MR. MONTGOMERY AT AKAROA.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume XXIV, Issue 2104, 17 November 1896, Page 2

MR. MONTGOMERY AT AKAROA.

Mr Mnntoompry addreined' the elec. tors in the Oddfellows' Hal', 'A'ktkroft-,-' las'night. Ther« was a good-attend-ancp, and His Worship the Mayor occn* i-id the chair.

The Mayor, in opening, raid that Mr Montgomery had fulfi'led the pledges ho had given thr<-e years ago most thoroughly and both Liberal and Con serva itre w< uld agree thin was the case Mr Montgomery had spared no pains in the intpr*-Bts cf tbe district,,, and he was sure they would give him a patient bearing.

Mr Montgonwy, who wag received with applause, said lime would only pprrait him to give one reviewins* the past, and stating lii<t opinions as regarded the future, and ho should give that single address that night. Before he passed on to general poli ie?, he should like to allude to a local matter, of which-i th«y all knew senrififhing, viz, ''-.■■'<

lakic Fortsyrn lands vestisg bill Mr Montgomery said he had been the moans of carrying through the Hourp a Ik.) of considerable "importance in the district. He referred to the Lake Forsyth Lands Vesting Bill. As they were aware a poll had been taken lastyeer wi h the object of raif-ing £2000 for the drainage rf Lake Forsyth, but unfortunately a sufficient number ot ratepayer? had not voted, The County Council, however, determined not to let the matter drop, and applied to bim to'ge' the lands which be reclamed vpsted in the Council, so that there rok'ht be no question of the interest being a charge on the ratepayers. Thin he had succeeded in doing, and now thp County Council had vested in them 190 acres of land on Bivdling's Flat absolutely, and the land that would be reclaimed the drainage—probably a considerable area would le vested in them, when it waa reclaimed. Arrangements had been made that a piece of land six chains ir width along-side the rivpr from thf Native F»es-erve to the lake should bf vested in the natives. This ho thoughi only r asnnnbV, since the natives would lose some of their beet filling ground bj the dntinagp of tho like. He wished tn point out that the reserves which had been secured last session together with the It-rye resprve of 1000 acres formerly vested in thp. Touncil would ensure the financial success of tbe'scheme He bad vi-itpd a similar work at Taurantu, bj which a Intjoon had been drained, and he found it had been agrpat success. He saw no reason why the Lake Forsylh scheme should not be completed within the next yetr or two, and ho hof el the time was not far?distant when by some similar work the set'lers on Lake E lesmere would-b*'enabled to live iv their homes all the ye«r round. He under stood that the poll for the proposed new loan of £2500 was to betaken on the election day, and ht» hoped V at all the ratepsyers would roll up, and hy their votes aspi.t the Council in this ypry necessary work t He explained the process by which a Bill, such as the one he had referred t\ had passed through the House to show how many checks there were to hasty legislation. This was the only matter peculiar to the rsi-dri"! that he should allude to. There were many other small local maffrs in which he had been in'erested, but details of these had been published iv the papers at the lime, and he had no time to en'er into details now. 3AFKING LEGISLATION. He hsd spent three months-on the Banking Committee last session, and as he could not pass by so important a subject, he would speak~ upon it before going any furtiier, and get it off hi-* mind.' Time wouid not permit him to moro than a few headings of the subj-ct. Tn previous sppeches b» had given a M-tory of the -Banking Legislation, but wonld.-not do so. to-night. After some refereuce to the proctedirtgs of the Committee,'* he would explain tho Banking, f il of last session, and then proceed to answer the question, 4< What are the prespnt position and prospects of th« Bsnk of New Zealsnd V No.com- ' mittee had been more abused than the I one that investigated the 'affairs'-of the [ Bank of New Zealand last session. Fie was not there to defend all its proceedings ; but be could say thi*-, that if the . inquiry had been burked by anyone.it was not''by the member for Elleßrrnire, If they excepted the political aspect of the question, the Committee had made an exhaustive inquiry into all the affairs of ihe Bank of New Zealand. They had not enquired into private accounts. He thought this was.qure rigb*y because directly commercial mpn knew that their accounts could, be inquired into, they would place their account in some other bank. No one had found any fault with the report of the Committee. Many were surprised At the recommendation that the President and General Manager should be dismissed j.but the Committee had a duty to perform, and he had no hesitation in saying that, thi* re.commen<dation was not made without the gravest consideration. THE BANKING BILL , Was introduced to carry into effect the h report of the Committee. Aftfr a num- [ | ber of useful amendments had been made , i in the Lower House, it was thrown out • < in tbe Upper Chamber, owing to the ; * action taken by the Coloni 1 Bank ' Directors. These gentlemen had en- J ieavoured to introduce a clause to uke ihe liquidation of the Colonial Bank out '

After several conference"?, in one of whiefi be had taken part, tbe two Houses dis— agreed-, and tbe Bill did not pass. This waa much to bo regretted, as it waa in the interests both of the Bank and tbe Colony. He censured the Colonial Bank Directors, saying that their action in voting and speaking on matters in whith they were • personally interested was a public scandal. THE PROSPECTS OF THE BANK. The Bank was now in a sound position, Its estates were being realised as fa-t as possible ; and a Committee had reported that there was no. reason why it should not be ultimately able to meet all its eneagemfcnts. He hoped that as soon hs it was put on a firm footing it would be cut adrift from the State, and left to work out its own destiny. THE OPPOSITION AUD tflE BANK. Den ling with the Bank Bill ot 1889 passed under the Conservative Govern** ment, he said that this was the directoause of the popi'ion in which the Bank had been found in 1894. He pointed out that the Opposition had agreed to the legislation of 1894, that members of the Opp'o-* ition who had Bat on the Comuiittee in 1895 had unanimously approved of the legislation then introduced and the purchase of,the Colonial Bank ; /but the Banking .Committee, although containing a majority of Opposition' members, had fully exonerated- the, Government from any improier connection with the banking legislation. He thought that in the matter of the Bank ' of New Zealand that members of the Oppoiition, coneiJering the larga | art they bad taken in the banking legisla" > ii>n, shduld be prepared to take their X' share of responsibility in it. A Pou!hbridge gentleman had written <o the papers asking what he had recdved for sitting on the Bank Cemmitsep, and be might here say that the sum he had reived w.s absolutely nothing, (Applau'e. );•■■■ ■•■■ '\ '. . - THK OLO AGE PEN&i-lN BILL. Ho nt-xf reviewed the Old Age Pen-f-ion Bil 1 , comparing it with simi'ar nieapur.es proposed in other countries.. He thought it was just as well that the Bill diil not pass, as it had net been bfore the c-U'itrv, and the v»overnmetit had no act urate inforrrtali *n as to what .the scheme would cost. It was put down as something between £250,000 and £750,000 i It was necessary b fore tha taxpayers' money waa voted away to know px-iotly how much would be required, i c thought ih*y should first find out how muih money could be sj-ared, and---ihen divide it in the shape of old age pemims. Wlia-ever was df nr, the financial difficulty iv the way should be comi'ered. We Bhould not let our i-.ynpuiby lor a j roposal to give a at an earlier sge -outrun ■ our caution respecting the protection of tho colony's-finances. if a small scheme w«*re tried it might be carried through, while a large scheme might be a gigantic failure aud a matter for regretV the loak . He-bad votad. agHJOi-t Act, as bp ptff>ned to coll-the Aid to Pcblio Works and L-nid S<tlempnt A<{, II uid m.t want to excut-e I iuißtdf fnr fo doing, ■«» heconeide od that ihope wht. stud voted for it *ii« v have I irt-uk cot out to ext'UKp themt*elves. 'J' Government had come in a«■ a tion-bom-wing Government, nnd if 'Ivy had grt-• J> he track he had kejt'o it. There ua-- no fin*. Hy about the Bjll'p propo-a).", nor did 1 it any information a* t-> how the iminpy was to be">pi*iit, nor eoflrontee that 'hey would not have omi lio<» loan eveiy y-ar. He ihoiight-fjlrt-the.-Government <*hoi;!d not h.vn gone in for tink'eiing with hII the r-dlwHys in th« colony, thereby . otnmitting ii to tbe cniup't-fciui of tv*.y li-.p. The con t y sboul-i t.aye bpen tirt-t consulted before a;reveipJ of it-* policy had bpen dt-ci'ied upon by the Government. He hsd told .hat he ought to explnin t-iaisj-lf regarding not vti'ing fo> tlie Loan - bi:.l. but he thought i' was thotuv who had voted for ihe loan who should explain themselves, as ho had ►imp'y kept that elerti.n pledge as ho believed he had ko|.t hll other-*, j ( . • LICENSING BILL. ' * ' H* bad »lw»y a ppoken of t'd- Bill for the » p*»>t three y-arR but |.{s opii ions on it t bad not nt'-erf. IU approve! of Inet I HPciion'p Bi i.tie main provisions of whioh . wet** N tiorml Option md the ap*.- i *.<tion of the licrffthii.g law to clubs. He had ' voted for N-tiona 1 Option rb nn pxt-t'sion of Jocal-opi'ii. If a m joiity of tbreefiftbs Cfttri* (I the one-, a major iy of three--1 ■ fifths' tdiou'd ba allowed to entry (ho < ther. •• Personally he wkb not » prohib- i>r.i-t. but ' h«TPcpgni!>ed the pe.-p!t» t-l ou'rl'luve the right t- decifio in favour ( ,[ pr-,iii j*m 0P not ■wht-t-vt-r itirii't-iilun'a nt t t -ink. Cubs nre not now nut jet "» si 'ending *?*. laws, but should be, because it poj-ribla to control t*o liquor tr.ffij while l hey were allowed to sell liquor at any hour of the dßy or night. Th« Bill had been thrown out by the Upper Houbb, some B»>id because nntional prohibition bad not been laid before the country. They would not have the B«me excuse t>e»t aiPFion, and he hoped the Bid wou'd pass. With rpgard to the mojoriiy he held that if they wanted a lasting'change of this sort, it must be 8 dear and definite opinipn-BUch as a three-fifths majority todo away with the licenses, and a fimilar m»jority should be required to get them back again. (Applause). He did not •think . prohibiiion would do -any great harm ti the colony, and he would like to see the rotit'er definitely se tied. OANTEBBUBY COLLEGE BILL. Tbi-r Bill bad made tbe Board elective on a .wider basis. Tbe votes .were now is under j—Governmeiit 3. Parliament 3, graduates 6 School Comtuittees 3, Hchool teaohers 3 and Professorial Council I, This insnred a wider ond more liberal reprepet t tion.. The management of Cant rbury College and Lincoln Ag'icultural College had al-o been sep»rated, and the new Board would introduce reforms tbist would make Lincoln College, even taking into consideration its present excepding'y abe management, even A iii'-rw u-ipftil i'l't-tii ion for the sons ot fanii'-rs than it was at present. (Applniisp). RBTBOSPECT Having dealt'wjt'i the legielaiion of last Beß*ion,-it was!no"W lime to cont-ider what

-{r --i*.;-,»„j' .. ... X ' **- '^^'^''''^m'-limmjmKmiimmiimu^immm.mUmm^ had baon done io" the pibt-ihree year*%ani ■ih* respeo'iv'o cHuh of t'ou'two- p> i ici pll ties. L t fchem see wlut the Liberal jr** \\,\d dune iti the p-.*', wl'ich was, Kuarantao as to whit they would dn'i '•- the future. In 1893 tie Consrrv;uive liad H»:ij of tha Land T»s tlUt it wa. ioiq"iboue, and would diiva (ho furtnen off ilia land Th>:y also said the Graduated r jind Tas would crush (and o'wnen nnd d 'ive c»pit»l out of t'»e colony. Now I) nvove', kt ihe ex\ ir t : or. of, !-hf -c yean all tbis h*d charged, an.] %\\e "fact beef proved that farmers ha-i p-iy u'idti 'he Land Tax ih*>n t,:'o ii iqoitout* ~" 'I'.opcrty T*tx. It *r.\* "t-ua hii land owners bad to piy mois-t'-biit he w-i8 in favour of ; t''i**« as he conc'iii-red it all ti.e 'b'ot'r if tie bijr e>'t't'S wee split up so /** as to provile fo> 'the esten i>n of efttletnent. Three years i»go*tbey said of the •L-ind for Seiilement Act thft it would make a'l the farmers.eleftt out to gir-i the land to the who lounged nt-out lha li>np-po»t< io Cathedral Square. ' only one e*t te had been t'iksn uuder the cotnpiilfoiy- clausen, viz., Ard .*■* K° ,vß i "- cr vl'ieh an obsovt-e company "' had osked £13 per acre-; theGovernui'-nt had offered £7. attd tho Taluators bod 'assessed it at £8. Tl.i-i et-tite hod then supporti-d a shepherd in a but, hut was **»■•' now (jiippoiting many sr : ttlerp. '. Government hltfo thought of tib'ng air Purvis Rußseli'd Woburn E.tlij ia Hawke's BayThere were many large estates-ia Hawkes Bay, and it would be a good tlfing If pome of thene were brought undur the Ac',''and BettletufM't iherdby increased, He t'ißn int-tance I t ie euccu'ss Attendant in th? s lling of theso c. t tee, the money for the of wbiob jhad beeD borrowed at 3| per cent., wbereas deducting atrenrn, ihr-y had returned 4 56 ptr cent., ihuw leat'ing a considerable proßt. A tneaeuro had also besn.pa.ssed '..''■*> to lessen as uiueh bp possiblb;'*,family duinmyit-m by noiJillocaiiDg land to anyone under 21. aid nlt-0 reairicting to other way?, and i' ii** ..quit** time ti-ii done. He had not tim<» to. go into gehe'tal stttleuient on d; tive lands und elsewhere, but wou'd say that in the laet three years there had been moie geoi/ine tettleoierit on the than in the preceding 10 or 12. <(Applaii"e).' Tuer-v'h'd" barn dreadful foiebodings regarding Cheviot where 47 people once lived, «nd wWch now had iix and town-hips and 800 or 900 residentp. 0»t of 216 t?nunts 6o this e-tib-J al| \i<-<\ p'ii'l 1 heir rent but Ms w!»o owea ; £130. He would ask anyone if they wit-lied for In tter t<nnr't' than these nnd said he te t'euient i.f Cheviot was a great financitl su'ccecK. (ApfLm-e). ■*\: LAB'JUR LEGISLATION. TLa last three years hid been the er**; of labour legis vtion He rtferrt-d to the Factories Act Hnd tbe Shops A*t, and .-. the benelits fcbey conferred. 'Perhaps ihe. ; niott iiDportant measure psaced was the Arbitrction aod Cooci'i tion Act. under the provisions of which the te'csr.t strike in connection with the Ziman mines hadbeen satisfactorily seit'ed. H« thought it only a q-wi-m of time before the princifle would bo applied loiatainauonal' J2i?put-e. ii terna i»n»l arbitration. in force he coi't-Jtui'd the pre-ient utme of wffsirß in would not b? per • nit'ed to continue for a tingle wsek. Hhbnd every hope that the principle ofi trbitration wou'd be embodied in all international codes. He wad gUd the; Act bad oiLinhtad in N-aw Zealand. The Advances t) Se'tLiß Act had been the means of reducing the rate of intereni pwil by i-et-'er'p. Tiie Native Land* Ac; "lisd been mbe't jmpoitirit, and these-were-all Liberal measure?. All th;t bod been ttftono in Licenting maters during the ; paf-t bad been done by the Libera < Governimot, so the Temperance paity should tuppoit tht-m. Tbe Local Go•yernmeit Bdlv- , ouldi'itroduce.Tnuch needed Reforms, aud he hoped would be fully ■ confidtred nest eepsion. MATERIAL PHOGRESP. When the Liberal Government cam** ■ power it liad been esid tb t tlu people would be d iven from the colon v;. but the fact was that faom 1886 to 1891 17,194 more people left tho colony than c»me into i\ whereas during tbo Liberal Wegihlation of 1893 and 1894 17,623 more people came to the colony than left it It was true the debt bad increased bu> : so bad tbe population nnd whereas tbe dtbf pera head in 1890 was £62 10". in 1895 if was only £58 lis 6J. Owners of sbeep had increased from 11309 lo 17,719 and their productions, notably of doiiy produce, had largely increased He congrßtulated tbe Peninsula on thti*' late -vltones at the Ch-istcbureh" Show. • (Apjlauße). CONCLUSION; He bad given this sketch of the legislation ; v-olaced on the Siatute Book for the last five *years by the -Liberal party, and of the material progress of the country during that period. Partly to , show what had been i done, and also to convince them that the • desire to improve the condition of the people, ! which had been the object of introducing. these reforms io the past, w uld animate the paity in the fu'ure. There would be no back, nor resting on triumphsaChieved.; The march would still be onward. The L'betal party would not deserve the name, with support of the people i( it ceased to be a party of progress. And now they had the **electiou contested; and the Conservatives -straining every nerve to get the government ol the country into their hands- They dared not say they would repeal the liberal legislation if tbey had the power; but if they rhad the power would they not be bound as hor-e3t men to repeal laws which tbey thunderee&ji on the platform, in the Press, and in Par]^ as dishonest in their nature and destructive in their tendency—-celculated to bring disaster on the colony. Yet tbey Baid they would accept the laws since they had been All they wanted now was, they said, to see the affairs of the colony carefully administered-. They could not get rid of tha idea tbat they should be the ruling class. They wish to reap where they had "not sown. Tbey wished the power and they did not care twopence for reform. He was a member of the Liberal Paity, but when in the House would not bind himself to support all •»and every proposal of the Government. If be went to Wellington he would think and act for himself, and not at the bidding of any minister or any Government whipi The ministers were only for tbe time'being tbe *-leadera of the Liberal Party in the House: and it did not follow that they were inf all - ib'e interpreters of the Liberal policy. They could not tell what legislation might be introduced during the next three years. He hoped and believed it would be in the interests of tme Liberalism; but reserved to himself the rigH which he had always #rexerc : Bed, to criticiscevery measure that was brought forward, and where he did not believe in it to vote .against it- (Applause.) Let it be clearly understood that he was not *a blind follower of any Government. He not believe the electora of the Elhsmere district wanted a member like a w«-li known character in Pinafore, who always voted at j bis party 1 * call—never thought tf linking

•Wr '.-.- ... . if. . . -I -' ■. *■.. — n •»■_••-..—■■! . »*»«g! id { of himself at all. It.would takVagreat dea tl; to convince him tbat that was the sort o jj, ; member tho of. Ellesmere* wanted „:* Let him any this in addition : Ho was elect-;( . for this district three years ago, and fel-fc tha 1 he had to do all in his power tb justify tb'< 38 ■ generous confidence that the district hac 48 pla'c din one cf the youngest members whf rf> had ever been e'ected*. ,Ho gave..hi3 bea ~ attfntun to cv- ry measure introduced ; c-ire rf fully ''e-c-min-dil the measures whioh cims /. before ihe H nis*-. cri'ic'ac i fnaiiy and eti- *»' deavotirel'to'in'ir due'e'i-nprovr'ihanta and fee n suppo*^those.u-tro-iuced by otl**r*. lie had r attended to all the public mat I era affVctino ,„ the distnofr, which wee brought tVpre him, ,\ and to .& grafc many private apolicat ; ons, and ( faithfully k-etft every pio'mise he mule before ' his election, and w.*s not afraid to spf-ik a"d 6 vote accorling to his..conviction. If thers 0 was anything ;he kad said or done which in * the opinion 6i anyone present requirfs ex--9 'planation, -he was bete to-night to reply 1 frankly to *ihy questions that, might bo b asked. The country was in the the throe- of I I a general'election, and the issue to be decided . wasof iihmeos'e importance. It was this, would j i_e cortsthuences l'etiirn members to repeal * .ihe Liheril legislation of the last five years t . He khew'that some of the Conservative; t papers maintained that there was a reaction ■ in public Opinion. Many of them said i. aud no dbubb believei it j but the Wish <vas ' father to the thought. He for otfe could not' ' believe "tbafc the people .of this country were " convinced that legisinion having for it-?: 1 object the aroeUo-atiuh of the conditioh'of the 1 {of/the people should be repealed; 1 'that the &raduat-d Land and Income Tax ■' should be swept away and the lniquibors 1 -Property Tax substituted ; that the Land Act should be blotted put of the Statute book, a_d that they shonld return to tbe reign of of the o'd "continuous Ministry which for so many years misgoverned'the country in tbe 'interests of a class. He could not think the constituencies would think it wise to. place them in power to administer laws which they had so" bitterly opposed—in short Iflß believed the people would return men who would support wise and steady progress in 'the interests of the Country. (Applause). QUESTIONS. . In answer to ques'ions from Mr Black, Montgomery sud he had opposed the seizure of the sinking funds/and that he did not know how much of the million loan had been anticipated. .Oh the motion of Mr C. Armstrong, seconded by Mr Penh, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr amid applatifse. and a vote of than'-s to the Chair closed an brderly meeting. •

The elections dre being generally di*cussed everywhere, and the ladies are taking an 'interest this year. . It has been conceded by heads of families, that Doiid's Restorative Hair wash -for Bctirf, dandruff and hair falling out is at the head of the poll. Price 1/6. J. S. Dodds, Lhemiat, AkarDax-^-ADVT. _ji_Lxujßjiu.iu.miji jumiuiiiiw in ii^.iiMwiiiwiii , '**«aai , *wwwtw | Mii*JWJ^