more than ever 'were pom ing into new countries. Bntit-li scatsnien then took a "fad" to iound colonies like those of Ancient Greece, but tho&i 1 colonies consisted each of only one city with a little land around it, and theie were only two elates freeman and slaves, a lact their statesmen overlooked. The Gieeks weie a veiy religious people, and in point ot all things except justice to slaves., thenreligion was fjood. When Canteibury was, founded the chief men saw that they had not slaves, and so they made laws whereby laboiueis were to continue labouiers for a certain time, in ouler to supply the labour done in Ancient Greece by slaves. This was clone by lixing such i price on land that no poor man could get land for a considerable time, until he could replace himself in the üboui maiket by another slave, whom he hi ought out. When colonibts first came to the Middle Island it was almost depopulated by raids of North Island natives. He was then Governor, and the British Ministry, about IS5°, announced to him that a great opportunity had oliercd for benefiting the British people, that they would get a vote from Pailiameut of CIO, OOO ; this was to be spent in buying a block of land, which was to be cut up and sold and the proceeds applied to buy another block, auything left over bein^ spent on public weiks. This was to bv 1 repeated till the whole island was bought. This money cime horn the people, the Butish ta\payuit, and thoietoie it belonged by ughfc to the people. The null men ot England who believed that they ncic the classes bo>n to rule, dowsed ,i plan for colouring Canteibmy in the inteicsts of their own class, and made the pi ice of land as high, as possible, <so as to keep the labour maiket supplied. They lived the piice at £2 per acie, and then &aiil, "We aie going to found anothti England; with uch and pool ; 'with an established chinch." They made an airiinucment tint no man should buy an acre of land unless lie gave i'l to the chinch. The Cantcrbuty Association got 250,000 acres for the church, and weie able to keep the poor out of the land they cime to seek. The Association having got this advantage, obtained another concession. It was that the Secretary of State might giant any amount of laud in New Zealand to them to be laibed in the &amo way. When he (Sir G. Grey) lieaul jf this, it seemed to him a most dangerous thing, for by it one third of the revenue was to be nppiopnated to support a particular chinch. He nude a dcspeiate lesistance against this, for he thought it wrong to other chinches, and no benefit to that body itself, because the possession ot such vast wealth as would have been obtained would have been suie to lead to mismanagement, and he believed also that that church was in the be^.t position whose priests weie supported mainly through the love they inspired in their people. He was successful, and so no moie land was, granted to the Association, and the grant of the 250,000 acres was stopped by tlie people on tne spot, though that burden was, to a ceitaiu extent, left lesting on the colony to the present time. Leading statesmen and bishops of Englaud supported the Association, and he had to undergo gieat odium in consequence of his action. The friends and lelations of those persons who bought large blocks of land ir the province, naturally thought that they weie the true governors, and for a time, occupied every legislative and executive post. They followed the example of their class in England by legislating for 25 of themselves. Continued possession of power led men to become arrogant, and eventually to secuie for themselvesthe rights and privileges which belonged to the community at large. Unless every pel son had an opportunity of filling any position— even to the highest in that community— so as to lead himself to develop all his powers, that community would be one of a very inferior stamp. One set of men had long hold all the power in New Zealand, and as a consequence they had become somewhat like other men, who had long had all the power in their hands. He saw that the Premier, when addressed as to the rise in railway rates at Christchurch, said that he could not believe that a clutge of a p2iiny a bushel — not equal to 2s Gil per acre — would rain the trade ingrain. It Canterbury people could not bear this in consequence of being mortgaged up to their eyes, and the sooner they cleaied out the better. Was that the way to speak to a person in misfortune ; would they clear out for men who said such things? (No, no.} Banded together in one brotherhood they would make those men clear out. (Cheers.) This tieatment of the Canterbury people showed that tyranny did exist ia this colony, against which it was time to unite. (Applause), The present position was founded on the past ; every labourer prevented from getting his land at once, was prevented from getting a choice of good laud. What was the result of preventing a man from getting hi 3 land till he could raise £3 an acre. Could he go to a Government bank and get an advance on it? but a person of position could do so, and then could sell-the land to the poor, — not for £3 an acre, but at a rate which compelled the latter to mortgage bis property heavily in order to pay the purchase money. The poor man was thus involved ia toils which made him almost 3. slaye, fqr h,e had to borrow money in Qrder to try to get a farm, whioh he would not have had to borrow had land been j sold on a, fair system. This was one great cause of the present trouble in Canterbury. Another consequence flowing from this, the Public Works System, was introduced. It was nob a new thing, as it had been in force on a different plan in South Africa for 18 years. Iv Now Zealand'all Crown lands belonged to the public," and yet the people had not opportunities given them of getting freeholds out of

for comparatively very little. Public works were begun, on which the poor were taught it Mas a blessing to be employed, and which gave an enormous value to contiguous properties. These woiks were done with the people's money, and yet the poor people had to pay as much for them as the rich men had, whose properties were so greatly benefited. The poor men had worked and m.ule the railways and roads, aud got nothing moie than the right to pay a certain sum aunually. Why did they make the increased value of the property which was enhanced by those works a present to the rich owners while they themselves remained poor? If the people asserted their rights they would soon become landholders themselves, but if not they would leinain poor all their lives. In the North Island the people understood that the South was wild with the Ministry because it had rai&ed the railway rates. What did that matter to those who had no produce to be carried on them. If they had a land tax pub on me unearned increment which belonged to themselves, they would have the nso of the railway fur a comparatively small sum, and they would not feul the tax. At the present moment the interest on the loan of 11-j millions was paid annually by the TjOO.OOO people in the colony, just £3 a head paid annually to make other people rich. It seemed to him incredible that a married man should pay £15, for that was what the average amount would be, for such a purpose, the people merely robbing themselves. Let them put in office meu pledged to put this land tax on. (Applause.) The Government talked about the bounteous pay given to the railway servants and police, but if they took away from that pay what each man gave to p,iy the interest on our debt to make otheis lich, this pay would not seem vciy large then. These truths should make them unite to get what they were entitled to. The people of New Zealand would sink into the position of the Engii&h poor fiist and then, because the estates heie were larger and the land better, they would sink deeper and deeper, Mhilethe rulers would increase. The energy and \igour winch should chavaetet ise a dweller in a new country seemed already to have been almost lost by the poor of New Zealand, who permitted such things. People had said to him, " Why don't you go in for nationalisation of the land '" He would answer, Take the unearned ineiement first ; if you wish to nationalise the land afterwards, well and good. He believed it would come to that with a more educated race ; but he behoved also that the desire to possess land to transmit to one's posterity was still stiong in New Zealand. It was said, Why not cut up large estates and nationalise thorn ? But would the people, in addition to the unearned increment, agiee to give the landholder a large sum for their land, and thereby add still fin ther to their own burdens ? Why was a nation to consent to pay a little moie poi year for holding their land than they should do, meiely because they had been wionged in the first instance ? Let them put on a land tax first. (Cheeis.) He had vainly pressed the Government year after year to publish a doomsday book, giving particulars of all the land held by every man in the colony. When that information was made public he would be ready to see if he could work out a scheme for land nationalisation. (Loud cheers ) It was all vei y well for men like himself, who had ha.l no suffering fiom want, to say they could bear povoity, but the question was, How could those who really feel its tenible power do so ? How could anyone realise the suffeiing ho ca.ised to another under the present system. Lut those who agieed with him unite with their ii-llow woikmen throughout New Zealand insist on relief li om the buulens they had no light to bear. (Chcuis.) Let them say that within sit weeks an increase should be made in those burdens, so th.it then -wives and families should not suffer the depiccation they now did. In many lespeets freedom did not e\i a t in this country. Mcmbeis of Parliament hail not their lights at the end of last session ; they ueie not allowed to speak their thoughts, but weic restricted in a manner ne\er befoie hcatd of. A train, fiom the n'ist establishment of ,i New Zealand Parliament to the past session, two days a week were set apart for private members' bills Now, there was. one most obnoxious private member who wished esery man bore to have the same chance of becoming a lawyer as a man had in England, and m othci countiies ; he wished to abolish oaths in couits of justice, so that the truth could be spoken there without an appeal to a deity whose name it was iireveient to use m connection with such mntteis. The piesent Government had taunted their opponents with having stumped the coantiy, but they themselves had since followed their example The Premier, in one of his touis, had come to Clmstchu'ch and told thu people that if they had taxed themselves still more from their earliest yens, they would remove all rear of his friends having to support the poor in their old age. Major Atkinson had come a second time to Christclnuch and had told them really nothing. If there was anything to be got out of the people the Premier would come round again. With regard to the Federation Conference, the New Zealand delegates had made the Governor perform an an unlawful act and appoint them by his own authoiity. The people should have chosen those delegates whose action was to influence the colony for all time. These delegates when met together in Australia had drawn up an enactment about which the people knew nothing, and had sent it home to England with a request for the Home Government to make it law. True, it contained a proviso that this law should not come into force in any colony till assented to by the Legislature of the colony. But there weie men who wished that colon red labour sho'ild be largely introduced. If they doubted it, let them read the recoids of Parliament. Now a great part of Australia could only be cultivated by coloured labour. His experience had shown him that when coloured labour prevailed, the masters got the franchise extended to their labourers and made them vote for them and their measures. Many objectionable laws prevailed in such countries, such as flogging for many offences and a passport system, whereby any man, no matter his colour, was kept under a kind of surveillance. A great falling off in wages would also result from importing coloured labour. Therefore it was most undesirable that this colony should be united with a country -where the whole iace was or might be in a minority. Their cry should be New Zealand for the Europeans. (Loud Chpers.) A groat wrong had been inflicted on the working classes through the native pre-emption. In America and other states the natives were permitted to sell their lands to the Government only. When he was Governor he had formulated a scheme by which it would have been possible for small farms to have been obtained by the natives. Thus had not been accepted, however, and many very wrong things had been clone by persons getting possession of the Maori lands, Many land speculators had taken the right of preemption, to aogiiire large estates, often with the assistance of Government, given unlawfully. His remedy was that the Natives should sell their land through Government in small blocks, and at a fair but not exorbitant price. By this means raluable land unsold in the North Island would pass into the hands of small farmer.'. It should be sold in the open market. After referring to the wretched condition of the poor in the Old Country, he asked, what had' civilisation done for E^igla^d ?. [ What had been d,oqe by the, of taking the* land; from the people for the. benefitrt $ tew IHe held, that there iwas no nobler, obeqt than trying to g*in

fits he had bestowed for the use of all, but which were being used only by a few. Let them therefore unite, not setting settlement against settlement, or island against island, but banding themselves together for what was really a religious duty, the securing for all the blessings they should enjoy, and the removal of those causes which now prevented their obtaining them. In answer to a question as to whether he would follow Mr Montgomery, Sir G. Grey said since he had resigned the leacfership of the Opposition he had never sought it again, but no man should compel him (Sir G. Grey) to come to terms with him. To secure that man's 00-operation he would have what he believed to be right and just, or nothing at all. He was .ible to walk alone. H> answered a number of other questions, and on the motion of Mr G. Downey, president of the Working Men's Political Association, seconded by Mr T. Guinness, the following resolution was carried amidst a storm of cheers, only four hands being held up against it :— " That tins mooting having heard Sir Geo. Grey's opinions on the present political crisis, heartily approves of them, and considers that the future welfare of the colony depends on the carrying out of the principles therein expressed, and recognises Sir George Grey as the most fitting leader for the purpose of doing so." Sir George Grey thanked them most heartily for their kindness to him, and said though he was getting old and could not sen'e much longer, they might depend upon it he would work for the good of the people of New Zealand as long as he could. The meeting broke up after passing a vote of thanks to the chairman.