BANQUET TO THE PREMIER AND THE MINISTER FOR LANDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2300, 31 March 1898, Page 17

BANQUET TO THE PREMIER AND THE MINISTER FOR LANDS.

A banquet to the Premier (the Eight Hon. Mr Seddoc) and to the Minister for Lands ■was given in Grant's Hotel, Milton, on Thursday evening. The cbair was taken by Mr F. M'Leod, in the absence of the mayor (Mr D. Raid), who wired an apology, having missed the train. Mr C. Mahoney filled the vice-chair. About 70 gentlemen attended, and apologies were received from the Hon. J. G. Ward and Messrs Crawford Anderson, J. M'Corley, H. Clark, A. Paterson, and H. Hart (Lawrence). Tha toasts of " The Qaeen " and "The Army and Navy" were duly honoured, the company singing the National Anthem when the former was proposed. The Chairman, in proposing "The Ministry," coupled with the names of the guests of the evening, delivered a highly eulogistic speech regarding the policy and administration of the present Gjvernment, and strongly condemned what he termed the "Tory press," alleging that fair treatment j was not extended by the bulk of the news- : paper press of the colony to the Government, i •which in bis opinion had given a stimulus to industries and conferred benefits upon all sections of the community. The R'ght Hon. Mr Seddon, in opening, , said that he felt he was with kindred spirits, J and that he found when he had visited a . place he was always welcome again. When he visited Milton some years ago it was on a mission— (lausbter), — and tha mission had ' not been successful, but still a feeling of I friendliness had been created which be J hoped would be permanent. — (Applause.) The compliments the chairman had paid the Libaral party had actually made him blush, and when a man who had been seven years in office was able to blush he thought they vrould conclude he was not so corrupt as some people would like to make out; for it v."as said innocenca and blushiDg went together. The invitation to come to Milton had afforded him much pleasure. He wanted something of the kind, because since the trouble?, trial?, and tribulations of last session there bad been little relief with the j exception of the hearty reception a decent j man always met with on the digging*, and '• since then there had been a darker &ide to the picture. He had regarded their invitation to Milton aa the silver lining to the • Bc-mewbat dark cloud, and so had said : " I'm off to Milton."— (Applause.) Still he ft It some embarrassment. This was a difficii'e place for him to make anything like a fightiug speech in, as he felt a delicacy in referring to questions of policy, because to do so might ssera to be traspassing on their kindness, and yet, after tho 'speech of the chairman, he must say there was something ' in what .had been said. The change of > policy had been beneficial, for by the aboli- \ .tion of the property tax over 8000 farmers, j . who were struggling along — many of them ' mortgaged up to the eyss, — had bssn rt-liavad I from taxation. — (Applause.) Sir George Grey had once said to him that benefits conferred were soon forgotten ; but stiil thera must, always be hope, something to look forward to, some evils to be remedied. They must agree with him that there were still evils that must be removed at tbe earliest possible data. Ttte Premier criticised the statement made by C-^praiD Russell that if they wanted political organisation the way to get it was to put their hands in their j breeches pocket. That, the Premier said, ' simply meant that by bribery and corruption the constituencies' members were to be returnee? to Parliament. This would bs a great evil. He believed in going on the platform and in fair representation in the press, that all points should be reviewed, and then that every man should be left to judge for him- < self. Electors should not allow themselves j to be bought. He said this as representing | tbe poorer class of this colony. On the Liberal sids they had men of independence of mind, but as for the good things of the world, the great mass of the people had not got them. On the Opposition gide there were baneful influences at work, and if the Liberal party could remove those evils they would merit well at the hands of the psople. They would admit it was well to have Ministers visiti?ig among the people. That day he had heard on^ gentleman say he thought the Premier was a i " ' Haw haw ' kind of a man." By such visits as these misconceptions were dispelled, and he hoped that wherever it might be the Premier of New Z "aland would always be ] l able to meet any of them as one man meets another, and that they would feel convinced 1 bat he had done good for them and for bis country. There was no doubt that in the past the Premiers had been kept too '" much like the queen bee — in a glass case. It was the duty of the Premier to meet the people — how could the manager of any estate do his duty properly without going periodically over it 1 In the past there had been too much government from Wellington and not sufficient government locally. The Premier then referred to his visit to the j woollen mills, which he felt sure would tend | to iccrea«e the general prosperity, and to his visit to the dredge at Glenore, for which he also prophesied success. He also compli- , mented them upon the splendid appearance the country presented, and said that the msgnifiaent crops he had seen must aid materially in preventing the anticipated bhortage in wheat. One thing that bad helped them, he was sure, was the fact that they had been able to get lime on their land.— (Hear, hear.) As he had said before, r e repeated that if they got the lime carried for nothing it would pay the colony by the increased yield. This was a ticklish question, for tbe present Government was not a one-man Government, and the Minister for Railway's would assert bis position, but he had no hesitation.in saying that the railways had never been better managed than under this administration. The returns this year from tho railways he expected would be 1/70,000 over and above that of last year, and that, too, with a change of policy and under which remissions in tariff bad been given to , an amount exceeding LIOO.OOO. This showed that with a reducsd tariff they could get an increase of trade. The railways, too, should never be treated simply as revenue-produc-ing machines, but should be utilised to extend settlement and encourage the farming industry. Years ago he had been called the chief of tbe seven devils of Socialism, and &9 did not know wbat would ba said

| when it was known they had started a | limekiln, and were going to sell lime to farmers. What an outcry there would have been against this a few years agol Well, cheap lims meant increased production, and therefore it was important to have it ; and he did not care whether it was called Socialistic or not. When private enterprise had not stepped in, and was not giving tha settlers what they wanted, it was the duty of the Government to supply the missing link. The Premier next referred at some leagfch to his action in connection with tha redaction of freights on produce, remarking that he had commenced the crusade against ezesssively high freights in May, 1895, subsequently tackling those concerned at headquarter?, that the agitation was taken up by others in the colony ; and the reductions amounted to the sum L 300.000 annually, which now went into the pockets of tha producers of the colony. Wtiat return did 'he get for these services 1 As they knew, 1 one of the principal crimes he was charged ! with was that be had spent a few more j pounda than he should have done on his trip Ito the old country ! Well, he could only say ! he never was a mean man in private, and I when at Home, as head of this colony, he j ' maintained the position of the colony with ! , digmty, though thera was nothing lavish, i Bat; he took care that New Zealand was j ! fittiegly represented insofar as he could j , humbly do so. It was for j.hem to say whether, under the circumstances, it was fair and reasonable that their • Prime Minister of the colony should ;be degraded by having such a thicg j dragged out", acd this matter formed one 1 oil the principal accusatic.Es brought by the Opposition against the Government. He i mentioned the amounts expended on a trip to the old country by Sir Julius Vogel (L 5000), with a special grant of LISOO ; also ', that by a leading Conservative (L 6000), with j a special grant of L2OOO. Ttoe Hon. D. ] M'Lean's expense o£ crip to Au&traiia was L 71 1; whereas bis was oniy L 229, acd he visited Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, j and South Australia. Af her mentioning the ] amounts expended by other prominent j ; men the Premier said he did not say I ! it was a penny too much for them, but j he had to speak of this to show them the ■ contrast.. Tbe Government had never brought i this up agaiost their opponents, though for ! : years knowing thg existence of tbe facts, i And, besides, in former times Ministers were I in receipt cf L 1750 per annum, as against LIOOO a year he now received. The press had been making capital out of this expense of his trip Home ; so they (the Ministry) were obliged to mention tbe whole facts, so that tbe public might judge by comparison. And this comparison ho held must' be favourable o Government. All they asked for was fair play. The colony was never so pros- , perons as at the present moment — that^veryj cno must admit. Bricklayers were wanted !ia Wellingfcoa, and could not be got ; and [ boilermakers had to be brought from Australia. Last year Vac swaggers disappeared off the roads ; land values had gone j up, and of late years people had not I been leaving the colony in any numbers. Tbe Premier then referred to the Old Ag3 j Pensions Bill, speaking strongly in its favour i as a meaas of makiag reasonable provision j for tho aged poor, preventing the mtroduc- ! tion of the workhouse system, and setting an exampie to the world of humane consideration for those veho, having done no wrong to any, were tbe victims of poverty. Speaking for himself, the Premier said be cared not for honours, and be was sure that his friend and colleague, whose health had suffered greaily through incessant application to pubiic duties, would be happier on his farm ; but they were cuntent to carry on their work so long as it could be dorse on broad progressive lines of policy that would be for the benefit of the colony. — (Applause.) Ho thanked bis hearers for their attention and appreciation, and ?aid that he always enjoyed himself when ha wan amongst good people, and had coagpqaently got on well at Milton. — (Applause.) The Hod. John M'Kenzie, in replying, said he had boon delighted to accept their invitation, but did cot intend to make a " fighting spesch." In the House he had I promised Mr Alien to meet hia (Mr Allen's) I constituents, and would ac some future time, j if hia health psrmiWed, keep that promise. jNo one, however, could accuse him of j striking a man from behind his back, and so he should no& on tha present occasion refer to the member for the district. He had, he remarked, been greatly pleased with the appearance of the district, and could tell them they were in the L^nd of Gosben. It had also been gratifying to hitn to find the woollen factory so complete and flourishing, and could assure them that such industries would increase the prosperity of the farmers. He then referred to the purchase, of the Cheviot estate — one estate that alone was twice the size of the Tokomairiro Plains, and was occupied before its acquisition by just 80 people. Now they had on that same j property 1500 souls, three or four school?, a I dairy factory in full swing, otber public conveniences, but no hotel. One section of land there had been given up, and for that section j , there had been over 250 applicants. This i estate was the " white elephant " the Opposition bad mads so much of. The settlers were : contented and happy. They wanted neither reductions nor help from tha Government. There was an annual profit of LIOOO to the Government, and in about 40 years the Cheviot estate would be Crown property without costirg the colony a sixpence. That was only one instance ; other estates had been purchased, and were being dealt with. The chairman had well said that those who opposed the Government would not care to say on the public platform that they would repeal the land legislation of the present Government. Of course the Government, unless backed up, could do nothing, and due credit must be given to such membeis as the representatives of Tuapeka, 'Taieri, and Caversham for doing their level best in assisting the Government to carry legislation. The Government, he alleged, were labouring under continued misrepresentation by the press of the colooy, which was in the hands of the capitalists. Very few of the papers supported the Government. No poor man could start a paper, take an ' independent course, and support the Government ; he must go vrith the " Tories " to geb advertisements, without which t,he paper pquW nob live, T.ak.3 fcho auctioacerg of

Danedin — Donald Ksid and Co., the Mercantile Agency, Wright, Stephenson — all of them lived on the settlers of Otago. They did not find money in the streets of Duuedin, but made it by commissions they goc from the settlers, and they used these commissions for the purpose of killing the settlers politically by bolstering up the Onago Daily Times. The Government was Buffering from continued misrepresentation. Wben the late Mr Ballance was in office he was represented as one of the biggest scoundrels on the face of the earth, and all simply because he was the leader of the Liberal party. Nothing was too bad to s^ of him, and when he was on his death-bed the editor of one of the Wellington papers was besought to let the poor man die in peace, for they were still hurling slanders upon him. The bulk of the newspaper preaa of the colony had always opposed Lib?ral Governments. They had opposed Sir George Grey's Government, Mr Ballance's Government, and their opposition to the present Government was persistent. At one time ho was himself attacked co often in the Ofcagro Daily Times that a friend said to him, " I'm beginning to doubt you. I don't think I can vote for you, for I have sasn nothing against you ia the Otago Daily Times foxthree weeks." Soon after a very bitter attack upon him appeared in the Times, and li 9 received a telegram from his friend sayicg — " I take it all back ; I'll vote for you now," — (Laughter and applause.) For the pa?t 27 years he had been actively e»g9^*»d i« politics ; as it was that time on tho 17<.h March lest since be was firss elected to the Provincial Council. During all that time tho newspaper mentioned had never given him credit — hue the people hava continually elected him to every posifion he had asked them. The Press Agency of the j colonly had become a political position for belittling the Government, and especially the Premier. Tho Government had been charged with borrowing, but ho wxmld aEk them to look at the : settlement effected throughout the ] colony. Tha outcry against the Pomahaka j purchase, though not exactly done with, was dying out. The principal reason why Porna- ; haka was at first a fature was that a family ; in tJie south, the Logans, on hearing that tbe I Government intended to purchase the - estate I i?nmediately put their estate into the mar- | ket. The resu't was that tboge who had ! capital to work upon purchased them ; and this Iff t the Government purchasers who had not the means to successfully take up the land. In concluding, tbe Hon. Mr M'Kenzie again declaimed against the y hireling press, aad sidvised his hearers not to be led by what they saw in newspaper articies, remarking that be had been told by oae of the writers for the press that be would have more pleasure in writing in support, of the Government than in denunciation of it if he was only paid for so doing. He thanked them for ths hearty manner in which they had drunk the health of his colleague and himself and for the kindly reception they had } experienced. j Tha Vice chairman proposed " Ths Parliament," thy toast beincr replied to in j short, vigorous speeches by Messrs Larnacb, j Mornson, and Camcross. The ether toasts j v/era " Agricult ural and Pastoral In terfests," \ " Mining Industries and Lical Bodies " by the Hon. Mr Seddon, and " The Ladies " and " The Press " by the Hon. Mr a/J'Kenzie — replied to by Mr K. A. Pyke. Daring the evening the Premier complied with an urgent request to sing " The wearing of the gieec," and the Rev. Father O'Neill created much amusement by singing " A hundred pipers an' a."