POLITICAL ADDRESS AT WAKEFIELD.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXII, Issue 126, 6 June 1898, Page 2

POLITICAL ADDRESS AT WAKEFIELD.

On Saturday evening the Premier addressed a meeting of eleotors in tbe Temperance Hall at Wakefield. The littlo building was well filled, and several ladies wero amongst those present. The meeting was first addressed by Mr B. MoKenzio, M.H.K., who spoke for about an hour, Mr J. Bird, Chairman of the County Council, presided, and, in introducing the Premier, he said that he had heard Mr Seddon described ns "the greatest man in New Zealand," and also as "the greatest villain in New Zeoland." _ On reading the Mail of that evening, which contained no less thau eight paragraphs devoted to the Premier's glorification, he (the Chairman) had oome to the conclusion that Mr Seddon was indeed "the greatest man in New Zealand." (Applause). Mr Seddon, who was received with applause, expressed his pleasure apmeeting the good people of Wakefield, who, he said, wero honoured, in having their dis« trict called after a name to which the politics of the colony owed a gnod deal. As to the oause of his visit to Wakefield he said that on arriving in Nelson on Friday he had learned for the first time that Mr SlcKensde intended to address them that evening. Some of his Nelson friends said to bim, "You ought to go as far as Wakefied aud meet the people." It at once struck him that it was a good opportunity to moet thein and speek to them face to face. (Applause.) Some people had been unkind enough to say, "On, it has all been arranged (laughter) ; they have been in communication, and the Premier is taking this oppor* tunity of helping hiß old friend." Well, supposing they put it that way, why should he not do it? (Hear, hear.) As Mr McKenzie had helped to put him (Mr Seddon) into political life and political trouble in his gold mining days at Kumara, ho (the speaker) ha*, a perfect !

MiHI^H^MMMaHMMMMMMIIMMNMMta** right to help Mr McKenzie in return; j (Laughter). His presence there, however, ( was merely a co-incidence. Why, because i his birthday happened to fall on the | Queen's Jubilee day last year, soine people i even had the audacity to say that he had * arranged it with Her Majesty. (Laughter*), i That statement waß just as correct as the i insinuation that he had arranged to meet i Mr McKenzie there tbat night. As 1 another co-incidenco he referred to the i briok which fell from the Parliamentary Buildings tbe other day and struok him : just as he was passing. He saved Govern** ment property, i.e. the brick, from being broken, but he got no thanks for it. They saw before them the best abused man in New Zealand, He asked them to take a good look at him ; by doing so tbey would see that notwithstanding tbe abuse, he bad not yet arrived at vanishing point— in fact be could say that he thrived on the abuse.

He quoted the opposite opinions of two writers regarding the' character of women, and said that as there were two sideß in tbis matter so were there also two sides to pubiio men. He respected those who conscientiously differed from him, but the present Government had all sorts of names applied to tliem. Not long ago he had been referred to as the chief of " the seven devils of Socialism," He felt sure they could smell no sulphur about him. His opponents could say and write what they < liked, but he was quite content to allow the people to judge him by his works. (Applause). He-quoted some complimentary remarks made last year by Captain Russell in regard to the honour conferred upon him (the Premier) in being made a Privy Councillor in England. Although tbe Leader of the Opposition had tben said suoh nice things about him, be shortly afterwards, when tbe question of the payment of his (Mr Seddon's) Jubilee expenses cropped up, made him ont to bo ono of the biggest villians in tbe country. Tbis was a sample of the dynamite charges fired by the Opposition with tbe object of blowing the Government from tbe Treasury benches. The Wellington " Post," when he was going to England, said he had probably placed more progressive and experimental enactments on the statute book of the colony than any i other man ; yet this same journal had since i said that he had not passed any progres** • sive legislation, and that tbe country i would go to ruin if his Government were not driven fro.n power. Why could not : the Oppositionists be consisient ? One opin- . ion or the other must be incorrect, and he l would leave tbem on tbe horns of that dilemma, The mighty "we" of the press , posed as all-wise individuals, but when • they met the writers they proved to be like themselves — erring human beings, i subject to impulses. This accounted for ; the frequent inconsistency in newspaper r articles. There was nothing like carrying 3 the war into the enemy's country, and that night be would take np an aggressive i as well as a defensive attitude. The Con** I scrvutive proas bad told them that the Government was responsible for the fact , that the bnsiness of Parliament was not - conducted properly last session, but he would. quote from one of these papers to 3 show that Captain Kusoell had admitted r that the Opposition were to blame Thc . Leader of the Opposition had said, "Wc - had stonewall after stonewall, and battl( - after battle, but we were not battling foi much." II THE rOLICY OF THE OPPOSITION. It had been said tbat constitutionally thi „ Opposition were not required to have i policy, bnt he would show them that th< :, present Opposition had a policy. Speak i ing in December last Captain Russel s had told his supporters that if thej r wanted to obtain organisation and ous l- the present Government from powe; s "they must put their hands in thei: breeches pocket." This was their polic*. il — " a breeches pocket policy." In plai) i- words the Opposition platform was this r "Bribery and corruption; spend largi sums of money at thie general election e corrupt the people j buy their votes, am o then you can get rid of the presen o Government." He hoped the day wouli s never come when the reason, intelligence and common sense of the electors wouli cease to prevail, and when they would se i placed on the Treasury Benches a Go i- verninent which had bought it way t i power by the corruption of the electors i, In extenuation he might say that th r quotation he had given was from a: e after-dinner speech by Captain Kussel . It had been announced by Capiaii ■s Russell and other Opposition leader 8 that they still adhered to the principl g of the property tax in preference to thi •- land and income tax. He (the Premier was quite willing that this questioi should prove the dividing line betweei e tho two parties. During the three year a immediately before his party took office e over 14,000 people had been driven fron [. the colony ; labour was not obtainable > farmers were disheartened and almos taxed out of theii* existence ; Industrie i were afc a standstill ; there were little o i- no manufastories ; and yet the part; t then in power adhered to the propert; q tax which penalised the man who inj s proved hiß property, whilst the larg i ( land-holder, who mado no improvements if escaped. Tho property tax was a tax o; t tho small farmers, and if the questioi t, was again fought out he would stand t t the last gasp to these struggling settler*; p 8000 of whom had been released fror . taxation altogether since the abolition o [. the property tax. The lawyers, doctors 0 and other professional men who did no . contribute under the property tax, noi had to pajr, and the Government hai earned their undying enmity. He wa t prepared to Btand or fall by the lani r and income tax. Coming to b THE GOVERNMENT'S LAND POLICY, r he said that in the good old days a grea 1 deal of tho best land had been bought ii „ large blooks for 10a an acre, In conse 3 quence many young people had sina been unable to obtain land, an< in the Nulson district the Midlam f Bailway reservations bnd also blocker s settlement. The greatest embargo of al 1 was the cash purchase system. If i , man had enough money to buy a piece o land he had nothing left for himself anc he had to mortgage the land. Under thi present Liberal leasing system those whc took up land were only charged four pei cent on its value. This was one of thi most Liberal laws in the world and at the samo time it was very jusc, The land I belonged to every man, woman, and child . in tbu colony, and the present system oi leasehold on the 4 per cent basis was bettet than Shylock like trying to diaw the last • ponnd of fiesh from the poor settler nnder the easb system The present Government ( had placed 13,000 settlers on the land, and , removed the necessity of children leaving ', their parents to seek their future in other ; countries. LAND FOB SETTLEMENT AND ADVANCES TO SEITLEIIS. The passiiia of the Land for Settlement Act, Mr.Seddon said, had been referred to as Socialistic and destructive of thc rights of property. Not a single settler, however, had been disturbed. Any land owner whose land was taken for settlement was allowed to retain 1000 acres, and the land was not taken unless the Board reported that it was required for olose settlement. (Hear, hear.) More*, over, the full value was given, and all the benefit of the unearned increment waß received by the owner, whose interests wero safeguarded in overy way. Fifty estates, comprising 165,000 acres, had acquired, at n cost, including roads, of £700,000. The number of settlers thereby provided with homes was 1083, aud the money expended, which was obtained for 3 per cent, returned 4J per cent. The I other day the Government had acquired I the Starborough estate, in Marlborough, at a cost of £104,000, and instead of a few shepherds there would soon ba many prosperous homes and townships on the estate. When the Government bought the Cheviot estate ib was said that it would prove a white elephant ; but it had proved a profitable investment, and there were now 2000 souls on the estate, as compared with 73 who formerly lived on it. The cheap money scheme was another very successful feature of the Government's policy. Settlers had previously been charged 8 and 10 and 12 per cent and even higher rates by mortgagees. With low prices and keen competition farmers found ib impossible to pay these high rates and hold their own. When the cheap money scheme was announced the usual cry was raised that the Government was not sincere, but the man speaking lo them never annonnoed anything as the programme of tbe Liberal party but what was nl timately carried oub. Under the previous high rates of interest, many settlers had succumbed, When they wantei to obtain a loan from a money lender or banker they were obliged to go, oap in hand, and ask for it, but now all this was changed • the lenders were only too glad to. get a chance to lend. The Government had lent a million and a half, and they had not lost a single pound as yet, every ehiHiug having been paid at the time'of the last balancing. Next year somftjtotogE&vonld be put into a sinking funmHmnns of which the money -wonld baoHKg by the expiration of the tinjHßmfch it was borrowed. The Gqfl^Nßfr he claimed, had saved borroiJH|HKßrli-n r settlers and othera) 2 per cfflßENr 60 millions, whioh rc-prasentedjHHßftmal saving of £1,200,000, besij^HHfthe people a proper independen^H^Hsing I money to be invested ia i-fIHHByP <

1 '•*" — • •' — * r*n'tn "iiiiiin|_Lii_ii__l_ll__^^ M ■ ..1 initiating the advanees to settlers' echem^ Government had conferred on the people ' the greatest biinefit'of any legislation yet passed, but they had earned the undying enmity of a small bnt all-poworfol faction, who previously-borrowed inoney at Home for three percent, and by re-lending in the colony made fonr per cent out of it. Lea- . ders ought to be satisfied to get four and abalf per cent, when in the Old Country they could only get |, lj, and 2 per oent. Referring to the Agricultural Department he spoke of what had been done by the Government in forwarding the dairy industry. He quoted figures to show the large inorease in the export of bntter and cheese during the past seven years, and said that whereas there were only 25 factories iu the colony seven .years ago there \were now 225. The appointment of dairy experts had had a good effect and he hoped that New Zealand butter and cheese would soon equal the best Danish article. THE PUBLIC DEBT.

The question was often asked as to whether the present (iovernment had not increased the pnblio debt of the colony. His reply to this was " Yes, we have increased it," bnt not in tbe same way that it was increased in former years, when 31 millions had been borrowed and squandered on roads, bridges and railways through large estates. The present Government had increased the debt of the colony in round numbers by about six millions, but there had been no inorease in the interest payable, the money having been obtained for the advances to settler-i and Land for Settlement scheme, the purchase of the Cheviot estate, and the acquisition of native lands. All these had paid the interest on the money and the interest payable laat year (£1,679,611) wae £178, (541 less than the amount payable when i thc Government took office, viz, £1858,262. Speaking of the railways he said that i it must not be forgotten that the lines ; were constructed to assist settlement, and ■ not' merely for revenue-producing pur- / * poses. The Government had rednoed the ! charge for the carriage of aheep by 33 i per cent, with the result that most of the r Bheep were now carried by rail instead of ) being driven by road. The total reduc- ■ tions made were about £100,000, bnt the - receipts had increased by -£101,000. In s the passenger and goods traffic there t had been an all-round increase of over 3 ■ per cent. He spoke of the advantage of 3 cheap trains for sohool children and other t excursion trains. The lines were now s paying £3 da lOd per cent, and there l were some things— lime, and other a manures for instance— which it would , pay to carry for nothing, as they would r thereby get more produce. (Applause). r THE SURPLUS. ; 'l'he surplus for the past year was as I already announced, £521,000. The Ope position said the country was going to - the dogs and claimed that from the aure plus the amounts received from the sinkt ing funds shonld be deducted- Well, if t they did this they would etill have a sure plus of £480,000. This money, however, 0 had alwaya been added to the revenue, d and the smallest amount received from e this source hy the Atkinson Government e was £200,000, and when that Government e had their last surplus (£143,000) the einkr ing fund receipts were £250,000 ; so that it the latter amount had not been taken into account there would have been a dee ficifc. It was also said thatthe previous a year's balance should not be carried fore ward, but this was the nsnal thing in all c- businesses. The amount in the savings II banks had increased by £400,000, and the y material wealth of the colony had init creased by eleven millions since the Gon* vernment took oflice. He quoted from an ir article in the Wellington " Post," headed y "Some satisfactory figures "to show that n the sorip of several private companies i: had greatly improved in value during ;e thepasb three or four years. '< LOCAL GOVERNMENT BEFOBM. 7. .^he Government .intended to proceed it with their local .Government legislation, d At present there were too many local B, bodies. If they were fewer, with extondd ed power and assured revenues, the preie sent road and bridges policy in Pailia- > ment would not be necessary. Then, ;o mthe large towns espeoially there were s. many at present who had no voice in ie local Government. In Wellington, where ,n there were 20,000 names on the electoral il. roll, there were only 4000 enjoying* the n municipal franchise. This anomaly and rs the plurality of votes should be abolished, so. as to bring the local franchise in line, ie with the Parliamentary franchise, t) The Government also intended to eo on n mi. tholr Tecl mi<!al Education Bill, n Ihere was no intention, as had been as:s sorted, to interfere with the present edue, cation system. There should be a techn meal class connected with every school 3, inthe colony. The present standard it system ivas largely a system of cram and :a technical education shonld receive the >r same attention as it received in Gery many, France and other oountries. They iy would not then need to send away for l- mining and other experts. ;e The Government were desirous ofim**s, proving the condition of the natives, n There were now only about 40,000 of n them lett, and the amount of their land. ;o still left was about 5,000,000 acres. It s, was time that the sale of native land n ceased. >f THE MIDLAND RAILWA*. s. The question of the Midland Bailway * was a burning one in Nelson and We/ r w land, but the present Government - ro £ d not responsible for the contraot, tf ,„„!£ s they had had to safeguard tbe i^S Sf.^f^W during the last se^en years * His (Mr Seddon's) services in „„„^ n S with the unsuccessful suit ™ w^SftS * brought against the Gow^S'M? n company had been f oirp'J^ 1 6 ?5 .7 , .- received blame. VfT/t SJS d }° °£ y e throwing open of thr^/W* *° * h . 6 d heart wae with tb^ j^f t^L^ d not the heart m' Js t b'« fL •J wad ?# i would not do to bri™ «£ glU i ' "$? 1 bmrttowiftttaS^ SMS" i ders fof a PUC^ 0n 0f debentnThol. i JusHS l \J eCe . > T'. Bnd laid1 aid t he Chief e iw?fcT d 5 oh ?^ h^ n refusing to* ' fltv^A order *<*<*<-• the Crown had rer Stw?" B^* 106 - If the law said the r debenture holders oould take the line, with it, and throw the land open. If tha tt^T hold °"°™<»tod they won"! ™„? *u? miloh . B <>eing that the art * "£ d £ encwn P lained that there were as to the legality of the proposed T,l SSJ" V H*« *■** "vould be abfc to "i, ahead with the line at tbia end aad & „„ it to a profitable point. y MISCELLANEOUS* STATTEKS. Ue read an extiacs from sElman^ipublished atthe end o ! MO7 when tt Atkinson Government werTi ' ±er to show that the price of labours relief works was then fixed by the Engineer! Im-Chief as fol ows :_For ffl »rH»j vL^ • towns 3s Gd a day and^ngKn *«" for married men in the coSntry 4s 6d and single men 3s. He did not believe in raising olass against class, but it tas time to take a stand when this sort of thing waa advocated the 8t r n t !' eol<i Pensions Scheme,, the Government desiw to protectpeople, who had been unfortunate in life from want in their declining VearT It was only right that all ehould contr bute to the cost of the scheme, and for thatreason it was proposed that tL monevC„ n 7 had *■?» necessary n*« e y, fff'^S" the Treasu^.and yet the cry was raised, " WhwiTL the money to come from ?" H e ridiculed thi thrift, and said it was absurd to eay that * the people woiUd squander theSr/ey beoause they were- going to draw a small * penson at the age of 65. Many unfortu- - nate people, after saving up for their old ' age, lost their all through flood or fire or in bank shares, and it was to assist suoh people as these and save them from the - workhouses that the old agenenaions scheme was brought forward penßlons ' i JJEtaJt!^ oonol ? ded Bpeeoh at torn. C,* n n^ leren * haTin 8r spoken forw. suggestion of the Chairman, and wUh the consent of the mover, he added amotion expressing confidence in the Go*, ernment. • * The Chairman took a show of hcj*& sk, i avonr of thft moUon. Several hsa&Weheld up, and the motion wo* declared* carried without any opportunity, beine' oflfered for an expression. 0 f onihioni against it. , Mr Seddon, in returning thank*h m* ■ \ that as his reception, had been bo Maii ,d hoped ihere would be another* "ee>T he denoe " later on, and that he would! fr ' n< ** 1 to meet them again. He movadia • e ab ' e thanks to the Chairman, wh«*h,w» vote of in the nsual way. i carried Cheers having been, called* a» the Premier, *Vve meeting tew ••*■ ? iven -f**"" . ilnated. '■-,_. The Premier and 'pastrr and Blenheim by the W- ' left for Pioton ' ing. Mr Seddon will a^' afnai this morn- ...< tfl-nightv - J»?s ft mVotipg ay *'•'