THE PRIME MINISTER AT WINTON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14355, 27 October 1908, Page 5

THE PRIME MINISTER AT WINTON.

AN ENCOURAGING SPEECH. PROGRESS oTsoUTIILAND. REPLY TO~ OPPONENTS. (Fnoii Oim Sitciai, Reporteiwu WINTON, October 26. The Right Hon. Sir J. G. Ward, Prime, night, a considerable, number of his constituents in Moore's Hall, Winton, tonight, a considerable number of his hearers travelling a. long way to listen to the address. Seats on the platform were occupied by the Mayor of Winton (Mr C. D. Moore), Lady Ward, Miss Moore (Winton), Mr J. A. Ilanan, M.P., and Mr W. 13. Scaudrett (Mayor of lnvercargill). In : a brief speech the Mavor fittingly introduced the Prime Minister to the audience. Sir J. G. Ward, who was received with cheers, expressed the pleasure he had in meeting his friends in Winton once more. He did not now get the opportunity of meeting them so frequently as ho would like, and when he did get that opiwrlunitv it was a great pleasure to see so many | friendly faces taking an interest in the affairs of the country.—(Applause.) Before proceeding to deal with general matters ho desired to say a word or two about THE PROGRESS OF SOUTHLAND. It was always a matter of satisfaction, when speaking of the progress of the country as a whole, to know that one's own district was contributing towards that progress and prosperity. In looking over the statistics for the provincial district of Southland-he was very glad to find that that district was . always moving ahead. During the last live years the imputation of Southland had. increased by 5556, and therefore it could not be said that Southland was responsible for the depletion of the population. The valuation of land and improvements for the live years bad gone .up from £9,263.000 to £11,800,000an increase of .nearly £2,600,000. The. unimproved value of feo.uthland—that was, the Counties 6f Wallace, Southland, Fiords, and Stewart Island—had increased by £1,499,000, the. occupied holdings bad increased from 5200 to 5700, while the total area of cultivated lands had increased from 1,048,000 acres to 1,110,000 acres. Vxo area under crop had increased from 253,000 acres to 274,000 acres, horses bad increased by 28.206, cattle by 102,000, dairy cows by 7538, and sheep by 26.508. The results, therefore, showed conclusively lhat, however viewed, Southland was taking its place in the onward march of the Dominion as a whole.—(Applause.) During the same period Greater lnvercargill had increased in population by 2370, in capital value by £399,000, unimproved value by £317.000; ami the imports to lnvercargill and Bluff had increased by £153:900. and tho exports by £242,000. The population of Gore bad increased by 600, the capital value by £158,000, and the unimproved value by £78,000. There was nothing evanescent about this progress of Southland, and there was nothing in the shape of a boom about it—(Applause.) THE DOMINION'S ADVANCE. It was an extraordinary thing, and very gratifying, that in the last 10 years from North Cape to Bluff there was an increase in every stale of life of the people. In that period the population bad increased by 27.49 per cent., imports had increased 106 per cent., and exports 105 pev cent; and if they took the individual items making up the aggregate exports from New Zealand they would find that wool had increased by no less than 35,000,0001b— an increase of nearly 26i per cent.,— frozen meat had increased by 9i7,ooocwt, or 67 per cent.; tallow by 105,000cwt, or 34 per cent.; sheepskins by 5.328,000 in number, or 90 -per cenv.; butter by 229,000cwt, or 231 per cent.; cheese b.v 159,000cwt, or 204 per cent.; gum by 2067 tons, or 31 per cent.; flax by 25,778 tons, or 930 per cent.; the output of gold by 256,00007,, of a value, of, £1,047,208, or 101 per cent. In the Customs revenue tho aggregate increase in the same period amounted to £1,167,261, and in every other line increases were recorded. The inward, shipping had increased by 567,367 tons, and the outward by 550,049 tons. Telegraphic messages had increased by 4,346,000, Ihe bank deposits bv £9,226,000, and the Savings Batik deposits bv £7,304,000, whilst the policies in force in the Government Life Insurance Department, together with tho bonuses, bad increased by £2,123,113 in value. The unimproved value of the land had increased by £65,492,000, and tho value of improvements by £45,722,000. He had avoided going inlo the values of -frozen meat and wool, because some critics might say that, the figures were not reliable, inasmuch as fluctuations might take place. The strongest argument tbey had, however,, was that in every ■ single commodity which this country produced, , whether it be gold, wool, flax,'frozen •meat, kauri gum, butter, or.cheese, an enormous increase in output had taken place in the period of years to which he had referred. (Applause.) LAND SETTLEMENT. . During Ihe comparatively short period the land policy of the Government had been in operation 100,000 souls had been placed on tho lands of New Zealand. A close examination showed that four and a-half persons, including the settler, was what tho niacins? of one settler on the land meant, and with 100,000 souls placed on the land, was there anything ephemeral in the figures be had given regarding the progress and development of ihe country.— (Applause.) He would next, call attention to an indication of the development that had gone on from 1891 to 1906. The PRIVATE WEALTH of the people of New Zealand had increased from £145,000,000 to £304,000,000 (excluding the Government wealth in every ditcc- j tion). The income tax paid bythe'people j had increased from £128,000 m 1900 to £504,000 in 1907. What did that, men*? It meant increased income to a larger number I of people, and it showed the enormously increased earning power of the community from'end to end of New Zealand. Then the imports from 1900 to 1907 increased in value''from £5 ; 900,000 to £16,500,000, and the free imports had increased from £1,871,000 in 1694 to £6.350,000 in 1907, and ' the dutiable goods had increased from £4,100,000 in lbß4 to £10,1t'9,000 in 1907. lie alluded to these figures to give some indication of the .resources of v .(he people. The increase in the private wealth .of the peoplo was enormous. The increase in the incomes of the people was .equally leniarkaKe, and it should be remembered that there had been no increase in the incomo tax, and no decrease in the exemptions, so that no critic, however fastidious or however unfair—and there were some unfair critics,—could gainsay that these- figures spelt, reform in every direction.-(Applausc) Ho next wanted to treat with a matter in connection with the PUBLIC WORKS EXPENDITURE that he desired fb place on record. The expenditure of a country inust bo judged iioi by its amount, but, by its object, and they required to keep beiore (hem in discussing the public work expendiutre tho object on which that expenditure had been made, and if they did that they would arrive at a rational understanding' of what waa going on in the country. He would asK the Opposition, which criticised I ho policy of the Administration, what item of public _ cxpcidirure. it would cut down, What items in connection with public expenditure would it eea-e bornnving for? An answer was essential if ths Opposition wanted to be taken seriously. It was no U6o the Opposition, on the floor 0 f the House, voting for every loan proposed and for all public works expenditure named in the I'ui/iic Works Statement, asking for •largely increased expenditure in their own districts and calling out for additional moneys for railways, icai'.s, and bridges, and then going over the country and intimating to the people that the Government's proposals for carrying on important public works wore extravagant and that tho borrowing was excessive. If the Opposition wanted to have its criticism accepted as genuine and sincere it ought to say what ite»; it would cut down, »jkl in what'direction it would cease borrowing. Opposition criticism los-l its effect b> wild and reckless statements and by pushing denunciation too far. Tho force of censure and of criticism lay in its corlectneis and its fairness, and an Opposition, to be fair, should give credit where credit was due and censure where censure was deserved. Tho Opposition at present had no definite policy, unless they accepted vague propoea-ls and platitudes as a substitute for something that ought to be definite. The Opposition would never work into poiver by a bundle of negatives. He would express the belief in all humility that tho Opposition had no monopoly of the wisdom of this country.—(Applause.) What tho Government was working for was t.h.3 living present and the inur.cdiato future, and that ought to be tho concern of all practical politicians. In politics, as in everything eke, the wisest course to do tho work that

lay nearest to one, assured that by doing lhat the next thing would he easier. There was no such thing in this world as political perfection, and he had never -itaimetl on ljchalf of Ui'e Government anything approaching political perfection, nor would any member of Ihe Opposition who recognised how difficult Ihe task of the Government was—legislative, administrative, eolielructivc, or defensive. For that reason he votlld say thai what Ihe Government aimed at was liot the destruction cr injury of any section c-f the people. On the contrary, it, wanted to work in order to give every olaso in New Zealand an opportunity to improve ■ileelf individually and collectively, awl to give a fab-chance under legislative action to tho humblest person to ascend to tho highest petition, in.the country by following tho old gald-en ride to success, by hard industry, by close application to wcrk, and by steadfastness to purpose.—(Applause.) REPLY TO Mil ALLEN. He would next call attention, ; n eoniiectior with same of the criticism to. which tho Government was subjected, to one or two stateiiK.-iii.'i made by a leading member of the Opposition, .Mr James Allen, in criticism cf a. speech delivered by him (Sir Jcxyh Ward) in l'alnKrstcn North re-ceii-;ly. lie wanted to show how in political liin me:\ of ability allowed iheir judgment and oven their abilities, to lie. misundcrsif.od; and created a feeling that they were prejudio.id to the extent ct being distinctly inawuratt when tho opportunity presented itself o! criticising a speech of the head of an Administration to which they happened to lie oppescd. Mr Allen, at Stirling, made a statement that, would bo very damaging if true, but as it was not true it lost its force. He admitted that he hart applied for votes for his district, and he added: "If the plunder wa6 there, and .he did not dip his hand in the chest as representing Bruce, he would noi'he doing his duty. He would rather see the plunder stopped, but still if they were to eoramblc for the money that was necessary to their constituents it was necessary that Ira should • get a share for his district, for they had lo assist in paying for the harrowed mcrcey.'' Now, long before proposal's were made by the Government as in the amount of money it intended to borrow, Mr Allen was knocking at the Treasury dcor for large sums of money. He did not wait before he dipped his hand into the Treasury chest to get a portion of ihe plunder, as he called it. He was one cf the first participators in tho plunder, so that out of his own lips ho had proved himself to be an, agitator for large sums of money to be borrowed, because when he was applying for the plunder it was before he knew what amount would bo borrowed by the Government, and he must be charged with having brought pressure- to beacon the Government to incroaso Ihe borrowing that he now professedly condemned.—(Applause.) He stood con- I victcd of being an agitator for a larger j amount of public expenditure than tho Government had borrowed, and according to his own theory he ought never to have approached (he Government and asked it to go for borrowed moneys in any portion of ihe country. What be ought to have don-e was to have gene to the Government I and stated that he represented a constituency which, as a matter of principle, did not want its district to he helped out of j borrowed money, but wanted the Government to treat other districts in the same way. Had the lion, gentleman done that, and liad the Government gone in for a borrowing policy, he would have stood on sound ground in criticising the borrowing proposals and the allocations, and not bein the weak position he- was by putting on record his poor excuse for putting his hand into the Treasury and takine his share, as ho said, of the public plunder of the Dominion.—(Applause.) He also desired to say a word or two regarding Mr Allen's reference to (he commitments under the Public Works Estimates, and he did' so because the statements made were so extraordinary and unfair. The member for Bruce said: "In the Public Works Estithere were votes and commitments, j and they would find that the commitments totalled no less than £117,000, and the liability on account of -the Midland railwav construct ian (for which thor.j was no vote) on March 31 lost was £472,000. Add those two sums together, and thov would find that there was a sum of £889,000 for which there was not a penny provided. . . . If ihe financial' position of the Dominion broke down next year we. were bound to moke default." He did not know tliaf he had ever seen a. statement coming from a, jmblie man that he regretted more than ,fhat statement coming from Mr Allen. •That hon. gentleman was a man of abilitv. and had occupied a position in Parliament ail the time that he (Sir J. (J. Ward) had been there, with the exception of an interruption of about three years, but the statement given abo've was verv misleading. He desired to say with regard lo the Midlaud railway tunnel—the Otira. tunnel, as %m S J,T"!\ by ~f iat a « ntr » cl '<» «1»llt ioCO.OOO had been let for it, the work to be completed m five years. Upon the Kslimates this year was a vote for Midland railway expenditure, including the Otira Gorge contract, of £150,000.' Once Ihe Government had let a contract for £600,000. as in this case, it always showed the full amount ui th e contract as a liability upon the Miniates. This vcai- Ihe liability under the contract was shown, and Mr Allen wanted-to convey Ihe impression Wat because the total amount of the contract had not been voted upon this year s Estimates we were drifting into a position that might cau.se the country, next year to default. A move unfair position regarding the financial position of the country had never ken put, forward by a public num. Supposing the Government entered into a contract for the con--2TS n of ISO miles of 'aib-vay at i\mm\i ™ k ' that ' TOu; * V l» i.I.aUU.OUO, the contract to extend over 10 years. Mr Allen would have it, according; to his statement, regarding the Midland i?i Snn "'?* , thc wllole amaunt of £1,500,000 _ should be voted on the first year's Estimates. It would he absolutely unfair to do any such and at no time in the history of the country had any such thing as was suggested bv Mr Alien been done by any responsible Govorn-ment.-(Applauso.) lor that reason he was justified in saying that the criticism of the Opposition, if it was to be of any value, should be reliable and- accurate, and not be misleading- in order to gain a party advantage or anything of the kind. Tho whole ol the public expenditure provided for this year was within the total of ways and means. In this connection he desired to say that it was no question of want of money that had prevented Ihe Land Settlement Bill teing p„t on the Statute Jtook hist session. Early in the scMion he indicated that the measure would be circulated for the information of the people, and lhat after the people had hud time to consider it the Government proposed to go on with it next session. It had been slated that the hill bad been held back because of divergent views in the Cabinet on the land question. Ho publicly challenged Mr Allen to name any person from whom he had even heard a rumour tint there was diversity of opinion in the Cabinet on this bill. When the Land Settlement Finance Bill was submitted by himself to the Cabinet it- waa unanimously approved. It was ho (Sir Josephl who desired that it should be held over for the consideration of the people, becau.se it involved a great financial principle, which in fairness to the people should Ixi explained lo them before Parliament was asked to {jive .assent to it. The suggestion that there was Cabinet dissension regarding it was a matter of Mr Allen's own flexibity of intellect.— (Laughter and applause.) Regarding Mr Allen's strictures as to the ability of the Advances to Settlers Department to cope with the demands made upon it for advances, the Prime Minister said that tlm department bad advanced nearly nine millions sterling lo the. farmers of the Dominion, not one single shilling of which up jo now had been lost. During last year nearly £1,300,000 had been lent out. In the last, six months financial institutions had been calling in inoncv from private people, with the result that'there had been

an enormous demand for money from the Advances to Settlers Office to enable these men to tide over their difficulties. The department could only average so much per annum, and in order to give assistance to the different people throughout the Dominion applications for advances after a cerlain period had to he taken in turn. It, was an impossibility within a short period to make the total advances people hiul applied- for, and if the system of bringing pressure to bear on the department lo make advances to certain people, which ho refused lo sanction, were allowed to obtain it would very soon injure the department, and in turn injure a- large number of people throughout New Zealand.— (Applause.) In fact, during the two months of October and November the de-

partment would pay out verv nearly £600,000, and he would like to know whether, in the opinion of any unprejudiced man, £300,000 a month was not a very large sum for a Government department to pay.—(Applause.) As a matter of fact, if the coffers of the Advances fo .Settlers Dopamnonl at the present lime contained £2,000,000, their business was to husband lhat money for a time and not pay all out in a week or two.-(" Hear, hear.") Regarding JJir Allen's witjeism of'

(lie Parliamentary and (iovernmont Buildings expenditure, Sir Joseph repealed his Statement, published in Saturday's Otago Daily Times, that, all lliat the Government, proposed was that the new Par-, liamentary building* should cost £125,000, the Departmental buildings £20,000, and the Oovcrnor's residence £25,000, or a total of £225,000. Having 1 made a sensible proposal on a busi-ness-which nearly tho whole House, confirmed, and having worked f-ai isf aetorily in tho direction of dealing with the unfortunate position brought about by 1 ho fetation of tho buildings, why should the Uovcrhment he deliberately "misrepresented in the matter? If it, was deliberately niisrepresented in I,lih particular matter to the extent o! more than twice the proposed expenditure, was it not safe to conclude that vhe Government was being misrepresented iii other matters as well? Concerning the erection of now departmental buildings, he eaxl that in tho present buildings there were millions of documents that ought to he preserved in, the interests of tho people, and, in addition, there were all the deeds of every important Native land transaction and all the deeds dealing with land tenures in different portions of 'Wellington. Many of the old provincial deeds were, in strongrooms or safes, and the custodians of them had slated before a committee that they were doubtful if tho strongrooms or safes would come, through a fire; therefore it bad been suggested that tho future departmental buildings should be erected away -from the large wooden building, and they ought to be, constructed of such material as would ensure the (safety of documents which were wined, at, many thousands of pounds, apart altogether from Iheir value to the people intercslod or concerned in /them. The whole matter waa really being approached in a comrnonsenso way, and tho Government was doing what was sensible and economical in the general interests of the country, and yet .it was said it was extravagant.—(Applause,) Toiioh'iug on other matters,. Sir Joseph Ward asked who was the first man who ba<l ever made a practical proposal to pay off moneys against which there war, not a visible asset? The first man to propose it, and to do it was himself. The Maori war loan had carried out -its purpose when the war terminated. He had suggested the. paying off of the loan and made provision for it, and now a sinking fund was ■being estab. lished towards the extinction of tho loan. Every member in Parliament knew thai, fact, yet not- a word was said about it by their Opposition friends. Arrangements hid also bean, made for the repayment of tho whole of the money borrowed for the purchase of landed estates, for which over £5,000,00 bad been borrowed. Nearly £9,000,000 of the loans of the Dominion that had no sinking fund was now a disappearing quantity. If was a oomnicndablo step to lake—-(applause),—but the Opposition gave the Government no ovedit for it. In connection with tho ' PUBLIC WORKS EXPENDITURE he wished to say a few words. Tho gross total works expenditure from the initiation of the scheme up to March 31 last amounted to £16,702,0(8, and of this sum no less than £19,803,942 had been spent, since the Liberal party came into powor in 1891. The principal heads of expenditure iind the amounts expended thereunder in the period referred to (1891-1G08) were:— Railways, £10.259,284; roads. £4,285.664; public buildings,- £2,023,594; telegraphs and telephone;, £878,887; purchase of Native lands. £844.611; other works and services, £1,506,902 ;-totai, £19,803,942. The Liberal (iovcrnment had spent, therefore, in public works in round figures, say, £20,000,000. Now let them see what they had got for their money. When tec Liberal party took office the length of Government tailways open for traffic was 1842 miles, and the length on March 31 ]a-:b was 2471 miles, an increase of 629 miles. Not only had the mileage teen largely increased, but tho character and equipment of the lines .-had been greatly improved. Many miles of lino ,had been duplicated, or were now in- course of duplication. Heavier rails had' been laid on all tho more important lines, and the number of sleepers to the mile had becni largely increased. Softwood structures had been replaced with new ones in either hardwood or concrete and steel. Many new station buildings had l>ccn erected and. others greatly improved, and the rolling stock had been improved and increased as under: — 1891. 1903. Increase, Lecomctiivc* - 270 400 ... 140 Carriages 501 1,002 ... 501 Brake vans 193 333 ... 140 Sheep waggons ... 318 1.008 ... 680' Other waggons ... 7660 14,134 ... 6474 Tarpaulins 5158 11,422 ... 6264 The earning power of the railwavs had been immensely augmented bv this "expenditure, as was evidenced by the following: § s „ o 8 ■ S S nil 5a oi s ■*£ s ° 2* || l~ 1891 .." £1,121.781 £420,998 £2/18/11 1908 .. i2,701,93H £812,173 £3/6/8 So much for the railways. Now let them glance at the expenditure on ROADS. The* gross total expenditure on road works from the initiation of the public works policy up to the advent of the Liberal parly to power in 1891 was £3,575,804, and since that date. £4,285,664,'making a gross total to 31st March last of £7,861,468. It would thus be seen that the party now in ..power had actually spent more money by £709,860 on road wotlss throughout the Dominion during 17 years of .office than all the previous Governments that had been in jiower since the initiation of tho public works policy, and as an evidence that vigilance in this' direction was not relaxing it might be mentioned that the votes of the current linancial year for road works amounted to no less than 5711,625, thus:—roads departmental, £24,275; roads generally, £283,606; back-blocks roads, £250,000; tourist roads, £30,194; roads on goldfields, £48,550; maintenance of roads (Consolidated Fund), £25,000; road works under the loans to local bodies' account, £50.000. The expenditure on road works during tho Liberal party's tenure of office had amounted to rather more than £4,'250,000, ' and in return for this the Roads Department reported that 10,350 miles of new roads had been made (of which about 1900 miles still remained as bridle tracks) and that 1646 bridges had been built of a total length of 156,250 ft. By the construction of these, roads and bridges about 6,500,000 acres of land had been rendered accessible for settlement.— (Applause.) PUBLIC BUILDINGS. On public buildings £2,028,594 had been spent since January, 1891. Tho number of new building was legion—they were to bo found in every town and village in tho Dominion. Of post offices alone 131 new buildings had been erected and occupied during the period referred to, and new courthouses and police stations had been erected practically everywhere. The erection of school' buildings had boon a special feature of this expenditure, no less than £734.932 having been laid out in that direction, in addition to the further sum of £663,369 charged to the Consolidated Fund for the maintenance of school buildings, lifting.-, and furniture. The character of iheir buildings had also greatly improved. It was now quite the rule to erect all the more important public buildings in brick or stone, wooden structures, except in rural districts, being seldom built, now. To those who were criticising the Government's expenditure in connection with publio buildings he would put the question. Were these pest offices l>oing built where they were not required? Were railway stations being erected unless there were people, who desired to be served by them? Were eouTthoiii-M lind school buildings being erected merely for amusement.? Ocriainly they were not, yet in tho criticisms that. went on how often was it admitted by rno critics that the requirements of the people were being provided for? AVhfit lie would like to ask was New Zealand's POSITION IN THE FINANCIAL WORLD* In the conversion operations of the Government in the last two years (and a, portion of the current year) they had converted about £7,800.000, and in addition they hr.-d. paid off a loan of £SOO,OCO. Thes* transactions meant the saving of a very considerable sum in interest, and the whole of the operations had been conducted quietly and satisfactorily, and without any fuss iand not the least difficulty had been experienced.—(Applause.) Further, the. Government, had this year acquired (lie Manawatu Railway Company's line at, a cost of £1,000,000 (taking in cost of improvements), and the whole of the money hail been found without any ostentation and without tho people knowing how the operation had been managed. These large transactions required to bo carried out with privacy and caution, and when the proper time'came tho records could be placed before tlm people. If the information was given away during the course, of the. operations it might, ruin the whole fHn.-|App!ause.) Tho Government had arranged for "all the money it would require for a considerable.

time ahead, and it was jiot using any of the money in Now Zealand, so that, its opponents could have nothing against it on that score—(Applause.) Jn coniieclion with the financial position, he wished to give the results of six mom lis' traiwaelions of an important department. The pest, and telegraph revenue for the .- six months of 'the financial year already elapsed showed a satisfactory increase of £26,063 over- the first Iwo quarters of last year. Towards' this result the poslat items had contributed -£12,685 and the telegraph £13,378. The revenue had not yet had time to reeovei from Ihe 60 per cent, reduction in money order and postal note commission made on January 1. and the period under review showed a falling off of £4443 on these items, notwithstanding a largely-increased business; but as with-the penny postage -reductions, there could lie no doubt that in the course of two or three years the revenue would recover its level. The main sources of revenue showed steady increases, postages showing £17,038, telegrams £6452, and telephone exchanges £6673. The total post and telegraph revenue for the half-year might he set down us £416,755. This, with the Uw> best quarters yet to come, should lead to most satisfactory results. He hoped to see-the year's figures reach £900,000, and, given a reasonable increase in business, should not fall far short of lhat sum.—(Applause.) The total number of paid telegrams', for the June and September quarters reached no less than 3,438,470, an increase of 222,539 over last year's figures' for those quarters. The ■Savings Bank deposits increased ' from £4,780,118 in the half-year ended September 30, 1907, to £4,927,265 in the corresponding half-year of 1908, Ihe excess of deposits over withdrawals amounting to £147,418. Tho effect of the inaterial reduction of some 50 per cent,' in the commission on money .orders and postal notes was beginning to make itself felt. The halfyear just completed 'showed an increase over tho corresponding period in 1907 of 34,809 -money orders :'and 99,764 postal note transactions, the total monev order transaction.*, .being 425,657 for £1,880,457, ami the postal-iipto 1,181,228 for £374,995. In tho .Invencargill ixßtal district the increased; post;'-and ; telegraph business had been very -marked. 'In - 1897 6,785,194 articles wore posted and • delivered, and the postal .'revenue, was £20,808. In 1907 the number of articles dealt with bad risen to 33,932,715 for apostal revenue of £28,811. Tho money orders issued and paid in the former year reached 21,233 in number and £66,891 in value, .and. those in 1907 had increased to 33,551 in number and £122,636 in value. The Savings Bank deposits in 1897 totalled 889(7 for £108,362, and the. withdrawals 5376 for £96,176. In 1907 the transactions voip 9,1,327 deposits for £363,938, and '13,249 withdrawals for £300,088. The mother of postal notes sold and paid in the. former year was 42,384 for £15,317. and in 1907 the number had risen to 99,378, and: the value to. £32,892. Nine years ago 480,270. telegrams were handled, and the value - Of the forwarded messages was £5921, while in 1908 the number of messages badnearly doubled, being 927,026, and tho value of the forwarded telegrams was £11,482.; ■ The increase in the telephone business had been "very great in lnvercargill, the-total subscribers liaving risen in 10 years, from 318 to 872,—(Applause.) OTHER MATTERS. Referring to railways, Sir Joseph gave a comparison of the fares now ruling with those in force some years ago, and quoted figures to show the great progress made in the traffic. He also referred to the Natiopal Annuities Bill, taxation matters, and other topics, some of local interest, ! and resumed his seat at 10.40 p.m., amid very hearty applause, after speaking for two hours and 20 minutes. A number of questions were answered, and Mr John Hamilton then moved— "That this meeting accords a hoartv vote of thanks to, the Right Hon. Sir ",T. G. Ward for his very able and instructive address, and expresses every confidence in him as the representative of the district, and ako i in the Government of which ho is the distinguished leader." Mr W. Swale seconded the motion, which was carried without' a dissentient vote. Hearty cheers were given for Sir Joseph and Lady Ward.