MINISTERIAL SPEECH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 133, 5 June 1907, Page 7

MINISTERIAL SPEECH.

JOS. J. A- XJLIAZ AT DUSEDES-. PBOBD6ED WAGES BOARD. 2SDUCTIOK OF CUSTOMS DUTIES. (gy Telegraph-—Press Association.) UCXEDEs". Tuesday. Th, Son- J. A. Millar addressed a J-Lct in the Princess , Theatre to-JrlfV-jjor 3. Loondon presided, ani £ * tribute to Mr. Millar for having grtys safeguarded the interests of this Minister assured the gathering m Ms heart was in Dunedin. and aI„L would be. Referring to the satrscondition of defence matter*, he AikAt ffiat the man who had been "eSedior commandants were in every Sr fitted b 7 experience for their posiLiL The volunteer movement most be aad he believed the Defence Smflfcrested would do that, and beieehms they would find that there see a lot oi well-trained men to lm-der-the defence of their country- A amendment had beea passed in with the Arbitration and eonZaaidan A*t- under which the iudgp was psfe absolutely independent of the butane Court. The result was that the S&ewas enabled to catch up with arM woric AU lrreaFi 0I W ° 10 , ! Snr tsh past would soon b> cleared 5Sr "Legation had also been passed T tie adequate inspection of scaffold- ; Z and to give advances to workers up £W*»£ths Of the value ot their Of late it had been discovered ■ Lt the introduction of suction gas : Ids had been responsible ror one ; feitv and aniamendment had been , the Factories Act to enable tae Lloar Department to see that in futee were taken to make plants Minister referred at some length fa tie-tramiig-ship Sparrow, which, he l-i was too ranch on the small side. a m.re suitable ship was obyaed. he «3 afraid he would not be .He to centime the training., as there «i aSsolntity no room. The result oi fi> exptrinent, however,' he felt sure., janli be sTceessrnL USANCE. •With rejari to finance, Mr. Millar the Covermnfint had done everything possMe to husband their resources. and do aiaething towards paying on the debt. He considered that the surplus oi , £ 7l7#QO/ alter transferring £. < 3.000 to tie PuMc Works Fund, waa pretty good work. i" addition, £150.000 worth of .TreastnTtflh had been redeemed, "i ear fey Tearthera appeared on the Financial Statemiat an item showing Treasury bills oitatandins- £700,000. and this had J been educed to £550,000. It was hoped, j in th* course of time, as the result of j the government's policy, dead losns voul< be nnaEy wiped oat. Reference •was sade to the substantial increase in expats, imports, and Customs returns, .shirstffir thai the purchasing power of the >eople. was in no way reduced. THE LA2fD •RTT-γ.. : TJe Government was told, he said, JJs'the bSI that was going to pat them ctfOi office was the Land Bffl. (Hear, iff. and laughter.) 3lr. Massey had j 'tiSmpted to create an. impression that freehold.! sere "was not a line in the bill attacks' freehold, excepting that of the man ajfheid" over £. 50,000 worth of uninrpro?d7afae. There had been £77,000,000 <rt£ of freehold sold, but excepting lands, the Government did fit iafead: touching one foot of it. The jdtefciaa to be decided was not that of jfflholif 7: leasehold, bat that of endowment or no endowment. Despite any staieinent made by Mr. Alassey, the aggregation O& large estates was goinjr onTiaid the proof of this lay in the published table. In four short years it was Rai that the hind was steadily going stSot}» hands of fewer individual?. The iseoii for the present outcry against 6e bill was caused by two factors—first. KSording to the banking returns, the effiea of assets over liabilities, and seondly, the high price for wool, muttos. snS. butter in England.

PROPOSED WAGES BOARD, ifr. Miliar said be proposed to ask Parikment to authorise the creation of WagEs Board?, instead of the present CaneQiatiaa Boards, and he intended fining: out on a new line in this direction- He hoped that these boards would te able to deal with disputes as they •sac, aid they would consist o» men of ttetradß on both sides. The Arbitration Court TOold remain, and the right of ijpeal to tliat body would be granted Bffller certain conditions. No court enddfeil with such a scope of country, *n4l*£!lid not favour tbe esta.bliahin.eiiE uttwii" Courts in a country wfrere the Ssxhlds were interchangeable, and a .fflnioßmty of award must be maintained as facia, possible. His proposals would te. bnmgiit down at an early stage eft& sesion. He had heard it *aied that th-e Arbitration Court Ssd'.qene no good for the worker at •1 .When Parliament met he wcwild P»e? before it a return showing- the SBpwrad position in each trade. It had *Iso been stated that the increase in **(& Sad been swallowed up by the iu©aed. cost of living. (Hear, hear.) He psSted that, but where would they have fea M there had been no increase in

THE PRICE OF BEEAD. i ffieaiber of the audience here entered tjrstest against the rise in the price of Mad.

ijS* Minister said he did. not profess to finw nmeii aboot this rise, but he would jpe ikem. a broader view. Surely kauri be a< eiap in this country "as anyelse, but they found that last price list issued by one of the fens in ifelboume" quoted 12in r a * 22/, including a if duty, while «« suns were quoted in Christclmrch at Ihis pointed to something being TJTong. taken to mean" a comHe considered there was no tor the rise in flour. There wheat in the colony than was fraied far the people, and yet within 48 W ~l of * gamble in the marS/^r 13 e^lt **?* had increased £2 wldle not a ba ? !eft the CajjjjJ He recommended a Board of and an export duty to solve &Sf?- U the were to be *»m f 1 it would be necesug. tt % Stttftethiag of the kind. WQBKEBS- CQMPENSAtION. 14 *" the Wa *kers' CompensaB °ffifcs^»lJ i^nded bri agißg forward 10 reasm?S!s He saw a schedule should not be «^tLv a^'the of any acJ^bte P s^^- to increase the uooust < gratia.

avoid litigation as far as possible he ■would submit a. schedule for the value of t last or injured leg or arm. The worker TTOoId then get greater benefits than under the existing Act. ajid while there would bp no increase in the premiums there •would be a jireat saving of legal expenses. He had a bill ready now. and it would be submitted to the Labour Bills Committee as soon a= possible. He was sure it would be agreed that the benefits resulting would be far more than at the present time. THE HALF-HOLIDAY. The Minister said he wished to make the position quite dear with regard to the Saturday half-holiday controversy. What had happened was this: He had had to administer the law fully in the case of certain men who had pone oat ou strike. Then he had been advised by a certain section of the employers in Wellington to set aside a recommendation of the Conciliation Board, but he declined to do so. He was then quietly informed that while he was desirous of enforcing the law against them it was being ffinked at in the country towns in respect of the Saturday half-holiday. He at once instructed the inspectors to immediately notify that the law must be observed. It was his duty to do so. and he would always endeavour to see the law carried out as closely as possible. (Applause.) To allow any At-t to w> nung up would be dangerous and unconstitutional. I'nder tfap Shops aud Offices Act he intended to introduce legislation to deal with Chinese laundry partnership-, which evaded the Act. and steps would be taken to see that every employee was an employee in fact. If Chinamen were to trade in this conn try he would see that it was on equal terms with Europeans. THE TARIFF. As to tariff proposals, the principle that would guide the Government would be the reduction of duty on the necessaries of life. At the same time, every encouragement would be given to local industriesThey spoke about increasing the population, " keeping- the cradles full," but ■what good was that if there was not work provided for the people? He hoped a tariff would be formed to safeguard the two principles be bad mentioned.

In conclusion. Mr. Millar referred to the good -work that had been accomplished a= the result of the Colonial Conference, and he hoped trade would be benefited in consequence. Dealing with local matters, he hoped to see established in Dunedin a veterinary college at the University, and a State'coal depot. The Minister answered a. number of qnestions at the conclusion of his address, and the following motion was unanimously passed: " That this meeting accords to the Hon. J. A- Millar a very hearty vote of thanks for his able and interesting address, and expresses confidence in the Government of which he is a distinguished member."