LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11871, 19 April 1904, Page 8

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

SPEECH AT LAWEENCE

THE 'LAND QUESTION. FREEHOLD FOR CROWN TENANTS. * (SPECIAL TO "THE FBESS.") LAWRENCE, April 18. Mr W. F. Masscy, the member for Franklin, and Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives complying with ;i ivquest from residents of Lawrence, gnvo :i political address here thia evening. The Town Hall, where the meeting was held, was packed to the doors. Mr G. Jeffcry, Mayor of the Borough, occupied tin- chair, and amongst others on the platform were Messrs D. Reid, M.H.R., Howard Jackson and (Jilkison. Mr Mas-ey, who was very cordially re-v,iv«-d. thanked the people of Lawrence for the feeling which had prompted the requisition which had been forwarded to him and given him an opportunity of ad<lrf£4ing the electors of the district. Hβ knew it was a matter of history that Lawrence had always taken a prominent and intelligent interest in politics, and that many prominent politicians had ad.lt.ssed meetings in that town, and there4m\- the compliment extended to him was one which he appreciated. (Applause.) THE MEMBER FOR TUAPEKA. Mr Maswy desired to say at the outset that he was not present to injure in the slightest degree tin- present respected member for Tuapeka. though they were on opposite sides of. the nouse. He wanted to say with all sincerity that. if he could at any time assist Mr Bennet in his representation of the district or in any other way, he would be glad to do so. (Aoplause.) Although Mr Bennet's vote went with the Government very often, he was sure his heart and sympathies were with the other side of the House. THE OPPOSITION'S ROLE. Continuing, Mr Ma*.«ey< .vaid that during the- last few yearn the attention of the I>eoph3 of New Zealand had been taken up with a long succession of events of Imperial magnitude, but it was not right that our own affairs should be neglected, and he wanted to say that the public business would be the better for a certain amount of proper attention from the people who were directly concerned. (Applause.) During the few hours he had been in Lawrence ho had read the Premier's speech in Lawrence, and saw that he had attacked the Opposition. He (Mr Massey) purposed to defend the Opposition, but he wanted to do it fairly and in a straightforward manlier, without any misrepresentation or exaggeration. In what he was going to say he did not wwh it to be understood that in every little detail he was the mouthpiece of every individual member of the •party, for it was not to be expected that twenty-five or thirty independent and .intelligent men" would think alike on every question or phase of a question in the politics of the country, but they were agreed in the main point that they had no confidence in the Government. They thought 4 yint the Government ought to.be ■watched and criticised. When the Government wa-s right the Opposition proposed to support the Government, but when wrong they intended to oppose the Government by every means in their power, both in the House and on the public platform. When the Government knew that they were watched by a strong Opposition they would be less likely to do what was wrong, and waste the money of the country, than would otherwise be the case. (Applause.) POLITICAL NOMENCLATURE. . Mr Seddon had talked largely about fiie Opposition as Tories and Conservatives, and .his. own party as Liberals and democrats. He (Mr Massey) did not think the term's Tory and Liberal applied to the politics of this country. There was no party ofVChurch and State here, and there were. on the Opposition side ■of ]the Houso as in the Government -party. . On* the other hand, there were just oe strong Conservatives behind the Government ns on the Opposition side. .When he heard a man talking largely, about his liberalism he always felt inclined to believe that there was an axe to be ground faomewhere. If democracy was going to be successful it must be * honest, . and. if it was not, an honest despotism would be preferable. They could, however, have an honest democracy, but '. to. have that they must alter their methods, and more power must be given to the representatives of the people, and less to Ministers. - : - ':' HONEST ADMINISTRATION , . He "believed, that the chief fault of the Government lay more in their administration' than their' legislation, and lie sincerely condemned the Government for putting the estimates through Parliament ■ last session before of the three moet important Departments, Education, Agriculture arid .Land, were available. These reports should be in the hands of members, before the estimates were taken, and he also thought that on opportunity .should bo afforded members of discussing and criticising the Departmental reports by a day being stated for that purpose, when the report was laid on the table of the House. There was no more important matter. for Parliaroentyto discuss than the education question, . and it would be a great benefit to the country if members had the opportunity of discussing wha* was being done by the Education Department. , It was the same with, the other Departments, Lands, Pojice, and so on, and it was more important that'these Departments, should be honestly administered than excuses should be made for piling up legislation. . . A REMARKABLE SESSION. 'Respecting last (session, Mr Maseey said the session was remarkable for many things. It was remarkable for the-length of time occupied (nearly five months), for the way in which the work was misdanaged by the Government, and for the Somber of Bills introduced. Tlie 'Premier had many ambition?, one of which was that there should be a huge Statute Book. There were 30G Bills introduced. 137 of which were passed. Some\ of the Bills ' were very important, Jiut under the Seddouian methods of the laet few; years the more important the measure the. less consideration it received. Probably the most important Bill last fission was the Preferential Trtide Bill 7 which was put through oil its stages o.t one session, only three Ministers thinking it necessary to express an opinion upon it. The Barmaids' Abolition Bill, on the other hand, occupied two sittings, and four Ministers fell it incumbent upon them to give the House the benefit of their experience. (Laughter and applause.) He had seen the Bonk of New Zealand Bill providing for a renewal of the* guarantee, and the further investment of £500,000 of the moneys of the people, put through in much less time than was token, to discuss on un- , ■ important measure with regard to the scenery of the country. It was all very ■ well for the Premier to say that members were paid to do the bunneiß of the coun- ' try. That was admitted, but they were not paid to. waste the time of the country, and that was what was being done. (Applause.) . t LEGISLATION BY EXHAUSTION. The right hon. gentleman charged the Opposition with' obstruction, and denied time there was anything in the way of legislation by exhaustion lot* tesMon", but what, took place? The day the Preferential Trade Bill was introduced the House met as usual at 2.30 in the afternoon. Formal business occupied the afternoon, and at 7.30 the Preferential JVade Bill was taken up, occupying the attention of members until "9 o'clock m> tfe following ""wj^j, ' »

wTWn the Houee adjourned far ten minutes, after which the Bank of New Zealand Bill wan taken up. and wn» not concluded until 2 o'clock on the following morning. Was tihat not legislation by exhaustion? rn<» railway estimate*, corering a million and a half of public mom'T, w«.ie put w.rougii at half-past one o'clock in the monimg, when members -were tired out. The 1 ul>lic Works Statement and Estimates were not brought down to the House until twothird* of the money the House was asked to vote had been expended. WASTING TIME. With respect to the Premiere charge against the Opposition of waiting time, ite had to ia* this: A prominent member of the Opposition had measured the space occupied in - Han^rd" last session, and found that Mr Seddon took up 6524 inches. Sir J. G. Ward 4095 inches, Sir Taylor (really an Independent member) 183 d nchJ, Mr Ma«*y 1695! incW, Mr James \llen 1578 inches, and Sir William Ru*«ll 1474 inches. As a matter of fact -Mr Stddon occupied as much space as the four Opposition members who talked more and lofioent. Who then Wasted the time of the Some? (Applause.) If there was one thing more than another that wae responsible for the waste of time in House, and for many of the kkm«.thaw took place, it was the egotistical VCTbo.Uy of the Right"Hon. Richard John Seddon. (Applause.) THE 'LAND QUESTION. Speaking on the land question, Mo Massev >aid that the Premier in his recent Speech liad told them that if nn amendment granting the freehold to btatt tenants ware carried to the Land Bill, he would ask for a dissolution, but the threat of a dissolution was not going to make tlie slightest difference-to the Opposition Ihe party which he represented intended to do what they thought right, dissolution or no dissolution. (Applause.) There was no question about which there was a» much difference of opinion between the Government and the Opposition a*. I there was on the land question, the difference being that the Government pam favoured the leasehold, and the Oppotion members favoured the freehold-Unit was to «»y, the Opposition favoured the option of the freehold being-given to the tenants of the Crown. (Applause.) In a recent speech the Premier that the Opposition wanted to abolish the leasehold tenure altogether. That wae not the case. The Opposition did not want to abolish leasehold. If a man was satisfied with the leasehold, by all means let him hare it. but what tney wanted was this—that when a man became financially able to purchase the property which ue cultivated, he should be given an opportunity of doing so. ■ Mr Seddon had also stated that if the Crown tenants had the option of tne ireehold it would lead to the aggregation of large estates. He (Mr Massey) did not think there was any danger of that taking place, because, whenever the tenure wa«> freehold, and it wae not hampered with restrictions, in nine out of ten cases the tendency wae to subdivide rather than to aggregate. But, in order to make perfectly certain that there would be no aggregation, the Opposition proposed an amendment. They intended to go on the ilinyes of an amendment of which he himself gave notice last session, whidn provided practically that no man -with the land fee already possessed should be able to take tip more than 64Q. acres of firstclass land, or than 2COO acres of second-das, land. (Applause.) That ■was a complete answer to the objection raided by the Premier and his supporter* and -would do away -with the -possibility of large estates being aggregated from the lands which were at present Grown lands. There wan no subject that came before the House of more importance than the subject of lend tenure, because every acre brought into cultivation added to vie wealth of the colony, and to tne exparte, and «o brought money into the country. If the subject of land settlement had in days ironebv passed received the attention it deserved, there would be less unoccupied land than was at present the.case, butt though he had to admit that ■ a certaji* amount of wwk had been done (some oB Tt very good work) there were still large areas of Crown land growing bush and ewamp vegetation which ought to be growing crops and , grasses and carrying stock. Accordingly lie took it to be the firsti duty of any Government to settle its unoccupied lande, and where there wanting setters, and settlers wanting land the two should be brought together, and'the settlers placed upon the lands which were available. THE BALLOT SYSTEM. There was a difficulty with regard to the ballot system. The ballot system, as was well known, allowed of speculation, and introduced the gambling element in connection with the settlement. In consequence 6f this he had known of many good men, intending settlers, who had for a number of years been prevented from .obtaining land. It was difficult to say what should take the place of the ballot system, .but ihe would suggest that where a settler I draws a section he should not be allowed to transfer it for a, term of, say, five years from the time of taking it up. That was generally done now in the case of lands nurchased under the Lands, for Settlement Act, but he thought it should apply to Crown lands as well, and he believed it would do away with a great deal of the gambling and speculation which went on at present. THE LAND LAWS. It was recognised by many of thore who took an interest in land , settlement that the land lawe were somewhat out of date, and required amendment.. On two occasions the Government had introduced Land Bills, and referred them to the Lands Committee, whose business it was to revise and amend the. Bills and to report to tlws House. The Lands Committee had done its duty, bnt the Bills were not proceeded with. He was not able to say why, - but he believed the reason waa that the Government wero afraid of an amendment providing for tho freehold being moved. It was very well known, too, that there was not much firstclass land left. Most of the land now remaining in. the hands of the Crown, was second and third-class land, and consequently settlers required more encouragement to go on to such land than was formerly the case. We were apt to think that our present land laws were the most liberal the colony had ever eeen. That was not the case, because in the days of the Provincial.Governments there was in some districts of the colony a law known as the Homestead Act, which provided that in the case, of certain blocks being sot apart for the purpose, a family could take up 200 or 250 acres. After they had fenced it, brought a fifth of \p into cultivation, erected a house thereon, and shown they were likely to be permanent settlers, they were entitled to a Crown grant of the land, without any capital being asked for. There was no such liberal land law at the present time, and he wa« strongly of opinion that if we were to have these second and third-class- lands settled, •we should haye to revert to the old Homestead Act or place a similar law on the Statute Book (Applause). He had resurrected the old Homestead Act during a discussion in the House last session, and expressed himself in favour of it, and he was glad to notice that Mr Seddon, in his very first speech of the end of the session, had also expressed himself in favour of tne Act, though "he did not give him (Mr Massey) any credit for bringing it up or suggesting it. Still it was the right thing to do, and, whoever got the credit he (Mr Massey) intended. when the opportunity offered, to support something of the sort being done. It might be said they were parting with the lands of the Crown, the public estate, and getting nothing therefor, but he held tluit the best asset of the. State wne in good settlers, producers, industrious men, sturdy yeomanry. (Applause.) LEASE IN PERPETUIT\> W#h regard to the lease in perpetuity a'great deal might be said in favour of it, but there were two sides to every quesj tion. and even from the point of view of the- State there was a certain amount- to be said on the other side. He supposed we had settled some hundreds of thousands of acres under lease in perpetuity, and he

believed that from the whole of that land ' we did not collect one single shilling by iviy of income tax. Now, if that land had been settled under the freehold tenure we should have had a revenue of some thousands of pounds therefrom by way of land tux. Consequently, he believed that even from the point of view of the State the freehold tenure was preferable to the socalled lease m perpetuity. Then from the point of view of the settler the objections were, perhaps, more apparent to those who had experience of the lease in perpetuity than to the reeidente in tha towns. The first objection was, perhaps, the irritating visits of the inspector. Then there were the continual demands for rental, and the threats to forfeit if the rent was not paid punctually, and in advance. There was the well'known and openly expressed opinion of certain prominent members of the Legislature, who were anxious for a Ke-valuation Act to be passed. There was the resolution passed at the Conference held last year in Wellington of the Liberal and Labour Federation, y in favour of revaluation. There was something .of the sort passed recently at the Trades and Labour Conference" at Christehurch, but most important of all there was the socalled Fair Rent Bill of a few years ago, -which provided that a commission, consisting of three men, should have the right to raise and lower the rents of all tse lands in the colony, Crown lands included. Under such circumstances, what would the lease-in-pexpetuity be worth? It would not be worth tha paper it was written on. (Applause.) Mr Massey quoted from the opinion of asettler, as expressed in one of the Wellington papers just recently. Tins writer stated his astonishment at finding that after he had spent many years on. his seclion, held under lease-iii-perpetuity, and brought it to a high, state of improvement, he could not leave it to any member of his family without the consent of the Land Board of the district. These were tha things which made the settler holding land under lease-in-perpetuity feel that his improvements, the labour of many years, were to some extent at the mercy of a «t of men who had no sympathy with his hardships and struggles, and his ideals and aspirations, and he naturally longed for a more secure form of tenure, which was, in his opinion, to be found in freehold. Ha might remind them of the Irish Land Act, passed a year or two ago, which provided for giving the freehold to the tenant farm(vs of Ireland. He believed that Act had done more to settle the Irish difliculty, and satisfy the Irish people, than, anything else that lrad taken place for the last fifty years. Surely it was not suggested that they should place the country settlers of this colony in a. worse positiou so far as tenure of land was concerned than the farmers of Ireland. (Hear, hear.) He believed that if a man was to do bia best, and to make the very best of hh opportunities, it was necessary to let him; feel that the land he cultivated belonged to himself and his family after him. TOWN LANDS. In the case of town lands, he would like to see every wage-«anier encouraged to earn the freehold of his house and section. He "believed that in such cases the wife should be regarded as a. partner, nnd tho house and land should not be sold without her consent and approval. That was the law in some of the American States, and he believed it was a law that with advantage might be placed on the Statute Book of the colony. He held that witb the freehold the country would get better results than from any form of leasehold the ingenuity of Parliament could devise. (Applause.) ALLEGED CLOSE SETTLEMENT. With regard to land secured under the Lands for Settlement Act, when the authority was given to the Government to borrow money for the purpose of acquiring lands, it was on the understanding that the lands should be in. a suitable neighbourhood, fairly convenient to markets, and ttus* opportunities should be given to men of-email capital who were anxious to go upon the land and become country settlers. - He knew, however, of many cases where these conditions had been departed from. There was one case in particular. An e3tate had been acquired in North Canterbury (he did not know the estate, and was simply quoting from official reports and Parliamentary papers), and, according to these reporte, the greater part of tho estate was cut up in blocks of from 1200 to over 6000 acres. That was not closer settlement as he understood it, and ha questioned very much the wisdom of borrowing money in England, and running the 'leountay into debt, and exhausting to» credit simply for the purpose T>f cutting up one large cheep run into half a dozen smaller ones. (Applause.) Ho yielded to no man in his desire to see the lands of the colony properly settled and occupied, and facilities given to the right class of settler, but care should be taken that when lands were purchased they were suitable for subdivision, and should be readily taken tip by men who Were likely to make good settlers. He thought that now, when, so far as prices were concerned, we •had, so to speak, reached the top of the wave, care was more than ever necessary and he believed that when land approached £20 or £25 an aero (and land had teen purchased at that price), it was not wise for the Government to interfere. That was to say, it was more in the interests of the State* to buy a large block at £3, £4, or £5 an acre "than a large block at £20 or £25 an acre. (FREEHOLD TO CROWN TENANTS. Then came the question of whether he would give the settlers on land taken under the Land For Settlement Act the option of the freehold. He eaid "yes," with the ' conditions and restrictions which he had mentioned, and which would make impossible the re-aggregation o! large estates. (Applause.) He believed that with the freehold a settler could be happier, mere prosperous, and more contented, and h«s contended that what- was best for the settler waa also best for the State. It might be said though, that where lands had increased in value from the time they were taken up by the settler, it was not fair to the State to let him have the land at its original value, but he wanted to remind them that the value which tho State possessed in the land was the value upon which the eettler paid interest. Without a breach of faith on the part of the State, that-value could not be increased for 999 years. He thought, however, that where there was a substantial increase in value, and where, the settler desired to acquire the freehold, something might be done in the way of dividing the increase between the settler and the State. For instance, if a settler had tak4n up land at, say. £5 an acre, unfits value,-apart from improvements, placed upon it .by the settler, with which the State had nothing to do, had increased to £10, then it would probably be a fair thing to let the eettler liave the opportunity of 1/jiying the freehold at, say, £7 10s an *rte. The id*a might not be perfect, but if they were all anxious to do what was right, probably something satisfactory would be evolved from it. (Applause.) ABSENTEE LANDLORDS. Then there was another point. The colony went to England for most of the money it wanted for the purchase of Jand under the Land for Settlement Act, and by so doing the ownership of the colony's lands was slowly, perhaps, but graduaUv passing away into tb* hands of people outside the country, a fact that in it-self was causing anxiety to many people who had the real welfare of the country at heart. But if they gave the settlers the opportunity of purchasing their lands, as they were able to pay, the money received could be used for the purchase of other lands, and it would not be necessary to, go outside the colony for the money required, and the ownership of the lands would remaiu with the people of tho colony. (Applause.) FAIR. RENT BILL. Reverting to the Fair Rent Bill, MrMa«sey said that a Minister of the Crown., i-peaking at Tiinani recently, told his audience th:tt the measure would yet bo passed in the House, but it be passed as long as he (Mr Massey) was a, member, if he could help it. (Applaiue.)

MIDLAND RAILWAY MUDDLE. The Premier had said tliat a previous Government, w;ia responsible for the Midland Railway moddle, and implied that tUe Opposition were the representatives of that Government, bat that was not the case at ell. The Government responsible, and which made all the arrangements in connection with the Midland Railway Company wae the Stout-Vogel Government, of wliich the present Premier -was at that time a most enthusiastic supporter. Then, iv 189*, the present Treasurer, the Right Hon. Mr Seddoa,' introduced a Bill providing for handing over £600,000 of ttio public money to company for the completion of the line, but Pariiameat, by a majority of mx, refused to pass it. If there was one man jn the present Parliament more than another who was respon-t eible for the Midland Railway muddle, it was the right hon. gentleman who was now in charge of the colony's affairs. (Applause.) THE COLONY'S PROSPERITY. The Premier had over and over again taken credit to Jiw Government for the prosperity -of the country. But was the prosperity of the colony not owing to the fact that other countries, such as Africa., Australia, and England, had proviirt! ready markets for everything we couldi produce, whether from the farm, mine, factory, or forest, and ready money being forthcoming for everything we could send out of the colony? The settlers rose to the occasion, and money poured into the colony, with the result" that employment was plentiful, and there waa no difficulty iv making ends meet. He had no hesitation dn saying it was the workers, the people who raised the produce and sent it out, who were responsible for the prosperity of the colony, and the Government of the <elony had very little to do with it. In fact, we should have been better off if the Government had been less extravagant) and more capable. (Applause.) 1 PREFEiRENTIAL TRADE. The question of preferential trade was one that should be carefully thought out, and Parliament eheuld never have attempted to deal with it as it did last session by rushing a Bill through at one sitting Hi the dying hours of the session. Uβ was thoroughly in sympathy with any feasible scheme which would strengthen the tiea of Empire, and retain for Britain and the British people their commercial and industrial supremacy. The aim of tlie tariff movement was to enable Britain to compete successfully -with foreign countries._but there was an intense feeling of disappointment on the part of many people who were anxious to assist Mr Chamberlain and those working with him when they read the Act the New Zealand Parliament had put through last year, and ho expected that next session they would have an amending Bill, and he sincerely hoped they would be able to put the matter right. (Applause.) It must always be borne in mind that to many of the people of the Old Country preferential trade meant dearer food, and it was a serious problem to many of those people whether the advantages supposed to be attendant on preferential trade would compensate for the increased cost of living. That was a point on which it, was imposeible for the people of this country to form a judgment. It was not right for us to interfere hi that matter. It was for the people in England to manage their own concerns, and it was for us, if we thought fit, to give a reasonable and moderate amount of preference to the manufacturers of our kith and kin in the Old Country, who took everything we could send to them, and did not charge a farthing thereupon. (Applause.) Speaking of preference reminded him of what we had done a few years ago. The Government borrowed money in England and spent it in America in the purchase of railway engines and carriages, and a Parliamentary return which had been submitted showed that those Ameri-can-made railway carriages cost £1699 each, and also (the more important fact) that they could have been; manufactured in this country for £1500 each. That was the way in which the Liberal Government gave preference, and provided' work for the people of tEis country. (Applause.) Canada was the first country in the British dominions to give preference to Britain. They first gave preference of 12£ per cent.. which was raised to 25 per cent., and finally to 534 per cent., and that was the position there now. But in the case of the Dominion of Canada, the preference was in the shape of a reduction of the duty on British foodaj that ia, if the duty under the tariff was 15 per cent, on any line, the British article was only charged 10 per cent. New Zealand, however, did not follow that lead, but increased the duty on foreign foods. In speaking at the Premiers' Conference, Mr Chamberlain said that so long ac the duties in the colonies were prohibitive or nearly so, to the British goods, it would nob benefit them to still further increase the duties on foreign foods. That was exactly what New Zealand had done, and so far as we were concerned, it was no concession to the British manufacturer at all, hut had increased to the people of the colony the price of certain articles that they could not do without. It was a great pity that the Imperial sentiment of the people of New Zealand had been misused as it had been in the Bill of last cession. (Applause.) He did not think it»w«os feasible or deiurable at the, present time to have freetntde between the various parts of the Empire, but what we ought to do was to readjust our whole system of customs taxation so as to give preference to Britain and not to collect a shilling more by way of customs taxation than we did at the present time. That should be tackled at once, and if a whole session* was occupied with nothing else it would be time well spent. (Applause.) A MISLEADING CABLEGRAM. Mr Massey also commented on the Premier's cablegrams to the London papers about the passage of the Preference Bill through the House. Mr Seddon had wired that the third'reading of the Bill passed by 52 to 16, but- members knew that the division on his (Mr Marsey's) amendment for the postponement of the measure till next session was defeated not by 52 to 16 but by 50 to 27. It was a great pity mat the Premier, who was the chief citizen of this colony, did not show a better example in the w.a-y of accuracy to the people at present under the rule of his Government. (Applause.) Whatever happened, he believed the agitation would do good. It had done good already; it would show the BritisN manufacturer he must keep his appliances up-to-date, -and supply the exact article his customers required. Ho (Mr Massey) had not lost faith in the British manufacturer, and now that he had been put on his mettle the foreign manufacturer would have a lively time, not only in the British market, but in the foreign markets, and the'world would be shown that when Britain attended to things, either commercially or industrially, it would have the effect of more strongly welding bonds of Empire and making it more self-reliant than ever. (Applause.) THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Respecting the Legislative Council, he said, although he believed reform was wanted in many directions, it was necessary more in connection with the Council than in any other direction, and principally with regard to the method of appointment. Jit present the nominative system was in force. The Government recommended that certain men should be appointed, and the Governor, if he thought fit (and he always thought fit) appointed them. Last session there were 46 members in the Council. This was more, ,he thought, than was required. The qualifications ought to be intelligence, experience, and usefulness to the community. Well, it might be usefulness, but the only usefulness was usefulness to the party in power. Fijpeee for office was never thought of, and; few of the members were fit to revise the bills that had passed tlie House; It wjs remarkable that Mr Seddon never apporoted a man who had not been his follower. No matter how good a colonist he might have -been, of how well he had aerved the State, if he had not acknowledge-! the Premier as his leader the Upper House

was not for him. Even Sir Maurice O'Rorke, who had been a member of the House for forty years, and for a great part of the time occupied the position of Speaker, had not been appointed to the Council. Hβ agreed with the Premier's recent statement that the Council ehould be either ended or mended, and, for himself, b« considered it ought to be amended ; i*- ought to be nude representative of the people. The Premier, on a recent occasion, said the Council had not proved a check on hasty legislation, and was a cumbersome attachment to public affairs. This ■was the Council the Premier had himself appointed, because, out of the 46 members, 33 were actually appointed by the Premier. If the Premier had any intention of ending the Council, why did he re-appoint three members a few weeks ago? He (Mr Maseey) did not think the Premier had the slightest, intention of either ending or amending the Council. It had been suggested that, with a view to maEng the Council representative of the people, two electorates, should be run together for the purpose of returning one member to the Council. Another suggestion was that the number of members* should be fixed at, say, 40. and as vacancies occurred, they should be filled by a poll being taken, either by members of the House, or of the whole of the Parliament. It had been objected to the latter suggestion that the party in power would run a ticket, and elect whoever they liked, but he did not think that would follow. He had heard strong condemnation by members of Parliament of some of the appointments made, and he believed members would elect the best man available. At any rate, the undivided support of the party to which he belonged would go in the direction of amending the Legislative Council, and making it representative of the whole of the people of the colony. (Applause.) TAMMANYISM. The Premier on many occasions had been accused of giving "spoils to the victors" and of Taminanyism. What was Tammanyism? It waa the using of a public position for his own benefit, for the benefit of his friends and family, and for the benefit of his supporters as against the interests of the State. Was it not a wellknown fact that the Premier had appointed a number of his relatives to the publio service? Everybody in the colony knew it was a fact that hundreds of hangers-on had been pitchforked into the public service, because they had political support behind them. Was it not a fact that there were certain district© that had received more than their share of the public expenditure, and that in consequence other districts had received less than their share? Take the case of the West Coast. The population, of the Buller, Inangahua, Grey, and Westland Counties . represented 4 4-sth per cent* of the total population, and, yet, taking the laet three years, four counttka had received - a percentage of 13 3-sth of the total expenditure. In other words, they had received 9 per cent, more than their share. (Applause.) Then, if a newspaper criticised the Government adversely, the Government advertisements were withdrawn from it, while the paper that supported the. Government received more than its share. In a dirtrict in Auckland one paper supported the Government and the other the Opposition. The Opposition paper hae double the circulation of its., rival, yet, last year, the Opposition naper received for advertising and* printing £42 16s, and the Government paper £133 4s. In the previous year the Opposition paper received £12 18s 2d, and the Government, paper £88 11s 3d. The Pahiatua paper, last year, had criticised the Government adversely, and the whole of the Government advertisements were withdrawn from it. There was another form of Tammany. A trentleman was defeated at the last election, and the Premier sent him this telegram: —"I feel impelled to again assure you how sorry- I am at your not being re-elected. I feel at the same time that the general results will, to some extent, compensate and minimise your disappointment. All the same it is hard to look over the ingratitude of those for whom you have worked so well. Certainly the miners of Waihi have shown a selfishness that will not tend to make one interest himself in their favour." The miners of Waihi asserted themselves and elected the man they thought was best fitted to represent them, and they were to be punished by beiiig neglected. The speaker also referred 4o the unfairness of the Public Revenues Act. Of the National Scholarships Bill aa introduced by the Premier under which Westland was to be favoured in regard to the number of scholarships awarded to it as against other portions of the colony. Respecting the former measure he said the Premier had challenged the Opposition to state what Government measure they would'put off the statute book, and in reply to that he had to say that as Boon as he saw an opportunity the Public Revenues Act would be wiped off. (Applause.) • CONCLUSION". Respecting the war now going on. in the East ne said it waa of intense interest, to the people of the colony. He was cure they were all agreed in hoping that Britain would not be drawn into it. Treaty rights would, however, have to be respected, and if Britain was drawn in there would be no more holding back on the part of the colony than there was on the occasion of the Boer war. In conclusion,-Mr Massey eaid this was the first opportunity he had hed of addressing a meeting at Lawrence, but in. all probability it would not be toe last Hβ thanked them for the reception they had accorded him, and for the way in which they had listened to bia remarks. (Loud applause.) .Mr L. Dallziell, farmer, of Tuapeka West, moved, and Mr John Kitto, miner, of Lawrence, seconded tue following motion:—"That this meeting accord Mr Massey a hearty vote of thanks for his very able address this evening. Ths motion was carried unanimously amid applause, and Mr Massey returned thanks. At Milton, to-morrow night, Mr Massey intends to devote some attention to the present position of the finances of the country.