PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

Grey River Argus, Volume LVII, Issue 10312, 20 June 1899, Page 2

PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

Mr Guinness," MH R* at Grey* ■'■■;...'."';..., ;..'.' '.- mouth. ;; .

Last evening, Mr GninnessiM HR, delivered a pre-sessiohal address at Easson's Hall. The audience was poor for Greymputh aud suggested jV; kck of interest in parliamentary affairs.- His Worship the Mayor (Mr A Mathesen) took the chair and briefly introduced the member, bespeaking for him' a patient hearing:— - ■'.•'•. \_ ■ "v/-.--. a] Mr Guinness at once entered into an account of the administration of the Go* vernment since he. last met the electors. The people hacl^emanded the passage of the. €>ld Age Pensions' Bill and the Go« vernment had- BuecßS9fuiryT c pa>Bed the measure. He condemned the tactics of the Opposition in endeavoring to kill the measure and paid a high tribute of praise to the Premier for the -way? in which he had forced the measure through. The measure of , relief given was only a slight amount of which they, had a right to; expect v m, : th^; - . future. He instanced the pensions :gi*on to civil servants and said theiy sljould have no s ,. ecial provision beyond ftiiy. other person. He argued that aliens 1 (t : £ those who were naturalised) should" have a right to a pension r without' a" "nve years naturalisation. The Mining Bill," which whs before Parliament last was very important. The whole df seven/ statutes were incorporated in the "Bill; In his opinion efforts should' have been made to meet the requirements^ of " the mining operators of the ' present . day; : "He ridiculed the idea of charging at -the'' rate of 10s. an acre rental for r*fer ; beds and mountain tops. This was a djrag on .mining enterprise. In reference to the new Mining Act the/speaker said the benefits would be in favor of the large holders. This he condemned j and argued that all miners should be treated alike. The Wardens did not likia : to havfe their decisions appealed; against and they put their heads together to get appeals refeared'to the Supreme Court; -which only sab twice, a year at c 'Hokitika. - He had condemned the clauWa£ well as Ite could, but uiVayaiiingly. He^vfcuKl feiideavor to get the miners' rights charges n f educed as well as various other charges; ;i\Vhen; he saw the Gazette, however, he was much surprised. Under the .iiew f regulations .thpr .mining ?wjire/ taiM ma most unfair manner/ .He described the manner in which claims, dams anil races had to be taken up-and said he believed the regulations' weife detrimental to the mining industry. At .present these charges amounted to Ls l3s 6d \ whoreas the miner had to pay before "the nov regulatious only LI 65. ; This; condition he considered unfair in the 'extreme. Some years ago he and Mr Seddon passed a measure where only head races were required to be renewedv Then the annual charge was 12s 6d agaiiist L 3 15? 6d charged at present. 'Since he entered Parliament he had consistently supported the Liberals and never had any sympathy with the Conservatives"; - - :He^tiinted out manyfaults of the Liberal Party aadthat Wft» hit right and pMtg* All to t***»

tion,~he said the Parliament made a mistake in levying taxation more than was required simply to create a surplus. In 5 years about 12 millions had been dragged from the people for this purpose alone. He proposed that they levy less in taxation. L 25.000 a year would be a sufficient surplus. If the Chancellor of Exchequer •in England levied at, the same rate as New Zealand he would require a snrplus -of Ll2>-500,000 a year. - This would- be "looked upon as a monstrous proceeding. Heref erred to the customs duties at length ■ s and condemned the excessive duties He said ifc was a mistake to - reduce all dutieaas the?merchants made aprofit.on the duty. He would support 'tea; sugar and- kerosene being perfectly r - free. :'-' If <the people : wanted to bui2d "'railways let them do so, bit a certain amount of the charge should be borne by : posterity^ who would : reap the benefit bye and bye. At the rate the Midland : -railway : line was being constructed it -- would <• take 4l£ years to complete it, 36 "to complete the Auckland Trunk lino and -27 years to complete the Otago Trunk ! v 'lhfe. He asked if this was a wise policy ? " ' "He suggested now as he did in the House j ■fiat the colony borrow from three to five 7 .millions and finish the linos as soon as possible. Those who would get the use "and benefit of the railways should pay j their fair share towards them. He 7 favored the tax on unimproved values and it should not be optional buta general law. The man who improves should not %8 taxed. He also said that when a man •, : - was not; paid within 48 hours he should redress and be able to recover im/rTKediateiy. T He had endeavored to get _ higher rates of wages pa>d to railway erajjioyees, -The men here got 6s 6d a day, -. but when jthey; had; to contend with wet j weather that! djwT upib^ex|a.t in Auckland places. Be said those men ' should get 10s a day, the same as the local bodies paid. The Minister -of^'Publvc^^Wprks- at Jackson paid 10s a day for casual labor when required. For the West Coast; he said the Railway men 'were! underpaid on account of the bad >. feather. The practice -■of'" sending out of the colony for ''. offieerahad a bad tendancy, and should be stopped. He had supported the Go-veramenti: in. borrowing money for • ttcqtiirettettt- of large estates and said : ifc was ttofair; of the O'pppsibio'n to say they were increasing the deb*"-, as they hadgbbd assets;, behind them in their tr^naactions. ; wouldr. support GoiYernmeiitr lending ..money ■ even to people in. towns ag well as. the country, Tl good security was given. He supported: a decrease in the postal rates — ; the f Qoormpiis; jaiir|i|us.,. would surely : a,%w of , this, Bfe-woiild support the Brevier's Bill- • for the, reform of local bodies. It was doubtful if ifc/ would be dealt wi* this session. He had often asked Government to do something to protect the front of the wharf.. Mr Napier Bell's report showed L7,0G0 would \ be sufficient, guijelyi th^t amount could be granted when LI OOO was voted to protect; the Hokitika Post Office. ■•> In reply to questions Mr Guinness ■"said"'-,'" . ■'. „t . ■•' '..-■• .;-. \ ■ - ' -./ ; /He would -I?W>V when mining property was mortgaged notices should be givenltatoreditorß,<etci .; ■ ; ... to levying rates on mining property for Charitable Aid, he was -in favor of an amendment in the law. The mining rate should be done away.-withY ..', In, reply jtoia.vquestion he said he wquM 'give preference to. married men ion'the,corpper^tiye. works, ....;., .;.• v r-He would support the wharf laborers to 1 get shelter sheds. ts%' ■ : He would support the Fire 1 Brigade , Bm. "■':_,: . - . • ■■:■,..' .On. the' m6,itoji,.Qf lilr W.'R Kettle % .vote.: of "thankk\ and . confidence, (seconded by Mr Mark), was put and carried. . - The usual compliment to the chair • concluded : the meeting:.