THE MINISTRY CRITICISED

Evening Star, Issue 15138, 20 March 1913, Page 4

THE MINISTRY CRITICISED

MR G. W. RUSSELL AT AVON. [Special to the Star.] CHRISTCHURCH, March 19. Mr G. W. Russell addressed a large and enthusiastic meeting of his constituents tonight. After dealing briefly with personal and local matters, he turned to a criticism of tho Prime Minister’s recent speeches. He said that if anybody asked what the country had gained by the change in Government the answer must be “ Nil.” It had lost, temporarily at any rate, tho services of one of its ablest public men, Sir Joseph \yartl, who as financier and Postmaster-General had an Imperial status, and had done splendid work in this country. The country had got in his place an honest but incapable man, whose ideas were limited to road board matters, who possessed none of the qualities of a statesman, who was timid, hesitating, and had no breath of vision, who all his political life had been associated with tho Conservative part of reaction, and who had at his back all the reactionary and Tory elements in the Dominion. Tho change had resulted in no good and much evil, the least of which was a Labor unrest such as had never been known before. Splendid progress in social questions, of which the widow’s pension was one of tho latest evidences made by New Zealand under Liberal Administration, had begn checked. He believed that those changes were only temporary. The Liberals ami Laborites were allied more closely than they had been for many years. The people had been assured that the new Government would be a Democratic one, unfettered and untrammelled by the old Conservative party. When tho Cabinet was announced it was seen that Messrs Massey, Herrios, Allen, Fraser, Rhodes, Herclman, and Bell were all members of the old Conservative party. The only new members were Mr Fisher, who a few years ago was a New Liberal, and Dr Pomare. Tho new elements in the House, representative of small farmers who had been attracted to the standard of so-called reforms, were ignored. Mr Fisher at his election had pledged himself not- to support any Government formed by Mr Massey, and in February of last year he had declared in the House that he would not support a Freehold Government; Quite recently he declared on the West Coast that consistency was the refuge of fools. Evidently principle counted for little in his eves.

What was the, new Government's policy ? He could not tell them. Nor yet could Mr Massey, if ; that gentleman's Christchurch speech was an indication in that direction. As far as tho. speaker could see, the Government were running very much as they did before, but under a new set of men. Already they had found that their only hope was to try to run the country as nearly as possible as their predecessors had ■ done. He looked in vain through the reports of Mr Massey's Christchurch speech for any statesmanlike indication of the Government’s attitude in regard to such questions as Land Reform, Social Reform, Legislative and Electoral Reform, Local Government Reform,' Improvement of Labor Troubles, Reform of the Tariff in order to help industries, and so on. It was a poor effort, and it showed the utter vacuity of the Ministerial mind upon all the great questions of the clay. A good deal had been said in regard to the police at the Christchurch meeting. It was not the first time the same cry had been raised. A few months ago Mr -.»a.sscy was honored in his own city of Auckland. On that occasion bodies of police wore imported from Wailu and Himtly. and he believed that 300 assembled in Auckland City to protect the poor Prime Minister from a danger that never existed. Mr Massey was smuggled into the Town Hall in his own city more than an hour ■and a-half before the meeting opened, and he was unable to leave, until the police had performed a ruse and had drawn the crowd away by pretending to take Mr Massey out by a certain door. When the crowd thronged there to cheer their champion and to hail their demi-god the police bustled him quietly out by another door and got him safely to his hotel. It would be quite wrong to suppose that he was afraid; he was merely timid that his constitution might not stand the endearments and caresses intended for him. But after such an incident as that in Auckland it was surely the height of effrontry for the Auckland ‘Herald’ to sneer at the Christchurch people because they gave Mr Massey on his own encouragement and incentive a lively, rollicking, good-tempered meeting, which he confessed he thoroughly enjoyed.

Tho London market was a true- test of the value of colonial stocks. What was thought of the Massey Government on thatmarket? There had been a general fail in colonial stocks: but it was noticeable, that, while New Zealand per cents, had fallen under the Massey Government £4 10s per cent, in value, those, of Now South Wales remained at £96. and Victoria had dropped only £2, and wore -worth £3 per centum more than New Zealand. The position was -dear; the London money lenders did not- trust the, Massey Government-, and regarded this country’s stocks as of less vain© than those, of either NewSouth Wales or Victoria, while lie fore the Massey Government's advent to office New Zealand held a very different position. The promises on which the Government climbed into office, were : (1) ’That tbev would economise ; (2) that they would reduce taxation; (3) that they would avoid excessive borrowing—meaning, of course, that- their predecessors had plunged recklessly, and had piled up debt in order to remain in office and buy a continued term ; (4) that they would greatly increase settlement in the country; (5) "that they would purify public life -from evils which had grown up ; (6) that they would restore to Parliament power which had been filched from them ; (7) that they would carry on the Liberal policy in its -entirely; (8) that they would. inaugurate the Millennium ; (9) that they _would give even-body a square dear. Not one of those promises had been kept. The Government were walking as gingerly as cats on hot bricks. They were afraid to initiate any new line of policy, and were content simply to keep as near as possible to the line followed by the Ward and the Mackenzie Governments. Where they had departed from those lines, as in the case of the Public ■Service Board, they had got hopelessly into the mud. As to purity of government, the Public Works Estimates, with their roads and bridges grants, calne down last session in exactly the same old way. Not only so, but, while the Government stopped 10 out of 23 railways in course of construction, and had thrown some 5,000 men

out of Government employment, they had authorised seven new railways, 101 miles in length, one of which was in the Prime Minister’s electorate. Mr Massey, specially promised in his pre-election platform : (1) to keep borrowing within reasonable bounds; (2) to reduce taxation wherever Eossible, in order to lessen the cost of ving; (3) to give all facilities possible for men with small capital to get on the land; (4) to give the old age pension to women at 60 years; (5) to reform the economic system of the Dominion, in order to promote industrial peace. Not one of those promises had been kept. Borrowing was going on just the same as before, and the increase of the Debt this year would be quite as much as it was last year. Not one atom of taxation except the Graduated Land Tax had been reduced. No fresh facilities bad been given to men of small capital to get on the land, and Mr Massey never mentioned in his -speeches the landless. The women were still waiting for the extension of the old age pension scheme, and as for industrial peace, there .was under the Massey Government an industrial war which, happily, had never been known in New Zealand before. As a matter of fact the -country's politics had now entered upon an epoch of Cant, Humbug, and Sham. Hud there ever been a Government who so systematically stumped the country on electioneering tours as the present Government? During the year ended March 31, 1912, the Public Revenue was £603,000 more than the Estimates, and the expenditure £264,000 less than the estimate, consequently there was a surplus of £807,000 in the Treasury on April 1 last year, and the Government had been actually aide to use on public works this year £750,000 of that sum; yet they had the audacity to speak of financial difficulties left as a legacy. In the previous year the Ward Government had only £500,000 of surplus to transfer to public works. The Massey Government had £750,000; they took office at a time of prosperity; the revenue had continued to roll in in a steadv stream ; and ho would not be surprised if the surplus was nearly as largo this year as it was last year. As to economy in administration, the Government- found that they Simply could not economise, ns the administration previously had been carried on with both economy and prudence, .The increased expenditure at which they howled in order to secure office, was normal and necessary, and was caused by the growth of population and the. development of the country. In regard to Mr Massey's statement dealing with deposits and withdrawals from the Savings Bank, tilrfigures showed that the public had no confidence in the Government. Mr Massey stated. in Christchurch that the drain o.i the Savings Bank since the beginning of the year had stopped. The speakod hop:;! that, that was so, but the Government should arrange their finances to as not to lean on the Savings Bank, as the masses did not trust the Government. The Government were pledged up to their eyes to Local Government Reform, but would probably find reasons for dodging the question, which was a particularly thorny and difficult- one.

: The powers of the Public Service Com- : missioners appointed by the Government 1 were enormous. The Commissioners could ; reduce officers’ status and salaries, and | even dismiss them If they were considered ; superfluous, and could exercise positively 1 tyrannical authority. The Public Service 1 already was seething with discontent. , The Commissioners and their staff would i probably cost £6,000 a year. It-was stated i that they wore out to reduce the cost of i the Public Service by £60,000 a year. ! That meant that at least 240 men- at an | average salary of £250 a year would have Ito ho got rid of. The scheme would do ; more, to create discontent in the Civil Serj vice than had been done by any other in- | flucnce. , In regard to the Graduated Land Tax, 1 competent men in the House considered j that the alterations made would greatly discount the increases made- in the tax, and that the' Government had taken off I the larger estates with one hand that j which they had placed upon them with I the other hand. Mr Massey had made most reckless I statements in regard to tho flotation of j the recent loan. What had Mr Allen done? By taking off 2 per cent, and scllj ing at 98 he had lost £70,000. and the country would have to pay interest for 40 years at 4 per cent, on that sum which the Dominion had never received, but which it had to pay back during the currency of the loan. The Dominion would pay £112,000 interest on £70,000 it had never received, making a total loss under that head of £182.000. Again, the rise j in the, rate of interest above Mr Myers's j loan from to 4 per cent, entailed on I £3,500,000 an annual increase of £17,500 a year, which would mean, during 40 years—the currency of the loan —that tho Dominion would pay £700,000 more in i interest than would have been payable if ; the loan had been raised at the same rate I —si per cent. —ns that at which Mr ! Myers raised his loan last year. It meant that this country had to pay altogether £BBO,OOO for having an apprentice like Mr Allen at the helm. Mr Massey said that his colleague had raised the loan at £4 5s 6d, but when particulars were received of tho cost of underwriting, commissions, stamp duty, exchanges, etc., it would probably amount to at least £4 10s—tho i worst and most expensive loan the Dominion had raised in many years. Mr Russell protested strongly against Mr Allen’s action in seeking, without the consent of Parliament, to commit New Zealand to the promise of an expeditionary | force. Mr Allen had received absolutely j no authority to make the statement he had made on behalf of Ne.v; Zealand. Tn I conclusion, he said that the Liberals wel- | corned Labor’s activity in politics. If j there could not be complete union between I the two elements they should work for an I alliance in order that all the progressive 1 forces in the Dominion might operate together against the forces of reaction, stagnation, and self-interest. , Mr Russell was accorded a very cordial vote of thanks and confidence, accompanied by an expression of warm appreciation of the manner in which he had : discharged his Ministerial duties while in office.