POLITICS AND POLITICIANS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1261, 30 April 1896, Page 39

POLITICS AND POLITICIANS.

THE MINISTER FOR LANDS.

lIE REVIEWS TIIE WORK DONE BY THE GOVERNMENT.

At tho Town Hft’l, Palmerston Sou'll, on Friday night. tho Hon J. AlcKenzio, Minister of Lands, addressed a of his constituents. Over 250 persons were present. The Mayor, Mr Gill, presided. Mr McKenzie said he had no intention to claim that he was a perfect man, nor did he claim that the Government were porfoct. They were only human, and liable to err, but they were as careful as possible. Thcro were some people in New Zealand who set themselves up as

perfect leaders of the Opposition. He would _ allow his hearers to guess for themselves who ” those individuals were. Leaders of the parties against the Government had been going through tho country telling of the faults of the speaker and his colleagues, and it was better they should take that course than write to the press as other people did. It was to be prer sinned all tho charges that could bo made » against the Government had now been made, and different members of the Ministry had replied, and tho replies, he thought, were fairly satisfactory. The Government, however, were at a disadvantage, as the press of the Colony, as a rule, wore opposed to the Liberal Party. Even the Press Agency was now made a political machine. He stated so boldly, and it would he tho duty of Parliament to see that this Agency would do what was right and just, and not run tho show for one side only. They had the most glaring misstatements sent fortli through this Agency, which had advantages from the people of the Colony, and, instead of giving fair and honest reports, they coloured their messages to help the Opposition. When the House mot, ho would Vie able to prove what he said. A REPLY TO VARIOUS CHARGES. One charge made against the Government was that they had done nothing for tho farmers, squatters, or commercial and industrial classes, but he would just state shortly what had been done. It might ho remembered that it was impossible for any party in power to carry groat reforms all at once, and it was no use any Government trying to force public opinion by bringing forward reforms that tho people wore not prepared to accept The Conservatives, whose day lie on - sidered is past, made charges against them, but they did not state v.liat their own policy was. It was, be believed, one of their planks to stop the lands for settlement scheme, and they would have Freotrado in Native lands, which tho present Government prevented. As an instance of the secret, silent and surreptitious manner in which the Government opponents worked, ho mentioned that one James v\ ilkie, .of Wellington, had written to a 1 rge number .of papers offering to supply them <yr«/i.s with Information concerning the Government. They could depend on it that this man was •well paid for his services by a few wealthy merchants in Wellington. As to the charges made against them by tho Opposition, he said that last session all fair returns asked for were granted. It was said, too, that free discussion was not allowed, hut a look at the lengthy speeches of the Opposition in Hansard showed there was no ground for that statement. The reason the Opposition walked out of the House when the Public Works Statement came np for discussion was that on tho Estimates there were votes for almost every one of those gentlemen, and they were afraid to go to their constituency and say they had voted against certain sums of money in their own districts. As for Ministers roaming over the country, ho held that for himself it was necessary if ho wished to deal fairly and satisfactorily with the department of which ho was in charge. It was said that tho Government had a subservient majority, but the allegation had no foundation, for the majority the Government had was the voice of the people, and the people must rule by majority. THE GOOD WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT. Before tho Ministry were six months in office, it was said they were galloping to a deficit, but they came out with a surplus, and bad had ft surplus evory year since this hfflj J

their sixth session. No previous Government « had been able to do tho same thing. Ai other matter by which tho prosperity of the Colony could be judged was by the debt per head, which in 1800 was £()'!, and in 1805 <£GO 10s. As for borrowing, it was { for a very different purpose to that for which their opponents, when in office, had borrowed, fi r with the money the Government bought land for settlement, and seeing ’ that it was settled upon as soon as secured l and returned 5 per cent., there could be no ’ loss to the people of the Colony. lie held that tho action of the House in granting aid j to the Bank of New Zealand was justified in tho face of the great loss that would have fallen on the Colony had the Bank closed . its doors. Other financial institutions , would have followed, and oven if , tho Colony lost a couplo of millions ’ of the guarantee, it mattered not, seeing tlm I benefit it obtained by maintaining the Bank , in a sound position. If properly managed the , Bank should be in such a position in nine or , ten years that the people of the Colony would , not lose a sixpence. Through tho Midland 1 Railway arbitration, .£1,700,(00 was savod , to the taxpayers, yet the Conservative ' papers said very liUlo in praise of , the Government for their action, which should commend itself to the whole Colony. It had been said that the Cabinet ' were not unanimous about the Pastoral Tenants Relief Bill, but he wished to say that the Bill had the cordial support of all the Ministers, especially the Premier. The Liberal Party, to their credit, support the measure in the most friendly manner, end the various Commissioners of Crown Lands Roaid deserved great credit for tho way in which they went into the many applications that came before them under tho Bill. Tho Government acted wisely in introducing tho Advances to Settlors Act. It had reduced the rate of interest in the Colony, and he was in a position to state that 05 per cent, of the applicants wore people who wished to pay oil mortgages which were in existence. THE TARIFF. Concerning tho tariff, it was said that nothing had been done for the farmers, but he held that in allowing fencing wire, twine and other articles used by farmers to come in free, that the Government bad conferred a great benefit on the settlers, and on the whole tho tariff was one of which the farmers and tho working classes could not complain. He hoped the tariff would not come up again while be was a Minister. LINUS F-m SETTLEMENT. Li Native lands tlie Government bad ac qulred 1155 OH!) acres, and a large portion of it was already settled upon by Europeans. With regard to their general land policy, they had lrom the time of taking office put 10,!)<■ 2 settlers on 2 i02,0u0 acres of land, and during the short period the Lands for Settlement Act had been in force they had purchased 20 estates, which had alieady beer, disposed of, and which were m>w yielding more than five per cent. Other seven estates ; had been purchased, but had not yet been i paid for, and there were oilier estates under negotiation. Tho Biind River Estate, ! in Nelson, was now yielding l:j per | cent, ; at first it was run down, J and only a portion of it was taken ] up, but it was now all occupied, and J its crops were splendid. ’1 ho Government | had been doing as much as they could in the j way of putting people on the land under tho | land improvement farm system, and some SUO • persons had already been placed on areas j under these conditions. If the people of the I ’ Colony were prepared for it, there was no end j ' to the good they could do and to tho ; j number of people they could put on the land, ! j between tho village homestead system and ; tho land improvement farm system. One ; • thing necessary in connection with tho sys- j J tem was that the land boards should have the ' right to select the settlers so as to keep out * indifferent parties and allow only bona fule ' working men to go on the land. j THE UNEMPLOYED. , The Government during tlieir term of office i bad spent very large sums of money in finding ( work for the unemployed. In the first year of E the Ministry’s existence the sum of .£99,000 was { spent on roads, and last year tho amount was T <£219,000, while this year it would bo about c .£250,000. The numbor of men provided. c

second year 387-1, in tho third year 3371 and in the last year 3125. The people on the Macrawhonua estates were thriving, notwithstanding what was said by Conservative papers. The valuo of money for farmers had been cheapened, and tho country had been opened up in a way never before done by any Government; experts had been given to the settlers to give them advice on various matters, markets had been opened up, and all the time a sound finance had been maintained. NEW BILLS. In the coming session, he would introduce the Fair Rent Bill, but it would probably be blocked in the Upper House. Tho question was one for the people, and he was sure the people would decide in its favour. Another Bill the Government hoped to bo able to introduce and pass into law was the Fair Interest Bill. lie saw no reason why the State should not insure against fire as well as against death. The Local Government Bill would ho an extensive measure, proposing to reduce tho number of local bodies, and doing away with a great deal of the official expenditure going on now. He was afraid it would be impossible to pass through this session, and it would ho a question for the general election. As for the Alcoholic Liquor Bill, he contended that no Government had ever held office in the Colony who had done so much to place the liquor traffic in tho hands of the people of tho Colony. In conclusion, he said it was only by efforts such as the Government had been putting forth that the progress of the Colony could be kept going, and that the people could be mado happy and prosperous.

Al ter answering a number of questions, Mr McKenzie announced that he would he a candidate for Waihcmo at tho ensuing election.

At the close of the address a vote of thanks and of confidence in Mr McKenzie and the Government was carried unanimously.

MELTING AT NAS ELY

The Hon J. McKenzie addressed a crowded meeting of bis constituents at the Town Hall, Nascby, on Monday night. Several ladies were amongst those present. Tho Mayor (Mr W. Outlie) occupied the chair. Mr McKenzie, who was enthusiastically received, apologised for visiting his constituents so seldom, and said this was owing to public business keeping him in Wellington, and otherwise attending to the business of the country. Ho referred to the statement of Captain Russell at Auckland that if the Conservative Party came into power they * would not alter the laud and income tax and labour legislation, which were two of the r mo.-t important planks that tho Government Q had been found fault with for. 'i his he r characterised as inconsistency, and showed that the Opposition now approved of the i Government policy, which in tho past they . had opposed so bitterly. | THE METHODS OF THE PRESS ASSOCIATION. Referring to his speech at Palmerston the r other night, lie had stated the Press Agency l was being turned into a political machine. ) The Press Association received certain I privileges from tho people of this Colony in I the way of the distribution of nows through i the telegraph offices, also the protection of ! their copyright. The Association had a I monopoly, and if they circulated accurate i information no ono would have anything ta say in the matter. He again said they did not do so, and would gi\e an instance. On 1 Friday night he read in tho newspaper a Press Association telegram which gave tho bare statement that a certain member of the 1 Liberal Party had addressed bis constituents in Auckland and received a vote of thanks and confidence. In the samo paper, in the next column, was a report of a speech delivered by a Conservative member. There, if the Association was fair, it should have sent a summary of the other speech, and placed both members on the samo level. Another case was in connection with a report about himself which had been circulated all over the Colony. It was sent from a small place, Levin, near Wellington, and not by a pressman at all, but by a private gentleman, who had no right whatever to use the Press Agency in the matter, and this gentleman,by means of a report which he circulated by this means, had traduced and misrepresented the speakor. He had been told by three reliable gentlemen, who were present at Levin, that the report was far from being correct. He would leave the matter here. Again, with regard to his speech on Friday, at Palmerston, a summary of which was transmitted by the Association over the Colony, on Matur day morning, before leaving Palmerston, he received a telegram from Wellington, asking if no vote of confidence was passed at the meeting. Two minutes later ho received another telegram from Invercargill to the same effect. Ho had not seen tho Association report himself, but the newspapers would be in the district in a day or two, and the poople could see for themselves the truth of his statement. OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY. Referring to the Otago Central Railway, he said anyone who travelled over that part of tho country would admit that the Government were doing all they could and all that should be expected from tiiem in respect to pushing oil that line. lie found that tlm only ones the Government could j not please in connection with the Otago Cert- j tuil line was tho Railway League of Dunedin. He had termed them once a political board, and they did not like it. His opinion had not j altered since, and he was of opinion that if the I (.ague would lot tjpj matter alone the railway would go along j 1 1 - 1 as fast. The j ; present Government, during their term of 1 office, considering tho amount of money j available, from the nature of the work, had j ! done as much ns possible to push the lino on. i They intended to continue pushing it along, I and he hoped before long the residents of Nascby would have it much nearer than at the present time. I , ADVANCES TO SETTLERS. i In connection with what had been said of I ! the meeting of the Advances to Settlors j ' Board which ho had attended in the absence : of the Colonial Treasurer, ho assured the audience that he had no axe to grind there, and no interest in the matter personally. He ] i simply had a desire in his capacity as Minis- ] ter in attendance to see what was right and I i just in the nutter done as between the appli- j i cants for advances and the Government; but i when he saw complaints so numerous from < settlers who wished to obtain advances, for t which purpose the Act was passed, be ] thought it was time the Government .inter- I fered. Ho went for that purpose, and acted ] accordingly. Previous to this period anyone who applied for an advance and whose appli- t cation was refusod, as numbers were, was 1 simply informed that the application was re- £ fused. Now when money is taken for the valuation, tho applicant, whether successful j or otherwise, is supplied with tho amount l of the valuation and is thus enabled lo_Egn. j

it on the ground of its being too low, he can have the valuation made by another valuer. He was convinced the Act would now work more satisfactorily, and more in accord with the requirements of settlers. Tho various other questions of tho day were dealt with by Mr McKenzie, whoresumed his seat amidst applause after a very able speech of two hours and a half duration.

Mr J. Brown moved a hearty vote of thanks to Mr McKenzie for his address and confidence in him as a representative, also in the Government of which he is a member.

The motion was seconded by Mr R. Glen, and carried unanimously amidst applause.