MR SCOBIE MACKENZIE AT THE AGRICULTURAL HALE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2312, 23 June 1898, Page 22

MR SCOBIE MACKENZIE AT THE AGRICULTURAL HALE.

j Mr Scobie Mackenzie, senior member of the House cf Represents tires for the City of Dunedin, addressed his constituents in the Agricultural Hall on Thursday. There waa a very large audienoe, tks vast hall being filled in every part. Mr Mackenzie was received with cordial and sustained applause on making hia appearaces in company with the Mayor (Mr B. B. Cargill), who presided. Tha M.AYOB, In opening the proceedings, expressed the hope that the meeting would give Mr Mackenzie a patient and considerate hearing such as he well merited at their hands. With tha free institutions thab we possessed it was of the utmost importance that the public should be rightly informed of what the members were doing The right progress of public affairs musb iv the end depend on the public themselves, and ib was of the very utmost importance, therefore, that they should know ' exactly from their representatives' mouths what their representatives' views were. The ullim*te appeal in all public questions must ba at the bar of public opinion, but in the meantime the control of affairs was in the hands of those whom they had appointed as their representatives in Parliament. It was a good thing, therefore, that their members should on fitting occasions — and none more fitting than the eve of theopsning of Parliament— express their views on the existing state of affairs and their intentions on the proceedings of the Parliament about to ha opened. Mr Mackeiiz'e was a pretty strong party man, and he (tha mayor) dared say there were heartily in accord with Mr Mackenz : e in all respect*. Ab the same tine there might be a g :od many there who did ' noft agree in aIJ res-pectin with Mr Mack-:-nzi'' r but mfghb be inclined to question some of his viewa.. Whether they agreed or disagreed, however, he was sure they would all concur in one thing — namely, to give Mr Mackenzie a patient and respectful hearing. Mr Scoeib Mackenzie, who wa9 received with loud and contiiiued applause, said this was iba first, occasion eincs the election he had had an opportunity of addressing ttem on political subjects, for though members had been twice in Wellington there had really been only one session. He did not propose giving them what was called a rtview of the session. .Nothing on earth was drearier or more unprofitable. And then there wa§ nothing to review ; — well, hardly anything. Any special feature cf the session ha would allude to incidentally as bo went along. His object that night was to clear the political atmosphere which had been rather darkened of late veara with prejudice end misrepresentation of v'rtrious kinds. He would try to enable them to see the political position for themselvsa. He would allude lirjt of ali to what he supposed he must call an IMPORTANT SPEECH delivered only the other day by the Minister for Lands. That gentleman had done him the honour to devote » good deal of time to him, though by no means, he was bound to say, in an offensive way. Ib was rather a futile sort of thing, but he supposed he must- allude to it. In answer to a speech ha had recently delivered.in Auckland, Mr M'Kenzie had a good deil to s&y aboub his iucujsistiencies, as he called them. Ib appears he had been in the habit of " changing his coat." It must be his political coat that was meant. He stuck to all other coats with Conservative fidelity. — (Laughter and applause.) Ib would be new to bhem to hear thab he was an inconsistent politician. It was new to himself. He wasn't aware thab he had over lefb a party in his life, bub he wouldn't like to swear thab parties had never leffc him. — (Laughter.) It was true that in 1884 he had gone into Parliament as a supporter of the Stout- Vogel combination. But the borrowing proclivities of poor Kir Julius Vogel, and a sudden plunge into Protection — he was himself then, as now, a Freetrader, — rather shook hia allegiance. He tried hard to stick to them by inventing a policy for himself. That policy was wrapped up in an epigram. It went all round the colony, and was considered very clever, bub was perhaps the stupidest thing ever said in Parliament. His proposal was to "keep the Government in and their policy out." Of course it wouldn't work. Then the Government left him. When the lata Bir Harry Atkinson succeeded in 1887 he took up the Protectionist policy, and pushed it through with the help of whab is now the present Government, aud he (Mr Mackenzie) had held eulkily aloof from him also, cleaa-handed, upright man as he waa. He had since discovered that when New Zealand Governments went in for Protection they really wanted revenue — which, of course, Protection wouldn't give them, — and they always got the revenue. Thab was the extent of his inconsistencies. — (Applause.) Ib was a waste of tima talkiug .of such puerilities. He would leave a party a dr zen times a year if fidelity to his convictions and his notions of tha good of the colony j demanded ifc. Ho would give them a word 1 of advice, though; that would be useful. Whenever they saw a man leave' the unpopular to go to the popular side, let bhem be suspicious of . liim. If ib was the other way on, depend upon j it they would find him a man worthy cf reapecb. 1 That was what ho had done during thesa periods of inconsistency. At the time that he had stood aloof from Sir H. Atkinson, in 1888, , a huge meeting was called at th« Prineesa Theatre in favour of Protection. Tae boom ] was then raging in Victoria, aud the people of Dunedin thought Protection had caused it, and so they wanted to get ib here also by the same means. They thoughb it would stop what was called the exodus to Vicboria and cure depression here. He (the speaker) had appeared , on the platform to move an amendment hostile .to the boom idea. He was properly howlsd I down.— (Laughter.) No doubt some of his tudisneo would remember ib. He tried in vain to point out bhab Protection had nothing to do with the boom ; that there would be a big i smash there some day. Aud wasn't there P — (Applause.) But the howls were deafening. It was the proudest moment of his life — (laughter) — except, of course, an hour or so after the last election, Leb tbere 08 no more talk of inconsistency. Consistency to principle' was the great necessity of the hour. — (Applause.) The i test of a man was the way he comported himself in tha hour of darkness and ! fcdyeraity. — (Applause.) When the whole colony was howling in favour of tho present Government was he ever known to flinch for an | instant ? . Did he. not fight the battles at Wai- '• hemo and ab Tuapeka in the face of it all ? i Bub the Minister for Lands had a still MORE SEIUOtfS CHAEQB ag&iast him. It appaara that no one took him seriously nowadays. — (Laughter.) That was not strictly accurate. Ha could count on his fiogerß seven men who took him wibh deadly seriousness. Thera might be more, of course, ' but he knew of seven. There was the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon — (laughter), — the Hon. John M'Keussie — (renewed laughter). [Here the speaker enumerated all the members of the I Government.] The Minister for Lsnds devoted i a large portion of very long spceche* to him.

They would hardly believe iti, but he knew for a fact that the Government actually descended to the practice of sesding one of their followers round the House with instruction " nob to interrupt Scobie" when he spoke, because it always made him more effacbivo. — (Laughter and appkuse ) Some years ago a journalist in the press gallery enumerated the phases of colour thab settled on the faces of the Government as ho spoke. First they got red, then purple, and finally white. — (Laughter.) And hadn't be himoelf to comfort them last session by telling them that they could always tall back on a course of Dr Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People when he had done. — (Loud laughter.) He meant it in all kindness. Ib was a high honour to him to say thab ho wasn't to be taken seriously. The same thing was said of Canning and Disraeli and a host of others who kept people awake instead of sending them to sleep. They might depend upon it th*t the most precious gift of God to man nexb to that of a good heart wss the gift — would thafc he could think ho h».d ib in any degree — was # the gift rf beitfg able to iilusaine and enliven subjects that were usually dark and droary to the human soul. — (Load applause ) New Zealand politics required enliveaisig. Tho more public matters mentioned by Mr M'Kenzio he would deal with incidentally later on. ■ Thore were jusb

TWO POINTS of a personal kir>d he would allude to now, for they affected a man justly held in the highest esteem by the whola colony, a man -whose name was synonymous with all that was upright, restrained, and courteous in public life. He referred to his frie.id Mr P*ollaftDu. — (Applause.) That geDfeltin*n wfcen addressing bis consbituents- h*«i happened to- lemark thafc nob a eixpenca had been paid for Btuhy Park. He (Mr Mackeiiz'e) did not think there v&a anything in this point. He had no dembt; the sale was h sate ons so far as the colony's interests in it were concerned. Bub Mr M'Kenzie bed accused Mr Rolleston cf telling " a political lie," inasmuch as some £2400 had beeu paid "before the purchasers were allowed possession." Now a political lie was much the same as any other lie — (laughter) — aud Mr Rollestor? was the last man in New Zealand to deceive an audience far political purposes. — (Applause.) Whab he obviously meant, and indeed plainly said, was nothing was paid for the land. Now nothing was, as a matter of fact, paid for the land, the £2*oo or mora having been paid for the stock and movable property. He did not suppose thaß either gentleman intended to deceive, but if we are to judge of the impression left on the mind of an audieuce Mr Rolleston was much more accurate than Mr M'Kenz ; e. Then Mr M'Kenzie challenged Mr Rolleaton to

' * COMB OUT INTO THE OPEN " over eomefcbiug he had said in the Bama connection. The element of tha csmica! always came in very strongly over the&e histrionic challenges. He was going to de&l presently with challeugfis thrown out to himself. Now, he wanted to explain that a man speaking on the p'atform was in every sense ouii in the open. Ha had no protection for a word he said. If Mr.M'Kenzie meant anything ab all by his challengi Mr Rolleston is there ab hi* mercy. But let them reverse the picture and see whether Mr M'Kcnzie is as ready to corns out into the t/psß. Some years ago he mads eorne' remarks abimb Sir Walter Bailer, which he (the speaker) dare nob even repeat for fear of libel. — (Laughter and applause.) When the Minioter made the charge he was protected by the privilege of Parliament. Sir Walter wrota him a civil letter asking him to repeat bis statements outside so that they might ba tested in a court of law. For writing that letter tha Minister had him up for a breach of privilege. — (Laughter.) Then Mr M'Kenzie aVolined tho courts with thanks, declaring in effect that a Royal commission suited him better — (laughber) — and was cheaper. So much for political gasconading, for Ih&b is what all these challenges amounted to. Bub ho musb not forget that a challeng© had bseu

THROWN OUT TO HIMSELF. Ib was by a gentleman named Poyniz— a constituent of his own evidently, and no doubt g. highly one. — (A Voice: "He is nob worth noticing.") He was goiDg to notice him howtver. — (Applause.) He was challenged to answer certain things, and he was going to do ib. They might think it strange that ho should devote time to tho newspaper letter of an irresponsible critic. But he had his reasons. First of all, the name appended to the letter was S. Poyntz. He did nob know what the "S" stood for — (laughter), — bub ib had occurred to him it might be *• Scobie " — (loud laughter), — and thab therefore there might be an amount of intelligence latent in the letter which was not apparent on the turfx.ee. Scobie Poyntz might seem a little incongrous at ficat — (laughter), — bub tbeymigfab depend upon ib they would gefc accustomed to ib in time. Now for what Mr Poyntz says. Alluding to various charges that had baen made ag&insb the Government, he says :—": — " I therefore challenge our senior member, Mr Scobie Mackei,zie, at bJs meeting to clearly prove these various charges, Dot in his hsus.l bonhomie, au<lience-felching style — (laughter), — bufc by straight out proven facts and reliable data thab will bear verification, which I rather imagine is beyond his versatile ability." They would see thab his bonhomie was a stumbling block. Bonhomie meant good nature, but good nature was highly objectionable to a New Zealand Liberal. A Liberal ought to be what his countrymen call "dour." — (Laughter.) Ha would take one of the principal pointi in Mr Poynlz's — (laughter)— challenge, and give ib in his own Words:—" I invita Mr S. Mackenzie to show what labour legislation tha Opposition ever initiated and passed, • and what real affinity there is between thera and labour." There waa a straight out challenge, and he would answer ib. Aud he would like them to uuderstaud thab all the witnesses be would call that night would be Liberal witnessse*, and all the pipers he would quote would be Liberal newspapers. — (Laughter.) They would understand what a grand position a lawyer would be in who could prove hta case out of the mouths of tha enemy's witnesses. — (Laughter.) Ftrsfcofall lie would call the ; TRADES AND LABOUK CONGRESS which recently eat ia Wellington Hero was a passage from their report ; "It waa further rej commended that the Factory Act be amended and brought back to tha conditions existing in | 1881 with respect co overtime and holidays." j Fancy that ! There wa» a bombshell for Mr S. Foyntz, and perhaps thousands of others who hadn't paid the dighteut attention «» to whab had been going on iv the past, and who had been simple enough *o believe that labour legislation really began with the present Government'! Go b&ck to the act of 1881 —17 years—on two such important points ac overtime and holidays ! Alas for human gratitude and the shortness of the human memory, There were men and women befora him who would reoa.ll what was due to the late Sir John Richardson, Mr J. B. Bradshaw — (loud applause),— and ft. host of others, for what they had dona in the cause of the worker, And there were half a dozen Factory Aeta before

that. There was the Employment of Females and Others Act — that was the name then given — of 1873, an amendment of 1874, and another of 1375. Here Mr Mackenzie dealb at some leugth wiih the labour legislation of the past. He quoted from the list of labour acts of recent) date mentioned by the Wellington i Trades and Labour Congress, showing th.it j they were nearly all amendments of acts that had | been passed years before tho present Govern- I menb c»ma into office. He aleo quoted from j Cumin's " Index of Laws " — an official book, — I showing that many years before the Government were heard of laws were passed seoarieg workmen's wages ; providing compensation to families of workmen killed in accidents ; killed by defective machinery ; regulating j the liability of employers for injuries I sustained by workmen 1 securing wotkmen'a j club Bites ; Coal Mines Acts and Shipping and ! Seamen's Acts ; laws protecting married women's property ; establishing friendly eoeie- j ties ; and ch'ildren'e protection. There were labour laws by the score. Whatever was reasonably oZemanded in the past history of tho colony waa legislated for exactly as now. Even the proposed Master and Apprentice Bill was an amendment. The original act dated from the remote past. Ib was amended in 1865—33 years ago, — and again in 1882 and 1875. The principle of nil legislation, Mr Mackenzie said, waa that which was demanded by the sober public opinion of the hour. Tha very legislation that was go much vaunted -now was inteoduced by the Atkinson Government in 1890. He held the bills in his band. -There were tho Liability Amendment, Shipping.and Seamen's Amendment, the Truck Bill, Building Lien. Bill, Factories and Shop 3 Bill. Not a soul among -tho present Government said a word for thii legislation, aad their then party, obstructed them in everj' way. Even a Conciliation and Arbitration Bill was treated with scorn. Sir George Grey gave it six months on the score that we had do light to force workmen to arbitration. The bill was introduced by Mr Dawnie Stewart, aud he poiated out thab though arbitration under ib was voluntary ife could bo made compulsory by altering the word "may" iato " shall." The lata Mr -Ballance decoaKcerl the b'll b?es.u?c, although ib was apparently voluntary, ib was iv reality compulsory, and compulsion was bad. — (Laughter.) The compulsion was exactly what was now admired about it. Mr Seddon never said a word about any of the b'lls and seldom voted. The truth was that nobody at the tima saw any special value in acy one of them, and the v<&lue of five-sixths of thfcm to the working marr is grossly and ridiculously over-valuecJ now. Tba Education Act was worth them all pub together, and a thousand others of *he same sort^ all tied up in a bundle. — (Loud applause.) The belief -that labour legislation was initiated' by tho preeenfc Government was one of the curious fallacies of tha last few yt*ra. The explanation wag that ib waa no«v ca]kd labour legislation, ana there was an immense parade over bills even of tha mos>s trumpery'chiractec. Formerly labour legislation was brought in liko aDy other kind and no invidious distinction -made. There shonld be only one sort of legislation — namely, legislation 'for the good of the entire comraunity. — (Loud applause.) Then ho waa challenged to provH statements made to the effect that tha

GOVERNMENT SUBPLUSES WKRE BOGUS. Wei!, he himself 'had never said -they wer« bogus ill the political sense. But whether they were surpluses that the colony in a business sense would be warranted in «-lyiog on was another question. That surpluses ctuld in various ways bo manufactured and thab these were manufactured he would prove by hostile witnesses — noao of their Tory papers for him. — (Laughter.) His first wstnes3 wou'.d be Mr Seddon, whose word ha knew they would t»ke. — (Laughter.) In 1893 Mr Seddon delivered a speech in Napier which leb them into the secret of manufacturing surpluses. At that time ihe railways of the colony were in the hands of the commiss.iftners,'fend the Prdtnier wanted to get them out;. But thecom«ii?6ionerß could show a surplus, so" he had to gat over both the surplus itscli and tha meaning of it. This was what he told the people of Napier. Here MiMackenzie read an extraeb.from S&r Saddon's speech to the effect that it wao easy to make a surplus by under-estimating the revenue and ovur-eatimatiog the expenditure ; and that the railway surplus waa really an evidence of bad management. — (Laughter and applause.) Ifc would seem (Mr Mackenzie continued) thab Mr Saddoo knew the trick of manufacturing su-plnses, and, stcandly, thab the railway surplus he is himself boasting cf now ia really a sign of bad management. — (Loud applause.) But the trick of making low estimates was not sufficient apparently to make a satisfactory surplus, xtud ha would now, in the form of a neat tabld ho had compiled, show to the comprehension of everyone how that had to be done. His table would ba divided iu L o seven columns, showing the year, the total revenue from all sources, the total expenditure, the actual surplus (if any), the actual deficit, the political surplus declared, and, finally, the process of manufacture. If this lasfc coluncra resd like a recipe from a Cookery book ib was nofc his fault, bub only showed the entire fituesß of thiDgs. The t&bla would cover the entire period of tho Government's term ot office. Here the speaker read out the figures (given belov?), commenting »b he went along on the manner in which yearly increasing deficits were up to 1897 turned into yearly incres.Rinie surpluses. The original surplus of £143,000 which the Government had inherited from Sir H. Atkin*on had stalked like the ghost cf Hamlet through the accounts ever since. And then the surplus of. the yeai waa NIkVEE DISSIPATED, so thab there was no earthly reason why ib should nob go on for ever. When a real financier found himself with a considerable' surplus he invariably returned it to the pockets of the taxpayers by reduction of taxation. If after thab thera was next jear a surplus that showed good finance, economy, good management, and prosperity. — (Applause.) Bub when you once manufactured a surplus and paused it on from one year to the other there waa no reaion why, even without the borrowed money, the process should not go on for ever. So much for the supiuses that were bo dear to the minds of Mr Poyntz and others, who probably knew not the process of manufacture. To get at some other subjects necessary -to clear the political atmosphere he would make a bargain' with them. If they would show — and he was then epeciiliy appealing to opponents, if there were any — (laughter) — \ihy -the Government should retain I THB CONFIDENCE OF THE COI.ONT he would dhow conclusive reasons why 'that confidence #houl<i be denied them, as he felt sure was the case now, He would be their spokesman, and would states their case with great fidelity and accxiracy. He was sure to be told they were in some peculiar and exclusive bub" ir.defiaite way, which nobody could explain, a progressive Government. Thab wss one of the cant phrases of the day, but if you asked in what specinl way they were progreotiva nobody could tell you. He would give a short answer to that extraordinary claim.

The recent Jubilee of the province supplie d thfl answer. "Lab them use their eyes and ilieir imaginations, and sea what a fine city, a fine province, and a fine colony they lived in. All' the arts, sciences, and comforts of civilisation, had in a fair measure become domiciled fe«re. They had 'fine public and ■private buildings. Roada and bridges ware in every direebron. Thu country w*j opejxed up with railways. Free schools were scattered oyer every part of towa and country, even to rauaoteit .nooks. All phe province* were equally advanced ; each had a great city, for they had harbour? — (laughter)— wsllj they could nob work against- Nature— (laughter) — and wh*rves &nd,dcck«. Hospitals and asylams weie spread over .the colony. Forests had been cleared and cultivated, and swamps drained. The colony was fcnit together with telegraphs and telephones. "We , had lighthouses round our coaats, cabla communication with the . outside world. Desperate Native difficulties ' had been overcome. The Qaeeo's writ ran everywhere. Th© children of Mfcoris who liv«d almost a life of canuibaliaaa are now attending our schools. How loug, he would ask, did it take to do all' this ? The Jubilee supplied tha answer. Ib took 50 years ! — (Loud applauie.) J?or us, ai least.; our neighbours of Canter-, bury havo, two years to run yet till their Jabilee. It -was marvellous: If; might. ba 1 » eh»pt»r out of the "Arabian Nights."And yet there were inon? who had the na* blushiag impudence — (laughter) — tKat wts'the only term to apply to it — to say that tha era of. ' progress commenced seven years ago I the present Government. — (Loud laughter.)' ; They had been in office- one-seventh of the time of j the existence of the p^ovioca. Did anyone sup- , po»e for an instact that; teiey had made one- ; seventh of the progress ? - (A Voicb : " I don't, \ believe it.") Soniebo.ij did n-->t, b*!iev- il,i 1 , arid* I neither did hfr (Mr Mai'tsszie) behave it. — ' I (Laughter.) It was m»>veliuus to him Ito fiod men with plenty of humour and shrewdness in them listening eredulouily to members of tha Government, when they said I "Tura us out of offi-e and the progressive I policy will stop," " Th?'. counfry wiJl go back," ! and all that sort of thing. Mr Hall-Joneß feebly tried the buskpjs oa at Tiniaru the other day. We wanted a little more Saddonism, he, ; said, because it meant progress.— (Laughter,) Ife j was all quite obvieu ly dictated by self-interest, I but tho nuthinking didn't see it. Two forces | had operated ts delude people cince the beginning of the world, and they would apparently. [ (.'piiratG till tha end of tinno — cunning on the 1 01^ hand and credulity oa the other. — (Laughter.) Bub particular phases or credulity only lasted fora time, and the creduloui ia New Zealand were just absub getting their semes at lasfc. When they were being told this pregfos fable they had only to point to the signs cf the high civilisation, and say, •• That ia a work of' 50 yews." If tho progress business wouldn't go do7rfi," surely they wou'.d saj t-_j him "(Mr ?Taofc.*-..-7.i3> tho Government hav^ dor c SOMETHING UKl(jr» in the way of stttieraenii or> U.e LiuS It wa» high time, he thought, th*.fe delusion was. knocked on the head. For it was a delation i£ ever there was one in the world. Ib was highlime the people of New Zealand" knew' that during the past six yeats there w*s leas settle*, meat en the land {ban at any other period ia' the colony's history. And ther£> 'wss not the> slightest occftsion to disparage tho, Minister for"" Lands over it. He was in many respects *n able man. — (Hear, hear.) He had got a» good a grip of his department as any Minister who had gone before him. — • (Applause.) He had been most successful ia establishing the agricultural branch of the department. — (Applause.) And b» (the speaker) was sura he was aa anxious to promote settlement *as any man could be. The fact was that settlement did not by any means wholly depend on the exertions of a Minister. The price of grain, tho condition of the colony, and the avail *bl» land had something to do with it. Bub it was high time someone bronght the memory of tho people back to the magnificent work that had been done in the ptst by land administrators like Donald Reid — (loud applause), — the late James Macandrew — (renewed applause),— and the Hon. W. Rolleston. People talk of liberal land laws as if they were begotten within the last few years. He would give & list of the systems of settlement in force before the present Government were ever heard oL They ware invented to * enable men with scarcely any capital to get en the land. When he (the speaker) cams to the colony 28 years ago a man with £5 in his pocket could takeup a- section and frequently did. Hare 'were the systems in force : "The deferred payment system ; the perpetual lease ; the agricultural lease, villago settlement for cath, villages settlement deferred payment ; village perpetual le&ss ; vi!la,ga homestead special settlement'; special settlement associations ; small 'grazing runs ; and, of coarse, cash sales: He was not cure even now that he had enumerated them all. Mr M'Kenzie had added the 999 years' lease, and what were called 'improved farms. The 999 yeara' lease would ail'ba freeholds directly. Viewed in auy other light they were an absurdity. Nothing -could be more ridiculous bhaa to fix a rent now which was tolast for a thousand years — a period 08 time that, traced backward, would take one -to the Heptarchy. — (Laughter.) Ha , would now give them figures showing th& rsauits of settlement for the la.st 20 yeats — from 1878 to 1897. The figures f:.r 1893 were nofe out. Ha would gi'/c- thera in the fcrra of & table, showing first the particular jear, thea the gross number of settlers placed upon, the land in that year ; theo the forfeitures aad surrender ; then the net number of settlers, whicbwas, of course, got by deducting the forfeitures ; and finally, the Government in office at ths time. It would be seen from the table that whether we take the gross number of setblera ox the neb number — and it wa» absurb to take the grosa — there had been fewer peoDle put on the land during the six years 1891 to 1896 (tha Government period) than at. any other corresponding period since the abolition of the provinces, and this was after including Cheviot and all the estate* that had been purchased. — (Applause.) For the past six years there had been a gross number of 13,088 settlers put upoa th& land, an average of 2181 per year. Bst for tha whole 14 years previous to the term of. tb.9 present ' Government the gross number ofsettlers was 39.268, or an average of 2806 per year. But the'net number of settlers is a still, bettei test, and here the Government cornea out much wouse. Mr M'Keczie tells them that he has pub *ome 13,000 settlers on the land; bub h* never tells them that during the -same period ,tbe:e were no fewer than 2773 forfeitures and 1 6urrender«, reducing his settlerj to 10.265* 1 or nn average of 1710 per year as against a neb 2690 for the previous 14 years. — (Applause.) Tha rise in the number of forfeitures and surrendeis during the last few years was moat significant of th« class of settlement that was going on. Twenty years ago — in 1878 — 6704settlers were put on the land in one year, and during thab year there were 44 forfeitures. Ten years' later— in 1887— there were 2856 ' settler* put oa the land, and only 172 forfeitures,

(This was »t the end of the Sfeont-Vqgel and the ■beginning of the ' Atkinson period. In Mr M'Keczie's last year — 1897— there were only 1687 settlers pub on the land, and during the same year no fewer than 813 forfeitures—about 60 per oanb ! The question arose how had the public become so „ EASILY DELUDED : over this matter of Refctlemenb ? The answer was simple enough. The Minister for Lands never by any chance made comparisons between his own settlement results and those of his predecessors. He has always contented himself by giving strings of detail figures of what he was doing, and the simple-minded public naturally concluded that nothing like ib had ever been known before. Yet the record of any previous period was far better. He would give an example of how the people were mystified. In his speech at Palmerston the Minister said that *' between 1891 and 1887— six years— there had been an increase in the land occupied of 2,810,807 acres." Now that sounded tremendous, did it not ? Bat if they turned up the «ffici»l Blue Book, the official statistics for the year 1896, they would find that that six years' record was actually beaten by a five years' record of the period before the Government took office. He had the leaf iv his hand, cut cub of the boq.k, and would read it to them and *ben band it to the chairman. It aays :— " The total area of land occupied after deducting' Crown pastoral leases wa?. for -the eentus period 1886 (five years) 17,077,074- acre?, for the period, ending 1891 19.951,925 acfes, and for the 1696 period 22.657,908 acres. The increase of land occupied by settlement is thus shown to be: For 1886 to 1891, 2,874,851 ' acre's ; and for 1891 to 1896, 2,709,983 acres." These are the words of tha Government statist, aud they show that the land in occupa- • tion during the five years preceding the pre.ent' Government was greater by 168,868 acres than their corresponding period, and that the same five y-ea?s was better than the last six years of the, present Government by 64,000 acres. '- — (Applause;) The truth of the matter was that erary Minister was doing his utmost for settlement, 1 ' and Mr M'Ker_zie, so far as effort goes, is no better and do worse than any of his predecessors. — (Applause.) He had knocked on thehead the claims for special progress and for success in settlement of tbe land above their predecessors. Perhaps, however, they would be inclined to claim for the Government just a touch of SOCIALISM, which they were inclined to like rather than otherwise : ib had the appearaccs of being extremely advanced. There were two kinds of Socialism. That in the nature of communism — in the nature of community of goods. That ■was an idle dream. Bat there was what was ©ailed State Socialism, and tbat, ■if wisely ordered, was to be treated with respecb. As* communities got more complex State interference becomes more necessary. The Government were rather pleased ab the idea of being considered Socialists, and they instilled that idea into the public mind in a peculiar way — by appearing to repudiate it. They complained, for instance, that they were called ' the . •• Seven , devils^ of, Socialism," ; and rebutted the .charge. .- That ..left' the idea that if they were __npt Socialist*, they "■were 1 , at .least, very much advanced. In tfie' same ■way.-'they^"heralded 'in eqmer,trifli2?g bill at tfae.same time/declaring they wore going to do nothing revolutionary. That" again', leit * the opinion in the minds -of the public that - ttiough not' going in for revolution' they were briefing in some verj radical measures indeed. As. the result of all this, they ultirnatelycaine down with a bill for whitewashing factories or supplying chairs to girls in shops to sib upon. — (Laughter.) These were very good things, too, and be agreed with them, bub the neb result in the mind of the public was that a tremendous change had been made, inaugurating almost a aew era. It was nearly all imposture, but ib had the desired tffect. — (Applause.) As a matter of fact, the trso&t important measures of State Socialism were introduced, in the shape of free, secular, and compulsory t education, Government life insurance, aud' the Public Trust Office?, ye*rs before the name of Mr Seddon was heard of in New Zealand. He had undertaken, if they would give reasons why the Government should retain the confidence of the colony, to show why they ought to forfeit ib, end would now do so. First of all he asserted that the Government had introduced principles, methods, aad practices which were calculated to reduce the standard of public morality iv the oolony. — (Applause.) These were the principles of what was called TAMMANY. How was it that the cry of *' Tammany " had arisen in the colony ? Ib could "not be the invention of the Opposition, for ib was too universal. The fact was that the principles of Tammany had lately been revealed to the world .in various magazines, and the speaker here quoted from the "Nineteenth Century" and Mr Stead's " Satan's Invisible World Revealed," and,6aid tbat the people of this colony had been appalled to a find that the principles of Tammany, which were the scorn and reprobation of the civilised world, were principles which wera now being pub " Jn prs.ot:ca in N,ew Zealand. — (Applause.) -This ho should prove, a« he" had proved his other assertions, by hostile witnesses, and the first witness ' he ' should call was the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon — (laughter), — and he should call him to show that intimidation was practised by the Government. Intimidation on one hand and " Bpoils to tbo victors " on the other 1 generally went together. He would not quote from any Conservative journal, but from an uncontra- - dieted report that appeared in the New Zealand Times — the Government organ. At the closa of the recent Wellington elecfcioo, and as reported by the New Zealand Times, Mr Seddon bad eaid : " There were a good many persons who now said they were • Duthieites ' who on the previous night would not have dared to say co." Now assuming that the Premier then spoke in anger, could they believe that such language could come out of the mouth of & man who was a Liberal at heart — (Loud applause.) What did it mean P It meant that they were bold enough to declare themselves Duthieibei when they thought the Government were going out, »ut thab they would not have dared' to do to previously. Mr Seddon on that occasion w^s ab the principal polling booth all day long. He (the speaker) had eeen him there. Wellington was full of civil servanbs — of polictmen, artillerymen, and so forth — and he would ask was ib possible, looking to the exertions the Premier had made, at every itreet corner, that .these men should not feel thab intimidation was practised upon them. He would now call another witness and "one this time whom they could well believe for he was behind the scenes— namely, the senior member (the Labour member) for' Wellington. That gentleman, in his speech, said, " Ha was sorry fc» say that we had all the elements of Tam- < many corruption in embryo, and ib only wanted development to make it serious. Every day he Baw instances where political services were rewarded. They must stop that sort of thing. The civil service was in a deplorable state." Tbat was the testimony of a Labour member on the ' Premier's own side of the House. T/ae speaker also emoted (torn the letter of » weU-kuowo

Ddnedin clergyman who had paid * visit to the north— a supporter of the Government, — and declared that he found everywhere " a feeling of ane-smcee through the growing corruption, of our public life. Even prominent; supporters of the' present G*vernmenb were unable to deny the painful facie. We were owiflly drifting cowards bhe corruptions of Tammany Hall." Ha (the speaker) thought thab evidence was sufficient to establish the case. He might instance the ADHINISJEATION OF THE GOVKRNMKNT. j He had been accused of saying thab Mr Ward j had deceived the public, in ono year demanding two millions, which he declared would make the Bank of New Zealand cafe, and (he nexb year demanding three millions or more for the same purpose. He had never said Mr Ward deceived the public — he (Mr Ward) was himself deceived. The speaker believed thab co far as Mr Ward's public life' was concerned he had done no moral wrong, bat from the point of view of administration ib was a ghastly blunder. He could not help thinking | also that whatever the Minister for Lands had | to say againsb the bank should have been said | before he had committed the oolony to live millions for it — (applause), — but, having done ! that, Mr M'Kenzie should, for the cake of tbe colony, give the institution a chance. The speaker also alluded bo the expenditure on the i new | " PABLIAMENTAJRY LIBRAH? ae an instance of maladministration ; £7000 had been voted and £40.000 hsd to be spenb. Two Ministers — Messrs M'Keazie and Hall-Jonen — gave different versious of this. Mr M'Kenzie had said thab the plans ot this had been laid before, and approved by, a selecb committee — thab meanb the" Library Committee. Comtnittees bad nothing whatever to do with the voting of money, which was the business of' the House. Mr Hall-Jones, on the other hand, bad declared that the whole building bad been pulled down because they found thab it was so rotten and insanitary thsfc it was dangerous to the health of those who bad to live in ifc. He (the speaker) rr&3 one of those who had to live in ib for three months every year. Mr Jones's version was evidently the true one, but Ministers had forgobten that it "was necessary for them to eaytaesMne thing. — (Laughter.) Tbe speaker wenb on to allude to the attacks on magistrates and judges «s disastrous to the administration of justice, declaring thab ib was a fortunate thing for us thafc our ancestors had made judges independenb of the Government, and that some measure of independence would have to be given also to District Court judges and magistrates. — (Applause.) The Government anH their followers were in the habit of saying that tha Opposition dare nob REPEAL THEIK LEGISLATION. It waa nob the cu«bom of our Constibution for one Governmenb to repeal the work that another had doae. There was a principle underlying •such thing*, and thab was to repeal aoythingthab the people demanded should be repsaled — (applause) — and to leave what they detirtd to remain as stable as the' lawe of the flfedes and Persians. Surely that was true Liberalism. — (Applause.) Then they were told that' the OOTOBITION HAT) NO POLICY. That, waa- prel/ably the (stupideab ory of the lob. Ib was impossible for an Opposition; tO',have avpoKcy-i-they might, have eeparate opinions/ A policy was necessarily born in Cabinet — it was born of. mutual responsibility and in a epicit of compromise, and could only emanate from those who' had the power of carrying a policy out. To make a policy individuals had to suppress particular opinions. The true principle was gfaen in tha epigram of a gre&t statesman, "Call me in and I'll prescribe, but nob before." — (Laughter.) There was one measure of greab importance introduced during the session upon which he would liks to ssxy a wor>? - that- cf OLD AGE PENSIONS. Tbe real principle of old age pensions was undoubbedly good — (applause), — bub ib was an absolute essential that the pension should fall on the right person-. — (Applause.) The right person ■was the man 'who bad worked and straggled, : denied himi-elf-j-and saved, and done his duty byj i his family, himself, and the colony, yet for ; lack of opportunity had not been able to do anything for himself. Such a man had 'a right to a pension ; bub ib should be a proper pension, and not a miserable chaiitable dole of 6s 10£ d a week. — (Applause.) (A Voice : •' How can you find the right raan ?") He did not know hovr to find the right- man, bub it was very easy tofind the wrong coau. — (Laughbor.) It was «i>. Gubr9ge to say thab a man should geb a pension because he bad not been convicted of drunkenness more than four times in as many years. — (Laughter.) He had known hundreds of drunkards in his day, bub he had never known anyone convicted of drunkeunes?. -The man who was convicted of drnnkenaess was the poor fellow who fi'ora tempsramental and phyoiological peculiarities became a nuisance to the public when he waa drunk ; bub such men were the exception aad nob tbe rule. He would like to warn the people of this colony, and especially the women, of the danger they were incurring by supporting such a bill as thab of last year. The tendency of men, and especially of young men, was to sfcrink from self-repression, selfsacrifice, and severe physical labour. The tendency was to er.joy life stod Jet the future t&ke care of itself. If they were to enable such men — and we were mostly all of that class— to 1 say, "Why should I work and struggle^and deny myself and save P I'll have a pension in my old age, wife will have a pension, and my children will have pensions in time." They might do untold aod irreparable moral damage to the community. Ib was the women and children who suffered from ths weaknesses, passions, and vices of men — (applause), — and ib behoved the women of the colony to take care how they supported crude schemes which would bring such evils upon the oolony. He would supporb a pension scheme if ib fulfilled the conditions he had jusb laid down, and, failing thab, the only thing was to have a universal contribution and a universal pension. (Applacce.) He was very proud of his position as member for Dunedin, hub he would sacrifice ib ten times over before he would support a policy intended to catch votes rather than to improve the position of ths people. — (Applause.)

IN CONCLUSION,

he would say that he had promised that he would clear the political atmosphere, and he thought he had done co. — (A Voice: "No.") (Loud applause.) He had shown them what the Government ware doing, and — wh»t they were inclined to forget— wlut their predecessors in office had done for the colony. Ib vrag for them to say whether they were satisfied with what the Government were doing. If they were, they would be justified in keeping the Government in office. He did nob hesitate to repeat .what he had said in Auckland — thab the first duty of the nexb Government would be to re-establish the elementary principles of Liberalism in New Zealand — (applause), — and to restore the love and appreciation of liberty which had formerly existed and the moral tone of tha whole colony. The tendency of the present moment was to subordinate eound principles of government to eanb phrasea such as those of Liberalism—while the first prin-

f ciples of it were entirely overlooked, — (Loud and continued applause) . In answer to question*, Mr Mackenzie said that party government, if properly wqrked, was the beet instrument yet' devised by man for keeping down corruption in Governments ; bub it wa.6 an undeniable fact thai tbe best machine in the world must be properly handled by the people who had to handle it. He recognised that so far cs warehouses that were outside the unions were concerned the long hours of employment were a serious grievance which might have to be dealt with, and he would be willing to deal with it in a reasonable way. Mr^JoHN Lee rose to move — " Thafc this meeting do accord to Mr Mackenzie a vote of thanks for his address this evening." Mr S. Poyntz seconded the motion. Mr F. Graham proposed an amendment, coupling a vote of entire confidence in Mr Mackenzie with the vote of thanks. — (Applause.) Mr J. B. Thomson ceconded the amendment. The Mayor declared the amendment to be carried unanimously. Mr Mackenzie briefly returned thanks for the vote, and proposed a vote of thanks to the mayor for presiding, and with that the meeting closed.

Seari Total Revenue. Total Expend!- ; ture. Actual Surpl's Actual Deficit. Political Surplus iDeclar'd How Made Up< •' 4,182,027 4,342,719 ! Nil. 160,092 £ 165,574 .892 Take political surplus previousyear (Atkinson) £.143,966 Add borrowed money from sinking fund ■„ 282,300 Together equal to .. .. „ „ rt 426,266 Deduct debentures paid off *■, fl ,«. 100,000 Leaves „ w " S ' „ 520.200 Deduct actual deficit & „ fr „ 160,00-2 Makes political surplus .-. » ~ «, « £105,574 :803 4,329,890 4,491,985 Nil. 162,095 283,779 Take political surplus previous year „ <, £.165,574 Borrowed from sinking fund ~ .. .. 280,300 Together equal . . „ .. „ „ 445,874 Deduct actual deficit „ „ * ►• 162,095 Makes political surplus „. .. t, „ £283,779 L 894 4,368,537 4,646,578 Nil. 278,041 290,238 Take political surplus previous year _ .. £283,779 Add borrowed from sinking fund „ .. 284,500 Together equal to.. .. „ i, „. 563,270 Deduct actual deficit .. ... t . w 278,041 Leaving political surplus .. .. „ n £290,238 L 895 4,288,715 4i516,730 Nil. 228,015 180,023 Take political surplus from previous year . . £290,25 i} Add borrowed from sinking fund „ .. 117,800 408,038 Less actual deficit .. «. «. „ *. 228,015 Makes political surplus „ *1 «« r , £180,023 ■896 4,410,616 4,520,480 Nil. 109,864 215,559 Take political surplus from previous year .. £180,023 Add sinking fund released „ «. .. 145,400 825,423 Less Actual deficit „. £.' ZL '.» '«. 109,864 Hakes political surplus .. ~ r» -. £215,559 4,728,408 NIL 1897 4,659,981 68,427 354,286 Take political surplus from previousyear „ £215,659 Add borrowed from sinking; fund »* i, 70,300 Add real surplus „ „ „ «> 63,427 Makes political surplus „ — "g *, £354,256 1898 6,009,630 4,912,872 97,258 Nil. 521,144 Tako surplus from previous year '^ «, £354,286 Add sinking fund released .. A » k 69,600 Add actual surplus .. ... .. *», 97,25S Hakes political surplus .. „. «. .. £521,144

The follow] Scobie Msckei Dzie ii !a the t i his ad ible» quoted by Mr Iress :— Year March 31. v V ■ -° E • s ra s 1 C M © 0) >° f • »5 >i I 1 % O i I I I 1878 1870 1880 1881 1882 1883 18S4 1885 18S6 ISB7 ISBS 1889 IS9O 1891 6,704 5,050 2,037 8,878 8,037 2,172 2,2C0 1,021 1,510 2,556 2,093 2,353 2,034 1,881 44 20 13 87 101 76 09 145 110 172 179 212 212 200 I 6,860 5,030 2,024 , 8,841 2,936 2,096 2,101 1,776 1,400 2.654 1,914 2,141 1,822 1,681 SirG. Grey \ * - SHall- • Atkinson £ > Stout- Voj;el I si o 15V Atkinson 1802 1893 1894 1805 1896 1897 1,053 2,576 2,449 I.9SS 2,435 1,087 240 I 201 ! 296 892 801 Sl3 1,713 2,375 2,213 1,548 1,544' 874 ) | ! Ballance- (" Seddon