THE HON. W.J.M. LARNACH AT LAWRENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 22

THE HON. W. J. M. LARNACH AT LAWRENCE.

The Hon. W. J. M. Larnach addressed a meeting of his constituents of the Tuapeka electorate in the Town Hall, Lawrence, on Monday night, 20! h. About 150 persons were present and the Mayor (Mr J. C. Browne) occupied the chair.

! Mr Lasnach «a id that if he had failed to reach. Lawrence earlier in his political tour ife was . out of no disrespect to the metropolis of his | electorate. So far from showing any disrespect \ to Lawrence he had a right to show the opposite, I for. he remembered that a very ahott time ago, i when he commenced the contest as a candidate for ■ his present seat, he was told that he would get comparatively no support at Lnwrenca, but he was agreeably surprised at the poll to find that he was in a very small minority ab Lawrence proper, and he believed that, had the circumstances to be gone over again, that minority would by this time have bsen changed to a majority, fur he was vain enough to think that throughout the electorate be had made friends. He was elected to represent that constituency as a supporter of the present Government — naturally so, as he was a member of the ; Liberal party and bad been ever since he went into Parliament;. It would be his duty that night to briefly give some reason? to justify hia contiuuance of the support of tbe Government. They would naturally ask, What bad the present Government done for tha interests of the country p As far as he could wa l ch tha course of proceedings, and comparing the actions of the Government with the admi"ittrationa of former Governments, he had come to the conclusion that, taking, them all in all, the administration of the affairs of the country by tha present Govern- ' ment was certainly equal to if not better thin that of any previous G ve"»m<-nb that he had known. Ho«v had the Pnmier, as the head of the Government, acred in that high poßi'ion-P It was tiue that the Premier was a self-made man, and the people.. of Lawrence, as & mining community, ought to be very proud of him for that, for in his earliest career in the colony he was a working miner, who had risen step by st^p to his present position. Had not Mr Seridou shown that he had the capacity to grapple with any question that civme before him in his present poiririou? If for no other action of his than his action in connection with the Midland railway difficulty, the gratitude of the oolony ought to he continuous to Mr Seddon. Hadtheoolony possesseda weak-backed Premier or one with less capacity than tha geutlemau holding the position the result to the general taxpayer would have- been very serious. Had the Government yielded to the outrageous claim for £1,819,000 made by the company oa tbe colony there was no doubt it would not have been the end of the extra harden imposed on the taxpayers in respect of the railway ; but by the capacity, sagacity, and determination of the Premier tbat enormous amount was saved ; and that was not all, for the decision of the Court of Arbitration in favour of the colony was also a decision tbat the public men of the colony had been doing justice to the contractors and to the oolony. — (Applause.) Then, had the Minister for Lauds done any act that would warrant the people of the colony in supporting him as a member of the Government ? The speaker thought he had. Was Mr M'K^nzie not the first Minister in the colony who was bold enough to ask Parliament for authority to acquire private lands where there were no Crown lands suitable for settlement ? It was known to the Minister that in certain paute of the colony all the Crown "lands were alienated, and it was evideut that unless legislative ' authority was given to the Government to acquire private lands in thoae parts people would be driven out of the colony to get lands elsewhere. The Minister had only found it necessary in a few parts of the colony to use the authority he had received to acquire private lands, but he (Sir Larnaoh) had not the slightest doubt that if M'Kenzie remained in office sufficiently long he would exercise that authority in every part of th j culouy where there were no Crown lands and where people might be anxiou3 to acquire homes for themselves and their families. The efforts of the M mister for Lands during his term of office had settled 11.900 people on the land, and the speaker aaktd whether th«t did not tend to the progress of the colony. Mr M'Kenzie had not confined h'tmelf to any particular class of legislation, hue had made it his endeavour to provide homes even for those who required the smallest aoreage for their holdings. There were lome people in the colony who were prepared to go the length of asserting that the Government should repurchase all the freehold lands in the oolony and nationalise them. The speaker did not know that theie were a maj trity of the people of tho colony prepared to go - that far, and, for hia own part, he believed that the land laws introduced by the present Minister— liws under which uiia could acquire land aa freehold, or perpetual lease, or lease in perpetuity, and under improvement clauses, and under which one could acquire the smallest aoreage or acreages up to ' a certain large limit — were better than one distinct law such as land nationalisation would only admit of. Had not the Minister for Lands also established a Department of Agriculture, and placed the settlers in possession of information not only in connection with live stock but in connection with fruit-growing and cereals and the diseases incidental to slock and all the products of the land P Had he not also imported experts in dairying, in the breeding of stock, and in fruit-growing P Did not all this point to the great interest he took nob only in land admi:.istration, but a'so in the hHtl-imnt •* Vi<- people <ri the land and in their [jru»p-iih. ?. l'h«r« was a very important cla*s in this colj. y— he alluded to the runholdiog class — which had ho respsct tor the Miuis'er for Landn, but; hated and even despised him. Fortunately for the oolony, tbat had no effVct on Mr M Konzie, who had striren from the time he went into office to do his duty fearlessly and regardless of class and clas* interests. WhttdispoMtiou had the Minister shown in the measure he passed into law last year, the Pas- ! toral Tenants' Relief Act ? How few Ministers would have had the boldness to vi, Parliament

to pass a measure that only pointed to the relief of one class whioh from the time of the Minister's taking office had been his most severe enemy ? As the> result of the passing of that act many of the runhulders of thttt district and of other parts of the colony had aent in applications for relief which eifclxsr would be ok had been already gianted, and there were a great many enjoying the benefits of that act whioh was passed by their supposed enemy He (Me Larnach) did not think it could be said that the Sliniiter for Linda was administering his department only in the interests of his friends with spoils to the victors ; bat notwithstanding the gteat many of the class to which ho hid alluded, who had accepted relief and the .others who would accept relief under that act, he ventured to say that not 5 per cent), of those who had received relief would_ record theie votes in favour of candidates likely to support the present Government. — (Applause.) Referring to the Minister for Railways, he said when Mr Cabman hid bo take, up control of the railways, up in the m^n.xgeoient of th«-m being withrlr.wa trotn. the comoiis-ioners, it was supposed tliit, awing, to hick of experience., he would not be able to satisfy the wants of the colony or the demands for railway conveniences ; hut notwithstanding that he had another vecy important department, under his control, he> had shown groat capacity and risen time after time to the oacasion. Had not many advantages bflen conferred on the. public in the shape of lower freight* andr lover fares, not. only in the immediate neighbourhood of the towns,, but also in. the interior P and had Mr C&dmAn not shown that he looked at. the working of the railways as baing a. policy that should be run. not so much as a rev< naegathering concern, bat in the interests of the taxpayers? Me Cadman was prepared, from. year to yi>ar to continue to make reductions so long as he found that by making the reduc'iona. he could incL'OiSa the traffic. In connection, with his administration of the Minings department Me Cadman had shown, so far as. the wnsll amount of money placed at his. disposal from y«ar to year for the development o£ the mining industry enabled him,, that he was. prepared to give »s*istwnce to all pacts of the colony. Of Ute ha had been, able to introduce a large atmsunt of foreign capital into tha North Mand» and tha speaker had no doubt that capital would to a- certain extent be attracted to their part ot the colony in connection with their aurtferoui drifts. He had the . a^sur&nca o£ hoto, the Premier and the Mini-itec for Mines that its was the. intention o the G- >veruineut immedtHieiy, if they remained in office— as he had do doubt they would— to spend a large sum of money inuonserving water in Central Otago, and he wa» convinced that no other policy — nut even of railway exfcun«ou — could be productive of sa much good there irs the expenditure of money in making large storages of water. With regard to railway oon>-st-uetion, it h%d beau paid that the Giverotnent •WLi-e not doinj their du'y bo. 'the O^a^o Central lite, Imt he had no hesitation in saying that,, when th^ work done on the line wai c >rnjpared with that done on the other lines of the colony, they had done more than thr.ir duty in furthering the construction of that railway. While he was member, for Tuaptk* he would sea that the Government spent a fair amount on the line Lawrence to Roxburgh or on fchat from Heriot to Roxburgh. H*s hvl read that the. continuation of the line trom Heriot to Roxburgh had been pronounced impracticable, aud,. while be did not know that that wa» the aaae, if it should be decided to push the line on from La-wrence to Roxburgh he would see that it got its fair share of tbe money that was going; but they must bear thif in mind, that if tho present generation desired to. si« these large lines finished in tueir time, they could nob expect to see that if the line* were to be contructed oat of ordinary revenue. If the people wished the uncompleted lines to be finished quickly the work must be done out, of borrowed money. .He was not advocating a, borrowing policy, bub was merely pointing nut tha^ those who desired public work 9 pushtd on in the colony would have to wa ; t a very long time before they saw many m>!>r» miles constructed out of surplus revenue. Wbile fan did nob advocate a borrowing policy, it did not follow that if the country decided «io borrow money to complete the uncompleted lines it would be a wrong policy to adopt. VVhea thepublic works policy was entered upon, there were high r&tes of interest 5 an.* 6 per cant ; had to be paid, and the monej <vas ->ptsufc very n-ckkssly, but things were very different jiow. Money could be borrowed at 5 pec cent., and people bad been taught a very good leuon as to the expenditure of money. It did nob follow, therefore, that it would be a- bad policy for a new aud progressive country to borrow money for public works which would be of a more or. less reproductive character. Another member of the Government who was worthy of the respect of the people of New Zealand, and who, in his opinion, had done considerable benefit sot to any particular class but to the whole colony, was the Colonial Treasurer. A great deal had been written not. oaly against Mr Ward puWii-ly but his priva 1"1 "* 1 «.ff*»rs had been dragged through the mud, nnd hia wind even hurt been doubted. Dtd the meeting suppose that the ' Ctlonial Treasurer himself manufactured the surpluses which his Financial Statements showed ? Presuming even, if the speak- r dared to presume it, that the Treasurer was what the opponants of the Government desired to make him out — namaly, a perverter of tbe*truth — did the? suppose that the high officials under the Treasurer, who were re*pou«ible for the figures, would pub themselves in such a false position as to render false statements and false balance sheets, yet if they believed the statements of members of the Opposition they could believe nothing else. Had not the present Treasurer given them greater facilities in their post it and telegraph servicsa than any previous Treasurer ? Were the? not to h-«ve cheaper tetegama shortly, aud were they not likely to have cheaper po^ttges P Did not the Colonial Treasurer conceive an act authorising him to raise three millions of money for the purpose of lending it to the settlers of the colony at a low rate of interest? Had not the settlers been paying almost usurious rates of interest — from 7to 15 per cenb. and evea higher? The Opposition almost to a man condemned the measure, saying that no one would lend the oolony money even at 4 per cent, for «uch a purpose, and that the result would be to lead the colony into he*vy loss and disgrace. The speaker was glad to Bay that he took a different view, regarding the measure as one of the best ever introduced into the Parliament of any of the Australasian colonies— (applause), — and he bad told the House thit we v»ould be able to raise the money at n t mote than 3J per c-nt-., and he was glad to see 10 months later that the Treasurer succeeded in raiding the fit&t moiety of tbe loan at the rate he had predicted. As to the ndtniuisbr&tion of the new policy, he said there had been a great many complaints of tardiness aud also of discourtesy ob the part of the department in c nnf ctiou with applicatiocs for advances ; but the Treasurer, upon his return from the old country, lost no time in making such improvements as. bad already effected a great deal of good. The department had been in existence for barely a jean and up to

the preient time 1915 applications had been accepted and £751,00* odd had been lent, tha .' aver»ge advanced b*ing £375' per head. Tha applications of 730 wttle«K ■IB IE S* t ' D g £240,000, hsd been declined. lowest . sum that had b --n Dent was £25 and* the highest «ra« £"'SOO TCh-n they bore in mind tfc&t th<- G .v rt .. im-nt knew well that all eyoa vrero fixed aa them in their , administration of tbat new policy, they could' not be blamed if they exercised caution in.ito infancy, but it. would be found that moneys could now; be easily had oa fair security from the department; The speaker: hoped tha system would extend its ramifications yeaar by year uutil the briauce of a million and &-half had been raised' and: lent out in a . similar way,, and he would hail with, pleasure, if he- wamthe representative- of any constituency, tohc 1 assed ,to gtvO' support to another three million* to beraised for a similar purpose — (Applause.) Ha saw no reasoo, as the Government, found; they could go forwawh surely aud firmly, why the. bervfibs of the aot should be conflacdi to any particu'er claw. Why should the mining- class* not. get the money, and other/ classes toe? Tlufr > Bet' aad been beneficial tomll clasges of the community, for, ia consequence of it^tbfi dnys of , high r&tes>of interest, in this colony were done. He believed that the present Government would nob be content with people, getting monej at 5 per cent , and he hoped before long to see their borrowing money at 4- per cent. He was convinced tbat the colony could not prosper ; unless there 1 wts cheap moneyy and so long: at , , the Government- continued to. work .in tha , interests of the- colony and in the interests- of all til&gsss' he would give them, his supports Fox . ths banking legislation ofi 1854 he< war not responsible,, as ft took place in June, and he was not wtu ned till' July. Rfxp-ct'ng- the, legislation of 1895, he said tbat he opposed, it ( th-oi'gujut. He 1 did not agren with the repotb , of tbe special comnartt««, and he did. not think they were ttb'tt to 1 judge the tiue position. Ho , opposed the acquisition by- the Bank of New , Zealand Of the Golonwl Bank's' busiuew ar s shareholder; -of the Colonial IWk, and bec&nts ha would* rftth«r- r h«ve seen that bank, even , although it hud met wifcn a few head winder, currying on it* own business; However, -all that bad pas»«d awny now, and' let them, all hope that legislation of that ctus ws« finwhod, and that their fiacncikl ins- itatfons would noir go oa and prosper. The Alcoholic iSquor Aat of l«st? session was,. h<r thought, » fair meaaure, and ho had even expected that, the prohibitionists would h*vo be«n nati.-fled with it. Ha w«s hiruielf » moderate, but he had no fault-to find wita those who bad extreme view*, and thought they -were batter wirhoub taking »ny liquor — he «mp»cted th«m for their opinions so long- as thr>y did not trouble him about bis. — (Laughter and applause ) It waa ' a curious- coincidence, "but if they studied human nature- they; would find that certain faddists in the world were not bsup^y unless , th*y were impwssing their fnd-- on- th«-ir fallow creatures ai.d endeovouring to pmh tbun down the th' Oats of the latter. Was' it reasonable that a certain clas« should interfere wikh the liberty of their neighbours, by preventing them from taking what they believed to be good for their health P And if that class did succeed in obtaining prohibition he did not believe they would rtop there, but thvy would try to prohibit tobacco or prohibit; tea.— (L^u^' tct ) Regarding the tariff, ha cxprca»ed the opi n th»t we should not irritate the taxpiyerx by putting small t&xes on all sorts of goods. The Government last Year reduced the tea duty by 2d. a Ib, and that involved a loss of £34,009, which had to be raided on hundreds of small articles. He had never discovered a consumer who had got his tea a farming cheaper than before the tariff was alered. Th>*n, he aaked", whe would feel the effect of putting, another penny a lb oa sugar? He underto >k to say that if a poll were taken of those who used in< st te*a and sugar, they would '" say, " Take tha fi ldling duties off boots and sboßs and other articles and put them oa tea : and sugar." The bill giving * Hen to owners of thD-hhing machines wonld, he b lieved, be found useful ; but he th ught tho Local Government B>lL though v**ry valuable, would have to be altered in a great many respects. So far as the large centres were concerned, he believed it was desirable that theie should be amalgamation, with the consequent saving of f>xp'*i>diture ; but he coi>Mder?.d tbat unless the G'>v*»mHieut wrre in any new m-a*ure prepared to jgiv« lo^al bodien ss!>ure<i finance they had better leave things ss they were. He bad long thought that the Government ■hould take over the control and management of the main roads It was not just for the Govrrnmwnt to expect the ratepayers in districts that did not enjoy railway communication to coutiibute rat»» for tbe keeping op of the main rends, which Were their only means of conveyance to the seaboard* unless they compelled those r/itepayeis in districts haviug the convenience of r*ilroad« to keep up euch railroads, of which tbey enjoyed the benefits. Therefore, if the Government were not prepared to take over tße main roads and run them as they did the railways, they were not doing justice to a largo flficti-m of co!oni«ts The Bc-ttermeut Bill he described as a mormtcuus absurdity, and he predicted that if it were *gaiu introduced it would meet with, the same treatment aa it received last year. He reviewed favourably tho recent appointments to the Mioi»fcry, bat said be could not view with respect some of the latouc measures which the Government h*d introduced. He supported the Colonial Treasurer hi regard to the charge against him of using the sinking fund* of local bodiea, saying that he knew they were intact and that the reouritiei were in the hands of the Public Trustee, and concluded a speech of nearly three hoars' duration by announcing tbat it was hi« intention, if spared, to cfF^r himself sgaia to the constituency at the next general elec'ion. A vote of thanks to Mr Larnach for Ids addra«s and confidence in hrm as the member for the district was moved by Mr Hktheiunotqn, seconded by. Mr Hunbo, and carried without ditsent. Mr Larnach concluded his tour of his district on Tuesday night, when he spoke at Clark's Flat. He had previously addressed meetings at Mttakanoi, Blackn, Ida Valley, Clyde, Alexandra, Bald Hill flat, Roxburgh, and Miller's Flat, receiving votes of thanks and confidence aft each place.