PARLIAMENT OUT OF SESSION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXI, Issue 7224, 25 April 1884, Page 5

PARLIAMENT OUT OF SESSION.

THE PREMIER AT DUNEDIN. [Per Press Association.] DUNEDIN, April 24 The Hon Major Atkinson addressed a crowded mooting in tho Queen’s Theatre to-night. It was tho largest mooting scon in Dunedin for a length of time. Tho Mayor was in tho ohair, and tho Hon W. Rollcston was among those on the platform. There wore many interruptions, and a good deal of amusement. Major Atkinson said he came before them a dispirited man. It had been said that tho Government wore a government of Centralism, and that ho was tho chief apostle of it, and Mr Montgomei’y, more than that, had professed to have just found out that he, the speaker, was a hollow financial sham. This was enough to make him dispirited ; but Mr Montgomery might find out that, in spite of his liollovvncss, he could stand a good deal of knocking about. He would talk plainly to his audience, for they did not want him to cry “Peace, peace,” when there was no ponce. There would he persons who disagreed with his conclusions, but after the meeting he would bo happy to answer questions. PAST EXPENDITURE. The people of Dunedin had been exercised a good deni about a proposed constitutional change of government, and had been told that tho present Government was one of extravagance, that they spent large sums in the North Island, while they neglected the South. He would begin by directing their attention to the expenditure of money raised on loan under the Immigration and Public Works Act. Since 1870 the sum borrowed had been 19$- millions, and he would tell them how that sum had been spent. Up to March 31, 1883, they had spent two millions on immigration, and, in his opinion, if they had spent more in that way, they would not now have to complain of so much depression. They had spent about 17 millions on public works generally, on these items —railways, 10 4 millions; roads, two millions ; public buildings (including schools), .£1,200,000; land purchases, ,£925,000 ; works on goldfields, .£550,000; telegraph extension, .£460,000 ; lighthouses and harbours, ,£460,000. Of the total sum, they had spent .£6,900,000 in the North Island, and .£10,350,000 in the South. Now, taking the mean population in both islands, the proportion should been .£6,550,000 in the North, and £510,700,000 in the South.. This omitted all consideration of the Maori population, so that on a population basis, the North had got about .£300,000 more than its fair share out of a total expenditure of millions. How could expenditure be more evenly distributed ? And this had to be considered. Tho great main idea of the Public Works policy was the construction of a main trunk line of railway from Auckland to the Bluff. In the South, the benefit of a main trunk line had been enjoyed, but in the North they had had to put up with a disjointed system of railway service. The whole thing should be looked at from the point of view of a scheme gone into for the benefit of the whole Colony. They had heard a great deal about wasteful expenditure, and the expenditure was alleged to be open to the classification of productive and unproductive. Well, he had calculated the whole thing carefully, and he found that the total amount spent on what could in any way he called political railways, was between 3 and 4 per cent of the total sum expended. Surely, a proportion of waste like that, was excusable waste ? All business men would allow that. He asserted that so small a waste reflected great credit on the people and Governments of New Zealand. There had bee U-spent <£2,000,000 on roads, but that was not a wasteful expenditure, for roads were a necessary feeder to the' railway system. Mr Montgomery had said, and he could scarcely have believed that he would have committed himself to so inaccurate a statement, that Sir J. Vogel had stated he had expended one and a half millions in buying support for his scheme. Sir J. Vogel never said such a thing. Sir Julius Yogel had proposed to borrow ten millions, eight of which should go for railways ; and what he did say was this, that the Provinces, finding the general Government could get money so much cheaper than they could, had put so much pressure on him, that he had been forced to extend the scope of his scheme to that extent, and under the circumstances he did not know that that was blameable. He asserted that an impartial examination would establish the fact that every penny of the expenditure on the railways and roads of the Colony out of borrowed money had been a wise and proper expenditure, and he would show them one or tvo of the indirect advantages from the Public Works scheme. Last year, over the railways of the Colony they had carried 45£ millions of tons of goods a distance of one mile. The cheapest possible cost of moving those goods by cart would have been two and a quarter millions. ‘ The actual cost by rail was a little over half a million. In such indirect advantage alone the whole of the interest paid on the public debt of the Colony was more than covered. They had carried on the railways of the Colony last year 42 millions of passengers the same distance, whose carriage, if moved by coach, would have been, well over two millions, whereas by railway it was a little over half a million. Then, it had been further stated that the Government were a corrupt Government, and that they “borrowed and bought.” Now, those who believed such a statement as this should educate themselves. No man should go about making a statement of this kind unless he could prove it. Before he took office there had been 10.000. out of the total of 20,000,000 borrowed, and the amount that he was responsible for borrowing, or for recommending to be borrowed, was less than 6.500.000, and of that 2,000,000 was not raised, so that leas than 4,500,000 was the amount he was responsible for. Now Mr Montgomery’s friends, while they had been in office, which was about a-third of his term, had asked authority to borrow 7,500,000 and this sum had actually been raised. These were the facts. It was right that people should know them. They had been accused of making largo expenditure on public buildings. Half of the sum on this head had gone for school buildings which they could not do without, and if the whole expenditure on public buildings were taken in detail, he was prepared to justify it just as Jie was prepared to justify that on harbours and lighthouses and telegraph extensions, &c. The money had been expended in a thoroughly reasonable manner. The people of Dunedin were told that large sums were to bo spent in public buildings in Wellington, and on this point tho speaker went into details. Ft instance, there was the new piv.’.u. Iwas stated that .£BO,OOO was to be spent on a new prison. Tho architect’s estimate of the cost of the work by tender was that sum, but as a matter of fact, it was to be built by prison labour, and in this way the cost would be much less. Ho defended tho expenditure upon the erection of a new Asylum, for tho Asylums of tho Colony at present were disgracefully overcrowded, and it was a sad fact that tho lunatics of the Colony were increasing at the rate of 100 per year, , It had been asserted Government were going , s .to build a new Custom-house in Wellington, but this was not so. It was found that in tho now Post Office there would also be room for tho Custom-house. This new Post Office had cost £26,000, A Supreme Court had cost £16,000, but the sale of the old site and building had covered that amount. Ho had dealt in detail with these things be-

cause they wore being told Government were squandering itihentanc;© in the north, and it was right they should know the facts. THE FJ NANCIAL CONDITION OF THU COLONY. Now, ho would speak about the present depression. Ito had been accused of saying, at Hawera, that there was no depression. This wtts ft iiiißtflko which arose through an unfortunate condemnation of his remarks. Ho hnd stud there was no depression >n the Colony which should make us doubt the iiuancial soundness of the Colony, or that affected the spending powers of the people to any appreciable extent; and ho was prepared to maintain this opinion against all comers. He was not one of those who would go about groaning and whining that tho whole social condition of tho Colony was very bad. Ho believed in the Colony and its resources, and in the stout hearts and stamina of its people, who in a few years would think of the present depression as a mere nothing. Ho believed the people of the Colony would rise to tho occasion and sweep away tho present depression. It was quite true that trade was bad, and why was it bad ? He would toll thorn why, and ho would tell them that the Government were facing tho difficulty. They had dared to tell the people of the Colony that they were borrowing too largely and spending too lavishly. Tho fault of .this present Government was not that it was a wasteful and extravagant Government, but that it was an economical and careful Government (biases, applause, and considerable interruption). Tes, that was its real fault. They had dared to face the position, and to say that for the future so much should not be spent out of loans or out of consolidated revenue. The Colony had been spending about two millions a year of borrowed money.' Then everything was flourishing, trade increased, and traders increased. They had too many traders, and too few producers. Now, the Government had curtailed the borrowing, and certain private monetary institutions had done the same thing; yet their traders had gone on importing quite as much as before. In this way tho Colony found itself sending away one million or a million and a-half a year more than it had been doing beforehand so in a nutshell here lay one of the principal causes of this depression. The people of the Colony found themselves thus deprived of a million or a million and a half of money from the quantity in circulation. Then weak traders had been forced to buy their goods at the dearest rates, and sell them at the cheapest, which again operated on the good traders, who found the markets glutted with goods at cheap prices, which were forced to be sold. Then there had been a great fall in wool, and a considerable fall in grain.: the Colony having suffered to the extent of .£400,000 or ,£500,000 in regard "to wool alone. Then there was another thing which perhaps referred specially t< Dunedin, though, no doubt, to other ton is in a more or less degree. He was to! i, on good authority, that in Dunedin a qi arter-of-a-million had gone out of the peo -le’s pockets on speculations in gold mir’ng. Then he found that there also the building trade was much depressed. I at lie thought they might well take a hopeful view. They might go in for ■ promoting local industries, and thus create wealth. He wanted to make ii clear to them why he thought that f p present depression should not matt;.; them doubt the soundness of the’ Colony. He went in to the figures ; to the deposits in Savings Banks, ac also in the other banks, which were g ■ en in the .speech at Hawera. Referring ■ o the falling off in the Customs dutie he said that the general necessaries >,f life had fallen off from 5 to 10 per cet ' while the duty on tobacco and spirits i ’ only fallen from 2 to 3'per cent- He di.. . .ot believe that any ~.' fid allow his wife and and yet indffljge in the luxuries of smoking and drinking. This he looked upon as conclusive proof that the present depression was only temporary, and if they set themselves to face it with stout hearts it would pass away like a rainy day. REMEDIES FOR THE DEPRESSION. Speaking of the remedies proposed, he said the first was to kick tne Government out of office. That was very easily determined. They had only to say it should be done and so it would. If they asked his opinion he would say it would be very unwise indeed. Another remedy proposed was to stop borrowing. This, however, would do no good, but would only land them in greater difficulties than ; they were in at present. The Government, however, were opposed to indiscriminate borrowing, and if they had to borrow further, they would do it very carefully. In answer to a question, he said that . ,£155,000 was sent Home for interest every year. _ The third remedy proposed was an alteration of the Constitution. Ee saw that in Dunedin they had formed what they called a “ Constitutional Association.” He would call itan “ Anti-Constitutional Association.” What it professed to do was to decentralise the Government, with the view of increasing the powers of the local bodies. Now, he claimed to have done more for local government than any other man in New Zealand. The only difference between the old Provincialists and himself was in regard to the size of the States. What was proposed by the persons opposed to him was that there should be so many more centres to exercise the powers which the General Government at present exercised. It would be for the people to say whether that should be done. For himself, he believed that it would only result in confusion and increased expenditure. He went on to refer to a number of the difficulties in the way of such a proposal being carried out. It seemed to him that a better remedy would be to renew their faith iu themselves and their country. They must not lose heart, but rather pluck up spirit. That was the first step. There was no royal road out of the difficulty. Turning out the Government, altering the Constitution, and stopping borrowing, though very heroic plans, no doubt, would not answer the purpose. What they would have to do would be to work, and to economise. They wanted their capitalists and merchants to look carefully at the Customs returns, and see what articles of manufacture could be produced in the Colony. They wanted the people to turn their attention away from speculation in mines and land to the more legitimate channel of promoting manufactures in the Colony. They would have to make up their minds to see that everything the Colony could produce to advantage should not be imported into it. The farmer and the runholder would have to make up their minds to make their lands produce double, and ho believed that, with properly skilled labour that could bo done. There wore at the present time only 13,000.000 of sheep in tho Colony, while England had double as many. They also wanted more people of tho right stamp on tho land. They did not want squatters on the laud, they wanted settlors. He knew that the cry for more people was not a popular one, and one idea was that the more they had the more difficulties there would be. Now, it was quite the reverse. What did they find in a country where immigration was suddenly stopped? Why, they found wages go down, things become dull, and property at ft loss. (Cries of “no” and hisses.) As no told them, tho idea was an unpopular one. Ho; however, only regretted that the immigration vote had not been a larger one. It had been stated that they wore losing their population. Now, what were the facts ? I" 1882 . the y gained from Australia G7B people; in 1883 C 22, and in the three months of the present year they had gained 676. This was the net result, and there could he no doubt about the figures, as they were carefully compiled. Besides this they gained very largely from other

places, and ho might say there was a population of between 5000 and 6000 continually floating between tho Australian Colonies and Now Zealand. MISCELLANEOUS. The speaker then referred to tho increase of tho railway tariff, which he said Government had agreed to at tho risk of losing support, because they saw it was absolutely necessary to have an increase. They had simply done their duty. Referring to the Civil Service, ho said the Government had been constantly decreasing the number of officers. For instance, tho Constabulary in 1881 about 1000 strong, were now reduced to 470. He quoted figures to show that tho country, with all the cry about taxation, was not so heavily taxed ns it had been sonic years ago. For instance, in 1870, tho people were taxed at tho rate of £3 4s Od per head, while now, deducting the tax for education, they wore only taxed at tho rate of £6 Is 8d per head, and they were in a much bettor position now for producing revenue and wealth than they were then. As a matter of fact, their wealth was annually increasing, and tho wages of almost all classes had also increased. Government had done all they could to settle the land in small blocks, and had succeeded to a wonderful extent, while they had also done a great deal to place the taxation evenly on the people. No one had yet proved that the taxation was unfair and unreasonable. He referred briefly to a lender which had appeared in that day’s Otago Daily Times, containing a statement to the effect that he and Sir John Hall did not generally get on very well together. That statement was not in accordance with fact, as they never had any difference whatever. He merely made that remark in justice to the absent. Before concluding, he would admit that the Government were guilty of one fault, they had dared to live to a good old age. They had declined to be kicked out of the position, and there they were again at a green old age. It was very likely that next session they would be apt to commit the same fault. In conclusion, he would say that the prosperity of the Colony depended on the people themselves —on the working classes. They had got political power, and it remained for them to use it in a proper manner. They should watch over the interests of the great country that they were helping to make ; above all, they should watch their public men. They should record their votes, not in accordance with personal motives, but on matters of principle. If they did that, there would be no fear for the country at all. They would prosper further and further if they put things right by hard work, economy, and self-control. Nothing else would succeed in 'the long run—

Let them, then, he up and doing, With a heart for any fate: . Still achieving, still pursuing. Learn to labour, and to wait, A large number of questions were asked, the meeting lasting.till 11.40 p.m. JKr R. Wilson moved—“ That Major Atkinson be granted a vote of thanks for his address.”

Mr Rossbotham moved, as an amendment—“ That the speaker be thanked for his address, but that this meeting has no confidence in his administration of the government of New Zealand.” Only half the people present voted, and it is impossible to say which received the most support. The Mayor, amid confusion, declared the motion carried.

[prom our own correspondent,] More interest was shown in the Premier’s meeting to-night than has been displayed at any political gathering in Dunedin for many years. Half an hour before the opening of the meeting an immense crowd gathered in front of the Queen’s Theatre, and for a time traffic in the street was completely blocked. The crowd became very, impatient as the doors were not opened, and shortly—they were burst in, and the theatre was in a few minutes densely packed from floor to ceiling. About eighty gentlemen occupied the. stage, amongst them being the Honorable W.H. Reynolds, Messrs Pish, Bracken and J. E. Brown, M.H.R.’s, Bishop Moran, Mr Bradshaw, Professor Brown, and many of the leading citizens. At first the meeting was quiet, and the Mayor asked that the usual courtesy and consideration shown by Dunedin audiences should be extended to the Premier. Major Atkinson was received with some applause, hut it was by no means general or enthusiastic, and a few hisses were mingled with it. No sooner had he begun his speech than interruptions commenced. Many of his statements called forth expressions of dissent, and though the interruptions were made by a few individuals only, they were so frequent that the Mayor called upon the meeting to treat the Premier fairly, remarking that it was neither reasonable nor honorable to persist in interrupting the speaker. The Premier’s opinion that a large expenditure on immigration would prevent the present depression was at once challenged, and his statements re expenditure on public works were questioned. One of his auditors objected to Maoris being taken into consideration in comparing the population of the Islands. For the first three-quarters of an hour there was a constant fire of irrelevant remarks, but afterwards, one of the interrupters having been expelled, the meeting was more orderly. The statement by the Premier that the uproar against, and ’unpopularity of. Government was because of the economy of the Government, was greeted with an outburst of general and prolonged laughter. Major Atkinson, nothing daunted, repeated the statement with emphasis, remarking that the expenditure was now one million per annum, as against two millions formerly. He urged strongly the necessity of setting a good face against the present depression. At the close of the address Mr Fish questioned the Major closely about the Government Insurance Department, and he came out of the general questions fairly well. Regarding Mr Thome’s telegiams to Joseph Mackay, he said he could not speak about a case sub judice. There was great confusion at the close. Not half tho people voted for either amendment or motion, and the Mayor declared the motion curried, though he had scarcely much ground on which to make up his mind. The meeting closed at 11.30 p.m.