The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 722, 10 July 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1878.

Stout Tiaa met the electors .Luin. '-I sited a little more light he pft»". ,-rf"•nt, and fntnre of the ti> whom : i>' belongs. We are told » pointed out what he conceived to ta in the present Education Act, I he thought that it should prohigher education. On this that there is scarcely a " there being two only <i more tered. One of the reof the Act—and we »to look foranother — •s to provide cheap classes avail therot affords for edunany of whom in ignorance, -at education n is " cheap Stout said, ( vided for. hat Mr. • Local i that, I \te«t!<

tltsciplo of Father Mathew in this Colony. It is not our intention, in commenting upon the Attorney-General's speech, to dwell at length upon the questions upon which he treats. We would fail to do justice to those questions in the small space at our disposal. But we take this opportunity of expressing an opinion that i the Attorney-General, and those that think with him, will defeat themselves in the matter of Local Option by being too exacting. He says that he does not believe in a compensation clause. We take leave to think that lie will raise an insurmountable barrier to the accomplishment of tin- designs of advocates of the permissive system, if he and his coadjutors insist upon so unreasonable a stipulation. Advocates of temperance and kindred questions should not seek to visit all the evil 3 that arise from intemperance on the hetids of licensed victuallers. The liquor laws of the country encourage the liquor traffic. Men have been led into expending large sinus of money upon premises in which to dispense intoxicating beverages, because the Act makes it a »•<'»<: qwi non that they should not be mere drinking shops, but that they should possess ample accommodation for travellers. Now, it is generally confessed that it would never pay to turn our large hotels into board and lodging houses. But, deprive their owners of the privilege to sell intoxicating beverages, and what else would they be useful for I It will never do to advocate that power shall be placed in the hands of the people to curtail the liquor traffic, without compensating those who have invested so largely in hotel properties. Mr. Stout explains about tho Land Fund, regarding which a weak cry was raised by those opposed to the present administration. He showed that to the Atkinson Government was due the colonialising of the Land Fund. Whether it is praiseworthy or not, this is a fact, and it will be remembered that Mr. Cuktis " blew the "aff" when, in addressing his constituents, he stated that ho was ' : in favor of taking the Land Fund in a reasonable way,"—which meant, of course, that that was the feeling of the party to which he belonged. Mr. Stout, however, pointed out that " Otago, by securing 20 per cent, of the Land Fund, and one-third of the revenue from Deferred Payments, had actually lost nothing." Mr. Stout explained how the Gkev parly paine into power. He said that "it was neuessary that there should be two parties—one Liberal and the other Conservative. The only charge made against the present Ministry was that it was too Radical, but its proposals would be the real test as to whether it was radical or not. Tho throe points in the policy of tho present Government were administrative reform, electoral reform, and taxation reform. In carrying out administrative reform they had three objects in view. The first was" the reduction of the expenses of the Government; second, dt'eentralizatiun of Government functions ; and, thirdly, the amalgamation of offices for the purpose of carrying out the two first-mentioned objects.'' Tho announcement by Mr. .Stout that it was the intention of the Government to propose a saving of L' 20,000 in the annua! expenditure in the Native Department will be received with satisfaction. The fact that it is possible to retrench l.y stteh an amount is undeniable evidence of the prodigality of the old system, which obtained for its initiators siu-h lavish praise because it was supposed to h:i\-e secured peace between Natives ami Europeans. Here we know but little of the administration of the Native l>i-parniienr ; indeed, far too little. It has been purposely enshrouded in mystery, so that Southerners should not understand it ; whilst those who have lived in the Native districts have fully appreciated tho sweets dispensed by a munificent Government. They Lave fattened on the Native expenditure, which has almost solely maintained whole townships, and the majority of which has been bartered for rum. If Mr. SheeuaN" succeeds in cutting down the expenses in the Native Department this year by the sum of L20.U00, there is no reason why it should not yearly be reduced until it:, infernal machinery ceases to exist. He is accomplishing what no one before him has had the courage to attempt —the reorganisation and reduction of a ruinous institution. Mr. Stout pointed to the other \a.T"c reductions that were being made in the Public Works and Justice Departments, and said that it wo* the intention Coitrvs throughout the Colony, and, perhaps, have Resident Magistrate's Courts in the- chief towns and upon the goldfields. It would be impossible within the limits of one article to comment upon the various items in Mr. Stout's address ; we will, therefore, content ourselves with aiving the remainder of the speech as it was forwarded to us by the' Press Agency, ,containing, as it does, many matters of pnblic importance, and reserve further comment for a future issue. There were two exceptions in connection with the proposed electoral reform, one affected counties and muunicipalities. and the other the representation to the House. In regard to the first, lie said that it was well known that the Grey party had been opposed to the plurality of votes given by the Aet. He did not know whether the House was ripe enough to have that prin!ci[>le altered. The Government would tirsfc deal with alterations as to representation in the Housi.% because the House could then effect all the necessary reforms. He then went en to show what [ the proposed electoral reforms of the I Government were, and said that they would consist of freehold ratepayingand residential franchise. He pointed out that at present various persons were excluded; and he criticised Mr. Bow'en's statement that the lodger franchise would admit loafers. He 3aid that even if there were some lodgers who could be so described, there were niany others who were not loafers, and these should not be excluded because of defects on the part of some of their class. It was ihe intention of the Government that greater Saac of registration should exist, and they propnsed that it should be twice a year in- : stead of once, a-t at present. They intend to introduce a Briber}' Bill, so that the rich would not have all the power at the polls, and that men should not be chosen because of their wealth, bnt because of their opinions, intellect, and moral worth. Bis private opinions were that they should adopt the laws of other countries which provided that I public-houses should be closed' upon voting ! days, and employment of cabs prohibited. In addition to this, it was intended that the hours of pMljiig should j be prolonged, bo that working men j would not have to leave their work j in order to record their vote. Re-dis-tribution could not be effected at j once, and the Government wished that the

new House should be elected under the newElectoral Law. The next question was that of taxation reform, and he pointed out that some people thought that the Land Fund would have prevented taxation. He showed that the need of taxation was sketched by Mr. Yogel in IS7O, and went on to say that the Government then had not the moral courage to face the question. The present Government was determined to do so, and it was their object to equalise the taxation. He showed that the present system of taxation was the revenue from Customs, stamps, and licenses ; and said that the fundamental rules i»f Adam Smith were violated by it. The Government were desirous that the burden should be cast upon all parties, and he added that class taxation had prevailed in the past, and was nothing new. The Customs duties must be lightened, in some instances, but these could not be specified at present, as it would lead to speculation on the part of merchants. 1 here was a large class at present deriving revenue from the land, and not paying their fair share of the taxation. The object of the Government ought to be to get at the unearned inurement. He saw no dill'ereuce between an acreage tax with classification and a valuation tax making deduction for improvements. The object should be that the tax should not fall upon small holders. He [jointed out that an ex-Minister had stated that he would like to see an education rate and a police rate, but the speaker contended that that would be taxing the haunts of industry, and he concluded by saying that if the people gave the Government their support in these measures, they would be carried out.