THE FRESHER AT FOXTON.

Otago Witness, Issue 2087, 22 February 1894, Page 20

THE FRESHER AT FOXTON.

Foxton, February 16.

The Premier addressed a large meetiug at the Foxton Town Hall this evening. Mr B. P. Williams (mayor) was in the chair. The Hon. Mr Seddon said the time was opportune to speak to the people of the colony, because at the present time they were suffering from temporary depression. In reality there was no necessity for that, for if they gauged New Zealand from the standpoint of its population they would find its 650,000 people exported last year products to the value of 8£ millions sterling. Had there been any falling oiE in the industry of the population ? No. Month after mouth the population was increasing, aud during the year had increased by something like 10,000, but notwithstanding that they had been enabled, without very great inconvenience, to find work for the toilers. Many of these required laud, and land had been found for them. To seek the cause of temporary inconvenience caused by

TUB DEPRESSION they must go further afield, and he could tell them that their sufferings were due to tho extravagance and mismanagement of the other colonies. He blamed to somo extent the fiaaucial institutions. A careful examination nhowed that the position of tho bank-j doing business in New Zealand was sound, and he had no hesitation in sajing they were in a Splendid position, as waa proved by the fact, despite what had occurred in the other colonieß, that in Now Zealand there was mutual confidence between creditor and debtor. Having mid so much he thought some of the institutions had shown a want of judgment which, if carried to excess would do them a great injury, to say nothing of the injury thfy would do to tho commerce and trade of New Zealand. It was not right that New Zealand should have had to Buffer iv 1878 owing to the Ulasjow Bank failure, and it was not fair that the people of the colony, who were frugal and comparatively more wealthy than those in tho other colonies, should suffer from tightness or want of monpy through no fault of their own. He quoted from the Insurance aud Finance Journal of the 12th inst. showing that thejdiffdreuses betweeu the deposits and advances of the various banking institutions for the Hst quarter were as follow : Bank of New Zealand, £546,539 ; Union B*uk, £1.077,687; Bank of New South Wales, £111,158; B.iuk of Australasia, £55,558; National Bank, £353,691; Colonial Bank, £568,073. He was aware that the Union Bank had more coin,' aud that to some extent accounted for the remarkable disparity between the various figures quoted ; but there was the fact that they had borrowed— that waa the proper term to apply — from the people of the c ilony, by deposits in excess of advances, £1,200,000. Iv the year 1888 tho total advances ot' the banks exceeded the deposits by £240,275, but in 1893 the deposits exceeded advances by £1,244,000. In 1888 the coin held was £1,217.557. aud iv 1893 it amounted to £1,481,360. Had anything, he asked, occurred recently to militate against the trade of the country to account for this withdrawal of advances ? If they looked at the bank returns for the last six months of the year they would find that the difference was £122,000 less advanced to the trade of the country. That in itself would not ba felfc if spread over all the > banks, but when spread over two or three of the banks it showed that customers dealing with those banks had been hardly pressed with demands upon them. The specie exported iv 1893 for the September and December quarters was £196,199, while that imported for the same petiod was £75,430, so that the colony was poorer in specie to the extent of £120,769 If this sum were added to the advances called in during the same time it would tot up to a quarter of a million. Looking to the inconvenience caused by this, he said, taking the condition of the country and volume of products, there was no necessity for it. It was wrong that the people of New Zealand should be called upon, without just cause and suddenly, as proved by these returns, to find this money. It showed the Government — and it mu->t be apparent to all — that they could no longer continue to allow the country to be in this unfortunate position ; hnd the time had now come, and the people at the ballot box had affirmed it, when THE GOVERN MENT MUST ADVANCE MONEY on real estate to settlers, and not leave them to the mercies of those institutions. The Goverament knew that in propounding this they would meet with determined opposition ; but when institutions told them that owing to circumstances over which thoy had no control thf.y could not help the people, then he maintained the Government must come to the rescue of settlers in such a way as would not injure the country. In France they had the Credit Foncier, and in Germany a similar institution, which received deposits and lent the monay out to settlers, he believed, to the extent of 50 per cent on the value of real estate. Now, this Government had for years been advancing money through the Poat Office aud Insurance departments up to onehalf the value of a security, and also to local bodies on the strength of their rates for roads and bridges ; yet, now that they wished to afford similar assistance to settlers, they were told they were feoingf to injure the finance of the country and bring about financial disaster. He des'red, in fairn-ss to the banks, to gay that during last year they imported specie amounting to £112,717 in exces3 of the amount they exported. As far as specie waa oonoerned, it would be seen that the banks had done fairly well for the whole year ; but what he took exception to was the state of the figures for the last six months. Mr Seddon then referred to THE KXPOIIT3 AND IMPORTS for the la3t year, combating the statement-! that the exports showed a falling off. Even according to the report of the Wellington Chamber of commerce, tak'ng the yea:s Ifc92 and 1893 up to September 30 last, if the same values bad been obtained there would have been an increase for the year ending September 30 of £221.446. If the calendar year be taken, there is a falling off for the year 1893 as compared with 1892. This to some extent may be attributed to the lateness of the wool shipments. There was an actual increase in the export of timber, butter, cheese, mutton, sheepskins, tallow, and wool, and the falling off in the value of exports was due to the falling off in prices, which was entirely beyond the control of the Government. It had also to be remembered that a large number of people were settling on the land who required stock, and naturally there was a larger home consumption consequent on the increase in population. If they found that there waa a slight decrease in the value of their exports due to these causes, they had no reason to complain. He also pointed out that the increase iv the annual value of manufactures and produce at the' principal industrial establishments from 1886 to 1891 was £1,985,497. This increase of the quinquennial was at the rate of 26-70 per cent., but the population increased during the same period only 833 per cent. They had heard a great deal about the colony BORROWING ON THE SLY. The Government had not borrowed on the sly or in any other way, and did not intend to do ' bo, as they could do without it, As to the loan

conversion scheme, it was not brought about by the present Government, but by tho Stout-Vogel Government, and supported and acted upon by the Atkinson Administration. These operations were termed loan conversions when former Governments were iv power, but when a Libernl Government was iv office it was termed borrowing on the sly. The Government had converted loans bearing 4, 4-i, and 5 per cent., and were obtaining money at 3£ per cent., thus saving a great amount of interest to tho colony ; and yet they were told that by these operations the debS of the colony had been increased. Many public writers took it that the sinking fund represented coin in hand, but in doing so they dUplayed their ignorance of the merest rudiment* of finance. These matters were noc treated so seriously u-s they should be, for rnisstateinents on the subject were calculated to greatly injure the colony. The fact was the present Government had effected a saving of £55,000 in interest through their loan conversions The Atkinson Government had converted two loans which had 28 years to run, but because the present Government had converted a loan having 19 years to run thf.y had been accused by members of tho Atkinson Administration of having comnaittud a crimp. He also pointed out that the indebtedness per head of population in the colony in 1890 was £60 5^ 4d, and iv 1893 £58 2s 7d, or £2 2s 7d less than wheu the present Government took office. He thought that was a complete answer to his criticcs. If the facts were recognised that there were such things as sinking fund debentures, it would be seen that by loan conversion they were simply exchanging debentures. Referring to securities, he pointed out that the land values (sic) of New Zealand amounted ta £111,137, and in 1893 they amounted to £122,125, or an actual increase from 18881893 of £11,078. Ye.t they were told in the face of this by their critics that their securities were not good. He compared the Stock Exchange quo'ations, taken from "The Statist" of December last, of New Zealand securities with thosß of the other colonies, in which Now Zetland occupies the best position. He announced that Mr Lee Smith had accepted the position of commissioner for New Zcalaud at THE CANADIAN TARIFF CONFEUEKCE. He spoke lengthily of Mr Smith's especial fitness for the post, contending that his connection with many successful public companies and industrial concerns proved him to bs a mm of the highest commercial Rtxnding. A3 the flax industry was of tho greatest importance to tho colony, he had given instructions to Mr Lee Smith to make every inquiry as to the industry, with the view of securing good markets and avoiding middlemen. After a passing reference to questious affocting capital aud labour he went on to refer to THE LIQUOR QUESTION, and sad if the temperance p\rty would be moderate in their demands they would get on better. The Government had passed legislation which had grappled effectually with the traffic, and iv passing section 21 of the act of last session they had acted in the interests of the temperance party, for without that clause the act would have been a nullity. He announced that the Government intended to reintroduce the Loans to Local Bodies Act Amendment Bill next session, arid Parliament would be asked to give local bodies power to exempt improvements under local rating. This provision would not be made compulsory, and local bodies would be allowed to have the option of coming under ib. In CONCLUSION, Mr Seddon said the financial position of the oolony was simply impregnable. The customs revenue was up to expectations, the expenditure was kept within the estimate, and he thought that at the end of tho year the Colonial Treasurer would be abe to announce that khe surplus was as large as that of last year. No questions were asked, and at the close of tho meeting the following resolution was carried unanimously:— "That this meeting accords a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Seddon for his able address, and, while congratulating him on the triumphant success of Liberal party at last election, further desires to express its unabated confidence in the present Government."