Evening Post. THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1895. MR. G. HUTCHISON ON THE FINANCIAL AND NATIVE QUESTIONS.

Evening Post, Volume XLIX, Issue 109, 9 May 1895, Page 2

Evening Post. THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1895. MR. G. HUTCHISON ON THE FINANCIAL AND NATIVE QUESTIONS.

« Mb. Gkoroe Hutchison has addressed his Waveriey constituents, and thore is a good deal that is new in hia speeoh, as he dwelt at some length on recent ooaurrenoes. Some of his criticisms and remarks will well repay perusal, and we therefore reproduoe them. Of the new loan he said :—" Fixing the " interest at 3 per oent. was a bold and " useful stroke— not that it made muoh dif- " ferenoe to the prioe, but it marked what it " was desirable to mark, namely, the down- " ward tendenoy of interest. The result was " reported to be an average of a trifle loss " than £94 10s per £100 bond. When it was " considered that, out of the moneys so subsoribed, commissioners' oharges, brokerage, and stomp duties had to be paid, and " that to induoe subscriptions the greater part of the prinoipal was not payable till some months after interest on the whole is ohargeable to the colony, the result " oould not be considered as brilliant .although "it might be said to be satisfactory in the circumstances." He condemned the present system of valuations under the Advances to Settlers Act, and expressed a strong opinion that with the falling valne of money the 5 per cent, rate oould not be maintained for advances by Government. " Without proper security the soheme mußt " degenerate into a political scramble. It was " in no grudging spirit that the oolony might " be congratulated on having on the whole " done well, assuming always that it was " neoeasary to float a loan at all. He (Mr. "Hutchison) had, 'while supporting the " proposal to extend tbe system of advanoes " on mortgage already in operation in the " Government Insurance Department and " Publio Trust Offioe, urged that the im- " menae amonnt of Government stocks " already held by these departments and by i " the Post Office Bhould be realised on the " London market without the expense of a " loan, and the money so provided advanced "to settlers at low rates of interest. Bnt " suoh a proposal had no attractions for a " Treasurer who wished to operate on the " London market." In referenoe to the coble message as to Mr. Wabd having denied that the Land Tax wag collected in advanOß beoauae the Government was hard up, Mr. Hutchison said — "If Mr. Ward " made the denial reported, then it is quite " oertain he denied what he himself asserted " was the fact at the time of the passing of " the Bill imposing- the tax." The report " went on to say, 'It was merely in order to " avoid the needless issue of Treasury Bills.' " And yet Treasury Bills were authorised for " issue in anticipation of revenue, and the

1 low interest, about 4£ par cent., paid on ' Treasury Bills— and in this instance their ' currency need only havo been for two or 1 three months— was a-, nothnf? compared ' with the saciificoß tlmt had to bo made by ' many of tho taxpaj . is, io raise tho money, ' amounting to nearly £300,000, at the worst ' time of the year— at a time, moreover, ;'; ' as it happened, when increasing depression 1 mado evory pound exaoted a pound with- " drawn from the wages fund of the colony, " for, although taken from the holders of " land, the effeot of tho tax was to injure many " who would otherwise havebeen employed." As to Mr. Ward's alleged statement about tho oolony having three millions' worth of unpledged securities in London, Mr. Hutchison said—" If this be a oorreot summary " of what Mr. Ward said before the London " Chamber of Commerce on the ovq of tho " floating of the loan, with the obvious in- " tention of influencing the taking up of the " loan, it is enough to make one stand " aghast at the lengths to whioh misropro- " Bentation may be oarried. (Hear, hear.) " If the loan has boen raised at the cost of " such misrepresentation, then it has been " raised at a cost which no colony con- " cerned for its bononr conld afford to " pay. (Applause.) It would, however, be " as well to suspend judgment in the matter " till it be Been whether or not the report is " substantially oorreot. But as to the fact " of socurities being available in London to " anything like the extent indioated, no one " ordinarily familiar with the finance of the " colony could be under any doubt. Scan- " rities are sometimes manufactured by " snoh oonoernsas ' the Jabez Balfour group' " of oompanies, but Buch operations are not " to be under any Constitutional Government " known to the British colonies." .... "It is somewhat significant, however, to " find Mr. Ward addressing himßelf to the " Chamber of Commerce on tho finanoial " business of tho colony, instead of to tho " Stock Exohango, which regulates all " matters affecting colonial securities. It " is probably explained by tho_ fact that, " posing as Colonial Treasurer in London, " bis primary objeot in going there was his " private affairs, whioh naturally falls more " within the sphere of the Chamber of Com- " merce than of the Stock Exohange. The " Ministerial morning journal in Wellington, " among other laudatory notices of Mr. " Ward in London, published a few days " ago au artiole from the British Australa- " sian newspaper whioh so olearly reflects " the eißt of Mr. Ward's angry denunciation " of his oritios just before ho left the oolony, " that the reader is left in no doubt of the " writer being in touch with Mr, Ward him"- " self. Here it might be as well to point out " that the line taken by Mr. Ward and such " papers as the British Australasian in " blaming the critioa of the Government for " defaming the colony, argues on the part of " Mr. Ward and his friends a considerable " amount of presumption in assuming that " they are the oolony, and that everyone who " disagrees with them and their methods "is antagonistic to the colony. The critics " of the Governmenc are probably as much " interested in the welfaro of the colony as " the members of tbe Government and " their supporters." "Ab to the British Australasian, it is " interesting to notice that such a well- " informed newspaper, when announcing " the arrival of Mr. Ward, also iutimated " that ' Mr. Ward is understood to bavo " come over on private business connected " with his frozen meat undertakings.' This " is valnablo as coming from Buch a souroe— " not that there ever was much doubt about " it, but oertain of the Ministerial papers " have been studiously avoiding the subject " of Mr. Ward's private concerns, and seek- " ing to engross attention by the importance " of his publio mission, which, however, has "never yet been explained. Ibafc such a " combination of interests cau receive the " approval of any section of thinking people "is absolutely incredible. Cau it bo do- " fended — can it other than bo reprobatsd — " that a Miniator of the Crown should be " using his position as such— for there iB "no uso minoing words —to promote " private conoerns whioh could not but " under suoh oircumstanoes receive a " more favourable introduction than would " otherwise bo the case ?" Turning to Mr. Sbddon's announcement of the surplns, Mr. Hutchison remarked that, " I would have been more convincing if " someone clsa had announced the result. " Mr. Seddon's name has becomo such a byo- " word for exaggeration and error that " people are almost naturally inclined to " ask for something more satisfactory than " a baro statement by him. . . . Sup- " posing in tho meantime that tho totals " given by Mr. Seddon are correct, or nearly " so, it nevertheless is quite clear that tbo " colony has been allowed durin? tho last " financial year to drift to the bad by about " £100,000. The alleged surplus is the " balance brought forward from the pre- " ceeding year, reduced by £100,000 ; " wbioh previous balance was itself a " reduced balance oarried forward from " the year before that again . . . . " Mr. Seddon plays many parts. He is not " only Acting-Treasurer. Besides being in " full charge of half-a-dozen Departments, " he is also Aoting-Minister of Railways. " JDuring hist session bo indignantly re- " pudiated the idea that he was making " another office of a widespread political " usefulness for his engineering talents when " he succeeded in transferring the important " interests of the Railways from the Board " of Commissioners to Ministerial control. " On the transference of power, Mr. Cadman " was duly gazetted Minister of Railways, " and forthwith doparted on a lengthy tour " of the Uriwera country, where railways " have never been beard of. On hia return lie " left for tho Otagoßoldfields.wherorailways " havebeenheardofbutneverooen. Tbrough- " out the time Mr. Seddon has been ' acting' " Minister of Railways, but _ more properly " might be called ' aotive ' Minister of Rail- " ways, hii. Cadmau beintr his dummy." Outof Mr. f-E'.DOte'sfamous Uriwera trip.and the book whioh was promised but has not yet appeared, recounting bis achievements there, Mr. Hutchison made great fun, and he unequivocally condemned the Native Land legislation of last session. "Least of all " did the natives, who might be supposed "to have had something to say on tho " matter, desire the change. They vebem- " ently opposed it by their representatives "lin Parliament. Some fow other members "also protested. Of course, they were denounced as 'land sharks and Pakeha •' Maoris.' The fact that the natives in •'their experience had fonnd that pri"vate purch&Bes were less objectionable "than purchases by the Government " was ft cireuinstan^ treated as of "the smallest moment. Yet there can "be no doubt that from -the p,oint of " viow of British subjects they were entitled "to be heard. Tboy declared, and there ia " abundant evidence they were right, that " they infinitely preferred to doal with " private purchasers than to be loft to ' the " ' tender mercies ' of the Government. As " it is, a Maori ia being treated worse than " a Chinaman. He is not only treated as an " imbeoile, but as an outlaw. Ihe native " mind is slow to move, but thero are mdi"- " cations that it is moving with a vengeance; " and unless they are to be driven wholesale " into bankruptcy and disaffection, Mr. " Sbddon's Aot will havo to bo repealed " forthwith." Mr. Hutchison's trenohant criticism of Ministerial polioy and doings was exceedingly well received by his audience. m _^_____^_^_^_^