POLITICAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1957, 23 May 1889, Page 10

POLITICAL.

;J«R H. S. VALENTINE AT GORE. IMr H. S. Valentine, member 'for addressed a meeting' of his constituents in the Town Hall, Gore, on Friday night. Although the weather vras very inclement a large numbeir of persons attended, the hall being fairly well filled. Mr James BRArriE, mayor, presided, and in introducing Mr Valentine, stated that the latter was there m accordance with & good 61d custom. He was quite pare their member had looked after their iutorests satisfactorily, and being Sof well kaown to most, if not all present* be woulaj just call upon Mr Valentine to address them in 1 his own happy style. 1 , " . ;' | Mr Valentine, who was received with much ' •applaw.se, expressed at the outset hi 3 pleasure ] Jin meeting the electors that night. He was 'Otrfy sorry the weather should 'have, ( be,eii' ( sb wnpropitious for them to be, out ; but seeing So mauy present under such adverse circun&sfc&n'ces, he considered the compliment to him all the' greater.— (Applause.) He dtd hot altogether agree with the remarks of the chairman as to fcbe necessity of a me&bcr addressing his 'constituents annually, when all that could be said would be merely a recapitulation of wh&t had been done in Parliament, uuleSS circum* sSances arose necessitating an pxpression of opinion by the member on an important subject. However, it afforded him much pleasure to bo there, that evening.— (Hear, hear.), The circumstances under which the present Government took office, as also the hard fight for Beaos much took place at election time, were ' too weU known to require any further remarks from liini. After the Government was formed THE " ROAB FOR RETRENCHMENT j> - 'set in, and he for one hoped the n rear *' would continue, and that the ultimate result would be, a sufficient recovery from depression and the' means afforded whereby the position of the. country would be put on a thoroughly sound ' basis.— (Applause.) The danger was that the people might be carried away by the apparent improvement in their affairs, he beseeohed them mor, tofce ro " gulled," as the crisis was not altogether past, and although the turn of the | tide had come there still remained a great deal I tQ «3n to make the position of tho colony what it •S'ould be. To the present Government there was no choice but' to submit to, a policvln accordance with the desire of the coVmtfl'y, and failing to acquiesce in the imperative demand for retrenchment they Would have been compelled, wifcbiu 24 hours* to forfeiftheir positions. They bad undoubtedly carried out considerable retrenchment, but he was convinced that evem a further saving could be effected* He referred particularly to th« VOTE FOE EDUCATION. Tkere was no one more anxious than the speaker that full advantage should be taken by ftbe people of education, but he was prepared to ■state that the majority of the people were not in a position to take full advantage of the principle , as at present in vogue. That the children should be edacafced to read, write, and reckon, he.would j sidmit, but he asked whether there were many | (people in a position to take advantage of the ! (higher grade of education for which the country hiA to pay nearly half a million of money. He was convinced that a scheme could befatiftduced "whereby, without dosing a single <coatttry schoo or in any way seriously affecting the primary education of the country, 4 saving of £100,000 could be effected.— '(Heati hear.) HAItWAIT fcONSTKUCTION. Whilst the Government took office pledged to crefcrenchmetit--part of that scheme being the ■reduction in expenditure on public worfes,-*-he h&d observed from the newspapers lately, with •considerable alarm, that the Commissioner of Railways and certain other oiScials had been 'travelling in the northern part of the oolony on Sines which had been partly constructed and which would at eonve time, he believed, be suitable and convenient at certain points, but to expend money in that direction at present was quite contrary to the fnelings of the people.— -((Applause.) It was distinctly understood that no further expenditure would be incurntd for the purpose of constructing public works. He hoped that such expenditure would not take place, and be for one would strongly oppose such an undertaking. The construction of railways was very necessary for the good of the country, but there were railways and railways ; there are those which would be irr mediately remunerative, and there wore those which would not be remunerative for many a day to come. He thought they should ba very chary indeed in carrying railways where there was no immediate necessity for their construction. (Applause.) Referring to the Otf.go Central railway, he was of opinion that the Government should have supported the bill introduced by Mr Pyke. Whether the bill was right or wrong, the latter should not have been "led on* and then deserted at the last hour.— (Hear, hear.) In its present state the line would be unremunerative; for this reason, and considering the large amount of money which had already been expended^ the line should, he considered, be extended a point farther -(Hear, hear.) On the Bfati North, Trunk railway he could not cpeak with any great authority personally, but he had the opinion of, ofcher gentlemen In ParUament who were able* to form an estimate, and c&py had sated that the line was not only desir"able for traffic purposes, bufc also for th« promotion of settlement, and it would in the neur • future be remunerative. The construction of the railway alluded to was, as they would pro- ; bably be aware, part of the pce«ent'Gnvprnment policy, and the country had agreed to the ex- : penditure of money in that direction. By the ' alteration in , THE RAILWAY SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT ' they had carried out to-, mandate of the country to some extent by appointing to office certain commissioners. In such appointments he was fully convinced they had not carried out iv full i the wishes of the people.— (Hear, hear.) The I opinion generally was that a gentleman holding 1 the appointment of chief commissioner should J be one chosen from the best obtainable iv Eng- t land or elsewhere. The Premier had promised * to obtain sucb. an one; but did he fulfil I his promise? No. He chose rather « a gentleman — and against that goatle- * mat), apart from his want of knowledge r ot railway matters, there was nothing to say: in s raot he thought the commissioner appointed c was one of the best inexperienced men for the t omcft they could get-from the public service ( in Wellington. However, he must say thnrt in t such an appointment he doubtei the sine erity J of the Government-(Hear, hear.) ( )ther '1 colonies had obtained the services c,f a a thoroughly qualified man, and he ventm e d to c remark that if proper maans bad b^en adopted, a such an one could have been bad for New Z?a.~ t laud at the annual stfary of £2500. He ( thought the country would even have agr >ed to give more to obtain the expert they r^c ,uired h Whether the bhme was attributable to t! m Qo- v vrrnmei 1 . nr t.) tue Agdut-gjuera!, ho coi U4 r , o t n SAY.

THE MIDLAND BAILWAY

was ono t*j which tbe land grant syster apply, and now that a commencement I bgen

made, toe hoped 'there would be no niton ia ite, contraction. •■ ! Wt Va!eritfne'rte&rrea 'to -&'sfca&-" ; ment ; which aXd f is&6se& in l £ Northern' r new& ' paf*^ sri%nfeh they were told'thaV the AfeeTati ; ! geneWil had been ; appointed ft trustee fpHftei debenture<hblders. The. writer 'of the artiole in question, c6uld not h&Ve been . aware of the general fdnctionfe-'ot .a trustee of tho. bind,. His atocepiiance of the, .office djd not | nftsaft that he had attached liability to ,tb,e j country in any way for, these bonds, bat as the statement, had tieen made publicly it would be well for the ' Government to make a distinct declaration ' upbii the. subject.~( Hear, heajrl)' The acceptance of this office by Sir Dillon Sell nad'not apparently been 'taken notice oi by the Government, but it should have'beet)', and'"^' the reason 'that "when Sir. 'Auliuß.Vogel Was 1 Agentr-general r he"' accepted./' office ; in i another i doimnercial Venttfre, &nVi<t&ei -Ministry then'in power gaVe him tfte Q'ption of retaining, his con-, neotipn ffijh .that institution or relinquish his,,s^ftipn ,88, Agen.t-gene'ral.' He coo^ , ,po .reason ..why .exception should be, made,, in, ' the i present caße^(spplause)-*5-&nd "a clear statement should be gi^eii by the Government bo the effect that the country was, jn no way responsible for the liabilities of the Midland failwa'y.^Hear, hear.) It would be remembered that nearly every member acquiesced in the demand for a ' ' ' ■• < ; BEDttCTION IN THB NUMBBB OS* &E?BB1 ( /, SENTATIVEs" is forming part of the retrenchment scheme; He, for one, hatt sup 1 ported such rßdtititi'dft 'and he still kept to his prbmibb.—^Heaif, ■ hear.) ' There was no wec'eßSitfy;, 60 far as he could see, for maiotalnih^ a larger number pf members, , and he cons^dtifo.d the, Ipwer figures adequate to fefftufcct the affairs of the country. He had lately Men indidatious that cecfeain members were inclined to go back on their promise, and intended, so the statement goes, to rescind the act whereby the number of members had been - decreased. He could only say that anyone who had taken a pledge to support the lower num- ; ber and' having now a reverse opintoh> without' giving any tangible reason, was not fib : to represent a constituency.— (Applause.) Every Credit j (was due to the present Government for bringing in a, bill to amend , „, . ' I, t , THE LAttD tfiivb OJP vWs COUNTRY, Whioh had alw^. nesn unsatisfactory, and he com£limentfeu,ttie momber for Mataura in introducing the bill. There were few men who better understood the subject than Mr Richardson— a statement. which he (Mr Valentine) made in the House,, acid never regretted doing- eo.— (Hear, hear.) It was perhaps unnecessary !;or him to mention that the bill #&& brought in to meet 'the growing wants 01 the people who required land to Battle upon and to procure it on reasonable terms. Since the bill was passed,, a vast amount of settlement had taken place. It was, how-, ever, true, -on ,the other hand, that a smaller area of land for cash, had been disposed of than ■was anticipated, the majority of, holdings being taken up on the perpetual leaoe system, which was certainly the most favourable.for the settler, as surely thfe farmer ftas not going to a loan company or a, bank to, borrow 1 money when he can obtain it from the Government at 5 per cent., which he does in effect when . he takes up his holding on the perpetual lbas'e system, and pays a rental .equivalent to 5, per cent, on the capital ßvalue of the land. He was only sorry that his endeavours to get the LAND BOARDS AND COMMISSIONERS swept away had been a failure, and but for their existence he thought the settlement on the land , would have progressed even niore rapidly than had been the ea.se.-^Hear, hear.) They had only to look afound and see the position of the settlers under the commissioners. On that very day he had heard of a case in whioh a tenant was paying a rental of 8s per acre, and failing to meet his liability the land was put up to auction, when the same settler, probably through another person, had leased it back at Is per "acre. Yet the commissioners would not make any concession direct to the tenant prior to the land being put up for sale. Was that the way to conduct the business ? No 1 but it was in such a manner that the business was transacted by the commissioners. Just before the reaction set in in the shape of the altered • circumstances of farmers by the improved' prices of produce, it became apparent Ito the Government and the country that something would have to be done for the settlers; they were groaning under a load which they could not bear, and it was imperatively necessary to in some way relieve them; and probably they would have noticed from "Hansard " or the newspapers that he had done his utmost in that direction. With that object in view the Government introduced a fIAIR RENT BILL, ' and although there were certain provisions' in the bill to which he objected, rather than that the settlers should lose its benefits, he was prepared tb accept and support it. Mr Valentine next referred to the action settlers had taken some time back when they, attended sales of land, and bid up to boom prices, As time went on they found themselves unable to pay for the land at those rates, and it was the settlers' due that the Government should at onoe take their case in hand and prepare a revaluation where necessary.—^(Applause.) He explained that to his mind the" fatal objection to the bill was the clause providing for a revaluation of settlers' lands at stated periods, which would have the effect of unsettling the setters' minds as to their true position in regard to the land. This he pointed out to the Premier, who, however, appeared to think otherwise. It was understood tha*; the introduction of the bill would prevent harsh treatment to the settlers; and yet, In the face of that, the Minister of Lauds had been credited with saying that the Government intended suing defaulters before an opportunity had been afforded to the settlers of knowing the revaluations which had been placed on their holdings. He could scarcely believe it ; and until Mr Eichardson had answered the communication which he (Mr Valentine) had sent, he must infer that his remarks had been misreported. — (Hear, hear.) In his letter to Mr Richardson ha had reminded him of the pledge given by the Premier to abstain from harassing the Crown tenants in arrears until an investigation had been made into the state of their affairs, and a bill brought in next session to validate the action of the Government where concessions had been made in the price of the land or rentals. Whilst he admitted that Mr Richardson was as able to grapple with the question of the land laws as anyone, he would remind them that he also was Minister of Mines. He (Mr Valentine) was strongly of opinion that the two offices should be separated and a Minister of Agricultureappointed. — (Hear, hear ) The ioiporfcauce of the country demanded the appointment of such a Minister whose duties, of course, would be to look after the interests of the agriculturists; the latter were without a doubt tbe backbone and sinew of New Zealand. — (Hear, hear.) Referring to the VILLAGE SETTLEJIENTS, - he said they would remember that he once made the assertion that he feared they would not be successful; and he still held to that opinion, notwithstanding a coutrary statement mjde by the Miniscer of Lands. Mr Valentine next aliqded to the absence of cohesion on the P9?fc 9J the farm.e,rs,, Nearly every trade had its

, union, aud .was able to protect its ititereSte i .' , | ' 1 - i&feAdraa Ida '•&&£' oßfi, j^so^Gtion t „ . They Were the; most important!- element' in- the .land, and he« asked them' to set ab«ut and' carry oat the 1 suggestion offered instead of' neglecting their interests as they .undoubtedly did.— -(Hear, hear.) The days were sliding by.'and hewaa not sure 'that the- "question of town 1 verms country would * not arise ; and where, then, would 1 the "farmer 1 be? He was -sorry that the time at his disposal prevented him taking a large interest in the formation of such a' league, but he eotild s,ee tfo necessity why stich is fiii^selfc shoam.De expected tB tale an j active bffi&ial park inutile matter. The farmers themselves should 'do it; they had both the sense and knowledge to carry but the undertak- 1 ing.— (Hear, hear.) Ever since he came to the country he had obserred that the apathy among' ihe farmers in regatd to ttieir ( pwn l ',interests was Simply appalling. Thß jsy w'edld bom« wiiefr they wollla Me it, like toe settlers 1 in victoria who "had suffered through* failing to organise for their* own proteotidn against' 1 the manufacturers, who simply wished to use them for 'facilitating the passage <of : measures' beneficial to themselves in the shape Of- protective tariffs which have proved so disastrous io the farming community. A bait of better times, higher prices for produce, ftc., Was held dtit, all of which have proved a delusion and a Snare to the agriculturalists. These ate now, obliged to ! £pp"eal ' to ' tfie Government - for' Help 1 In* their straitened circumstances'; He warned the farmers of 'this country not to be similarly | entraped by any spacious statement that might be held out to them, but to organise themselves into a strong political ma i! chine for their own political protection. If necessary a Farmers' League should be formed in Gore. There were not' many more important districts in the colony from a farming point of view, and he urged them to be up and doing.— (Applause.) He" did not intend to trouble them with a long speech. He had only in a measure recapitulated the work that bad been done; nor did he intend to foreshadow coming events, but would leftve the electors' to" dr&w I;beir own feondusibns as to the fnture policy of the country. They would remember when he was before them as a candidate he promised nothing but to do his utmost for the eleotors. This promise he could only reiterate now. The man who came forward and said' he would do this and do that was simply deluding the electors; but the candidate whd confessed being only* a unit in the community and would do his best for the country' and his constituents was at least' .worthy of consideration. — (Applause.) Speak- j ing on LOCAL HATTBHS, Mr Valentine stated that, with reference to the Waimea railway rate, he had done his utmost to relieve the settlers of the burden of taxation. In, the majority of ijasfe'a the p'reoent occupier of ,the land fee not derived any special benefit from (the construction of the railway — the original, owners, who had derived the real benefit which 'the rate was designed 'to cover, made the line, for their own purpose, which was to sell theland, and it must be their earnest endeavour to show WJ the Government the injustice of placing a, tax upon the present occupiers. — (Hear, hear). In concluding Mr Valentine said there had been other, local matters of minor importance,, 'some of which had successfully been Carried but, and he p'rdtljiaed td ddjas'he had done in the paSt, everything he could for the welfare of the colony and the district. Mr Valentine resumed, his seat amid great applause. 1 A number of questions were then asked, and answered as follows : — He did not believe that a majority of his constituents were in favour of the Bible being read in schools. He, therefore,' voted against the bill. Personally, he was convinced that if Bible reading in sohools were introduced it would be detrimental to the present system of education, and would lead to dissension among the parents. In reply to a further question on the subject, Mr Valentine said that if the electors wanted someone in sympathy wjth the movement they would have to get another representative. He wpuld use his utmost endeavour to introduce and, have .passed a measure ,to remedy the evils arising from the power of the Government to take land for > roads Where the existing roads i had been encroached upon by rivers. He had the greatest sympathy in respect to the matter, ,as the institution which he represented had suffered very seriously thereby. , , ■ , He did not approve of the. action of the present Government in remitting or t greatly .mitigating the penalty incurred by a, great brewer for a contravention of the law relating to making beer, whilst a poor and friendless individual was • punished with rigour and no mitigation' for •making a little whisky. ' , Did he approve of the Government, without the .consent. of the 'people/a representative's) promise £10,000 as a subsidy to the Dunedin Exhibition ! while burdens increase and' a surplus is only shown by greatly increased taxation, while aid j to road making diminishes and rapidly approaches the vanishing point, local bodies' resources meanwhile beiDg largely appropriated to the support: of "hospitals and paupers? No; he did not approve of the Government giving any such sum as £10,000 in. aid of the exhibition. ■ It was a limited liability company, a commercial venture, and if theywwe going to get such' a .suftrto expend on an exhibition' in Duuediri he might as well ask for £10,000 for a Gore exhibi- 1 tion.-~(Appianße.) Do you approve of country ratepayers having to contribute towards the support of the poor , who are being continually, manufactured in the cities by the drink traffic and its concomitant evils ; and will you endeavour in the new act to have this injustice abolished ? Mr. Valentine replied that if any ouch injustice waa in existence he would do his best to have it remedied.' The question of endeavouring to tax specially absontee landowners both for general and charitable purposes, required great consideration. The absentee landowner was taxed as if he were here, the only disadvantage being, that he was not in this country to spend his money. He would support an amendment o£ the Licensing Act, to make the Resident Magistrate chairman, and the Government to appoint a Licensing Bench for the various districts. He thought the £1000 voted for the road from Waikaka to Eelso was still available, and it would not be his fault if the work was not carried out. — Applause.^ As to suggesting any means of securing a traffic bridge from Gore to Gordon, the people had only to tax themselves, and if the report was true that it would enhance the value of property 20 per cent, they should not hesitate in having the bridge made. To the rumour circulated as to his leaving the district and goiDg to reside elsewhere, he replied that it was not true. He was unaware how the rumour had got afloat unless it was spread by a person professing to know other people's business better than they themselves did. They could rest assured that as long as he was their representative] he would be honourable to them. — (Loud cheers.) ' ' ' ' He had received intimation that the Minister of Lands did not consider the Croydon, bush sufficiently denuded of timber to warrant him in throwing it open for settlement. He was of opinion that school committees should., consist, as far as possible, of married

men, parents of ; the children attending the reßoe > etive if sohbols! < ; ; ' . ?••'»»....",■ v ' yjrilti ref^rerite to'ntili^ing the Switzers'railway, by fornliiig a lo^diclg bank 'ki its present terminus, he w^s in communJciifidn with the* Chief Commissioner on the' subject. '

After several other questions had been asked and answered, Mr Thomas Gbbbn moved a hearty vote of thanks to, and confidence in, Mr Valentine aa their member. ' . ■' This was seconded by Mr D. Macobegob, who spoke in eulogistic terms of the ability displayed by' the member for Waikaia,' and carried unanimously. ' ' '' Mr VAtßfrPriris thanked the electors for the e^mplirkent) and the usual vote of thanks to the ohairm&n brought thfe rteoting to » close. '