The Marlborough Express Published Every Evening. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1891. THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXVII, Issue 229, 9 October 1891, Page 2

The Marlborough Express Published Every Evening. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1891. THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

*-^ Is his poat-sessional utterances at Wanganui, the Premier gave utterance to very little that was new. Most of the principles he laid down are those which m the House, m the press, and on the stump have from time to time found their way before the public. Mr BaUance does not seem to have openly admitted that they erred m attempti ing too much, but m an indirect way he acknowledges the same thing, for he tries to throw on others blama for expecting " that a Government could carry out all the items of its programme during the first few months of its existence." Had the Government thought of this early m the session, floods of aselesa talk would have been avoided, and much money saved to the colony. A satisfactory alteration is to be made m the Naval and Military Settlers' Bill, to which we alluded not long since, and the absurd provision that enacti that residence i«' compulsory and transfer of scrip impossible is to some extant to be modified, The older men will ba paid off m cash. This decision ia doubtless the result of the vigorous criticism to whioh the measure was subjected shortly after it paßsed through the Council. The defence of the Penny Post, Public Trust Inquiry, and Friendly Societies Bills was no great task, but when he came to the Payment of Members Bill Mr Ballance seems to have overlooked the main objection, or else the reporter has not done him justice. The principle of .payment is agreed on by all, but there were two things apart from it which helped to kill the mea3ure. The one was the protection afforded to the £20 a month againgt liability for a member's debts, and the other the inopportune time at which the proposal was made. Tne present House of Representatives was elected on & lower honorarium, aad knew wh9n it entered on its career that this was the cass. It came m pledged to furter retrenchment, and the Government so far carried, out their pledge as to make sweeping changes m some departments. In the face of this it was felt that to increase their own salaries was a shams-faced proceeding, and for this reason as much as for any the colony was glad that the Bill was thrown out. That a good member ia worth £240 a year cannot be denied, and he will make no money out of it either. It is a mistake to expect public men to undertake public duties at the expense of their pocket's. Whether conversion bs borrowing or not, Mr Ballance knows that a considerable portion of the SinkiDg Fund which had accumulated was borrowed, and applied, not to the reduction of the colony's debt, but for immediate expenditure on public works m the colony. This, we take it, is borrowing. The object of the Sinking Fund was to wipe out a certain loan, if that loan when nearing its expiry, is converted into a lower rate, the Sinking Fund appropriated, leaving the debt at what it was before, it is clear that the colony has borrowed the money it originally saved for another purpose. One rather singular admission came from the Premier with roferehce to the effect of a Land Tax, when he said " he considered it an advantage if, as had been said, large capitalists had refused to buy land m New Zealand for that tax. We did not want large landholders and a small population, but a large population and small landholders." In the same column as that m which we read these words were returns of immigration and emigration which show that the exodus goe3 increasingly, the figures being 1238 departures, as against 938 arrivals. A curious commentary on the result of the policy which is to give U3 a larga population and small landholders! If it ia not attractive enough to retain the small men, and laborers, and if the Premier himself acknowledges that it will be a good job if it keeps out the large man with capital, the colony will be m a queer fix before long. Fortunately the faith of the people of New Zealand m the ultimate success of the colony, no matter what temporary obstructions, due io bad times, may occur is as great as ever. If it is found I that Mr Ballance's policy repels population and leads to the departure of those now resident m the oolony, it will not be long before it will have to be altered. Since writing the above we have come aoross a fuller account than that sent to Blenheim, m wlreh two additional points are made clear. The first is that the Premier means to borrow, thus confirming the statement made by Mr Bryce that their Public Works policy meant further borrowing. The Premier said :— " Money was wanted for the purpose of carrying on important works and settling people on the land, but the money wanted could be provided m the colony itself, and obtained at a reasonable rate of interest. He was far from saying that the work of settlement could be stopped, and nothing, m his opinion, would be more disastrous to the country than the stoppage of the exeoution of all publio works. People were now leaving the country for want of employment, and many people who were clamouring to go upon the land were stopped from doing so for the want of roads and bridges. It was absolutely impossible that we could stand still m this matter. The colony must go ahead, or must retrograde, and he held that "we must continue to go ahead, j though our progress muat be slower, and we j must use the money raised amongst ourselves with care, and see that it was expended only upon reproductive works, and aids to settlement which were absolutely essential to the progress of the country. Keeping within these safe lines he maintained we must borrow." That is to say that while he will not advocate borrowing cheaply m the London markets he is pre- j pared to get his money m the colony, knowing that he must pay a higher rate. With this the colony is not likely to agrae. The other point is that Mr Ballance virtually shuffled out of his previous position on Land Nationalisation, and m place of putting the true blame for the defeat of the Land Bill on the right shoulders, viz, thoße of Mr John McKenzie, he went on to talk of the necessity for the land being held by the many m place of the few, and other threadbare truisms of the same sort. The fuller report is no more satisfactory than the more condensed one that had previously reached us.