MR JAMES GREEN AT WAIKOUAITI.

Otago Witness, Issue 224, 28 May 1896, Page 20

MR JAMES GREEN AT WAIKOUAITI.

Mr James Green, M.H.R., addressed his constituents at the Mechanics' Hall, Waikouoi'i, on Saturday night. The Mayor (Mr Robert Mill) occupied the chair, and th^re was a fair attendnnce. The Chairman having made a few remarks, Mr Green stated that when he addressed the electors at that place l»st year he had told them how much opposed he was to the present party system in the colony, and he only now wished to Bt.y that the last session had made him more dissatisfied with it than bsfore. He attributed a deal <-f <>he loss of time which charscterieed the wss»i nt > the party system. First of all, there wa< a great deal of time occupied and very little business done in the early part of the session They also knew that he was not a supporter of the Government, but not being a party nun he gave hit vote in favour of Government measures, or clauses in Government measures, whenever he could conscientiously do so. Tho first three weeks of the session were actually wasted When th^y first met, on the 21st June, a great amount of business was submitted on the Order P*per, and he really thought that a great many measures were to be proposed for actual legislation. Soon, however, he found that such was not the case. Many of the bills were read a first and second time, and even committed, but they were never ii>t«nded, and were therefore not allowed, to pass the House and go on to the Legislative Council. A' circum«tance arose after this which placed bayond any doubt the insincerity of the Government in regard to these measures. A Minister of the Crown was entrusted with a bill, and after he had spoken in its favour he (Mr Green) spoke in opposition to it, and after he had finished speaking the Minister came over to him and admitted that he had not even read the bill. Anobher case similar to the one he had just, quoted, but not quite so glaring, subsequently arose, when another Minister who had charge of the bill admitted that he had not made himself conversant with the whole of its provisions, but that it had been prepaved by the dapa'Wr.ent, and he had been told by his officsrs that i* was intended to remove anomalies in the ex ; s ing law. Daring the previous ses«iou the House passed an Advances to Settlers Bill, and last year the Colonial Treasurer proceeded to the Home country to raise the money which f hat bill provided for — namely, one and a-half mi ll"-ou».l l"-ou». This money was for the ostensible purpi sd of advancing lo»ns to small settlors. Although be waß an opponent, speaking generally, of the Government, he gave them credit wherever they deserved it, and he gave the Colonial Treasurer the crtdit of being the first member of any Government to raisa a loan so cheaply in therßritish dominions, The loin, however, was not so cheap as the Government took credit for, because they knew now tha*the actual cost of raising the loan was £5 11« 3d per hundred. Another exceptional citcumstance connected with it waa that the money was only paid by instalments, the payments being made on May 1, July 1, and September 1. At the same time the interest on the one and a-half millions commenced on May 1. The cost of floating being £5 11s 3d discount on each hundred, the colony received only £94 8s 9d per £100, redacing the one million and a-half to £I,4oo,ooo— the actual amount the colony received. Tho interest on the amount borrowed was £45,000 a year for 50 years, being nearly £1000 per week goiDg out of tho co'ooy into the London moneybags so much declaimed against by the present Government and its friends. It seemed to be the irony of fate that the men who most loudly declaimed against capital and capitalists should be the men whose legislation and administration Bhould have been so much more to the advantage of absentee capitalists than to tbe colonial residents. He ventured to assert that this socalled cheap-money scheme would b<3 of much greater benefit to the English lenders than to the co'onia.l farmers who borrowed, aa interest was gradually but surely'fnlling. The English lenders were secure in obtaining for 50 years 3 per cent, interest, while for 36 yoars tho ■truggling New Zealand settler entered into an agreement, by way of mortgage on his freehold, to pay 5 per cent., with 1 per cent, added as a sinking fund, to ensure redemption and release ; but notwithstanding the punctilious payments, the Colonial Treasurer actually grabbed all sinking funds. The farmer might find the value of bis farm depreciated by the collateral security held by the English capitalists against the colony as

security for money owing to them, because although this liberal, self-reliant., nonbarrowing Government would not admit it, it was managing to increase the country's indebtedness to the English moneylenders at a great rate. For example, in 1890— the last year of the Atkinson Administration — the public debt was £37,284,000, with nearly £1,000,000 of the loan money unexpended. In the year 1895 — the last account* h* had-soce^s to — th^ public debt had risen to £39,650 000, clearly showing an iocr«»a*e of £2,366,000. Therefore, although they do not borrow, the Government could spend borrowed money with great facility. If he added the million just referred to (as he had a right to do) to tho £2,366,000, leaving out the accrued sinking fund, which he thought might also be fairly considered loan money, the Government bad expended no less than £3 311,000 of borrowed money since it came into office. Was it not, therefore, the veriest cant and humbugging hypocrisy that they should style thi'ins^lves non-borrowing ana relhntp In the same way the Government wished the country to hjslievs thufc because the population had increased since they came into office five years »go the pub'io indebtedness had f'eoreased accordingly, and thorffore they asserted that since they oame into office they had reduced the debt by £1 10 i per he*d S>ioh a statement on the face of it was nomense, and could be made for no other purpose than to trade on the credulity of the people. While he gave the Colonial Treasurer the credit of raising a loan at a cheap rate, he was oldfashioned enough to think that honour and honeoty were preferable to Having a few shillings by way of interest on a loan. — (Loud applause.) The statement of the Colonial Treasurer in the Hou«e in June 189 4-, on the introduction of the Land Tax Bill, was not. boroe out by the statement, he made before the London Chamber of Commerce ' The bill required the settle rs to piy the tax four months in advance of the time it w»s due, thereby m*king the tax payable twice wifcbin the" one year. The Colonial Treasurer said it was absolutely necessary he should have that power, in order to pay interest falling duo on loans in September ; at any rate Mas settlers did not like it, but by struggling hard they nearly all paid it, the few exceptions who were behindhand having to pay the 10 per cent fine. In speaking /btsf ore the London Chamber of Commerce, the Treasurer sivid thsre was absolutely no necessity to levy the laud tax twice, and that the stttemeat was made only by those who endeavoured to damage the Government. In proof of his asser'ion he stated that at the very time he had £3,000,000 of our pledged securities in transitu to London. Was such a statement in harmony with his assertion before the House that it was absolutely uecessxry the tax should be collected to meet the interest due in September? Then, again, to call the securities unpledged was very improper. They certainly were not unpledged, and ought not to be considered pledgeable by the Government, as the whole amount represented trust funds belonging not to the colonists as a whole, bnt only to the depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank, the insurer* in the Government Life Insurance Office, and to those whose moneys and properties were held by the Public Trustee for administration. If confideaca were shaken in the public mind as to the absolute security of these trust funds' its would indeed be a terrible calamity. H*, therefore, hoped fchafc the stitement of the Trea»ufer »s to the pledgeable nature of the«e securities w/is inroiyect, and that it was an attempt; — »o doubb an improper attempt— to facilitate the raising of a loan to advance cheap money to settlers"' It was deplorable that a Minister of the Crown should so degrade his high office by making such a statement, as it cou'd only be made on tbe plea that the end justifies the mentis. Passing on to tb-* banking legislation, it had been said by mauy o' the speaker's oldest supp rters that the Legislature had dons wrong in granciDg further assisUnce to the Bank of New Zealand. * In 1894 Patliament had guaranteed £2,000,000 to the bank to carry on its business. The House was then assured by the Premier of thß colooy and by the Colonial Treasurer that they werp satisfied that not only would all the liabilities of the bank be met, but that it wonld ba able to carry on its business in its own interests aa well as in the true interests of the colony. The bill guaranteeing the £2,000.000 was passed through all its stageß in both the Upper and Lower House in one sitting and received the Governor's assent, bo that the bank could carry on its business the next day. Notwithstanding what had been stated by the Prtmier and the Treasurer/ another, appeal in the interests of the bank had to be made last session. He had been told that it would have been better if the House had let the bank go. Perhaps at first blush a great many might think that, but after having given the matter grave consideration he voted in favour of further assistance. A committee wa«i set up to bring down a report on the matter, and on tbe committee the Opposition' was strongly represonted, their representatives being Captain Russoll, Mr W. Buchanan, and Mr William Fraser. These three representatives of the Opposition went on the committee with decided leanings against granting any further assistance, but after considering the whole matter the committee un&nimouhly recommended that this should be done, and by a large majority of tbe Hou»8 this assistance was given. The cclouy wit tHH p!cd<^d to mak- iw I'.ny deficiency winch m'gbt ocour on the d\~, . ■ - of the a»set«, which, it was stated, had bfuugut the bank into such a condition. There, wa«, however, every probability of tbe assets realising the low values placed on them, and thea the bank would not only be able to carry on its business but th*t the colony would not be called upon to pay anything in rcpect of thepe assets The bank was no doubt in a very bad way ; but it wa3 a verr large busineßd. Its ramifications extended right through the colony, and if it

were allowed to close up it would as surely bring ruin to many commercial institutions. In short, it would be diffljult to forecast the extent of the disaster which would result in the closing up of the bank. — (Applause). A great de*l of time was wasted during the session in discussing the new tariff, and a great deal of money was also spent in connection with the matter. It was for a considerable time before the Hou?e, and was frcqu-ntly altered by the Colonial Treasurer. A commission was sot up to deal wi f h the anomalies in the tariff, and their tour cosd the country upwards of £1700. In spite of this, however, very few of the recommendations of the comtnisMoners were embodied in the bill when it was finally drawn up. Although ostensibly the tariff wes revised for the purpose of removing anomalies, and not for revenue-making purposes, the Colonial Treasurer had admitted that the direct result of the new tariff would result in an increase of revenue to the extent of £70,000. The Governm3nt took credit to thenmelve* for what they did in respect of the Midland railway, but he was going to prove that instead of credit the Government deserved tbe very strongest condemn \tion for th<nr action in connection wi'h this railway. Id 1894, during the last days of tbe session, tho Premier brought down a bill and he told the House that tbe honour of the country depended on their pissing thab bill. The measure provided for the payment of £683,250 to the company, and ko vary th^ir contract bj relieving, them of their necessity to construct the costly section between FTokitiku and NfUou, or ono- third of the whole po;t : on. The H >uss of Representatives would not pass that bill, and threw it out by a majority of cix, he (the speaker) voting with the majority. The latter said they were of opinion that the company had no right to expect this money from the Government, bat that on the other hand they should be made to pay the colony for the excessive time they took to complete their contract. The action of the majority s>aved this large aum to the colony, aod compelled the G*>vernmpnfc to dt-al with the company either in t.he law courts or by arbitration. The company preferred arbitration Ths Arbitration Court was set up, aud the court said exactly what the majority in 1894- said — that it was tbe company who were at fault and who should be made to pay. Therefore the G ivernmant did not tle*erV«- the credit for their action in the matter, but the crudit was due to tho majority of the House who threw out the proposed bill. Dealing with the Land Acts, Mr Green stated that the Government claimed credit for introducing a number of new and liberal systems of taking up land, but if th^y went into rhis matter they would find that the Government were not the origi> ator* of these systems at all. For in*-t*nce, Mr JJofi'd Reid, sen , was the author of the agricultural lease system ard the deferred'paj mont system. The Hon Mr Rolleston gave them the perpetual lease system with power to purchase within a limited time, and he alaoinaugurated village settlements. Mr Ballauce became Minister for Lands after Mr Rolleslon and he eudeavoured to foi^er the village settlement*. After spending something like £60,000 he had to admit it was anything but a succaxs. In 1892 tha Hon. J. M'Kenzie introduced in the consolidated bill the eternal lease of 999 yeara and the improved farm system. The first might bo good to tho lucky few who got into possession, but certainly it would prove a loss to the other colonists, who wer« joint owners iv the general estate of the people, and who should be entitled to tha increment, if any, as time went on and population increased. To ba fair there should be a revaluation of the unimproved value of the land at intervals of, say, SO 6r 25 years, which the speaker boped would be provided for in the Fair Rent Bill, which the Minister for Lands tud promised to bring in next session. Dummyisra, tb.i'-y had also been, told, had been stamped out of the colony. Dummyism had existed for a considerable number of years, and instead of its being stamped out he believed that there was more dummyiom in the colony of New Zealand at the present time than ever there was before. — (Applause.) Tho Land Act, the speaker wout on to say, shou'd be administered irrespective of colour, aud h-' was going to prove th>vt su<"h was not the ctte. Just before the last te-sion (h<>re was a. settler in the Waikaira district who did nob pay his renb and was fined 10 per cent , the rent being overdue one month. The mutter was investigated by the Invercargill Land Board, and the Perpetual Trustees in Dunedin. who had the management of the settler's affairs, took the whole blame on themselves. It was through »n ovoraight tie rent was nob paid on the due date, and on (he recommendation of the board the fine was reduced to a nominal one. Was the 10 per cent inflicted on everyone who whs behind hand with his re lit ? They knew aa well as he did that it was nob. There were some iv the adjoiDing electorate who had not paid any renb Bince last elecMon, while there were others who bad nob paid their rent for the last three halfyears — (A Voice : " They are of the right colour.") Large sums had been spenb on the purchase of estates. He would nov refer that night to Pomahaka, as they were all conversant with the circumstauces attending that pui"- j chaee. In regard to the Cheviot estate, the Minister for Lands asserted that 5 per cent, was bein^ returned on the purcha*ft money, ' bub t return laid on rhp t*bl v b\ hi< >>wu hands Usl. se^Moii '.bo-viMJ iha' tbe ici.h- paid and acoruid oulj yitUed a s-h-dr. ever 4 per cent, j The cost of the Cheviot was £332,814 ; the ! rent* paid and accrued £13,335. Another return of tho Minister in regard lo the snme estate showed that he had spent £8912 on roadiDg, which therefore reduced the iuterest by more than one-half. In reference to the purchase of estates uuder the Land for Settlements Act, be ventured to a6sert that neither the j public nor Parlir,m. Nt ever expected that the j purchases would be so largely couflaed to '

heavily-mortgaged estates, especially aa the Government and its supporters bad so often alleged it was their fixed polioy to "burst up" large estates, while they had so frequently declaimed against the money-lending institutions. As a matter of fact, nearly the whole of the estates which had been so purchased were heavily mortgaged to either banks or financial institutions, who had been eud*avouring to realise on ih^m &&d failed. He would give them two examplea — one north' end one south —to chow th*t the tame course was not pursued in all ' msetf. Take the Merrivale estate for instance. That) was purchased on the 4th of April, the land tax ysar commencing on the Ist. of that month. Tho mortgagee was required to pay to the Land Tax Commissioner the whole year's tax ; whereas the Maerewh*Biia estate was c'Ou parchased till August in the eaire, year, and although tho Land Tux Commissioner mnde the same claim on the mortgagee the Minister for Lands promised* the mortgagor that the department would pay the tax.— (Applaud*,) After Mr Green had answered a few questions, Mr J. A. TowNsaND moved a vote of thanks and couM-ncd iv Mr Gieoa as the representative of the d sfric».

Mr Thomas Ar.tcooK seconded the motion, which was declared carried unanimously. Mr Geekn having acknowledged the vote aad intimated his intention to reeffer himself for election this year, the meeting terminated witjfc a vote of thanks to the chair.