ADDRESS BY MR. W. J. NAPIER, M.H.R.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11954, 1 May 1902, Page 6

ADDRESS BY MR. W. J. NAPIER, M.H.R.

MEETING IN ST. JAMES' HALL. A DEFENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT. Mr. W. J. Napieu, M.H.R., addressed a meeting of his constituents in St. .James' Hall last night. The hall was fairly well filled. Mr. W. Ledingbam occupied the chair. Mr. Napier said the people of New Zealand had lately been so much immersed in Imperial politics that there was danger of colonial affairs being neglected. He rejoiced, however, in the awakened interest in Imperial affairs. He believed that largely through the force of character of the Premier New Zealand was deponed to take a leading place in the Imperi' ■'. stem in the future. The day was not iu» distant when the colonies would have representation in the councils of the Empire, when there would be a truly Imperial Parliament, containing representatives from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and of all the various States and peoples which go to make up the composite British Empire. DEFENCE -vrATTERS. DEFENCE MATTERS. He advocated not only that New Zealand should send soldiers to help the Empire, but also that the contribution of the colony towards the navy was too small. He had always taken a special interest in the question of defence. Parliament during last session adopted the report of the Secret Defence Committee, which, however, the Ministry did not carry out in its entirety. He held that Parliament should be supreme, above Ministers and above everybody, and that the resolutions of Parliament in this matter, as in all others, should have been carried out in their entirety. The volunteers were not treated in the way they ought to have been treated: the capitation was not given in the way prescribed by the committee and adopted by Parliament. SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. Another question in which he had taken the keenest interest was that of the federation of the Pacific islands. After referring to the inclusion of the Cook Islands, he said ho considered it was only the forerunner of a still greater thing, and that would lie the inclusion of Fiji. If that were done, wo would be a practically self-contained people. There was likely to be some opposition from the Commonwealth, but to obviate that lie would suggest that New Guinea and the New Hebrides should be the sphere of influence of the Commonwealth, and Fiji the spheroof New Zealand. He thought it was absolutely necessary that the outlying Crown colonies should come within the boundaries of the self-governing) colonies. WORK OF THE PAST SESSION. Mr. Napier then proceeded to deal with the work of the past session, commencing with the Companies Act, which he considered would bring about a healthier state of affairs on the Stock Exchange. He then referred to the Cook Islands Government Bill and! to the Criminal Code Amendment Act. The Exportation of Anns Act was an important one, although it did not appear so at first sight. ft had been thought arms and ammunition might be taken down to some of the islands in the Pacific to arm the natives, and ill times of war it was very necessary that the Executive should lie armed with the authority given by that Act. The Factories Act practically consolidated all the laws dealing with factories. Tho Act j was, in his opinion, a. charter to the factory operatives, which would enable their work to bo carried out under proper conditionsconditions which every human being ought to be allowed to work under, and which would not embarrass employers or result in a less quantity of work being turned out. The local members had a considerable trouble to get the Fisheries Encouragement Act passed, which continued the bonus for canned mullet for another year. They endeavoured to get the bonus continued for three years, but there was great opposition, and they would just have to fight again next year. He felt satisfied that if the bonus was not continued the factories at Kaipara and Mangonui would have to close their doors. The. Flax Grading and Export Act was also of great importance to the North. It put the flax industry on the same footing as the butter industry" had been put by previous legislation. Through some exporters sending inferior flax, the whole industry suffered. Now the flax exported would bear the Government stamp, and lie believed it. wonkl result in better prices being obtaind. There was a, measure passed for which there had been a great cry for many years, namely, the Government. Railways Department Classification Act, under which there could be no favouritism or overlooking of real merit. and from communications ho had received, he was satisfied, that the Act was giving every satisfaction. With regard to the Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Act, he did not think there was any legitimate- reason to sunpose that any employer would be injured by any of the amendments. After referring to the Money-lenders Act, Mr. Napier touched on the Old Age Pensions Act, which, he said, had been amended with a, view of preventing fraud. The next Act of importance was the Public School Teachers' Salaries Classification Act. He believed that though there were blemishes in it, the Act gave general satisfaction to the teachers, the State Coal Mines Act was a. far-reaching measure. It would not affect the North because here.coal had been always obtain! able at a reasonable price. He got an Act passed to enable the Auckland Harbourl -board to establish a. coal depot for the navy. It would not, of course, be necessary to act upon that so long as private enterprise was sufficient. Mr. Napier then referred to the export duty on logs and flitches of timber He strongly supported the measure. It they were to export the timber, as much labour as possible should be expended upon it locally. (Applause.)

THE KAWHIA LANDS. The Land for Settlements Amendment \ct was also of interest. He brought the matter of gambling in land as strongly as ho could before the committee, and succeeded in getting a clause put in prohibiting transfers till after five years' oceuoancy. That ensured the successful applicant being a bona-fide settler There had been some criticism of the Government's action in opennig the Ivawhia lands under lease in perpetuity He hold that the lands of the otete did not belong to us ° this generation absolutely (Applause.) It was a danger3£& T 3 ,' n hat * l V gyration could Absolutely and wholly part with the freehold o its State lands. Last year the State 0 fqn nnn 1 a S,W O ¥ of land <* the value of £90,000 • The land had been sold absolutely, and the whol? of the purchas 7 money FT? fen W v '' lHlill a shorfc twelvemonths. He held that generation after generation there should be rental derivable from the lands belonging to the State, so as to re neonle J™ ,°" * ho , ROneral body 0( the people. As showing how this worked out fer -R ° n l Cd ""ewe of the Auckland Harbour Board, which to-day had a reverie of -15,000 a year from endowments, and in about *4 years from to-day that would be increased to £90,000 a "- Supposing the soil I had T Power to sell that land, and had sold it. It would mean that future generations would have to be taxed in shipping dues, wharfage, and all sorts of tolls. Ho did not, however, agree with the system of lease in perpetuity. Under the old Land Act there was a perpetual lease, under which there were fresh valuations every 30 years or so "on the unimproved value. If he remained in Parliament he would make an effort to have the present lease in perpetuity system changed so that the perpetual lease, with revaluations, would be reintroduced. I he whole of the Kawhia land had been taken up, and had these lands been opened on the freehold option the whole of the land would have been sold by now, and the money would have been all out of the Treasury, "but instead of that the Government had secured at all events, 4 per cent, on the present value of the lands for the people of New- Zealand for ever. NATIVE AFFAIRS. Another Act in which Auckland was largely interested, was the Native Lands Administration Act Amendment Act. There had since its passing been increased activity, and the native land in the Waikato and Rohe Porno were m a fair way to being taken up. jjr Napier objected to one principle of the A.et' As the increase m the value of the lands was due to the expenditure of borrowed mom v ana the increase in the European population; the native could not complain if ho only received the present-day value of his land Ine future unearned increment of the native enable that to be earned out he suggested over bv ?t l r ° f th ° la " ds should b?SS to the , h l. Go^ r ,"nent, who should place TrullOffi« ° f the ° WnerS in th ° Public. WZS a s f um , e - q , UaJ to the capital value, H, nua lv Tf ,1? f W^ ch should bo Paid over annually to the native owners. MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY. Referring .to the North Island Trunk railway, Mr. Napier said the Auckland representatives laid down what they considered the irreducible minimum to complete the work by 1904, as promised by the m j&n«l he Aucklan d members insisted on ~«k>0,000 ; tl '° Government only gave £160,000. The vote was most inadequate ana inconsistent with what Ministers had said before the Estimates were introduced. a, Ji 3 fa of fact the greater part of the . »360,000 had been actually spent before the | Estimates were passed. That was what led ]

lately to the wholesale dismissal of the men on- the line. He inferred that toe Minister for- Public Works himself must have expected more or he would not have gone on expending iv, the way he did. It was the imperative duty of the Government to give a quarter of a million last year for the work. Now, they had to see that the work was finished by 1904. He "believed it could be done if the- money was supplied. He believed the Minister for Public Works was sincerely anxious to complete the work by .lime, 1904. They need not worry him; what, they had to do was to keep their eye on the Colonial Treasurer. There was no doubt that in this matter the Ministry was dominated by Southern members. They had been told not to set the North against the South. Ho did not want to set North against Mouth, but it would bo an absurdity for one partner to say to another: "Ypu must never go into the accounts of the partnership, as it will lead to friction." It was only the partner who had his hand in the till who was afraid of investigation. He would not be muzzled whatever might be said about setting North against South. He intended to elucidate the facts and insist upon the North getting justice. With the increase of population ami of wealth the North was getting the political power. Ho did not want the North to exercise that power unjustly, but it would only be just and right that there should be an equitable adjustment of the accounts and that the surplus which the South had out of the partnership money over the North should be gradually refunded. On the total expenditure on roads and railways there was a balance of £1,278,000 due to the North before future loans were shared between the two partners. In addition to that the South Island were endeavouring to capture £1,000,000 which clearly belonged to the North Island; he referred to the money borrowed for the construction of the Main Trunk lino and paid for native land. It was 'ear-marked for the purpose of constructing the railway, still it was contended that the value of that land was to go into the general exchequer. OTHER QUESTIONS. A question that must soon be raised was what he termed "one vote one value." The man in the city did not seem to be considered as equal to the man in the country. The number of seats in the House were allotted in greater proportion in the country than in the city, If we were to be true to the principles of democracy wo must have equal voting power for each adult. The licensing question, Mr. Napier said, was touched upon in a half-hearted manner that had not satisfied anyone. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Napier went on to complain of the manner in which the Assets Realisation Board was blocking settlement in the Waikato and elsewhere by locking up the lands they held. There were many young men anxious to buy the land held by the Board, and lie considered it was high time that the Board was compelled to hand the lands over to the Government. Next session he hoped to make a determined stand in this matter. Referring to the San Francisco mail service lie said bo considered it was never in any real danger. The Government knew that the minds of the Auckland people were made up on the matter, and acted accordingly. The question would not ccmo up at the next session, and he believed that the boats would always ran between 'Frisco and Auckland. The present boats were fine boats, and there would be finer boats later on. They brought a large influx of tourists to this colony, and he was pleased to see a gradual and marked increase in the number of people whom these steamers had induced to come over to Nov/ Zealand from .-- Australia. lie looked upon the San Francisco mail service as an immortal institution. (Applause.) He had been invited by letter to meet certain criticisms. One gentleman accused the Liberal party of piling up the debt. He was prepared to show that the Liberal party had not increased the debt so much as the Conservative parly did in the same time, and secondly, that the Liberal party held securities for three-fourths of the debt. Of a total of £10,760,000 borrowed in the last ten years £8,4-44,336 was interest-bearing. ' The debt had thus only been increased by £2,316,000. Tho Conservative party in their last ten years borrowed £11,245,617, and the greater portion of it did not produce interest. He had also been told by letter that the policy of the Government had frightened away capital, and that property had depreciated. He had looked up the Year Book and found that during the last three years of the Atkinson Government real property in the colony decreased in value £5,238,000. Since the Liberals came into power the value had increased from £128,000.000 to £147,000.000, an increase of £19,000.000. During the past ten years the population of the colony had increased 21 per cent. ; Customs revenue, 39 per cent. ; beer duty, 49 per cent.; tea consumed by the people, 27 per cent.; spirits, 29 per cent.; tobacco, 41 per cent. ; and so on. All these things showed that the people had more money to spend—were more prosperousand that their earning and spending powers were respectively greater than under the old system of government. The export of produce had increased from £9,000,000 to £12,000,000. It had been said that the labour legislation had throttled industry. That was contrary to fact. In 1890 there were 2254 works, industries, and factories, and in 1900, after ten years of Liberal Government, there were 3163. The total horse-power used had increased by 18,000. and the number of persons employed in the factories had increased from 25,633 to 41,726. The amount of wages, and that was the true test, had increased from £1,808,000 to £3,098,000. The value of maufactures had increased from £8.073,000, to £17,141.000. Mr. Napier concluded by stating that he intended to be a candidate at the next election, and that if returned he would endeavour to act in a way that would redound to the credit and prosperity of the colony. I QUESTIONS. Questions were invited and a large number asked and answered. A question was asked with regard to the increase of Ministers' and members' salaries, and Mr. Napier defended the increase. He declared that, considering the many calls made on members the £300 was fair and reasonable. He also defended the increase on Ministers' salaries, and said the salaries of Ministers under ,the Conservative party were higher than those now paid. One of the audience suggested that the people were Mr. Napier's master. If a man wanted an increase of wages he would go'to his master and ask for it. If a man said, "lam not going to ask for it; 1" am going to take it, was that fair? Mr. Napier should face the question fairly and not try to " get at" the people. Mr. Napier did not.denv that the people were supreme, but a representative who went into Parliament did not go as a mere delegate, but to represent what he believed was the fair average opinion of his constituents. He had received thousands of letters from individuals on different subjects and it would be impossible for him to reconcile them. He had to take bis own course and if at the end he had not satisfied the majority, then he would have to bow to the derision of the majority. On the motion of Mr. John McLcod seconded by Mr. S. I. Clarke, the meeting thanked Mr. Napier for his address, and expressed continued confidence in him as their representative in Parliament.