ADDRESS BY MR. FOWLDS, M.H.R.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11534, 20 November 1900, Page 3

ADDRESS BY MR. FOWLDS, M.H.R.

REVIEW OF THE RECENT SESSION. A CANDID CRITICISM. VIEWS ON THE £40 BONUS. Mr. George Fowlds, M.H.R., addressed a meeting of his constituents in St. James' Hall last night. The hall was filled. The Mayor of Auckland (Mr. D. Goldie) presided, and before calling on Mr. Fowlds to address the meeting, read a telegram from the Hon. W. Hall-Jones, Minister for Publio Works, stating that he would arrive at Onehunga to-morrow, and would remain in:Auckland for a day or two. Mr. Fowlds was received with prolonged applause upon rising. He said he had taken the earliest opportunity of meeting his constituents to let them know what had happened during the session. He appeared before them with a deepened feeling of responsibility compared with what he experienced when addressing them simply as a candidate for Parliamentary honours. He had realised, as he thought every new member would, that it '• was much easier saying' than doing; that it was much easier laying before an audience reforms that wanted to be carried out than to'carry these reforms in the House of Parliament. One of the first lessons that a pew member had to learn, was that he was only a unit; that he was only one atom amongst 73 other atoms, and that if he intended to do anything at all he must do it in co-operation with the others. If a member were to succeed it was essential that he should get-, to know his. fellow members, and establish- himself in. their confidence. He went down with hismind made up that he intended to learn rather . than teach. He had eschewed political fireworks. He was satisfied with his work, and he thought that if the electors were not also satisfied it was probably for want of information. He considered on the whole that if the electors of Auckland had been able to spend two or three months in the House during the session, they would; have been satisfied that the result of his first year's work was not a failure. (Applause.) , ' PROCEDURE IN PARLIAMENT. The session had been one that had produced ■ an enormous amount of work. Probably in no other session in the history of the colony had so many or so bulky measures been dealt with. About 107 Bills had been added to the Statute Book, and he was inclined to think they had got quantity rather than quality. (Laughter.) Quite a number of the Bills that had been passed would in themselves have been sufficient work for a very large part of the session. They had got a great deal too much legislation. Mr. Fowlds also referred to the long hours of the session, and said the way the business of the country was conducted had been fitly termed "legislation by j exhaustion." He gave notice of a motion that the House should sit from ten till one, from half-past two to half-past five, and from half-past seven to half-past ten. That would have given the House nine hours a day, and to get over the committee work he suggested that they should take one or two days a week and go right through with the work of the committees. The objection to that was that if the House had fixed hours it would be an easy matter for the Opposition to stop to a large extent the progress of legislation, simply by talking out the measure under discussion, and so damage to a larsre extent their opponents by sayins? simply, What have they done? But that difficulty could have been got over had Parliament taken steps to abolish the present system of party government altogether. (Applause.)

ELECTIVE EXECUTIVE. ,It seemed to him that never in the history of the colony did such an opportunity present itself for rectifying that evil, and probably it might be a long time before such an opportunity occurred again. At the last election the old Opposition was practically swept away, and amongst those who constituted the present Opposition there were _ many me fiters much moro Liberal in their sentinel.ts and opinions than a good many of thosi*-™ 10 wcro classed as followers of the vernment. and the idea of anything Jh',>l'.f? nature of Liberalism or Conservatism making a dividing line between the parties was perfectly absurd to anyone who watched for two or three days the opinions expressed by members of the Opposition. The old Opposition had, as a matter of fact, disappeared entirely, and if the Government had simply faced the question and introduced something on the elective Executive principle, he was satisfied that a great many other and serious evils in the making of the legislation of the country would have been abolished.. It was marvellous the absolute, terror that possessed the Ministerial benches with reference to the Elective Executive Bill. It seemed to him that among the Ministers there was a deeprooted feeling that if the Bill were passed very few of them would be left on the benches. (Applause.} That appeared to him to be the only explanation of the harassing anxiety displayed by the Ministerial party whenever the question loomed up. He behoved the Ministers had good reason to fear, as far as the House was concerned. He had no doubt that if the House had a fair opportunity to get to a fair discussion the Bill would have been passed—possibly not in the same form as Major Steward proposed, but in some similar form. (Applause.) Tt seemed to him that something must be done to prevent the present condition of affairs continuing. If it were not thought desirable to let the House elect the Executive, surely it was not unreasonable to r.llow the party in the majority in the House to elect the Executive officers. As a matter of fact, the party, as a mrty, had no control whatever over the policy of the party. The policy was dictated by the Premier, and the Ministers ' fell in to support it, ■ and the members were supposed to fall in the same line. There was a growing, strong feeling of opposition to a continuance of that state of things, and it was felt that something must be done. (Applause.) They had a very good illustration during the session of what would come about from the abolition of the present system, namely, in dealing- with the Municipal Corporations Bill. When that, Bill was under consideration by the special committee it was marvellous how it was possible for members of the Opposition to make wise suggestions, which were adopted in the Bill. If those same suggestions had been made on the floor of the House it would have been a matter of principle that they should be opposed, simply because they came from the Opposition Benches. (" Shame.") That was not necessarily a condemnation of the present Government—it was a fault of the system of party government. •■» PUBLIC HEALTH BILLS. The first measure he dealt with was the Bubonic Plague Bill. He believed that he was blamed in some measure for the passing of that Act. It was asked why he did not oppose it by objecting to the suspension of the Standing Orders. He was told by the Ministerial party what the alternative would be, and he did not think it would have been wise to take that alternative upon himself. Ho was told that if the Bill was not passed the Government would declare Auckland an infected port, and put the same restrictions upon it as prevailed with regard to communication from Sydney. If anyone was responsible it was the Mayor of Auckland—(applause)—because lie had the hardihood to stand up against the Premier of the colony and refused to put up a 10ft fence round an infeoted house. (Applause.) Did they think that sort of thing was to be tolerated in a free country like this. He (the speaker) had, however, succoeded, through threatening opposition to the Bill, in getting the Government to put in a clause providing that the consolidated funds should bear halt the cost of any property destroyed, thus making their officers realiso tho responsibility that rested upon them. Following on in connection with that Bill there was the Public Health Bill, which had now superseded the former. Some considerable amendment and improvement in the law relating to public health was certainly required, but in that Bill he did not like the general principle towards centralising everything in Wellington. (Applause.) The Bill was badly marked with that flaw. When discussing the Bill ho had said that it the vi"ords " district health officer" were taken out right through the Bill and " the local body" inserted, ho would like it much better. Otherwise the Bill was a thoroughly good one. That tendency of . centralisation was running through a good deal of our legislation at present. He hoped that there would bo a growing feeling that tho people wanted the extension of- the principle of local selfgovernment.

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE BILL. About the second Bill that was introduced was the Chambers of Commerce Bill—another lovely piece of legislation. He was very much amused when on one occasion he hoard the Premier describe that as a policy Bill. It was the height of absurdity to call that a policy measure; in fact, the absurdity of introducing such a measure to an assembly of sensible'people was to him something marvellous. He believed that under that Bill not one in five of the present members of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce would have been allowed to continue membership.

The Bill provided that .members must reside in the town where the Chamber was, or in the county if the Chamber was in a county, and towns were expressly by statute shut out of the" counties. That excluded all who resided in the suburbs, such as Mount Albert or Mount Eden, from membership of the Chamber of Commerce, unless they started Chambers of Commerce of their own at Mount Albert, Mount . Eden, and other suburban places. (Laughter.) These things were pointed out in the House, and yet the Bill was sent to the Upper House to get its death-knell there. In the past he had frequently scolded a good deal about the Upper House, but he was really satisfied that this session the Upper House did good work in rejecting some of the measures sent up.. .'-■...- ,\\ . MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS ACT. The Municipal Corporations Bill was, he claimed, the best piece of legislation the House had put through this session, and he believed that the operation of the Act would be helpful in the development of the civio life of New Zealand. He was satisfied that when the people came to operate the Act they would find that it cleared up a good many points and enlarged the functions and powers of the boroughs of the colony.

THE ARBITRATION ACT. The Conciliation and Arbitration Bill was largely a consolidating measure. It involved some new- principles. It extended the meaning of the term ■" worker" so as to include everybody, and made definite the power to give preference to unionists. 'He understood it had been represented in Auckland that he opposed the clause giving preference to unionists. As a matter of fact there was no opposition in the House at all to the Bill. It was recognised that the new principles involved were practically a foregone conclusion. The only thing on which the opinion could have been fanned that he opposed the clause was some remarks he made on the second reading of the Bill, when he pointed out the possibility of a shopkeeper, being Compelled to take a dishonest man into his employment simply because a man whom the employer might know to be dishonest, although he possibly could not prove it. was the'only-member of the union out of employment. In that respect a shop assistant was in a different category from a manual worker, because the value of a shop assistant consisted largely in his honesty. Another matter in connection with that Bill was with reference to the clothing trade. A new principle was introduced, making provision for awards made in one place being extended to the whole colony. There could be no objection to that; it was the very principle on which the Auckland members wished the Government to allocate railway expenditure. But, with reference to the clothing trade, there was a difference of system in manufacture. He pointed out that the reports of the Labour Bureau showed that the average rate of wages paid in Auckland was higher than in Dunedin. Wellington, or Christchurch, and he contended that provided the same rate of wages under similar conditions was paid in Auckland, then they should not insist on the same log, as that would interfere with the system of manufacture. They did not get the alteration put «\ that form, but they got a direction inserted that the Court should meet in a district objecting to the award, hear the evidence, and act in its discretion, and he hoped when the matter came to be dealt with, it would be dealt with fairly in reference to Auckland.

A SOUTHERN COMBINATION. There was a combination of Southern people, not only to get the- best with reference to railways, but with reference- to commerce and everything else, and he claimed he was safeguarding the interests of Auckland in getting this principle of justice applied to Auckland, but a. great deal more would require to be done to secure effective justice. For instance, ho pointed out the position with reference to the Labour Bills Committee, which fixed up the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill: There were on the committee three Dunedin men, the three members for Christchurch City, the member for Lyttelton, and another Canterbury member. Captain Russell from Hawke's Bay, Mr. Hutcheson fiom Wellington, and Mr. Bollard, a very estimable Auckland member, but a country member, who could not possibly be so well acquainted with questions affecting industries as members who lived in the city. After that, the Premier put Mr. Jackson Palmer on the committeeanother country member. How. was it possible that the interests, or even the evidence submitted to that committee on behalf of the Auckland district, could receive justice? There was not the slightest dcubt that the agita.tion to secure this clause in the Act arose from the clothing trade. The Southern manufacturers used to. control the clothing trade of Auckland, but during the past few years the Auckland manufacturers had been working up in competition with them.

MORE! LABOUR BILLS. Another important Bill was that providing for compensation for accidents. He thought that Bill put the New Zealand law well up to the legislation of the Old Country. It was clearer and went a little further. Under the old law no action could lie ; f workmen met with accident through carelessness on their own part. The new law recognised that each industry should provide for tho accidents occurring in that industry, and practically made it compulsory that every employer should insure his workmen or carry the risk himself, and unless it was a case of, gross negligence on the part of the worker compensation had to be paid. With the Government providing a cheap and effective system of insurance, although a certain tax would bo put on the industries, a great deal of the suffering of the past would be obviated. Altogether, the Act was a great improvement on anvthing that had been in operation in New Zealand before. Then a Bill was passed providing for the proper inspection of all machinery. ' He thought he could take a little credit to himself in'connection with this mat- .*"»-, There was a clause in the Bill providing that everv gas engine should be attended by a certificated engineer. He communicated with a friend in Auckland to get information as to how this would work. The result was that tho whole place was alive with agitation against the clause, and he made daily representations to the Minister in crxrgo of the Bill, and to the Premier and other members of tho Government on the subject. Every hour or so he got some fresh telegrams on the question, and he kept putting them before Ministers, and got the whole matter settled before the rest of the colony woke up to the danger that was thieatening them. For weeks after he had a definite statement from the Premier and tho Minister in charge of the Bill, petitions against this clause came in from the South. We thought he could fairly claim some little credit .for having got that matter put right at ar early date. (Applause.)

CROWN RENTS REBATE. Another matter that caused a great deal of excitement was the proposal of the Premier to grant a rebate of 10 per cent, on all rents of Crown tenants. That was a proposal to which a largo number of what he (Mr. Fowlds) called the Radical and Progressive members of the House very strongly objected. It meant that Crown tenants who had got leases etxonding over 999 years, with rents fixed in most cases at a very low figure, would get a rebate of 10 per cent. There were some cases in which rents had been fixed too high, but in most cases the rental was fixed too low, and a lease was given for 999 years without the State getting anything of the increase in value during that time. It was stated in the House by members of the Canterbury Land Board that people had sold their leases on the Cheviot Estate for over £3000 of profit, irrespective of improvements, and tho improvements were put at a very high figure. Now, the proposal was to take from the Consolidated Revenue the mony dragged from the pockets of the people of the colony to give those bloated millionaires a rebate of 10 per cent, on their rental. Was it any wonder that the Radical members of the House joined togethei and said they would be no party to wickedness of that kind, even though it was a policy measure? (Applause.) So they set up a determined stonewall once or twice until they got the Bill remedied. As it passed authority was given to the Receiver of Crown Revenue and one other officer of the Land Department to make reductions of 10 per cent, in their disorelion where the rent war too high. In that way the colony was saved from a very serious blunder. At bottom he believed that freehold tenure was the best. Every single-taxer believed that, and this experience tended to confirm him in that opinion. If they .vere to raise up in New Zealand a body of Crown tenants who could exercise political power to compel gradual reductions in their rents, the country had better watch where it was going, and return to the freehold tenure, with powoi of taxation.

THE RAILWAY QUESTION. There was 3 considerable fight over tho Main Trunk railway. He did not say the Auckland members got everything the people of Auckland would have liked in that matter, but they had shown the Government and the members of the House from other parts of the colony that the people of Auckland were in earnest over this matter, and that they meant to fight until they got something like justice. They carried on a good deal of agitation, some of it wise and some of it unwise. Some things were said that he thought would have been better unsaid, especially when they knew the character of the man they had to deal with. It was no use bouncing and threatening unless they had something behind it. When the Public Works Statement came down the Auckland members met and considered the whole matter, and came to the conclusion that the best course would be to accept the position and be ready to make a better fight next year. Their con-

tention was i that the assets of. the railway should be liquified and used for the construcj tion of the line, and he was perfectly satisI fied that the Premier was the only obstacle to that being done. (Applause.) The feeling of members generally was that it was a fair proposition, and should be given effect to. He could say, further, that the allocation of I money this year as between the North and South, did not meet with the approval of the majority of the House. Even members from the South recognised that, a certain amount of injustice had been done to the North. Both the Premier and Mr. HallJones were agitating day after day and in- ! viting remonstrances from the Southern members, and the deputation that went to the Premier and the Minister for Public Works was practically the result of that invitation. The Ministry was a South Island Ministry; their whole interests and inclinations were in the South. There waa not the least little bit of provincialism about him (Mr. Fowlds), and lie did not think they should have a Cabinet divided according to the divisions of the colony. He believed they should have the best men, no matter where they came from, but it would be a stretch of imagination to say that the present mea were the best men; their best friends would not make that claim for them. Of course, the Premier wanted to show that the Premier was not running the show. • The Southern members would have been quite satisfied with £60,000 for the Otago Central railway: and £50,000 for the Midland railway. . They were surprised when they found that the allocation was ■ £100,000 for each. He believed, however, if the Auckland members had a little time, they would be able to alter that condition of affairs, and, at any rate, the people might be reasonablysure that they would get the Main Trunk railway through in, at most, four years from this date. _ The position of the Ministry was a very serious matter, especially when they were so regardless of the interests of this part of. the colony. He believed the Ministers themselves r saw that the claims of the Auckland province would have to be more recognised than in the past. As a matter cf fact, it would not make much difference, suppose Auckland had "all the Cabinet outside Mr. Seddon and Mr. Ward. So long as those two had the picking, of the. other men, they would still control the Cabinet. (Applause.) CUSTOMS DUTIES. Referring to the reductions of Customs duties, Mr. Fowlds said he was justified in claiming some credit in that respect, as four years ago when he was first fighting for the representation of the city he was the only one in the colon} who made a point of advocating a reduction on kerosene, which was one of the. most harassing duties on the list. Some people were inclined to say they had not got much benefit of the abolition of duty on kerosene. (Hear, hear.) He had taken the trouble to ascertain the prices, and ho found that kerosene, which was at lis 6d' per case, when the duty was abolished, was now 8s 9d, in spite of the short stocks. A great deal of kerosene had been shipped to Australia, which would have remained in the country if the Government had given notice that duties would bo reduced, say, at January 1, instead of making the reduction at once. One firm paid £1500 in duty the day before the duty was abolished. It was not reasonable to suppose the firm would lose that £1500 if it could be avoided. • The . consequence was that the kerosene was shipped to Australia, and as stocks were short in Australia it remained there. Once the law of supply and demand had time to operate, the people would get the full benefit of the 4s duty, and also of the. profit on that 4s. During the past five years the country had taken from the pockets of the people £2,500,000, and had spent it ■in roads and bridges and railways, increasing the' value of the landowners' land. ,J That was wrong; it was robbing Peter to pay Paul.

defence; AND other matters. They had done an important work in regard to defei'ce. ' "While he believed thoroughly in taking advantage of the general feeling of the community, and putting ourselves into a, position ■' of preparedness, ho wanted to titter a wo.'d of warning lest our jingoism carry us into an unnecessary and unwise expense. What was wanted was the provision of proper weapons and ammunition, and he was satisfied that if ever occasion arose when it was necessary to use them the colony had men who would use them to the best advantage. They did not want to go into any fanciful schemes of "standing armies or anything of that sort.

Tho Cycle Boards Bill was sent down to him very late -^ in the session, and but for that he believed that it would have been passed. It was laid: aside by the Upper House owing; to want of time. Ho dealt at some length with the colonial scale of salaries, for teachers, the principle of which ho was sure commended itself to everyone. ELECTORAL REGISTRATION. They made some .amendments to tho Electoral Act. He did not claim for one moment, that it was now ideal, but he believed that the amendments were in the right direction. He was able to get several amendments into the Act that would make it more effective than it had beeri> He had always claimed that the proper people to carry out electoral registration wore the Post Office authorities. That idea caught on in the House, and it was provided in the amendments to the Act that the postal authorities were to assist in the work of registration. (Hear, hear.) TECHNICAL EDUCATION. Another very important measure that had been . hanging over for three or four years was the Manual and Technical Instruction Bill. There had been a deep feeling that Mr. Seddon was determined to get the thin end of the wedgo of denominationalipm into it. This year they got a vague clause that seemed to make it possible to give grants to sectarian schools eliminated, arid they had a. schedule provided to 'the Bill stating the different institutions which should receive a grant under the Bill. Two seotarian institutions mentioned there were cut out, and 'as it stood he believed it would be a useful measure. He would refer to this matter later, however, when dealing with the Public Revenues Bill. NATIVE LANDS. The Maori Councils Bill was another important measure, affecting the sale of native land?. He did not think much good would come from it. His own opinion was that reserves of Maori InJid should be set apart of sufficient quantity to secure that none of the natives should lie landless, and that any surplus after that should be open to public sale, under the guidance of the Native Lands Department. • One of the best features about the matter, was that the Bill had passed with the approval of tho natives themselves, so that there was a chance of the whole of the natives co-operating and getting it put into working order. OLD AGE PENSIONS. Ho considered that the Old Age Pensions Act might be considered as a settled institution in this colony. (Applause.) INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. Touching on the question of the Stoke Orphanage, he said it was thought that the time had arrived when the Government of the day should be made responsible for the management of industrial schools, and take care of the waifs and strays of the colony. (Applause.) Not that it was intended to interfere with the religious teaching in the schools, because anyone must recognise that the State stood in a different relation to the inmates of an industrial school to what it did in reference to children receiving free education. The State was in the position of a parent to the children in the industrial schools, and must* provide for their spiritual teaching. The idea of the majority of the members was that the State ought to be responsible for the management of these institutions, and that different ones should be set apart to house those of the various religions. If that system were adopted it would improve very greatly upon the management of the present industrial schools. (Hear, hear.) TRADING STAMPS. A silly Bill was the Trading Stamps Bill. He believed it would be pernicious, and would have to be repealed. It was beneath the dignity of the Legislature to pass such a Bill INCREASE OF MINISTERS AND THEIR SALARIES. It Was represented very strongly by the Ministers that the work they had to do was too much for them, and it was shown in illustration of that how one after another had beon laid low. by the cares of office. (Laughtor.) Unless for those who were simply in opposition to the Government, it was not possible for «anyone tc say that the work was not too heavy. The functions of Government had been largely increased' of late years, and he considered that the claim was a fair one; but he strongly opposed tho increase of the number to nine, and said that one more ought to be ample. He was agreeable to that increace, provided there was a corresponding increase in the number of members in the House. That was a fundamental principle of the people were to have control of the Government. At the present time the Ministers were too powerful a faction, and if they added one more man interested to the extent of £1000, they would increase that domination. The result was that they passed a Bill increasing the number of Ministers by one, and the members of the House by six. He was satisfied that the increase of those six members would be well repaid. He also supported the increase of Ministers' salaries, because the prosperity of the country indicated that the colony was in a better condition than it had been for many years, and the salaries

were not now so high as they were before the reduction took place. He believed that it was a mistake for a Democracy to try and get the lowest,paid servants it could. Some people believed that the present, Ministers were. not worth the money they (hear, hear)— supposing that to be the case, then it became the duty of the people to get men who were. ORDER OF BUSINESS. The House had no control ovei the order of business for the day. Looking down the Order Paper a member might say that there being nothing in which he was particularly interested, he would seize a. half-hour in which to do some business for his constituents, but when he got back he might find that a most important Bill had jumped up from the bottom of the paper, and had been rushed through, and he had not an opportunity of saying anything upon it. The general impression was that this sort of thing had been worse the last session than before. THE PUBLIC REVENUES BILL. He came then to the famous Public Revenues Bill, and the famous or infamous £40. (Applause.) The Bill was brought down in the last hours of the session by Governor's Message. The members only just had time to look through it, but a very little look through it satisfied him that it was evil, and only evil. He spoke against it, on the second reading, coming down at such a late hour, when it proposed to make such radical changes in the Constitution. He opposed it and voted against it. The Bill was put into committee, and the House immediately proceeded to its consideration in committee. On page 405 of the Hansard of October 17, they would find the divisions recorded. He voted steadily, clause by clause, on the first three clauses— 3 being the clause that practically made a vote on the Estimates supersede the law of the colony, and enabled the Government to pay the £40 bonus and defy the Auditor-General. He entered his full protest against it by voting against it. The idea of the £40 had caught the public imagination, and they had'made a good deal of noise about it—(A'Voice: "Quite right, too}'") it was only a circumstance compared with several of the other votes. (Hear, hear.) On' the Supplementary Estimates there was one item of £1000 illegal expenditure that the Control-ler-General would have refused to have, paid but for the passing of the Public Revenues Bill, and there were several other votes in the same position. Notwithstanding that the House had raised the Governor's salary by £2500, there was a clause in the Governor's Salary and Allowances Act which said that he himself, out of his private means, was to furnish the private rooms in Government House. In the Supplementary Estimates appeared a sum of £1000 for that purpose. There were others in the same state. The House had been consistently opposing the Technical Education Bill because of the fear that denominationalism would creep in. Notwithstanding the schedule he had previously mentioned, stating which institutions were to receive grants, there was nothing to prevent the Government in the Supplementary Estimates putting on a vote for any denominational school under the Technical Education Bill. If there was any dispute between the Colonial Treasurer and the Auditor-General the Treasurer was to prevail, and all he had to do was to make a report to the House. They said the House must control the purse! There were Estimates for £258,000 brought into the House after five o'clock on Saturday morning, and before nine o'clock they were passed through. Items of £1000, which the House might strongly object to, could pass through, and a member not know anything about it. What was the difference between that and the arrangement previously existing with the Auditor-General ? Previously the expenditure had to be legalised by Act of Parliament. No Bill could pass through both Houses when there was a strong body of opposition to it, but what was the position with the Estimates ? Supposing that it was some particular vote that a party of the House were interested in, the word could be passed round when those interested in the passing of the vote were there watching, and the other members had perhaps gone home, and so the thing could be carried.

THE £40 VOTE. He had told them how he had opposed the Public Revenues Bill, which made it possible for the £40 to pass in the Supplementary Estimates, and the question then rose, Why did he not vote against that £40? The Estimates came into tho House after five o'clock. Ho had been present from 11 o'clock-on Friday morning steadily through, with the ordinary adjournments, .up'to five , o'clock ,on Saturday,- and he then „■ thought it was time to go home and have a sleep. They were promised the Estimates at halfpast seven, and again at one o'clock, and ho went on hour after hour, and finally thought it was time to go home. Between five o'clock and nine o'clock those Estimates were passed. Had he voted on the question he should have voted against the £40. When ha got the £40, what did he do with it? Some said that he should have paid it back to the Consolidated Revenue. (Hear, hear.)' He had presented a petition to the Government asking that a subsidy should be given to the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, which was a worthy society, and one that saved tho public rates. He, however, failed to get any Government assistance, and when he had the control of £40 he had no hesitation in handing it over to the society. (Loud applause.) The society itself was "absolutely unsoctarian, all classes and creeds were represented in the management, and it was doing a good work. In handing the money over to that society he felt that he was doing the right thing. THE FUTURE. With regard to the future, he might say that there were no party lines dividing tho members in the House, there was nothing in the way of principle, and that was what the country needed most. It wanted a principle to guide the political party—at present there was none. It was a question of expediency that had guided both parties. (Mr. Richardson: "That is why you took the £40."), The time was not far distant when there would be a moulding together, When none shall he for party, But all be for the State: When the great men help the poor men, And the poor men love the great. That was the condition they wanted to achieve. He thought the time was not far distant when the people of New Zealand, would get a nearer approximation to that state of things than they had at present. (Prolonged applause.) At the close of Mr. Fowlds' address questions were invited, and a considerable number asked and answered, tho majority being written and read by the chairman. The £40 was frequently referred to, but all the questions on this matter had been fully answered by Mr. Fowlds' address on the subject. A question was asked if any portion of the native lands assets were available for the construction of the northern part of the Main Trunk railway? Mr. Fowlds said the railway: authorised by tho Act was the railway from Te Awamutu to Marton, so his answer to the question would be that the assets would not be available for the Northern railway. _ Ho felt very strongly that the Northern railway was as important as. the Main Trunk railway, and Re was very much dissatisfied with the small appropriation made for that line. The Auckland members could have combined and probably stopped the Estimates, but the Southern members would have combined against them, and probably they would not have got any more. He thought they could do better by steady, persistent effort. * Another question was, What action did Mr. Fowlds take with reference to the £100,000 worth of railway stock ordered from America which could be made in New Zealand? Mr. Fowlds said he had not taken any action, because he understood the class of work being obtained from America was something different from anything that could be produced in New Zealand, and that a good part of it was intended as models, and lie knew the works of the Railway Department were running full, and that they had been in communication with private firms to see what the work could be done for. Mr. Arthur Rosser moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Fowlds. Mr. R. Tudehope seconded, and the motion was declared adopted. Mr. Fowlds returned thanks, and on his motion a vote of thanks was accorded to the Mayor for presiding.