SIR JULIUS VOGEL AGAIN INTERVIEWED AND BY ANOTHER REPORTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 7214, 9 July 1884, Page 3

SIR JULIUS VOGEL AGAIN INTERVIEWED AND BY ANOTHER REPORTER.

[" Copy” picked up in Wellington in a very muddy condition ; tho following is all that is legible.] Keporter: And now, Sir Julias, that the part of our interview that is intended for publication ia ended, X want a little private information from yon for the benefit of those gentlemen who are supporting yon in the coming elections, and whoso motives for doing ao are perfectly well known to you. Sir Julius : X think I shall bo able to satisfy yon, that they will not be disappointed, and I will state my views with the utmost frankness. Keporter i W|iy do you object tp the property-tax, or tiny form of direct taxation I Sir Julius : Because it brings people face to face with the consequences of borrowing ; its effect has already been to create a large party in tho country averse to any further borrowing. By introducing indirect taxation, the effects of borrowing will not bo felt while tho borrowed money is being spent. It does not concern mo to look beyond that time. Keporter : Yon propose then to largely increase tho Custom duties? Sir Julius : Yes, but I shall not put it in •a that way. I shall call it "encouragement of local industries.” Bor instance, I shall say that in tho present depressed, condition of the wheat and wool industries, it would bo desirable for fanners to turn their attention to the growth of beetroot and the establishment of sugar manufactories. This will enable me to put on a protective duty of, say, 25 pec cent, upon tho imported article, and the consumer will not feel tho extra payment while work and wages are plentiful. I only mention sugar as an'example, but I should promote the local manufacture of other things and put on protective duties accordingly. The establishment of those local manufactories will give plepty of employment to the working men. Whether the industries will ultimately succeed or not does not concern mo., Keporter: In what other way do you propose to raise revenue ? ... .. Sir Julius: I shall largely increase the stamp duties ; in fact, I shall propose a progtcasivo stamp duty. Thus wi.l catch tho prpfcssional men ami the traders, but I do not anticipate any opposition from them ; they would prefer a little extra taxation to the present stagnation of trade. Borrowed money will make business brisk for a time,' and if they are wise, they will take their bills and write quickly. - Reporter: Bo you not think that the depression in the towns is owing principally to tho fact that there aro too. many traders and distributors ? Would it not be wise to let the natural process of selection work out the remedy and bring about the proper balance between producers and distributors ? Sir Julius : That may.' be sound political economy, but. the country has not the courage to face Us dilTioulties fairly, or the patience to wait for any such solution. It demands relict from the present depression at any cost. It has had its experience of prudent administration and gradual development and Is evidently heartily sick of them. If wo have a temporary inflation we can galvanise these superfluous distributors into life again, and keep them going for a little longer. # , . Reporter : As you object to the facilities for settlement offered by “ perpetual leasing,” how do you propose to put people upon the land ? Sir Julius : I don’t propose to encourage the settlement of the land oy people of small means. A country of small holdings is not a country that will attract capitalists, My sympathies and interest? hro , all with capitalists and Companies, and. my object is. pho lands of New Zealand ; again attractive to speculators; this, I understand, to W th® desire qf those who'are supporting in the present crisis. With the future of Neiy Zealand \vp have no cbncepn. Reporter : You complained In your speech frt Ashburton of the unfairness of compelling the mortgagee to pay property tax. Bo you not think that if an estate is mortgaged, say, up to two-thirds of its value, the mortgagee’s interest in tho property justifies his bearing bis jhare of tho burdens of tho country?

Kir Julius : Possibly ; but my interests and sympathies aro all with the money-lending class, ami I shall always Jo my best to protect their intercuts. I told the electors at Ashburton that I could not see my way to any scheme for cheapening money. [Reporter : Did you think you were leaving a sinking ship when you loft New Zealand in 1870 ? Sir Julius: I thought the condition of New Zealand then very critical, and in 1878 I thought national bankruptcy inevitable. But ax my sueecesors have managed to keep the ship afloat, f shall n«o it again for my own purposes. I look to the support of my friends iiHfp, who desire to sell out of their properties as speedily as possible, and to the support of tho working men, who do not care at what cost present prosperity is secured, to _ keep me in office for the next three years. During that time I shall have secured my own future. J grant that I am using New Zealand and its people as counters in a game of chance, but 1 nave always believed in a gambling policy, ami in this case I shall play to win, I nave no stake in the country, and shall leave its shores with the utmost unconcern when the game is played out. . i Reporter: And now, Sir Julius, one word more. Have you any objection to state what, inyotiropinion, willbe the condition of the colony at the end of the period you have mentioned, namely, three years ? , Sir Julius: I would rather not give you ray opinion : bub ono condition must inevitably arise, which, perhaps, will not be displeasing to some of your friends. If I introduce money and people freely during the next three years, tho money will soon be spent but the people will remain. The working classes, who will have been enjoying their fool’s # paradise, will then wake up to find tho duties on the necessaries of life enormously increased and labor so plentiful that wages will bo regulated by a stem law of necessity which they will be unable either to stem or control. The rest is illegible.