A PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 186, 25 July 1911, Page 7

A PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS

MR. VIGOR BROWN. M.P.. AT THEATRE ROYAL. NAPIER.

Mr. J. Vigor Brown. M.P. ad-die--ed his cons! itiients in the Theatre Royal. Napier, last evening. The audience was an overflowing one. and included a large number of ladies.

Mr. John Higgins occupied the chair, and in introducing the speaker said that the large attendance proved that the people of Napier were well satisfied with Mr. Brown s endeavours since he entered Parliament. He had been returned as a Liberal, and he had served the Liberal Party faithfully. Mr. Brown, who was recen ed with loud applause, prefaced his remarks by saying that two ami a half years ago he had asked the electors of Napier to return him to Parliament, and if they did this he hail told them he would come before them and give an account of what he had done or tried to do. That was why they were assembled that evening: and the large audience which had come to hear him showed the interest that was being taken m the political questions of the day. (Applause.)

What he had Done

| He hoped they would not think i he was flattering himself when he ; said he had doin’ something. He' had said two and a half years ago; that he would support the present Government, ami he had done so. He claimed to have been instrumental in getting the Tongoio and Clyde estates cut up for closer settlement, and these lands now carried a population of 23 and 32 people respectively on what was previously idle land. He had said that he would endeavour to get thej Esk river bridged, ami this work! was now practically completed, and | the Tongoio washout was also toj be bridged. For 25 years this bridge hail been badly needed, but rhe attention of the Government had never been drawn to it. When he had told the Government that the Esk was the only river between Wellington and Napier which was! not bridged, they would not believe| it. He had also said lie would trvi to get the road constructed to the | Pnketitiri Hot Springs, and al-1 though the road was not in his district the work had been authorised. I At present there was only a track. ; but a few months would see flu-j completion of the road, and the I Hot-Springs would attract a good’ de.nl of the tourist traffic which n<»w| went to the Wanganui River and. other resorts. At first the < 3>v<>i n-! merit had only made provision fori | preserving five acres at the’ Spi ings. but he made represent a ; tions, and that day had been in-l formed that an additional twenty' acres had been set aside. (Ap-I plause.) These might seem trivial' matters, but they affected his dis j triet. Continuing. Mr. Brown saidi he had also promised to obtain ai post office for Greenmeadows, and; they had got it : Taradale would ■ also soon have a new post office, the tenders for the new building having already been called : Clive ami Petanc were also to have similar buildings in the near future.. The necessity of providing a house j for the Inspector of Police at ; j Napier had been brought under rhe'; notice of the authorities by him, ■ and now the erection of the resi - dence had been sanctioned. He had promised tn urge the Govern-j ment to cut up the native lands, between Napier and M airoa fori settlement, and the result was that ; several blocks had been taken up, j so that when the railway was con > structed the settlers would reap the; benefit. The railway would go ■ i through land ’which had already! ■ been purchased by the Govern-; ; mi nt. and other portions which it; was intended to purchase. He had I further promised to endeavour to I get a railway line to Wairoa,-but! j some people had said this was only! ; election talk. He did not expect | his request would be granted soj quickly, but the Government had| promised to start a tcn-inile see-1 tion in the near future. (Applause.);

A voice: It’s only a promise

; Mr. Brown: Every promise the ■ ’Government has made to me has’ I been fulfilled, because I never .ask. I for anything unreasonable. ! I Continuing, the speaker said he; i had succeeded in getting Waikare i connected with Napier by tele ! ! phone. • Last year the Government ! had decided to dispense with the. ; Taupo mail service, and refused to; .accept a tender. However. he i placed the position before them, j ■ami a tender was accepted. When' ■ the list of electrical schemes to be, j put in hand by the State was an-; pounced, he noticed that Waikare-! rnoana. was nor included. He was; sin e if they got cheap power from j this source they would cheapen, labour, and industries which were; 'at present handicapped would soon; be flourishing. Tn speaking to Sir Joseph Ward, he had been inform-, ed that the Waikaremoana had nr-; ! i identally been left out. However, j j it. had subsequently been put in. j

and would be taken in hand after the Lake Coleridge scheme.

[ The "Dominion ' had said that > lie was

“A Parish Pump Politician," but he asked what had he done to be told that. He had tried to get a railway constructed, the Esk river bridged, and other necessary works, al! outside ms own district, and he asked was that the work of a parish pump politician ' Our Population.

The Opposition had said that the Government were driving population out of New Zealand, but he would point to a few figures which disproved this charge. The Commonwealth of Australia had a population tour and a-half times that of New Zealand, yet in a period of 10 years the Dominion’s increase hat! been twice that of Australia. In the .-.ame period, our population had gone up 44 per cent, whilst Australia had only increased 17 per cent., and yet it was held that the Government was driving the population away. New Zealand had in the period referred to risen from 772.71 b to 1.107.81 I : and Australia from 3,773,801 to 4.449.493. The respective increases were Australia 673.692. New Zealand 335.092. The population of New South Wales, half a million more than that of New Zealand, had risen 41,738 ; Victoria, with a quarter-million more than New Zealand had increased by 221.702; the other States, with about the same population as New Zealand had increased very slowly in proportion. The Australian census figures showed that if the poptila tion of the Commonwealth had increased at the same rate as New Zealand, her population to-day would be well over five millions instead of four and a half millions. Yet the Opposit ton said they were losing people. Before the Liberal party came into power the Commonwealths increase nearly don bled that of New Zealand. Since the Conservative party had been turned out of office in 1890, the average eenticiinal increase in New Zealand was greater than in any other country in the world, with the exception of Canada and Japan. Another aspect to be con sidered was that New Zealand had ten people to every square mile. That was his i»m cal<-ul;d ion. (Oh's.) Canada had two persons and Australia one and a half to every square mile. And the Masseyparty still maintained the Government was driving people out of the country. Beneficial Legislation.

Last session Parliament had passed an Act. advantage of which had not been taken as much as he would like, lie referred to 11nState Guarani‘■•■d Advances Act. a law by which five or more people could take up a certain area of laud. If the Government was satisfied tlie land was worth the money they provided the purchase numey. and no deposit was necessary. This was a- very liberal method of acquiring land. Referring to the benefit of the land for settlements policy of the present Government, the speaker instances a number of estates which had been acquired in Hawke's Bay, viz., the Lindsay settlement for which there were 66 selectors and had now a population of 266; Forest Gate had 26 selectors, population now 111 ; Argyle 62 selectors, population now 245 ; Raureka Js now 89: Waipuka 1. now 3 ; Elsthorpe 13. now 15; Tomoana 13. now 57: Mahora 41. now 49; Pou rere 6. now 21 ; Maugalahi 22. now 98: total 1684 as against 290 when the estates were first cut up. This, he contended. was proof of the prosperity accruing from the present Government's land settlement, policy. The improvements required by the State totalled £69.867. whilst the improvements which had been effected aggregated £155.567. It had been said'that" the cutting up of these estates led to mixed farming, but. he asked, what did it matter, as long as the money was corning in.

Workers' Dwellings.

Another beneficial measure was the Workers' Dwellings Act, under, which a worker could borrow a sum of £7OO .pay a deposit of £lO, and have his property paid for in 25 years. Complaints had been made that the money could not be got quick enough from the Department. but he pointed out that applications from all over the country had to be tie,ilt with.

National Provident Act

The National Provident Act was another ' useful measure. Under this a young man who contributed 1- per week from the age of 22 years, was entitled t o 10 - per week at the age of 60. If a man had a family he received the sum of £6 at the birth of everry child. No Government could introduce anything better than this, but people did not seem to realise the benefits of the scheme. If a man reached the age of 32 without being mar-

i ried he could withdraw his contrii butions by giving 12 months no- • tic-e. and consequently as well as ! having acted as a Savings Bank ! for him, the scheme had also insured him for ten years. i Taxation.

He had been tdrd a good deal

about tiie Customs duties and the I taxation on the working man. In ! 1900, somelinesof customed articles i produced £289,436, whilst in 1908 j the amount was £6650. which ; showed that a large amount had j been saved, and the working man i contributed more by way of cusj toms duties than anything else. ; There had been an increase on eeri tain lines, but these did not affect j the working classes, and were I more luxuries titan necessaries. If ■ the duty had not been reduced in : 1910, kerosene would have produced £136.470. coals, oils,, etc. £59,053, and currants £23,806, rasI ins £38.517. Figs and dates pro- ! dueed £33.199 .almonds £3644. tea £125,165, sugar £240,597. rice £22.i 843, salt £11,026. The total would i have been £694,328, and all out of . the working man’s pocket. | The Massey Party.

In 190-1 the Massey party were known as the great Conservative Partv.

j A voice: So were you. (Laughi I er.) [ Mr. Brown; Y r es, but I had the i sense to alter —only fools and ! horses net er change their minds, | because they never had any. 1 (Laughter and applause.) ' Continuing. Mr. Brown said that , in 1905 the Masseyites were known j as the Reform Party, and now they : said they were the only true Liberal j Party. (Laughter.) He asked had he no right to change bis mind? He wished now that hi 1 , had never been a Conservative, because all ’ the big estates around Napier i would have been settled long ago. j It was not until he began to mix ! with the general public that he saw ; what a fool he had been. (Laugh- ’ ter and applause.) Mr. Massey ; had lately been saying a lot about Native lands, and about what Sir James Carroll ivas not doing. He! had said that there were 6.000,000; •acres of Native lands wrapped up. j ! and for tins he (Mr. Massey); ; blamed Mr. Carroll. Mr. Brown; , went on to say that 2.000.000 acres] J were leased to Europeans, and; were supposed to be profitably oe-. ; cupied, and 48.000 acres were leas-' led lo Maoris. But what Mr. Mas-! i scy did not say was that 1:43 Euro- ( ; pean landholders and leaseholders; i owned 13.000.000 acres. Mr. Mas-. sey was careful to omit that. The; Leader of the Opposit ion had also] stated that the Native lands were; locked up. ami that this was block-! ing settlement, but be (Mr. Brown) would point out that 925 Europeans! owned or leased J9.50ii.000 acres of] land: 84 Epropeans owned 8.250.000 acres, and he knew of one man who

■owned 223.242 acres. In bis .speech ! at Hastings Mr. Massey did not tell : bis audience that in 19<i6 twentyfour persons owned. 518.54 1 acres. ’Continuing. Mr. Brown said the ' rime had arrived when they wanted people settled on the land, tmt lie ■ did not. think Mr. Massey would tiring about this result. The leader of the ’‘only true Liberal Party'’ did not. say anything about the 24 '■ people in Hawkes Bay owning : land with unimproved value of i £2.170.505. If lam.l was held in the ; same nrciis ail over the Dominion, ' .>OOO persons would own the whole ‘ of New Zealand. I A voice : You’re all right.

Mr. Brown : I've got no land. A voice: What about the theatre site ?

j Mr. Brown : It’s a very good site, i and we’ll put your statue up there. ■ (Laughter and applause.) ( Proceeding, the speaker said Mr. i Massey had stated that 70 per cent. ! of owners only held 200 acres each. ’ But what about, the other 3,0 per i cent ? asked Mr. Brown. He would ! tell them. The other 30 per cent. ; owned or leased 35,500,000 acres, i The figures had been supplied to i him by Sir James Carroll.

The National Debt.

i Mr. Massey talked about the ; Public Debt of £81,000,000. hut he did not tell them what was done ] with the money. Twenty-five mil- ; lions had been spent on railways : and more was necessary- ; £4.888.000 ' hail been borrowed by local bodies, ■and it was reproductive: £1.430,000 ; was spent, on the construction of telegraph and telephonic emnmnni- ! cation, which could not he done ! without ; and £BO.OOO was a reserve fund for securities. These w i-re all self-supporting. Tlie profit-earn-i ing figures were the Advances to • Workers and Settlers. £7.739.700, ; and he asked would anybody stop ; this. Personally, he would vote in favour of it every time. £,330.485 ! had been spent on lands for seftle- ‘ ment. and this could not come out , of revenue. The money w as selfearning, and £500.009 was in tlie ; Bank of New Zealand shares. The ! amount indirectly earning interest was £6.870.000. They all wanted ' roads and bridges, and these could not he built on air: public buildings cost £5.210.000; purchase of

Native lands £2.461.000; total. £62.493.000, or 76 per cent, either self-supporting or indirectly earning interest. An amount of £2,367,000 for a Maori war loan was borrowed by the Conservative Government. but the present party were saddled with tlie blame ; £2,783.000 was in ok! defence loans. Harbour lights cost £2,673.000; Tourist Department £131.000 ; and the six and a half millions borrowed last year had been spent in railway construction, rolling-stock, lands for settlement, purchase of Native lands, and advances to settlers, and these things must be developed.

The Sins of Others.

He had read in the press —and the press was generally reliable — that Mr. Massey had voted against the Advances to Settlers. Further, Air. Massey had voted against the Old-age Pensions (contradictions and continued uproar). Mr. Massey had said that to borrow for public works was criminal, while Mr. Herries, his first lieutenant. said it wassail right to borrow, but he diet not like the way it was done. But what bad the Government done wrong .’ They had asked the House for tlie money, and could do nothing else.

In Conclusion,

he said he thought he had said sufficient, but if any one wished to ask questions and came on the platform he would answer them to the best of his ability. He had given them the facts about the Opposition, and had told them what he had done. He had told them when contesting the last election there would be no need to kiss his royal hand if they wanted anything done. They could meet him in the street and tell him what they wanted. He was prepared to listen and give attention to anyone, on any subject, from the naturalisation of a Chinaman to the building of a railway. The speaker then resumed his seat to await questions.

Before any questions were asked, however. Mr. S. Carnell mounted the platform, and after saying that Mr. W. J. McGrath, had tried for years to get the Tongoio washout repaired, and had not been strong enough to succeed, he moved : — " That this meeting thanks Mr. ,T. V. Brown, M.P.. for bis address this evening, and expresses a continued and renewed confidence in the Liberal Government, which has done so much for the workers, and of which Mr. Brown has always been a faithful supporter.’’ The meeting was taken aback by this sudden proposal to conclude the proceedings, ami for some minutes no one could awaken to the necessity for a seconder/ Eventually Mr. AV. A. Donaldson second? ! from the auditorium. Air. Carnell then took the ci’iduet of the meeting in his own hands, and put- the resolution and declared it carried unanimously, amidst applause and laughter. Air. Brown thanked the meeting for the attendance that evening, and said with, regard to the interruptions that he liked a spirited hearing. The meeting then terminated.