The Press. MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1897. MORE MISSTATEMENTS BY THE PREMIER.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9812, 23 August 1897, Page 4

The Press. MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1897. MORE MISSTATEMENTS BY THE PREMIER.

Unfortunately for the reputation of the colony the Premier's statements are not always truthful. When he can indulge 'in fancy and give expression to his imagination people do not look for much accuracy. We were not, however, prepared for the speech delivered" by him in King's Hall, Holborn, on the Bfch July, and reported in the Daily News of the next day. The report is, we have no doubt, fairly accurate. When we state that not a single figure given by him to illustrate his " facts " is correct, it will be seen that a reporter could not havo been mistaken in everything. Let us give some extracts from his speech.

Speaking of the Maori contingent, he said :—" They had Maoris of the " best blood, princes who had stripped " themselves of their rank to come " here with the colonial contingent." This is pure unadulterated bunkum, and must, when translated to the Maori, afford them much amusement* Very few of the Maoris

had any claim to chieftainship or any standing among the Maori people. He added-—" If one thing more than " another gave him pleasure it was " that the noble Maori race was saved, " for it was increasing at last. (Re- " newed cheering.)" How shall such a statement be characterised? The census for 1896 showed that, including half castes living with Maoris, there were only 39,854 Maoris in the colony. In 1891 there were -11,998. There was, therefore, a decrease of 2139 in five years. Regarding defence the Premier said—"New Zealand, " with a population of less than " 800,000, was spending half a million " a year on defence." What we are spending is about a fifth of that amount. We spent in 1896-7 the following sums :— Australasian Naval' Defence £2i7AIZ 0 fj Defence prop.r,\ including "t_ Militia, jEsjss_ 9 10 Contingent expenoe 1 (purchase of rifles) ... .-._,' 10,553 16 9 _#• In all £99,_18 6 7 What excuse was there for the Premier stating what was so grossly inaccurate ? _ We again quote from this speech— " Its (New Zealand's) dairy industry was most important. Last year it exported 20,000,0001bs of butter and cheese." The total amount exported was 15,985,2001b. We refer our readers to the trade statistics published by the Government. The amount was sversfcated by more than four million pounds. Speaking of agriculture'the Premier said: —"The " colony had done much to add to the " resources of the Empire. It had " 900,000 acres of land under grass." Such a statement shows how little the Premier knows of the agricultural and pastoral industries. The land in grass amounts to 9,285,170 acres made up as follows :— In grass sown after ploughing ._ 4,254,923 acres Ingrass surface sown... 5,030,247 acres Total _ ... 9,285,170 acres We suppose the Premier did not know the difference between hundred and thousand and million. He ought to have known something of mining, and he 3aid pf our gold and silver export:— " The mineral resources of the colony were not to be despised. It had already exported gold and silver to the value of £55,000,000." The fact is that up to the 31st December, 1896, the value exported in these metals was:— Gold _ _- £52,392,430 Silver __, ... 181,852 Total ... ._, £52,574,282 The Premier is only about two and a half millions out. Nowadays we suppose millions are of no moment. There were other statements made in the same speech as wide of the truth as those we have quoted. There was the usual bombast about our assets being four or five times greater than our debts, and our coal deposits " would take the place of those in Great Britain when the latter were worked out! " How is it, we wonder, that the Premier can never be accurate, and the statement of correct figures seems to be foreign to his nature. Is it constitutional ? or is he ignorant ojr the statistics of the colony ? If he had consulted the New Zealand Year Book prepared under his own instructions he could have furnished his audience with correct figures about our progress. We are sorry to say that on another occasion the good name of the colony was besmirched by one of her Ministers making statements about " unpledged securities " that were not true. And now again we have the Premier making statements to a London audience that reference to the official Blue Books would show him were inaccurate and misleading. Either he is ignorant of the truth, not taking the trouble to ascertain what is correct, or he is the most unreliable of men. Either horn of the dilemma is not pleasant to select, but he must take one of them.