MR. BALLANCE AND HIS CONSTITUENTS,

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 9, 12 May 1880, Page 4

MR. BALLANCE AND HIS CONSTITUENTS,

(Abridged from the Wanganui Chronicle.)

On Wednesday evening last Mr. Ballance addressed his constituents at the Princess Theatre, Wanganui. He said he came before them to give an account of what had taken place during last session, whicn had been an eventful one. The general election altered the relative strength of parties in the House. There were at first 41 for the Government, and 43 against them. The scale was turned by Mr. Pyke, who favored the policy of the Government, but disliked Sir George Grey. The Government retired. The amendment to the Address had taken exception, not to the policy of the -Government, but to the administration and the personnel of the Ministry. The amendment was a trick. It spoke of a reconstruction of the Ministry, but it was really intended to turn them out. Mr. Hall was sworn in, and then two gentlemen who had voted for the amendment turned round and tried to turn the new Ministry out. Those members were Messrs. Pyke and Stewart. There was another motion of want of confidence brought forward, because the Opposition could command a majority of five. The Ministry took advantage of the powers which" the forms of the House gave them to keep that motion low down on the Order Paper. He (the speaker) believed that their conduct m that respect was altogether unconstitutional. The Government tried bard to get a majority. Then the Auckland four, of whom they had heard bo much, turned round and gave the Government a majority, and then the business of the session went on. It had been said that the Auckland four were bribed, that large promises concerning the expenditure of EubUc money (.£500,000) in Auckland ad been made to them. It was certain that papers had passed between them and the Government, and there was a refusal to produce those papers. The facts at length leaked out to some ■extent. The compact was, that if, on examination, it were found that Auckland had not been fairly treated with regard to the expenditure of public money, the House should be asked to vote a sum to place heron an equality with other parts of the colony. Auckland did get a large amount of money, »t least JE65,000 was voted for roads north of Auckland.- Mr. Colbeck had stated that they had succeeded better with the present Ministry than with the last, for Mr. Macandvew would only have given them £ 10,000. He (the speaker) considered it was time to do away with that sort of thing. It would lead to endless corruption. "When the Government got a majority the motion of want of confidence was withdrawn, and thpy introduced two electoral bills — one extending the franchise, and the other providing for ■Triennial Parliaments. With regard to the first, the party which was previously in power ought to get the credit of it. Some said that the measure would not largely increase the number of votees, but he thought it would, and it was . generally accepted as satisfactory. With regard to the Triennial Parliaments Bill, the principle had his hearty support. After the dissolution of the present Parliament, there would be a dissolution at least once in three years, but it was not improbable that there might be one next year, for the Government had expressed an intention of bringing in a bill for the redistribution of seats. He was favorable to Triennial Parliaments. Five years was too long. The oftener members met their constituents the better. Members would be under more control. These two measures of reform were passed. The Qualification Bill differed from the one introduced by the late Government, which was framed on a rate-paying basis. Under the present Act leaseholders, as such, were not entitled to vote. They could be enrolled under ib& 1 esi(Je»is»l clause, b»i x»a»y wo»Jd prefer to vote as leaseholders. But the rate-paying basis was recognised with regard to the Natives, and he thought it was a very good thing that they should become accustomed to the idea of paying rates. In his opinion the time had come when Native lands should be rated . They would grumble, but would not resist. They would pay in order that they might vote. He was satisfied that efficient machinery might be contrived. There would be very little trouble, and the rates could be enforced. Some might ask, How could natives be rated until their land had gone through the Court? but he thought the rates might be made a lien on the land. He now came to the question of the subsidies. The Government had threatened to withdraw them. Circulars had been issued, and wisely issued, but he thought the Government would be compelled to provide 'a like amount from some other source. Indeed, that appeared to be shadowed forth in the statement of the Colonial Treasurer. Some have spoken of larger rating powers, but that would be of very little assistance. The land fund wonld no longer be included in revenue, and why not give it to the local bodies ? It had been very small during the past year, but the average was very good. The speaker then gave figures, showing that the average land fund would very far exceed the amount of the subsidies. He thought that local bodies ought to have power to impose a rate on Crown lands. They were constructing roads which gave an enchanced value to those

lands, and the principle was fair. It was not his individual opinion alone. Large numbers of persons thought that both Crown lands and native lands ought to be rated. If this were done, and the Land Fund localised, local bodies would be in a better position than they occupied at present. .Members would have to watch these questions closely, in order that work might not be stopped. The matter would be eagerly discussed during the coming session. There should be one general road board Act for the whole colony. The county councils should have larger powers, and a change should be made in the constitution of the waste lands boards. At present they were composed of nominees, and the public knew very little about them. The members should be elected, and the boards entrusted with large colonising powers. They should also undertake public works, with the exception of railways. A useful Act was passed last session, giving power to lease land on which the rates had not been paid. The land was to be leased for the benefit of the owner, and the rates kept back out of the proceeds. Great hardships had occasionally been occasioned by the sale of property for the payments of rates. Now that the colony was undergoing a season of great depression, there was, he noticed, a tendency to speak ill of the Public Works policy of Sir Julius Vogel. But he would ask them — Was there a statesman in New Zealand who had not at some time during the past ten years given his hearty assent to that policy? The older politicians had even laid claim to it, but now they turned round and abused it. The speaker's own opinion with regard to the depression, which he reminded his hearers was not confined to New Zealand, but was shared by the other colonies and the mother country, was that, as it was unprecedented, it was also only temporary. Why, then, despair of the future ? Why turn round and blame the Public Works policy ? They had at least got d 88,000,000 of railways, which even now were yielding 2| per cent, on the capital expended on their construction over and above the working expenses. But the evils of the Public Works policy lay in the manner in which it had to some extent been carried out. The money had not all been expended in the construction of main arterial lines, but had been frittered away in bribes, concessions, water-races, and other things of that description. This state of things could only be cured by the people of the colony recognising their grave responsibility, and the fact that they had to pay annual interest to the amount of .£1,500,000. The District Eailways Bill was then dwelt upon, and the speaker showed how he had succeeded in lessening the evils of the measure by limiting the amount to be expended in their purchase to .£60,000. If this had not been done, half a million more of the loan would have been absorbed. He expressed himself strongly as believing that immigration should for the present be suspended, to be cautiously resumed with returning prosperity. He avowed himself to be a free trader, but thought that all raw material used in manufactures in the colony should be admitted free. That was a species of protection. He also thought that the colony should protect itself against the action of other countries with regard to our produce. In Victoria, New Zealand oats were driving the home article out of the market, and it was proposed in Victoria to put a duty on New Zealand oats. The colony ought in that case to put a duty on Victorian produce. Mr. Ballance then went at considerable length into the vexed question of the property tax, comparing it with the land tax, and pointing out the directions in which he considered the former to be unfair. The land tax was not unfair in principle, though there had been many instances of unfair valuation. Under the property tax machinery was taxed ah one rate y whether it was remunerative or not. Ships were exempt, and the reason for that had been alleged to be that Mr. George McLean, who was largely interested in the Union Company, had used his influence with the Government. It was a tax which operated injuriously on thrift. He expressed himself as favorable to an income tax, which would be epually fair to all classes of the community. There was no class better off than those in the receipt of salaries — the large salaries ; but if they did not save money they escaped the property tax. The salaries were not touched. The property tax fell most heavily on the small farmer; the runholder escaped almost entirely. He then endeavored to show that an income tax and the land tax would have served the Colonial Treasurer better than the property tax, and that the incidence would have been lighter and more just. Some were in favor of a return to the tea and sugar duties, but he would prefer the tax on beer. The one was a tax on what were considered necessaries of life; the other was a tax on a luxury. The speaker felt sure that we must before long have a progressive taxation — taxation bearing more heavily as wealth increased. Mr. Ballance next pointed out how the Colonial Treasurer had met the deficiency by treasury bills, which was the only thing to do at the time. The floating debt was now .£832,000. He (Mr. Ballance) had pointed out that Major Atkinson had taken account of .£225,000 of bogus votes, or what need not be expended during the

year. But fresh taxation was imposed. If the finance of the colony was in a bad state, things were no worse with us than they were in other colonies. Mr. Macandrew had set aside reserves near the railways, to be utilised in the future. In Canterbury alone there were 800,000 acres of such reserves. The Timarn Herald had advised Government to sell those reserves, and thus provide for the deficiency. But the public estate ought not thus to be sacrificed. He (Mr. Ballance) considered the sale of the Piako Swamp, 86,000 acres, for d£sooo, a gross sacrifice. The land should have been held, and would in time have proved of immense value. That land was sold to a company in London for ,£300,000, and before that had been valued for the purposes of the land tax at .£150,000. Mr. Ballance next touched on the land laws, and specially advocated a system of ballot instead of auction for land on deferred payment, and cited the instance of the Small Farm Association in Wanganui, and another instance in Wellington, where the Government had thrown every obstacle in the way of settlement in terms of the Act of last session. The Governor's speech had made mention of a Bill for passing all native lands through a board, but it had not been done. He did not altogether understand the Murimotu affair, but steps would be taken in Parliament to prevent the company getting the land. He spoke of the method of dealing with the Waimate Plains as a failure, and said that Te Whiti was getting all he wanted. Sir William Fox and Sir Dillon Bell ought not to have been appointed Commissioners, and had introduced a political element into their report. He favored a Bill giving the people power to vote with reference to the granting of new public-house licenses. He was opposed to a poor rate, and thought charity ought to be founded on a voluntary basis. He believed in a redistribution of seats, and thought Wanganui would not lose by the change. If a Bill were introduced for validating the claim of the Harbor Board to the reclaimed land, he should speak in favor of the chain and a quarter. Mr. Bryce had followed his convictions, and he (the speaker) had followed his. He should oppose the present Ministry, although he regretted the shortcomings of the former one. He appealed to his constituents as the judges of his conduct as their representative.

Mr. Ballance received a vote of confidence by a large majority. On Friday evening he addressed his constituents at Waverley, where a similar vote was passed.