MR. STOUT AT DUNEDIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7467, 24 October 1885, Page 6

MR. STOUT AT DUNEDIN.

♦ ADDRESS TO THE ELECTORS. [BY TELEGRAM.— ASSOCIATION.] Dunedin, Friday. The Hon. Mr. Stout addressed tho electors of Dunedin East in Old Knox Church this evening. The building was filled, and Ilia Worship tho Mayor (Mr. Scoullar) presided. The Hon. W, IT, Reynolds, Messrs, Bcobie MoKenzio (M.H.R,), and J. B. Bradshaw (M.H.R.), occupied chairs. The Mayor, In introducing Mr. Stout, remarked that he was the first Otago representative who had occupied a position in tho front rank of politicians. The Hon. Mr. Stout, who was cordially received, said ho had taken the first opportunity he had of meeting hia constituents. He had had some difficulty iu determining what subject he should deal with, as it would be impossible in one speech to deal with the past session and the future intentions of the Government. He had, therefore, determined to deal with the last session, and then to briefly refer to the future intentions of the Government, reserviug for another occasion what he conceived should be tho policy of any Ministry who had tho confidence of the people of New Zealand. THE COALITION MINISTRY. He referred to the chaos and confusion that existed iu Wellington boforo the present Government took oMice early in tho lt>S4 session. A coalition Government had necessarily to be formed, and a majority of the House determined that tho coalition should be formed from tho thou Opposition. He admitted that members of tho Cabinet wore not all agreed in political feelings or political principles, but they had shown sufficient reason to prove that they were ablo to carry on the Government of this colony with effect. (Cheers,) SIR JULIUS VOCIEL. He next referred briefly to the odium cast on the Colonial Treasurer, and said that certain members of the Opposition, who now objected to that hon. gentleman, last year objected to him taking in with him Mr. Ballanco anil the speaker. It appeared to him that with these members party ties aud political principles were of little consequence so long as they were in the cool shades of Opposition, and that the country could never get along till they were called on to administer its affairs, (Laughter and applause.) WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD DONE. His Government had done what no other | Ministry had dared to do hitherto. They ' had boldly come down at the inception of the session with the wholo of their policy measures, without waiting, in political phraseology, to see how "the cat jumped." Ho now confessed that in the programmo they had sketched out tho Government had attempted too much, seeing that Parliament was only to be in session thres months. Tho question of taxtion had to be dealt with, and they recognised that additional taxation was necessary. Borrowing was being continued, and every additional million borrowed meant £40,000 a year additional taxation, because whether the money was for reproductive works time must elapse before those works could return any interest. Then another thing, the number of children in the colony was continually increasing, and that increase meant an additional cost of £4 per head for every child that went into our schools. The Educational vote was yearly increasing. As our population was increased tho demands on Government increased. Demands were being continually made for post offices, telephone stations, and tho hundred aud one other things that the Government were supposed to look after. This meant an additional ex- , penditure of the public money. THE CUSTOMS REVENUE. I Then, as the industries of the colony j increased the imports necessarily decreased. The use of intoxicating liquors had been de- i creasing—(applause)—and, of course, as their use diminished there was a loss iu the Customs revenue, and that loss had to be met in some way. But there were some people who said that while the Customs revenue had been steadily increasing, the Customs taxation had been increasing. In one sondo that was true, but in another it was incorrect. The Customs revenue had increased, but the amount per head that the people were called on to pay had not increased. In 1870 it was £2 13 a 7d, while now it was £2 63 tid per head, a decrease of 7s Id. How did tho Government propose to increase the taxation '! By distributing the taxation equally all round. He said that tho additional taxation of 2d per pound had been opposed by some members on the ground of sentiment merely. He waß not afraid of any vote he gave, and he held that the tea duty was a fair tax. It was legitimate, and would not harm any person in the colony ; and a Ministry dealing with the tariff had to look at the lact that there had arisen a number of industries, and any Ministry that overlooked that fact neglected its duty. (Cheers.) Industries must be fostered and not injured, and it was on those lines that the Government had framed their Customs tariff, and any Minister who had to deal with the tariff in the luturo would take tho same view .of it. THE ABORTIVE TARIFF PROPOSALS. ■ Now he wißhed to follow the causes which led to the loss of the tariff proposals. There were some members in tho House who called themselves free traders. He believed they were in a minority. There were aoine who called themselves free traders, but they were not consistent free traders:. The leader of the Opposition was a declared protectionist, and many of the Opposition who followed his lead were declared protectionists, but there were two or three oppositionists who were declared free traders, like Colonel Trimble, A few members from each aide of the Rouse had met together and called themselves a great free trade caucus. How did they act ? They came to the Government and asked if the Government we're willing to modify their tariff. They considered the request, and agreed to modify it in some respects, but the free traders among the Opposition party would have no modification. This was seen in the House. For tho sole purpose of injuring and defeating the Government those who were avowed protectionists had voted against the tariff. This was not a new trick which the leader of the Opposition had played. In IS7S the Grey Government introduced certain taxation proposals, and one of these was the beer duty. The leader of the Opposition objected to this tax very strenuously, though had he remained in office in 1877 he would have proposed the very same tax himself. (Laughter and aplause.) He (Mr. Stout) ventured to affirm that if the Government were defeated next year and went out, the succeeding Government would have to introduce an amended Customs Tariff, and it would be on the lines of the one they voted against last session, THE DEPRESSION. As to the depression, grain had gone down, wool bad gone down, and the frozen meat industry had not come up to expectations, and this colony had suffered aB all the rest of the world had suffered, and in thoso districts where there had only been two or three industries the depression had been intensified. THE LAND BILL. Beference waa next made to the Land Bill. The Bill dealt with individual rights, as well well as with interests. He recognised that land was the property of the State, and further recognised this : that land should only be parted with by the State to encourage the production of things necessary for humanity. The farmers had been crippled by mortgaging, and there could be no mortgaging under the system of tenure. Then the perpetual leasehold had secured a stable finance. They had elaborated a village scheme. Op to 50 acres of land could be granted under this perpetual system. Those who had sneered at what he had done with reference to the nationalisation of the land need ony look at the Land Bill. It had given the country the perpetual system to a far greater extent than he ever expected ; but the measure gave the Government power to set aside pastoral lands unfitted for agriculture for email grazing runs. He regretted the excision of the WcKenzie clause, which limited the holding of any one run to 20,000 sheep. As far as the Land Act went, he held that no more liberal law had ever been passed by any Legislature in the world, aud his election promises with regard to the land system be had been able to carry out. Let him say this—the country was indebted, the House was indebted, to Mr. Kolleston for the great assistance he had given in carrying this measure. (Applause.) That gentleman took no end of trouble to got the Bill passed apart from a party line, and he held that when the history of the land legislation cornea to be written the his-

torian would not forget the Important part that Mr. Kolleston had played in the House of Representatives. The homestead system had also been introduced. He did not think so much of this homestead system as some people did. It might enable pooplo to pioneer settlement in outlaying districts, but he did not think it would succeed where there was settlement close by, THE NATIVE POLICY. Coming to tho Native Land Kill he defended Mr. Balance's "One Policeman Policy," and said tho Maoris recognised that they were being treated righteously, and had come to love tho Europeans. The son of Te Whiti had been seen coming into Court seeking for justice. That had never happened before. Notwithstanding the rocent acaro, notwithstanding tho creation of a permanent artillery force, tho Government had to reduce tho Armed Constabulary to 400 men, and they hoped to bo able to still further redueo them. (Hear, hear.) Tho tribes and hapus which hat hitherto been discontented, were now looking on us with a favourable eye. The reason tho Government had been unablo to pass their Deposition Bill was because the people in tho South Island had not taken tho troublo to consider what the native land question meant, and the consequence was instead of a liberal settlement of the lauds, they had passed into the bauds of landsharks living in tho North. The Land Bill provided in the tho first instance for tho titlo to tho lands being ascertained, aud then for tho lands l>eiiu; sold openly ; that tho wholo public of New Zealand should be put on an equal footing, and native lands not allowed to go into the hands of landsharks. The Nativo Land Bill had been shelved, but tho Government intended to try again to get it passed, and he hoped that all those who wished to sco justice done to tho Maoris and Europeans would support them, aud no longer look upon it as a North Island question, but as a colonial question. THE PUBLIC WORKS POLICY. As to the public works policy in the past, ho had been opposed to it, in that it allowed considerable moneys to bo spont on roads and bridges, instead of on our railways, which would have been reproductive. Of tho £21,530,324 which had been spent under the public works system, tho Continuous Ministry had spent eleven millions, the Grey Ministry during its two years of office three millions, and the Atkinson Ministry had spent during its live years of office seven millions, while the present Ministry had speut in seven mouths £055,510. The Atkinson Government for tho live months they had held office during ISS4-S5 had spent £781,217, or £120,000 more than tho present Government had spent in seven months. So much for tho oxtravaganco of which they had been charged. THE EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY. Now ho meant to deal with the East and West Coast Railway. Some people seemed to imagine that this lino had been heard of in the House for the first time this session. Why tho Nelson-Cobdeu Railway was proposed to be made iu ISGS. Before that the Public Works policy was initiated. As the work had to be constructed as a colonial undertaking, he thought it would be cheaper for the colony to construct it under some guarantee system such as had been proposed. The colony would in timo have to make this line, and not, so far as tho colony was concerned, under such favourable terms. (Hear, hear.) He believed that the line would pay one per cent. The Government had merely asked tho House to appoint a committee to consider the principle, and the House had acted most ungenerously in declining to do so. Why, there was no man, no matter how humble a citizen, who petitioned Parliament but was granted an enquiry at once. Was it fair to deny tho people of Canterbury and Nelson an enquiry? ("No," and cheers.) Those from Otago by their action in this matter had stopped the union between Canterbury and Otago which so many wished to soe, and would live to regret it. He was glad to say that he was not one. THE NOUTfI ISLAND RAILWAY LOAN. So far as Captaiu Russell's motion went it would not affect the district of Otago so much as it would affect Auckland and Wellington, and the adoption of that motion might mean the raising of tho North Island Trunk loan for general purposes. Unforfortunately while large reductions had been mado in the railway vote, the roads and bridges vote had passed almost intact. THE WORK OK THE SESSION. The District Purchasing Bill was next alluded to, and the purchases made under its provisions defended. A pledge he had mado was that ho would see that as much iron work would be manufactured in the colony as possible, and this pledge had been carried out. (Hear, hear.) Personally he believed in a land tax, but a majority of members in the Houso did not agree with him. As tho nearest approach thereto his Government had proposed the exemption from taxation of agricultural machinery, but in that respect they had been unable to get tho Assembly to agree with them. They had, however, passed laws giving encouragement to the fish and forests industries, and to the mining industry. The question of cheap labour was also dealt with, and they proposed in that respect a Mortgage. Debentures Bill, which would enable companies to borrow money in England, and they thought that the more monoy thoy got tho cheaper it would become. As to education, if the syllabus he proposed were carried out children would be trained not to look to a clerkship as the highest thing in life, but to look to scientific pursuits. Ho regretted that more had not been done with respect to the North island. Something had been done in tho way of local government. Parliament had passed the Hospital and Charitable Aid Bills, the Cemeteries Bill, the Counties Bill, tho Local Finance Bill, and the adoption of these measures meant tho carrying out of local reform and decentralisation. The obnoxious Roads and Bridges Construction Act had been repealed. DEPRESSION AND HORSE RACING. He wished to refer to a subject which had caused a great deal of attention in tho colony, the question of depression. In a newspaper the other day he noticed there were yot twenty-three racing fixtures to bo held this season, and that was in a country of depression. He would undertake to say that not one of these meetings spent less than £2000 or £3000, and if tho depression could rid the colony of those racing fixtures it would be a good thing, (Laughter.) He admitted that there was a depression, and would state how it had arisen, but if the people thought that the depression was now as bad as it was in ISOO they were mistaken. During the last nine years our wool production had increased by 50 per cent. In round numbers in 1575 we exported 54,000,000108. of wool, as against 51,000,0001 in 18S4, yet the money obtained in 18S4 was leas than the amount ohtained for the much smaller quantity in 1875. That was to say, the wool fetched 50 per cent, less last year than it did in 1575, and while wool had gone down wheat had gone down and frozen meat had gone down, and with a falling off in tho prico of all our staple products, it was not surprising that the depression had deepened. But the depression here was not as bad as in other countries. Those who remembered the hard times in 1860 ought not to bo depressed because thero were hard times now. Depres. sion moved in circles, and what they had to consider was how the depression was to be got rid of. He believed that our staples would ri3e in value, and the creation of the village system would provide against future depression. In the past one of curses of this colony had been the anxiety of farmers to got large settlements of land. CONCLUSION. Tho speaker briefly dealt with immigration, and referred to the critics of the Government. With respect to the latter, he denied that there had been any criticism of the administration. There might havo been personal dislike to individual members of the ministry, and objections may have been urged to their measures, but so far as their administration was concerned it had been subjected to less criticism than any other Government had had to submit to. He touched briefly on tho conversion of loan scheme, and in doing so gave every credit to Sir Dillon Bell for hia able management of the Agent-Generalship. At the conclusion of his speech Mr. Stout was warmly cheered. A few questions were asked, and then a vote of thankß was carried.