The Premier at Wanganui.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 89, 23 March 1876, Page 3

The Premier at Wanganui.

Sir Julius Yogel addressed ,his con-' stituents at Wanganui on- 'Thursday evening. There was a large attendance and miich ; erithu.sia'sin. Both ladins and gentlemen attended. We give the report of Sir Julius' speach as transmitted to. our Dunedin contemporaries by telegraph; it is necessary to explain, however, that; the report seems considerably '" mixed," ' and has given great dissatisfaction. Regarding it the ' Daily Times ' says :—" We shall charitably suppose that the champagne at Wanganui is of an exceptional heady character, and that it had become altogether too much about this period for the brains' of the Press Agency Representative. tTpori no other hypothesis can we account for the inconceivably foolish nonsense which has been forwarded us."' The tolldvviiig is the report such as i,t is :— ( Sir Julius. Yogel said he appeared at Wanganui under gratifying circumstances. Notwithstanding the strongdebates last session, or the attacks made on him in his absence, he had been returned by a large. majority. When he heard of his return in Melbourne, he was most anxious to visit Wanganui and desired to give explanations .both as member and Premier. He was sensible of the generous exertions made during the election by strangers. lie would co-operate with Mr Bryce, and as tbey held the same opinions they would, not be disfranchising the constituency by voting in different lobbies. What he had seen in W-anganui enhanced the pleasure of his representation of the district. There were signs of future prosperity/ Every man was. attached to the town, and the inhabitants • said .there was no place like Wanganui. It was a pleasure not only to see his constituents present, but' he. was .glad to see their wives and daughters there. It was the commencement of an interest in public affairs by the ladies of the Colony. Personally, he had strong convictions not to confine the franchise to the male sex, but to extend it to women.' However, that was his conviction in private, not his opinion, as. a member. of Government. In the muni--cipal election in Liverpool, 10,000 females voted. He was sorry at not being able to visit other' parts of the district, ill-health preventing. He would talk to-night not as a representative, but as Premier. There was a large responsibility involved in bis ad-; dress, which would deal with Colonial^ not local topics. The Abolition of Provinces no district had more con-i sistently maintained the necessity iorj than Wanganui. He would speak first on the subject of his visit to England.' The cable had been successfully laid since he spoke at Wellington, and the' large cable had been laid without a single hitch. It had been laid before contract time. The social and political advantages likely to result from the cable could not be exaggerated. The cost was small to the Colony, and the tariff exceedingly low. He had made arrangements with the Bank of England regarding New Zealand stock, subject to the. approval of Parliament. Hitherto debentures were hampered with coupons. .Now debentures were payable to beater,, and usable, as conveniently as, money at Home, for . permanent investment. The embarrassment in using couporis hitherto, especially in case of trustees, -where there are several, such, was very great, there being risk in holding* paper security. A large amount of money would devolve on New Zealand if people could be entered as creditors of the.Oolpn}'on the same principle, as holders of Government consols. ~ Various municipalities at Home, acted on the same principle. Hegarding; the inscription of the bonds, his anticipation bad been fully realised, and other Colonies, through their A gents- General a wished, to effect a similar arrangement, and- he (Sir J. : Yogel) assisted them. ; ;Speaking in Wellington about harbors, he had said that Wellington harbor should be under, the . management of the . City. His remarks had been misconstrue^ peoi.de thinking, that, the Government wanted to upset existing harbor ar-. rangements; but. this was a great mistake. The management of. harbors should not, in his' opinion, be confined to municipal representatives, whose go- I vernment must be more or less successful in thfory, but to a/representation , on a larger scale than in Wellington City. . Wanganui. Harbor was useful to itself, but Wellington to the whole district. In confining its management to : that limited ..body, (the .City Council) 1 they would not carry out the true theory ; of representation. The Harbor authorities should be in a measure elective, but riot of a nominee character— nominees start well, -but fall asleep from want of being, .criticised. r Elective bodies get abuse, but'- that kept them up to then* work. He hoped that tomorrow the two bodies, Harbor and M unici pglityv : 'Would • cbalescei ' • Some £95^000 to improve .the navigation of j the Wap gantai, river had been granted. : Provincialism could riot last long, and Wan gantti -would- have a large .sum ; of morieyrto begin \Yith. The, policy of Provincial Governments was brie of deep ntrali tion. Iri the session of 1874' he found all hope of preserving^Provincialism, at an end, and. so great. wasjiis.regret at being, forced , to. that;,cppclusion that he only- wished to dispose of the Provinoes of r the N orth Island,- But

he was forced toact in the.-, way he had done jinder. a. strong, sense .of duty, which cost him many personal friends and severance s of political ties. He instanced Mr . Macandrew, and said he felt the severance from him which a sense of duty and the needs of the Colony alone dictated and rendered imperative. There was no public man .more disinterested .than Mr Macandrew. He (Sir J. Yogel) had no* been all along a. disbeliever in Provincialism like his friend Mr Bryce, but he thought it beyond the strength of the Colony to continue it. With regard to the question of finance, he thought that the Provinces, should be dealt with without favoritism. They had been endeavoring to emulate the Public Works policy, and ten bodies were _ trying to spend all the money they, could procure. The Home Governmen* took away the troops, left us with a debt of six millions,, and as a vigorous Colony with settlements on a small fringe of coast line, we : must introduce more people to revive our energies. Some called ours a bold policy ; .few other countries could adopt the same line of policy. Of necessity, tbe money expended in opening the two islands could not be. misapplied — it caused not only immigration, but the attraction of people into the Colony with capital to invest in it. The working classes saw that by introducing others we enlarged the wants of the Colony and increased" employment. Immigration could, be. overdone, but so long as labor and capital acted concurrently, and so long •as those who had means settled on the land. In reference to the Public Works policy, he stated that the Government first proposed to construct trunk lines at a cost of ten millions, to extend, over ten years, bnt the Legislature put on pressure to finish them at once and save interest, and since 1871 as much has been done as was. in tended to have been entered on in double the time, and hence they had to go again on the money market. Notwithstanding spite-f ful expressions, the Four Million Loan had been successful, and was borrowed in. the English market within- forty-eig-ht hours. Some colonists in London who should have assisted its floating, had done a great 1 deal of injury to the Colony. We should not exceed the credit we possess. We could not expend money year after, year, and let the Provinces do the same, and then pay their debts ; and few people will realise the position when Government take them over. He would then be happy to find no overdrafts, liabilities, or'outside engagements to be provided for which did hot exceed half a million. He knew of a province having. £200„000 of engagements, or which would be considerably on to the extent of £150,000 more; before September. The policy of of the Government was to apportion to each Government the general revenue. The consolidated revenue must be .so regulated that we must not -exceed -the demands on it, and money must be laid out on bona fide public works, and, if borrowed, must be for reproductive works, and, ordinary revenue must be devoted for general purposes. -The financial position required careful consideration, no. doubt and. we must not be unduly elated to expend beyond'oiir means. We have all the money and the credit, which, for the interests of the Colony, it is desirable we should spend. The proposal to have two Provinces in both Islands, the Government would unpromisingly oppose. The Coir pact of 1856 is not. undesirable, if v?e . consider so, but-some of those . who speak of it think that it is only sacred (?) that' that they regard it so, yet those very gentlemen are those- who wish to incorporate the land fund of the Southern Island. A great. deal had been unnecessarily said, and there, w,as ..a strong feeling - that the land .re venue, should have a special" allocation. His experience was that not much would be said on this subject in the- House, for the prophets were generally, wrong,, and the subjects wliich are anticipated are those neglected. ' ' With regard to the future, the duty of the Government would be; to supply, a form of local governrnent of a more, inexpensive character than now existed. There were not unmixed diffir culties in the way, b.ut-wjth extra work in Parliament, tbey would be ableto give a local system Which would entirely avoid the. difficulties first antici-' pated. He..miglit draw_a picture of approacning a strange town,' to which,' as one got hearer',, the difficulties.decreased, although the. road still preserved. its local character. The. principles the-Go-vernment wished. to draw • were, a? broad and general distinction. between works, which did not require Govern merit . supervision, such /as Agaols, harbor, &c. People .would, know, no difference when, they handed them over than .they did in the, conduct; of :the telegraph and? postal service by the Creneral Government at present, people while reqognising no change^, would admit the economy, of the arrangement. There would-be; no difference, yet there would be a saving. *£beve Would ; not be ; so mil eh , friction - between the, new system and that of ther^rovfntiiai y and GeneralGpjVern^ be so smoothes not to come n m eopjßict with other. institutions. ., Thejasr ,says now that' o'rie- day after, -the . beginning of the next session, .the .provinces iwopJd cease. .This ;is,purely , fponjectural^and now' Superintendents only hold office till that 'day. A 'Another ? Government Said they must.tajre im^e^eKj.te -steps? to realise their resppnaib^iJitiei&V, The first

step was to. place themselves in a positipn ..cost of the;dfl.rt , yin;g;o'ut"of.the "new services, and the istrength of the "staff. They Would inCdrpoVate tbe !ProVincial services temporarily, till they Gould be ,h'anded;over to local bodies, afcd. he intended to invite 'the '-co-operation of thp Superintendents as to whose -services should be retained and whose should not. These expenses would be paid from the department of the Colonial Secretary. To combine the police and armed constabulary force would create 'offence, for the police force was older. From his own experience, tbey had an old force in Otago which deserved the highest consideration. The proposed police forces would becOinepart of the department of the Minister of Justice, as. would gaols,. &c. j the Crown lands, survey, sheep inspection, <&c, Would come under the Crown Lands Department, and would afterwards be absorbed by local governments. He did not wishi to make any Vapid, irritating changes:; hut it", was necessary in the first instance to be cautious. The goldfields would not be left entirely to that exceptional treatment which their members wished ; but he thought they Were entitled to a local body, as well as other . districts,, to . determine what was to their interest. This might create dissatisfaction, but it would be better than, treating : them exceptionally. Something must be. done to facilitate obtaining, land for' settlement. All should pay, but the land should he had on easy terms of purchase. Concerning railways and public.works, there were many lines which the Government must take charge of," After next session these would be taken over by th£ Public Works Department, but only . temporarily, as eventually their management „ would . . deyplve : on a Railway Department. He had a great desire to! ayoid inconvenience to the majority of the people, and, to preserve their local arrangements, so. that there would be a local Treasury for the payment of contractors and others. He proposed .that education, hospitals, asylums, \&c, should be under, the control of the Minister pf, Justice, but only temporarily in order that Parliament might localise education.' 'However, "that Minister would be greatly under local control, but at the same time it was the duty of . .Government ,, to /watch over charitable institutions' with jealousy. Tbe Government would send round three of the ablest civil/servants in the colony to all the provinces, and they would carry letters of introduction, who could refer them to the Provincial auditors, but he would prefer to receive fisfimates from the .Superintendents. He .hoped . that the . Superintendents would recognise that it was their duty and privilege to help the Government to the, utmost extent. . In, the Civil Service a great amount of money might be saved by dispensing with a great number of officials. 'Much /pressure was often put on, so that another appointment had been made, to obtain quietness. What would be the effect of dispensing with all Provincial officers : • —so much trouble even to .those who profess economy and Joe Humeism 1 There was a certain amount of kindness in all natures not to sacrifice men to political.existences, but to -deal liberally witn them. He should propose that Provincial servants should be dispensed with. They should be., more liberally compensated than the present authority admitted of. He did not think civil officers overpaid— .the rise in house rent and in goods ..through the Public Works Policy making them suffer.; Still the Government would" look into the matter and septhat the service was not extravagant. There .should not be one superfluous officer, but each 'one should be well paid. The Government 1 would submit, a statement to .Parliament regarding Abolition. They were : not going . to see seven men in the House revise the law, but would accept: it as it stood, and qualify themselves to. make it take effect, nex^session. -So long asthings went on. as smoothly, as ; at present some Superintendents could not realise there was going toi be a change, but when they saw things -face 1 to face they would bo inclined to assist the Government ; and the ; country. " : 'The ; system to be submitted to Parliament; was riot for the purpose of increasing the Central p.ovyer of the. General^ Government., but of diminishing it. The* Local Government: Bill introduced 'last year, though the same as { <in. other .colonies, Would not find favor, as it affords o'pportuni- : ties .for exciting opposition .amongst; local bodies. He 'would propose ; a system .by -.which ; .road 1 .districts,; #hd counties should be distinct as regarded revenue, while 'at- the --'same" time -it: would be left ppen,tO)them to cp operate; The whole country would be divided into counties,- but whether *; this }w;o.ii : ld be t done, jby the Government ot" Commissioners, was' hot yet determined on These^boundaries would ibe subiecfc to alteration, It Was in the meantime that the Governor should make ! .up.. : seven '.t: divisions, and each division of pqunty not to; return more than seven' members. , ; The first 'Board r Was : td^he existeiice twelter .months)- and - (afterwards/' eachi County Board would determine Jts, own duration. The counties by all' its: .constituents: are itO/elect a \ chairman^ who is to be paid-out- of the county's revenue^,, feu.t he is; ?notc .to: isitninaParlia-. ment if paid. These counties xare.^jb^ have .charge of main, roads, and to con-

struct^other} works, connoted with the „ district: 'hut their action ' will r be_ confined tb large arterial works. The different road hoards will receive liberal subsidies from the land and consolidated funds, to be equally divided. Licensies and tolls are to go to the counties, but there, canjbe no special taxation the consent of ratepayers. The electors to the country boards, ! andtlabse-' ; who ; pay rates for a road board district, will be perfectly distinct. Next session it is proposed only to deal with counties, and not with road boards. No borough is to be included in any county, but to stand distinct. Therefore the numerical voting power of any borough cannot be used to /swamp, a road district. Any county wanting assistance' fronii publio works may ask the Public .Works department to carry it out, and save expense of management. The ' counties are to have, power to , borrow tinder special circumstances, but the colony would not be responsible for those loans. Such loans must be> obtained pn .the county's own security. The trunk system of railways must, be carried out, so that Auckland would be placed in communication with every province in this island, and every province in the other island with: .each other: The . Government would, dispense with, borrowing ps far as possible, "and give confidence to the public .creditor. The system he , had. sketched would give them the fullest local government that could be conceived/ • and relieve the Assembly from members acting as arbitrators in local matters. The separate bodies would yeach . be carrying out their own functions more through local control than had been done in the past. The- Goldfields as counties should he as able to look after their Own interests as the agricultural districts. He could not; give. i any pledge about .the Education Bill this session, but. he would Mike to abolish special, rates, and though there., should be larger local control, and that general school Committees should be amenable to some superior board. He, did not desire to upset . the special feature's of existing arrangements, but he: would not promise to , go : in , for, a .sleeping measure nest year. The^ 'Government would, howjeyer, see ; education properly carried out from one end , of |he Colony to the other. He would npt allow an uneducated population to j grow up. The Government would introduce all immigrants required but no-more. He did not consider that the counties should be necessarily cotarminate with Provincial boundaries, but that counties might be devided. He would divide the land fund half on the basis of area- The present system by which the Provinces are made responsible for the debt and interest son . railway construction presents. insuperable difficulties and the Government proposed to ask Parliament to take over the control and responsibilities of all railways. The Colony next week Were going to oarry out a railway between Canterbury and Otago, the boundary being,the, middle oi a river, which woiild' make 'accounts difficult. When * the? changes of the Provinces take.. place one might visit pne of them .without missing the. Superintendents. Briefly stated, the proposals of the Government • were— No expenses to be. incidental to, the Provinces ; the management to be in the hands of! local bodies j the towns /to have large revenues; education to be general, not insplated.; the large harbors to be in the hands of local boards /with ample' meansCat-': their ' disposal ; the Genital Government to take charge of immigration and railways ; and charitable institution to ! be localised. The. whole, thing; would be much less cpstfy) while the machinery would work more smopthlyand harmoniously than had ever been the case. He. would always admit the great good Provincial adminstration had done' in the past, and. the disinterestedness of those who adm.inistered . Pro yincial affairs, still ,< he thought the whole Colpny would benefit by the change. Ite hoped as long' as ,he was .connected with Wanganui they would never have less reason; to be dissa.tis fted^with - Wm.-, than he, had at the present time to be clissatisfie.d with, them.