AN OPPOSITION “SOCIAL."

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIII, Issue 12158, 23 March 1900, Page 6

AN OPPOSITION “SOCIAL."

SPEECH BY MB J. ALLEN. : j [Pee Press Association.] ] WYNDHAM, March 21 ! A complimentary “social” was given? this evening to Mr I. W. • Raymond, who(| contested the Mataura seat against Mr Rj M’Nab, M.H.R., at last election. The “ sod' cial ” was preceded by a political addresfi by Mr J. Allen, M.H.R. Mr large grain store was filled to the doors,! about 300 people being present. Mr J.j Walker, Chairman of the Town Board, pre-; sided, and on the platform were Messrs Raymond, C. Lewis, M.H.R., and prominenfs! residents of the district. Mr Allen criticised the speech delivered at Wyndham by the] Premier a short time ago. He denounced!' the practice of the Premier in taking credit! for every beneficial reform and measure put, on the statutes. The Premier, he said, did not introduce the women’s franchise, andtj did not-support-it till it became-necessary to .do, so by'pressure of public ; opinion. The, Premier boasted about the exemption ofv improvements, but when the exemption of] improvements wass first' before the House, it? was supported by the Opposition, and thensj voted against it Messrs Carroll, J. M’Ken* zio, W. P. Reeves, Seddon, Ward, and Bal-j lance. That was in 1892. There’was only, half a truth in the Premier’s statement, and! Only when pressure was put on him did he exempt improvements. The Premier had said that the exports of 1890 were equal tothe exports of 1898 in order to accuse ant Opposition Government of bringing about the poverty of the people by bad govern-| ment. If the Premier’s figures were taken! as true, why had the boasted prosperity ofi the country not increased the exports? Thera, had been an increase of £900,000, and should-have been far larger. Had the Oppo-t sition been given a chance, -he ventured too say its policy would have produced a much!greater increase. The prosperity claimed by! the Premier commenced when Mr Seddon; wa&.-not in power. People were called upqni, by Sir Harry Atkinson to retrench and put forth every effort, with the rteiilt that inf three'years the exports rose’froim £6,-500,000! to £9,500,000. As always happened, those! compelled to face hard times and economise* received no credit when their efforts brought' about a better state of things. Another factor was the expenditure of borrowed money.When Sir Harry Atkinson took office, £1,500,000 was being expended. He reduced - the amount to £398,000. Now it had risen again to nearly £1,500,000 per annum. Thd policy with regard to railway concessions,■ freights and fares and -dairying that Mr Seddon claimed as peculiarly his own wad that of the Opposition also, and the Opposition had it more at heart. Land settlement was paraded by the .Government, but figures showed it had not been successful.' In the year 1892 there were supposed to be 828 selectors on the Special Settlements Association, occupying 187,000. acres; in 1897, under that scheme five selectors took up 442 acres, and in 1898 five selectors took up 607 acres. Between 1892 and March 31; 1899, it was said that 1780 selectors took •u- 350,000 acres. The Year Book; sxiowed. that ! on' March. 31, 1899, the number of selectors was 715, and they held 133,000 acres. He wanted to know what had become of the difference. The speaker then quoted the Year Book showing that there were 2040 surrenders and during 1898-99. Those settlers had surf rendered or forfeited because they oouhj not pay their rents. The Government charged a rent that did not permit of the settler paying his way and making a living. The Opposition was not opposed to. tht purchase of land for settlement. The Op? position believed that land should be ac< quired if it was beneficial to the people; but it should be given to them at tht lowest possible rental. The Opposition ; had saved the freehold. He quoted wordj' used by the Hon J. M’Kenzie: “ I shall! take care, while I am head of the Depart-, ment that the freehold shall be kept put. He believed the people wanted the freehold. ' (Applause)., The Premier, at Wyndf ham, only referred to the land and’ ir.comj' tax.; he "said nothing about the insidious’ ; increase of the Customs duties, which iu< : creased; the cost of living, and more than counterbalanced the vaunted increase in workmen’s wages. If workmen were out 01. work now, they still had to pay higli. Customs duties, and were worse off than before. -The only real benefit to be bestowed on the people was a cheaper cost oj the necessaries of life. He denounced till action of the Premier in taking £1,742,00G from the Savings Bank and the Govern-.-ment Insurance at 3 per cent at par. It had embarrassed the Insurance Department. and accounted for the Premier’s boastea borrowing at a cheap rate. The Premier ’ could not have got money on the market, at such terms. Mr Allen concluded by regretting the loss of such men as Messrs Rolleston, Duthie, Buchanan, and Scobie Mackenzie. The Opposition had a duty tc perform, and would do it. It would sed that the burden put on the people would not be more than they could bear when times of trouble came. It would put th<J Land for Settlement system on an equitable footing, would see that technical education was introduced, and ,|hat- the Civil Servipa and the Upper HouseVwere reformed. Tha Premier took credit’for everything except decreasing the birth rate and increasing, crime. ’ The Opposition, though small in number, would do its duty, and he felt certain that the time - would come when* popular opinion would change, and thepeople would recognise the work, the Op' nosition had done, and the Opposition find the reward to which it was justly entitled. The desire of the Opposition was to sea the country prosperous, to see the peopla levelled up, not down, to see justice done, and the greatest good to the greatest number. Referring to the war, the speaker said that those who now paraded patriotism ' and loyalty: once favoured an elective governor. He knew the temper of the House when he first entered Parliament, arid it was then prepared to cut the painter. An elective governor ' was the thin edge of tha ; wedge. The Opposition opposed' that, and was justified to-day. The country would! realise one day who had foreseen the future most clearly, and who had been most faithful. (Loud applause). The speaker '-was very closely followed throughout in his remarks, and was frequently interrupted by applause. A vote of thanks was moved by Mr G. Crosbie, seconded by Mr Beange, and carried unanimously by acclamation. “ Godi Save the Queen” was heartily sung an-di the gathering then adjourned to' Taylor’s Hall, ’ where a social evening was spent, and ' short addresses given by Mr Allen, ■ Mr C. Lewis, and the guest of the evening, Mr I. W. Raymond.