MR WARD'S DEPARTURE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1196, 1 February 1895, Page 37

MR WARD'S DEPARTURE.

IMPORTANT SPEECH BT THE TREASURER. THE FINANCES OF NEW ZEALAND. GROSS SURPLUS OF OYER .£350,000. THE RECENT CABLED CANARD. AN EMPHATIC DENIAL. By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent Dunedin, January 27. The Colonial Treasurer was entertained at a “ social ” on Saturday evening. Mr C. S. Reeves presided, and nearly all the local members of the Legislature were among those present. The Hon J. G. Ward, who was received with loud and continued applause, said he had to thank the chairman for the verykind way in which he had been good enough to introduce him. He had to express his cordial appreciation to the committee and to the ladies and gentlemen present for their kindness in inviting him. He deemed it a very great privilege to attend this “social,” which they had been good enough to get up in his honour. This was the first time during his life that he was about to take his departure from the shores of this Colony to visit England, and this being so he should always recollect with pleas tire that the first place in the Colony to invite him to be present at a political " social ” was the city of Dunedin. (Applause.), Occupying the position he did, he should have later on to refer to some matters which he might venture to say would be of some interest to them, because of the knowledge he possessed in his official capacity; but he desired to say that he esteemed it a very great honour to accept their hospitality. It was naturally one of the most agreeable things in life to meet with friends, and particularly so on the eve of departure from the Colony; but when one had been persistently attacked for some time past by a few people in various parts of the Colony who were prepared in the most malicious and vindictive way to assault one, either privately in one's business connections or otherwise, then he could assure them that to be able to meet with friends and to have their goodwill was, under such circumstances, more than agreeable and acceptable. It was somethin*? which he very heartily appreciated, and which would be gratefully remembered by any man who did not possess a heart of stone. (Applause.) THE CABLEGRAM ALLEGING A DEFICIT. He did not know whether it had occurred to them, as it certainly had to him, that there was a very remarkable and sudden unanimity of opinion among those who had always been the bitterest and most determined opponents of the present Government to contend that the Colonial Treasurer should remain in New Zealand. The reason assigned for this was that they feared that in his absence trouble might overtake the Government and the country. Now he asserted that some of those people who gave utterance to such expressions, if they were not Judas Iscariots, were hypocrites of the first water. He would tell them why presently. (Applause.) Had they noticed during the last few days a cablegram published in the local papers stating that a cable message had been sent to England, and that publicity had been given there to an announcement that there would be a deficit of a quarter of a million in the finances of this country ? If they had noticed that, and would put it side by side with the desire there was on the part of those opposed to the Government to keep him (the Colonial Treasurer) in the Colony, they would realise what it meant. The people who professed to be anxious ostensibly in the interests of the Government and the country to keep him here were the people who sent those cables to England for the purpose of damaging the credit of the Colony. On the one hand they said, “ During the absence of the Treasurer we fear things may go wrongs” but, like Judas Iscariots, they were prepared to betray while making a profession of affectionate solicitude. Could any Judas now on earth act worse than these people had done ? THE SOURCES OF THESE CABLEGRAMS. His information, he was satisfied, was accurate as to who was sending those statements that were calculated to greatly harm the Colony. He would read one or two messages, and the replies thereto, which would indicate that not through the ordinary press channels—the Press Association or Reuter—had this incorrect information been disseminated, but that it must have been sent by the foes of the Government —by those people who were now professing their anxiety for the weal of the country, to keep the Treasurer in the Colony in order to protect its finances. These were the people who were sending broadcast these damaging statements, and sending them with the knowledge that the statements were untrue. These were the people who, while they professed to be anxious for the • safety of the family house, were prepared actually to take the roof off that house in order to give them an opportunity of ousting the present Ministry from office, iso that amidst the trouble and confusion caused they might get their places. (Applause.) He would ask the people not to be deceived by tho sophistries and misstatements that were made against the present Government, and would show later on how some of the information they were reading from time to time originated and was spread broadcast over the Colony. He would show how public opinion was attempted to be created in New Zealand, and give an indication of the extent to which some men, who had to be termed honourable, were prepared to go in order to damage men who were honestly trying to do their best in the interests of the country. These men to whom he referred

did not meet their opponents in the open, but as it were fired at them from behind a hedge, and attacked in a manner which was cowardly, if not criminal. AN EFFORT TO DAMAGE THE GOVERNMENT FINANCE IN LONDON. When he noticed the cable he had mentioned in the paper the other evening, he at once wired to the manager of the Press Association, and his telegram and the reply were as follow : To the Manager Press Association, Wellington.—Press Association cable from London, published to-night, states that considerable surprise is expressed in the city at the announcement of a deficit of a quarter of amillion in New Zealand. Would you kindly inform me whether any such statement has been cabled by the Press Association for publicity in England. I should like if possible to have a reply to-night.—J. G. Ward, January 25, 1895. Hon Mr Ward, Bluff. —The cable message referred to was not sent by ns. We send nothing out of New Zealand, nor should I have sent such a statement if we did. You will be glad to know that a further message to-night says the statement is regarded in London with doubt. — W. H. Atack, Press Association.

The manager of the Press Association suggested another channel through which the information might have been disseminated; and on applying.to that quarter he obtained a reply in the negative. He then telegraphed to Reuter, the other ordinary telegraphic medium through which information respecting the Colony was disseminated, and obtained a reply stating precisely that they had not sent any information of the kind from the Colony. When he told them he had in his.possession confidential information and that the Government had had such information in its possession for some time—that there was a strong effort being made to kill the finance of tho Government in London,and when they read the cabled announcement that there was a quarter of a million deficit in their finances, when there was no deficit at alt, what other conclusion could rational beings come to than that the same people who were anxious to damage the Government by injuring the finances of the Colony were pulling the strings behind the scenes in order to damage the Government, although in damaging the Government they must inflict grave injury upon the country ? (Applause.)

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FINANCIAL POSITION.

He had told them that the statement that there was a deficit of a quarter of a million was incorrect. During the last few days he had made a careful analysis of the financial condition of the Colony. He had gone carefully and elaborately into the position, and the figures he was about to give them were on the safe side by a considerable sum. These figures disclosed the very important fact, which it was well all who were interested in New Zealand should | know, that the estimate of revenue which he had forecasted in th e Financial S tatement dei livered during the last session would not only !be realised, but would be exceeded. (Apj plause.) What did they find ? They found people who professed to be greatly ! interested in the country calling their at- . tention to the fact day after day that there was a deficit in the railway revenue and a deficit in the Customs revenue. That there were such deficits he admitted at once. He had anticipated them, and had prepared to meet them. Anyone who referred to his Financial Statement would find he had forecasted that there would be a deficit in both these departments compared with the previous year. But in all honesty their critics, when talking about the departments in which there was a deficit, should 1 also mention the departments where there were surpluses ; and there were surpluses in every other department but ope, and that a small one —the beer duty department. gross surplus of .£350,000. The surpluses in the other departments, after providing for the deficits in Customs and railways—and not only so, but after discounting the next quarter to the very utmost —not only made up the deficits, but would give an excess of £20,700 over and above the deficit. (Loud applause.) The meaning of this was that, after allowing for every possible contingency, instead of having a gross surplus, as he had estimated, of £341,940, he told them now—and they could watch the figures when they came out—that after March 31st next the surplus would be over £350,000. (Loud applause.) MALICIOUS CRITICISM. What was it the Government had been doing, for what had they been working, but to raise the financial condition of the country ,and what had those people who profess to be the custodians and guardians of property been doing during the last few months but discouraging every man in the country and decrying the country by every possible means, trying to sink it to the lowest possible depth, the effect of which would be to ruin many in the country, in order to obtain for themselves and their political friends a temporary advantage or transitory power. He could only hope that should the present Opposition get into power, and any member of the present Government Party attempted to attack the Government of the day in the way the present Government had been attacked, he would not be allowed to remain a member of their party. (Applause.) He said this because if a man, in order to attack a Government, attempted to destroy the credit of a country, he was doing that which was calculated to injure every man, woman and child in the country, whether they were supporters or opponents of the Government. (Applause.) THE TACTICS OF THE OPPOSITION.

He would not weary them by, as he had at first intended, giving them seriatim the surpluses of the various departments. If any ordinary reader would take up the Financial Statement of last year he would see that looking 12 months ahead, and under the firm belief that we should have a shrinkage in our revenue, he, as Colonial Treasurer, took the precaution of reducing the estimates by £133,538 below the esti-

mates of the former year, and had intimated at the finish of the Statement the reasons for believing that this was a safe and prudent thing to do. If they took up Hansard they would find that some of the people who were opposed to the Government now were opposed to the Government then, and found fault with him for having done this. They said he was endeavouring, by reducing the probable receipts and increasing the possible expenditure, to create a bogus surplus. Looking back at the position now, his firm and deliberate conviction was that what they wanted him to do was to keep the receipts up to a fictitious amount, and to keep the expenditure down to a lesser amount than it ought to have been, for the mere purpose at some future time of being able to say, “ Here is your wild-cat proposal Treasurer who is utterly unable to forecast 12 months ahead what the revenue will be, and who is bound to bring about a deficit.” And now when there is a surplus they found these people not only moving heaven and earth trying to make everyone in the country believe the country was going to the dogs, but some of them, not in the open day expressing their opinions, but silently, secretly and surreptitiously sending cables to England ! to prejudice the credit of the Colony. If these people had any manliness in them, if they were honest in their opinions or had any belief in their own judgment, then they would not be ashamed to state their opinions openly, and stand by them. Every statement he as Colonial Treasurer made was telegraphed broadcast. He was pinned to the statements, and his reputation depended upon his ability to forecast the future. For him there was no saying that someone else was responsible. Every statement was put down to him, and properly so. But he invited those people who ought to have faith in their own assertions to make them openly, and to accept the responsibility of these cable messages telling the deficiency of a quarter of a million. And he would say more: that the person or persons who sent that cable were nothing short in his opinion of traitors to the interests of this country, because in doing such an action they were sending out statements that were untrue and maliciously false. (Loud applause.) He should like very much to go on for a couple of hours. THE CHEAT MONEY SCHEME. Nothing would giv9 him greater pleasure, but as he recognised that their time was precious, he would not trespass upon it more than was necessary. He would therefore go on to refer to a very important measure in the Government policy, and he invited their attention ! to some of what were its most imI portant points—points on which the Got vernment was misrepresented day after day in the face of absolute facts, and facts which were on record for eveiybody to see —misrepresented in a way he had xlo hesitation in saying that no previous Government was ever before misrepresented. It was the cheap money scheme of the Government he wished to refer to. When that proposal was first announced, what did they find ? That the Goveimment were charged with a desire to create a fresh expensive department. They were told that it would be impossible, when the department was in operation, for the system to be carried out, and that even if they got securities it would be found in nine cases out of ten that it was the worst class of securities that was given to the Government. It had been said, too, that any person taking advantage of the scheme, and obtaining a loan for 36 years, was bound to it for the whole of that time, and that he would be compelled to keep it even if money fell to a lower rate of interest than he was paying. NEVER A SAFER SCHEME. Well, he had demonstrated, not here but in another part of the Colony, that so far as the working out of the scheme was concerned there had never been a safer system promulgated on the face of the earth ; that as a matter of fact the three millions the Government proposed to borrow gave at the end of the 36 years a surplus of four millions by way of security. That was the position, and let him tell them this—it was well that the settlers should know it— i any settler who applied for a loan under I < the Act for 36 years, at the end of six I fiaonths, or 12 months, or at any time 'afterwards, if he had the money, had only | to give notice to the department and : the repayment of the loan could be made at once. (Applause.) He stated that in the' House last session, and he would like to inform them that as this proposal had been questioned by some legal • gentlemen, the Government had taken the 1 highest legal opinions in New Zealand on < the matter, and what he was now telling j them was borne out by those opinions, i (Hear, hear.) As a matter of fact, too, a circular had been sent out by the head of the department to every applicant under the Act in New Zealand, telling them that if they obtained a loan under this system, and wanted to repay it at a shorter date than 36 years—say, at the close of one, two or any other number of years—the money would be received, and the mortgage discharged. (Applause.) THE NEED FOR CHEAP MONEY. That was one objection that was urged against the scheme. Another was that it was an interference with the lending by private individuals. Well, let him carry their memories back to a short time preceding the last general election. What was the position then P It was this: That four-fifths of the people of the Colony—the producers of the country, who required capital for carrying on their businesses —found themselves in many cases hampered and prevented from borrowing, although a large number of them had good security to offer. But he was not going to discuss what the circumstances were that caused the suspension of the ordinary lending that went on in the country.

He took this broad ground that if one took the map of the world and placed it before him, after all is said and done, although Hew Zealand was a few thousand miles further off than the Argentine Republic and Australia from the eon- \ suming markets of the world, the same elements were at work in these places which regulated our prices here. The distance between our Colony and Home caused us to pay higher freights than the producers elsewhere ; and so to enable this Colony to be successful, and to compete against the other producing countries, it was one of the essentials not only in the interest of the settlers but aDo in the interest of all classes in New Zealand—the financial institutions as well as those who required money from them — that money should rule at a lower rate in the country. If the Government had succeeded in causing the rate of interest to be sufficiently reduced by those who loaned out money privately they would be satisfied. Their desire was to let those who needed the money have it as cheaply as possible. They did not want to loan a penny so long as the ordinary loaning was done in the general interest of the Colony. As this system worked out, it would, he was sure, prove successful. It was a well thought out, workable scheme, a scheme that was calculated to do a great deal of good to the producers of New Zealand. (Applause.) A PERSONAL KiATTER. He was now going for a moment or two to refer to what he might term a personal matter; and he was never afraid, when he . thought it necessary or desirable, to refer ! to personal matters, or to meet any of his 1 detractors anywhere in New Zealand and ! speak to them face to face. He did not wish to refer to them. The fact was that he was a man of very peaceful living as a rule. He never j attacked unless he was attacked. Ho | made that a principle m life, and he foli lowed it out, but when he found that he I was viciously attacked, he was prepared to ! fight, and probably he would then fight as much as the most vicious man in New Zealand. (Applause.) In the first place he | would dare say a great many of them had | noticed on and off since the proposal to amalgamate the Bank of New Zealand and ! the Colonial Bank was made that many insinuatory paragraphs had appeared in the papers concerning him. Well, he would take the opportunity of telling them quietly one or two matters of some interest, and then he would allow them to judge j between those who had been traducing him ' and criticising him behind his back, and I the truth of the matter. Immediately J after the guarantee to the Bank of New 1 Zealand was carried through the House there were men who behind his back said, and prompted other people to say, that certain freezing works in the South in which he was interested had had their ac- ' counts transferred to the Bank of New Zealand. Well, he heard this, but he was not thin-skinned and he paid little atten- ; tion to it. He thought, in fact, that it might suit him at some later day to state wha.t the position was ; and now he wished to state that the freezing works in question which they had probably heard about, for they had been very freely discussed by some people who appeared to take more interest in his affairs than he took himself —these works, he said, not only did not I owe any institution a sixpence, but they | owed no one in the world a penny. They owed the Bank of New Zealand not a ! penny, and they owed no one outside the Colony even as much as a penny—(applause)—and because it did not suit him to go and air from the house-tops how ! he was conducting his private business, they found a man who came across from Australia, and who was employed here as the representative of the Otago Daily Times attacking him. He intended to refer very straight to that gentleman, and to give them a little insight into the way things were done in this Colony. (Applause.) They found this man coming across here from Queensland. He suddenly endeavoured to blossom into a man who was to regulate everybody and everything in New Zealand, to control everybody in New Zealand, and in fact to run New Zealand by insinuatory paragraphs sent by him to the Otago Daily Times, the Christchurch I Press and the Auckland Herald —one man J doing the work for the three papers. Or they would find a paragraph in one of the Wellington papers sent down to Otago, and 1 it was generally looked on here as coming ! with due authority —“ The Evening Post | says so and so.” But why did he not say, instead, “ I have written the following damaging statement about Mr Ward to : the evening paper, and as I am anxious to damage him in the eyes of the people of 1 Otago and elsewhere, I wish to send it | down as the special correspondent employed by you.” He (the speaker) would never occupy a position like that. (Applause.) He was referring now to his private affairs, and it was of very little consequence to him what his enemies said of him so far as his own business was concerned. He had carried on business for many years in the district to which he belonged with all classes of the people, and he invited the representative of the Daily Times, and his tools in Wellington, to come down to that district to go through the district in which he had long dealt with the people, and he defied him to find one person who would say he had ever * done him a wrong. (Applause.) If this man was a good and useful citizen, and was a man of such value as apparently he imagined he was, why in the name of all that was good and righteous did he not remain in the colony he came from, and give the people there the benefit of the wonderful knowledge he professed to possess ? (Applause.) He could assure them he had travelled through Queensland, and : good men were badly wanted there. 1 (Laughter.) He wished to tell them that ; when he attacked anyone as he had found it necessary on the present occasion to do, in defending himself from the aspersions- |

which had been made against him, he never said anything to injure the man who made bis living in a fair way, but when any man professing to be a political correspondent in this Colony so far forgot himself as to pry into people’s private affairs, and twisted the position of those affairs and misrepresented them in such a way that his statements were on the verge of what under ordinary circumstances would be libellous, then, so far jas he was concerned, he was ready to act and to talk as straight as was his enemy. (Applause.) Another assertion made at the same time was this: Here is a man carrying on a large business in the South in a Farmers’ Association; and they absolutely disseminated broadcast the information that the account of that Association had also been transferred to the Bank of New Zealand. He could only say that that was absolutely incorrect; but it was an aspersion that was quietly and silently being disseminated to damage* not him, but the Government through him* and that was what he objected to. Hi* private business was to be damaged, and for what reason ? To enable a few people who were opposed to the Government to exercise a lever to get rid of one whom they were pleased to regard as one of the strong men of the Ministry. (Applause.) And they should remember this : If they laid down as an axiom that no man engaged in business was to go into the House or to take a seat in the Ministry, that no journalist could go into the House and take a seat in the Ministry, that no lawyer could go into the House or take a seat in the Ministry, and that no agriculturist could go into the House or take a seat in the Ministry: if they said they were going to make it a rule that so long as these people were engaged in business or in the carrying out of the ordinary avocations of life they could not enter the House, he would be very happy—indeed* delighted—to go back to the old question of private life that at one time it was hi* privilege to enjoy. So long, however, as it was open to everybody in this Colony, solong as he acted honourably, to aspire to a position of trust—so long as such positions were open to the most humble, no matter what his avocation or calling might be—he claimed the right with anyone in New Zealand, so long as he acted honourably in the discharge of his duties, to hold his position, and hold it he should, in the teeth of his detractors and opponent*. (Loud applause.) OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY. He would now pass on for a few moment* to refer to a local matter in which they were all concerned, the Otago Central Railway. (Applause.) This was one of i those works that was of a very important , character, and he wished to place its posi- ; tion before them, and to show how very easy it was for people who professed to be op- , posed to all borrowing and to the acquisition of funds in almost any conceivable way to become indignant for interested purpose*. Though the prosecution of this work meant a large expenditure of money, those who were opposed to further additions to the indebtedness of the Colony howled and yelled against the Government for not ■ going on with this work with increased vigour. The amount voted for the Otago Central Railway to carry on till the end of June, was £45,000, and the pro rata expenditure for nine months would therefore be £27,000. The actual disbursements, including moneys now in hand to pay wages during that time, were .£25,792. In addition to that, permanent way materials had been issued to the value of .£llOO. The whole of the expenditure had been on works undertaken in accordance with the advices of the officers in charge. The number of men engaged at the end of December was 199. Since then 28 additional men had been put on, and they were now advised by the inspector that 12 more men could be put at work on the bridges, and that later on another 12 could be put to work to advantage on the earthworks near Kyeburn, making a total of 250 men. It would be apparent from the number of men employed that the vote would be more than exhausted by the end of June. Though the Government were accused of not carrying on the expenditure as authorised, the figures he had mentioned effectually disposed of that charge. On Wednesday last the Cabinet decided Ito acquire some freehold land in the vicinity of the railway on which to settle the men now engaged on the work. (Ap--1 plause.) The Government had in view the i system adopted by the Victorian Govern--5 ment. In Victoria they had in operation* - system of allowing men who were carrying out works of this kind to work three days in the week upon the railway and three days upon their own holdings, improving them. By this means, instead of 250 men being employed, 500 men could be employed in the way indicated, upon a system which would secure their ultimate settlement upon the land, and remove them permanently from the ranks of the unemployed. In Victoria care was taken that the men did a fair amount of work upoit their own holdings, or otherwise they did not return that -week to the work on the railway. By this means it might be possible to promote and assist settlement. When the present Government took office there Avere only 17 miles of the Otago Central Railway open, and there were nowopen 46 miles. Thirty-nine miles of the railway had been opened by the present Government. He wished to say that so far as the Government were concerned all parts of the Colony were equal, and that in the prosecution of railway works they desired to do what was fair and right; but as they had no system for providing funds rapidly, they had to wait until they, saw how the revenue was coming in before carrying the works on. How some people who were now urging them to go ahead faster than they ought to go—not only here, but in various parts of the Colony—-would rejoice if the Government had not a thorough system by Avhich they knew how expenditure and revenue were going on from week to week, and if for

•want of this they overstepped the mark and found themselves on the wrong side. He gave them his word for it as one who for some time past had known what was going on that some of those who were loudest in denouncing the Government for not going on more rapidly with these works would be the first to forgot they had exercised all conceivable pressure, and that the money had been expended upon works they had urged should be carried out. This pressure in the interests of the Colony’s finance they had to resist all over the Colony, but he might say the Government were determined to carry on the Otago Central Railway to the point originally fixed, and to push it on expeditiously. The new system of doubling the number of men and removing them from the ranks of the unemployed was, he believed, a sound policy, and one which would receive the support even of those who believed that the Government had not gone on with the work quite as fast as they should have done, (Applause.) A CONDEMNATION OF THE PESSIMISTS.

A great many people looked on him as one of the most sanguine men on the face of the earth. Well, he might tell them that that was not the fact, but he did as much looking round to see the actual position and possibilities of the Colony and of the development of its different parts as those who prided themselves upon being critical. He regretted to say that there was much faultfinding in various parte of the Colony. He did not wish to say it offensively, but this had been unfortunately the case rog’arding Dunedin. During the last few years he had found some of the leading men of Dunedin travelling in various parts of the Colony with —to use a figurative expression—their tongue in their cheek, making everybody believe that everything was going wrong in Otago, and that things could never come right again. He did not wish the outside public to believe that everything was as successful as it ought to be, but that was not the way to make a place successful. (Applause.) So long as they had some of their leading men in this place, both in the city and out of the city, who were prepared to give one the " blues ” when they talked with them

about the place —so long as that system went on they would never raise their city to such a position as from the great strength it possessed within itself it ought to occupy, and which position there was nothing at all to keep it from occupying if the people would only put their shoulders to the wheel. He had heard some of the

: leading men in different parts of the ■ Colony running their own cities down and making comparisons between them and other places. WRy look at the little Bluff; v he bad never run it down in his life,because

- he belonged to it. (Laughter and applause.) He had stuck up for it at all times as the best - place on the face of the earth. (Laughter.) ; Since the present Government took office, the population in Otago had increased from 117,000 to 126,000. That was from 1890 to - 1893. The land under cultivation, includ- >- ing sown grass, had increased from • I,l23,ooo'acres to 1,234,000 acres, and the cultivated holdings had increased from 5370 to 6330 acres. This was all in Otago proper, exclusive of Southland; and the ■ lands taken up under the various systems in 1891 totalled only 47,449 acres, whereas . in 1894, which they were always told was one of the bad years, the land taken up . under the various systems was 159,049 acres —(applause)—and their sheep during the same period to which he alluded had increased by 22,000 —from 2,881,000 to 2,903,000. Looking at these figures, then, : and seeing the gradual increase that had r taken place, they must have hope. Trade was precisely like water. It would get its natural outlet, and they could not stop it. But here in Dunedin, although they had had this steady growth in the district, - they had a few of the best specimens of pessimists living—the best indeed that he : ever dropped across in his travels. (Laughter.) For all that they had a growth which clearly and emphatically pointed to the fact that if it went on for a few years they must get into a healthier and stronger position—a position which would enable the Harbour . Board if they steered the course that he . thought they should steer to do away with - the present high rates which now weighed down the port, and which were the curse of the city. (Applause.) HIS TRIP HOME.

There was some people who grudged 111111 four months’ recreation. He had had to perform one of the most arduous tasks ever taken in hand by a Colonial Treasurer who had held the office in New Zealand. He had received letters on the matter from men who should know, and they told him that no harder task had ever been accomplished by any Treasurer since the colonies had been the colonies; and it was admitted even by his foes that if there had not been a considerable amount of nerve and judgment and thorough determination to overcome the great difficulty in the bank crisis nothing would have prevented that crisis from coming upon the country. (Hear, hear.) Some of the people who reaped the most advantage from that transaction were now among the

people who grudged him four months’ re- . tirement from New Zealand, upon the < ground that it was not desirable that he , should go unless he had told them and all and sundry the why, the when, and the wherefore of his visit. He believed they even wamted to know the route he was going and the names of the people > he intended to call on ; and unless he told them these things they said it was highly improper that the Colonial Treasurer should be allowed to depart from the Colony. (Laughter and applause.) He had said he was going to talk straight, . and -he thought that on some matters he had done so. THE SECOND MlimiON. He next wished to refer to what some husybodies had been saying concerning the operations of the Government in certain

financial matters. There were always some gentlemen who were to be heard saying that something was going to happen, but it never happened, or that something improper was going on and that an eye should be kept on it, but nothing came out of it. No doubt, for instance, they all saw lately about an extraordinary operation of the Government, by which .£150,000 was deposited in the Colonial Bank. He was going to tell them what the Government had done in connection with that celebrated second million of the guaranteed stock to the Bank of New Zealand. It was as well that the people of New Zealand should know about it before he went away. Mr Duthie, speaking in Wellington the other night, was good enough to say that the Treasurer should explain. Of course ’ he (the i speaker) could not oblige Mr Duthie, ! because that gentleman had left the Colony ! for a trip. He should have remained, however, for he would then have been duly apprised of the matter, and he could have gone to the other side of the water quite happy in the knowledge that he knew as much about the business as the Colonial Treasurer. The Government were bound : under the Bank Guarantee Act to see that this second million was invested in liquid securities; that it was not used for the purpose of carrying on the business of the Bank. No portion of this million was to be used for the purpose of carrying on the business of that institution. It was a most difficult position for the Government. They would not allow this second million to remain without earning something for the Bank of New Zealand unless they took upon themselves the responsibility for a heavy loss upon it. In the House they had been accused right and left of a desire to get that second million for the purpose of carrying on public works, but they had not used and never had any intention of using a single sixpence of that money for that purpose. When it came to be a matter of looking for investments the Government said it was not right that the second million guaranteed by the State should be invested in New Zealand Government consols or in British consols, as the rate of interest would be inadequate and insufficient compared with what the Bank of New Zealand had to pay. The Government suggested that the securities should, if possible, be got in the Colony. Seeing that New Zealand had given the guarantee it should have the advantage of the extra million being used in this country, or as much of it as was required. Was not that a proper position to take up ? Certainly it was; but what would have been thought if they said that the Bank of New Zealand should deposit .£IOO,OOO in each of the foreign banks. In the opinion of the Government —and they were quite unanimous upon it —they should to a reasonable amount get the local institutions to obtain a portion of that million of money as far as they could do in the interests of the Bank of New Zealand. That was what they had done, and they had done it because they had to find securities. But they found people who professed to be anxious concerning the interest of New Zealand, writers to the press, trying to discredit in New Zealand and abroad himself, and of course the whole Ministry, for having carried out what, in his opinion, every impartial man, every man of sound, common sense would admit was a good and right thing—that was to say, if they could get any local institution to take a moderate amount of the second million of money, that it was in the interests of the country that they should do so. He was prepared in the House and in the country to maintain that this was an honourable and straightforward transaction, but here they found a visitor from Queensland, where every concern almost before he came had gone down like ninepins—they found this man saying they would do this or that, and telling them what they ought to do, and what they ought not to do. He might say they never would follow the advice of the gentleman to whom he referred, unless at any rate he gave much better advioe than any he had given. Up to the present time, during the whole time that gentleman had occupied his present position, he (the speaker) had never seen an ordinarily accurate forecast made by him as correspondent to the paper here ; but he had seen any amount of statements made by him which were grossly untrue, and which were calculated to mislead. (Applause.) And this was the sort of stuff that they found some people talking about. Why, a man had first to be educated in the affairs of a country before he could write about them; but here they had a stranger who was always ready to give a twist to things, and to see them on the evil side; and that was the sort of thing that the public here had dished up to them. He had wondered time and again how the people here could ever possibly swallow such utter rubbish, rubbish, rubbish. (Applause). THE WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT. He had intended to also speak about a number of other matters in which the Government were working the development of trade, the assistance given to the dairy industry, the desire the Government had to open fresh markets outside the Colony, and other subjects. They had also a desire to create markets for the timber industry in foreign ports —in fact in every department of the State during the last three years, and also at the present time, every Minister was exercising his brain in order to do something which would assist to steer the Colony clear of the difficulties and the troubles that had beset their neighbours. They had laid it down that after they had overcome the strain of the financial embarrassments that had overtaken the other colonies, the best thing to do would be to strengthen themselves to see that all their tiggs were not in the one basket; that they should look abroad for fresh markets to assist the sale of their dairy produce, their wool, meat and grain,

and if he was not mistaken those industries had been assisted greatly by the scheme of cheap money, which would result in a lowering of the rate of interest all through the Colony. In every way, in fact, the Government had done their best to improve the position of the country. AN OBJECTIONABLE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE. He was not susceptible to criticism, and he seldom or ever replied to an attack made on him ; but there was one in a Northern paper which he had seen only that morning, and from what he had read he had thought it best to refer it to liis solicitors, and either before leaving or after his return to the Colony he thought it would be his business as a matter of honour to himself to show his teeth. If he did so, he would take every step to vindicate his honour; and if the article was libellous—and he believed it was grossly libellous—then even if it cost him every sixpence he possessed, and even if he had to leave the Ministry, he would “ square the yards.” That was, he thought, the right course to take. (Applause.) SOMETHING ABOUT HIS TRIP TO ENGLAND. He would next tell them something about his trip to England. (Hear, hear.) From all that had been said about it, one might think he was going Home to be exhibited —(laughter)—and anybody would almost imagine that every other person in the Colony had a right to tell him how he should go, what he should do, when he should come back, and every conceivable thing on the face of the earth. Was he the first Minister who had left one of the great dependencies of the British Crown to go to England ? If he were the first, he would understand this profound excitement about his departure. In fact, if anyone assured him that he would be responsible for the death of any of those people who were so anxious about his going away, he would remain in the Colony, for he did not want any of them to “ go off.” (Laughter.) As to his visit, he would remind them that a former Colonial Treasurer in New Zealand left the Colony for six months. That was early in the seventies, and he came back and there was no hubbub about it. Mr Reader Wood, the then Colonial Treasurer, visited the Home Country in 1862. A namesake of his (Mr Crosbie Wood), who was also PostmasterGeneral, had been allowed to go to England and to come back without the slightest notice or adverse comment. Mr Fitzherbert, when Colonial Treasurer, went to England. Occupying that position he got away all right, and came back all right, and there was no comment about that. Dr Featherston and Sir F. D. Bell, both holding responsible positions, and Sir Julius Vogel, who at the time was Colonial Treasurer, went to England, and nothing was said ; but now that he (Mr Ward) wanted to go, j suddenly the great importance of the Treasurer remaining in the Colony was 1 discovered, and it was assumed that he would take no precautions so far as his department was concerned to look ahead and to provide for its administration during his absence from the Colony. Then again, in the neighbouring colonies, the Hon Mr ’ Reid, occupying a position in the Victorian j Government, had gone to England, as had ; also Sir George Dibbs, of New South ' Wales, and Sir Thomas Mcllwraith, of i Queensland, who had visited England several times when occupying the position of Premier and Colonial Treasurer. Mr Cecil Rhodes, of the Cape Colony, who held a responsible office there, and Sir John Thompson and Sir John MacDonald, of Canada, while occupying positions in the Government, visited England. Could they believe it ? All these statesmen whose names he had mentioned are allowed to go to England and to return without having nasty, vicious, insulting, impertinent and caddish remarks made about them on the eve of their departure. (Applause.) Could they imagine that this new-born zeal displayed on the part of those who took such an interest in his welfare and his possible four months’ absence from the Colony arose from entirely good motives ? Theie were a number of people in the Colony who professed to deplore his departure, who would rejoice at it if they believed that itwouldinany way injure the Government or destroy the Government policy. He was going to England with the unanimous approval of his colleagues, and he took it that his colleagues would not unanimously approve of his departure if that were improper or for such reasons as had been ungenerously and untruthfully suggested in one or two quarters. While in England it would be his business, amongst other tilings, to frustrate something which they knew was attempted to be done by their enemies. (Applause.) The opponents of the Government were very careful to keep their cards up their sleeves when it suited them,. A . great change in connection with the incidence of taxation was effected during the last session, and they forgot to tell them that some of them believed and hoped, and had expressed the opinion in the House and out of it, that in consequence of the change in the system of obtaining money for the purchase of private lands and Native lands, and for advances to settlers, they believed the Government were going to be rash, foolish and stupid enough to go in for a big loan in the London market so that they might afterwards say this money had accumulated that it could not be invested, and that a large amount of interest was being lost upon it, He had in his posession at that moment information which was also in possession of the Government, which told him that it was to the interest of New Zealand that either himself or some other responsible Minister should be in England at present for the purpose of assisting to do something that was calculated to do a great deal of good to the country. (Applause.) The opponents of the Government said, " Why not tell us what it is ?” Well, speaking for himself, he never until the time was ripe told anybody what he proposed to do either i in private or public, and any Government

who would publish from the housetops what they intended to do would not be successful in their endeavours. That of course was what their opponents wanted, and they tried to discredit him before he went to London because they knew that while there he would be able to remove some of the false impressions that had been circulated in London by interested parties who wished to damage the finances of the Colony. It had been stated that the Premier did not know that he intended to go to England until he received a telegram saying- that the visit was to be made. That was wholly and absolutely untrue. Of course, it was no new thing to discredit the worthy Premier of New Zealand, but as one who had worked closely with Mr Seddon he wished to say that he had never dropped across a more honourable man. (Applause.) He had never in any instance found Mr Seddon to equivocate or to in the slightest possible degree give the least cause to even an enemy or an opponent to accuse him in the way he had been accused by some people in New Zealand. THE POSTAL CONFERENCE. It would be his privilege to represent New Zealand at the Postal Conference. There were several important matters to come up for consideration there. At the last Postal Conference at Wellington and at the former Postal Conference he had opposed, and was prepared to oppose at the coming Conference, the granting of any money from New Zealand as a subsidy to steamships unless they had white seamen on board. He should object to giving a contribution to vessels carrying coloured crews. Looking at the question broadly, he thought it was in the interests of New Zealand to maintain a white race in these islands, and if they believed that to be the case then logically it was not right to subsidise any mail steamers which were not going to avoid the employment of coloured seamen. (Applause.) It would also be his pi’ivilege to try and connect one further link in the proposed Pacific cable. That ; was very important to New Zealand. This Colony was the most distant from the consuming- markets of the world, and it was therefore important to us that we should have every facility in commercial and J private life in communicating with people j at a distance. Ever since the Government had been formed, they had tried all they could to enter into a reciprocal tariff with \ the other colonies, and one of the businesses he had already had handed over to him by the Government was to arrange, if possible, with the Premiers of the other colonies to bring about reciprocity between New Zealand and those colonies. (Applause.) It was what they all wanted, but the other colonies wanted it even more than we did. It was certainly to our advantage, however, to assist in bringing about reciprocity of this kind, and he would do his best to carry out that end. (Applause.) AN EFFORT FOR A RECIPROCAL TARIFF. \ Ever since the Government was formed he had tried to induce the neighbouring colonies to enter into a reciprocal tariff, and he would ai-range, if possible, for such reciprocity with the other colonies. In conclusion, Mr Ward said he hoped the j next time he spoke in Dunedin to give succinctly the whole financial position of New Zealand. j A vote of thanks for the address was carried by acclamation. j Mr Ward left for the Bluff at mid-, night. i By Telegraph.—Press Association. Invercargill, January 28.

About 200 people attended a complimentary banquet to the Hon J. G. Ward in the Theatre to-night. In reply to the toast of his health the Colonial Treasurer spoke for about an hour, his remarks being almost entirely on the lines of his Dunedin speech. With refei'ence to what the Scotsman had stated, that the shareholders of the Bank of New Zealand were justified in the action they were taking because the Government were secretly borrowing money from the bank, Mr Ward said that while he knew the statement was absolutely untrue, he had telegraphed to the Secretary of the Treasury, who had replied, “You will be quite right in saying nothing is borrowed from the bank. There are large credit balances of public money witli the bank, and have been for some time past.” He did not blame the Scotsman, but the correspondents, who, disregarding the truth in their eagerness to damage the Grovernment, disseminated erroneous information.

We take the following cogent article ; from the Westport Times “ The howling ‘ protest that is being made by the Opposi- j tion press against the Hon Mr Ward’s in- | tended visit to .London is another example of the Opposition creed that any stick is good enough to belabour the Ministry. , The cry has been raised by one or two ; Opposition journals of weight, and every litde pettifogging publication whose editor imagines he has cause for complaint against the Seddon Ministry adds its puny voice to j the chorus. Ministers will fortunate ] if their opponents fail to find better grounds of attack than this visit of the Colonial Treasurer to the Home Country. The objections are paltry and childish to a degree. If Mr Ward is going away on his own business, then he is fully entitled to the liberty to do so. The man who, while filling a leading position in the administration of the Colony, keeps control of his own business affairs, is a man to be admired. The Colony will not begrudge Mr Ward the opportunity to do this. On the other hand if the Treasurer is proceeding to London on the business of the Colony, nobody can claim that the Government could send an abler man. It is understood that a great deal of Mr Ward’s time in London will be devoted to the business of the Colony. The exact matters to be dealt with by him are, very properly, not made known in detail ; but we think the people are quite prepared to trust the Government. Mr Ward has I made suitable arrangements for the carry-

ing on of departmental business during his absence, he will return before the opening of the session of Parliament, and what ! possible sound objection can there be to his I absence ? On the contrary, his presence j in London is calculated to produce highly i beneficial results to the Colony.”