POLITICAL SPEECH

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7842, 3 July 1911, Page 1

POLITICAL SPEECH

ACTING - PRIME MINISTER JUSTIFICATION OF THE LIBERAL POLICY. OPPOSITION CRITICISED. Sir .fames Carroll, Acting-Primo Minster, speaking at Invercargill on Friday night, said that if Mr Massey and his party were placed in power it would be a retrograde step for the country, for he and his side had put up opposition to some of the most, humane Acts on the Statute Book. They had opposed old-age pensions, advances to settlors and land for settlement laws. Was their jibing, sneering and scoffing the role of the farseeing stnteman? Mr Massey had said that ho did not want the country to bo a State pawnshop. Mr Alien, like that ill-omened bird the raven, had predicted disaster, and like the raven ho would say “nevermore.’' These were llio.peojde who wished to get into power to-day by abuse, misrepresentation, opposition to reform measures, and last of all, by saying, “ Oh. they have been in power long enough; give us a turn." Was that. Sir James asked scornfully, a statesmanlike attitude to take up? v GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY. They had been told that there had not been sumeient activity shown by the Government. Sir James said that his mission to tho south was more particularly to explain the position with regard to native affairs as it was to-day. lie found that his friends on tho otaer side of the Mouse were posing aa authorities, and had been misleading the people in the south, because they had not had so much experience of native affairs as they had in the north. It.was-just possible that people might believe what Mr Massey had told them, ahd Sir James wished to show that it was a tissue of misrepresentations.- Speaking at Nelson, Mr Massey had said that there wero 6, 000,000 acres of idle and unproductive native lands in the North Island. -Sir James challenged that statement. In Invercargill Mr Massey had brought the amount down to 4,000,000 acres. A couple of million acres was apparently'nothing at all to Mr Massey. In each case Mr Massey had not qualified his remarks, but had given it out as an absolute statement of the case. In both, of these statements Mr Massey was quite wrong. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. On March 31st last the ; area owned by Maoris in the North Island was 6,018,371 acres. Of this, 3,016,343. acres was in profitable occupation, leaving a balance of 2,102,029 acres of unoccupied native lands. Of this balance 860,112 acres was vested in the Public Trustee and other trustees, and 279,002 acres was incorporated. for settlement. Incorporation of native land provided that in blocks which, were incapable of individualisation, or where costs of surveys, etc., would eat up the value of the land, the owners could appoint seven of their number to be a corporate body to cut up and deal with the land according to the wishes of the owners. Previous to March last they had disposed of 93,738 acres to the Crown, and 209,057 acres to private purchasers. When they wero told that there was stagnation in the administration of native affairs, all that they wanted to do was to study the figures given, and that was the answer. Sir James went on to speak of the methods of the Opposition party. When tho last Native Land Act was put on the statutes Mr Massey had asked that the native land laws be consolidated, and Sir James brought in the Bill the next session—a. s little Bill containing 440 clauses. ft improved the policy of the day, repealed many anomalies and irregularities, and provided additional machinery for administrative purposes. ■

‘.'A MISERABLE FARCE.” The BUI was referred to the Native Affairs Committee, of which Mr Herries was a member. Mr Herries was the only member of the Opposition who understood the working of the native land laws, and. ho was never guilty of such talk as Mr Massey and Mr Allen indulged in. The Bill was threshed out clause 'by clause, It was a masterpiece of law. drafting, and was unassailable, and when it came before the House there had never been such a miserable farce as the_ attempts of Messrs Allen and Massey to criticise it. And yet these were the men wSio went round the country criticising things of which they had no more knowledge than children. It had been suggested 'by thy Opposition that the public debt of New Zealand was approaching such dimensions that it was questionable whether the country would survive the profligacies of tho present Government. The five million loan bad been seized upon for the purpose of creating alarm in the peoples breasts. While the Opposition from the public platform raged and fumed against borrowing, they never voted against any loan. After traversing the absorption of the five million loan. Sir . James asked which item of expenditure had been taken exception to by the Opposition ? Not a single one. Our indebtedness to-day was eighty-one millions. Tho Opposition would have tho people believe that they were staggering under tho whole burden of this colossal amount, and that they were paying interest on tho whole of it. The Opposition never told them that of this ciradunit ,£G2,193.0C<1, or TG per cent, of tho total national debt, was interest-bearing, profit-earning, or indirectly bearing interest. That put quite a different aspect cn the matter. Tho outlook wasn’t bo dismal after all. PUBLIC DEBT EXTINCTION. However, to banish all misgivings the Public Debt Extinction Act had been passed. That Act had been approved of bv Mr Allen at tho second reading and opposed bv him at the third* The principle of that Act Was sound. Mr Massey had predicted that some treasurer might seize the accumulated funds. That, however, was Impossible, as the funds would bo paid into tho State guarantee account, and would bo lent out to farmers for a term of thirty-two years. Those safeguards were never referred to by the Opposition wheu they were trading on the people's credulity. That Act was one of the finest ever placed on the statute book, and it would ever stand to the credit of the present Administration. Why cry stinking fish in connection with the country? Why decry the country? Why do everything to damage the country's credit for the purposes of petty factious, political squabbles, and of getting on the Treasury benches? If the Opposition did get into i ‘.,v. er, money ivould still have to bo found to carry on (lie development of tho country. Party spite thKs'veufcd only damaged the country’s credit and raised, the rate of interest. Such methods were not in keep-

inpr' witli the diirn.ified andl nobk> conduct expected of his Majesty's Opposition. FAIE TACTICS WANTED. The people should insist on warfare being cairried on on fuar They should have the opportunaty ol judging cai fair-argument ojjra® light and who was wrong. H _the Opposition persisted in pursuing unfair wg“Ce it should not be listened to. would always be two parties, but h© couio. safely predict that the Opposition woula never occupy the Treasury benches. J-t was out-of tune. It was the # old Tory party which, had floundered in an 4 endeavour to keep abreast of the times in its endeavours to court favour, and to keep up with the time it had changed its appellation to the National Association. Then it was the Reform party I now it was the True Liberal party. knew what it would be n©xt, but with all these changes its thirst for office would never be Quenched. To the Liberal Ooveminent success had come because it had kept abreast of the times. • -Luring the last twenty years new force©, new circumstances, new conditions had been brought within the scope of its operations, and had governed its actions. It had realised that it must broaden out to meet new intelligences. Its true comprehension of evolution had been responsible for its continued existence. That was where the Oppositlon had failed. It was not built cn lines for meeting the requirements of the country. IVhen the present Government was superseded it would l>e by a new party altogether, but never by theOppositioii under Mr Massey. (Applause.j