THE PREMIER AT MARTON.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume IX, Issue 1574, 14 March 1887, Page 2

THE PREMIER AT MARTON.

The Premier delivered an interesting and able address on Friday evening. He very candidly admitted that his intention was to deal with political matters from one point of view only, leaving it to those who were opposed to him to take their own opportunity of showing the glories and beauties of the other side ; and the speech certainly gave effect to his intention and justified his reputation as an advocate. Native affairs formed a prominent feature of the address. On the general question, his argument was that when he took office the natives were intensely dissatisfied, were sulky, and had no feeling of kindness or amiability towards the Government of the colom : ihat the discontent was presumably the result of bad government; that his Government had changed the old policy ; and that as nine-tenths of the natives are now favorable to the Government and the Maori members support the Government with considerable ability and ingenuity, the policy of the Government must presumably be good and right. We do not know that this is quite logical reasoning, but we have supported the general native policy of the Government, and are quite willing to admit that the Native Minister's desire to conciliate native feeling has had a very good effect, and has done much to remove bitterness occasioned by Mr. Bryce's rather harsb action in certain directions — action which, if justifiable by pitilessly cold logic, was at anyrate open to question on the score of expediency. But there are points in Mr. Ballance's action and policy of which time alone can show the wisdom and advantages. There is, for distance, a daagec o£ his do'iag azare harm than good by attending native meetings here and there, teaching the natives to look rather to the personal will and influence of the Minister than to the law which he administers. Granted that he is a good Native Minister and that from personal government under his rule only good can come, it by no means follows that permanent good will result from his restoration of personal government. It was said in olden days, when our forefathers were fighting prerogative, that " the reigns of good princes haye always been most dangerous to the liberties of their people": the stretch of prerogative to do good allowed to wise rulers being by bad successors drawn into a precedent which it was difficult to overturn before evil was done. And so here the danger is not so much that Mr. Ballance may do wrong, but that he may form precedents to be taken advantage of by bad Native Ministers. Such Mm

isters we have had ; and such we may have again. So far as be has encouraged the natives to give effect to the views of Wahanui that there shall be nothing but leasing in future, Mr. Ballance has done a distinct wrong. The Premier replied to Mr. Bryce with regard to affairs on this West Coast from 1879 to date ; but the contention that Mr Bryce should have dealt with the Parihaka trouble in 1879-81 on the same lines as those followed last winter is so absurd that it is unnecessary, we think, writing for men who have an intimate personal knowledge of the whole affair, to follow up that matter further. The land question also occupied a considerable portion of the hou. gentleman's time. He came out very strongly in favor of land nationalisation and the State resumption of private estates. As we have iutimated before now, we accept the principle of the right of the State to resume possession of private lands ; and when a scheme is produced which is not in breach (as the Pall Mall Gazette, we think, put it) of the Eighth Commandment and provides for the financial difficulty, we shall be glad to support it. What we want to see is a scheme under which the Government shall not rob individuals nor individuals rob the Government, and judging from past experience it is the latter contingency that will require most careful consideration. The

scheme is not yet produced, and it is idle to criticise at present. We note, however, that the Premier says that land resumed must be and remain the property of the Government; while we understood from remarks made by Mr. Ballance at Auckland that it was simply intended to give local bodies power to acquire the land for the reason that tb.9 General Government was always swindled when it dealt with individual land owners. These two statements may possibly be harmonised, but we venture to say that if the General Government cannot meet private individuals successfully in commercial transactions, there is small chance of local bodies, working so much nearer to the source of personal influeuce, doing so. Then while the Premier was so fervidly declaring in favor of land nationalisation, he might have explained how it was that holding the views he does hold, his Government passed a bill for placing in the hands of a joint stock company, composed entirely of absentees, the largest tract of country yet alienated in one transaction in this colony. We refer of course to the hundreds of thousands of acres handed over to tbe Midland Railway Company. That is one of the things left for discussion by those who will show " the glory and beauty of the other side." Speaking on local government, the Premier declared that it was the intention of the Government to give every assistance to local bodies, as the Government recognised that tbe only chance of economy was to get the people to manage their own affairs locally. This is very true, and if the Premier when he transfers expenditure to local bodies would only reduce the general taxation to a corresponding extent, we should appreciate his policy better. There is no advantage, no economy, in placing additional liabilities on localities and at the same time retaining the general taxation which previously met those liabilities, as, for example, the hospital and charitable aid legislation. Free trade v. protection the Premier regards as a side issue. He is, no/ doubt, quite correct, but he should have a bad quarter of an hour on that point wheu he meets Sir Julius Vogel, who has over and over a»ain declared

that it is a matter of first importance. "Reform of the Legislative Council, Sir Robert proposes, should take the shape of reducing the term of office to, say, seven years, and we heartily agree with him. Two years ago we suggested precisely the same thing. In conclusion, he declared that this year's estimates would show great reductions, and we shall hope that he will prove a true prophet. The speech throughout if onesided seems to have been earnest and able, and the speaker to have met with a reception which did credit to the audience and was due to a man whose patriotism, self sacrifice, and great abilities are abundantly evident, and who may be hoped to be a great figure in New Zealand public life for many years to come.