THE PREMIER ON THE COAST.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12404, 18 January 1906, Page 9

THE PREMIER ON THE COAST.

rttfjcY SPEECH AT KUMARA. : GOVERNMENT'S INTEN1P TIONS. (SF-CIAI- TO "THK PRESS.") KUMARA, January 17. Preroi<*r addressed a crowded *!t_ at Kirrnara this evening. Tho *r« Kumara presided. Mr Sedwith a most enthusiastic re- |«° n prior to the meeting, tho **£? With torchlights, turned out, and ihe Premier and his following Hall, where cheer after ** his arrival. On tho tJm wero tho West Coast mayors, | . jf£«*'> M.H.R., and leading. " *fl# Ch- irman *■*-'••**- Premier waR first ilayor of Kiimara, and that was the foremost statesman in tony. Sir Sedd° n paid ho remembered the i it he was first elected Mayor quite 5| The following year ho was ret y l a to Parliament. Ho owed much ' •gj_ ro ara, and would never forget JJL he owed to tlie district. Tho We election was ploasing to tho Coast jLple.as a whole, giving the Govern6 trong following. Tlio result D ot unexpected, for ho had given tbe editor of the "Lyttelton Times" ihe nigbt before the election tho numirf of Government supporters as fiffcy- . jrt Tho Government had been asoikd in ft manner unequalled in the g_j_ of representative Government, «t tho Government had come through [Ljr. All charges had fallen to the aou-d- He had always striven to irt fairly, and the peoplo at tho elec- \ t a d given their verdict. (Cheers.) In his own electorate ho had a m:v- , -jrjty of over 3000 votes. Tho preiiot position was—-Government, 60 supporters; opponents and independents, 50. WftffP THE PEOPLE DECLAHED FOX. The people of this oolony had affirmed tiit monopolies must be checked, whether in-sido or outside the colony. Land attlemerifc must proceed, and thero _t_t bo an amendment of the ballot tntem. Those who were unsuccessful jn one ballot should havo priority in tie next. The settlement of native liads ia the North Island must be jettled. The natives held five millions of acres that must bo dealt with. A Commission hod been set up to deal fith tho question. A fair price would . be, given to the natives. One million of acres must he set aside > for educational purposes, and half <_ million for Hospital and Charitable Aid. There must be legislation to prevent an aggregation of largo estates. Tho land j mußt* be held by tho multitude. -.10 I time was ripe for an alteration ia local | government. The Opposition had blocked this measure in the past. There rere too many local bodies, and much waste. He intended to introduce a measure to deal with this question. The rating for subsidies required! to bo re-■fk-wed. Thcxso who rated themselves for a penny in the £ were entitled to a. v better subsidy than theso rating themselves a farthing. He was opposed to a Civil Service Board. In New South Wales it worked badly, as it had done nitli the Railway Board in New Zealand. Taxation must bo reduced, and maternity homes must be established and trained nurses got together. Fiiendly societies must also receive better co moderation. These wero all matt«*i. the electors had, in tho recent ~ dictions, declared for. OUR PROSPERITY. There were eomo who declared before the election that they had taken the E'ovcs off to the Premier. Tho elec\o's liad relegated these men to oblWion. To-day, strange to say, was the i fifty-third anniversary of the granting of Constitutional Government to New Zealand. It was fit that he should be ut Kumara on this anniversary, but then let them think of, tho position tlren and now. The railways alone tiould pay for moro than half the debt new; tho indebtedness of the colony was sixty millions, and tho wealth of tho colony two hundred and seventy •millions. It was not to tho detriment of the colony that money had! beeu ©x- . ponded of late yeans, but in the interests of the people. Relative to the . colony's wealth, its indebtednesi was . 33 per oont. lees than it was fifteen jeers, ago. This year there would be ' a substantial surplus, as thero was last -fear.-Tho security offered by'the colony -ras the best, end tho British money-' lender knew it well. The Premier t en compared Tasmania and New Zealand, - and declared that tho position was greatly .in favour of onr colony. New Zealand was a live colony, Tasmania a corpse, and ..the Ballanoo-Soddon administration was the cause of our live state. Ho doplored the action of suoh onon as Messrs Allen and Duthie ia endeavouring, by /raking unfounded statements, to run {•own the orodit of the colony. During Jus trip to tho Coast the Government lad 'been canryang on vary important ' financial arranfiemenits, and they had 'tow got on© million at four par cent, at I Par without going to the London market, and ho was sure Parliament would ondors© what had been done. This year two millions -would fall due, and . already this had been practically protided for. The receipts for tho nine months wore £5,246,000, an increase of £188,617, and the expenditure for public • ""wits for tho eight months was | *1»291,370. The appropriations wore , " wer £2,000,000. I RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT. ' * On the Midland £100,000 was wthorised and the expenditure was *87,000, with three moniihs yet to go, and the vote would bo spent before tho •and of the term. Tho position in re- ' 6»rf to tho Summit tunnel was not so jatttfaotory as ho could havo wished. Jhe weather had been against them,' -bat tenders would probably to called •a about two months. He asked - 'hat extra men might be put on, but this waa found to be impracticable, a& accuracy was most essential. The Department had done its best, but jwy could not interfere with the wea- ; ther. Ho trusted that before Parliament met tho tender for the tunnel *ould be let. As to the railway, lie *»• convinced thero would bo a stream "j* people both ways, and it would be of ■ffimeiwe benefit to tho colony. Thero *ere thousands of acres in South "Westland waiting settlement, and good land, juid when people came from other porta the residents would marvel why _ they let such a magnificent portion ' Pass from their hands. When tho fain-ray was completed to Ross, per•ons could gjo as far south as tho glaciers, passing through admirable laid that would bo snapped up eagerly. -- *_> held that the "Westland-Otago and ■j* 9 Greymouth-Christclrurch. lines must i w" looked upon as national works, and *ould be very beneficial to colonial wrelopment. The idea was held in . «arlicr days to be "Alacandrew"s «r*eara." He trusted it would be Soddon's reality. It would open millions "-"good land and immenso forest lands, •up ho believed a new and important goldfield. He himself had seen nug--B*t«s got there, and the prospects wero , Promising. In addition there was the •"■xtraordinary attraction of the inagtoficent mountain -scenery, perhaps unJ3 u -Ued in any part of tho world. . Tbe various Government departments should bo asked to report upon the of the district. Ho was *" "strong an advocate of the completion °f the Main North Island Trunk Rail- '■ w _"y as he was of the completion of ( ww lixica he had spoken of. That

lino must bo completed in three yeans, if it was possible for him to do so, and he was equally determined that lines such as that to the Blackball, and other lines that tended to proper development, must bo proceed-- with with equal energy. He purposed turning the hrst fod of the Reef ton-Westport Railway. In short, tho policy of tho Government was to push on lines and works that were for the benefit of the people and not of a few. Dealing with, harbour works, h_ said that none of tho West Coast harbours were sufficient for requirements in the matter of dealing with large cargoes of coal and timber. They inu_t nave a harbour sufficient to take large ve6_els in order to compete with other lands. For j'ears past Point Elizabeth had been favourably reported on by marine engineers, and what should be done was to mako application to the Admiralty for a thorough survey and report, aud if that report was favourable, then let them concentrate their attention on the matter. It was an Imperial as well as a colonial question. It was one of the great questions l>efore the colony, and they should concentrate their ideas thereon. THE LAND QUESTION. As to the land question, he was determined that the evils of land laws such as those in Ireland and Scotland must bo obviated. They must not havo a congested state of affairs, such as was seen in the large cities at Home. They would not grant large area, of land in New Zealand to the detriment of the people. The Government meant to limit tho area of holdings. Upon that tho Liberal party would stand firm as a rock. Underlying the Opposition programme of last election was a corrupt oiler to increase the area cf large estates. The bid to Crown tenants made by Mr Massey ho would have nothing to do with. A oontract had been entered into, and it was wrong to violate that contract, and would do harm to tho colony and the individual. Tho land that they now had was for farm settlement, and in regard to this there should he qualification and graduation. Tho 999 years' lease was too long. It was forced upon tho late Sir John McKonzie, and they had then to accept it to save the Land Bill. He now believed that tho time was ripe for a reform with reduced rental. Ho always was and would be a leaseholder. In regard to Native lands, it was anticipated that half a million acres would bo obtained this year. With regard to the confiscation of Native lan<W_n the past, he was of opinion that the Natives had a claim upon, the and ho was prepared to see this matter remedied. INDUSTRIAL AFFAIRS. With regard to monopolies, the people of tho colony must bo studied. Industries must be fostered in their infancy. He believed in fair trade. Where the conditions -were favourable and in the interests of tho colony industries should he protected. Since tho Government took offico 25,000 more hands were employed in factories. He believed that in regard to meat the large companies were too strong, and a remedy must be supplied. At Home New Zealand mutton was fetching the highest.prices, and the meat companies were making immense forturnes. In, this irespect the farmers were not getting due consideration. Food in the country was costing too much, and it must he looked into. With Tcga-rd to natural motive power tho State must retain it in order that it bo retailed at a fair cost. With regard to lahour it had always been his desire and pleasure to see that it received its fair share, and if this was of actual iMjriefit to the employer as well as to the employee, he was proud to bo the head of a party which had aided the cause. As to the Labour Conference, it was bis intention to bring both sides togetlier to prevent friction, and to let both 6ides have a talk, and arrive at a good understanding. He regretted that the employers had refused to attend. It was to the credit of the n-orkois that they had offered 1 to attend. He could not say whether the Conference would be now called. In regard to tl»e "bank-to-bank" system, he believed it to bo a good proposal, but the proposal was originally taken up by Mr Colvin, and thon by Mr Guinness. He was not the originator, and tne employers had no right to chargo him with it. He felt that much good would have come from the conference. Mr Seddon dealt with tho coal and gold returns, and predicted a large increase in yield, but said that science must be brought to bear, and the Government must do more to assist the industry. Low levels must be tested, and Dr. Bell must give exhaustive reports upon the gold-bearing localities, and --o opinions of tho old and experienceminers must bo obtained. He defended the increase of tho old age pen.-ons, and said tho colony was all ,th_ better for it. Those who objected to the increase wero not now in Parliament. The example set by this colony was being followed in other lands. Mr Seddon concluded with a strong appeal to his audience to 6tudy humanitarian principles. Tho speaker sat down amid loud l cheers.