THE PREMIER'S SPEECH AT DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1702, 17 January 1874, Page 2

THE PREMIER'S SPEECH AT DUNEDIN.

We select from the full report of the Hon. Mr Vogel's speech at Dunedin, the passages of the greatest general interest : — INDEBTEDNESS OF THE COLONY. Because certain gentlemen have chosen to enter upon various problems or speculations as to what might be the indebtedness of the Colony* in certain circumstances, it has been assumed in some places, and especially ie has been assumed outside the Colony, that we were ignorant of our indebtedness. Let me take a homely example. If any one of you were called upon to pay the price of a dress for wife or daughter, you would know the amount when the bill was placed before you ; but if you had presented to you an infant girl, and were asked to calculate the cost of dressing her from the cradle to a presumed old age — 'laughter)— you would think it a very difficult calculation to enter upon, and, at any rate, you would agree that the possible amount would be very different from the present cost of the child's outfit. (Hear, hear.) But, while making the calculations to which I have referred, as to the indebtedness of the Colony, the makers of them have claimed the right to speak potentially upon financial questions ; and they have insisted upon their right to mix up present liabilities with possible indebtedness or . indefinite purposes, when some undefined time shall have arrived. I shall stite as briefly as possible what are the facts of the case. The amount of our debt on the 30th June last (after deducting the amount invested iv New Zealand securities on account of Sinking Fund) was— On colonial account, L 6,465 7 900 ; on provincial account, L 3,156,200; or, together, L 9,622,100. As far as the proviocial indebtebness is concerned, the amount is, no doubt, ultimately a colonial liability ; but, at the same time, it is secured, primarily, upon the Land Revenue of the colony 5 and of the nature of that security you may gain an adequate idea, when I tell you that, between the Ist July, 1872, and the 20th December, 1873, the land revenue of the colony, exclusive of receipts on amount of gold and native, amounted to L 1,370,000. When you know that in a year and a-half the land revenue, subject to the exceptions named, yielded LJ.,370,000, you need not, I think, be fearful as to. a. liability of o, liuio o«ar L 3,000,000, with such a security at its back. (Applause.) There lemained on the 30th June, to be negotiated, L 2,352,600, 352, 600 of loans already authorised ; thus making a total, when all the loans authorised up to June last have been negotiated, of LI 1,974,000. Beyond that .amount^ there was required to complete the railways authorised up to the end of the session of 1872, or $6$ ' miles of line in all L 1,886,900 ; and adding that amount, the total will be L 13,860,900. But that is not the amount of our present indebtedness. It is the amount of the debt that will exist when 767 miles of railway have been completed; whenLl, ooo,ooo has been expended on immigseaiiion ; when L 200,000 has been spent m acquiring native lands ; when L400,Q00 has been devoted to making roads in' the North Island ; and when L 300,000 has been spent m works upon the gold fields. Then, but not until then, the total indebtedness of the Colon y may be estimated at L 13,860,900. That debt will include LO,QQQ,OOO for public works, of which, at the date I have mentioned, only some L 2,000,000 has begn expended. When the question i$ raised— What will be our position when all that money is expended ? no one is entitled to take the present position of the Colony as the sole test, and to ignore the fact that by the expenditure of L 1,000,000 on public works during the time that has to elapse, to say nothing of natural and ordinary progress, the prosperity of the Colony must be increased, and a state of things be created different from that which now exists. (Applause.) It* is absurd to suppose, if anybody does suppose, that a trunk railway through eaoh island is to be constructed for L 2.000.000 or L 3,000,000. By the time the trunk line is completed, with the various branches already commer»3d, the public debt must be very much increased ; but it will be a misfortune to the country, if you fail to see "that you tfiljL then hayo good value for your money, in the'inlmense addition to your population, and 'the 1 means' of traversing the country from end to end which will have been piovided. (Applause.) What 1 have next to say will |t"any n ( o.t be uninteresting, as an evidence of what era m^y Jpok for in the future. I have obtained a return of the revenue received during a little less than six months— from the Ist July to the gftb Pecember— together with returns for corresponding halfryears. From the \st July to the SJst l}ecembgr, 1870,, the receipts into the Consolidated ! ]?und were L 474,000; "18,71, L 485.000; 1872, L494.0Q0 i and for {873, for a fewdays [ess than the lialf-yeaj?, the reaeipts reached L 625,000 : being an increase over the corresponding period of last year of L 131,000, or at the rate of L 262,000 ayear. [ ask you then to recollect that if we have ;o pay additional interest because of an inireased amount of borrowed money, we lave additional 'means oui of wjiicli to )ay it. (Applause 1 . ) The tand IteVenu c •eturns are more remarkable, as an indiation of the prosperity of the couutry. n 1870, the land revenue amounted to j194;'000 5 for JB7J., it : was L 230,000 ; h T872, it reached L' 500,000 ; bu£ for 873, ' it was no less thai 1 LI , 1 16, 000: In icl-, the recepts' during 1873 exceeded hose of the ' previous three years. (ApJauae.j Before l^jave the question of tie financial position of the. Colony, 1 illaskyo^to ygsollect that' the tru§ in-

dication of the pressure of a public debt is not to be found in any mere statement of figures of amount without considering surrounding circumstances. The mere amount of debt tells nothing ; the annual amount which is to be paid as interest tells little more : nor does even the division of that amount amongst a stated number of persons tell anything conclusive, unless you go also into the question of the means out of which it is to be paid. A person who earns LSO a year may be less able to afford to pay L 5 than another who earns L7O may be able to afford to pay LlO. I speak not unadvisedly when I say that, in dealing with the question of the pressure of a debt, you have to consider first the number of persons who have to meet it, and then the amount of the earnings of those persons out of which they have to satisfy the requirements of the revenue. Then, and then only, you are able to arrive at a fair conclusion. When that test is applied you find that New Zew Zealand, does not by any means compare Badly with other colonies, even ' with large nations 1 entered into this question very fully last session, and those who care to study it will find in Hansard a long dissertation upon it. I will now simply state to you a few figures representing conclusions to which I came. Taking the amount of the interest ou our debt, exclusive of that for public works and Provincial, the charge amounts, as far as I have been able to ascertain, to I*2 per cent, of the average earnings of the population ; inclusive of public works, but still excluding Provincial, the annual charge is 6 "6 per cent., or, including both public works and Provincial, the annual charge amounts to 2*4 per cent, on the average earnings of the population. But I ask you to recollect that in making a comparison with other countries, it is in most cases fairer to take the amount of the indebtedness exclusive of Provincial and public works, because from the aale of lands, and from the works, there are special revenues from which to meet the indebtedness excluded. With some exceptions these are not elements of revenue in countries with which we have to compare our public debts ; and when we take the amount of our debt, omitting that portion of it which is either charged on the land or is for works which elsewhere are provided by private enterprise, the annual charge is, as I have stated, I*2 per cent, on the average earnings of the population. If we make a comparison with the United Kingdom, we find that the average there is 2'B per cent, of the average earnings of the population. In the United States it is 2-7 ; in Russia, 25 ; in France, 23 ; in Austria, 2 -2 ; and in the German Eriipire, 1. I shall now ask yon to allow me to say a few words upon the question of IMMIGRATION". I hope I see around me those who are sufficiently reasonable to make allowance for the difficulties inseparable from the organisation of a new institution snch as this has really been, when we consider the amount of immigration it was intended by the Colony to initiate. I have no wish — indeed I have no reason — to stand forward as the defender of the AgentGeneral, except so far as any man may wish or desire fairly to defend one who is absent, and therefore unable to speak for himself. . I must ask you to recollect that -f.1%«-A«entGeneral has. encf)«ntemd_n)aiiy very great difficulties j and that he has also had a very large amount of compe tition upon the part of other countries to contend with. Within the last few months we have organised a system of free immigration, coupled with the stipulation that the greatest possible care Bhould be exercised in the selection of emigrants. I do hope that this system will bear great fruits. I find that during the last three months the number of nominated emigrants has been :— October, 1173 ; November, 2223 ; December (part return), 2339 j and it will be gratifying to you to hear that, of the last number, 1186, or more than one-half, have been nominated within the Province of Otago. One of the principal public objects that I had in my present visit to this Province, was to make arrangements with the Provincial Government to take charge of the management of immigrants within the Province. That arrangement I had been unable to effect by correspondence. In fact, the matter was going altogether wrong. We were not able to come to any arrangement. J. hoped to be able to do so by coming here myself, and I am glad to say that I have entirely succeeded. The "Provincial government have now taken charge," and' one 'of 'the. first results is to. be seen in the very general satisfaction felt throughout this city—and it will be throughout the Province and the Colony— at the liberal and noble manner in which the unfortunate immigrants by the Surat were received on their arrival here yesterday morning. (Applause.) This being almost the first act of the Provincial Governmet since they assumed charge of immigrants within the Province, I have the greater pleasure in speaking of the very complete manner in which they made provision for every difficult case. The untiring way in which the Superintendent devoted himself to the work, from Saturday morning until the immigrants had been lodged in the Depot— thinking of, and attending to, nothing else, in fact — demands my warmest admiration, ' I may £dd ; that, speaking generally, it ! is to th f e idea of the Superintendent we owe the -Very gratifying circumstance— most gratifying to us, who, not slaves to any national prejudice, desire to live in friendship with all nations — that the captain of the French war-ship, *ha yire, wen£ to the rescue of the shipwrecked immigrants. (Loud applause.) TK"e noble ready way in which the appeal to him was "met" by $c captain of the Yire— his prompt sacrifice of Jpliday engagements 'and all 'considerations of sel£-the. facility with which, he. got ' hjs vessel out of dock, and Hastened qh his errand of mercy— all demand from us, not only to the captain and to his officers, but to the French nation, a mark of our signal , esteem and admiration. (Applause). In years gone by, the French took a very warm interest in New Zealand. At one time, indeed, it was a question of a moment aj.most, whether the Middle Island should not fee a oolony. j^. French captain visiting ' Russell in the v Bay of Islands, let it be ; known, I believe, that he had a notion of gningto Akaroa, and planting there the flag of his country; but, in jihe mitjdje of' the night, an English vessel slipped 'out of pojjt arid mauaged to' arrive at jy? ar oa>' a few moments in advance of the' frenchman. But whatever " rivalry there 1 ' may ' have begn ft that jjase^ the French, have, in jhe

case to which I am now referring, the victory wholly to themselves. And it is the noblest of all victories — a victory in the cause of humanity. (Loud applause.) The Government are quite conscious that it is absolutely necessary that, concurrently with public works, immigration should be stimulated to the utmost. Depend upon it, that is a cardinal point of the policy of the present Government. (Applause.) I have before me a statement of all the rail ways.. in the colony which have been opened, or which are under contract, or which have been wholly or partly surveyed, and so on. If you will be good enough to "take it .as read," it may find its way into print ;* and if it should do so, you will be able to peruse, without having now to listen to, a statement which will, I believe, show you that the Public Works Department has not been in any sense neglected. Indeed, you may, from that statement, be led. to the justice of admitting that, haying been only two years and a-half in existence — for it is only two years and a-half since Mr Carruthers arrived to take charge of the head office — the wide-spread ramifications of the Department, and the immense amount of work it has in its hands, prove that the Department is a remarkable instance of rapidity of development and of high organisation. Any system of public works -would have been scouted as soon as proposed, had it not been applicable to the whole Colony ; and I think it would have been rightly scouted, seeing the conditions under which New Zealand was colonised, and the diffusion of population from so many centres. Hence the difficulty of carrying out the duties of the Public Works Department ; and I may say — for Ido not pretend to any sort of personal credit in the matter — that I think the department is a really marvellous example of what organisation will effect in carrying out large undertakings. You, sir, have kindly referred to the establishment of the Annuities Department ; and I will merely say that its success seems to be beyond all doubt. This is not the only question which has engaged the attention of the Government of late years. There is another measure which even those who suffer from it will, I think, agree in praising — 1 mean the Land Transfer Act, which is, I believe, one of the greatest blessings over afforded to the Colony. (Applause.) After all, private interests must yield to the public good ; s and if the Land TrarisferAct has lessened a great many professional incomes, it has been the means of diffusing money, and enabling land to be be disposed of and dealt with as readily as any other kind of property, and I, for one, see no reason ■why such should not be the case. There i 3 another institution which is as yet on its trial, but which promises to be an entire success, and which, in its present form, is altogether a novelty. I mean the department of the Public Trustee. We have already the proofs of the use which is being made of it. The department is nqt calculated to be of use to any one class only. It will meet a difficulty which people of all classes have found themselves in — that of finding trustees or guardians, especially in the case of young children. I am sure that I am not premature, or over-sanguine, in saying that this institution will command the greatest confidence in the future. You are aware that pne of the mos.6 difficult questions we Jutfl_Jt.o-_daal with last session-^ahd here I know I am treading on delicate ground — was that of PROVINCIAL BORROWING. I dare say it would be very interesting to many now present, and to many in other parts of the Colony also, if I were able to indicate precisely the opinions of the Government upon the manner in which this question should be dealt with hereafter. But I am not going to do anything o,f the kind. I shal). only say that I think tnere is great virtue' in the old doctrine of "leaving well alone j" and that I think a very great deal of attention should be paid to the representations which are made that, by unduly forcing forward the prosecution of public works, there is liability of interfering with private enterprise; by the absorption of too much of the labor which should be available for the prosecution of that enterprise. I think it is worthy of consideration that it will be well, when those large works of which the Colony has charge are being brought to a close, and a certain amount of labor is consequently disengaged, that, there should be other works ready to be proceeded with, so as to take up that disengaged labor. It is well, too, that we should rec..qllgct tljat, wfyatevgr m q,y be tfye intrinBic credit of any country or colqny, that credit is likely to be disturbed by questions wholly outside the spope and in-: fluence of the country or colony concerned. We should recollect that this Colony has has assumed very large responsibilities, which it has the right to desire to see carried out before increasing or extending them. But even admitting and recognising all these considerations, I by no means desire you should understand it to be my opiniou that we should lay down an arbitrary rule by which to deny to places interested the construction of works which their own local conditions render imperatively necessary. I have wished merely to impress upon you that, in coming to a decision upon this question, the Government wijil be guided by conservative considerations] .''■-' > \