Hawke's Bay Herald. MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 1895.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9993, 21 January 1895, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 1895.

THE PREMIER'S ADDRESS. Me Seddon's address at the Gaiety Theatre on Friday evening doea not call for much comment. A groat part of it was a re-basb of what has already been repeated ad nauseam, and what was new was not always true. It may be described as a onrloaa medley of bombaßb and selfglorification with common sense and moderation, and abounded in contradictions. For example, he bombastically asserted that the colony was much moio prosperous now than in 1890, when the present Ministry assumed office, and that for one man onb of work now there were twenty then. A statement more notoriously at variance with fact conld not well be imagined. In effect he admitted this immediately afterwards when he acoounted for the depression by the falling off In the valne of exports. Again, he asserted that when the presenb party came into power the workers groaned nndei the weight of taxation while wealth went free. In almost the next breath he claimed that the property tax pressed so severely on wealth as to strangle all enterprise. He also failed to tell his audience that it was only with the aid of the present Government party, including Mr Seddon's own vote, that the present Customs duties— which is really the only form in which the workers are taxed— were Imposed, that not one shilling of taxation on the workers has been remitted, and that a Commission h&R been appointed to revise the tarifl with the object of raising duties still higher, in the Interests of Protocbion. Again, ho told his hearers several tlmee that Hawke's Bay was moro depressed than any other part of the colony a different talo ia told by commercial travellers—and then excused the sending of men from Canterbury to pnbllo works here on the ground that the Government did not know there were any nnemployed In Hawke's Bay 1 Similar inconsistencies abounded all throngb, bat we have quoted sufficient as samples. As usual, the Premier dealt largely In figures. As usual, too, they were obtained from Government Departments, and his critics, not having access to his sources of information, cannot) check their acouracy. Bat when they can be checked, Mr Seddon is shown to be as inaccurate as nana). Twice he told bia hearera that 2028 persons held between them 32,000,000 acres of land. That would give an average of nearly 16,000 acres each, and would be remarkable if true. Bat there was not an atom of truth in the statement, According to the last Government Handbook the total area of occupied land, excluding Crown pastoral leases, but including all other leaseholds, was at the last census 19,397,527 acres, and this area was held by 43,777 persons. The area held for pastoral purposes in loose from the Crown was 12,469,976 acres, bnt the number of holders is not stated. Adding these together we get under 32,000,000 acres, neld by considerably over 45,000 poraons. Then again, he repeatedly asserted that the population of Hawke's Biy had nob increased as fast In comparison with the population ol other districts since the last censua. Yeb, according to the figures he quoted, while the population cf the colony at last census was 672,265, and there was an estimated inoreaso of 59,000 souls, or abont 9 per c ent. ia Hawke's Bay the increase was 3127 on a population of 30,995, or over 10 per cent, (Jar Increase, therefore, though not so large as we should have liked to see ft, was greater In comparison than that of the rest of the colony, If we get such results from figures which can be tested by official reborns, what reliance can be placed la those to which no snob teat can be applied 1 The Premier naturally devoted much attention to the legislation of last session, for which he claimed Ministers should br | covered with glory. That legislation wai largely experimental, and time only cat prove whether It was wise. We fear thai In the cheap money scheme and the Bani of New Zealand legislation there are Involved heavy responsibilities for which the colony will have to pay dearly In the long run. The speech was, perhaps, moro remarkable for what was omitted than for what waa said. There was not a word about Pomahaka, or the application of tile second million raised under the Bank of New Zealand Guarantee Act, or the money raised under ihe Consols Aot, and a dozen other things the oolony is entitled to know about. As to Mr Ward's visit to England, we wore merely told he was going in connection with mall matters— a thing wdioh the AgentGeneral could Burely attend to. There was no disavowal, expliolt or Implied, of the statements freely circulated that It is private, rather than public, business wbich takes Mr Ward Home. As to Colonel Praser'a appointment, he adopted the lv quoqw argumonb, and instanced three cases where, he said, previous Minlstilea had made Illegal appointments In " the spoils to the viotors " priuoiple. Not one quoted iDßtanee applies. In the first place the Chief Justice waa appointed when there was no Disqualification Act In existence, and he was an opponent, not a Bnpporter, of the Miulstry which opappointed him. In the case of Mr Moss, his appointment was not to the Civil Servioe of this oolony, but to Raratonga, It was really an Imperial appointment, and Mr Moss wan also an opponent of the Ministry whloh recommended him. In the third place, a Renidenb Magistrate was wanted for a very widely scattered district in Nelßon, Mr Gibbs offered to do this work if his travelling expenses were paid, and that offer was accepted. Where is the nepotism, when "the spoils to the victors " lv the three enses cited as just! tying the present Ministry in evading the Disqualification Act) by the appointment Jf Colonel Fraser as Sergeant-at-Arms as i reward for retiring from a three"-

conjured political ooutttt at tbe beueat) ol the Premier ? Of course Mr Seddon was cheered to the echo. Ho has a breezy, hail-fellow-well-met manner which makes him perHonally popular even with his opponenta, and It la well calculated to atti nob a public audience. His hearers did ' nob know that the figures he quoted with such emphasis werp purely fictitious or wrongly applied. They did aot know I that he was telling half truths. They did I not see how much he was concealing. How could they ? So they cheered. Bnt If on calm examination and reflection 8 they are pleased, then very little, and that little mostly wrong, satisfies the supporters of the present Ministry.