THE NATIVE MINISTER BANQUETTED.

Evening Star, Issue 6761, 28 November 1884, Page 1

THE NATIVE MINISTER BANQUETTED.

A complimentary banquet was given to the Hon. J. Ballance, Native Minister, at Wanganui last night. There was a very large attendance, including Mr Bryce, In replying to the toast of the evenings Mr Ballance thanked ...the company very sincerely for the great honor they had done him, and which he did not expect, fie was afraid the services rendered by him were hardly of such a character as to merit the encomiums passed upon him; but he could say that, such as they were, they had Beea labors of love. They had been rendered ? without any desire on his part of receiving such recognition as had been given him that evening. When he heard that it was the intention of the Wanganui people to tender him a compliment in a public way he felt that he could not assume that anything he had done during the session had entitled him to that honor, and he therefore assumed that it was mere in the light of a personal feeling pf respect towards him that;the; movement was due. In referring to the remarks made by the chairman as tOvbis present dual capacity as member for the, district and as a Minister, he held in theory, that the two positions were perfectly compatible, and a member who neglected hjs. constituents because he had been appointed, a Minister deserved their censure. Of course he would be told that new brooms, swept clean; but he looked upon parties as political necessities, and it was essen-> tial to the good government of the Colony that ene party who had worn its broom' out should "give way to another who had! a new broom.—(Hear, hear.) \ A change in the Ministry was absolutely necessary for a -continuance of the Colony's progress., Referring to the legislation of the past session, be said that the Married Women'*, Property Act was of great importance. It was a measure which had received cordial support from both parties. Every married- 1 woman in the Colony had'now the 1 same right to hold property and to deal in property as men had. The time was notfar distant when we - should advance another step and give every woman p fha, franchise. He said this to show that, somfthing had been done to advance in social, progress. > He next referred to the line of railway running through the North Island. He could not say that the construe- . tion of that railway would exclusivelybenefit the town of Wanganui. It would • depend upon the energy displayed; but_he was quite certain that it would benefit the. North Island generally. The line would, start from Mar ton and rnn through to !Te Awamutu, and there were no fewer -than) four and a-half million aeres of land, to be, acquired along the line. It had been re-, cognised that since the work had been authorised it was the duty of the Govern-J ment to push on. with it with all possible* speed. It had been definitely settled that the first sod of the railway should be turned simultaneously at both the Marton and Te Awamutu ends. It was intended tocpfn-" mence the construction at certain points? along the line, and certain sums of money had been appropriated for the opening of roads to ; the line for the conveyance of material. Mr Rochfort had suggested that the Wanganui? River should be one of such highways, and in this way considerable benefit should accrue to Wanganui. ; All such matters .as these, however, must be'looied at from™ ;colonial point of view, for the interested the Colony as a whole, and as a meanj QL assisting to dispel-the depression which oMate hung like a nightmare this brought him to the unemployed difficulty, the importance of dealing with whicln the Government fully recognised.' It had been asserted that the unemployed difficulty was principally due, and could be traced lo? persons of the working classes who indulged too freely in strong drink, and to loaferswho did not work. But on inquiry, thf Government had found that the dwtresy was not confined to these classes., alone. Some of the better classes were also suffering, and even in some- cases those; who were employed. Under those circumstances the Government did not,pro-; pose to continue immigration until the; surplnß labor bad been absorbed, and hi, believed that in the settlement of the iandE the difficulty would be solved, fie wsxtf spoke of the charges of unlimited borrowing proposals -which had been ragaina* the Government, He assured them-that.thej Government intended to borrow only so much as would complete the works already sanctioned by Parliament, and for such workß as would be reproductive. There-was; a greatfuture for the industriesof the Colony, ; which would be supported by .the Groyerjament as far as possible. On the the defence of the Colony, the believed that while it would be imposßJbla for any foreign Power to hold any permanent position, it was their duty, to place the; harbors in a state of defence, and to d&? pend upon the Volunteers.. As regarded, the purchase of Native lands, it was th* intention of the Government in future to acquire land for settlement only upon a commercial principle, and they would not borrow money except for, lands that would be made to reproduce at least 5 per cent, of the purchase cost. Consequently the Native difficulty had resolved- itself into simply a question of settlement of land. It was the intention of the Government to establish land associations tha|cou4M»ke up land to the extent of 5,000. acres. Restrictions were to be placed on the Native lands, so that the four and a-half million acres on the line of the Central railway wooklrfcofclil available for open purchase. This had met with the approval of the great Native chief Wahanui, and of Major J£eisp. If the Natives had been allowed to settle their own lands they overcome the greatest difficulty, ana have become heartily co-operative in the work of the Colony. The pastoral lands of the Colony should not be alienated! They represented 12,000,000 acres, and the revenue would yearly increase, T It was the intentift of the Government to cut the present ttrfc runs into smaller blocks. At the same'tiiEl he recognised the fact that the runholders were a most important part of the community. Their position was worthy of every consideration. He approved of lwd settlement oh a purchase extending oVer ten years, the extent to be 100 acres, and on these, conditions—namely, good land,.pias£ inity to market, and low price. The particulars of the system would begasettedin a few days. The questions of local government and taxation would shortly be'referred to by the Hon. the Premier in Dahedin.