THE MINISTER FOR LANDS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1200, 1 March 1895, Page 37

THE MINISTER FOR LANDS.

HIS DUNEDIN SPEECH. By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent. DoNBDiN, February 20. The Minister for Lands addressed an audience of over 2000 people in the Garrison Hall this evening, the Mayor presiding. Mr McKenzie, who had a very favourable reception, said he came there that night te address them for three reasons. Firstly, because he had been asked by political friends, and even by political opponents, not only in Dunedin itself but also in the southern part of Otago, to address an audience in Dunedin; secondly,, in order that he might reply, briefly before a Dunedin audience to the slanders, misrepresentations and abuse that had been heaped upon the Government of which he was a member, and upon himself in particular, by the Conservative press of the Colony, and more especially by the Conservative press of Gtago ; thirdly, because he wished to refer generally to the legislative and administrative acts of the Government for the last four years. The Minister then made a brief reference to the depression, which he characterised as the greatest in the history of man, and the duty hi the Colony to adapt itself to the altered circumstances by endeavouring to place its products on the markets of the world in such a manner as would secure for them the best value, besides increasing its productiveness in order to make up the deficiency in value.

. SLANDERS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS. Proceeding now to the second reason for Ma address, he might at once say that to defend himself and the Government against the slanders, libels, misrepresentations and abuse heaped upon them would take some considerable time. In view of the fact that the Conservative press had been at this game morning, noon and night for the last four years, they could not expect him in the short time at his disposal that night to be able to reply to one hundredth part of the accusations made against the Government and himself. He must therefore confine himself to the latest inventions of the enemy, and he would refer to them simply to show how unfair in many cases were the criticisms of the press towards himself and his colleagues. The Hon Mr Ward had shown that those misrepresentations went even the length of injuring the credit of the Colony for the purpose of getting at the Ministry, and that such wilful misrepresentations had done the Colony a considerable amount of injury. He thought it would be admitted that he (Mr McKenzie) had received a fair share of attention in that direction. The Otago Daily Times had made him a special target for slander, but he ventured to say that if he had been a wealthy man or a magnate of Bond street they would not have dared to slander him in the way they had done from time to time. He had been advised during the last sitting of Parliament by three eminent lawyers that he had a good case of action for libel against the Otago Daily Times. He would give a few specimens of the slanders it had published. About four years ago the Times published a statement to the effect that his daughter was to be married to an officer whom he had appointed to the Civil Service at a salarv of .£SOO a year, and insinuated that the appointment was made for that purpose. There was not one word, of truth in that statement, and the editor of the paper was informed of the fact at the time, but to this day no apology has been made by ta« editor for that slanderous statement. Thea the same paper insinuated that he (Mr MeEenzie) was receiving '.-.' isomewher© '••-, aboat .£3OOO- of public mshey per anmurn: Nof'6, little inquiry would-.bave satisfied ijbe-editor-that it was impossible for him to receive aa much money as this, and that hi* fi&liurgr

as a Minister was .£BOO per annum with house allowance .£2OO, and travelling expenses, which did not exceed 30s per day when travelling. That statement was* contradicted at the time, but no apology came from the editor. As for the celebrated list published in the columns of the same paper, and afterwards copied by other Tory papers and supplemented by some of them, he would say that notwithstanding the fact that he had been 25 years engaged in politics in New Zealand he had not one single relation in the Civil Service of New Zealand. The public service consisted of two branches, viz., the Civil servants who had certain privileges under the Civil Service Act, and who when appointed received a permanent position, and could only be displaced under the Act, and another branch consisting of the temporary or casual hands. Out of the whole list published by the Otago Daily Times and other m ory papers only seven persons had had appointments in the Civil Service, and none of them were relations of his own. Four of them had been appointed as cadets in accordance with the law, and the other three were appointed as experts, viz., Mr Ritchie, the Chief Inspector of Stock for the Colony; Mr Fraser, the Crown Lands JRanger for Otago; and Mr Duncam Campbell, the Crown Lands Banger for Southland. In the temporary or casual service he had one nephew in the Lands Department and one nephew in the Stock Department ; being casual hands they were of course liable to be dispensed with at a moment's notice. These were all the relations placed in the service by him, with the exception of his son, who acted as his private secretary. There were a number of others given in the list who had been in the Civil Service 12 months before he took office. A whole batch of young men "who had been selected by Mr Russell, the late stationmaster, Palmerston South, from the Shag Valley to fill the places of men who had struck at Lyttelton twelve months before he (Mr McKenzie) took office were accredited to bim. The casual or temporary branch of the service already mentioned was no new thing; it had been in existence for the last quarter of a century. Some of the casual hands in his own department had been there now about 20 years. When he took office as Minister of Lands the number of permanent hands in the Survey Department was 220, and the number now was 229, being an increase of 9 since he. took office. During his term of office he had appointed 27 cadets to take the place of men who had died or left the service. His predecessor when in office had appointed 8. The number of casual hands in the department when he (Mr McKenzie) took office was 122, but there were now considerably over that number. The fact that the number of field surveyors had been increased from 18 to 43, and the number of road engineers, road overseers and road inspectors had b«en increased from 20 to 62, necessitated an increased clerical staff, as a great amount of extra work was now being performed by the department ; and seeing that only eight cadets had been appointed during the previous three years, how was he to get the work done ? Owing to the Government having to carry on the wbole of the road works of the Colony under the co-operative system, the Government had now to do work which was at one time performed by the contractors, and the expenditure was very largely increased because the Government had opened up a larger area of Crown lands for settlement, and had to road these lands in many cases for the settlers. When he took office in 1891 the expenditure per month for the whole of the Survey l Department was at the rate of 4614,500. The expenditure per month now was .£30,000, or over double the amount expended at the time he took office. Oa road works alone, the expenditure when he took office was .£6OOO per iteonth. ."It. was now .£15,000 per-month. In addition i© thi» the amount of dorrespohdenoe h&d. considerably increatssd. S'or the year ending 1891 the correspondence inward s

and outward amounted to 106,934 for the . Lands and Survey Department. The cor- I ; respondence for this year was 189,525, making an increase of 82,591. Then again in 1891 they had 11,124 Crown tenants whose accounts had to be kept ; they had now 15,584 Crown tenants, being an increase of 4456. Then there were persons named in that list who were not in the service at all. Take for instance the case of his own son the manager of Bushy Park estate. Neither the Government nor any member of the Government had anything to do with appointments made by the Estates Company. The Otago Daily Times and the Tory press might just as well publish the whole list of the cooperative workmen in the Colony, and put them down as appointments made by himself, as some of those they had been good enough to publish in that list. THE HOKOWHENTXA BLOCK. The next question upon which he was called upon to defend himself was that relating to the Horowhenua Block. Since a certain judgment had been given by the Supreme Court in Wellington in connection with a portion of the Horowhenua Block the Tory press had been jubilant as they thought they had unearthed a Native land job at last to bring against the present Government as a set off against the various jobs perpetrated by their own friends during their term of office. The New Zealand Times in Wellington reviewed that judgment, and if he was at liberty to say who wrote that review it would greatly discount the remarks o the writer. The Wellington Post followed suit, and said the case was very black, and J the Otago Daily Times took up the question, and called the affair terribly black. There were two reasons which prevented him from referring to the whole of the transactions in connection with this block, at any rate to the extent he would desire. Firstly, the judgment of the Court had been appealed against, and the matter had now to be decided by the Court of Appeal; consequently it would be unbecoming to him as a Minister of the Crown to refer to facts in connection with a judgment until they were disposed of by the Supreme Court. The second reason is that the Government has decided to set up a Royal Commission to inquire into the whole history of the Horowhenua Block for the last 22 years, and seeing that the Commission was to make full enquiry into the whole case he thought it would be improper for him to refer to the subject of the enquiry. This, however, did not prevent his defending his own action in the matter. The Horowhenua Block originally comprised 52,000 acres, and the area purchased by him for a State farm and for village settlement was only 1500 acres. This left 50,500 acres which would forn the subject of enquiry by the Boyal Commission. The history of the 1500 acres purchased by him on behalf of the Colony was all he had to do with personally. The negotiations for the purchase of this piece of land were begun in Mr Ballance's time, at least one year before he (Mr McKenzie) took charge of the Native Land Purchase Department. The chief Wa-

rena Hunia held an area of 6723 acres of land called the Horowhenua No. 11 B Block under land transfer title. Hunia offered 1500 acres of this land to the Government for £6 an acre, reserving for himself and tribe 5200 acres. He (Mr McKenzie) refused to give that amount of money for the land. In 1893 he was pressed hard by a number of people in that district to purchase a piece of this land for settlement purposes. One of those who so pressed him was the member for the district (Mr J. G. Wilson), who was not a supporter of the present Government. He, therefore, decided to visit the district himself and satisfy himself as to the value of the land; the result was on his return to Wellington he directed the Native land purchase officer to offer to Warena Hunia <£4 an acre for the 1500 acres. Mr Donald Fraser, who was acting for Hunia as agent, called upon the land purchase officer —not upon him (Mr McKenzie)—and agreed | to accept .£4 an acre on behalf of Hunia, the purchase money to be paid in .£6OOO worth of debentures. The land purchase officer, however, refused to recognise Mr Fraser in the matter at all either as agent or attorney, although Mr Fraser held a power of attorney in connection with the matter. The result was that Warena Hunia himself appeared on the scene and agreed to accept .£4 an acre for the land, and to take the debentures in payment, and. a conveyance to that effect was prepared and agreed to by Hunia. It took several days to fulfil the requirements of the Treasury and Audit Departments in respect to the issue of the debentures. Meanwhile the conveyance signed by Hunia was sent to the District Land Registrar for registration, and a caveat was lodged to prevent its being registered by Warena Hunia's Native opponents. He (Mr Mc fcCenzie) then gave instructions to the Native land purchaser not to part with the debentures until such time as the caveat was removed, and in this position the matter scood until the 20th August, 189 i, when it was represented to the I Government that Hunia was about to become a bankrupt, and if forced into the Bankruptcy Court his interest in the Horowhenua Block would pass into the hands of the Official Assignee, who could sell it to the highest bidder. The matter was then referred to Cabinet, when it was decided, in order to save the estate and prevent its falling into' the hands of speculators, to advance .£2OOO to Hunia and to retain .£4OOO of the purchase money until such time as it was decided what the claims of other aprmcants were. The Conservative press at first stated that - the purchase by the Government was illegal, but after it was known that the land was registered under the Land Transfer Act in the , name of Warena Hunia, they climbed down and said although the purchase might be legal it was morally wrong. As for the morality of the case, he found Hunia the registered owner of this land, and at the time he made the purchase for the Crown Hunia I could have diposed of it to any other person, and it was a well - known fact j that some Maori land speculators were j very anxious to get a block for the purpose i of making profit out of it by reselling to the j Government in much the same way _ as the Polhili Gully affair was carried out during the administration of the late Government. However, he prevented that, and purchased the land from Warena Hunia, who still had 5200 acres of land left for himself and tribe. . He was paid full value, £A an acre, for it. The land was not made use of by the Natives for cultivation or for settlement purposes in any way. It was a piece of land lying id!e, unimproved and not yielding anything to anyone. He (Mr McKenzie) had set aside 800 acres of it for a State farm, upon which there was now a population of 107, and 700 acres of it were disposed of to 55 settlers, 10 sections being sold for cash, and 45 eections on in perpetuity, yielding a rent of over 5 per cent. Every action he had taken in this matter he Was prepared to submit to the closest scrutiny . by any committee of investigation that might be set up on tae subject, when it would be j seen that nothing had been done but what was

legitimate and proper. In addition to this he might say the Government had tried to have the matter rectified last session by introducing a Bill intituled the Horowhenua Block Bill. The Bill passed the Lower House, but it was so altered in the Legislative Council that the Government could not accept the amendments, the amendments having been made mostly by the friends of the Native land speculators. The consequence wasthe Bill fell through, and did not pass into law. LAND FOB SMALL SETTLEMENTS.

He came now to a question of very great importance, viz., the purchase of land for small settlement purposes under the Land for ' Settlements Act. The Tory press had re-' ferred to these * purchases as " white elephants." They said, the same of each purchase as it was made that it was bound to become a " white elephant." First it was the Cheviot, then the Teaneraki, and finally the whole of the Conservative press directed their attentions to the Pomahaka estate as being the champion white elephant. He would refer briefly to the results of settlement upon each block of land purchased by the Government so far as they had gone. Firstly, with reference to the Cheviot. The first portion of it was disposed of for permanent settlement in the latter end of November, 1893, and the census taken by the ranger and the official report of the department prepared 12 months after this first portion of the estate had been disposed of showed that out of 218 settlers who had taken up land at Cheviot there were at that time 193 settlers in occupation, and who were fencing and improving their allotments. The total value of the fencing done by the settlers at that date was £11,038, the total value of buildings being .£10,857, and the cultivations I .£1387, making a total value of improvements '■ within 12 months on the estate of over £23,283. There were 2671 acres in cultivation, while the population on the estate on that date was 932, and out of that number fully. 800 might be termed permanent population. The number of live stock owned by the settlers on the estate on the same date was 86,381 sheep, 1447 head of cattle, 484 horses, and 105 pigs. The lambing during last season i averaged 90 per cent. Thus the population on Cheviot had been increased from somewhere about 80 to 800, who owned stock at least to the value of £50,000. The total cost to the Colony at the present time, after deducting the amount received.from cash sales, was in round numbers .£290,000, and the annual revenue derived from rents from the land was .£14.500, equal to 5 per cent, on the total expenditure. Included within that expenditure was the survey of the estate and the construction of 112 miles of roads, including a large number of bridges on various portions of the property. It would be seen from this return that the Government were fully justified in taking over the Cheviot estate, which was yielding a fair revenue to the Colony on its outlay, and that the settlers themselves has expended large sums of money in improving and stocking their farms, proving that they were sincere in their efforts to make the best possible use of the country.

The Teaneraki property, near Oamaru, purchased by the Government was also cried down by the Conservative press as a white elephant. The whole of that property had been disposed of to 22 settlers, who paid rent to the extent of £2Bl, or equal to 5 per cent, on the purchase and outlay. The Pareora, another small property containing 612 acres odd, yielded an annual rental of .£396 —equal to 5% per cent, on the purchase money and outlay. It now carried 29 settlers. Then there were the Kapua property with 12 settlers—area 572 acres yielding .£268, or equal to 5 k per cent. Land at Studholme, comprising 104 acres, carrying 4 settlers and yielding also 5£ percent. Then ! there was the celebrated Pomahaka estate, ' containing 5391 acres, which was disposed of ito 21 settlers, yielding .£897, or per ; cent. on the outlay. From this it would be seen that even the Pomahaka, which was so run down, and no doubt injured in its prospects by the Conservative press, still yielded in rent 4j per cent, per annum. The five small estates he had mentioned, containing an area of 7023 acres, had been disposed of to 88 settlers. Now, in the estimation of a great rnany of the opponents of the Government 7000 acres was an area suitable for one man, whereas the Government had put 88 settlers on that area, and if the wives and families of these settleis were counted he had no doubt the population would be seen to be considerable. And this had been done without calling upon the taxpayers of the Colony to pay anything towards meeting engagements in connection with these estates. The population of the Colony was at the present time close on 700,000, and yet 2628 persons owned land to the value of .£32,406,851, or an average amount of £16,000 each, while one company in the Colony drewas much as £85,000 per annum in the shape of income from land alone. There was one property in the Colony containing 180,185 acres of good land upon which there was only a population of 110 souls. He quoted these figures to show that it would be impossible for New Zealand to become the home of a large population unless these estates were broken up for small settlement purposes.

POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. As to the policy of the Government, their opponents were endeavouring- by means in their power to prove that the Government had departed from the main planks of the policy of the late Mr Ballance, their old chief. They were accused of having gone in for a policy of borrowing, and the measures passed during the last session of Parliament dealing with finance were so distorted as to make it appear fco the people that the Government had borrowed millions of money. Their opponents trotted out the Bank Guarantee Act, the Advances to Settlers Act, the Consols Act, tiie .Land for Settlements Act and the Lands Improvement and .Native Laud Acquisition Act. The total amounts authorised to be raised for these various purposes were totted up, and the result was termed a huge borrowing policy. Now the Bank of New Zealand Share Guarantee Act was one which was forced upon the Government owing to the extraordinary and peculiar circumstances that had arisen in connection with'the Bank of New Zealand, and he ventured to say that at the present moment there was no politician in the Colony who would dare go on a public platform and assert that the Government had done wrong in passing that legislation. The Government were wiill aware for at least ten months before they were called upon to legislate that the Bank of New Zealand wag in a weak position, but it was mot their duty to go round New Zealand and declare from the housetops that this was the ca&e. The only chance of being able to aure the credit of the institution was-to etave ofi* any doubt as to the stability of the Bank until they were in a position to help it. Then the Government were asked why they aheuld not take their money out of tbe Bank and deposit it in a safer place. Why, the very fac-

of the Government having done so would have been very quickly circulaued and the crisis would have been upon them immediately, Had the Bank been allowed to go down they would kave had a general collapse, worse than those they had heard of in other colonies, and the consequences would have been that the progress of the Colony would have been retarded, and a large number of people utterly ruined. They had now every reason to believe that by careful and prudent management of the Bank's affairs, the taxpayers of the Colony would never have to be called upon to pay one penny of the guarantee, nor would they have to pay interest on the two millions raised to put the Bank in a sound position. One million of that money was held in securities approved of by the Colonial Treasurer, which, of course, meant the Governjaent, and a large proportion of that amount had already earned good interest. The other million had gone for the general use of the Bank, and would in a short time also be earning good interest. There seemed to be a considerable amount of dissatisfaction amongst a section of the shareholders of the Bank at having to pay a call on their shares, but he really did not think they had any reason to complain. The Colony came to their assistance, and it was only reasonable and fair that they should endeavour to baok up their own property by paying a portion of the uncalled capital for the purpose of reestablishing the Bank on a sound footing. He did not think this guarantee to the Bank could in any sense be called a loan incurred by the Colony ; but even if it were so, and the Colony had to find the whole of the two millions, he believed it would be better for the Colony to find that money than to permit of such a financial crisis as would follow the closing of the Bank of New Zealand. Coming now to the Government Advances to Settlers Act, he contended that the money borrowed under this Act could not be looked upon as a loan to the Co<ony. The money could only be borrowed for the purpose of advancing to farmers on the security Of their lands. It was a most important measure, and one which, he ventured to say, when it had been in operation a very short time, would give as much satisfaction to the people of the Colony as anything that had ever been done by the Parliament of New Zealand or by any Government. It had been complainingly asked if the Government advanced money to the farmers, why should they not do so to those engaged in other pursuits P The reason was that the wealth of a country came from its land, and if they could place the farming or producing industry of the country in a sound position by advancing money to the farmers at a rate they could afford to pay they would be benefiting not only the farmers directly, but the Colony of New Zealand as a whole. They had been told that the successful State was the State in which the farmers had no mortgages. No doubt this was quite correct and very beautiful in theory, but here they had to face the hard fact that a number of our farmers had mortgages, and to eagie them would be of far greater advantaged them, than talking of ideal States where there were no mortgages. The large number of applications that had already been made under the Government Advances to Settlers Act would prove beyond a doubt the necessity for the Act, and would also prove that it was likely to become very popular and successful. At any rate the people of the Colony would not be called upon to find the interest on the loans raised for this purpose, for as he said before a sufficient return would be got from the good landed security to meet the interest on the loan. The Government, instead of having departed in this instance from the late Mr Ballance's policy, he was in a position to tell them that Mr Ballance was shortly before his death maturing a scheme with a view of getting cheap money for farmers, and had he lived he was quite sure from what he knew of his opinions on the subject that he would have given this measure his most earnest support. Then the Consols Bill could not be called an Act for the purpose of borrowing money any more than the Post Office Savings Bank Act could be called a borrowing measure. The Consols Act offered a safe security for those ■ who wished to invest their money in such a way that there would be no fear of at any time losing it. The Post Office Savings Bank limited the amount that could be so invested, and a great number of people in the Colony felt the want of an opportunity to invest money in some safe Government security. If the consols were taken up and the money deposited with the Government it would become available for general use in the interests of commerce and the progress and settlement of the country instead of lying unused as it had been in the past. As to the money raised for the purchase of land for settlements, this was no new policy. It was a policy initiated by the Government of which Mr Ballance was chief, and he (Mr McKenzie), as Mr Ballance's colleague, brought down a Bill in 1891, but was defeated upon it in the Upper House. In 1892 the Bill was again brought foiward and passed without the compulsory clauses as a tentative measure. Mr Ballance had looked upon it as such, and the reason they only asked at that time forpowerto raise <£50,000 a year for the purpose cf purchasing land for settlement was that they were quite satisfied that if they asked for a larger sum they would be refused and they thought ib would be better to get half a "loaf than nobbing at all. The properties purchased up. to the present time were all paying a fair interest on the money expended and the general taxpayers of the Colony would not be calied upon to pay any interest on the money so invested. The Colony as a whole would receive immense advantage from the increase of settlement and the bringing into a productive state large areas of land that were now lying almost barren wildernesses. Take as one instance the Pomabaka property. It contained some 7000 odd acres, and when purchased by the Crown there was no human being living upon it. It was leased by the owner, Mr Douglas, to the New Zealand and Australian Land Company and held by them as one of their out-stations, thej sheep on the place being driven off once a year to be shorn and then driven back again. Now, by purchasing it and cutting it up they had twenty - one settlers upon it, and the last they had heard from the settlers was that they were most desirous of getting a school established amongst them ; showing that the people were taking root in that locality already, and with better prices and. fair seasons there was no reason why those people should not become successful and prosperous settlers.

CSOWN LASD3 E©ADING AND NATIVE LANDS ACQUISITION. Then there was no new policy in the moneys proposed to be raieod for roading and improving Crown lands, and for the acquisition of Native lands. During the late Mr Ballance's term of office they had power to raiser

money to the extent of £50,000 for roading and improving Crown lands, so that it was only an extension of that policy, and in fact it was impossible to carry out the work of colonisation in a young country out of the ordinary revenue of the country. There had been.no period in the history of the Colony when it was so necessary to make ample roads and bridges and for the improving of Crown lands as the present time. No money raised or borrowed could be more judiciously spent than the money raised for this purpose. It was a piece of absurdity to send a surveyor into a piece of wild bush oountry, in the North Island for example, to prepare elaborate maps of the lands for sale, and to say to the settlers who might take it up, " There is your land, find your way to it sb best you can." That had not been the polioy of the Colony in the past. The policy of New Zealand from its very earliest infancy had been to assist the settlers in opening up the country by means of roads •Mid bridges. The Government were now extending their operations in a very different direction from that taken in the past. They had at the present time 23 improved farm settlements, by which' they were carrying out the Solioy of assisting the settlers to fell and urn the bush and grass toe land, adding the cost of improvements to the capital value of the land, and charging the settlers interest on the amount as rent. By this means they had been able to get 293 settlers, who, by improving their farms, could earn sufficient money to keep themselves "instead of going to swell the ranks of the unemployed, and he was happy to say that these improved farms were doing so well that the Government contemplated adding to their number, and were at the present time preparing several blocks of land for the purpose. The Government also proposed to improve the lands and push settlement still further in this direction by setting apart lands for small settlements where they had railways and road works to do, and whnre the settlers could get, say, days per week work upon the roads or railways, as the case might be, and would be como<)lled to work on their own holdings for he other three days of the week; thus in a ear ■»* two they should be in a position to eco"ie small settlers themselves, and able to earn sufficient to keep them from wandering about the country as unemployed. This system gave an opportunity to real bona fide

I working men to carve out homes for themselves, such as they never had before in this Colony. And because they had carried out this policy they were accused by their opponents of pandering to the working man. If they chose to accuse him of sympathising with the woiking people by endeavouring to afford them an opportunity of bettering themselves, then he was quite prepared to take all the odium they could cast upon him for so doing; but he denied that by their action either the Government or himself were in any way pandering to any class of the community. Then coming to the purchase of Native lands, the Government had been able to make very , expensive purchases since they had carried this measure. They had already during their term of office purchased J ,174,000 acres of land from the Natives in the North Island, and they were prepared to continue negotiations with the means placed at their disposal by Parliament, believing that the purchase of these lands was the best investment that the Colony could make. In fact, if they were to succeed in making New Zealand the home of a large and industrious population then they must be able to place the people in a position to become successful colonists and producers. That could not be called a reckless borrowing policy ; it could not be said that they were squandering the money, but were making the best possible use of it, so that in time to come it would yield excellent . results to the people of the Colony. THE GOVERNMENT'S LAND LEGISLATION. Mr McKenzie proceeded to deal with the land legislation of the Government during their terra of office, and first of all dwelt upon the long and bitter fight which took place before the Land Act was carried. The result of this long and extraordinary fight was the present land law of the Colony, and he ventured to say that no other colony under the British Crown could boast a Land Bill of so liberal a character. Then under the Land for Settlements Act passed last session they had now a power to take land for settlement that no other British colony in the world possessed, and he thought they would be able to say that they had led the van in this direction. During the few months it had been in force they had completed purchases to the extent of 5020 acres, costing .£15,987, and they had made other purchases of 19,293 acres

at a cost of ,£87,753, which were not yet completed. The Government had been acting with extreme caution in connection with this matter, so as not to givo higher prices for the land than the settlers who might afterwards purchase it could pay. They might not have gone so fast as some of their friends would desire, but, as he said before, they had to act with caution. In a good many cases the prices offered by the Government for lands were declined by the owners. The Government had appointed Mr James McKerrow, at one time survey or-general of the Colony and lately Chief Railway Commissioner, as the chief land ptirchase inspector, a gentleman whom everyone would admit was well qualified for the position, and one in whose integrity and honesty all who knew him had the utmost confidence. The Government hoped now to be able to get on better with their land purchases, but he had no hesitation in saying it would be necessary to put the compulsory clauses into force. They had endeavoured to give the first Act a, fair trial by offering what they thought lair prices for land, but those prices had in a great many cases been declined. The Government had. now, therefore, decided to take the first property under the compulsory clauses of the Land for Settlements Act, viz., the Ardgowan estate, near Oamaru. He was of opinion, however, that it would be advisable to be

very careful in the way they put the compulsory clauses of the Act into force, so that by doing so they might not be driving settlers out of the country for the sake of getting others. The property they now proposed to take, as a first experiment, was one owned by a large landed company, upon which there was no settlement, and upon which the population was almost nil. It would be as well, he thought, to await the result of their first experiment before extending the system further, though he believed himself they need have no fear of what the result would be so long as they acted with prudence and care in the selection of lands under the compulsory clauses of the Act. Mr McKenzie next explained the object and leading provisions of the Mining Districts Land Occupation Act, and claimed that when it came to be thoroughly known throughout the various gold and coal fields on the West Coast and elsewhere it would be taken advantage of to a considerable extent, and would be sure to assist bond fide settlement on the goldfields. The Government had also re-established the village settlement system, which was commenced by the late Mr Ballance when Minister of Lands, and which had been continued during the rejgn of the last Atkinson Ministry. Its reintroduction by the present Government had brought about good results. They had placed on 12,676 acres 800 settlers during the last four years. A very great mistake had been made in discontinuing this system for the three years the Conservatives were in power, for if the system had been retained there would not have been the large number of unemployed waiting to be found work when the present Government took office. THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.

The establishment of the Agricultural Department by the Ballance Government had been of great advantage to the agricultural and pastoral industries, as a great deal of attention had been given by the department to the agricultural and pastoral interest in various ways, more especially in connection with, agriculture and stock. Take for instance the dairy industry. The Government had by their legislation and administration encouraged that industry in every possible way, and the result had been a considerable increase in dairy produce now exported to foreign markets. About 13 years ago they had no such thing as a dairy factory in New Zealand, and last year they had registered 164 factories. Since then some 40 dairy factories had been established in the Colony, making a total of somewhere about 200 factories now in full operation. They had provided dairy instructors and experts for the Eurpose of assisting and showing the people ow to produce the very best article. They now provided graders and cool storage at the four principal ports of the Colony, and they were awaiting with very great anxiety the result of their first shipments under the new system, which would be to hand in a very short time, The quantity of butter and cheese sent Home in 1890 was 34,816 cwt of butter and 40,451 cwt of cheese, the money value of both being .£207,687. Last year the Colony sent Home 60,772 cwt of butter and 54,654 cwt of cheese. The money value of both was £366,483, or an increase of £158,796 in the four years. This increase took place notwithstanding the fact that the value of produce had declined.

THE FRUIT INDUSTRY. And what they had done for the dairy industry the Government were trying to do also for the fruit industry. Already they had appointed several fruit experts who were giving instruction to the fruit-growers, and they had some experiments in hand now as to the best way of helping the fruit industry in other ways. These experiments they would continue to carry on until they were successful. He had referred specially to these subjects as they came more immediately under his own administration, but this did not nearly exhaust what he could say to them that night on the general legislation passed by the Government during their term of office. He could occupy their time for a whole night on various other f-übjects which he had not time to touch upon. For instance, their labour legislation would take nearly a whole night o itself.

FUTURE LEGISLATION. He might now tell them that their work of legislation was not yet done, and during the next session of Parliament they intended to introduce useful measures on various subjects which yet required attention, and amongst them would be a Bill of very great importance, and which he would have charge of, viz., the Fair Kent Bill. 'lhis measure to be a fair one must apply not only to tenants, but also to landlords ; and when he spoke of landlords he wished to include within that category the State, local bodies, trustees and private individuals —in fact, all classes of people or bodies who had land to let to tenants. This Bill to be fair should not be one-sided ; both tenant and landlord should have equal rights under such a measure. That if the tenant considered he was paying too much rent he should appeal to his landlord to reduce it, and if the landlord declined to accept a fair rent then the tenant should have the right to appeal to a Court to be set up for that purpose. So also if the tenant was not paying a fair and honest rent for the land he occupied the landlord should have the same right to appeal to a Court as the tenant. The real value of rural or pastoral land depended entirely upon what could be got out of it after making a fair allowance to the tenant for his labour and capital. The same law would equally well apply to the tenancies of houses and other premises. No landlord should have the power to take from his tenant money that could not be taken in a fair and , honest way out oi the tenancy, no matter j what the tenancy might be. The legislation passed to give cheap money to the farmers would not have its full value or benefit if they allowed the landlords to rack-rent the tenants. He had no doubt he would have great opposition to fight against in connection with this measure, because it would be something extraordinary if the Tory press allowed it to pass without their usual cry of wolf ! wolf! However, he was not to be in the least dismayed by anything they might say en the subject.

Another big question which would have to be faced by the Government and the counry was that of local government. Local government as at present constituted in the jjColony was in a very unsatisfactory condition, and in the opinion of the Government there were far too many local governing bodies. In many oases half the income of a local body was spent in administration.' The Government were, therefore, of opinion that by amalgamating a number of the local bodies a great deal of the time and energy wasted by public men could be avoided, and great saving effected in expenditure. This year they intended to introduce a Bill to give effect to the views of the Government and the country on the question of local government The Bill was now being prepared, and would shortly be ready for consideration by Ministers, as they hoped to introduce it at an early period of the session.

Another important question which the Government intended to give every consideration to next session was that of the licensing laws. The Bill of last session with some improvements will be re-introduced, and they had every hope that next session members would give sufficient attention to the subject, and get it passed into law in a satisfactory manner to all parties concerned. The readjustment of the tariff was another question which the Government proposed to deal with next session ; and, with a view of getting as

much information as possible upon the subthe Government had appointed a Commission consisting of members of Parliament, who were now engaged in taking evidence in all parts of the Colony *bn the subject, and the Government had every confidence that their report would be such as would materially assist the Government and the Housb in arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. The object of the Government since they came into office had been to pass measures in the interests of the country, and the work the Government had done required a large amount of staying power to carry it out successfully. Though their opponents were few in number, they had proved very formidable. The Government had opposed to them in the House last session four of the ablest lawyers in the Colony, who were always ready topounce upon them at any time and endeavour to pull to pieces and distort their legislation and administration, and to throw obstacles in the way of getting their measures smoothly through the House. To those was to be added a number of free lances with a considerable amount of speaking power, whocould not be said to be under the control of any leader. THE SACRED RIGHTS OE PROPERTY.

He had been accused by his opponents of treating too lightly the sacred rights of landed property, as some people chose to call it, but he had yet to learn that the Buler of the Universe had ordained that a parchment scroll should fence in thousands of acres of land for the benefit of one individual or one family while thousands of human beings were on the verge of starvation. What was this sacred right of landed property ? It was landlordism under what was known as the freehold system. And what had been the result of that sacred right in other countries ? In many cases thousands of families had been broken up and scattered over the face of the earth. So that a few might reign in wealth and plenty the homes of many were made desolate. They had no desire to follow that course in this country, and it was the duty of every right-thinking elector to see that for the future our legislation and administration should be carried out in such a manner that the evils of the older countries of the world should be avoided in this fair Colony of New Zealand. Let them rigorously apply justice, equity and mercy to human affairs, and distribute the gifts of Providence, with an impartial hand. If they did that, who would dare question the sufficiency of God's bounty for man's wants ?

THE liIBEI. BILL. No reference was made to labour legislation, but the Minister intimated that th« Libel Bill would come up again next session. Ac the conclusion of the address the Minister was loudly applauded. Mr J. P. Armstrong moved a vote of thanks and confidence in the Minister and the Government, and this was beconded by Councillor Carroll. An amendment of thanks only was moved by Captain Fox. For some time there was no seconder to this, but at length one of the audience said he would formally second it in order that a vote might bo taken on it.

For the amendment about 50 hands were held np, and it was then negatived by an overwhelming majority. The motion of thanks and confidence was then put and carried by a vory large vote, about a dozen hands being held up against it.