THE PREMIER AT DUNEDIN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1466, 26 January 1887, Page 2

THE PREMIER AT DUNEDIN

Wo abridge from the Press ABiociatlon'd telegraphic report ths following synopsis of 3ir Robert Stout's epeeoh at Duneditt on Tuesday evening. Commencing hj a reference to the f Ailing off in the revenue of the colony, he attributed thia to the •mailer amount spent in intoxicants and

to the general fall in the value of goods. There had not been lesi food consumed, or fewer goods for olothiog imported, and the main fall was not in the volume of goods, but in the fact that prices had decreased. The fact that with an in-

creasing population thero had bean no

increase In the cost of government showed that the administration had been careful.

H* fully recognised that if this colony was to sesame a position as a progressive colony, the strict ast oare was necessary on the part of the Government and people. They must be prepared for lesi help from the Government. Referring to Native matters, he explained the Native Landi Administration Bill of last session, and said by it land sharks were abolished, and provision waa made for preventing Maori owners spending the revenue from their lands in drink. A counter proposal to this Bill was freetrade in Native lands. That meant that men with the largest purse, and those who could speak the Maori language and could bribe the Maoris, irould have the preference, and they only could get the Native landi. This the Government strongly opposed, and, after muah trouble and great patienoa on Mr Ballance's part, the BilJ became law. If Parliament had passed no other measure save that, it would have been a useful session. The Maoris recognised that they had been treated by the present Government with justioe and mercy ; and last session, for the first time iu the hist>ry of the oolony, the four Ma^ri members were found supporting the Government; If the Maoria infringed the law they should be treated the same as the Europeans. That k»d ~ done in the case of Te Whitl and r the other Maori prisoners, for whom no ,' special legislation was provided when they '- broke the law, and who were not given a pleasure trip ronnd the South Island, as was done some years previously, In 1977 and 1878 The Native schools were reorganieed, and he was glad to say that under Mr Pope's able management great results w€T3 being reaped froai the Native schools in the Native localities. Native children were also being taught English, and if this bad been done 40 years ago there would a t have been the trouble that had been seen In Now Zealand. He next dealt with the looal gevernmeot pro* posals of laat aesaion. Colon?! fng functions were undertaken, and it whb recognised that unless the Colonial Government waa to beoome a huge Board of roads and bridges, tin responsibility of maintaining thsin must be cast on the local bodies. This had been done by the measure passed last session, and the members coming specially from tha country districts, mmy of whom oppoaod tha Government, aoVmitted that the measure had been well devised, and they oordully supported it, iv with the result that it passed almost with Fccbmatton This Bill would enable the General Government to resist all olaims for roads aud bridges, and he hoped it would put an end to something not unknown even in our House of Representatives, and wbatwas popularly known as loglolling. Sir Robert next dealt at length with the land question. He regretted that tho McK"enzie clause had been struck out of the Land Bill. The object of this was to prevent any person holding beyond a certain area of pastoral Crown lards. However, they got the smill run system Jinserte 1 in the Bill, and that met the case. He thought the time would come when it would be necessary to restrict the holdings of freehold land, let alone those .of pastoral lands. Tho unemployed difficulty had not been lost sight of in dealing 1 with this land question, and • people without means had been enabled to obtain homes in the country and made com r ortable for life. Duriog 1886, notwithstanding the depression and low price of agricultural and pas! oral products, they had been able to settle more people on the lamd than were ever settled in any yeaT before. With the large homestead system he disagreed, and in Auokland it had proved a failure. Whilst ha recognised that New Zealand, considering its position, and soil, mußt for a long time remain eminently an agricultural and pantDral country, he was not blind to this fact, that no country could be great were it to depend upon one or two industries alone. The advantages of a diversity of industries, even looked at from an educational point of viaw, could not be exaggerated. Without manufactures, a pastoral country would ba lowered. While, therefore, this country for years to come must remain. an agricultural and pastoral country, they must not allow other industries to be neglected, and he claimed that, ai a Government, his administration had U6ed both energy and industry in the pro* motion of o her ladustsies. Tiny hal accepted tenders (n this Oolony for work formerly invited from, Home, and had tried to give an impetus to our looal Industries, and, if there was to be true prosperity in this country, muoh more would have to be dona. He admitted that the tariff required revision, but in Its revision itjrould not do to ignore looal industries . if they were to have a chanoe of surviving in our midst. Then, in the railway tariff, the. present administration had granted agricultural and pastoral settlers • bonus of something like £75,000 a year in the reduction of fares. It would be mischievous to teaoh the people that the railways were only required to pay the cost of their working, and that the reit of the Colony was to be taxed to pay in« terest on the coat of construction. Going on to speak of retrenchment the speaker admitted Its necessity but said it must proceed on some system. There were some departments that could not be reduced ; for example In the Education Department, though they had reduoed clerical expercas in the Wellington office, the goneral educational department would go on increasing as the number of our children inoreased, but the Government this year would be able to show very large savings in the publia expenditure. On the vote of working railways, a large saving would be shown on the Estimates for the past twelve months. A small re* duc+ion would also be shown in the Justice Department. In the Native De-r partment there would be a saving of at least £10,0C6. There would be a saving in the Mines Department, in the Customs, in the Colonial Secretary's Department and, in faor, in evory Department of the Government, so that when the Estimates next year cun^ down, instead of a saving of £20,000 or £30,000, as he had promised in the House, they would be able to show double that. Strict economy was required lu the administration of the public affalr« of tha Colony, and the Government had left no atone unturned to saoure It, and if members next session would assist Ministers instead of scrambling for office, still further reductions would ba made. As regards borrowing he said that he was oonvluced that if we were to provide, not for a mere temporary prosparity, but for permanent stability in our finance, borrowing mutt oeass. He believed that next year they ought to do without a loan; They must take a new departure In New Zaaland finance, and though it might c use as additional taxation for a few years, and entail gome additional hardships, we must depend on ourielves, and not rely on the foreign : moneyleader for aasl tance. He did not kaow whether we could finish to a paying point, or, rather, he shonld say, to • working point, some of the railways now in hand without an additional loan ; but if it were necessary to r»is9 » small loan

next year for that purpose, then we Bhould no longer depend on the London money market. Loans for public bul'dlng should be wiped out at onoe. He knew of no more imprudent finance than borrowing for wooden buildings, which in twentyfive or thirty years would not represent capital at all. After expressing his regret that some who claimed to be true colonists were continually denouncing the country, Sir Robert Trent on to say that he hoped to carry the Representation BUI next session. The Bill would provide for the periodical adjustment of the electorates in aooordanoe with the results of the census. The representation would be based upon population. He was willing to allow an advantage of 500 or 1000 to scattered country disfr'cts. but was opposed to single electorates, and hoped that in the new Representation Bill, the cities and some of the suburban districts would be welded together. This would giro minorities a fair chance of representation. In conclusion, Sir Robert said the outlooK at present was most favorable for the oolony. Things were on the turn, and if settlers were true to themselves, and would exercise private and publio economy, and a policy of self-reliance, he had no doubt that the outlook was now as bright ai it had ever been in the past, A vote of confidence was oarried by acclamation.