POLITICAL

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12531, 19 June 1901, Page 9

POLITICAL

MR B. H. RHODES, AT AKAROA. Mr R. Keaton Rhodes,, the member for Eliwsww* wSck»s«i at meeting of his coa® etittt*nrts; I#) the Oddfellow®’ Ball at Akaroa* ■ on'-'Mftotar opening. ‘Mr H- 0. Orbell, the, **« A*, w* .fhewHWM, a fair atteedanee^ Mr Rhiwte* Qonamenced his address by referring; feelingly to the lose the district had. sustained in the death of Mr M’Gtegox, late Mayor of Akaroa,. and once the membw for Ellesmere in the House of Represeutao i fives. He also explained that though he had, attended the Municipal Conference at the wish of hie, constituents, he had been unable, as the hours of sitting coincided with those of • Parliament, to- do much. ■ Turning to. political matters, Mb Rhodes taid that of course very little, interest had been taken in politics during the past. year,, matters of wider importance having occupied public- ateewtiMb It -m» usual for at Hiwr|Bw»b*p to give his impression? of the Bouse of Representatives. Ha, personally,* hedt *eon found that the chief wort of the Bouse was done in the Sessional Committees, of which he had been upon five. A greet deal wenit Qft la the House that the public never heard of. With regard to the local wants,. Mr Rhodes could congratulate ' his constituent® upon their modesty. Chief of course, wajs the railway from Little 1 River ta Akatea. He sketched what had been, done in this matter, and said he quite failed to see. why the QdteTOW-esfe still viowsd the pro|eet ini ap unlavburable. light-/ Even if .an ordinary broad-gua-g© line had bee* asked for, the district, would have been quite within, it® right®, but the. lighter line WwuM oerlaihity tew been provided. Ho Would keep the matter" steadily before the Gev«rmne»t. He had presented; a petition fa tte Mmister of X#ns* far the drainage f f taka ERes«ieiey with the result tteithe »li«#ter had promised £looft if the Railway department would, provide. £7OO, thus leav-' tng th.e settlers, to subscribe £2300 to make bp the necessary £4£IQQ.; A "good, deal of " •orres|wadenoe : ,ha4 taken'place, with regard »td'.the, telephone, and'' ha thought that. Akaroe worild -soon'be in connection with Christchurch. Th- only important legisla- / tive work dene during the session he'd'teen crammed in at th® fag-end; for,Boßff,;aitason he could not define. Apparently, the 1 'Ministers had been quite unprepared for the lack of discussion over the Address-in-Reply. H« enumerated ten important Bills that had teen rushed■ through at the,last moment. The Minister of Landis was to ho congratulated upon, having at last got passed into law th® Noxious Weeds Act, which had been before Parliament off and on for years, and white, should certainly have been . hroughh inUv proper form, and, passed long ago. The nest session, was called the - “ working session/* and he hoped that important measure* would be brought up early. The, longest, discussioru in the House had been over* the Ministerial Salaries Bin,' with which be bracketed the Public Revenue* Bill, and. the £4O vote in the Estimates. Without the £4O. vote, the first measure would never have got through- Mr Rhodes was not so mute opposed to tee increase in . salaries a® to the increase in the numbers ■ ' of Miwstete Last, tesstout only four out of tte tec MteWmtel beeen working, ;' two HhwM!#. and yet all " ■ tee. work bad been , performed. ' He thought that no inereaeo oa the tec wa» required. Be could also, ®e®. no reason, why the Minister of Railway* should receive a larger salary than Ms coUeagues. He was not referring do. the Minister personally, but the office, and he considered th© Departments of Land® and Education quite as important.' The £4O increase in the members’ salaries should moat 'certainly have been referred 'to the electors, ■ The grant would now doubtless be repeated, unless teft 'teteswai were, permanently increased. The* Public Revenues Act had very effectually broken down the restrictions to which the Premier had objected. He quoted Mr Tanner** adverse criticism of tW measure. Next session the question of defence would have to ibe dealt with. Way the proposed Real corps of. Mounted Rifles had cot been accepted he could not guess. He was glad to see teat rifle club* wear© being fomad, and thought that this waia ai very wise step on the part <rf tew Gowanwot. A® a member of tea Secret Drfono* Committee, he had bad excalkot oppoctonifciea of studying th© colony’s defcnetts, and he gave some instances of their dafcuts. Sir Rhodes said h» had at first opposed! tee Imperial Reserve Corps, a* b* ftwkd to se© why New Zealand should vunckln a oorjw for service in any part of tea world chosen by tea Imperial authorities. The modified proposal he had’, Ho mentioned tea Military P«n»o®a Act. Th© Oowa Tenant* Rebate of Bent Bill he did not approve of. Where aid was needed it ahouM be given, and ha did not wish to tie th* hands of the Government, but th!e rebate should not be given where It wa* not hu the least reanired. The freehold should be given to . the tenants who were successful enough to pay ’for their land®, and even Mr Seddon bad stated in the Houb* teat tee freehold was “bound to>-come.” Ha did nut think increased representatios was at all a aieoesgiS’, though a reduction in the size of the ectoral district* would ha welcomed by some members who had very large constituencies. H« would like to b» more regard paid to area and community of. interests.With regard! to the census in Ellesmere, he , thought it was only natiiral that young people 'should wish to follow in their fathers’ footsteps, and! take up mew lands, for themselves. The Electoral Act had pro-’ (hibited, -but not defined, canvassing, and he had no doubt there would foe pickings for the legal fraternity before the present incomplete Act wa» made clear. Mr Rhc des was very glad that the Government had seriously taken up the matter of manual and technical instruction. Soma modification in the syllabus might be necessary, bat fee thought boys might be turned! out trained to a trade without at all impairing , the efficiency of tfe© ordinary school instruc- ' tion. The classes would have to be cstab- ' lished gradually, and th© special, wants of the Various districts, studied. The warmth that had been, displayed in th© discussion over the Stoke Orphanage was to be regretted. Neither party could well afford to throw stones, and seme reforms were necessary in Burnham as well .-as.- 1 Stoke, The State ’ was in tee position of parent to th© waifs cast upon its hands, and must look carefully to their physical and moral welfare. • Be did not approve of the centralisation of th© authority in educational matters* The present anomalies in the teachers’ salaries should be done away with, and he hoped that the colonial scale would level up and net down. This matter would, of course, be discussed fully fit the House. Mr Rhodes thought that some special cases should . have been provided for in the Public Con- ■ tract® Bill. Some aged men were not able to earn tee current wage, and the idea that these men were prodded for by th© ’ co-operative works waa an exploded one. He thdught Federation with Fiji would impose too great a responsibility on New Zealand, besides costing her more than she could afford. He did not think 1 tee sentimental consideration, the idea of forming an Island "Federation, should be allowed’ to weigh. A* for Federation with Australia, very little information was available,’ and ha thought Mr Seddon was more inclined to suppress what he knew than to publish it. Mr Rhodes 'knew that Mr Seddon had been collecting information with regard to Federation two years ago. The Federation Commission, which should have been set up years ago, was almost Unanimously against the proposal, so that New Zealand had really only to consider tee question of a reciprocal tariff. The Australian colonies had had good reasons for federating, but New Zealand was in a different position. While the tariff and. railway reductions would doubtless '» appreciated «by all, there was room for further reductions on th© necessaries of life and on the freight charges. The railway® were paying £3 9s 5d per cent on. the cost of their construction, and yet the people wer© always told, when dmgzuynßfflt* on a branch 'line .were re affixed;.

'that tha. revenue did nob warrant tee exi penditure. Balance-sheets should b© prepared showing whether the main lines ‘ did really produce all the profits. He also ireferred favourably to. tee penny postage.' : Th© Opposition in the. new Parliament had been variously counselled as to what position to take up. Be thought he had ' made, it clear- that if he were returned; he i would be found in the ranks of the Oppo- : sition; but the Opposition, had been almost wiped out, and th© remainder had thought it beet to elect no leader. An orga&ed Opposition would simply have hardened up the Ministerial supporters. Captain; Russell had, of course, been prac-. Really head, but there had been no real organised: Opposition. Mr Seddon merelyused the. Opposition to keep his, own men in line. If, however, there was anything next section, to be gained fey organisation it- would, soon b© established. By letting Mr 'Ssddon’s supporters take the lead, it \vag : sometime® possible to secure, amendments. and carry suggestions. IT© was not Unreasonably- opposed to Mr Seddon. He had, supported him in some measures last i session, ami would be prepared to do so again. Mr Rhode® ooaoluded his address with a g®er.al survey pi th© work of the session,, and, was' applauded on resuming •hk toyt. Ip answer to a question, Mr Rhodes said he did not.,,think the new Licensing Bill would please either party. He had sand. at th© general ©lection that h© would support the present system and oppose any radical change, and he would stand to th!?. ' Mr J. I>. Bruce then moved, and Mr 0 Milne seconded, a hharty - vote of thanks tq. Mu Rhodes, which was earned unam mously. ■ 0U the, motion of Mr .Rhodes a vote of thank® was also -passed to the Ciairroah, and th®. meeting then dosed.