way than by pushing through the country first roads and then railways. It must be remembered that we cannot judge the Maoris by our own standards. They are aboriginals, and we can hardly take extreme measures against them. They have been treated with toleration, but even now they do not understand our laws. Successive Governments have shown a want of firmness in dealing with these people. There should be no competition in native lands. Roads and railways are being extended through those lands by means of moneys borrowed on account of taxes paid by white people, and the Government should have the right to purchase land on both sides of roads and railways.”
Then, as later, he stood firmly against Chinese immigration.
“I do not think that the Chinese are desirable colonists. They are a nuisance in California, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. There has been restriction on their immigration into those places, and New Zealand, unless she wishes her shores to be deluged by Asiatic Tartars, must follow suit. I would sooner address white men than these Chinese; you can’t talk to them; you can’t reason with them. All you can get from them is: ‘No savvy.’ The Chinese in San Francisco are entering into competition with women as well as men. There are Chinese cooks, Chinese washerwomen, Chinese everything: they are a hard pill to swallow.”
He declared for liberal land laws, and against “land-grabbers,” whose methods of securing large blocks of land he described graphically and humorously.
Speaking of local works, he said it was necessary to construct a railway which would unite the east and west coasts of the South Island. “In all human probability,” he asserted somewhat boldly, considering the position of settlement, “the line will pay as well as any other in New Zealand.” A burst of applause encouraged him to go further, and in the next breath he affirmed his belief that if he was elected he could prove that the work would be highly profitable. The vigour and determination in his tones showed that he would be willing to prove anything which might help the West Coast to a larger share of public money.
As the miners’ champion, he denounced the gold duty as particularly obnoxious. The digger, whose average earnings were £2 a week, was taxed more heavily than any other member of the community, and the duty, he said, ought to be swept away.
He concluded his speech by saying that he was in favour of secular education, although, he thought, “the Government
