THE PREMIER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 239, 8 October 1891, Page 2

THE PREMIER.

ADDRESS AT WANGANUI

THE GOVERNMENT POLICY.

(BY TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

Wanganui, this day.

Mr Ballance addressed a large meeting of _is constituents last night., and was well received, lie said ho proposed to deal with *he work of the session. It had been said by apoworful paper in Australia, and by critics Bearer home, thab nothing had been clone during the session, and that never had there been a greater contrast between promises and performances. But on bhe obher hand .hoy'had other critics declaring thab a greab deal had been done, and thab much that had been done was mischievous. Criticism from these two points of view was to some extent mutually destructive, bub he held thab a greab deal had been done during the cession, and whab had been done went entirely in the right direction. He went over the history of events from the time of the last election, when tho Government Snajovity was said bo be doubtful, and «ihon the party then in power, declaring thab thsy had tho support of the largest section of the House, put six out of 4he ablest men of the Conservative party in the Council to thwart legislation which it was feared would be proposed. Ho related what had been done in the formation of the laew Government. There was no difficulty in forming tho Government, because tho colleagues he chose were leading members ef the party, but it was natural when there were twelve men, each of whom thought he •was capable of holding offico, and ought to toe appointed, that there must be considerebledisappointment on tho part of those who were not selected. When there wero twelve candidates for six offices bhere must naturally be disappointment, and it was not unnatural that some of thedisappointed ones Bhould either at once go into opposition or endeavour to form a middle party. He did not complain of the action on the part of certain individuals, and he was glad to say there were no serious defections, and ao tendency on the parb of any considerable number of the Ministerial party to leave the Government. Ho referred ta the short recess which had been secured as necessary bo enable Ministers to draw together the heads and threads of their policy, and fiisld also that during the short recess substantial retrenchments were effected. TRAVELLING EXPENSES AND BETRENCIIMENT. | It had been said that Ministers had been extravagant in travelling but what would have been said if, having a great policy on tho stocks, thoy had notmade the best use of the time at their disposal to go about the country and see before definitely deciding v/hat were the wants of the country. He especially defended the Minister of Public Works, who had nob spared himself in his efforts to ascertain the actual wants of the country before he brought his proposals down. The total annual expenditure of tho country was about four millions, and it was absurd to complain of the expenditure of £700 incurred in getting information for framing a policy which would be satisfactory to the people at large. The Treasury return showed that during tho short recess Ministers had dispensed with 101 persons, most of them in bhe Public Works Department, and the estimates they brought down, leaving out the railways, which were nob under the control of the Government, and the Post Office, which was under permanent appropriation, showed a saving of £41,358 as compared wibh the appropriation of 1890. l'b was said that while in opposition the present Government party had demanded retrenchment, but as soon as they got on the Government benches themselves, they restored the salaries they had cut down. Tho facb was thab, in the session of 1890, they had cut down the estimates by £44,000, while the salaries restored did not amounb to more than £600, and for those restorations there were special reasons which had been given to tho House. The late Government ran away from their estimates. Reductions wero constantly made. The present Government had framed their estimates with such care, and had justified them so completely, that not one single material reduction was made in the Government estimates by the House—a thing that had never occurred before in the history of the Parliament of New Zealand. The reason was that the estimates were so economically framed that there was no possibility ; of making any reduction, and J-\>J& the Government had not been .-.own to have been extravagant in one single instance. lb was true that the; Supplementary Estimates were larger than usual, but this was .not by reason of v3tes asked for to pay salaries, but to meet charges which had been incurved by the previous Administration and not provided for, and which had not come to the kno'.vT.edge of the Government when making up the General Estimates, or else to provide for matters which the House had ordered to be provided for. Belonging to the firsb category was an item of £20,000 for munitions of war, and in the latter there were included bonuses for the manufacture of steel and for tho manufacture of salt., a vote lor the Chicago Exhibition, and other things of that sort. There was also included on the Supplementary Estimates money for buildings for the Insurance Department, which will pay five per cent, interest on cost. Referring back to the question of travelling expenses of Ministers, he said that Ministers had not exceeded, and would not exceed, the limit, which Parliament bad fixed at £1,000, which had been fixed as a reasonable limit for travelling expenses. THE GOVERNMENT MEASURES. He claimed that Ministers had brought down and passed many most important measures. Referring to tho Land and Income Tax Bill, he thought it would be admitted thab the abolition of tho property tax nnd the passage of that measure alone would have redeemed any sossion from the charge of barrenness. The Legislative Council Bill was almost a revolutionary measure, in thab it abolished the life tenure and fixed appointments at seven years, a far more radical reform than the creation of an elective Council, because it retained in the hands of the representatives of the people the power of nominating members of tho Council, and would compel members of the Council who wished for re-appointmont to study the wishes of the people. Tho measure which had provided for the expenditure of £50,000 for roads and bridges to open up Crown lands was also a most important measure. The Government and the Lower House was also entitled to credit for having passed the Land Bill and the Electoral Bill, but these Bills were lost owing to the attitude of the Legislative Council, which emasculated both those measures, and was so firm in the position it took up that the Bills had to be dropped. The Post Office Bill, which bad been passed, would be of immense advantage to the people of the colony as a whole. He had information which led him to believe that within thenext rive years there wouldbe a penny post throughout the British Empire, and this colony was justified in the action it had taken, especially as bhere was every reason to believe the revenue lost would be recouped. These were the principal policy Bills of the Government, and the manner in which chey had been brought forward and passed showed that the Government did not shrink from carrying out tho policy he had pub before the country. There had beer, many so-called reforms attempted and carried. Tho Public Trust Office had been reformed; the

Government had taken over liabilities of the mistakes of the past; the Office would be placed on a good footing for the future. The Factories Bill was a measure of first-rate importance to the labouring classes of the colony, and so were the Truck Bill and tho Employers Liability Bill, bub he regretted the Shop Hours Bill did nob geb through the Council. Good work had also been done in consolidating and amending the existing law, and under this heading he grouped the Auctioneers Bill, the Partnership Bill, the Public Revenues Bill, tho Mining Bill, and the Coal Miners Bill. In no other session could any Government show a scries of performances of greater or even similar magnitude. PURCHASE OF NATIVE LAND. There had not been time to pass the Native Land Bill, but the Government had been going on with the purchase of native land with extraordinary vigour. During tha few months it had been in office it had purchased 85,000 acres, nearly all fib for agricultural settlement, whereas the late Government during tho whole term of offico had only purchased 03,000 acres. Tho Government had received applications from special settlers for nearly all tho land thoy had purchased. Thoy had received applications from twonby-fivo associations representing a thousand members. Thedemand" for land could not have been accommodated nnloss the Government had purchased this land. Much as he claimed the Government had dono during the time they had been in offico, they would do much more if thoy retained tho confidence of the people. lb was unreasonable to expect a Governmonb in one session or in a few months to carry oub whab was tha policy of the whole Parliament. THE FRIENDLY SOCIETIES-BILL. Ha referred to tha Friendly Societies Bill which was introduced by Sir George Grey, and supported by tho Government. A system of Friendly Society was being started by employers, which would give employers a great advantage over employees, and tend to destroy tho existing Friendly Societies. This Bill was introduced to secure freedom to all men, and though passed by tho Lower House, its overwhelming defeat in tho Council was not unexpected, for great influence on behalf of a certain company was thero used against it. When the Council was thoroughly reformed the measure would bo tried again. THE FEMALE FRANCHISE. Referring to the female franchise, he regretted thab the clause in the Bill deferring its operations until after the next election was nob retained, becuuse if ib had been the Bill would probably have passed, and history showed that once a measure was placed upon the Statute Book it was not usually repealed. THE COVF.ItN-lEST AND BORIiOWING. As to borrowing, tho position he had taken up ab the general election he had not onco departed from. It would nob bo safe for this country to go into the Home money market for some years. It would injure our credit, and do no good to ourselves. Money was wanted for bho purpose of carrying on important works, and settling pooplo upon the land ; bub tho money wanted could bo provided in the colony itself, and obtained ab a reasonable rate or interest-. Ho was far irom saying that tho work of settlement could be stopped, and nothing in his opinion would be moro disastrous to tho country than tho stoppage of tho execution of all public works. People wero now leaving the country for want of employment, and many people were clamouring to go upon the land, and were stopped from doing so for want of roads and bridges. It was absolutely impossible thab we could stand still in these matters. The colony must go ahead or musb retrograde, and ho held bhat we must continue to go ahead though our progress musb bo slower, and we must use the money , raised . amongst ourselves with care, and see that ib was expended only upon reproductive works and aids to settlement, which wore absolutely essential to the progress of the country. Keeping within these safe lines, ho maintained wo must borrow. He ridiculed the idea thab conversion was fresh borrowing, and said that although the accumulated sinking fund was being used for public works purposes, ib was being so used under an Acb of bhe General Assembly, which had been passed some years ago, so that it was in no respect a fresh departure.

THE EKYC- EPISODE. As to the Bryce episode, he regretted very much what had taken place, but he contended that Air Bryce was wholly in fault. He had by his action in saying that lie would not withdraw words which had been declared by the Speaker as unparliamentary acted in complete defiance of tho chair. He had not only refused to withdraw, bub had said he would not follow the example of some members who withdrew words in the letter but nob in tho spirit, and said definitely he would not withdraw, and he would take the consequences. That was why the Parliamentary course was followed of having tho words taken down, and the othor proceedings followed as a matter of course. The House had taken the very mildest course open to it. Tho Speaker had been accused of weakness, but not of partiality, and his statement was on record as an authoritative accounb of what had occurred. The Speauer had also taken every means open to him to bring aboub a reconciliation, and when he (Mr Ballance) asked for a short adjournment to enable overtures for a reconciliation to proceed, the Speaker's offer and the Government's proposal for an adjournment wore met by Mr Rolleston handing in tho resignation. His instructions from Mr Bryce had apparently been so imperative thab he was nob able to hold the resignation back. Mr Bryce had been led away by a morbid sense of his own position, and what he considered was due to himself, and he was led on from one step to another until he placed himself in an entirely false position. Mr Bryce had no one to blame but himself for what had occurred. While he (Mr Ballance) regretted very much what had occurred, the laws of Parliament must be obeyed, and he accepted himself no responsibility for what had happened, and ridiculed the idea that he had in any respect desired or contrived the retirement of Mr Bryco from the House. THE PAYMENT OF MEMBERS BILL. As to the Payment of Mombers Bill, a greatdeal had been said in criticism of tho Government on this subject. Everyone admitted that there should be payment of members. The question was as to whether £240 a year was too much. He held that the proposal of tho Government was nob more than sufficient to enable working men to leave their trades and come up to Parliament, and the proposal to pay the* money monthly, if carried out, would get rid of all questions of' extra payment of two sessions in a year. The payment would be the same if there were two sessions or three sessions, and ho thought the proposal of the Government was reasonable. Every election seemed to show to him the increasingimportance of the power of wealth. Ten years ago an election would have been fought for half the amount it now coat, and. moreover,in large districts members had greater responsibility and work, and he held that unless members were paid for the work done oub of session, which was very considerable, as well as for the work during the oessiou, there could nob be satisfactory representation of the people. In Victoria and New. South Wales the payment was £300 a year; and at Home, where the value of money was greater, the rate of payment proposed ranged from £300 as a minimum to £1,000 as a maximum, and would, no doubt, be fixed at a sum betvreen

those two amounts. Tho question must be faced unless the people were prepared to forfeit bheir right of representation. If there was nob sufficient payment to members the power ot the Legislature would pass into the hands of those who possessed money bags and broad acres, and legislation would be in bhe interests of that class.

OLD SOLDIERS 1 LAND CLAIMS. Speaking of the Naval and Military Settlers Bill, he attributed the failure of the measure in giving complete satisfaction to theamendments made by bho Legislabive Council, and said thab in consequence of bhe Legislative Council having refused power for the bransfor of scrip the Governmenb had under consideration the advisability of paying in cash tho awards to older men who could not possibly go upon the land personally, and he hoped the matter would be settled in tho course of a few days. LAND TAXATION. As to the taxation proposals of the Government, they made an enormous concession to bona fide farmers in taking oft tho taxation on improvements below £3,000, while on tho other hand people who had moro than £3,000 of improvements wero well able to pay their share of taxation. Ho believed thab much of bhe outcry against the taxation arose from the fact that New Zealand was the first country in the world to put on the graduated taxation, bub it was a departure which ho considered right and proper. Wibh regard to the "Economist's" statement fchab the tax had had bhe effect of preventing largo capitalists buying land in New Zealand, he said if that was an ofl'oct of the tax, ib would be a good effect. Wo did nob want to sco the land of New Zealand monopolised by large capitalists and companies out of New Zealand. We wanted to sco it in tho hands of resident occupiers under conditions which would prevent the accumulation of large estates. Another effect of tho tax, he believed, waa that soma owners of already existing largo estates had mado up their minds to break up those estates. If that were so, then this tax, which was not pub on primarily for tho bursting up of largo estates, would have the beneficial effect of causing a subdivision of the largo estates. The tax was imposed on the broad grounds of justice, thab the men and companies who held those estates did not contribute their fair proportion to tho revenues of tho colony, but he had no doubb bhat bhe secondary resulb would be pracbically there-colonisation and densely populating largo areas which were now only carrying sheep, for tho owners of these properties must either highly improve their properties, in order bo make them remunerative, or sell them. The cry that ,the taxation imposed by the Government would injure the colony and drive capital from it was moro moonshine Ib could nob drive bho big estates away. The land would remain with us, but there would bo more people upon the land, and thab would be a good thing for the country. The Crown lands remaining which could be sebbled upon were limited in quantity, and if Now Zealand were to become a prosperous and a greab country thero must be close settlement. For the first time a Government of bhe colony, supported by the groat Liberal party, had been enabled to put into operation a policy in the interests of the people in respect of tho land, henco these tears. LAND TEMOF.E. With regard to the question of freehold and leasehold, lie pointed out that the Governmonb in their Land Bill provided for the retention of bhe freehold and deferred payment tenures, as well as tho perpetual lease, bub whab thoy said was thab a permanent lease should he what it really purported bo bo, and not merely a deferred freehold. lb was true that they had also provided — and this was a greab grievance wibh some people—that improvements should be insisted upon in respect of cash land. He believed it would be to bho interests of the colony to have the permanent leasing, and no other, in force. The great bulk of the people of the colony who held freehold land held their land under mortgage, end it would bo better for them to hold land under a rent from the Crown than under a rent payable in the shape of interest to the mortgagee, who had no bowels of compassion. Ho was called a land nationalist, bub bis land nationalisation was that the land should be held by the bulk of bhe people, and nob by a few, the many being lefb destitute of land. If the people had perpetual bonure, lighb rents, and bhe chance of becoming prosperous, how much better that bhe titlo of bhe land should remain in tho hands of the State instead of the hands of private mortgagees. Thab is whab ib virtually came to. CONCLUSION. In closing his speech he referred to tho establishment of tho labour bureau. He said that 1,560 men had passed through the bureau, and the Government had been able bo geb 927 of bhab number employed by private employers, and the number which had been placed on public works was 633. Tho total expenditure for attaining this result was £1,080, of which £700 was spent on railway fares and came back to the treasury, so that bhe neb amount spenb was only £300. He held that it was tho duty of the Government to see that all men able to work and willing to work obtained employment. He claimed that in all departments of legislation and administration the Governmont had shown an honest desire to promote the welfare and progress of tho colony, and bho earnest efforts they had mado had been successful. A number of questions were asked, in answer to which Mr Ballance said that ho objected to the Railway Insurance Bill much on the same grounds as he objected to the friendly society against which the Friendly Societies Bill had been aimed, as it interfered with the liberty of individuals. A vote of confidence was given to Mr Ballance ab the close.