THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13720, 29 April 1910, Page 8

THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

SPEECH AT HOKITIKA. AN ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION. (special to "the pbess.") HOKITIKA, April 28. Mr W. F. Massey, Leader of the Opposition, who is paying his first official visit to tho West Coast, addressed the "Westland electors at the Princess Theatre to-night. The large building was crowded, and Mr Massey vas accorded a very hearty reception on entering the hall, and again when appearing on the platform. His Worship the Mayor (Mr H. L. Michel) presided. Before opening tho meeting, the' Mayor, on behalf of the Borough Council, extended a hearty welcome to Mr Massey, who had como amongst them, ho said, at the invitation of the Rimu Miners' Association and a number of local citizens. He hoped that Mr Massey would enjoy his stay, and would go away from the district on Saturday with pleasurable recollections.

Mr Massey was received with prolonged applause when rising to speak. He thanked the Mayor for the welcome, and the people for the reception; clso the band which had escorted him to the hall that evening. Hβ was glad to be in Westland, for the history of Westland was in a great measure the history of New Zealand. Many eminent men had come from Westland. He referred to tho late Mr Seddon. whose name whs a household word throughout New Zealand. Then there was that good and useful man, the Hon. James Holmes, whom they had laid to rest the day before. He was proud to speak from the same platform which had been occupied by the wellknown men of the district who had gone before. He was not only tho Leader of the Opposition; it was often his duty to lead the Government, and he was' doing that that evening. It was usual for the Ministers to come forward with a policy speech, yet although the session had ended at Christmas, no policy speech had yet been forthcoming. When that policy speech was delivered it would be his duty and pleasure to reply to it. Before going into policy matters, he referred to last session, which had been unnecessarily delayed, with the result that the business had to be rushed, was badly done, and much of it ■would have to be done over again. One of the matters which was so rushed was the salary of the financial adviser, which had been given to Mr W. P. Reeves at £400 a year. He had moved that the item be struck out, and fhe motion -was carried by a majority of ten ■votes, when the Government accepted their defeat. At the last moment of the session the Government attempted to reinstae, in a thin House, what had been struck out in a full House. The Opposition adopted means to meet these tactics, and had departing members recalled. The vote was reinstated, and tho Government had a nominal victory, but it was a. victory not to be_ proud of. One or two of such victories just before ar. election would be very useful to the Opposition. Hβ did not think the vote was right in principle, neither was it right that Mr Reeves, who was a director of a bank in New Zealand, should he appointed to such a position as advisor.

The land question was the most important matter which could be considered by and Parliament. Hβ referred to thn efforts to deal with the tenure question in 1906 and 1907, but the people returned a majority of members pledged to the freehold. The Government evidently admired the Vicar of Bray, and followed the advice of fbe itilitary general ■who believed in executing a strategic movement to the rear. The flag of the leasehold was hauled down. Personally he had no objection to a lease, but let there also bo the right to acquire the freehold. It was the freehold only which would give the. settler the security which was necessary for the industrial development of tho land. At the same time, they did not; make enough discrimination in their laws between the man who used his lainT-and developed it, and the man who held it for speculative purposes. Mr' Maeeey claimed-that it was he who first promulgated the principle of the Workers' Advances Act. The only policy the Government had was that which was stolen from the Opposition. The country wanted a progressive and liberal land policy. Other countries ■were giving.the option of purchase, and if New Zealand did not fall into line tb*> country irould drop behind'in competition with other parts of the world. A question had been raised whetner tho Government had done justice to tlio mining industry, ne quoted an opinion of the Hon. R. McKenzie before that gentleman became a Minister, in which Mr McKenzie said that if he considered the value of the work done by the Government in the matter of mining, he c< uld not support the Government. ±Ie also quoted figures given by prominent Opposition members, representing mining constituencies, which went to show that tho Government only spent about one quarter of the annual Parliamentary appropriations. That showed how the industry was being neglecteed. Referring to the native lands, Sir Massey said wliat was required was administration rather than legislation. It was time that the native lands were put on the same basis as other lands, and made tho most of. Hβ referred to the difficulty in getting the natives to i>se their own land to advantage. Hβ v;as prepared to assist them from the public exchequer to that end, but the land that could not 'be used should be ava.\lable for the public. He did not approve of the present system of native representation in the House.

. Last session the taxation of this country w:>s very considerably increased, and it did not appear that the people realised the position. The alleged reason for the increase was for defence, hut as far as was known not a penny had yet been used for that purpose. No one know what the increase would total, but he thought it would reach £500,000. .

In regard to the racing taxation ho thought the smaller clubs won'd drop the tetalisator and do their business with the bookmakers at a lower cost. Jn regard to the increase in railway fares, he noticed that fewer first-class carriages were feeing used, and ho thought -fcho increase in this connection would affect the spending power of tho people. The Government should reduce rather than increase tho taxation on tho long-suffering people of the country. In referring to finance he regretted he could not deal as fully with the question as ho wished, as the Minister of Finance had not yet made his premised statement. He was glad to admit that tho prosperity ot New Zealand now was better than it was. a year ago. They should keep their borrowing down so that the taxation per headi should not be increased. In 1906 the borrowed money was equal to £60 os 3d ** T JOS ' and the £3 7s Id; in IJHW the debt was £70 per Lead, and the taxation £5 Os -Id. There had been an enormous inweaso in the colonial debt. Money had been borrower for public works whiofc bad been kept going, and. no doubt assisted to Keep the Government in office co long. The Government should assist in encouraging private enterprise and the development of outside capital in the Dominion. The State Ivnding departments lad done good work, but that was ouly possible when money was cheap, :ind in tight times they felt the want of raore outside money to carry

on industrial developments. Ti'ey wanted reforms in financial matters, ana one was that they should insure their public buildings, erected out of borrowed money, so that in case of destruction by fire they should be rebuilt out the* insurance funds. That mignt reduce the surplus, but it was sound finance. He hoped the Prime Minister would shortly announce the surplus. When tho "jiguiTS were made puf.ho tliey shculd bear in mind that thf surplus would be for two years, and not one year, because in l'JOsi all the surplus was carried forward., and would be incluued in the 1910 surplus. Referring to tho local mining ditnculty in regard to water power rights, he said the Government should give facilities to private enterprise to come in and develop a great industry. ine half million which the Government proposed to set aside for hydro-electric purposes was an inadequate sum to speedily carry forward the proposals, and for that'reason private enterprise should be encouraged under proper restrictions. The Government proposed t-< be monopolists with the water power as with the land, and at the iirst opportunity—that was at the next clcctiri—the" dog-in-thc-nianscr policy should be properly grappled with. In dealing with the retrenchment proposals, he said ho was not in favour of retrenchment on the lints carried out. The Government admitted practically that they were mismanaging the country to the extent of a quarter oi a nu'ihon per annum. The retrenchment was in the wrong direction. The lUmi&ters should have commenced with themselves. The costly commissions should have been stopped. The extravagant outlay on temporally quarto re for Parliament was beyond tho actual requirements if the matter nad been properly attended to. He would aw ait the" publication of the year's accounts with much interest. Too much publicity could not be given to the figures,"and the prompt publication of these accounts should be made in New Zealand, as in other countries. He went on to refer to tho delay in supplying a return as to Government advertising, which he had asked for at the commencement of the session. The return was not yet available. He did sot approve of the provisions of tlie Crown iSuits Act, which prevented citizens taking action against tho Government. Tho patronage of the Government in the expenditure of public funds was often used to their own ends. Then there was the wretched system of grants to districts which necessitated appeals to Ministers, and robbed members of their independence. Parliament exercised no effective control over that class of expenditure. In reference to local bodies' borrowing, a retrograde step had been taken. Formerly, on a loan of 41 years, the local bodies paid 3i per cent.; now, for a loan of SCJ years, they paid £4 17s 6d. With regard to the distribution of grants, thero was the system which gave special encouragement to those districts represented by Government supporters. He hoped that evil would end at next election, when the Opposition had more than a chance of turning out the Government.

He did not intend to make the defence of the country a party question. It was/ a most important matter. Personally ho was uot satisfied with the system of naval defence. He believed in greater efficiency, and to that end he> approved of compulsory training, but not compulsory service. The latter was not intended by last session's legislation. They had a country worth living in and worth defending. The administt ation of the Defence Department did not inspire confidence. There was the Knyvett case in view. A great deal of good would result from Lord Kitchener's visit. Universal training was an experiment. They should not go too fast; they should make haste slowly.

Ilevertinp;. to public works' expenditure. Mr Massey sajd they often read of the Government, authorising certain expenditure that was an usurpation of the powers of Parliament, which should not oe tolerated. Only works authorised by the House should be carried out. It was not a proper proceeding for the Government to take up that function. They wanted a House of a stronger moral fibre to deal with these abuses of power, lteform was required in the system of local government. They should give the local bodies better financial means, so that it would not be necessary for a road or a bridge to bo* mentioned in the House. They should do away with the temptation to candidates for Parliament bein£ selected only for their ability to get votes for their districts , . This was possible by proper reform in the matter of the administration of local government. Hβ asked the people to think what had hiippcned since the present Prime Minister came iuto power. The indebtedness of tho country had increased, taxation had increased, and population was depleted, because the ocuntry was* oursed by a bad Government. The Government was too fast with the expenditure and too slow with proper administration. They were governed by an effete Ministry, which next year would be weighed in the balance and found wanting. H© claimed that the Opposition was desirous . of doing its best for the country- The party wanted'to see the industrious man encouraged, «md energy, thrift and economy promoted.

Mr Massey thanked tho people for turning out in their hundreds and giving hi:n so gcod.a welcome, and he had no doubt that when ho returned again it would be equally warm and cordial. Mr Massey, who epoke for about an hour and three-quarters, resumed his seat amid long and prolonged applause. Throughout his speech the speaker was frequently interrupted by tho applause, the meeting being very hearty throughout.

Mr Borkin, president of fho Rimu Miners' Association, who stated ho was one of the primo movers in brir.gingMr Massey to the district, moved a voto of thanks to Mr Massey for his address and appreciation of his loyal service in Parliament. In dSing.so ho referred to the'broken promises of Sir Joseph Ward, who, ac Prime Minister, had two.-yi'ars ago promised so render them every assistance with regard to the water *>ower regulations. When Mr Massey was approached on the subject Iμ? promised them every support, and that promise had been kept. Mr E. Wild Seconded the motion, saying that New Zealand should be proud to have- such a man as Mr Masseyat tht> service of the country. The motion was carried by acclamation and with cheers.

Mr Massey. said a great compliment had been paid, him, and r.e appreciated it. A& long as ho remained in Parliament he would always be prepared to assist people who wove willing to help themselves

The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the chairman.

During the day Mr Massey motored to Einiij, where ho was shown over tho goldfields.