LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15186, 4 July 1911, Page 5

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

SPEECH AT HASTINGS. REPLY TO SiITjAS. CARROLL.. (Pjm United Puess Association.) HASTINGS, July 3. Mr Massey addressed u crowded meeting here to-night, and received a cordial welcome. He said that tho present Go-l vornmont hud for so long been in power that a number of abuses had grown up that required to be remedied, tie hoped people would give their attention to public uflairs during the next few months. One of the abuses of tho present day was government, by patronage. They knew of the promises .that were made before elec-,\ions—-promises that senietimes wero kept and sometimes not. It was absolutely necessary for this country to have clean and honest administration. Tho public debt was piling up, and the cost of living) was piling up. A reduction in the cost of living wo 3 wanted. Tho Government wao borrowing too rapidly, and was going .too far. Borrowing should bo kept level 'with tho increase) of tho population, but this year wo were about iilb per head in advance of tho increased- population. Evory five years during the last 20 years the amount, borrowed had been (respectively) four and a-half millions, six and a-lialt' millions, twelve and a-half millions, and< eighteen and a-hal? millions. Tho country's indebtedness last year was in j creased by six and α-half millions, tho increased revenue was about one million, and tho increase in the cost of Govern-i ment was nearly half a million. The arrivals in tho Dominion barely balanced the departures, i'ho Government was going at too fast a pace. A year ago me Prime Minister said the Government ought not to be pressed to epend money, yet in the succeeding 12 months ho borrowed six and a-half millions. Why? Because elections wero ■■ approaching, " and," added Mr Massey, " 1 am talking plainly—it was to buy vote's." Twenty years ago Mr Balance said :i " Our debt is great. Wo have matched at a great rate, and have piled lip obligations which should make sane men pause." History repeated itself, and they must be very careful or in the near future they might havo a repetition of the depression of 20. years ago. In reply to Sir Jas. Carroll's utterances in the south Mr Massey said it was the duty of the Government to borrow up to a certain limit and to spend the money, to the best advantage of the whole Do-' minion. The Government was not doing this. It was a mistake for all moneys to be borrowed through the Government, , and he instanced the last depression 'when the State treasury ran dry. It would bo botter for Now Zealanders to invest in their own country than to send money abroad for investment; as they wero compelled to do now. He repeated his statement that when the money borrowed by tho Government did not return 3£ or 4 per cent, they had to put their hand in the peoploV pockets to provide the deficieticy. Tho .Governttieht ha'd not pfoperly considered the Death Duties Act. The act was not intended to affect a small man, yet it did. Last year the Government increased the customs duties) and tho increase had-only just been repealed. It had increased the railway fares, which was another way of taxing the pedplo; and tho greater part of the increase wau on second-class fares. " Yet they, talk about placing the taxes on tho backs of those best able to pay." Ihcomo tax was collected from a merchant, who adjusted his profits and handed the tax on to the consumers. Tho banks .did not reduce dividends, but passed the tax on. It did not matter what section of the community they taxed, it came back on tho rank and filo. No country was made to prosper by increased taxation. It was frenzied finance. Had not the time come when they should look round for some method of reducing the taxation and pasing the burden of the people? He protested -against the Becrecy in regard to the cost of raising -.loans, and said the only information Parliament had got regarding the raising of the last five millions was that tho co3t was! per cent. For five years the country had not been told how much it cost to raise the loans. Last session ho moved—" That within 12 months of the floating of a loan the cost should bo on the table,'! but tho motion was defeated. This was how the Government denied tho people the right to know what loans were costing, ,He hoped the peoplo would send men to Parliament pledged to tell how tho loans were raised and how the monoy was spent. He denied Sir Jas. Carroll's statement that tho Opposition were injuring tho credit of the country. It was the Government that was doing that, not tho Opposition. The Prime Minister had said recently that if thoy stopped borrowing for two years half the peoplo would be insolvent and twothirds of the working men 'would be out of work. Was hot that a statement that' would injure the credit of the country if told in London? It was not tho Opposition sido that was injuring the credit of the country. During the last five years the increased cost of administration was £2,678,136. Speaking on tho land question, he said that iii 1906 the present Administration found three systems—cash, 0.r.p., and l.i.p. It knocked out tho 1.i.p., and gave in its place the renewable lease, and the renewable lease man and his successors were tenants for ever. It was not a fair thing for a country like this that a ■man should not have the option of making his land freehold at tho very first opportunity. Tho optional system should also apply in the caso if men taking up large blocks. Last session ho moved that a leaseholder should be allowed tho option to purchase, and was benton by 10 votes, and the next time he inoyed it he honed: the majority would be on' his side. Tho' original value was tho only thing that belonged to the State. Why not allow the settlers to pay off tho capital value. It would bo a good thing for the State, for money would be -provided to buy other lands for settling tile-couritry. Land Bills turned up every cession. Tho last one provided for compulsory leasing at a rental to be fixed by a court. Once a principle of this' nature was placed on the statutes thero was no tolling where it would end. That measure was not going l to pass into law. He mentioned it to show them something from the " powers that be," "and the only thing he could say about them was " that they don't know any better." Continuing, ho said that there were far too many peoplo iii the towns and- cities and too few in tho country. They were on dangerous ground now, and must open up the country. Every man who went on tho land mftde a living for a man in the city. Speaking of the Nativo. lands, ho said that on Ids recent journeying near tho North Cape he had seen land just as the *><?<itor left it. At Kawhai again, a place that one day would bo n city, the district waa strangled with Native lands. An exodus of New Zcalahders was proccediijpf steadily, while millions of acres of Crown, and Nfltive lands were lying idle. Tho proper thing to do was to give the Native- a chancti of managing his own business, and if the Natives wero not able to settle their own lands they should mako them available to Europeans. In reply to Sir James Carroll's criticism of his figures, Mr Massey said they were taken from a Blue Book, and lie was prepared to stand by them, because they were taken from a Government source, which probably Sir James Carroll had never seen. Ho would say to Sir James Carroll that if tho Native race were to be saved it would be by the 'gospel of work and not by the gospel of Taihon. No man in New Zealand had done so mnch harm as tho same Sir James Carroll. But for him all the Native lands would be occupied by prosperous people, and the Natives would become useful citizens. They were handicapped by tho Native land policy. Sir James Carroll had said that ho (Mr Mnsscy) knew nothing about

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Native lands. Hβ admitted that he did not. Ho lvwl not had any transactions in Native land, nor had he received a commission (or the saJo of Maori lands, jioithor had any of tho Opposition party, but lio emild give tho names o{ eix Government men iTho had dono eo feir James Carroll had raid lhat 76 per cent, of tho public debt was interest-earning, but he was wrong, ne only 63 per cent, was returning iiitsrest, ami the result was an increase in taxation. Sir James Carroll had eaid that ho (Mr Mtusey) had introduced only three bills in 16 yews, : but the powers in this respect were usurped by the Ministry, who were the only ones to get the Governor's confetti to introduce bills, nnd his time was hilly occupied in seeing that the Government went straight. When 'a bill like tho National Provident Fund Bill was introduced tho Opposition helped to placo it on the Statufo Book, but if a bill in which they did not believe was introduced they opposed it. The Government party had been raking his record for the past 17 years, but he had nothing to hi ashamed of. . Ho had been accused of calling the Miinetry hypocrites and humbugs, but what he had really soid was that their policy was ono of political humbug ami hyprobrisy, and he was prepared to stand by it. Referring to the Black pamphlet, Mr Massey said an attempt to connect the Opposition with it was the most cowardly attack he had ever heard of, and was hitting below the belt. Dealing with the taxation of the land, ho said that the act did not discriminate properly between the man who made good use of his land and the man who did not, and some exemption should bo made. Speaking on tho Public Debt Extinction Act of last' session, he said that othei countries tad tried this system, but tho difficulty.was that ohe.Government could not bind its successors. One party might make provision for sinking funds' and another might collar it. Two sets of sinking funds were arranged last year, butwhen £500.0$) of debeiltuKß Ml dlio, 'nstead of 'being paid off tho debentures were renewed, ond the sinking funds collared. A local body might borrow molieV outside the Dominioh, but the act compelled it to hand over the sinking fund to' the Public Trustee. The Govenjmont bad no right to take this money. Refol'ih was needed in the Legislative Council, ns in the House of Lords. They wanted an independent body of men. The present system of apopintraents was perfectly ludicrous. The best method of reform was by the elective system on a pto-. portional representation. " Appointments were now made as a reward for political services, and a man who had money put into a newspaper to support the Govern-* liient was sure of a seat in the Council. The proper system of, appointments to the public service was oy competitive examination, and, as in other countries, by an independent board* The old system Wae adhered to to get political -support and influence. Ho favoured a public service commission or board. The Ministry continually stealing the powers -belonging to Parliament. He recently noticed a clause in the tariff enacted by the Go-vernof-in-Council which should have been done by Parliament. One of the great principles of the British Constitution Was that no taxation uould bo imposed without the consent of Parliament, but this was not dono in regard to the. tariff clause. The money voted. by Parliament for a certain purpose wa3 often spent on roads and bridges to catch vote! No salary fixed by Parliament should be increased without going before tho representatives of the people. He knew the people of the Dominion were loyal and patriotic enough to present a Dreadnought, but what he objected to was the offer being made without the sanction of Parliament. A gold nugget obtained on tho West Coast, the " Hon. Roddy," had been presented to tho King for tho Coronation, but no one knew anything about it till it was done. They would probably be told next session, when.it was too late .to open the question. ■ . . The Government had no policy. The Land Bill was introduced in 1906 'and dropped, and another introduced the following year was lilso abandoned. Sir J. 6. Ward had told the peoplo of America that the policy of tho Government was to jind out what the people wanted and to give it to them. When the recently repealed Gaming Act was introduced the Government party Voted for the license of professional bookmakers and against a reduction in tho number of racing days, but last year, with the exception of Sir J. Carroll, they voted for the abolition of the bookmakers and a reduction in tho number of days for .acing. The samo volte face happened in regard to the Defence Bill, the Licensing hill, tho Native Land Townships Bill, tho Enyvett affair, and tho removal of Government House from Auckland.! The Government should lay its policy on the loor of tho House, and if Parliament did hot approve of it go outt of office. Regarding titles, he wbuld exempt Sir j, S. Williams and Sir A. Guinness from; his remarks,"but as for members f,f the Liberal party, they said years ago they would never accept titles, but now they. rushed them, They were welcome to them as far as he. was. concerned. Mr Millar said the railways were paying a higher rate (4£ per cent.). than ever before, but this was duo to the increase in fares and also to the early harvest in the/ South Island, where grain had to >be car-* ried on railways. Mr Millar also said that £5010 would bo spent in increasing the salaries of tho railway men. He did not object to this, but something happened just prior to the last election yet the dec tion was hardly ovor when a number were dismissed. Tho same thing occurred six yeal's ago, but was found to be illegal. Ho asked was history going to repeat itself?' He believed it was only a bribe regarding wages. Tho Opposition was slandered at election times, and tho people told that the Opposition was the party of low wages, hut this was wrong. There were no more broadminded men than those on the Opposition benches. The present industrial law did not discriminate between first and second class men. Thero was not enough confidence in this country in the co-opera-tion of the employer and employee. He favoured the Victorian system' of wages boards, consisting of two riien ,nppoihtcil by ths employers and two by the employees. A.bill was lately Introduced by the Imperial Government to provide fci , sickness. If this could be done in a Conservative land it could be done here, alid he would assist to placo such a measure on the Statute Book.

A vote of thanks was carried by acclamation.