SIR JOHN HALL'S SPEECH.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 181, 4 August 1887, Page 5

SIR JOHN HALL'S SPEECH.

What the Otago Papers Say

(by telegraph—own correspondent.)

Dunedin, this day. Discussing Sir John Hall's speech, the Otago " Daily Times " says :—" We are disappointed to find Sir John Hall playing so much upon the surface of things, telling so little that is new, and stimulating the minds of the electors so little. At such a juncture and upon such an opportunity caution in tactics may be an indication of caution in policy and administration, but it will require a strong band as well as prudence to deal with the present situation of the colony, and we want to be assured of thoroughness as well as of discretion. Sir John Hall refers us to the evidence of the past, but a little more than that is wanted. It is surely unsatisfactory that in a speech which occupies six and a-half columns, he should devote less than a fifth of a column to retrenchment, and that dealing only with reductions in the legislative. expenditure. He seems to be carried away by the idea that there will not be sufficient employment in the country for the youth ef the colony without forcing industries further through the tariff, and his advice to remedy the depression by exporting more and charging less strikes us as a good deal beside the question. Altogether, we cannot feel that Sir John Hall has thrown much new light upon the situation." The " Star " says : " Sir .John Hall has spoken, and expectation is dead. His speech must have completely disillusionised those prepared to accept him as a leader. It is not possible to avoid pronouncing it a failure and disappointment. It is weak to a surprising degree, abundant in petty details, and absolutely destitute of even a vestige of policy. The only impression its perusal leaves is that of dreary inanity. Sir John Hall is characteristically cautious. His reticence and ever avoiding committing himself go to show that he has not acquired a firm grip of the situation. The demands of the country are very simple. They are two-fold—retrenchment of expenditure and increase of taxation. From these direct points people must not suffer

themselves to be dissuaded by any party cries nor by any exuberance of sophistical oratory. The hard problem our public men have to solve is how to keep our expenditure within our income. Sir John Hall's speech throws no light upon the subject. He has nob contributed the desired solution, and if his claim to leadership rests on no better ffoundation than that disclosed in his speech, Leesbon may ab once renounce it."