Major Atkinson at Hawera.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume IX, Issue 1605, 21 April 1887, Page 2

Major Atkinson at Hawera.

Major Atkinson's u.eeting at the Town Hall was well attended. At half-past seven, on the motion of Mr. Bale, his Worship the Mayor tor.k the chair.

The Mayor asked the- meetin» to accord to Major Atkinson the patient and orderly hearing which Hawera electors always

gave to their representative ; and

Major Atkinson said he would begin by dealing with inatteis of local interest, ami wouid afterwards deal with subjects of more general interest. The fhst cnirg he would take wus the New Plymouth Harbor question. This was a matter which affected a large number of I'is constituents very greatly, though the Hawera residents were not so deeply interested therein. He proposed thereafter to touch on the Opunake Harbor, the Patea Harbor, aud tbe road through to the Central Railway Line. Iv reference to the New Plymouth breakwater, he was well aware that a good deal of feeling had been aroused by the proposal made iv the New Plymouth Harbor Bill last year. That proposal was to borrow an extra £60,000. After careful consideration, he thought it better to go on with the building of a wharf by means of a further loan. But he advocated leaving out both the Hawera district and the Waimate Plains troin the rating area, because he thought they were not nearly so directly interested as others at the New Plymouth end. He found, ou enquiry, that most of tbe sea-borne «oods need in Hawera and on the Waimate Plains came via Patea. He considered it a pity that differential rating had not been provided for iv the original Act, by which those most directly interested should have been liable to pay the most. He had been left free by the electors the last time he met them to use his discretion as to what he should do in tbe matter. He had acted accorJing to the best of his judgment, and, as all were liable to err, he itiigijb possihiy have made a mistake. He referred to the fact that the rate which would shortly be levied was coming on much sooner than anticipated, because land revenue had ceased, owing to the introduction of perpetual leasing, and because by a judgment of the Supreme Court the Harbor Board had beeu enabled to use much of the money previously regarded as available for interest and sinking fund only. He remarked that the local paper said the ratepayers had a claim on the colony on account of the land fund being taken away. So they had a strong moral claim, but he conld hold out uo hopes of the Legislature recognising that claim. It would be wrong for him to encour.-ig-e any hope that such a claim would be recognised. In regard to Opunake harbor, he was now in treaty about a bill which he hoped to introduce, and which might enable the people there to erect a jetty for landing goods. He feared that the House would never sauction the raising of any loan for such local purposes on colonial security. He thought it possible that they might sanction a loan which should be raised ou the security of endowments and of harbor dues. He thought it possibJe that might he granted. But he would not favor any loan based on a rating power on laud. He did not know whether this would meet the views of those interested, but that was as far as he could go.

In respect to Patea he was willing to do what ho could also to obtain sanction for a loan based on harbor dues and on the security of endowments. He had been able to assist Patea in tbe past in respect to raising a loan, aud also more recently in obtaining a reduction of tbe interest payable on the loan, but would oppose any proposal to give power to levy rates on land.

In respect to the road to connect with tbe Main Trunk Line, a promise bad been given in the House of Representatives by the Minister for Public Works to have the line surveyed. This bad been delayed, and at last the three members for Taranaki, New Plymoiitb, and fur Egmont had repeatedly urged the Minister to have this done at once. At first Mi 1 . Holmes had been told off for the work, but important duties in connection with the Central Railway bad come in the way. Then he and his fellow members had urged that Mr. Skeet should be sent. There was delay about this; but ultimately be was informed that the Government had detailed information iv respect to three routes. Based partly on information giveu by Mr. Skeet, aud by Mr. Robinson, tbe Crown Lands Ranger. Three reports on the several lines would, he believed, be laid before Parliament. The more be looked into the question of the Central line tbe more be regretted that tbe Stratford instead of tlie Central line had not been followed. He felt sure that in time to come the country would see that they had made a grave mistake, m not accepting his advice to take the Stratford route.

He touched on the next election and on the letters which had appeared in the local paper about election matters. He thanked Jus friends for nob repl.yin» to them, as they evidently knew that it was no good washing ing powder before the enemy was within mnge. He announced his intention of offering his services to the district so long as his friends wanted bin*. When they wanted him no longer, let them say so through the ballot box, and then he would make his bow and withdraw. But he must say he was surprised to see the amount of power which his opponeuts attributed to him. He had never known before what a bogey he was ; and was surprised to find that it was supposed that if he said a few words about finance, it was supposed to be sufficient seriously to affect the price of New Zealand bouds in the London market.

[Referring to tbe past session, be first touched on the Loans to Local Bodies, which he considered a useful measure, and one which took the place of the much-despised Roads and Bridges Construction Act. He was glad to have been able also to have assisted in the passing of the First Offendeis Act, which gave the courts the power of letting first offenders of good chaiackev 08l on probation, and saving their contamination with old criminals. Touching on the Representation Act, he lenretted deeply tbat it had not bepn carried last session. If the Government could not cirryit last session except by the help of opponents, they would be equally unable to carry it without their vott s nest session. He mentioned tlie various )ai#e measures now before the country, on some of which it whs mox-p than likely that a vote would be carrii d a-^iinst tbe Government, and then they must at ouce appeal to tbe country. In fact he feared that another session would prove inevitable, although he would do his best to avoid it. But the whole cost would lie at the doors of the Government, whose duty it was to have gone nn with their Eepreaentition Bili last session, which, although a Government measure, wsis only thrown out b}' the votes of three Ministers.

As to the finance- of the Government, he thought it was clear that it had biolcen down. Theie was now no talk of le.i'p^ and bounds. On Hie contrary, the Premier was now preaching riaid economy and retrenchment. The promised relief by improved fiuatsce, ' tbe prosperity which was to be brought about by tbe present Ministry, ami which they were elected to introduce, !:ad nevr r come about. Their position was now a very difficult one. He sincerely hoped that tbis retrenchment which pome of thfi Ministers publicly talked of was earnestly intpuded by them. But he feared thai it was

scarcely si=>cerp, wheu he saw many other ihiii^s receiving so much attention, such as tne' resumpiion of land, woman's suffrage, etc. He telt sure that finance was ihe first and mo?t important question of the day. He looked ab the colony's credit in Loudon uow,aod saw how lowit was. The question was how to restore it. He believed it could not be more readily restored than by turning the present Government out of office. This, he thought, would very likely soon be done. But, if it were not done now and the Ministry set about their task in earnest to retrench, then he would be found assisting them to the very best of his ability. He felt sure that the New Zealand loan which was lately raised at about > was honestly worth 100 to 104. The ohildren of the present settlers would have to pay the heavy extra cost thus due to the low state of the colouy's credit._ The injury to the credit had been done by Mr. Proade's hook, aud by tbe proposal made by tbe Colonial Treasurer's breach ot tbe engagement entered into by the colony wben he borrowed to pay off the sinking fund. These two things had damaged the credit of the colony very seriously. -He laughed at the idea of auy settlers in the room wishing to repudiate their debts or that colonists would not meet honestly their liabilities. The credit of tbe colony Would not be restored until we set about looking c Potion fa,rly in the face. There Z b?, la . J hDg reVenae » which had uuhei helped to weaken our credit in the eyes of busmess men in London. The Treasurer had lately told them that there was a present deficit of £200,000, chiefly on railways and Customs. But there would also some savings, and some departments would have brought in more likely that the actual deficit mi-hl ; not SSSfmJ? m, more tbau or In? 1 Ti Then . the land fund also was f,one. urn position was serious, bat if the position was fai,-] y f !lced th ; re wa3 nothing to cause alarm. The duty of the Government was to So arrang, that there should be a substantial surplus next year ; not a bogus, but a real surplus.' There must be retrenchment. This was difficult wuen one considered the heavy debt there was-exceedmgly difflenlt. It took; as Mr. G. Fisher pointed out, the other day, the whole of the Customs and most of the property- tax to pay interest on debts; the difficulty wae eWeW c h . -it wa « impossible to retrench in many departments, such as postal, justice, .&c. If borrowing were to be stopped, ' taxation would have to be very largely increased. He would not vote for any increase of taxation until he was satisfied with the retrenchment of the Government. He could not call himself a protectionist or a tree- trader, it wa s impossible to be either at the present time. The, colony conld not afford to exclude foreign goods on which duty was paid. The main thing to consider was the revenue to be derived. It was possible, when considering tariff questions, to greatly foster local dutieß. But he should hold himself free to deal with each item, as it arose, so as to consider the interests of the consumer, of the producer, aad the require merits of the I revenue.

As to borrowing he was glad to see a general desire to reduce borrowing. He was one of those who was determined to do bis bast to taper off tbe borrowing. It was, he felt sure, impossible to stop borrowing all at once without bringing about a very serious crisis in tbe affairs of New Zealand — a crisis so serious that only those who bad studied tbe qneation could realise what it meant. He advocated borrowing moderately and gradually leaving off. He found in the speeches of Ministers no definite promise not to borrow during tbia year. He tbougbt no loan should be aaked for during tbe current session. Parliament should decide that tbe Public Works expenditure should be reduced to about half tbe expenditure which has been going on for some years past. . Turning to Laud Settlement which he regarded as one of tbe most important functions of the Government of -thia country, be believed the Minister for Lands was honestly doing bis utmost for tbe settlement of the land,, but he feared tbat be wa3 doing it without knowledge. He feared there was great disappointment in store for them. He believed it was quite impossible for many of these sefctlei-3 on small sections iv out of bbc way districts lo n>&k-& a living, after Government expenditure on improvements ceased. He was sure before leasehold settlers could' be finally settled with any degree of fairness or success, there must be some rent court established which sbould every now and then revise rents. He instanced the rents in tbis district, which were in many cases far too high. It was impossible to collect rack rents without ruining the land and the settlers. He had done bis best to convince the Minister for Lands of the necessity of creating a Rent Revision Court. He thought the world generally was not satisfied with the present freehold tenure of land. He very much approved of the experiments now being made ; but he feared the present Minister for Lands was acting wituoafc knowledge. He himself had had practical experience, and believed that a perpetual lease was in many cases, including his own preferable to a freehold, because the capital locked up in land might often be better employed in some other way. But he did not advocate any rash change in the tenure of land.

The Government were takiug great credit for the. love the natives now bore them. There was great love, but it was pudding love — tiiey loved them for what they could get out of them. He complained of the neglect of the Government to seenre Jarge blocks of native land along the central railway. Wahanui had sold none of the kmg country proper, aad bad no intention of doing so, There might be as many large black landlords as one liked, only the white landlord was to be strictly confined to a small holding.

He referred to the pretended success of the one policeman policy, aud especially to the fracas near Manaia. Where was the one pohceuian then? He. was quite powerless, aud the matter rested with the settlers themselves. It was to the credit oi the settlers and also to the credit of the natives that so much forbearance and coolness had been shown. But for that bloodshed must have ensued. Tbis was not keeping peace by the Government, but was leaving the peace of the colouy in the hands of Lhe settlers. N -

As to the Imperial Conference now going on, he feared it would not accomplish much. Still he looked upon it as a great step towards strengthening the bond between the colonies and the mother country- It was the first time that the Imperial Government liaJ asked representatives of the colonies to meet authorities at home. He thought colonial federation would have to ' precede Imperial federation. He would do what he could to help forward this -matter, which he regarded as the m.ist important question of the day. It was one which he specially commended to iho attention 'juid:Bfcu'dy of the electors. • - '--.'. t

If a Woiian's Suffrage; J3jl^,,were brought down by the' 'Go veVri merits he should vote for if.. Though he .doubted whether it could be consid--ivd this session. He saw no reason why women who now bad much of .the power., should not also have the responsibility. He- feared; however, atrttae- present time- that t ( bere jfere many perhaps a majority. of women. who woniti not'exerei'se 1 their vdtesV" i " i "'

. He thanked* lliejeletJtfoVs'Jvery'cordi'aUy for the patiput hearing accorded him. He had encjeuyoied to place the true

position of the colony before them, witbt>nl ccAotinff a»fl wiihont exaggeration. Tbe position was serious, bnt was not one to make colonists fainthearted or to cause them to lose confidence. An earnest effort, b*ut one within their means was needed ; the Government should give the people a lead, and if this Government would not give tbe lead, they must get another Government. The Colonial Wreaevrp* h&& prAftiieaMrp -been waifexs,Mioawberlike, for a rise in tbe price of wool and wheat, which would have rendered such a policy as the Government's poßßible for a short, time longer but not for long. He was satisfied that by a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together, they would be able to steer the good ship of State past tbe dangerous rocks, which now seemed to threaten her, into the enug haven of political prosperity. , Replying to questions, Major Atkinson .said be 'bad enquired into the matter of tbe payment of deferred payment thirds to local bodies when it was first raised, and had satisfied himself that the Act said nothing about such payments. It was very hard, no doubt, but that was his opinion. Mr. Heslop said the Waimate Road Board bad taken the opinion of eminent counsel, and bis opinion was that the Government had no legal authority for with -holding the money.

Major Atkinson would not care to set up bis own opinion against a lawyer's, but if he were a member of a local body he should certainly avoid going to law with the Government.

Mr. Heslop complained that the Loans to Local Bodies Act, which Major AtkinBon bad praised, was unworkable in this district in consequence of its being required to count ail absentees and those who did not poll as voters against a loan.

Major Atkinson said be, when on tbe conference between the two Houses of tbe Legislature, had tried hard to have tbis majority altered so that only the votes of those who went to the poll should count. The great thing to be avoided was allowing a loan to be carried by a catch vote. He understood that an Amendment Act would be introduced by tbe Premier.

After a long pause, Mr. Dive proposed a vote of thanks to Major Atkinson for the able speech be bad delivered and a vote of confidence in bim as a fit representative for the Egmont district in Parliament

Mr. Lysagbt seconded. The Mayor put the resolution, and after calling for a show of bands declared tbe resolution carried.

Major Atkinson was very much obliged to them for their vote of confidence, and hoped they would renew it in a few months at tbe poll. He would before then make a few electioneering speeches. He had been temp* ed to make oue that eveningbut bad refrained. Hehoped when the election came on that the fight would be conducted in a friendly, honorable spirit. Let them bit hard, but according to tbe rules. He could assure them that whether he won or loet he would cheerfully accept their decision. He moved a vote of thanks to the chair.