Political.

Otago Witness, Issue 1489, 29 May 1880, Page 8

Political.

MR MACANDREW AT PORT CHALMERS.

Mr James Macandrew, the member for Port Chalmers, mef his constituents in the Odd. Fellows' Hall there on the evening of the 21st, to address them upon the political situation. About 400 electors were present, and tha chair was taken by Mr W. Murray, the mayor.

The Chairman introduced the member by saying that if he were not now the Hon. James Macandrew, that would shortly be his title. It was unnecessary for him to make many remarks. The hon. member, after a short address, would be glad to answer questions and to hear the views of hia constituents. Mr Maoandrew said: Mr Chairman and gentlemen,— When last I had the pleasure of addressing you aa a candidate for your suffrages, I think I stated, iv reply to a question, that if elected I should, be happy to meet my constituents during the recess, and I am here to-night in fulfilment of that promise, and to give whatever explanation with regard to my political action ai your representative may be desired, and to give whatever, information you may desire. Gentlemen, it would be stale, flat, and unprofitable were I to endeavour to epitomise "Hansard," whichis very of -.en, or generally, done on such occasions, I shall not, therefore, weary you by attempting anything of the sort, but I shall very shortly and in general terms refer to the leading features of the session. I may say that after the slaughter of a good many innocents, there were no less than upwards of 90 bills that found their way on to the Statute-book this last session, and about one half of these are what are termed local and personal bills, and therefore they need not be referred to now. Of the others, I think that some halfdozen were supply bills, and no leas than 17 are amendments to former Acts: in fact, the General Assembly of New Zealand is very great in amendments. Almost every Act that is passed requires to be amended every year for all time coming. I have sometimes refleoted that our Provincial Council used to do matters differently, and was much more perfect in its legislation. Well, gentlemen, amongst the remainder of the public bills passed to which I may allude is the Qualification of Electors Act. That Act provides for the elective franchise being conferred upon every male adult who has resided for 12 months in the Colony and has resided for six months within the electoral district for which he wishes to claim to vote. Then there is the Begistration of Electors Act, which provides for the name of every man qualified to vote being placed upon the electoral roll. I think this Act is a mistake, myself. I think it iB a very cumbrous thing having a roll at all ; for if we are to have universal suffrage, I do not see why we should not have a much more simple and less expensive form of getting at it than by an electoral roll. Another important bill that was passed was the Triennial Parliament Bill, which provides that the duration of Parliament Bhall be three years instead of five. These three measures may be said to form an instalment of the Liberal policy of Sir George Grey, but I may say that I think they are comparatively valueless unless we are to have a readjustment of the representation on a fair and equitable basis. I believe, gentlemen, that had the Liberal party continued in the ascendant in'the Parliament, as I believe they are in the ascendant in the country— l Bay that had they continued in the ascendant in Parliament, this bill would have found its way to the Statute-book along with the others, and as a complement of the others. I may say that Sir George Grey had a bill drafted having this object in view. What the intention of the present Government may be, of course it is impossible for me to anticipate. I regret that I have not had the opportunity of seeing the Premier's speech last night, in which, I understand, he revealed .what is to be the policy of the present Government. One thing is dear— that whatever Government undertakes this task will find it no easy matter to reconcile those constituencies which have for so many years anjofred certain privileges and powers— vested rights, some people call them-at the expense of their neighbours, to part with them. I say it will be difficult to recoucile these constituencies to part with any portion of their powers. Amongst the other bills to which I might allude are the Customs Tariff Act, and the Land Tax Collection Act, the Tobacco Act, and the Treasury Bills Act. I think these are the moat important of the public bills. The Customs Tariff Act provides for the imposition of additional duties on various articles, chiefly spirits, tobacco, and stamps. These increases are calculated to realise an addition to the revenue of some L 300.000 ; while on the other hand there are certain remissions amounting to some L 15,000 or L 16.000. The Tobacco Act professes to encourage the manufacture of tobacco within the Colony. It charges the same duty as is paid on the imported article, only the manufacturer is to receive a bonus of 6d per lb. in respect of all on which he pay 8 duty. Well, gentlemen, the only other Acts to which I shall adverb are the Property Assessment Act and the Property Tax Act. The one provides the machinery by which the other ia to be enforced. I may say, gentlemen, that passed, and I need not say, for you may take it for granted, that I opposed this measure at every stage.. I looked upon it as being one of the most disastrous measures which could be applied to this Colony: the practical effect of it, certainly the tendency of it, will be to deter capitalists from coming to our shores, and to influence those who are here, and can manage to leave, to seek fresh fields and pastures new. Gentlemen, I object to this tax as being most offensive and inquisitorial in its nature, and as being unneotssary and uncalled for. Just fancy what must bo the feelings of those from the Old Country, whom we are endeavouring to prevail upon to past in their lot with' us, when on landipg ia the Colony the first thing they are greeted with is a paper to fill up requiring a return of whatever money they may have brought with'thom, and not only that but the contents of their personal luggage, from the hat on the head to the shoes on the feet, the watch in the pocket and the ring on the finger, if they have any. I must say, gentlemen, I cannot conceive hpw the people of this Colony should put up with such an iniquitous tax as this. —(Applause.) And I must Bay that if they tamely submit to it, then they richly deserve it, and a great deal more. I forgot to bring with me a schedule, which all of you will bp called upon to fill up directly, that would have given you a good idea of the tax, and would have enabled me to pveach fov some time on the tax. Probably my views upon the tax would be best explained if you would allow me to read to you very /shortly a few remarks I made in the Assembly when the bills were passing there. Tbey are very Bhort, and if you will allow' me I will iusfc read what passed. The necond reading of the bill was moved by the Colonial Treasurer in a long Bpeeeh, and then he was followed by Mr Ballance, who made, to my mind, a most telling speeoh, cutting the ground entirely from under the Treasurer's f,ee>- to my

satisfaction at all events. Well, then, nobody seemed inclined to speak in favour of the measure, and I thereupon got up on the spur of the moment, and am reported to have spoken as follows:— "I suppose the supporters of this bill are not going to speak to it. I presume that is about the state of the case j and, Sir, as the House has already by a majority of 11 decided that it is satisfied with the financial proposals of the Government, it seem 3to me that there is nothing for the minority to do but to enter its protest against this measure being passed at all. I do not see what more we can do than to record our voteß against it at every stage. It is true that our protest in this House has been very ineffectual, but I feel that it will be far more effectual in the country when the people come to taste the bitter fruit of this measure." Well, that remains to be seen, gentleman. " The Treasuop sayß it is a mere machinery bill, and thatthwe is no principle in it ; but I take it that this bill is the keystone of the arch : it is the entrance to the desiccating furnace which will wither up the people of New Zealand. In listening to the honourable gentleman's speech I must con* f ess I felt great depression, overborne as it were by a feeling ■of sadness. Ido not know where the country is going to. In fact, my fesling was that, having spent 30 of the best years of my life in this Colony, I Bhould have to leave and seek some other place in which to end my days if we are to be taxed in this way. Did we not all leave the Old Country to escape the heavy burdens of taxation? But here we have it coming on us again in a worse way than ever— piled up to the masthead. For my part I must say I do not think we are justified in imposing any more burdens on the people of this country unless it is absolutely necessary for meeting our obligations to the public creditor. But I hold we are bound to exhaust every other means before we have recourse to additional taxation for that purpose. Have we endeavoured to exhaust every other means? Have we even endeavoured to point out other means ? No. Emphatically, no. The only legitimate means is to reduce our expenditure, and I believe that can be done, even to a larger extent than has been pointed out by the honourable member for Wanganui. I believe that can be done to an extent sufficient to meet the case ; but it cannot be done in this Chamber. As thehonourablegentleman very well observes, all experience shows that it is utterly futile for this House to attempt to outjdown the Estimates. That must be done by the Government of the day upon a systematic, comprehensive, and well-considered scale ; and I feel sure that no Government will reduce the expenditure to the necessary extent unless necessity compel them j in fact, unless an empty Treasury compel them. I do not believe any Government, no matter from what Bide it may be chosen, will do that unless absolute necessity compel them. Tomymind, the expenditure in this Colony is altogether beyond what is justified in a young community like ours. It might be all very well in an old and populous country, but it ia' altogether beyond our means and requirements. What we want to go in for is a little more Spartan simplicity and somewhat less of the peacock's feathers "—and so forth. That was upon the second reading. On the occasion of the third reading I am reported to have said: "Sir, I will not detain the House many seconds, but as this bill has now reached its last milestone, I deem it my duty once more, on behalf of those whose interests I am here to protect, to record my protest against its being placed on the Statutebook. No doubt the bill has been considerably modified and amended in Committee, so that, like Dean Swift's stocking, the original can hardly distinguished from the darning ; but no amendment that has been made has' rendered it satisfactory to my mind. I contend that tho House has no right whatever to impose additional burdens on the people of this Colony. Depend upon it that, so long as the House continues to find the ways and means, no matter whether by additional taxation or otherwise, bo long will the cost of government not only be maintained at its present scale, but it will go on increasing year by year. Of that I am perfectly satisfied. In my opinion the peace and order of the country, as well as its credit, can be maintained without additional taxation being imposed. I see that honourable members are shaking their heads, as much as to say that this is a craze of mine ; but I hold conscientiously that the present taxation of the country is quite sufficient to meet all necessary requirements. I hold that the existing revenue, if properly dealt with, is sufficient to provide for the government of the country, and for maintaining the public credit. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that I am^ wrong, and that it is necessary to impose additional taxation for the purpose of meeting the interest on our railways, I Bay that this is not the way to do it. We have no right to tax the whole of the people in order to make up the deficiency in that interest. Why should the people of the Bay of Islands, for example, have their pro* perty taxed for the purpose of paying interest on railways, when there is no railway withm one or two hundred miles of them? The same re. mark will apply to other districts in the Colony. In districts in the part of the country from which I come there are many hard-working and industrious families, all striving to exist and make a living ; they have not the slightest interest in any railway, and yet they are called upon by this bill to meet this deficiency in the interest on the railways. At present, I aup« pose, the deficiency is from L 250,000 to L 270.000 a year. If this has to be made up, it ought not to be done by taxing the whole community, but should be made up eitbj| by increasing the railway tariff— whloh, I Slink, would be a very unfortunate thing to do if it can be avoided— or by imposing taxation on those who have derived special benefit from those railways. lam not going to detain the House. These are the views which I entertain very strongly on the subject ; and I think the House, in passing this bill, is certainly belying its duty, to the country and sacrificing the interests'of those whom we were sent here to protect "—and so forth. Well, gentlemen, you will gather from the foregoing that, in my opinion at least, under no oircumstances whatever are we justified in imposing additional taxation on the people of New Zealand. If the revenue be insufficient to meet the claims of the public creditor, then let ' the expenditure bp reduced, even if this should to some extent involve the efficiency of the public service— a contingency, however, which I do not at all think would follow, or if it did it would be to a very harmless extent indeed. We are told that it is absolutely neceasary, in order to meet loan obligation, that we should submit to a property tax. I deny it. It is not so much to meet loan obligations that the tax ia imposed as to provide subsidies for local bodies and to uphold an educational system which tho people* of the Colony never sought, and which, in my belief, was not required. It is not so much to meet loan obligations as tq relieve large landed proprietors from, contrjbu? ting their fair share towards the cost of those public works which, in many cases, have en« hanced the value of land 100-fold. The great object is to get rid of the land tax, under which absentees and speculators in land might be brought up with a round turn. In other countries we find that the land contribute* very materially to the burdens of the State, In Holland, the, land Alone pays fl per peuf

of the whole revenue of the country ; in Austria, it pays 17A per cent ; in JVano 18J p«r cent.; in Belgium, 20J per cen\; wbile m Hungary it rays 32J per cent, of the whole revenue. Gentlemen, assuming additional taxation to be necessary, I believe a moderate laud tax to be the fairest and least objectionable that can be imposed. Wei), then, 1 have said that the property tax is baiag imposed nominally to mcc's loan obligations, and no doubt, in so far v.t thone include the interest on constructed railways, this is correct. This, however, forms but a small item of the deficiency which, it is alleged, requires to be met, The deficiency on railways wiil amount to Borne L 270,000 a year, which ought to be met by a special tax if necessary, as was intended and provided for in the original Public Works_ Act. Gentlemen, in point of fact, this property tax is being imposed to enable the Colony as a whole to continue to dip its fingers into the pockets of the South, upon which by far the largest proportion of the burden will devolve. Those provinces are the milch cows which have been so freely sucked in the past, and I suppose it in fitting that they should continue to be bo until tha ond of the chapter. Gentlemen , the people of New Zealan d were norn c years ago bribed to sell their political birthright by the promise, among other things, of substantial endowments, which were guaranteed to be continued for a given number cf years at least. Now, having gulled the people with thi3 bribe, it is found after a year or two that the payment cannot be continued without putting fxxsh burdens upon the people ; in other words, thoso substantial and permanent endowments which were made so much of cannot be paid unless you pay them yourselves in the first instance. The money must first be extracted from your own pockets iv the shape of a property tax, and then if; will be generously over as something for which you ought to be eternally grateful. If ever there was a case of thank you for nothing it is here. But, gentlemen, that is not the worst of it. For every sixpence you get in the shape of a substantial endowment, a much larger sum is first extorted from you, out of which you are to bo paid. If the whole were roturned to you it would not be so bad, but probably every shilling which is taken out of the one pocket, after it undergoes the sweating process, will not represent much more than sixpence when it is returned into the other. It seems to me much hotter that local bodies', who are depending upon the continuance of substantial endowments, should raise the money themselves without the intervention of the Colonial Government. Why should the Colonial Government tax you for making your pavements, seeing that you could probably save 50 per cent, by taxing yourselves? So much for the legislative work of the session. I shall now proceed to say a few words as to the state of parties. When Parliament met in July last, parties were so evenly balanced that it became evident that the business of the country could not bo carried on ; whereupon the then Government asked his Excellency for a dissolution, which was granted, and an appeal to the people was made accordingly. The result of the election at the hustings was in favour of the then Government and its measures. The majority certainly was not large, but still there was the majority. When the new Parliament met, however, several members belied their hustings pledges and speeches, and a vote of want of confidence in the Ministry as then constituted was carried by a majority of two votes, whereupon the Grey Government resigned, and Mr Hall and his colleagues now reign in their stead. Immediately after the resignation of the Grey Ministry I was urged by several of those who had previously voted against us to take the lead towards a reconstruction of the Government of which I had been a member, which I declined to do. About the same time a full meeting of the Liberal party was held, upwards of 40 members being present— closo upon one-ball: the House. At this meeting Sir George Grey retired from the loadership. Thereupon it became necessary, if there was to be a reconstruction, that someone Bhould be nominated to move in the matter, should, in fact, be appointed leader of the Opposition for the time being. It wa3 moved by Mr Reader Wood, and approved unanimously, that your humble servant Bhould be the distinguished individual. There can be no doubt that it was the greatest com pliment which could have been paid to you and your representative. It; waß a position, however, which I not only did not covet, but I may safely add, somewhat shrank from. It was, I assure you, none of my seeking, and nothiug but the exigency of party could have led me to take the lead in firing tbo firjt shot. Gentlemen, the leader of the Opposition, like the leader of the House, requires to be a ready debater, which I neither am nor pretend to be. In other respects, I am vain enough to tbink that] I could conduct the affairs of the Colony just as well as Mr Reader Wood, or any other man— although as a speaker and debater I confess I could n'jt hold the candle to him. From what bes been said you will gather that it was with much diffidence that I consented to lead the attack, which, if Mr Reader Wood and his followers had been true to their colours, would have resulted in the defeat of the Hall Ministry by a majority of at least six. Depend upon it, I should not have tabled a no-confidence motion had I not been absolutely ctrtain as to the resuit. Under ordinary circutnstaices it iß usual for Governments to decline proceeding with any other business with a no confidence motion pending. By insisting upon a btrict adherence to the forms of the House, it wag in the power of the Government to prevent the consideration jf my notice of motion for a considerable time, and being as absolutely certain of the result as I wan myself had the motion come on at oncp, Government declined to waive the forms of the House uutil such lime as it had coino to terms with Me?srs Wood and Co. The moment this was arranged it became bold all at once, and said, Coma on now ; we are ready for you. Of courso, whatever may have been my shortcomings, I was too good a general to go into action simply to be defeated, knowing that whim the first shot was fired a detachment of our forces, without which wo could hob possibly gain the victory, would cross over to the enamy. Had the Liberal party been anxious for office, T believo it was possible, even after the Auckland defection, to have played its cards huocehsfully in that direction. So much time however, had been lobt in party warfaro, tbat it was deemed best to brimj the session to a clobe as cpeedily as ixs r -iule. Gentlemen, 1 mrty say personally that I have felc it a very great sacrifice to spend the wholi of my time away from my hoinse and family, and that I have no desire to occupy a position which involves a continuance of this sactific. My ambition was lo have bt on instrumental iv reconstructing ft strong Government from tho Liberal party, and on Libon»l principles, without in«'M?lf holdinr; oiiice. TLis, J i\n< pciBuaded, could have Lov-n ,tceoiopn»Wl hut, tor the AucJila.Tl defection. As ji }>, I a?ilh«r envy tbo ?l'n''itri»f, their prhilion, nor d " menu-* which if. vai'j rvquirerf. T"o nj]<> i\ by 3 1 " mejit) 1 ? a Ut'i of imiw?, s»jhl the niln-r •>• - newt fujy'tiiup but civo'if. upon trn sttwlCaV" ness of public uiou. I feel dual; the affairs of

New Zealand have been brought into such an unsatisfactory po.-iition by the blunders and mistaken^ policy of the pa^fc, that aoy Govern* mfljit which may be called upon to conduct its ■.iff airs now has no light task to perform, arid that even angeh from ht-avon would find it no easy matter to restore the patient to that slate of health which a long period of extravagant and irregnbr livirg, and a reckleus tampering with the laws which regulate a healthy bodypolitic, have so seriously impaired. The Colony, under the baneful influence of Contrali«m, has for years past been running iv the wrong groove. It has, so to spoak, been working against the law of gravitation. G-autlomen, it would not be difficult to trace io tbe insane policy of Centralism all the evils which havo now to be overcoma. Perhaps I may be asked, what is the remedy ? Well, that is a question much easier a'-ki'd than answered, I take it that there mast ba a combination of remedies, and that one of (lie first stepa towards a cure is a fair and equitable re presentation of the people in Parliament, and the creation of a sound and enlightened public opinion. One of the great ovili which has ftiisen out of t!i9 peculiar political position of Now Zaaland is, that there has beon absolutely no such thing as public opinion in n Colonial sensa. The Colonial Treasurer says that financial equilibrium is what will net the Colony righfc. This w his graud panacea — the milleuninm of his political anpiratiotis— financial tquilibriu.n, by which iho revenue and-jxpendi-turd aball be mado to balance each other. Well, gentlemen, I also believo iv financial equilibrium, as being a sovereign, remedy for tdl the ills that flash is hoir to. Ift this we are both agreed: but where we differ is, as to the means of securing this. Tho Colonial Troanurer proposes to make therovenuo bnlunca the expenditure by increased taxation. I propoi c to make them balance by reduced expenditure, and by making those who have obtained railways at the expense of the Colony (some of them under fa'so pretencts) pay for them. It will lhu*j be seen that there are two distinct ways — wide as the poles asunder — of attaining financial equilibrium. As to which is this better of the two, you may judge for yourselves. By reduced expenditure, I do not mean tbat the policy of opening up and settling the country by means of railways should be curtail^!. Nor do Imeanihai. trie system of nationnl education is to be abandoned. I believe thut notwit'i. standing tl'u hard limes which have so long prevailed, notwithstanding the great falling off in the land revenue, it is perfectly practicable, if gone about judiciously, to go on expending at the rate of say a million and a- quarter |ja year on reproductive railways for years to come j to expend much more would, I think, be injudicious. I am satisfied that had the late Government continued in office, there would have been no cessation of public works, and that the railway proposals which were endorsed by the Legislature in the session of 1878 would have been carried out in their entirety within the next four or five years, with the exception, perhaps, of Nelson to Amberley, which was, I think, somewhat premature, and whicli probably would have taken a longer time to complete. One thing ib pretty certain, and that is that we should nover have abnegated our functions to a so called Railway Commission, which meaws, how btsfc not to do it. The part of the proposals of 1878 which presented any real difficulty was tlie connecting the East and West; Coasts of the Middle Island. Upon that we proposod to have taken counsel with the representatives of the people, by means of a Select Committee of the House of EepreseutativeH, aided by all the profefsional knowledge and skill available. Gentlemen, there have been during the rec?ss Royal Commissions perambulating tha Colony from Dan to Beersheba, thick a3 tho leaves in Valh\mbrosa. I should be horry to predicate as to the results of their Kbourn, although, if we may judge frora._ tho result^ of such Royal Commissions in this Colony hitherto, beyond involving the country in a few thousands of unnecessary expenditure those results will be very harmless indeed, I have said that had the late Government continued in office it would have gone on expending a million dud a quarter a yjar on reproductive public works. My idea was that tho»e works should have been fairly distributed throughout tbo Colouy, bo as to promote and extend bonafidc settlement, and regulated ao as that from 8000 to 10,000 settlers might have been employed say during the fiiMt two years of their bettlemant on the land, something the same as the New Zealand Company used to do in the early days ; they were to give employment to labourers brought into the Colony under their auspices, for three days in the week, so as to give them a start ; the other three days being occupied with their own cultivating. Many a well to do settler and many a now comparatively wealthy family began in this way. In carrying out any such proposal as this I should have taken care that no Goveruluenl work should bo done by day labour. Here if, may bo asked, How doss your proposal to limib the expenditure on railways to a million aud a-quarter a year tally with the p f atomenl &enb forth, to the world by tho Colonial Treasurer that you had incurred liabilities in the shape of public works contracts to fchu tuue of two millions of money, tho whole of which would have to be mot by tho 30th June next ? When this statement was made no one was more astounded than myself. I at onoe asked the following question, I asked the Minister of Public Works "if he will lay bbfore tbe House a return showing the whota of the Colonial public works under his department at present contracted for within each Provincial District, the name of the contractor and date of contract in each case, the time for completion, amount of tender, and program* payment to date; also, the number and date oi appropriation by Parliament or other authority, by virtue of which such contract or engagement has boen entered into ?" This return wao promised, aud, after a good deal of unnecessary delay, produced, duly signed by tlio Mhiisler of Public Works— Mr Oliver. And what do you think was tbe result ? Instead of two millions, payable by the 30th June next, the total outstanding contracts authorised by me, many of them extending into 1881. amount to LG6G.OOO. This return w;:s oulered to be printed in full ; but I hava nevue seen it, and presume, therefore, that it has been m -glee ted. Care, hoy/aver, has been fc'At-ut to ] uoli-jh in full t'ao return on which Mivjor Alkinbou based hits Statement, which inchi'l.-s a iarge amount; of items wua which tbo Public Works Department has noUrlng to ifo — i'i'g.jliaiioii3 for purchase cf Native land, telegraph extension, immigration, defence, and suchlike. I need not say that, m as Lvr as I was concorned, tho returns furnished by the officer of the Pubiiu Woiks Department, and nignod by Mr Oliver, is the « jn-pot return. It milled tlio Tre.'irfuroi 1 ;i!, che time, howevor, to ihra-v as muuW diacreriil as he could upon mo iwl upon all my doings, Gentlemen, v/e ato told that prblic works mush c> fee when tho prr-seut hani-i * v'v.vdo. 1 ., iy<':.v,M* -\ ].leJgo hi« bson {Sivo'i no. \i- r;n in n i l 0 ]oivrl;""'i momy urmr'tct .i r im lof furo -y ' .r- j anrU.hu 1o".p wilJ 1.0 f" b oj:'>ed_''.T'« c™ Hun. fytv bel'cf i? thif, wi'h o r»j ii[Mjiliohi>{, lan'Tt ' r^ta*", isvcL' 1 / boc'i'ni'g m io v;'.lua'.!r>, w en imv <g'> 1 > •ixpHV 1 ji iiin"«)W t ■■ i]n nry , ilnniyov 1 t<,-; amount 1 havu naiuud wiiiioui.hitviuy recoutsoti)

thn English money market. Indeed, were the majority of the representatives of the people of my ?r>ind, we should not go into the English money market a* all, nor any other money market out of Now Zealand, It seems to me that a country which can produca food to a greater extent, acrefor acre, than any country in iho world—a country whore wooi-giowing is unrivalled—which abounds with magnificent timber ioresiß and with the precious metal— which is one groat coalfield— has no need to go beyond itself for a medium of exchange, or rather for the means of exercising ita credit ; and if we had not beea the veriaat idiots in creation, the million and a-dalf which the State is now sending away annually for tue use of English gold might have been expended withiu the Colony. You may depend upon it that this enormous and constant drain upon our earnings has more to do with aggravating existing depression than at first sight appears. To my mind there need bd little limit to the Colony borrowing moaey for reproductive purposes, provided only the money is borrowed from, and the interest expended among, ourpolvea. But this annual drain of upwards of L 3 a head on each man, woman, and child in the Colony to pay the money-lender in England is a very sorious considoration, and ono which may well cause iw to pause before going in for lurlber borrowing irom outsiders 1 . 1 have °oHM>times thought that although it mighn have been disastrous and hfird to be:*r for the time beiug, it would nevertheless have betn the grandest thing possible for Now Zealau'l bad the fiva million loan missed fhw. We should then have been compelled to fall back upua ourselves and hava recourse to first principles. This would hnvo effectually settled tha Native difficulty, and a great many other difficulties besides. To me it seams thut the real limit to the employment u£ labour by the Sfcaie in to be measured by iho productive nature of the work aud the extent to which Jabourcan b<J supplied with the necessaries and coniforta of liie. I belibve if all the gold in England were in the bottom of the sea, it would be our own fault if New Zealand did. not produce as much !• s would plentifully support its present population twenty times over. It haa been charged against the late Government as a grievous crime that tbe whola five million loan was forestalled by them, and nothing left for fresh works, Of course the five million loan was forestalled, and a good job, too, I aay. It would Heem, however, that it has not bean sufficiently forestalled to prevent the preseuc Government from expanding large sums on roads and bridges in favoured districts. As to forestalling the loan, how srands the fact ? Why, it was the Legislature iv 1878 that forestalled the loan by sanctioning the commencement of public works, the completion of which was to extend over a period of years, and the estimated cost of which was upwards of six millions of money ; and, gentlemen, the object, of this Royal Commission— -which I look upon as a piece of tbe most unmitigated sham— if it has aay object at all, would seem to ba to get up some plausible ground upon which the present Parliament may &be induced to recede from and repudiate the action of its predecessor. _ I ask you what real light three or four estimable gentlemen from other parts of the Colony— mostly strangers to Otago, and acempanied by a shorthand writer, driving over the country like Jehu the son of Nimshi— what real light can they be expected to throw upon the question as to whether or not any particular railway is required or will pay ? I confess, to me it_ is a mysteiy. Take the Oc&go Central Interior line, for example. It is ininoured that cold water is likely to be thrown upon this. It is alleged by some that this is one of those reckless undertakings gone into by me ■without due consideration. All I can say is, that ib would have boen well for the Colony had every other line which has been constructed received an equal amount of coasideration, or been u3 carefully inquired into. It so happens that this is about the only line in New Zealand which has run the gauntlet of a Parliamentary Committee, and with respect to which very full evidence was taken from engineers, surveyors, settlers, and others. The Dunedin Chamber of Commerce was peculiarly hot upon it. Now it is said that a change has come over the spirit of its dream — with what truth I know not. Ie will be recolKctod that some 400.000 acres of land were reserved from sale for the payment of cost of construction as far as the Dunstan. I look upon it that the completion of the line to Lake Wanaka means at l»«a't 100 ships of 1000 tons each loading every year in tl'e Port of Otago over and above what thtra will be otherwise. Ido not know that I need to detain you much longer, having now touched upon most of the leading questions which engaged the attention of Parliament last session. There are many important social questions deeply affecticg the happiness and comfort of the people which require to be dealt with. I might alluda especially to a more simple aud economical administration of justice. Practically the temple of Justice caunob now be opened without a key having a goodly mixture of gold in it. Tha aum L jaid annually by the people of New Zonlaod in law cosUi must be something enormous Then again, there is tho settlement of the people on the land —a point which, notwithstanding all the legislation on the frubject, remains to a large extent unaccomplished. I disposed to think that wise administration, 'untrammelled by much of the how best not to do it, which the Legislature always insints upon, would be the most effective means of attaining the end. I am coming to the conclusion that the deferredpayment system is largely a mistake. Of one thing I have no doubt — that is, that sections of 300 acres on deferred payments are as a rule far too large, and will, I fear, end in a vast amount of repudiation. We were content with 50 acres in the early days of the gold fields. I shall be disposed to make an absolutely free graut of say 10 acres to every married mau who would occupy the land, and let &I1 beyond this be paid for in cash. One thing seems clear— that with millions of acres of waste lands, tho patrimony of tbo people, no man has a right to be unemployed or to starve in New Zdaland. In the island of Jersey, which supports a thriving and comfortable population, the average farms are 10 acres each, In Franca and Belgium they are somewhere about 'the same ; even iv the United Suites of America, where lund is in unlimited quamity, the average holdings are n little over 100 acres. In IVance there a^a no lesd than iive million kudowneni farming their own laud, too area of Franco being under three times thas of New Zealand. Gentlemen, what the outgrowth of tho cooling session may bo ie in, of course*, impossible to foresee. For my own part, I do not anticipate that much good will come out of tho present Parliament until there U a readjustment of representation ou an equitable basis, and until the mas-i of Vie people cornea actually into coEtid; with ;uid fcln tho full bunion of ii'Xitiop, which linear \,ho i ru'Mnb "y^tem inuit of necessity g.> oo increasing. Wh-->n the Hhoo bfgios to itincli, -ban, and noU»lHhon, will the tinffir ity W 1 a, "rw>"i".l revolution 'u.^ko itWf frit fit, i,."0 V3H-b.~ ; fc'^i, a' d no . till IK-;, will it )-■■' fte-M thr.l. t!,o wl-jii-v? nffai-a >.f N v '/ri\n: ('<• " u'ibher l> ) umVan'ily ir>r ec »nouit"lly -jf'i • i ,v;e ri 5'' %v " T^y " n '< o ntiw

'■Ai\ ]• i ,)'1 ()n ; wi s. dI) -\oto ;oi* li j vL>,coniiiuu'.uco oi'_ foiiboxdiuß ii tho uouttuuiiuco oi'

them would involve tho imposition of a property tax ; not otherwise. Ho was s^ryto hc.r that railway employees had to work nine hmir«, y,nc\ "msMirpd those present that be would nt t have all iwetl the introduction of tlio ayptam if lie h-jd anything to do with it. When the application of the Ofcafo Harbour Board for a new ban was before Parliament he had proposed that a proviso be made that at lea*), one-half of the sum should be spent in improving the entrance to the harbour. The promoter of the bill assured the House that such was the intention of the Board, bat he declined to insert it in the Act, Act, and the result was that the Act did not pa«<s. If another application was made by the Board, ha would do his best to secure at least ouchalf of it for expenditure on improving the entrance to the havbour. Altogether be felt very uneasy about tho harbour. All knew he had been long associated v/hh Otago, and looked upon if. as the great commercial port of the Colony. He was sorry to ne* thai, it was going back, "back, and tbat Lyttelton .vas as likaly as not to lake the ahino out of us. This ho attributed to the action of tbo Harbour Board. (Applause.) Mr Dalkymple: IS being generally; conceded that the present system of instruction in school is one of cram, will you do anything to secure a revision of tiio syllabus with a view to the les3 useful subjects boing struck out?

Mr Macandrew : My answer id yen, yes; with great pleasure. I rather think there is too much cram.

Mr Maoandkew, in roply to questions from Mr Dairympl's, said he was in favour of the Government taking steps towards the adoption of the Kindergarten system of infant-traioing. With regard to the institution oi penny savings banks in schools, ha thought much could be said on both sides, and would be in favour of f till leaving it to school boards rather tban of having the system established as a portion of the school work.

Mr Dalbymple : Would you be in favour of the reimposition of school feei ? Mr Maoandkew : Certainly ; I tbink their abolition was one of the grandest mistakes in the Acl. Nobody wanted it ; aud I think they will have to be reimposed, whether we wish it or nob. I would go farther, and give powers to localities to rate themselves for the purpose of erecting school buildings. This power ought to have been in our Education Ordinance long ago. Mr Maoandkew, in reply to other questions, said he thought the idea of having a penal settlement at Hey ward's Point was impracticable, inpsmuch as there was a great demand for prison labour in all parts of the Colony. The sooner the big guns imported from Home, for the purpose of inspection by Colonel Scratchley, were melted down and made into ploughshares, or something of the kind, the better. If the railway bridge near Port Chalmers was dangerous the matter should be brought under the notice of the Minister of Public Works by one of the local bodies. He was most decidedly in favour of a separation of the North and Middle Islands on a financial basis, but could not promise to introduce a bill on the matter. Assisted immigration he thought unnecessary, as immigrants were likely to come in sufficient numbers without assistance from the Government. It would be very useful to have telegraphic communication from Capo Saunders to Port Chalmers,

Mr William Reid proposed a vote of confidence in thft speaker, and the motion was seconded by Mr William Innes, and carried unanimously.