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

Otago Witness, Issue 2231, 3 December 1896, Page 23

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

The Hon. W. J. M. Larnaoh addressed a -meeting of the electors of the Tnapeka district »t the Roxburgh Athenseum Hall on the night of November 23. As Mr Larnach will not be speaking at Lawrence (where it would have .been most convenient for us to report him) .until the night before the polling, we have -abridged the report of his Roxburgh speech in the Mount Benger Mail). Mr John Ingli* was voted to the chair, and there was a large "■attendance, a great number of ladies being among tbe audience. Mr Larnach, who was well received, said he Jiad been a consistent supporter of the Govern!«aent and the Liberal party, and as tbe issue of the election would doubtless be decided on ■party lines, he exp?cted to be returned at the forthcoming election if they still believed in a Liberal policy. — (Applause.) Opposition speakers and papers had indulged in eudless railings at and fault-finding with the present ■Government, in whose policy they could eea 'nothing good. Now, he had been in polities a .great manyyeara and in various Governments, .and had never known a perfect Government. He did not, therefore, claim perfection for the ■. Miuistry ; but he recognuedthey had made the most earnest attempt he bad ever s';en in this oolony to do the greatest good to the gi-eatest number. — (Loud applause ) They had b.en foremost- in introducing mfasures of a 'unique character for the benefit of the ,jpeople which were nevtr before tried in this .or auy. of the oth^r colonies. — '■(Applause.) Ono of tho great crimes of which 'the Goverunv-nt were accused was the "banking legislation, but wh"n the assertions made were analysed it wend b.», 6een that they were quite unfounded. Why did the Government ask (he country to c kub to the rescue of the bank ? Simply because they were poes3ssed -of iuformatiou a«i to the state of the bank's «ff«irs which they could not withhold and which, lad to be BC'ed ou promptly, with the alternative of "bringing a fatal oita.<rtrophe ou tbe jcolony. The Government .then itcoram'indtjd .that finaucial aid be reueVred to the b*uk, and he need i.o 1 ; remind them Ob at thy House coivHst< d of different parties, yet nil Bidea of "bath Houses concurred in etrrying into pflVct the Government recommendation *s the best course that cou'd be ndovted. If disaster bad ,fo'4->wed, cats q««rut oa this meanure, it was Parliament and »ioi the. Government tent w*9 to blame, 'isisti w»a^ given them in fcbe •ecMon ot 1894, *n! in 1895 the Government learned from the b»nVe> <-ffietrs that further .asFMtance wj.s avh; w.i «nd that it would be necessary to ljp off certain exrre-iee oca that .hainper^.d the bank, suvhastbt Bookof New Zealand i£«iates C<.i)).'-i! t y or tbe Assets C>mp*ny. A jftint commit <:.■ • f the H'ju«e wae set up to consider the q>n s '.on, and as they wera a/wars, it na* decided to g'v.irnntef tho bauk further to ,'the ex'-fciit ot £3 COO, 000. Were the G-Jvernt««nt .•to blame tor this course that the Whole Houae •decided' upon'? Certaiujly not.' — (Applause)' XTow, *6 to the jevil con? equeqees of these acts, although "the ci>k>ny h*d gu-aTantw.d us nvtince t« the b»nk"to-Ihi '*xtfnt~ of £5.000,000, that did not icfcan as had been represented, 'hat tho "laxs^tish-id to put their hands in tteir 'pockets 'for, th-'* l?-rg-i euui. It simply meant that the ( 'co'o-i> w«nt security for "toe bank until it was Sable to work oat of its difficulties. Thebaukhad larg* 1 earning power, and a large amount yearly was pur, to <h«* good, so that the taxpayer 'was i-o- likvly to be affected. — (Applause.) "-iThe bxi k.ng legislation did not, however, end ,|n 1895, and lrst frssion coaoinittees of both jfiou^s were appointed tj inquire into the 'whota of the Ir-gis at-00, and set at rest charges Bgt.nsfc sfcvcr&l members of the G>vernment. The deciFon given byth^se comeflitttees com- ! jple<6ly ex«tieratt j d the Government from all /jebacges in couiiecl'oa with the m*tter, and a sbill'was trs-me.l, the principal olhui« ot which 'dealt wiih a ch*iige in the minflgflmtnt of the inttriui'ioii. This measure, whea it got to the tpptr Hcuse, wculd not b3 passed without certain amt ndiu uta, and as the Government wished the bill to be passed intact the} would not accept thess amendments, and tbe bill had to he dropped Hts (ibe speaker) regretted this, as h« fiought the passing of the bill would ■have given duality to tte legislation ou the •«übj«*(:t. Doub'4es<, if tho nwcagemeut «ow went on smoothly, tbey would not require to intcrfeio wi f h the ba-jk's operations again. .Bp<»akM)g peiv«en«lly, he m'ght say that he 'Vent to the House some week* after the bank 1< g-nlbtion wn passed, and he had ©ppo-u^d the puveba-e of the Colonial Bank, «o that he was in no way responsible for it g niJ or bad. — (Applause ) The -Midlaud i nil way v wa« another matter in \«hich s -.rts o* charges Wijre"made against ttte G-v l'.menl. They, -however, had nothing to do with the's'art of the railway. Whtn they t\>ok ofiJQe ibej. company were carrying 'out.their n«)rk ina'very indifferent manner. They (the company) had been granted large rend-owixK'nt-i in tho first instance, but the Government hid reserved the right to except, "certain mining lands from these endowments. The company tfce>» came to the present Government and asked for further concessions ; but the Premier, with keen business foresight, saw •that the company had altogether too small a capital, and th^t they wanted to make a better thing of it for the shareholders and debenture - holders, so the Government put their feet down. This was to the credit of the Hon. Mr Seddon ; and although a committee appointed to go into the qneetion heard representatives of the shareholders and debenture-holdeis from Home, and considered petitions, the decision they came to was that the company should be held responsible for the work or forfeit the contract. Had the Premier been weak-backed the colony would have been saddled with a immense burden, but the Government had insisted on what was jast and right and would continue to do bo. — (Applause.) The speaker proceeded to say that the cutting up of large estates was another piece of legislation the Government were entitled to claim credit for. Where Crown lands were available for settlement the purchase of estates for cutting up was not neoessary, bat there was a dearth of such land in the South Island. He had tried bis best to get land for that district, and he fully intended to use every means in his power to do it yet.— (Loud applause.) Blr Larnach went on to give details of the working of the system of purchasing large estates, - and quoted figures to show .that it was not- likely to embarrass the country. He instanced Cheviot and Pom'fihak*, for the purchase of which the Government had been criad down, and said that on the former estate there had been about 'BO people employed, the country being given pver to a large number of sheep, whereas there Was now 1000 people settled there, and the estate carried quite as many stock.— (Applause.) (Referring to the cheap money scheme, inpugurated by the Government with the view of aiding struggling settlers, Mr Larnsch. confcended that this was a most urudeufc and

beneficial uchfime. There had been about 3500 borrowers under the aot, and about a million of the money bad been lent, tho nob benefiting the wlule community, as it reduoed usurious ra'es of interest to everyone in the oolony. — (Applause ) In speaking of the Land Valuation Aot, Mr Larnach alluded to it as a most useful measure, undor which Government valuers would make a uniform valuation all over the colony, leading to uniformity of taxation, and the Government lending departments would be obliged to accept these valuations. He also spoke approveingly of tho Unimproved Values of Land Act. Then, going on to refer to the Alcoholic Liquors Sale aud Control Act, he said it wei a measure which dealt with the vexed question of the liquor traffic in a very fair way ; and he thought prohibitionists should be satisfied with the three-fifths majority. He also disagreed with the Bight Houi-b Bill, as a socialistic measure, suited to those who did not want to work between meals He would like to sec • sonv3 euch measure carried as the Old Age Pension Bill, to provide for tbe aged and indigent, but the subjeat wanted longer consideration, i and f hould, if established at all, be started on j a sound basis. He referred to the late Colonial Treasurer's difficulties, and said he sacrificed himself to his party ; but there was more blame to the banks .who kept his aocoauta/ than to him. Speaking of the .vote of £200,000 for the development of mining, he strongly advocated water conservation, -and said he would do his best to have Lake Onslow protected in that way— (Loud applause.) He would advocate tbe building of a light railway from Lawrence or Heriot to Roxburgh, and thought that whilst 'it would be quite sufficient for all present needs, it could be easily and cheaply done— about £1500 per mile. In concluding his address he ! 6*id if return* d he would work for all parts of j his c mstituency as he had done in the past. — (Loud applause.) I After Mr Labnach had replitd to a number ! questions, on the motion of Mr Andrew, ' seconded by Mr Bennetts, a vote of thanks for his able address and of confidence in him as the represent jit! ye of the electorate was ' carried.