THE BANQUET

Otago Witness, Issue 2490, 4 December 1901, Page 33

THE BANQUET

In the evening the visitors were entertained at a banquet by the company. Mr Sinclair Thomson presided, supported on his right by the Premier and on his left by Sir J. G. Ward.

The toast list was opened by Mr C. S. Longuet, Mayor of Invercargill, who proposed " The Parliament of New Zealand." In doing so he said he thought the present Ministry would do everything in their power to assist the oil industry, and would not let it' go to the wall for want of any aid it wa^ in their power to bestow.

The Premier, in reply, held that the present Ministry had worked for the advancement of the colony, and whilst there were those who differed from the Administration and said they were going- a little out of the ■beaten track, yet he conceded to them (bis opponents) what he claimed for himself — freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of action. What had gone a long ■way- to maintain the present Administration ■was the fact that they did not see any one better to take their place. They were no time-servers. • When they found themselves incapable and the country going back, when they found better men to take their places, then they were welcome to assume office, and he. would be one to assist if in doing so it .was best, for the colony. He wished it to be clearly- under stood that the Ministry only • desired • to be on the Government benches" so long" as they were able to advance the interests of New Zealand, and when they failed to do that the sooner they took a. back seat the better for ail concerned. The country had gone through trials and troubles in the past, but let anyone take it now from a. commercial, financial, or an industrial standpoint, and it would, be found there had been a great improvement in its condition, although he did not say that all had shared in. it. Now, what was required *t fcha. present time? Those present knew what had arisen in respect to changes that (had taken place in Australia. They had 'built up a Federal Government and a Comaronwealth. Many people in this colony had thought that by joining the Commonweallii it would be to the- best interests of the agriculturists of New Zealand. He never had the slightest hesitation in saying that by doing so New Zealand would have given up her independence and freedom, receiving nothing in return. Anything in the way of federation would interfere with the natural crder of events. Australia was bound to be the principal competitor with New Zealand .in respect to dairy produce and cereals. In New South Wales they would soon have nearly 2,000,090 acres of land within the rain area, hitherto utilised for pastoral purposes, under close settlement. What chance would New Zealand producers have in sending cheese, oat§, and potatoes to New South Wale 3? The market would be gone. Victoria was at the present time one of our principal competitors in the markets of Great" Britain," and in this we had nothing to gam by federation. We must look out for ourselves. W& must find new markets, and 'exploit them. Onr producers must get into these markets on something like equal tsrms with our -neighbours in Australia. •We could first do this by having cheap rail vray freights to convey produce to the sea ports and by subsidising steamers to convey the produce till the markets were established. Parliament bad been asked to grant a small subsidy to establish trade with South Africa. They gave the money cheerfully. A few years ago the proposal would have been called experimental. He had been amused at reading in the Otago Daily Times of an interview that took place with his colleague in respect to the railways and matters relating to the carriage of stock. They had of course a complaint to make until asked for details. The very thing they were asking for had been the rule and regulation observed by the Railway Department for the last two years. When deputations came tb a Minister so ill-prepared, one was apt to aek why do they do these things? The two gentlemen who had so much to exy were two defeated candidates at the last general, ejection. Did it not look as if they were using this new-born organisation for political purposes. It might be of Eervice if kept outside political matters and confined purely to the advancement of agriculture. Doubt was east on the whole thing ■when they found these ex-candidates for Parliament coming before Ministers with complaints that never existed in the slightest. Ministers looked on and they smiled. The saw it was only part of the game, such as, if the positions were reversed, they might do, but he did not think bo. Dealing with finance, the Premier said •that day he 'bad received a pleasant announcement from the Secretary for Customs that the customs duties for the month amounted to £157,000 and the beer duty to £7800, an increase of course over last year. In regard to the flotation of the loan, it might be that there were people who thought that because the whole of the money was subscribed by the public at Home they ■would say that the floating of the loan was not a success. They forgot the conditions at Home at the present moment. They also forgot that we fixed our minimum at 94, whilst Westralia and Queensland were glad to accept 91, and one of these colonies received only 90 as the net result of the loan. The Government took the precaution of having our loan underwritten, although it cost 1 per cent. We received 93, and had the loan allocated. If he understood the position at Home at the present time New Zealand's credit stood well. Their visit to Orepuki was in connection with the oil v/orks here. It was- quite true that when these works were started those who invested "their money knew at/ tire* time" of ~*the customs duty on kerosene and on wax, one of the by-products. They might have said •under the circumstances that there would not be any material alteration regarding these duties. If Parliament were to ignore -entirely the industry, and those who had invested in it, they could not find fault with Parliament. Parliament recognised nothing beyond what it was pleased to do in the best interests of the colony. When remission of taxation was necessary. and deemed by Parliament advisable, it gave that remission irrespective of any individual or corporation. Therefore, the company would not say it had a right to bar Parliament from its privileges. As the people who invested their capital in this country, they had a right to come to Pariiameiit and show^ihat they were reasonably entitled to . consideration. Then it was for Parliament to give such consideration as it deemed £>. .Wkw tk» matter was brought forward

in the House by Mr Gilfedder and the member for Invercargill he (Mr Seddon) said that, while he could not see his way to maintain a duty on kerosene simply because of this industry, neither could he see his way to refrain from reducing the duty on wax for the same reason. At the same time, he would be quite prepared afterwards to consider the company and its claims. As the result of his visit, lie had seen for himself that there had been a very large expenditure of money, and he thought those who had put their money into the venture must have dene so after carefully prospecting and ascertaining for themselves what they were doing. The conclusions he had arrived at were the&e: The Government had vei-y little to do 111 respect to this industry and the works the company had established. It was science and was good management that they must look to for success, otherwise it would be a failure. There was more depending on Mr Dunlop, the manager of the company itself, in treating, experimenting, an<L finding out what means it was necessary to adopt to ensure a commercial profit. It might be that, as a stop-gap, the Government might take into consideration the position of the company, but' he really thought their ultimate- success- depended on themselves. When the matter was considered by Parliament, i?.e company would find he would not break faith with them. He would suggest to the- company in regard to the wax that they should gp. on, and. perfect it. When they put it on the market and came into competition, if* they found th'ey'were handicapped in tiiat "competition, "then they could come with th'eir' figures 'and facts, and he would put- -the- matter before his colleagues. In conclusion* M.r Seddon seid he was - sure all present . .wished. . the company every success. — (Applause.)

Sir J. _G. Ward said he desired to express his appreciation of the compliment of the directors- in inviting him to visit the workf. He felt his visit had been ,?n .interesting and valuable one. Be could only say that those who were responsible for the carrying out of the works were to be very highly complimented. They were "gigantic for this country. Possibly in *he future the output of oil and by©- products might be absorbed entirely by the requirements -of the colony. He did net believe' the difficulties in the way were insuperable when proposals were made by the Government for "assfstance. They ought to be iti a ' practical 'form', and the Government ought' to' know "precisely what they were expe'eted'to do. ' They required to know whether the company could carry on the work successfully before the country was asked to assist it. A colonial industry utilis ing our -hidden products was deserving or assistance, and he wished the company prosperity. Mr W. L. Simpson briefly proposed "Tire Parliament of New Zealand. '

Mr Gilfgdder. .in reply, said it was a severe blow to the district of Orepuki when the duties' were remitted on kerosene and reduced* on wax. It was well known that for a number of years the duty had been 6d a gallon on kerosene and l^d on the latter ai tide." Last session the Government took it into their 'heads tb iMake" the change. He would '^take' tKe opportunity of placing before His 'con'stitttents' the action of the Government in doing so.*' The Premier, in the course "of his address, "had" mentioned thac members of Parliament were unfettered and had .freedom of speech and action. He might inform the .he did not require to tell, his. c.qnstiiue^ts ..thai he was unfettered, on this qjuesijon,. The interests erf his constituency were . affected. The company had spent about £100,000 in establishing an .industry, and the sum of over £60,000 had been spent when the Government took it into their heads to abolish the duty. The candlemakers alleged they could not compete, and the duty was reduced on paraffin wax. He got up in his place in the House and objected, and the Premier promised that a bonus should be given to the company by way of encouragement, consequently all this talk about what the Government were doin.3 in the interests of th« prosperity of fhd colony was beside the question. He held that it was the duty of the Government to encourage in every possible way the industry established in the vicinity of Orepuki, and he hoped that the Premier would take the matter into his very serious consideration — (Applause.)

The Premier, in reply, eaid that when reason was brought to bear on the Government by force of argument he did not care who the member might be, whether he was a Government supporter or a member of the Opposition, then consideration was given to it. The Government desired to encourage capital coming into the country, and desired to give security to it. If anyone was labouring under a hallucination to the contrary, then he was sorry for them. When the company manufactured oil equal to the imported article, and when they came to the Government and said, "We cannot sell it because of the 6d per gallon duty that haa been remitted," then it would be for him, as Premier, to place the matter before Parliament. He had pleasure in proposing the toast, "Tae New Zealand Coal and Oil Company," coupled with the names of Mr J; Sinclair Thomson and Mr Dunlop. Mr Sinclair Thomson, in renly, expressed satisfaction at the remarks which had fallen from the Premier, and said that the directors were quite confident of the success of the company's operations.

Mr Dunlop. in the course of his reply, stated that the action of the- Government in removing the duty meant £15,000 per annum to the company, and asainst this all they got was a bonus of £5000.

At the close of the proceedings Sir J. G. Ward left by train for Invercargill. The Premier will slay at Orepuki to-night, and go north to-morrow.

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