THE COLONIAL TREASURER AT OAMARU.

Otago Witness, Issue 2104, 21 June 1894, Page 18

THE COLONIAL TREASURER AT OAMARU.

(By Our Special Reporter.) Oamaru, June 15.

The Hon. J. G. Ward, Colonial Treasurer, addressed a large meeting of electors in the Public' Hall to-night. The building was completely filled, and a considerable number of ladies occupied seats in the gallery. Tho mayor (Mr Waddell) presided, and was supported on the platform by the Hon. S. E. Bhrimski, M.L.C., and the Hon. W. J. Steward and Mr T. Y. Duncan, M.H.R's. 1 The iTreasurer, who on rising was well received, remarked that this was his first official visit to Oamaru, and if it gave the large audience as much pleasure to hear him as it gave him to be there that evening, then indeed the pleasure was mutual. When be was first asked by requisition, as well as personally by Mr Duncan, the member for the district, to address the people of Oamaru on public questions, he very readily complied with that request. Circumstanced, however, had rendered it impossible for him to come at the time desired, but he had indicated to Mr Duncan that he would speak there some time before the session and he was there that evening to keep that promise. Herecognised that it was a somewhat awkward time at the present to deliver a public address, for necessarily, occupying the position that ha did and speaking as be did on the very eve of the session, he was obliged to be very guarded in expressing himself on some cf the important matters which he might find it necessary to address them on, and it was scarcely to be expected that he would disclose to them what would be the policy which the Government would unfold in a few weeks to Parliament. Were he to do that there would rightly be a good deal of soreness, and a great deal of exception would be taken in Parliament to his having done so. That being the case there would be some important matters in respect to which he would have to exercise a certain amount of discretion and to observe a certain amount of silence. Under those circumstances the meeting would pardon him if, when touching on these important points, he made but a slight indication ot what the Government contemplated without going into details. — (Applause). Now, the position and state of

THE PUBLIC FINANCES

of the colony was a matter which concerned more or less every man, woman, and child in the colony. It was undeniable that there was much divergence of opinion as to what the correct financial position of the colony is. For example, one man said that the surplus was 60 and so ; while, on the other band, it was alleged by others that tbat was not correct. The duty of -the Treasurer, if he wished to act honestly, was to place the actual facts before the public as clearly as he could, and that would be his endeavour that eight; but to do so to all people was a by no means easy task, .because tinder any circumstances one could not possibly please all people, and he told them frankly and candidly that personally he never tried to do so, because he knew from experience how impossible it wag. Now, a sound and strong finance was essential, and he had ru> hesitation in saylog that at the present moment the financed of New Zealand were strong and sound.—(Applause.) Since the present Government came into office the net public debt of the colony had been decreased to the extent of £2 6s per head. — (Applause.) When this Government took office the public debt stood at £62 per bead, but now the public debt ' was £59 per head. But to obtain the amount of the net public debt it was necessary to deduct from tbat amount the amount of the accrued sinking fund, and so after making that deduction the net public debt at the end of March 1894 was shown to be £57 9s against £59 15s at the corresponding period of 1891, so tbat the actual decrease of the net public debt was, as he had just stated, £2 6s per bead of the population. It had been stated on all sides that there was a certain amount of misrepresentation about the colony's finances ; but the actual fact was proved when they came down to the hard fact and saw the amount that was being paid annually for interest and calculated how much per head it was a few years ago and compare that with the sum now paid for that purpose. If there was an annual increase of the charge for interest they might depend upon it the public debt was increasing. If on the other hand ther,e was a decrease in the charge for interest, then necessarily the public debt was decreasing. At December 1890 the annual charge for interest and sinking fond was £3 per head, while at March 1894 it was £2 15s per hoad. Thus the reduction in the annual charge for interest paid by the entire population had been reduced by a sum equal to 5s per head. That fact spoke more eloquently than any words he could utter that night. — (Applause.) If another proof were wanted, let them look at the present position of New Zealand stocks, and compare it with the price at which they stood when this Government took office. To-day they stood • pre-eminently higher than the Btocks of any other colony. To-day our 3£ per cents, were abnormally high and stood at an unprecedentedly high figure— viz , 103. Becent cable advice from London had given them positive information to the same effect. If the finance of the colony-had been bad, or if the actions of the Government had been calculated to destroy the colony's credit, they might depend on it that no amount of sophistry, no arguments, and no statements on the part of himself or any other public man in the colony could have had the effect in the old world of lifting the colony's 3£ per cents to their present high position of 103. He complained of the amount of misrepresentation which certain papera in the colony had indulged in in reference to

THE CONVERSION OPERATIONS

tmdertakeH by the Government. Now these operations were not undertaken for the purpose, as had been erroneously stated — and the statement had been circulated broadcast throughout the colony, — of collaring thQr sinking funds, but with the primary object of making a saving on the sum which the colony was annually paying for interest. There had been a great deal of nonsense written on this subject. By two operations the Governmenthad converted £4,918,600 of loans, on which prior to the conversion they were paying £261,945 per annum by way of interest. By the conversion they paid £208,463 per annum by way of interest, there thus being a saving of £53,482 annually by way of interest. Necessarily in order to bring about these conversion operations they had to give to the holders of our stock an increased amount before ttey would agree to accept the lower rate of interest, and the increased amount which those conversion operations cost was £382,335. Now (he important fecb which was kept back frcm Ihe public was that by these operations the colony had been saved duting the currency of the two loans to which he had been referring the net sum of £2,052,380, and the annual interest payable thereon was decreased to the extent of £53,482. Now the first consideration which actuated the Government in deciding to convert these loans was what yuaount o( relief would be afforded by the wlwe of the. accrued, waking funds, The

total amount released from the sinking fund in respect to the loans which were converted at the last time the matter was gone into by the Treasury was £163,000. If it became a question whether it was a desirable thing or not to release the sinking funds for the purpose of carrying on the public works of this colony, he certainly affirmed his individual belief that it was a very good thing indeed. It had been stated over and over again that these financial operations of the Government had not been gocd ones, nor in the interests of the colony ; but all he could say was that if any more of our loans wtre to be converted, and similar results could be achieved, then the Treasurer of the day, were he not disposed to take advantage of the opportunity offering of saving money to the taxpayer in a similar manner, would not be fit for his position, and should not be allowed to remain in office. — (Applause.) Another important matter was what had been the saving of interest per annum by these conversion operations since the present Government had taken office. By the present Government he meant of course the Ballance and Seddon Governments. The interest last year waa £76,500 less than in 1889 90, £37,100 less than in 1890-91, and £76; 800 less than in 1891-2 ; and he did not mind disclosing Budget secrets to the extent of informing the meeting that the decrease in interest and sinking fund for 1893-94 was £141,000 compared with tbe preceding year. — (Applause.) Anothir point point on which the Government had been attacked had been in regard to the issuing of

TREASURY BILLS, but the criticism of the Opposition and their journals on this subject had been both unfair &nd unjust, and the position of the Government had been misrepresented. Before he explained tbe effect of these Treasury bills he would tell them the actual position of this matter. Under the Public Revenues Bill of last session the Government had taken authority to increase the issue of Treasury bills by £26,000. The reason for that additional issue was this :—ln: — In the public works funds were invested a certain amount of Imperial guaranteed debentures, and in accordance with the course of our finance as loan money ceased to be available within the colony, these Imperial guaranteed debentures, which had been realised while the loan expenditure was proceeding, had to be providrd for. There was £476,000 in the public worka fund, and the law allowed only £450,000 worth of Treasury bills to be issued, hence the necessity for obtaining last year's legislative authority to issue additional Treasury bills. In this matter the colony had only been following the example of the Imperial Treasury. For yeara past the English Chancellor of the Exchequer had been in the habit of issuing Exchequer bills in anticipation of revenup, and in this colony Treasury bills to the extent of a million of money had been issued just in the same way as Exchequer bills were issued in England. He explained the reason why Treasury bills were issued in anticipation of revenue, and went on to say that though there were £1,476,000 worth of Treasury bills issued they were issued for two purposes only — viz , to provide interest and to meet charges which from time to time may become due in London in anticipation of revenue, charges that in some months require as much as £620,000 to be provided. £460,000 of these Treasury bills had been issued for the purpose of redeeming a ,|ike amount oft- Imperial guaranteed debentures which had been invested in the public works fund as already explained. It had been said tbat this Government had initiated this system for the purpose of obtaining money for carrying on their public works scheme, but he assured them that they could not, and had not, used one sixpence of it for any such purpose. It had been no uncommon thing for the Government to be accused by their opponents of taking advantage of these Treasury bills to carry on their public works and similar undertakings by them ; but he told that audience, and through them the country at large, that that statement was entirely wrong. The Government had never done anything of the kind, and there had never been any necessity for doing it. — (Applause.) These Treasury bills-were thus invested:—With the post office, £424,500; with the trustees of the Cheviot, £200,000; Public Trustee, £227,400 ; Colonial Bank, £100,000 ; Government Insurance, £140,000 ; public debt sinking funds, Auckland Savings Bank, £125,000 ;— total, £1,229,000. But not one of these Treasury bills had been put on the market in the ordinary way. Everyone of them had been legitimately issued simply to enable the ordinary finance of the colony to be carried on. He next directed attention to the circular re the colony's finance that bad been issued by the Auckland branch of the National Association, and did so for the express purpose of pointing out the gross injustice that was done to public men by people who, he had no doubt, endeavoured to educate their fellows, but wh/> in many cases, through, the absence of the requisite ability, or the requisite information, " circulated statements which were calculated seriously to injure the credit of the colony. In a document recently circulated by the National Association of New Zealand it was stated that " the present systemless style of accounting must be put an end to unless it is desired to abandon the finance of the country to a caste standing apart from the rest of the psople and possessed of a sort of cccult learning. Such abandonment might become an enslaved, but never a free, people." In the interests, therefore, of public liberty the National Association desires to enlist the aid of colonists in demanding the annual publication of an intelligible balance sheet and, the release of the public accounts from their preeent mystification. On page 4 is the balance sheet prepared by the National Association, showing an excess of expenditure of £393,478 8s 7d ; whereas the official returns for the same year gave a surplus of £283,779 11s. In large letters attached to the statement of the association were the words •' public judgment is invited." Well, he invited public judgment. — (Applause.) In the first place the National Association specially stated that their accounts were prepared upon a system which was submitted in 1888 by the present auditor and controller-general of the colony (Mr Fitzgerald), and upon this syßtem, by mixing up loan moneys with consolidated revenue, they arrived at the extraordinary conclusion that the expenditure exceeded the revenue by £393,478. Now, the Mr Fiizgera'd whose Fystem the public was asked to accept w?s the Mr Fitzgerald who, as public auditor, had put his signature to the public accounts which show a net surplus of £283,000 —(Applause.) He thought there was no getting away from the fact that Mr Fitzgerald was an txcessively able^nim, a man with the largest experience in the auditing and controlling department < f any m&n in the eclony at tbe pr» sent trap, atd he was entirely and absolutely free from the control of the Government in anything he might do. The secretary to the Treasury and the accountant to the Treasury certified to the correctness of the accounts before they were published. They were then submitted to the Auditor-general to say whether they were correc\ and what did we find P We found that the Auditor-general bad put his declaration to the public accounts of the colony stating that they were correct. Then we - found the National Association of New^ Zealand In ft very florid document asking tbe people, of

the colony to believe that instead of there being a surplus of £283,000 at the end of the year, that there was an excess of expenditure of £393,478 8s 7d. Now, let him ask this question. Had any of them been asked to put their hands into their pockets to contribute extra taxation to pay this £393,000 ? Certainly not. And why ? Because the statement of the National Association was utterly incorrect, and therefore calculated to do a vast amount of harm. It was a verjf common thing to hear people ask why the public accounts were not kept in some such form as commercial accounts were kept. He might explain that the way the accounts were kept was regulated by law. They could not be set forth in the way that a public company would set forth their accounts. But anyone who pleased could take up a Financial Statement and see the whole of the necessary details if they looked at the tables, and no Colonial Treasurer dared to put his name to an improper or misleading Financial Statement, and that was what was implied by this remarkable document issued by the National Association of New Zealand. These were the things that had done so much in the past to damage the credit of New Zealand, and it was their duty and that of everybody who desired the welfare of the colony to stigmatise those who made such f>tatement3 as traitors.— (Applause.) He now came to the question of

CO-OPERATIVE WORKS. In his individual experience there had been a vast amount of misconception about this system. There were psople who believed that under the existing system of co-operative works theGovoernment were not only doing a bad thing by creating an expensive system of carrying on the public works of the colony, but were also doing what was calculated to make the unemployed class regard the co-operative system as one which they could readily fall back upon in order to get a higher rate of wage than in the ordinary way. He would take a recent case' in connection with the KamoHikurangi railway. Before the railway was started metal could not be found. The work of constructing the line was carried on under the co-operative system, and as a result of making the line a vein of scoria was dropped across a little by accident. This scoria was a good substitute for metal, and was obtained at a cost of 6d per yard. Now, if a contractor had contracted for that work he could not have done so with safety to himself without putting in a tender at least for 2a 6d per yard for metal, so that uader tho co-operative Bystem, by one operation alone, the colony saved £2000. Now the Government intended to go on with the system of co-operative works. They were anxious to carry on certain works, and they were also desirous of finding employment for a certain amount of labour in various parts of the colony. They found under the old system of contracting that at one time the unemployed were actually in receipt of Government moneys from one end of the colony to the other when millions were available, and that there were more than double the number of men employed than were now carrying on the system of co-operative works. — (Applause.) Ho would place before them the total number of men engaged in the month of February 1894 by the Lands and Survey department and by the Public Works department under the co-operative system. There were 1087 engaged under the Lands and Survey department, and 900 under the Public Works department. The average earnings of artisans on the Kamo-Hikurangi railway in the month of April was 10s B£d a day ; on the Paeroa-Te Aroha railway, 7s sd ; on the Moku section of the North Island trunk railway, 83 8d ; on the Greymouth-Hokitika railway, 10s 14 d ; on the Ofcago Central railway, 8s 2d ; en the Seaward Bush railway, 10s. The wages for labourers was : — On the Kamo-Hikurangi railway, 8s 8d ; on the Paeroa-Te Aroha railway, 8s sd ; on the Mokau section of the North Island trunk railway, 8s 6|d ; on the Eketa-huna-Woodville railway. 7s 8d ; on the Blen-heim-Awatere railway, 7s 10£ d; on the Otago Central railway, 7s 6£d ; on the Seaward Bush railway, 8s 4|d ; and on the Catlins River railway, 7s 2fd. Under the former system the Government found that they could not carry on public works, at any rate to anything like the extent that the colony had a right to expect them to be carried on. They therefore had to make a change, and under this change the Government had absolute control of the expenditure, and those who were formerly opposed to the system of co-operative works had, as a result of examination, formed the opinion that the Government works as now carried on were more satisfactory than works carried on under any former system. And now let him say one word about the

DEPARTMENT OP LABOUR, It was somewhat surprising to find the misapprehension that existed in connection with this department. A gentleman recently expressed the opinion that this department was not at all a satisfactory institution. He (Mr Ward) asked him why, and the reply was because it meant that men who were out of work in different parts of the colony rushed to the Labour Bureaus and were provided with work by the Government whether the Government wanted them or not. He (Mr Ward) explained to the gentleman that be was certainly mistaken. Since then he had made inquiries in order to satisfy himself whether by any possibility the opinion tie gentleman he had referred to entertained was correct or not. Now, he would place before them authoritatively what this Labour Bureau had done during the last two years. The number of persons assisted by the Labour department since its formation was as follows :— For the year ending March 31. 1892, 1054- married and 1539 single ; — total, 2593. The number of persons depending on the above was — wives 1051-, parents supported by single men 192. children 3583;— total, 4729. Of the 2593 assisted, there were 1730 sent to private employment and 863 sent to Government works. For the year ending March 31, 1893, 1808 married persons were assisted and 2C66 single, or a total of 3874. The number depending on these was 1898 wives, 5713 children, and 293 parents, or a total of 7802. Of this number 1356 were sent to Government works, and 2518 to private work ; or a total of 3874. Some 56 families were during ] 393-4 assisted to where the husbands were at work, comprising 56 wives and 168 children. Now he thought it was only due to the Labour department to place on record the fact that the larger proportion of those who were assisted by qhe department were sent to private employment. Turning now to the

PROGRESS OF THE COLONY.

In 1885 the public wealth of the colony was £40,304,000, and the private wealth was £123,098,000 ; and the net private wealth after deducting the indebtedness of public and local bodies was £125,000,000. In 1888 the net private wealth had increased to £130,000,000, end in 1893 to £155,000,000, bo that in the short time from 1885 to 1893 there was an increase cf 30 millions in the private wealth of New Zealand. That was the clearest evidence, taken from the records of the colony, that, notwithstanding the trials which many people had gone through at the time, and the trials which v a y were admittedly passing through at the preseut time, tbat the. colony had enhanced.

prosperity in private wealth to the extent of 30 millions. Well might they ponder over these figures and endea\ to realise their import. We thought we were in a very bad state, but when we came to examine the stern facts there was uhe evidence that we were not quite so bad as we thought we were. — (Applause.) It was quite likely that the answer might be made, " It is all very well to deal with the private and public wealth of tbe colony, but we want to know something about the indebtedness of New Zealand." He admitted that was a proper position. .The total indebtedness of New Zealand, including public and private indebtedness and the indebtedness of local bodies, in 1885 was £65,384,992 ; in 1889 it was £66,383,201 ; and in 1893 it was £66,975,480 ; and he wished to call special attention to the fact that the private indebtedness, which was £28,375,000 in 1885, had decreased to £24,313,000 in 1889, and to £23,000,000inl893,showingthattheprivatedebts of the people had from 1885 to 1893 decreased to the extent of £5,375,000.— (App1au5e.) He did not know that it was of much importance to the public, but he had been curious enough to ascertain for himself how much colonial capital the people were using as against foreign capital, and he found that the indebtedness per head of the population for foreign capital was about £57, and for local bodies £7 103 lid, and private indebtedness £34. Thi colonial capital was as to local bodies £2 9s lOd, and as to private people £32 per head. But there was the gratifying fact that the rate per head for foreign capital had been reduced from £113 for public debt, and the indebtedness of local bodies and private people in 1885 to £99 8 s 3d in 1893. This marked diminution clearly evidenced that the fact was contrary to what many people would have us believe, and that the people in the colony generally were getting better off, that the indebtedness per head was decreasing, and the annual saving was increasing. From this matter of figures he wo aid pass tc another subject which affected New Zealand quite as much as any other colony — the question of

RECIPROCITY. Personally he was a firm believer in the desirability of establishing with the other colonies, if possible, a reciprocal tariff.— (Applause.) There were many difficulties in the way, and the first and greatest, difficulty consisted, he regretted to say, in the absolute indisposition of the other colonies to meet us in a fair way. There was an impression among9t them that New Zealand had for years past had much the best of the export trade with the other colonies as against the inflow to us, but this was not so. The year 1892 was an exceptional one, for at that time there was practically a drought in the other colonies. And there was a great draw from this colony of nearly every staple article we produced, and we had the advantage over Australia and Tasmania to the value of £255,215. But in 1893 'they had had the advantage to the extent of £136,675. In other' words they had sent that much more to this colony than we had sent to them, and for the first quarter of this year the imports to this colony had exceeded the exports te them by £72,781. We had imported to the value of £291,444 and exported to the value of £218,663 to Australia and Tasmania. Now, he did* not believe in a retaliation policy in anything. It was generally most unwise, and it was not at all a generous thing, but recently he had himself received a letter from a gentleman who knew what was in the minds of some leading men in one of the more important of the other colonies, and who stated that it was their intention to raise a further barrier against products going from this colony. He did not think we would be acting wisely if we allowed them to pursue that course, and accepted the excess of their products, while a deliberate tariff was put on to prevent us supplying their people. He understood that even recently, low as wheat was, wheat had been imported to New Zealand from the other colonies. Now he said that if the other colonies were going on in the line they had constantly and persistently followed in the face of every reasonable representation it would become our business to see whether it would not be desirable to protect our people from them. — (Applause.) He thought it would, perhaps, be not uninteresting to the meeting, and the matter was one of some public importance, if he were to tell them the position of

THE EXPORTS FBOM THE COLONY extending over the last nine years, as it was only by comparison that we could decide what was seriously affecting us and what were the remedies, which might be perhaps changing the system of production, finding fresh markets, improving necessary local matters, and enabling them to carry on their business properly. The exports from Oamaru in 1884 were of the value of £153,678, and in 1893 they amounted to £259,656. The exports of the principal articles from the whole of the colony in 1884 were £4,669,570, and in 1893 they were £6,123,238. The exports from the colony for the March quarter of this year were valued at £4,006,378, an increase of no less than £369,388 on the value of the exports in the corresponding quarter of 1893. To this total Oamaru contributed £155,278, a falling off when compared with the March quarter of 1893, the value then being stated at £.167, 167. These figures showed that the district was not keeping pace with other parts of the colony. He alluded to this with the object later on of discussing what, in his opinion, seriously affected the district, and what they should do to enable them to improve their position. — (Applause.) In connection with the matter of exports we know to our cost that there had been a general fall in prices throughout; the civilised world, and in New Zealand there had been in some parts the misfortune of a very bad crop. These two factors had contributed to the serious position in which many farmers found themselves placed. In addition to the crop being bad, what other causes had contributed to the lowness of values throughout the world ? Over-production of certain articles must ba the first cause, and in the next place they could not discount the fact that the glut caused in the markets had had a depreciatory effect. There was another factor which had contributed to the fall of prices and the fall in the value of our exports, and that was the appreciation of gold. He was not going to discuss the matter that evening; but he had studied it for some time past, and he did believe that the cause he had mentioned had had an appreciable effect. What the remedy was it was not easy to suggest, and any? one who idly talked about changing the currency of a country must not expect such a change to be made by thinking people without seriously and anxiously going into the matter to decide what was the right course to adopt. He believed that a change in the currency was fast pressing itself upon the attention of the nations, and that the time wai not far distant when countries, and England in particular, would require their leading men to assemble in order to discuss whether the appreciation of gold was not seriously interfering with commerce and whether it was desirable to make a change. The matter could not be taken- up by our individual colony, and could not be treated lightly, but his opinion was that added to over supply and excess of freight, a large factor in depreciation in values was to J>e found in the appreciation of gold, They were aware th»t

recently the Government had established a department of Industries and Commerce, which had been brought into existence with the special purpose of assisting to develop the industries of the colony, and with a special desire to enable the producers to find fresh and better markets for their products. Now with this object the Government had recently^ decided to send to England as produce commissioner Mr Valentine, who for some time past had been one of the colony's dairy experts. Their object in sending him was that they thought that he would aid materially in seeing that the dairy industry business was properly condu He would assist those who wished to sell their products by ensuring that the buyers would receive a good article from this colony. By this means it was believed that colonial producers would get a fair price for their pro* ducts. He would now direct their attention to the fact that in the port of Hongkong in 1892 4499 vessels, averaging 1148 tons, had entered and embarked coal there. But how much of our coal had beea exported from the colony to Hongkong or anywhere else ? The local mines in 1892 produced 673,315 tons and only exported 56,157 tons. All this was consumed by British steamers. Now the mining industry was a great one, and at the present moment it was giving employment to numbers of people. It was the business of the Government to aid it if they could, and to see if they could increase the colony's export trade. Another important industry was the fishing industry. Now what was its position ? In 1892 we imported £22,387 worth of fish, aud only exported £7717 worth. In the colony there were 253 fishing industries, employing 667 persons. Hero we had splendid fish in our waters, but everyone of m daily used imported ihb, whilst a number of people were allowed to walk about idle. He thought that it was our duty to encourage such an industry as this. He also referred to the fruitgrowing industry as requiring more encouragement, and expressed his belief that the frozen mutton trade was capable of further extension. The Government intended to do all in their power to foster the various industries he had referred to. He then dealt with tho present position of Native lands, and went on to refer to the question of ' n

LAND SETTLEMENT in the Oamaru district The Oamaru harbour district contained 2,025,000 acreß, which were occupied in 489 holdings, yiclusiva of 58 pastoral runs of an area of 1,308,200 acres, and 890 freehold and leasehold of a gross area of 716,800 acres. His opinion was that to a large extent the people of Oamaru were suffering frem the fact that they had not anything liko the proportion of settlers on the land that they ought to have, and that they must have— (Applause ) What was more, their district would never have anything like a fair degree of prosperity until that was brought about.— (Renewed applause.) They might ask where the remedy was to come from. He would tell them that the remedy would ba in the compulsory Land Acquisition Bill. — (Applause.) He did not for a moment wish them to believe that he urged or argued that people should have their lands wrested from them at an unfair price. He did not believe in anything of the kind ; but he did say that the settlement of a great district was not to be impeded because the people who were in it would not take a fair price for their land. It was therefore the business of tho people in the district to aid the Government in seeing, for the purpose of settlement, that where large areas of land were locked up, that those areas should be released by the owners and sold at a fair price for the benefit of the people who wished to occupy them. — (Applause.) Before giving them a brief outline of what the Government's transactions in connection with the resumption of private lands were he would read the following telegram which he had received since he came into the hall : — " Strong case for right of resumption. One party offered .Government 17,000 acres of land. The price asked is £5 5s per acre. The land tax valuation of the property is returned at £1 6a per acre." He writes a letter to the Government asking £3 19s per acre more than what he pays taxes on. The board of commissioners report that the land is unsuitable and not worth more than the land tax value. This gentleman then says the Government; are not in earnest because he does not get his fancy prioe of £5 5s per acre.— (A Voice ; " WJhere is it ?") He had himself telegraphed to ask where it was, and he had not got a reply.— (Laughter and applause,) The telegram he had read had been sent by the Minister for Lands, who, they might depend upon it, would not send a wire of that sort unless it was correct in every detail. They had heard, and rightly bo, that in this colony, as in all the colonies, great changes had been taking place in the last 10 or 20 years. The colony was necessarily a colony of progression, and it had to be settled by numerous people who were not yet here. They knew that when the Government first intended to acquire private estates their proposal was generally condemned, but he would show them what the results were. The Cheviot estate had been settled by 308 selectors, and 217^- acres were still to be disposed of., It was bringing in a yearly rental of £13,690, and it was returning at present £5 7s 9 J per cent, on the capital invested upon it — on money for which the Government were ab present paying 3£ per cent. — (Applause.) Originally they paid 4£ per cent, for that money, but by an operation which was practically a conversion they got ib now at 3£ per cent. The Cheviot estate had now upon it a church, three post offices, and a telegraph office to the port, and a number of applications had been made for schools. That esfcats had provided homes for fully 1500 people, whereas it formerly carried one owner and his family and those whom he employed. The hon. gentleman invited anyone who was desirous of seeing the colony progress to calmly put the question to himself whether or not it was better to have the estate in its present position than in the position in which it was formerly, and whether or not the Government were justified in acquiring it. Then the Pomahaka estate was returning £3 17s 3d per cent, on its gross co3v. which footed up to £19,780, and that £3 17s 3d was returned on about two-thirds of the land, the rental of the balance being assessed at £429 19$. The Teaneraki estate was returning £4 143 lOd per cent, on its gross cost, and there were 40 acres of it with a rental of £33 163 8d yet to dispose of, The Pareora estate, with 30 acres still undisposed of, was returning £5 43 per cenb. on the gross cost; and theStudholme Junction property was returning £5 12* 3d per cent. He would now briefly indicate the number of

PERSONS WHO HAD BEEN PLACED ON THE LAND by the present Government in 1891. The number of settlers placed on Crown lands exclusive of pastoral and grazing runs was 95 less than in the previous year. In 1892 it was 3141 more than ia 1891, in 1893 it was 1544 more than in the preceding year, and in 1894 it was 2529 more than in the preceding year. The total number of persons 'who had been placed on the land under the administration of tho Hon. John M'Kenzie was* 7s44.— (Applause.) The position of the yWagehwoestwd aetflementi

was that there were 1166 selectors on 27,788 acres, or an average of 23f acres. The annual rent was £3786, and the amount paid for rent was £2830. The total loans raised for dwelling houses, bush felling, and grassing were £25318, and the total paid by the settlers, who they had been often told did not pay up regularly, was £13,353 for rent aud interest. -The value of the improvements which had been made was £70,006 ; so that against the £25,000 of loans there were improvements to the value of £70, 000, and rent and interest paid amounting to £13,353. For the past year 293 selectors had been placed on 5530 acres, or an average of 19 acres ; and since 1891 there had been 475 selectors put on 8284 acres, the average being about 17£ acres. He had the assurance of his colleague that the system had worked most satisfactorily, notwithstanding the fact that some people in the colony had cried it 'down. — (Applause.) He now desired to say a word or two in connection with

THE POLICY OF THE BANKS. They all knew that the most important thing in a country was the necessary capital to enable people in different businesses and occupatioss to make a success of- what they were engaged in. There was undeniably the feeling abroad that at least one of the Australian banks had pursued a policy which was not calculated to promote the well-being of the colony. Hs would not presume to dictate a line of policy to any important institution which had responsible people here— people who were responsible to the proprietors — but if as the result of the policy which was being pursued general injury was being done, or if in their opinion an injury was being done, it was the business of the Government as a matter of policy and of necessity to endeavour to secure that the effects of the policy of the banks should not be serious to the people-of the colony. — (Applause.) It could not be denied that if large sums of money were deposited by the people of the colony in any bank, and if that money instead of being used legitimately and a fair proportion devoted to the reserve of the institution were sent elsewhere, that necessitated an injury to the colony. If a million or two of outside money were brought here for circulation, would any man say that would not have a salutary and advntageous effect on every industry in the colony ? Per contra, if as the result of a system adopted by any institution or institutions there was the gradual departure of money toalargeextent,tbatmust necessarily have a prejudicial and bad effect. As the result of the system which had gone on there was an absence of the necessary capital to enable people to carry on their operations, and that had had a marked effect on the revenue of the colony. It had had a distinct effect on the revenue coming from customs; and he to!d the meeting that while the surplus for the past year was absolutely and essentially correct in every particular, and while the revenue had kept np surprisingly in the face of a wave of disturbance, there had during the past two months been a marked fall in the revenue, and to a considerable extent he attributed that to the absence of the capital which gave to the people the, same spending power as they had before. He was not going to make any rash or unwise statement*, and the Government were not going to indulge in any wild schemes, but they did believe that it was desirable in the interests of the colony that something should be done. They felt that if the people were to be employed, if they were to be put on the land, and if the commerce of the colony was to be developed, it was essential that the people of the colony should have money, and at a fair rate ; and the Government intended to see that the people did have money and have it at a fair rate. — (Applause.) This subject was a very intricate and difficult one. Under any circumstances it might be expected to create very angry feelings, and under any circumstances it would require to be most carefully handled. While he was not at liberty that evening to disclose the Government policy, he might tell them that the Government were prepared and saw their way to assist the colony very greatly by proposing a solution which he believed to be a Bound one, and which, when it came out, would be accepted by the people. — (Applause.) The measures which would be proposed were well considered, and would not do anyone an injury. They were promoted w<th the special object of assisting the people of the colony, and they would enable every financial institution in the colony to carry on its business in its own way. — (Applause.) He felt that he had trespassed a good deal upon their time, but before approaching matters of what he might term r local nature he wished to say that it was the desire of the Government that this colony, which was so far distant from the markets of the world, should have

CHEAPNESS OF COMMUNICATION,

not only in respect to the cable rates, but also in respect to freight, and everything that the Government could do to bring about tbat end they would do. In Oamaru they had their

LOCAL TROUBLES,

but in that respect they were not singular. In reference to the Oamaru water race he intimated that the Government would give the borough £750 in connection with the construction of that race. — ( Applause. ) Further, it was intended to expend £750 on a tower for the local post office, and it was for the people to consider whether they would derive more advantage from expending that cum on the water race. If they did so consider they would have £1500 for the latter purpose. Referring to the harbour, he said it wa« admitted by ereryone that they had experienced very great difficulties, and were in the unenviable position through no fault of their own of having a receiver in the town. This was very much 1 o be regretted, and it was a very great mistake on the part of the bondholders to decide to send a receiver there.. In his opinion, they had not bettered their position by doing so. They had not, at any rate, obtained the sympathy of the people in the district or the sympathy of the Government of the day. By their action the bondholders had estranged the sympathy of the Government, who did not feel tbat they were justified in assisting them out of their difficulties. When the bondholders made application to the Government, as they bad done during the last few weeks, asking them to do something in order to relieve them, he felt that when they had depreciated thoir stocks by the action they had taken they must not expect the Government of the colony to come to their assistance. — (Applause.) And the Government were not going to do it. — (Renewed applause.) They were quite prepared to assist the Oamaru district and the Oamaru people to the best of their ability, but they were not prepared to assist the bondholders in any way. He proceeded to refer to the action of the Railwuy Commissioners in competing against the shipping, and condemned their policy in that respect, as they were injuring the port and practically ruining the community. The Government were not in aDy way responsible for what the commissioners did, but as a public man he would say that their policy was unjust and ought not to be pursued. He could no commit the Government, bat so far as he could individually assist them to effect a obange

which would restore the £2000 of harbour revenue that they now lost he would do so. — (Applause.) The principal

OBJECTS OF THE GOVERNMENT, the hon. gentleman wem; on to say, were to acquire private lands to promote settlements in the South Island, to acquire Native lands for the purpose of settlement in the North Island, and to hive the lands in both islands roaded. They believed it was essential that they should do all in their power to improve trade and procure for the colony' better markets for its products, and to improve .-the social condition of the workers, and to find -reproductive works for the legitimate employment of their labour. They also thought it very necessary to improve the Standing Orders, so that the business of the country might be more expeditiously conducted than ia the past, and he thought he might also tell them that the rest of what the Government believed to ba essential for the welfare of the country would be found in the Financial Statement, which would be delivered in the course of a week or two. — (Applause.) The hon. gentleman concluded as follows: — I have touched upon the various matters in which you are all interested, and I trust I have furnished you with some information which may enable you to more clearly understand the aims and objects of the Government. I have addressed you under very considerable difficulties, as necessarily I have had to avoid reference to the policy of the Government, which, as you are no doubt aware, will be unfolded to the country in the course of a week or two in Parliament. I confidently assert that the proposals of the Government when unfolded will be of such a nature as to create confidence, to inspire our people with hope, and to enhance the reputation wbich the colony fortunately now enjoys, I ask that the actions of the Government should be fairly and impartially judged. We do not profess to be extraordinary men. We are as liable to err as any other mortals, but no one can say that we are not decided in judgment, fearless in action, and determined in seeing that the policy which has now been before the country for so long is carried out vigorously in tho future, and with the one great and common object — that of bettering the country and ita people. Our opponents may traduce us, may misrepresent, may malign, but, backed by the vast majority of the people, all these are as trifles light as air, and so long as we have the confidence of the country, we will promote to the be&t of our ability what we believe to be calculated for the general good of our people. — (Loud and long continued applause.) Mr F. Clayton moved and Mr J. Wansborough seconded a vote of thanks to Mr Ward for his address and of confidence in the Government, which was carried unanimously. The proceedings terminated a few minutes after 10 o'clock with a vote of thanks to the mayor for presiding.