HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 1 June 1881, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Mb. FitzSebald's Meeting Mr FitzGerald. one of the candidates ■far the vacant seat for the representation of the Grey Valley, addressed the electors at Dawson's Hall on Faturday e^en* ing last. He explained that be came forward to' give an expression of his, opinions, and to ask the electors to re urn* him to fill the place of Mr Masters. Bat rbtfcrt proceeding farther there were one jot too'&etsX.Tfhicb h e wished to refe ' toj He had been invited to come forward for ihe electorate at the last election, hot owing to a mistake his (the speaker's) name had been omitted from the toll, and the invitation fell through, ifpon "mr" $faf&rs ! resignation the invitation was renewed, and having qualified id the interim, he accepted the invitation,! and came forward. It would thus be been that he had not thrust himself upon the electorate. Since he came here, however, he had learnt three things ; first, that he was the nominee of the Government, second, that be was the nominee of the Roman Catholics, and thirdly, that he j^ais tliTnpjtoftee of (he Good Templars. 'But suppoW he were the nominee of either of these he would consider be oecupied a very respectable position! but he did not come forward as the nominee of either, bat solely on bis own account, and h;e. appealed to no sect, bat trusted to get the support of all. He was .bold enough to believe that his knowledge of the goldfields would enable him ip do substantial advantage to the constituency,, bat be did not rely wholly upon this, fact, and it would be for the electors to say whether in other respects he was wirthy of the position of their representative. He was not confident of return, nor woold it break his heart if he were defeated, but he woald^ lay his views fairly bpfore the jblect<jr3,;a#J if acceptable he wonl^l ,ask r for their support. The speaker here ; went at considerable length into questions of Colonial policy. He acquiesced id **Ke r necessity for Civil Service reductions, but disapproved of the all round rtednc tions. He entered here at great ijengfh into the subject of Mr Bryce's policy* towards the Maories, and the circum* stances leading up to the Minister's resignation, defending Mr Bryce, whom he regarded as a good and ljonest man. He (the speaker) however! ap-' proved of the- policy of the present Go* vernment, and would support tbeiparty if returned. He did not see any j other net of men who could take their [place, itjhafl $jestf' custom to divide the tJouse "into Lujerafs and Conservatives, ijut he thought that division was inapplicable io> the condition of public feeling itt this Colony. The present party was -jjfcurt; as progressive as any other. He did, opt, know that be should champion Mr Hall for he differed from him on some imporK tant points, but should nevertheless hesitate to turn him out. There 'we're several important questions pending, but it would be a mistake to bring tl em on for discussion in an expiring Farli unent. The Redistribution of Seats Bill would, tidwever, be one that would be introduced at the coming session. Cn the absence of any expression of opi lion to the contrary from his constituents he (the speaker) should support the I ill, the principle of which had already, been made known, which was to divjde the colony into separate electoral districts on baiisof population, and give one' member to each, with some extra Concessions to goldfields. He now approached a question which he had heard more about in Greymouth than in any other place. While there, the other llay, he met a man in the street who said that unless he, the speaker, answered clearly every question that would be put to him on the subject-, he would be " knocked out of his boots." The question was Education, and for the reason statei he intended to

.speak out plainly, and not allow the question to be dragged out of him as if his. teeth were being extracted. It would be Jkutnistake to believe that the present system began with the present Act. The system commenced with the Provinces, and when the latter were abolished, the matter was taVen over by the General Government. It lias been said that lam a Denominatiooalist, now 1 assure you th«tt-.I jm npt* ..-Under the present Act, education was fr>e, secular, and compul» sory, and be would here state at once that, if returned, he .would pledge, himself that h« would do nothing to upset it. But there is this question — when the Government took over that system there were various JDenominatipnal schools, and these "schools were supported by the State upon tbe basis of a fixed standard. But these Denominations found wben tbe State Schools were opened, that their schools were shut up- Tbey were so in Hokitika— tbe Church of England, Pres* byterian schools, and the Academy, the Roman Catholic School being the only one kept open. The same thing was done all over the Colony, the Catholics maintaining that tbe Nelson Provincial system should be prolonged, 'and subsidise all _who jittaineji_jß - jjeriiin.^Btandard^ i^ow^vqr,; jJbft iqn.es.tiGpvv.aj- igsJ^jbut it]is by no means dead, but it will not be brought up this session. I ask, howev'er, wliart"',6o,oGQ tespeotable fellow colonists say that they bare conscientious scruples «#aingt pending their, children .to ifie State Schools, whether it is not a question for consideration ? Idp not say that the 'batnoi&s 0 S^^lit;W it -appear*; a serious matter and something must 'be wron^and-tbe^ußtry ougntf td.consider their grievance. lam not going to move in the. inatter,,and looking back I say there is not tbe slightest shadow of danger if other schools receive some sort of consideration; I So not say this is a jettled^jan.^Bfjshfluld, berftdrofcd. the' "present system' is a very expensive and •extaksajpnt . one, „ao4 rakwld be eeofripmised out without sacrificing its efficiency. Tbepe-«as one point which was worthy of mention. Supposing ithe MgatboKfes, •*- wbo maintained ttoir- schools at an enormous cost, should suddenly give in, and^sjind, thousands of children to yourStwewiisfrHt burden woulcUbe. thrown upon the State system, and at a time wben we are talking of a reduction this matter ought to receive consideta^ fibn. I don't put these as sound opinions, but merely as. hypothetical ones, and when tbe times comes public opinion may have <va. cssfoged* a^ .to allow some force to such arguments. I protolse you, bnwever, if you return me I will -do nothing to upset the present system, and if public opinion does not change tbe system will have to go on as before.' With respect to v the East an 1 West. Coast Railway, that question bad been discussed ever' 'since tb» Coast . was opened, and ha,i} sfi&omjed ,tn?)re and more importance of late. Many nufer bad been suggested.'.* Be^4«tailed : tb;e efforts made ,in favour of the southern routes. Lately sohie attention bad jbeen directed to a northern route via Befefton to Greymoutb. He had heard a ideal about ibis, route, 'and -in bis small: way/ supported it witb'bis pen, and if elected' he ? HwTd-'fp>e it W« *full support, Tlbere (-WjLS^th.js to be said ; it would be; per*' feotly impossible to get the money ;from tbe Treasury, but , the proposal tasde r was.|Q, form a company to construct fße' line ; *fti 1 'ortfeV 'tbirfdttce En'elish capitalists to embark in. the, undertaking large' blocks of "land "were i^kefl for along tbe line. He was not in favor of t "^aßin^ :t Mo"clts'^f-fcrid>^«ij-Aaiidß..>Jt was bad in principle, because there tvbsi danger of its being made tbe means of exacHng l^e sums from seitlers. But lie did not think the land 'woijld be available for y^arß.fo r (ome, and any: company would be bound to see that . tbe land was tbn(#n open advantageously, in (Orjder, to. create traffic to feed tbe line when made, and fhfs would operate >aJtaJit»t-Bioiippoly,\ s*«To wiyg have been suggested of acquiring tbe land, one by a special Bill for^tbis one line, and tbe other by a 'general" "Bill," leaving. $p*er. with the Government to make terms. Tbe latter was rerhaps rather more dangerous because the actual giving of tbe land would- lie with the Government for the time being. But be tbousht tbe Second ther best pton becatisff if tb© Gotcfrbment. went, in for jobbery, tbey would be Ibrown outt We beliefed the Act; to be jjjtgQdueed ; -n.ext session would be in the second category, and it would then be a question of detailxa*. to the. pprtfon* of land to be given. Some suggeajled '50 per cent, and others 60 per cent as the maximum. For hi jjself be could not say which to approve, but he thought it preferable to give the Government; ample powers say up to 60 per cent. In tbe case of tbe East and West Coast line, the percentage would have to be very high. However, he was stronglj in favor, of the work, and if returned be would use his best efforts to get the Bill through. It ought to be clearly understood that the line should go through to Greymouth, and he said this be* cause a feeling eeemed to exist to some extent in the latter place that it was to stop at Reefton. He did not know that there was any ground for such a belief, for it was a very absurd one. (Hear, hear.) Upon the Land question he held strongly against monopoly, the strongest State rested upon the broadest foundation. He was therefore in favor of a large number of small land owners. But he would not go in for bursting up the large landholders. This was incorrect j what bo

said was that tbere was a disposition amongst extensive holders to cut up sotne of the Urge estates, and if possessors could bo inducei to do that it was butter than Ljgislatin^ them off the land. As to the monopolist he would have no mercy upon him, because I prefer to see the land divided amongst as many "as possible — for the more free holders the greater the safely of tberoantry. Franco was an instance of this. He favored a low rate of deferred payment, and the substitution of the ballot for auction sale. He mortally detested the Chinese, and would favor any kind of practicable Legislature for keeping them out. He would favor the sweeping away of all Provincial ordinance?, and the substitution of a set of general laws applicable to the whole coloriy. He was in favor of Local Option as applied to the Licensing pyetem. Beferring to Taxation, he did not think tbere would be any increase daring the coming session. There were a number of local matters, but be did not think that they fell fairly within the scope of such an address. It was the duty of every repre* sentative to undertake such matters, and, if elected, his time would belong to the eleotora, and he would never be found wanting in that respoct. He would support the appointment of a local Magistrate, Finally, it would be for the electors to say whether he had an intelligent idea of the affairs of the Colony, jand in accordjrUh their, own. He eoujd not hope to please all, if. ejected would work ■honestly and conscientiously for the good of the constituency. | In reply to questions, the candidate said he was not in favor of the abolition of the Gold Doty, or the imposition of a tax on wool. He was in favor of continuing County subsidies; * These being the only questions— Mr Bren« nan moved, and Mir 0. M'Gkffin spconded,. that 1 Mr Fitzgerald wat a fit and proper per* son to represent the constituency in Parliament, and on the motion being put, about half the number present voted in favor of it. and none against, and it was declared curried, and the proceedings terminated.