POLITICAL ADDRESS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8163, 28 February 1905, Page 2

POLITICAL ADDRESS.

.\IR SEDDOX AT STRATFORD. REIMA' TO -MB MASSEY. The Town Hall, Stratford, was crowded In the doors on Monday evening, when ;i liirgp audience assembled to hear tb-i I'leinier's reply to the speech made there recently by Mr Massey, leader of the O osition.

pp Mr A. J. King, Mayor of Stratford, was iv the chair, and amongst a large number of representative men on the platform were Messrs Major, Smith. Syme and J " M.H.R's. and Mr Cain-

ennings, ..

cross, M.L.C. The Mayor briefly introduced the Right Hon. the Premier, and in doing so bespoke for him a "fair and tial hrh <r "

impartial nearuij,. Mr Seddon, who was received with warm applause, laughingly exclaimed "What next! The idea that he would not get a fair hearing in Stratford ! He was bound to get a fair hearing in any part of New Zealand, or in any part oi

the great Empire, which

was more

d when he

(Cheers.) lie was delignte heard that Mr Massey had come to Stratford, because it would give them an opportunity for coiupa-ison, and that comparison must be in the speaker's favo* rie would like to say that when Mr Massey delivered his speech he must have thought that Stratford people had a weak memory. When it was proposed to join the main trunk line at Stratford that gentleman opposed it, and again when the bill was before Parliament to have he — MV Massev o r

the line to tne mountain 1. -.ey op posed that. To-night he would deal wiol« questions as they affected matters local and' with questions colonial. What he had to say there that night would be in discharge of a public duty, and he would prove that Mr Massey was entirely wrong in his conclusions. Mr Massey had mis-

represented the Government — that was

nothing; but ho had also misrepresented one of his late leaders, the Hon. Mr

Rolleston, whose memory should be held sacred. The Premier then referred to "the vast assemblage he saw before him who

would do honor to any part of the Kmpire." wnich remark was met with "Pila it on!" from a voice at the back of the

MR MASSEY'S POLICY. The speaker said Mr Massey nad taken exception to certain questions being treated as no-confidence motions, but wbeti t/ie Opposition challenger! the speaker would be unworthy the high position lie

held if he did not say with Macduff : "The De'il tak' he who first cries 'hold, enough." He thought Mr Massey's speech about the most miserable attempt he had heard, and quoted from a Brisbane paper, which suggested that the Seddon Government was thp only permanent institution on earth. (Laughter.)

They had also heard of the prosperity

of New Zealand in America, where one

journal showed that this colony exported four times the amount of products per head that, was sent away by the United States. In other words, little New Zea-

land had beaten the country that Ameri

cans would tell you "licked creation." He did noit think that he or his Government alone did it, or that the Liberal

arty alone did it

But he would like to

know if the old Conservative party would have done better? He thought it would be a danger to the colony if the old party, with its reactionary measures and its refusal to proceed ahead, returned to power. Why should the country trust those ppoplpf Take Mr Massey. In 1895

liat genl

lenian voi

d anainst the Lands

d in 1896 acrains<

lor Settlements JJHI, an _ o the Old Ace Pensions Bill. Speaking op Mr Russell's Revaluation Bill, in referring to Mr Bruce. Mr Massey said : "I agree with him (Mr Bruce) that the leasehold T resDects better than

is in man>

the freehold, but the one objection 1 hay to lease-in-perpetuity is the danger o " TJpf tl °ODle voted fo

revaluation. ..eiore Ie peopie .. a change in their representatives, which might mean a change of Ministry, they had a- perfect right to know what the policy of the party coming into power was 'likely to be. But in view of the hesitancy 'of Mr Massey to foreshadow a policy it was better not to trust him, for now* they were in the hands of competoht. honest men. (Applause and derisive

laughter.)

\ANCE

Fli. L . Mr Massey had not. atte?npted to dive into the region of finance, but the speaker had a lively recollection of him taking the Government to task with respect to the loan before last and investing £50.000 in Government debentures. But he asked why should the Government be blamed for a stringency of the money market over which they had no control? That stringency was created by many things — the wars, the over-speculation in

American cotton and wheat, and so on. When the Government went for the money tliey got it on very good terms, but they wore assailed time and again by those who thereby discredited the colony. A few weeks ago they went for

another loan. They wanted a million and two-and-a-half millions were subscribed. And yet Mr Massey never congratulated tbe speaker! (Laughter and applause.) During next session he would provoke Mr Massey by asking for a statement of the position of tbe last loan. As to tbe security offered by New Zealand. Mr Seddoii waxed eloquent, and declared that

n n other country offered such safe invest-

INCREASED REVENUE.

The Premier had some satisfactory figures to pace before them dealing with the finance of the past ten months, which had shown increases over the correspond-

me periods last year as follows: Customs, £47.691; stamps, etc.. £572,510; land and income tax, £530,695; registration, £8312; miscellaneous, £^600. which with other figures quoted represented a net increase of £134.770. Further statistics were given of increases since 1891 showing that the total for 1903-4 was £2.862.611 in excess of that year. For

this, said Mr Seddon. they must attnte some of the credit to the legislation of the country, the administration, and

eowie themselves.

BORROWING POLICY.

\s to borrowing, Mr Seddon continued, so.no people hold that we borrowed too lankly He differed with them. They had a. country of gn«at possibilities, and if it was to be developed money must be borrowed. Railways must be constructed d tlv lust make the roads. (A \ oice

\V hv don t you do v : )

Mr Seddon : I uostion shortly.

crease o:

sliall deal with the roads question shortly. It was impossible, the speaker repeated, to develop the country without money. They must have railways and they must Island was the absence of metal, but Island was the absence off metal, but with the line to Mount Egmont that would soon be overcome in this district. But, who was it that attacked the Government with respect to the increase of the public debt? It was the Opposition! But now all is changed and Mr Massey says there- mubt be reasonable borrowing. An attempt had been made to make a good deal of capital out of the increased indebtedness, but it must not be forgotten that £2,200,000 bad been lent to local bodies, and £3,500,000 was spent under the Lands for Settlement Act, and over £3,000,000 for advances to settlers. The speaker threw :\ challenge down and dared Mr Massey to vote against an increase of the indebtedness for the purposes he had specified. COST OF SETTLEMENT. Practically the keynote of Mr Massey 's address was' the Lands for ■Settlement Act but the foundation of that gontlcmam's objections was found in the fact that he was opposed to tho Act itself. The speaker quoted Mr Massey 's speech in Hansard to support this statement, and combat ted Mr Massey's remark that the. late Hon. Mr Rolleston was opposed to the leasehold. It was said by Mr Massey that the repurchase, by the Government of large estates had been unsatisfactory t but that was not borne o.ut by the facts for of 129 estates only 3 had been reported unsatisfactory. The cost of the land acquired had been £2,937,158, roads and incidental expenses £171,537, a total of £3,110,093. This worked out at £5 10s per acre. The average price per acre was £4 15s lOd, the rural land being £4 13s 3d, and the average price for workmen's homes £27 3s 3d. Of tin' 2745 settlers on the lands there are only 36 on these unsatisfactory sections. The return from which Mr Massey quoted showed the particulars he was now giving, and why did Mr Massey not tell the people that of the cost over £171,000 had been spent on roads? Why could public men not be fair? Mr Masey had said that these settlers cost the colony £1171 apiece. The speaker was astounded to hear tnat, and sorry to have to prove Mr Massey to be wrong. Mr Massey either did not understand the return, or he was excited. There had been over 615,000 acres acquired, but over 200,000 acres of that were still un-

,- nsettled, not having yet been prepared. But Mr Massey had divided the total cost by the tenants settled, thereby arriving at an altogether erroneous result. As a matter of fac£ there were 7754 souls on the settled properties, which, if divided into the cost of the land occupied gave, not £1171, but £401 per head. 'So Mr Masse" was only about £700 1> d

y y «•- per iieaa out in his calculation. The Lands for Settlement Act, he declared, had been one of the best ever introduced into the colony. What was it that made Taranaki one of the most prosperous districts in New Zealand? It was closer settlement! Between Woodville and Napier there was land equally good, and three times as much of it as here, but where was the Stratford, the Eltham, the Hawera, the Aiidhirst, the Inglewood? But he had something more to say regarding the lands acquired, for by the rents paid the estates were over £166,000 to the good. (Loud applause.) The Premier ' referred to the trouble in connection with the Flaxbournu estate, and pointed out that there was fa difference of £200,000 in its value as estimated by the owners and the Government. He read extracts from the evidence, showing how the values were "bumped" \ijt, and passionately declared that -settlers should not be penalised by. tbe Government being charged more for land than its real value. Concerning, the form of

Try it.)

what's more

I'll carry it !

(Applause.)

BUTTER AND HEMP

The Premier then became reminiscent of

tho days of long ago in Stratford and traced the progress of the inhabitants "from bullock drays to dog-carts," affirming that the change tor the better had come with the change of the Ministry. Statistics were quoted showing the " remarkable increase in the yield of butterfat, cheese, frozen meat, etc., during the

and reminded his hearers

past ten years ;

of the advice lie nan given not to export ewe lambs ami said what a different p. with the increased price of wool, there would have been had his auvice been followed. A st

[aim was ma

or eonsi<

at ion of the Government for what it had done for tlie dairy industry, the price f butt' h" " ' V d b d

o outter navnij, ecu raised, y grauin<j. inspection, eU\. from Ad and 5d per lb to lOd and Is. (Hear, hear). Hr compared the conditions under which butter was produced in this colony and in Denmark, and declared there was no reason why Danish prices should not be realised. The way to bring that about was to prevent any butter being sent away not up to a certain standard. This matter was of such importance that if 1 he

io were t

autocrat

so often

painted he would absolutely prohibit tlio exportation of a low - grade article. (Applause.) Why, he asked, should the careful be made to suffer for the careless? The same remarks applied to flax, which by uio Government aid had advanced in price £5 or £6 per ton. In the matter of industry generally the Premier said the total number of people employed had increased since 1893 by 22,000, and therefore no complaint could be made in respect to the osition

p of the industries. He reviewed the action of the Government in introducing legislation to have apprentices paid and duimed that great good had resulted. There had been a general rise in the

rate of wages, and he strongly opposed the fallacy that a country or even the employers were better off when the wages were low. Low wages meant degradation, out high wages gave the people increased spending power, by which the producer > were the very 'first to benefit. What was the condition of the country und°v low wages? he asked. Thousands ok people were leaving the country, m

1886 Government men received 6s per

and those on relief works

Ob 2s 6d

and 3a. TENANCY. With regard to the money owing to thp. Crown by tenants he wanted to do them a justice. In 1890 5735 people owed

... — w \jioo peopic o. £14 Is 9d per head, but the individual indebtedness had been reduced, and now the 21,000 tenants owed only a paltry £1 15s lid per head. They could give every credit to the tenant, and say the State was the best landlord in New Zealand. With respect to the State acting as landlord the speaker repeated what he has said freauentlv if the State sh«- Id t

<li J - snou no be a landlord, neither should School I'oards. Education Boards, or Harbor Boards be landlords or tenants. Could

they give tenancy to one and refuse it

to another Tho Government embraced three systems in its land policy, and the speaker said let those who wanted the leasehold have it and him who had the money lot him buy. (Applause.) - That was the law ! What he dreaded was the money-lender. There were thousands f le wl toiled h-

o people wjio one not, neither did they spin, but- they charged their 10

per cent, and 12 per cent. (A Voice : 15 per cent.) What would the leaseholders do if the people of the colony said they must take the freehold? *It would force' them to borrow money, and in a little while the money-lenders would have the farms and the people the roads. However, in the face of the enquiries be ing made by the Land Commission ne was not one to argue that there should be a violation of contract. With respect to revaluation, he absolutely denied that the Government ever intended anything of the kind. Even the agitators

for revaluation never susrsrested any in-

trrferenoe with existing contracts

Voice: What about the Fair Rent Bill?) The Premier : That was a bill to give relief and not to increase rents. (Hear.

hear.) As long as his Government re niained in power there would be no in tevference with existing contracts.

With regard to taxation he claimed th

since 1895 there had been an actual re-

unction on the taxation of the necessities of life of 2s 4d per head, and land had ris«n in value from 122 millions to 182 millions. Railway revenue was shown to be satisfactory. ROAD EXPENDITURK

Coming to local mailers he claimed lhal in railway expenditure the district had injual to anything on the West Coast. (LauehteF.) 'The West Coast read of the

fabulous sums they received, but the difficulty was the money was never expended. From a Eoads Department report he f d that £119.000 had b

oun .lao xuu, nau een expended on East road — (A Voice : Question!) — but of course it would take a great deal more to make it p/operlv.

outset that

it would have beej

n dwi to put a railway to the mountain right away so that cheap metal might be obtained. But in the luterval instructions had l>een given for the road to be ut i — ord«>

p n proper oraer. In order to keep thoir credit good they must, limit borrowing to a million a year, but iiidced by the nccessit

-ies of the col-

ony tnat was too little, and next session the Government would propose to the >!«•• do bl

coiony a considerable increase in the amount required for roading the colony. (Applause.) Last year the expenditure had been £300,000, but it was the Government's intention to ask Parliament for half-a-million sterling next year. (Applause.) Of course the Opposition woull say the crafty Prime Minister, with h's eye to the elections coming on, ha I bunmed v the road -»nd ;

'P P expenditure by £200,000. (Laughter and applause.) Mr Seddon v dealt with Mr Masseys statement "that if the leaseholders con verted their land tenure into freehold additional land tax would be collected.' That, the speaker thought, was the most cold-blooded invitation to be taxed he hal ever heard. R -d'"- 1

egarding the Royal Commission on land and Mr Massey's contention that commissions should not be set up lv policy questions, Mr Seddon quoted as precedent the Midland Railway and that on federation Commissions. It had been complained that Taranaki was. not repre- ■ sented on the Commission, but neither 'I was the West Coasfc— (laughter)— Nelson 1 nor Hawke's Bay. However, a vacancy had occurred, and Taranaki now had its representative in Mr McCutcheon. (Appljiusp.) Again Mr Massey was inconsistent in complaining of.' the cost, for if all j these districts had been represented the Commission would have cost £LQ,Q6Q. mc Premier concluded ai*. address of over two hours' duration by an eloquent peroration. On tke motion or Messrs J. Mackey and .». McCluggage a vote of thanks to Mi Seddon for his speech and confidence in j his Government was acknowledged by acI clatnation, but with some dissent, and- ihe - meeting dispersed shortly before 11 o'clock.

tenure, the speaker thought it only fair to say that during 1903-4 a minority applird for land under lease in perpetuity. . nder the Land Act there were three dis-

unit tenures, but the Land Boards, rangers., and conditions imposed had caused a <rt,od deal of irritation. The desire of tW Government was to give every encouragement to those who go into the forest to carve out a home for themselves, and n.eir families, instead of harassing Mm - k that

them. It had struck the speaker if sonic of these harrassing conditions were relaxed settlers would be better satufic.d. So long as the Crown had a paramount interest in me land the tenant

and that had to

ht unduly work it

be guarded against ; but when the tenants rights became greater than those of tlie Crown he would withdraw the power of tnat

the Land Boards, and the ranger so they could not touch the tenants at all. (..pplause.) Without forestalling any recommendation of the Land Comnnssion there was sufficient commonsense in that suggestion to warrant him making it.

HELPING LOCAL BODIES

if land of the

Of the 66,000,000 acres o colony the Premier pointed out that only 7 000*000 acres remain in the hands of the Government. These lands were farthest back, and most difficult to road, and should not be loaded for reading at all. (Applause.) The very best of the lands of the colony had railways put through them, and no charge was made. He had a suggestion to make witn regard to the giving away of "thirds." The sums received by local bodies from that source 11 d It to be uite

were so sma an paltry as qu useless. What he proposed was that- the Government, instead of giving the thirds, should capitalise them, say at six-and-twenty years, take the gross amount and , give that lump sum to the local bodies to ] make their roads with. (Loud applause.)

ADVANCES TO SETTLERS,

"The money •• lender is not noted for lowels of compassion" said the Premier his introductor remarks on "Ad-

n us . y vances to settlers and cheap money. In respect to the application of tenants for dvances sometimes £400 was applied for

a and approved by the inspector, but that sum was cut down to perhaps ±1150 by tne Advances to Settlers Board. He did

hot know wh;

' the Board did it and want-

Ed to know who was responsible? . (A Voice: "Dick Scddon!") The Legislature had cut down the amount that might he advanced to 50 per cent, of the improvements, but if they took the report the" would see that it was the very men

y who were talking of the hardships of settlers who would not allow the Government to advance more than 50 per cent. As the Crown was the landlord and the land belonged to the colony they should advance tenants at least three-fifths the value of the improvements. (Applause.)

Noxt session lie would take the earhost

ossible opportunity of bringing down a

measure to provide for that, but he warned them that the very men who were now trading on their troubles would say the advance would not be safe. (A Voice :

Mr Seddon: I'll try it: and