MR MASSEY SPEAKS

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 143, 19 June 1913, Page 6

MR MASSEY SPEAKS

CROWDED MEETING AT

DUNEDIN

DOMINION'S FINANCES

LAND SETTLEMENT

On Tuesday evening Mr Massey and Mr James Allen, delivered addresses at a crowded public meeting in Dunedin. Iv the course of his remarks the Prime Minister said that part of his business thlat night was to assist them in doing honor to their fellow citizen and his colleague for twenty years— Mr Allen. (Applause). Referring to Mr Allen's mission to England, the Prime Minister said that when the Government came into office in the middle of July last they found the finances of the country in a much more unsatisfactory condition than they had expected, and it became necessary for 3r Allen, as Minister of Finance, to visit London —the money market of the world. He went there to raise loans for public works, purchase of land for settlement, advances to settlers and workers, and other various purposes. He arrived in England at a particularly unsatisfactory time for carrying out his mission, but in spite of adverse conditions he had been successful. He had been able to place a three million loan in London at a lower rate than the New Zealand Government bad been able to place loans for several years past. (Applause). That fact spoke volumes for his . financial ability, and for the estimation in which the credit of the country was held in London. If they had not been successful in getting that loan raised before March 31st it would have seriously interferredi with the progress of the country. They would have had to dismiss two-thirds or three-fourths of the cooperative workmen, and so seriously hinder the country's progress.

MORE MONEY NEED<Er>.

Then there was another reason..The Government, before they came into office, had been financing on a system of short-dated debentures, having a term of two or three years, or up to five, six, and seven years. They would understand the position whon'h© told them that between now and the end of the next financial year, in addition to the ordinazy requirements, they would haye to (raise no less than nine millions in London for the purpose of paying off short-dated debentures, unless something unforeseen occurred. He believed that as a result of Mr Allen's mission they would be successful in meeting those short-dated debentures. The loan which he had raised, however, 'had not been raised by short-dated debentures, and would not fall due for a period of thirty years to come, when th© country would be better able to meet its liability. When he had entered Parliament there was only one purpose for which money was borrowed, and that was public works, and they could understand the difference when they realised the multiplicity of directions in which their loans went to-day. Even in that period of stringency the Government had not cut down its expenditure on public works.

REVENUE BUOYANT.

There was a time of stringency, but the revenue of the country had not suffered, because the country'was prosperous and the revenue remained buoyant. The result was that at the end of last financial year they were able to show a surplus of over £700,000. That money could not be used till they got authority from Parliament, and authority would be given in a very few days. Another proof that the country was all right was that during last month the deposits in the Post Office Savings Bank had exceededl withdrawals by no less than £100,000. (Applause). He felt that they could look forward to the remainder of the financial year with .a very-.light heart. The public accounts showed that the increase in revenue for the year was £698,000, and the increase in expenditure £575,000. The Prime Minister emphasised the point that the increase of revenue was, more than the increase in. expenditure by £123,000. When the Government passed the Land Tax Bill last year it was said that the Bill wias a fraud, and so on ; but the accounts' showed them that tho increase in the land tax was no less than £81,500. That Act was intended primarily to increase the subdivision of estates.

PUBLIC WORKS EXPENDITURE,

D'UTing the past financial year tho ; Government had expended on public * works £177,795 more than was- done during the previous year, while the increase in expenditure onl the railways for the year had been £22 927 and on public buildings £95,488. ' He i would liave been better pleased, how'x vef'. lf they had expended part of ( that m developing works, but three Jh'uge public buildings in progress had ™ i° h& nnish©tl- They had spent £50,000 less/ on roads than in the previous year, but at the end of the year they had been short of money and ha,d been unable to give authority to local i bodies until after April Ist; but they gave them money all the same. Then they had spent practically £10,000 more than m the previous year in telegraph extension. He had been reading about the inactivity of the Government, but he would leave it to | them to say whether the Government j had been inactive or not. Lr, He w'onlcl remind them that the | Government took office after the session had commenced, but they did not ask for two or three months' grace. In. three weeks or so they came back to Parliament with the most comprehensive financial statement the country had ever seen, and with Bills ready to be gone on with.

THE LAND BILL

He believed that the coming session would be just as useful to the country as last session. Probably the most important piece, of work last year was the Land Bill, which altered the policy of the country from leasehold to freehold. The Government had held the scales fairly between the settlers and the State. Then they had passed the Valuation Act, and the graduated land tax, which was designed to encourage sub-division. HcTwould quote from Treasury figures to show how successful it had been. During the last twelve months 864 original holdings had been sub-divided, in addition to the settlement of ordinary Crown lands and native lands. Those hold-

ings had been sub-divided into 2286 farms of an average area, of 230 acreseach. (Applause). In other words, 2286 settlers had acquired holdings. That was something to be proud of, but they were not yet finished.

PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM.

Probably most of them knew that one of the most important factors in the public service had been political influence. They had pledged themselves to do away with, that, and he was pleased to say that in most of the departments of State political influence was now a thing of the past. (Applause). He hoped and believed that they would ultimately get rid of it altogether. The new Act was working smoothly and well, and the service was in the hands of throe competent commissioners whose sympathies wer<» with the public servants. Referring to humanitarian legislation, the Prime-Minister instanced the Military Pensions Act and the amendment of the Widows' Pensions Act to provide for children of deceased widows, and stated that th© Government hoped to lower the pension age for women to sixty years.

LAND SETTLEMENT.

Mr Massey quoted figures in connection with the Advances to Settlers and Advances to Workers Departments in land settlement. The Government intended to place on the market during the three months ending June 30th 111,848 acres of Crown lands, divided into 354 holdings. Their policy was to increase the number of producers and find land for every man who wished to go on it. In addition, as Minister for Lands, he had, through the Land Purchase Board, bought emce March 31st in different parts of New Zealand no less than 125.0G0 acres, which, would be available for settlement before the end of the financial year.

INDUSTRIAL PEACE,

In industrial matters they were free from trouble from one end of the country to the other. The Government were also going to provide penniless prisoners with Grown defenders, at the discretion of the Minister for Justice. They had placed £10,000 aside as insurance on public buildings, and would continue to place a further £10,000 for that purpose each year. He refuted the criticism that the Government did not consider the small farmer by instancing the relief that had been recently given to farmers who had suffered by fires in the north and by floods in the south. \ . . ■

During the last financial year those arriving in .New Zealand had exceeded those departing by nearly 12,000 people. i A STERN STRUGGLE'

The Government were engaged in a stern struggle to overtake tin© country s troubles, and had been generous in their attitude; but he could not say that of some of the papers which supported the other side of politics. Otago papers had been very fair, a*nd in any case he did not mind newspaper criticism so long as the papers confined themselves to the truth; but there was a section of those behind some of the papers who had mad© up then- minds to discredit the Government by fair means or foul. Mr Massey quoted several instances of this, among them being the Southland land case and the matter of the expeditionary force.

A CHALLENGE.

If the Government's opponents had any charges of maladministration to make he challenged them to come into the open and make them. They "had been in office eleven months, and had done the best in connection with both administrative and legislative affairs, and had conducted the business of the country on clean and democratic lines (Applause). They had settled the lands, used the moneys of the country properly, and when the time came they would be able to place themselves with, confidence in the-hands of the electors, and he was certain they j would give them a very much larger ] majority than that which they possessed to-day. (Applause).