THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1880.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 2 June 1880, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1880.

Mb Reeves addressed a meeting of constituent? on Bfoniiay pveriing, tbe County Chairman ' f 'pwr * pi'ding. g$ said that; bit remarks would necessarily be a repitjt«o» of (faose recently made in CJfreymoutb, bat he considered it due to . Rj&eftpn, p» one of tbe cbief centres of tbe electorate, that bj should Tneet the inhabitants, and render an account of bis past action, as well as tp, indicate brit% the course be was disposed to follow in the figure, $c iftsn referred to tbe circumstances under tbe Grey Gpyemment were *" jlriiren from, power,. fl[e fjegr^tteji the " result at the tjra,e, because there was a amongst; tbe J/iberfti party prior fa the dijnsipjj that ff' the Goyernisren.t w^re successful pn the vote that there should be a reponstructipn pf thp Ministry- The Povernnient; y/&e&, boweyer, defeated, and the Hall party came into power pn a majority of one jPote. Whether 4* |;bat »lU important one vote baji been c - fviSjßlj or gnwisply bestowed, j^e wofjld ?. pot bay. The |rst thing the Dew , ! Ministry did oa entering osee was to - jajb »p#v©ry thiuf they possibly could agftiost tb«)> predpceesprs. Tbi? was * .perhaps a usual tfeing tp do, but the I- ]HaH party carried i^ to an extreme :- jt had neFer bpfor^ hem takep. He ? Ipstapced tbe ease of tije celebrated ffjfgram In^irj, fhicb, bp ppgardpd

is mtiolqpjL ivesCß c£ the prmleg^of ' office. Story telegram that had sheen jitb# i^qeivejl # wint by Sjfr Q<eorge prey during and prior to tfce late el.eqtiQOp was laid on tbe 4*fote of tbe Hquse. an<? amongst t&ein were a number of his Reeves) own to and frqn the late Government. That Tnquirr cc?pt tjbe Colony £200, or £300, ajpd .proved nothing more than that on,e qr two messages of the value of 4Ts 6d, bad been franked, which i ought more properly to have beenj paid for privately. Upon the defeat of tbe Grey Ministry, ifc was fqund that the new party had not a maja .in the Asssembly to lead_; Hall, at that time holding a seat in the Council. «Hall,| yj order to qualify himself for the vacant leadership threw up his seat in the JUpper House, and tbe constitu- ; ency of Leeetoo was provided, and ' returned Mm. Mr Hall was a good routine man, but bad no go in him. The Colony was in tbat position that it could not stand still, or go back j the policy ,W"#t be a go-a«hgad ope. It was idle to blame tbe Grey Govern- : went far ,fcue discultae* of the present situation. There neppr was a Govern* meat that bad done, less for itself, orii more to push the Colony ahead thanj tbe late one. Grey had done more for \ the West Coast than any preceding: party had 4one. The Liberal party were left with a legacy of difficulties, and they plainly saw tbat if they stood still tbey would precipitate ti^i crisis which sooner or later was bound to overtake the Colony. It was absurd, therefore, to heap the "sole blame upon Grey's administration, , And what was tbe first step of tbe Hall party to meet the difficulty ? They brought in a Property Tax, which was one of the most objectionable and inquisitorial exactions known, and was merely a stalking-horse on which to carry out tbrLand Tax. Tbe latter he viewed arobirof tfee fairest trxes that oould hjM'nf^ofed, but the incidence of taxation tfbould be so altered tbat tbe burden' df it fe^jpMi^.|hou!deri of those wh» h«i'|fiiipip#hed by the expenditure of thetbo^%jid money. It was not ronUmpfiUJd improvements, but: vimpH r^ wtta^ was kn6wn at the - un3ti6ed> inet^in*niof the land itself La^ iba4 po^<?Bj valne to * an •normont extehfcfj^SQmtf parts of the Colony' during tbe last' few years. He u»tancfd!«.;Ct.se in l^arlborongh. district where a vast' area of land hail been purchased for 9s 6d an acre, and could not now be bought for £24 an acre, What htct increased it .bat the Immigration an* Publitf Works policy f It was < these' men that taxation, thoukUMtahi, and if that w^rj dona, and. weilthj *b«enteesmadeto contrjbut*, fterfbttrden ofthe Jttdustriout claiser would be rendered ' lets' * oppr*»ssive. He complained tbat Mr Hall> conduct bad been anstatesmtnlike. Tbd Premier bad addrewed j|^ *|ieetton conn stituenU"th^ptbe| i n|^t, but hit address from -beg^nlog' to end was nothing ba| ft tffmfc of abase against Sir Gcorgt Grey, aad , a man who could, thus djßfpj»n«( wu hardly worthy to govern the jGojony. Tbe present was a very^important juncture in tbe history o( tbe Colony, and it would have been thought ibtt the bead of the Government speaking on the eve of Parliament, would , hate . given the Colony tome i)if<frmatton upon the many important questions now agitating tbe public' mind. But this he carefully avoided doing. Then, again the Governor's Speech at the opening of «csfliais«sGt, which w M & purely Ministerial emanation, afforded absolutely no information. Mr Beeves blamed the Government for this concealment of their intentions. As to the Royal Commission*, he regarded them as a complete farce- They bad raced through the country at a rate that completely d,efe at «cl, the object for which tbey were appointed. The fapt of a Commission on Native idustries hayipg sat and closed its labors without having visited tbe West Coast —the seat of the two most valuable industries which the Colony possessed, coal and gold, proved the absurdity of tbe whole thing. Mr Beeves touched upon many other subjects, but adduced nothing new, aod as tbe same ground has been gone over so repeat* edly of late, we peed, hardly proceed fujf^er.. Mr Ueeves claims po enter the Hoi^e free and unpledged.