THE PREMIER REPLIES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 477, 8 April 1909, Page 9

THE PREMIER REPLIES.

TO MESSRS. MASSEY AND ALLEN. , MINISTERS AND RETRENCHMENT. '■■ '■ THE DREADNOUGHT OFFER. ' Intel-viewed by a-Dominion reporter last night, tlie Primes Minister (Sif Joseph Ward) : replied to some of the utter'ances of "Mr. IMassey, as reproduced in tho report of his epeecfr At Buckland-.- ' ■ ' "In connection with tho soh6ino of retrenchment in the public. service-,' , said the : Prime Minister, "I should have expected to receive* .\Vhole-,hearted. and unequivocal suprrt from the Opposition, but fully recogniso that he lifts a perfect right :to do of say whatever hfi thinks propor. I .want to"point out, however, that tho 6overnment is not going in for reductions of salaries or" tf ages in the public service, In tho i first place, 1 don't think it is necessary to do so, and, secondly, I am not a believer in the ; system of taking 10. per cent, or any other per cent, oft the safarios.in the public Departments. In the readjustments that aro being made,, a number of men will get promotion, arid Jiouo.'oi: those remaining in .the sorvico /will be called upon to make sacrifices .by means- of".an'/indiscriminate reduction of salaries. It, would.not,-in , my opinion, bo wiso ■ to,;take 10' per!'cent, alike off a salary of , £800 and a salai'y Of £200. The recipient of ; the former could bear it with oass, ■ as.com- ,' pared with tho smaller-salaried official. "...The task tho Government is engaged in is a difficult and , in soitto respects; an unpleasant One, but not in. the , -direction of a l'bduotion of ivill'bo material alteration in tho'DppartJmonte,. involving tho dispensing with a numbotf of positions, which, under an amalgamated service; are no longer necessary. •. ;-,-. ■, .. . . ... ~ ■- : J- Ministers.andßotrendrinient* " In 'regard to tho personal aspect of , Mr. 1 Massey's critidsrn'" in its application to myself, I havo only to say," Continued the Premier, ' "that, if necessity ■ arises, I shall be ono of tho-first to .make" sacrifices, and very much greater sacrifices than even Mr. MasBey would give me credit for , . Mr.' MasSey's ■suggestion that the numbet .of Ministers i 3 out of to the of Departments- as amalgamated, and should be reduced, ■ shoWs e'ithef, political prejudice 6r a wajit of of tho enormous' increase in the' duties of Ministers in-this country. Efh'oienoy in the executive control is as necessary as efficiency in the public earvico, tod if, after, the far-reachjng 6hange3 that are' being brought about, it cUn bo shown to bo* possible t6 reduce tho number of Ministers)•! shall bo one..of the-first to recognise it, but a practical view of tho matter'shows fltdtf diminution Of the nflmber of Departments- is , not going to relievo- individual MinWtert o'f any c6nsiderable amount of the" work that.of necessity niuet COmo their w'aj for consideration and decision. , ' . Dreadnought Questfons* Referring next to the statements of Mr. Massey. irl regard' to the naval subsidy and the Dreadnought offer, Sir Joseph said «>me of the remarks made by the Leader of tho Opposition in. connection therewith were, he regretted to say, of a most misleading etiaract«r..'cfh6 assumption was conveyed in th« telegrliplicd;Statement, that it tfas under pressure from, Mr. Ms'ssoy that the Government, increased tho naval subsidy to £100,000, and tliat.'it was not until September 23 that . tho " metier.. was. dealt with.'.. This. was .an entirely 'erroneous impression. A reference to' Hafi's'a'ftt wOuld show' th'St he placed" before tho.Houso a letter sent through his Excclleriov the Governor to: the British Government;' dated March 16, which was more than six ..months, before the date named by Mr. v Massey^;This'letter.stated.that the Government, proposed to ncrease tho subsidy,to the AustralasiajT squadron to: £100,000 after. October 1, this date being fixed in order, .to ..give ..Parliament an op--1 portunfty of ■" .ratifying what. -.was. proposed. This'Wjft's si?; months! before'.the'dato. alluded to .by Mr. remark—"Nor did the;Pr,irne MinisterVineriiiqri it until he' (Mr,' Masse*): called • atteniaqri',to/ it, antt.tlven, the Pfim'o f MinUter:said''he would ;<leal,with,ifc in.'a'ciluscl in .{■HAppfbpnation Bill;?' , The point fthGthef the authority.was given by a separatVßill or by the Appropriation Bill is not-of .m'afefial. fllofiient so long as the inAct' .of Parliament, was obtained, and; thfs' was '.done Six. months after the official •infortnatiori had' been conveyed by his ; Excelletfoy the Governor to 'the British trovernraent;' .'•'.'..

'-'■'" : ;^o* 'flf a Logal Authority. : The Prime . Minister continued:—Mr, ' Massey professing himself as absolutely ' astounded to find that the Govcrftmeflt had i , decided to offer; a battleship, or Wo if neces- I sary, and as is a matter, J ■ of, coiirse, on which ho is entitled to form . his own opinion.. I, however, cniote the fol- ! lowing opinion from ft gchtlo«iftti=onfi of tho ' highest legal authorities in New Zealand— '• who'has.always been recognised as an.op- ! ponent Government and a supporter of- J tho Opposjtion,- both whan ho was' m Parliament and. oiit of it, arid his views upon this ' point,undej.dato March 23 last will,.l.think, '• be recognised greater value than thcso ' of-.Mr, Massey:— , . < "Your in recognising our duty ! had.spoken for every colonist who thinks of ' the past and 6f the future, and not,only , of present time. This is .a .token ' i Shat at lea's Cone man who.opposes y6ur local oolicy is as proud'as if ' his own ffiends had had tho opportunity, and as ready in egcry way to support the.Governments .promjs6 t6 England. If all ' parties 1 cannot rocogfp'se that in such matters as this i you are put in power to speak for' tho wholo '-■country and ,sie whole tlien they do ( pt appreciate, the theory of 6}ir' constitutiaal law,, Parliament may.reftisd to ratify, paction just as it 'may refuse an ac>f indemnity,, whofd the/ExECutivo- has ' ( repress rebel||oh by martial law, but ihe Execulve, if it-is worth it's salt, must assume the. rujic as tvgjl as the power'" in an emergency '.lid tako,,tlie responsibility. Parliament hrf ahvaysfcOnfirnied,jahd always will." It is 'orth Mr. Masseyis while," at least,' to give 'vomo attention lp- tlio deliberately, expressec opinioir., of a legal gentleman of high' staging uppn ; hi3 mvh side,,and who' . I know, 10. holds In the highest respect. '[, Not a Tart/-QUostion. "I n-tico thaf%. j\lassey saysjT-'lt was a , P ,fc i. • Slr Joy! P n ' had decided to make, this a. party---question by saying . that th 6 _ Governmeht would resign if a r-ftjonty K not support him.' Norrat-n raßttpr..of-,faot," 'said tho Priffle Minster, T did-h6t make this offer of'a battleship a -question. Quite the contrary. said- all through ' that "the doienco of tho -Empird Was entirely abßve par-y. I have had communications "from men; of all, 1 shades, of politics in the +>ominnh, watmly-supporting what has-ibeen done. _ln.,fny. speech at Uppoi'i.Hutt, Idwas discussingithe/institutional position, which was also dealt With, by the legal gentleman vhosj I&tter I quoted jUst how, confirming the action.of tho Government, I "merely stapd that; failing ratification of our#ction, it w.uM bo tho clear course of tho Ministry Neither Mr - M «soy, nor tht, J— ' n ? L n ' Suggest for a moment that, aswning tho non-ratification I'of such a proposil, any Ministry could remain in o lice imd.r such a condition- To" distort tills into in assumption that party was being introduced ' nrto ;tho matte* ."involves a streteh of magmation which i Sji 'quite unwarrantable. < .;, .' „ . Suhjeot t) Consent of Parlh&nt. "Another pont. Mr.' Massey .fs. reported to. have said- 'As far-as ho w3k' able to bco Sir Josept Ward did not.<sroK suggest that the oiler ras made Subject to the Consent of Pnrlianent being fdrthcfirtling.'' This, again, 15 inco.Tcct. I haTo already stated publicly that ( did Inform Hhc'TMtish Government that the offer would require to bo ratified by Parliament, I did'">this, simultaneously ■•witii the making of Jli th6 offer, in a second dispatch. Mi 1 , Malay's assumption dri this point is, thnrcXore, quite erroneous and unwarranted.', ■" " r. tie The to Editors. "Further, Mr. Massey Jjav^J ? 'It., was .well known that before making, thq. announcement Sn>.Jo«sai- ; Ward communlca.tpd with', editors

of tho principal papers, and if it was necessary to do that, it was surely necessary to consult tho representatives of tho people.' This statement, I also, regret to say, is sOlntoly contrary to fact. First of all, I did not communicate- with tho editors of tho press before making the announcement, second, I did not consult an editor or editors of any newspapers in any portion of the Dominion. 1 sent a , ..confidential telegram to tho editors of the press simultaneously with tbo offer, but thoro was not n suggestion in that confidential telegram of a consultative character." Reply to Mr. J. Allen. The Premier also had something to say in reply to a second interviow with Mr. James Allen, M.1 , ., as published in yesterday's Dominion. "Ono is. struck," observed Sir Joseph, " with Mr. Allen's not uncommon assumption of superior knowledge on defence matters. In regard to his rtaffirmation of tho belief that iny remarks at TJpper Hutt referred to Australian defence, after I had stated that they had no application to that country, and although every one of those before tthOm I spoke know that I was not dealing with Australian defence, directly Or indirectly, and although I havo never in the House or out of it, criticised what the Australians thought it right to do in their own interest—l can only, say that Mr. Allen as a gentleman should accept my explanation of the wrong inference ho drew from my remarks, which he, on his own account, applied to Australia. I did iiot at the Imperial Conference, or in or out of Parliament, discuss' tbo courso which tho Australians considered best sjiited to themselves. Australia and flio Squadron. "It was my duty to deal with the position of New> Zealand in relation to the British Navy, but I may say that though Mr. Alloil professes to liavo such superior knowledge on Australian.defence, and argnes so strongly in favour of destroyers and submarines, it is quite evident that while ho accuses mo of ignorance, ho himself possesses an overplus of tliat. One 'of tho conditions connected with tho Australian system at the present time in tbo absence of auxiliary battleships of their own to support their destroyers or submarines is the presence in their waters of a squadron of tho British Navy, and that is provided for in the agreement under which Australia pays .£200,000 per annum to the British Government. "As Mr. Allen is so enamoured of the system of Australian defence, it may be of interest to remind him of the fact that, though some public men havo advocated for a. considerable time the .establishment of a modified system of universal training, up to riow thor6 is- nothing of the kind in existence in Australia, nor is the/O any legislation ill tho statute-book to onablo such a system to bb put into operation." gafffeshlps and Destroyers. Iteverting to tlie subject of naval defenco, tho Primo Minister said that Mr. Allen's professed astonishment that ho had liot learnt more at tho Conference of Colonial Premiers was ono of those intended smart retorts that, usually, recoiled on tho heads of those who made them. "I hold," continued Sir Joseph—"and in this I am supported by some of thewory best' authorities—that destroyers and submarines, without auxiliary battleships, would bo useless to New Zealand. It.would bo very poor, satisfaction indeed, in the event of the British Navy bc•mg engaged iii a bsttle, say. in tho English Channel, for oUr country to be living in such a feel's paradise, tfitll destroyers and submarines around onr coasts, as to believe that they wero going to bo of any real value for protective purposes, shqtild tho Old Land bo locked in a death strugglo thousands of miles from our shores. If it wero possible—which Ido not believe it is at present—for the British Navy to be.beaten, that would bo all tho more reason-why we should do all we can to strengthen it, and Jtiako it invincible. Of what use *ouH _ any practical man who Examines* the , position carefully and impartially believe that, a few destroyers and submarines, the all-important support of auxiliary battleships, could be, as a matter of r Qyersea defence against tho battleships of any. hostile country, which, in the event of the British' Navy being defeated in the.English Channel, might, turn its attention .to. aft ■.important portion of the Empire Eiichas -N«v Zealand? I 'reaffirm r my strong conviction that the strongest and niost sensible course' for this- country to pursue is to help the Old Land in increasing the strength of th' 6 British , -Navy."