MR DUTHIE & HIS CONSTITUENTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2413, 19 January 1895, Page 2

MR DUTHIE & HIS CONSTITUENTS.

Mi- it, Qttthie, M.ltß;, addressed a meeting. d£ lliS cbnslltffentsl at Thodiiie Hall last night; . There, wet 6 about, 200 people present,, and the .Mayor presided; Mr Duthie, who was received with loud and continued applause, said that the ’Wellington members as a rule deferred their addresses to their constituents until just before Parliament assembled. In this instance he had departed from tho rule, because for business -reasons he had occasion to goto the Old Country shortly, Ha would not attempt to rOVieW thd proceedings Of the last session of Parliament. In that fiesSion lid had not given a tote that .HO Said ,liS woUld pot give ill his election addresses, with the exception of Offe vote, and that was,on the Elective Executive Bill. , He had advocated from 1116 platform Unit the eleatidff Of aii Executive' was unworkable. He had, however, given this vote for the reasoil that he Had' found in this new House a state of things ef which they had no previous example:, ,

TAe supporters of ifiris government. Mr Cornell, of Napier, had told his constituents that he had gone to the House to support the Liberal Government, and he had Unfailingly done so. Now, it whs simply a question of membeis going to the House pledged to support the Government of the day in whatever they did, and they did it faithfully. Before the country, and during last session, the great Liberal cry was selfreliance, and yet these same Liberals had plunged the Colony In debt by six millions. He had voted for the second reading of the Elective Executive Bill because ho wanted to 566 the question of Party Government examined ' lilto, la the State, of .'things that ' existed,; ofle of his colleagues had aptly described the followers of the Gtoverttaleritna " dumb dogs;” It was a strong expression, and had caused a great deal of consternation, but he thought if men sacrificed all independence of ,thqugl;ti, end all political pHhciple; and plilugfed the oOUfltfj? into debt When they were pledged to self-i-eliance; then.the term was not tod strong to apply to them. (Applause.) THE WORE OF BAST SESSION/ The session was a most prolonged and tedious one. Ministers were not prepared for the session, and . owing -to the unfortunate illness of Ministers members were kept without any business to do', and when thS Bills did come before the Honsethey were drafted in a llidst exttaofdinary fashion. They had been hurriedly and carelessly drafted, and before they passed their second reading Ministers moved amendment after amendment, and by the time they got through they were scarcely recognisable. THE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS. Alluding to the appointment of Colonel Fraser, ho said that it was a deliberate attempt to get past an Act which provided for the purity of Parliament. Sis reason for referring to this was that in defence it had been stated that when the Opposition were in power they did the same thing. He had merely to say that the Opposition only numbered 21 or 22 members, and only about five of these had been there continuously; He disclaimed any responsibility for byegone politicians. Then, there was the defence of Mr MoNab, who had been called to account by his constituents. His defence was that Mr Seddon promised in his innocence, and he never drew back. If he had promised that in his innocence, then there was one innocent abroad, but it was not Mr Seddon. Even if Mr. Seddon did promise this in his innocence, it was his place when he found it was against the law to have drawn back. LABOUR BILLS. As to the Labour Bills, they were not opposed, because it was thought that the proper course was to pass them. There would not be satisfaction until this experimental legislation had been tried. If the Opposition came into power ho would not like to see them upset these laws, but give them a trial. Certainly there had been some extraordinary and stringent legislation. One effect of the Shipping and Seamen’s Act was to debar the youth of the country from engaging in a seafaring life. There were also very hard regulations in the Factories Act. As to the Shop Honrs Act, he thought he had best say little. It was a ticklish question. FOUR TEARS OF LIBERAL GOVERNMENT. The country had now had four years of this Liberal Government, and it was now time to see if there was to be any beneficial effect. The Government said the times ■were bad when they went into office owing to the bad government of their predecessors, but there had been time to improve the state of affairs. They-had described the property tax as iniquitous, and it had been repealed. But the people who had to pay the land and income tax were very much discontented they said there was no sense of justice about it. This substitution ofone tax for another had not had a good effect on the prosperity of the country. The labourer was no better off than he was before, and he could not see that the country was in any way the better for this four years of Liberal Government. They were told that there were larger numbers of people settled on the land than under any previous Government, but they did not find any increased prosperity. There was no improvement on the land, and people were giving up their sections. It should he the task of the statesman to reconcile all interests. Laud could not be settled without the use of capital. Capital should assist labour, and labour capital. But this had not been so. They only had stagnation in the country. Feelings of jealousy and envy had been gratified. Every interest had been assailed by liarassing legislation, and at last they had succeeded in shaking confidence amongst all classes. In addition they found the rates

of interest advanced. Money in other countries was lower, they found that it was advancing here and that in itself mUst retard progress. ..In the middle of the harvesting Season they had men unemployed, This was indeed a sorry oUtcomC f?* four years of,, Liberal Government, WHete was all *H*» progress tliOv M proldlaed? Ministers had attributed the deprcsslpn td Jp prices prevailing, hut it Was really due to tho Wot that tW people uadidaf ddiiMence, and the aetlidi-s would not spend their money. THE CltEA£ MOS'fiT SCHEME. ■ He very much doubted the wisdom of the cheap money scheme. The town Householders would get Ad benefit from the Act, although they had suffered most. To popularise the scheme the Treasurer had assorted that the private mortgages amounted to .629,500,600, mostly at 7i per cent.,,Which, if contorted iUtd 8 per cent., itoUld Sato 6737,090 atinuaUy; or in 38 years 625,812,800. Tho Treasurer Was fid doubt a beneficent wizard, but it seemed to him that it was suggestive of tho Yankee showman. It was a castle of cards ho had built up to induce the people to follow him in this wild scheme. . The Treasurer, said nil this could be dene without adding fine shilling to the taxation, but he (Mr Hutliie) WaS hot & sure of this.It Irtish doubtful, sahoipo,. JUd even with • Mr T..&- Mitodqhald.,as ..valuator,,,ffo„thd nut know,- whether -the. - country .was-sgte. (Laughter and applause.) One of tha features of this scheme was, of a puerile character. It was that they had to borrow for 304 years. Anyone borrowing money had got to mortgage for 365 years. "Who bn earth Wanted to mortgage for 30J years. Who Would tako advantage of such a eeilotito f Its did not think any live Settler Would, Ke rltECiiASk 6f fiS'fATfcA Hb.iitGt teffirfed to the purchase of the Cheviot estate. This scheme, ho said, canid upon tho Government by accident, hut tho estate was too far distant from any market. The Government had also pur- ■« Chased another estate hear Kaikourn, a third of wliioh tpey said Was ploughfthle, ajj.fi tlffijr Were gpihg to put settler? on it. What Wiis the. mb.Of putiifc'g .BettlOfA iff. S place whore they could not sell their products ? Poinahaka could not bo a success because it was inferior soil. Ho had visited the estate.'and he gave a description of it. It consisted of 7200 acres of land near Clinton. It was owned by Mr Douglas, a non-rosident of the district, and was totally unimproved. It was mortgaged for 68000, wliioh mortgage had been (jailed up en 14 days' no%oi After ?.y«vy attempt to re-borrow or sell had faileu. On this Mr, Douglas aduffttpd drafting ji petition which affected io bo the- spontaneous prayer of residents near Clinton, and described tho land in glowing terras as 1 specially suited to rear fashionable sheep and to fatten lambs for freezing. The 1 petition was sent to the district, and by 1 the exertions of two paid canvassers 301 1 signatures were obtained. While tho poti--1 tioh was being got up Mr Ritchie, of tho ’ Stock Department, was at work, Mr • Barron was moved, and there was rare hurrying and scurrying to get formalities through. The Surveyori General’s visit away Was expedited, and ■ the valuator, Mr Dallas, was selected and i apppißtedi.iiqt by the Qtago Board; ,but I frtjin IVeliington. , Mr Dallas had valued ■ the,, land for the property Tax DepaHt > igejit at 62 2s fid per apre. The.. general 1 experience was that heavily; mortgaged i land was frequently much over-valued, and r the valuation in such cases was not disi puted hut accepted by the valuator, i Buyers and .lenders consequently regarded s suck a valuation with suspicion. As i might be expected, Mr Dallas valued i 7s 6d in excess of his taxing valua- > tion, and on this the ■ Govern- , ment bought and pa ! d 618,000 for tho > block. Tho land had long been leased at i fid an acre, wliioh pointed to a value of not over 15s. Mr Soobio Mackenzie had de- __ 1 iiduitccd the whole transaction in terms* i which the Minister said charged him with ■ corruption. Tho Minister was indignant, . and said ho would clear his character in 1 the highest eoutt in the land. But John • did not go there. John picked the Waste Lands Committee, and ho appealed to that 3 Committee to justify him. No One appeared before the committee to prosecute.- ’Mr Soobie Mackenzie, said -he was not going to -way John was corrupt, i The Government employed Dr Fitehett, Who was Acting-Crown Law Officer, at tho public expensey, not in the protection of tho | pdhlio, hut to defend the Minister, against 3 Whom fid charge had been formulated. It Was ti grotestjuo .proceeding, And Gilbert I and Sullivan would have made something . of it. - He (Mr Duthie) would not feel satisfied to have his character cleared t by an investigation of that sort. Co- . operative labour was employed in carrying out the work of reading, and he was told that a considerable number of inexj petienoed supervisors were employed—- , evidently men who had to get billets, but x know nothing about roadmaking. The 0 cost of this labour added to the value of 3 the land, Which the poor settlors would f liaVo tn pay, but if they failed, thou the 9 coat would fell on tho taxpayers, ’ It had 1 been said that the land would grow from j 40 to 00 bushels of oats per, acre. It was . not Strong enough to grow-wheat, and no , grass, eXOept perhaps cocksfoot, would f grow upon it. Now, in Canterbury and 3 Otago at this season of tho year cats could be SOCn four feet high, but in going over the land he saw only six paddocks of oats, . of which no.produced la sample. [The ; Sample consisted of a few stalks of oats, I apoflt eiS iUcbes high, and tho exhibit wa# h greeted -with ffffiCb.laughter.]; Ho loft it td J the audience to judge what earthly chanqd j there was of poor men making a living in , a country that produced bats like those. 1 (Applause.) A piece of land lying between ! this estate and Clinton, which was in grass [ and crops and had metal roads (Pomabaka was not metalled), had since been f sold for £2 IBs 3d per acre, and yet this , miserable block :of hind at Pomabaka, , without a road, was bought for X 3 17s Od , per acre. Many features of this transac- , tion Wore undefensible, and tho fact that

certain letters and telegrams were missing was very unsatisfactory, and while ho did not impute any corruption to the Ministry, he thought if public officers were allowed to hasten sales In this manner it would pro-

duce corruption in the administration of the country.- It was now reported that Mr <fohn Douglas was negotiating for the sale of another estate, and it would bo well if .an eye was kept on the transaction. (Applause.) Then again, ho was of opinion that much of the land in the South island, Which had been lot in grazing runs. Would be thrown upon the hands of the Government by force of circumstances, and the Government ought not to be allowed to go too far until more than a year’s experience had boon gained, Mr Dutliie again referred to the cheap money question, expressing the opinion that the whole scheme would bo a failure. the SANh guarantee.

He thought before Mr Ward went to England that he would have given some explanation of the second million'of money raised under the Bank Guarantee Act. He (Mr Duthie) was perhaps the only member of the House who said ho was prepared to vote against the second reading of that Bill, and he was satisfied it was the duty of the House to have rejected it. The

State, he contended, might come to the rescue of a bank that was embarrassed if it was clear that its position was only the result of some emergency, but if a bank was bo involved that it could not be cleared, then it must bear the brunt, and no Government had the right to protect that bank. No such disaster as was prophesied would have occurred it affairs had been allowed to take their-own'course. As it was the shareholders had not been saved from a call, and affairs were still in an uncertain condition.the civil service; Ho charged the Government with crowding the Civil service with people who had no right to be there'.and with regard to Captain Hennah’s appointment as chief messenger, he said there werq many who had grown old in the service; who should have been trusted with- the appointment. THE HOROWBENUA BLOCK.

Mr Seddon, when at Hokitika,' although he made a very long speech,' ; said not one word about the Horowhenua Block, and they might therefore* conjecture that he had no answer to those charges. Mr Seddon also complained of Captain Bussell likening him to Sequah, the medicine vendor. It was a question whether, that was justifiable, but how- were the members of the Opposition going to refer to these men (the Ministers) ? Mr , Ward complained that they ■ were not taken at their word, but if men were going to tell stories on the platform such as Mr Seddon told about the emigration from the Colony daring the Atkinson Ministry, which had been proved to be untrue, could the Opposition continue to treat them with courtesy as sensible, high-minded' gentlemen, or were they going to speak of them as they really were ? He said they were quacks ; there was not a word of truth in them from beginning to end.. ' THE TARIFF COMMISSION.

It was supposed ho was about to be appointed on the Tariff Commisstqp, and the fact that the Post, which—jvqsV,usually friendly to him, took him to task, and the Times pitched into him, made him feel ill at ease. But he was unable to see,that ho was in a false position. During last session he refused to act on the committee set up to deal with tariff questions, as he was of opinion it was only set up to deal with petitions on the tariff question, and to save the Government having to deal with them. He did not act upon it, and ho was verymuch blamed. However, the Colonial Treasurer iu December last asked him to act upon the Tariff Commission. Ho quite admitted as a freetrader that upon freetrade questions his presence upon or absence from that Commission would not matter one iota. But that would not’ be the solo question before it, and he would:, not be called upon, because ho was helpless in the matter of freetrade, to refrain from giving . his assistance if there was otjher work to bo done. There were many questions which

would ddme . before the Commission on Which ho cpiiid hive girori.asSifitdaco, and he felt it Wasi.His diitytd Ilia cdrWtituonts, although ho did not like thfl Government, to accept a. seat on the if it was offered to him. However, later on he found ho had to go. to England very Srloctly, Jjtit tlld Mifiistbr was ntill wdhng to keep his namo.pn the Commission, aud he should accept that appointment, fiecauso, although ho would bo absent from t(i tliaiact thb.t,he ;ftaH .a, number or it would give his voice greater weight than if he was merely a private member of the Opposition. (Applause.) In conclusion Mr Duthie hoped it was coming home to the people of New Zealand that as a community they could only prosper when there was a union of classes. Ho resumed his seat amidst loud applause. On the proposition of Mr John Heck, the speaker was accorded a vote of thanks and Confidence, and the meeting concluded with the customary compliment to the chairman.