MR SCOBIE MACKENZIE'S ADDRESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2358, 4 May 1899, Page 18

MR SCOBIE MACKENZIE'S ADDRESS.

A CROWDED MEETING.

Mr Scobie Mackenzie, M.H.R., the senior member for the City of Dunedin, addressed a meeting of his constituents in the Agricultural Hall on Thursday evening. There was a very large and responsive audience, the reception given to Mr Mackenzie being oordial and demonstrative. The chair was occupied by his Worship the Mayor of the city (Mr W. Swan).

His Worship, in introducing the speaker, said lie had been asked, as mayor, to priside, and he did so with the greatest pleasure. The final session of the present Parliament was at hand, and, as they were aware, representatives -were addressing their constituents upon public matters. He was sure there was no need to introduce Mr Scobie Mackenzie. All were well acquainted with him, and it was no flattery, but simply plain truth, to say that Mr Mackenzie had done yeoman I service in Parliament — .(applause) — an d that if I he should leave his place there the loss would ' be felt throughout the colony. — (Applause.) The high opinion in which their representative was held had been shown by the honour conferred upon him at the last general election. — I (Applause.) It was not necessary to say more, as no doubt Mr Mackenzie had a great deal to say, and it was equally needless to ask for him a patient hearing. — (Applause.) Mr Mackenzie, who was received with general and prolonged applause, said : Ladies and gentlemen. The mayor has informed you I am- here to address you to-night . upon some of the political topics of the hour, and on the aspect of affairs generally. On this occasion I am not unmindful of the fact that it is probably the last political address I shall have occasion to make before the general election is -upon us. That sound| very serious.-r-(Laughter.) I dare say there are -some among you who think that it is therefore ah occasion for a politician to trim his sails to the coming breeze. — (Laughter.): Well, I don't take that view myself. An electorate has 1 clearly the right to expect that its representative ■shall give his real opinions with perfect honesty and frankness. And possibly the representative who does so has the right to expect that the electorate should pass its judgment on him on election day without passion or prejudice. I ehould like to strike a bargain with you to that effect. It would be an object lesson to the political world. But I fear you ■would never keep to your part of the contract. — (Laughter.) Mine, however, is ever so much easier — at least I think it is — so I mean to carry it through. The idea is common in some quarters that the correct^ thing to do in a recess speech is to give a review of the session, what is called in the cant pivrase of the day an "account of your stewardship." It is a very easy and at its best a very dreary 'performance. And at its worst, when you take the bills that came before the House and analyse them, it is enough to put an entire audience into an hypnotic sleep. — (Laughter.) But on the present occasion the task need not be either dreary or lengthy, because the last session practically resolved itself into

THE OLD-AGE PENSIONS BILLNow, I think the best, simplest, and most effective way I xan set forth my opinions upon that bill is to detail to you a conversation 1 had about it the other day. It was with a strong and outspoken, but, I am sure, very, intelligent and very honest, .opponent of mme — a member of the Labour party. I have no doubt he is in the hall here to-night. He was complimentary to me, paid that they recognised they coukl not 'shift me, to which I modestly replied that one couldn't be sure. — (Laughter.) The man is a fool who makes himself cocksi\re of an electron. He said he regretted I was not on his &ide. I said, "My dear fellow, if you'd only believe jpe, I am on your side." "Well, then," he said, "why did you vote againpt the Old-age Pensions Bill?" Let nve here -explain that I voted for the second reading of the bill, which affirms the principle, because T do strongly believe in that principle ; but I voted againfct the i third reading because the bill was not what it ought -to be. Well, 1 said to the man : " Suppose someone has throughouL his life, while his neighbours have been toiling and saving, deliberately squandered his earnings upon ir.ere self-indulgence, upon drink, or gambling, or some other vice, do you really think such a man ought to receive a pension at the hands of hie fellow-men?" "No," he eaid, "I don't." "Well, then," I said, " that is one reason why I ultimately voted against the bill."— -(Applause.) It permits that. " Now, let us take the other side. Suppose you have worked and striven, and denied yourself for the purpose of educating your children, and have worthily performed ali the duties of citizenship, and raved to get together a hoiite of your own, do •] you really think you ought to be doomed to ' toil on to the end while your spendthrift neighbour is in the receipt of a pension to which you contribute?" lie admitted at once , that it was wrong. " Well, then, there is another reason why I voted against the bill. — (Applause.) It permits that also." And when I gave him my own notion of what a pension should be, that it should be the reward of a fairly well-spenl life — (applause) — which had either been unfortunate or had lacked opportunity — (applause) — he assented at once. The fact of the matter is, that when you enter into details no one really believes in the bill as it was passed. They are simply caught with the name. — (Applauee.) The co.-st will start with at least £150,000 a-year, which is the equivalent of the interest of five millions of money, :md this will .go on increasing -at a rate which no one i<? in a position to estimate. My own fear is that the colon3 r will not be able to stand the strain of it, and that the first lean year tliat comes there will be howls against the Fysiem, ecpecially when people see it is being abused, and I am afraid it is being abused already. The fact that numbers of very worthy people are getting pensions is no argument in favour of this particular bill, for of course the same would have been the case with any conceivable bill that could hare been introduced. But the bill is now Jaw, and two thingp arc very clear to me in connection with it. The first is, that those who hare had pensions properly granted to them must go on receiving thofee pensions to the end of their lives. You cannbt play fast and loose with the hopes and fears and vital interests of aged people. — t Applause.) The second point as, that the act must receive nol only a fair, but a most generous, trial. — (Applause.) The three years' limit is on absurdity. It vat introduced, I believe, at the instigation of Government supportera who were in mortal fear of what they were doing in passing the bill. The Kystem will require at least a 10 years' trial, and during that period every effort must be made to perfect the measure before there i° a thought of repealing it. — (Applause.) But you may take my word for this, that all the difficulties sum otuuling an old-age pension syrcem, properly so-called, have got to be solved in New Zealand yet. — (Hear, hear.) Now let p turn, lo^ a regen*

CELEBRATED STUMPING TOUR of a few weeks ago. — (Laughter.) I don't know whether' people were really deceived "by the- reckless statements that were flung at their heads during that remarkable tour. If •they were I think I can open their eyes to the character of' some of them. The law. courts have a very good way of testing the credibility and the accuracy of a witness. They have an eye to the consistency of his story, they inquire whether he hag always said the same things and if he has been in the habit of jtelling a different* story at different times — (laughter) — they place small reliance on his evidence. I propose to apply that test to the Premier. Any one speech of his is a literal sample of all the others, but we'll take the Auckland speech because we have a full report of it. He there speaks of his opponents as " a party whose maladministration had reduced the people to poverty and dragged them to degradation." — ■(Laughter.) Then he goes on- to warn the people of Auckland that if the Opposition come into power they " ' will send this fair colony to perdition." — (Laughter.) Now for the test of consistency. At the opening of last session Mr Seddon put it in the mouth of the Governor to congratulate the colony •upon the Otag*b Jubilee, as showing the " wonderful progress. " — it's a good word wonderful — (laughter) — the wonderful progress the colony had made in 50 yeais. And then as if Mr Seddon hadn't been emphatic enough in hia testimony as to the progress of the past we have the Hon. Lee Smith coming in — (laughter) — his maiden speech "too — and was.ing really eloquent upon t became then#. You know how eloquent Mr Smith can be — (laughter) — and when he pours forth his eloquence on behalf of the so-called Conservatives you'll agree with me he's a mighty good witness. — (Laughter.) The passage is so fine that I must quote it in full. This is what be says : — " The 50 years that have passed between the first settlement of Otago and the present time has been a period, I will nob say of continued prosperity, but snowing in the end that such marvellous developments .have been made re -cannot, I should flay, be excelled in the history of any other colony in the world." You perceive that Mv Seddon said the progress is only wonderful. Mr Lee Smith saye it is marvellous — (laughter) — and licks all creation — (Laughter.) And you notice how cautious he is about the prosperity. He ought to have been a Scotchman. -^.(Laughter.) He won't say that the prosperity lias been continuous, but it has been pretty near it. Of course you don't want me to draw, any conclusion from these conflicting statements. You can see how the land lies. When Mr Seddon has to put a speech in the mouth of the Governor, or is speaking in Parliament, ke has to come reasonably near the language of truth and ■sense. When he speaks before his liberal attdiences he thinks them — for he has a poor opinion of human nature — lie thinks them bo ignorant and so credulous that he can say anything he likes.— (Applause.) Anything to get a vote. — (Applause.) That's about the size of it. But then, no doubt, you'll say to me .what about

THE PREMIER'S FIGURES. You know that figures don't lie — (laughter), — .except when they are put in a particular way. — (Renewed laughter.) Don't they show that the material progress — for Heaven knows nobody can\ say the moral progress has been accelerated — (laughter) — that the material progress of the colony has been increased during his term at a greater rate than before? The answer is that the figures show nothing of the .sort. He never said so, mark you, in so many words, except perhaps in the country districts where they have no means of verifying those things. — (Laughter.) What he did was very cunningly and most audaciously to leave that impression, in the minds of the people. Now to show the style of thing. Everywhere he went, and I have the speeches by me here, he dilated upon the progress of tha manufactures of the colony in his day. I nm sure you all believe that progress has been quite wonderful compared •to former periods. Well, I hold in my hand the Official Year Book of New Zealand, which is compiled by the Registrar-general, as we are told, under instructions of the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon, P.O.— (Laughter.) Now, just listen .to what the book says about manufactures: — "The annual value of all manufactures increased between 1890 and 1895 [Mr Seddon's period and the latest fdr which we have any statistics] by the sum of £775,523 ; while the increase for the previous quinquennium, 1885 to 1890, was as great as £2,062,458." In other words, the increase of manufactures during the period of Mr Seddon's predecessors was two and a-half times greater than during the corresponding period of the present Government. — (Applause.) Of course it was the expansion of the frozen meat industry that accounted for the increase in those clays. Your own common sense will tell you that Governments have little to do with it. Now, let me show you how the export of New Zealand-manufactured articles Has gone down in Mr Seddon's day. I have the book of statistics in my hand, and will hand it to the chairman. When the chairman retires from his present dignified position and descends to the level of a member of Parliament — (laughter) — it will be hard to puzzle him over figures. — (Laughter.) In Sir H. Atkinson's last year (1890) they amounted to £548,000; 1891, £420,357; 1892, £367,677; 1893 £345,636; 1894, £224,958; 1895, £188,702; 1896. £198,*081; 3897, £197,601. The failure «f the flax industry accounts for a good deal of the decline, and again I remind you that Governments have little to do with such tilings, but you can see that had the figures been the other way Mi Seddon would have dinned them into your ears, like the 14,000 eouls who left the colony in 1887. — (Laughter.) These same souls have been doomed -to a sort of purgatory ever sinee — (laughter), — until you were sick of the whole subject. It is precisely the same with

ALL THE OTHER FIGURPJS i quoted by Mr Seddon. They were either irrelevant and meaningless or wholly mislead- • ing. I want you to understand this, that i there never hn« iioen a time, not even during ; our worpt period of depression, in^jvhieh a ' Premier couldn't have properly-quoted -figures ■ to uhovr the advanea of the colony. It is the ; nature oT a young country lo expand, who- ' ever is in office, —(Applause I But you may j depend upon this, that if figures are to be ' taken its a teat they are all in favour of pre- : vious Governments. I am going to preseut '

you with a table showing the progress of in"fi colony in decennial periods until now. The present decade, of course^ is not finished, bub the seven years of the present Government, for which we have .the* figures, will show~the comparative ratio of progress- !fhe'" whole, of] the figures are here in a printed sheet taken, from the Tear Book of the Right Hon. Mn Seddon, P.O. — (laughter),— which I hand +o the chairman. When you have the 4a.bl« before yon in print you will see at a glance what' the progress of the colony in each period' hasj been in the way of population, exports, imports, land in cultivation, shipping, and rai& way construction.

You will sco from these figures that from 1860 to the day Mr Seddon took office the .colony was making great strides, and that up' to 1883 it was progressing by enormous leaps and bounds. You will notice the curious fact that in 1890, before Mr. Seddon came into office, both the 'exports and the shipping were just) about as. great as they were in 1897. — (Applause.) Now, it would be manifestly unfair to compare the ratio of increase in the. last seven years with the early years of the colony. I shall, therefore, select the period of deep depression between. 1880 and 1890. You will find that during that period the population increased 29 per cent. ; in Mr Seddon's'period it increased 16i per cent. The exports in -the first period increased 54- per cent. ; in Mr Seddon's timo 10 per cent. "The land in cultivaiion — that is a significant item— -during our depressed period increased 77 per cent. ; in Mr Seddon's time 35-por cent. The shipping increased between 1880 and 1890 60 per cent. ; in Mr Seddon's time 3 per cent. — '(Laughter.) The railways during -the first period increased 43 per cent. ; in Mr Seddon's period 10 per cent. I am omitting fractions in nil cases. It is rather significant that the only item of Iho lot which lias increased in Mr Seddon's time is the imports,, which went up 28 per cent. In 1890, on the other hand, the imposts wore nearly three millions under the exports, showing that we were then producing largely and paying our debts. "We were, in fact, laying the foundation of the very soundness -we have to-day — (applause), — and which, I'm afraid, the wav we are going now, won't last long. Now, I want to draw your attention to a curious and most significant feature in the political position of the present moment — a feature which has not, I think, yet been noticed by anyone, — and which is, I should &ay, unique in political hi&tory. It is this, that TT-IK GOVERNMENT FOLLOWERS HAVE NOT ONE PARTICLE OF CONFIDENCE IN THI2 GOVERNMENT. Let me give you instances which go to prove it. Take Mr Carncross, of the Taieri. He is acknowledged to be one of the steadiest of the Government supporters. Yet in publio speeches delivered to his constituents duringMay of last year — this was just alter some appointments had been made to the Upper House which v/ere notoriously rewards for private services gendered — (applause) — lie advocated that the power of appointment to the Upper House should be taken out of the hands of the Government, that the Upper House should be reformed in the. direction of making it independent of the Government; - I have one" of these speeches by^ me here. Then take Mr John Hutcheson, the Labour member for Wellington. I suppose there is no man in the House who has more steadily risen in the estimation of both sides tnan lie.— (Applause.) Iv a speech to his constituents during last recess, after pointing out the gross corruption, approaching Tammany, which was now eating to the heart of our political system — (applause), — -Mr Hulcheson urged that the Government should have no hand in the appointment of civil servants. There's confidence for you ! Mr Huloheson in effect says " We'll allow you have the name of v Government, but we really can't tolerate your making any appointments to carry out your own administration." — (Laughter.) Then let us take Mr Montgomery. He was for some time classed as », Left Winger, but he showed clearly enough last session that he was much more of a Government supporter. He was a member of the Public Accounts Committee, which committee, though like all others it has a majority of Government supporters upon ifc, reported tliat a bogus £ale of stores from one department to another had had the effect of - increasing last year's surplus by £30,000 at ■least, and possibly by £51,000. I shall have > something to say about another aspect of that matter presently. Well, Mr Montgomery ijoticed that the Auditor-general and his as* sietant, who are fortunately officers of Parliament and independent of the Government, like the judges', gave their evidence in a perfectly fearless and outspoken way, while the Secretary of the Treasury, who is at the mercy of the Government, dodged and twisted about a good deal before he was at length com* pelled to admit that the surplus had been increaped to the amount named by the bogus sale. Mr Montgomery therefore urged that the cliief Government offieiels should be made independent of the Government, like the Auditor-general and the judges. — (Applause.) Then lot us take the celebrated Police Coramission. They are .not, of course, parliamentary followers of the Government, but they were their nominees, and I can safely leave you to judge whether the Government, driven by Mv Taylor to set up a commission, were MlaU. tikeix Jft amioint men who would b«

hostile to themselves. And as' a matter of • fact they quite obviously tried to let the . Government down as easily as they could. , Well, Iho commissioners reported— l am . quoting their own- words — that "with al2 • - deference, the Commissioner of Police, should j have absolute authority as to all appointments, j promotions, transfers, dismissals, and dislribu- I tion -of the force." In other words these gentlemen, "with, all deference" -venture to -uggesfc that the Government were not to be trusted with the appointment .and transfer cf policemen. And let me here tell you what the commissioners had not the courage to say, but what the evidence does very clearly — namely, that up to 1891 when the Government took office, such powers really were left entirely with the commissioner. Colonel Hume, Inspectors Broham and Pardy, and a number of others gave evidence to that effect in the pleainest terms. Here, then, we have a G^ vernment which in overflowing with liberalism, and yet can't be trusted even by their own supporters and their judicial nominees to perform the most elementary acts of government-p-can't be trusted to appoint Councillors ; can't bo trusted to appoint, transfer, promote, or dismiss policemen ; can't be trusted even to appoint civil servants, and which requires to have the chief civil servants safeguarded against their Ministerial masters just as the judges and the Auditor-general are secured. — (Applause.) Now, isn't that a most extraordinary, significant, and altogether unique ptate of affairs? And let me ask you this question. If -the inquiry into the Harry WVigg business, the New Zealand Cross affair— l haven't the time to go into it now, but it is, I think, the most revolting, the mott despicable episode of our politics even in this era of scandals— l say that even if the parliamentary inquiry into it had been concluded do • you suppose any honest man would recommend '. that the present Government bo allowed to retain tho right of advising the Governor in the matter of the bestowal of this most coveted of honours? — (Applause.) And if an inquiry were made into the creation of J.P. 's • —(laughter,)— but I really needn't go into this matter. You know as much about it as I do. Their J.P.s appear regularly enough in court, but it isn't always on the bench they pit. — (Loud laughter.) Finally, if an adequate inquiry were made -into the method of dealing with the public moneys— and I mean to allude to one or two matters presently by way of illustration, — it is as sure as I am addressing you now there would be a demand to take the Treasury out of the hands of the Treasurer. Now I want to ask you this : When you find the supporters and friends o£ the Government so anxious to take the functions of govorn- - ment out of their hands, how is_ the curious fact to Le accounted for? — (A -Voice: "Corruption.") Mr Mackenzie: The gentleman has taken -the very w< rd out of my mouth. — y (Laughter) Well, now. with your e}'es open to at-least something of what is going on, can you have any doubt about the reason? Isn't it because of the firm conviction which is settled in the minds of Government supporters that DEEP-SEATED CORRUPTION AND DEMOR A.LIS ATION has spread itself over every branch of the public administration and extends largely over the people of the colony. Taking the people first, we see that the public mind is everywhere deeply impressed with the idea that pvblic billets of every description are for those who sell their opinions for thorn. The veil is lifted every now and then, and lets us have a clear glimpse into the ideas people now have of how place and pay are distributed. The other day there was a case in court here — : (laughter)^— which *is typical in its way. A 'Legislative Councillor was getting up a testimonial to a Minister— (laughter). — and wanted a gentleman to run the thing for him. The '^man hesitated: because he said he had done " a lot for the Government and hadn't yet got a billet for it. — (Laughter.) He felt that he had been exceptionally treated. — (Laughter.) I don't blame the man at all. He was simply giving utterance to an impression which is jn everybody's mmd — that political service brings public reward, and that nothing* else ■ does. It is my deliberate opinion that if there was no corruption there would be precious little of the present-day Liberalism in New Zealand. — (Applause.) But when the curtain is lifted upon the public service can anything be more utterly demoralising than the eight that is revealed? Take the very latest revelation, THE MARINE SCANDAL. The bare outlines of the story, no matter whether you regard it in its moral or in its political or its social aspect, would be an outrage in the administration of a South American Republic — an outrage almost in China. — (Laughter and applause.) Let me here say that perhaps the most odious part of the bus,i- - ness is the way Ministers are saving their own skins at the expense of their unfortunate victims. — (Hear, hear, and applause.) It leaks out quite by accident — and here I have to remind you that all the scandals of the past eight years have been accidentally revealed. I say it leaks out that a man who had not qualified himEelf for a mate's certificate, and who expressed himself as hopelessly . -unfit to try far one, goes before our Marine Board, who are among the highest ' officials in the public service, and by a bogus : examination gets a master's certificate. That . certificate enables him to take command of an ooean-going vessel. That is wjhere the social ' (outrage comes in — the callous, criminal in- " difference to the safety of the lues of the people of the colony. Well, the^ public mind is outraged at the revelation, and the Premier, who is on jne of his Liberal tours it the time, to quiet it declares iii the most eolemn manner,possible that he had no knowledge of the business — that he never heard of ft till it was mentioned in the Houee last

session. He had never seen or spoken to Jones— there are two Joneses in the case. — (Laughter.) Never iv his life had he written to his colleague," Hall-Jones — you had better take note of the word "'written," 'for you'll find that is where the defence lies; he didn't write — he telegraphed — to tell him practically to "do the best ho could for Jones." I myself felt perfectly sure he had said something of the kiud. The internal evidence was strong enough for me. And you may depend that previous to this Jone3 had done the best he could for Seddon. — (Laughter.) Previous to this the chief officers of the Marine department had given evideuce before the court that what they did they did with the sanction of the Minister, and this the Premier also denied. Then comes the later court case and the whole j squalid story; the whole series of debasing subterfuges it> drawn from the mouth of the Premier himself. Here is 'the moral aspect^ ■of the case. -and I am not going to dwell upon | it. It isn't a pleasant business, and I'm sure j you don't require me to lay down the elementary principles of morality in public life. — (Applause.) I hope the time is yet far distant when the people of New Zealand on any : side of polities are going to endorse as Liberal- | ism the cynical philosophy of Byron's couplet : . I Fear not to lie, 'twill seem a lucky hit; i Shrink not from blasphemy, 'twill pass for wit. Now, just a word about the officers of the department to show you how thoroughly demoralised the public eervieo has become even j in its higher branches. It is clear that iv J this business theise officers, the Marine Board i itself. Mr Glasgow (the secretary), and Mr •[ Allpnrt (the chief clerk) weie anxious to do their duty honestly. We now know that they took their cue from the Premier and the Minister for Marine. But let us suppose for the purpose of argument that that was not the case — that there' was a mistake somewhere. I juat want to draw your attention to the sig- | nificant wording of the Crown's writ against I Captain Jones. One count alleges that Cap- \ tain Allman — I am quoting now — " falsely j represented to the Marine department ! that j the Minister had authorised Jones to sit for j examination, and relying upon such representation, was allowed," etc. Now. suppose this .were true, and that Captain* Allman had made a mistake of some sort, doesn't it still j show thai the Marine Board — for e/en Cap- ■ tain Edwin, the gentleman who is always • threatening xis with ptorms in fine weather — I (laughter) — only shut his eyes to the examina- ( t.ion fraud and sijrned the document afterward? — doesn't it show that the Marine Board J and all the chief officers of the department j forgot their duty to themselves, forgot the ; law and the regulations, and forgot the safety '• of the public tho in.sLant the Minister's will j became known. Isn't that a terrible state of | affairs? Could such a thine have happened before the present Government took office? But, mark you, I don't blame the men. They are under one of the most odious forms of tyranny conceivable. — (Applause.) I know j what lam talking about. I have Feou it. If • yon «tsk me why they did nof firmly resist be- | ing drugged into the bcandal I shall tell you. j It was because THEY DARE NOT. It isn't given to everybody to be a hero. It would have been as much as their billets-were worth. — (Applause.) Let me give yon a couple of instances of how theee tilings are managed now. Dr MacGregor--j;ou know what a blunt, outspoken sort of man he is — j in, his last report gave a most distressing ac- j count of the overcrowding of the asylums. I \ think he paid Seacliff was overcrowded by 140 J people. The unhappy inmates of the asylums \ wero huddled all over the floors, breathing ! foul air and dyinjr from septic pneumonia. ! Parliament, as in duty bound, took the matter t up. and Mr Seddon wound up the debate by | hinting in the most unmistakable terms that j he meditated -getting a man from Home lo supersede Dr MaoGrecjor. — (Applause.) Dr MacGregor isn't wanting in courage, but I think you'll find that next time he will do I what the other heads of departments now do. { Hp will suppress anything that is disagree- j able to the Government. One other instaiif? i ■will suffice. When the Auditor-general re- . fused to paps the entries for the bogus sale if j storos, and reported the niattei to Parliament, as the law required him to do, the Hou°e ordered an inquiry into the circumstances. Then the Minister for Railways proposed an amendment, to add to the inquiry the question whether the salaries of the Auditor- 1 general and his assistant ought not to be re- j duced, — (applause)' — and only the forms of the • House prevented his doing it. And, mark f you, the Auditor-general was appointed by j the present Government. He if independent of the Government, but not of Parliament. His offence was that he had done his duty and. complied with the law. But he has now got a pretty plain hint that if he does the same sort of thing again his pocket will suffer for it.' I need not remind you of how the judges and magisti'ates get the same port &f hint. Now I want to deal with another matter, which is still more disagreeable for a speaker lo dwell upon, and quite as dangerous, if not, indeed, more dangerous, to the well-being of this colony. It is this : That a settled policy pf the Government nowadays in dealing alike in matters of finance and administration is a POLICY OF EVASION AND DECEPTION, which is absolutely new to British politics in any quarter of the world, and wouldn't be tolerated for a single day anywhere else out here. It is high time someone drew the attention of the public to it. Here, again, I will confine myself to a couple or so of instances. But these are typical of a host of others that could be given. You remember that the seesion before last, that was in 1897, there was a fuss over the Premier's Jubilee trip expenses.

Understand that I have nothing now to say on the score of extravagance. That, after all, is a small matter, and may be forgotten. But when he 'was being pressed^for particulars he said that the expenses — now I want you to ! mark the word "expenses,'' for it is the only j word in the language that could have been ! used in order to get the total expenditure — ! he said the expenses of himself and secretary j totalled £1750, and that if some £220 he had I paid out of his own pocket were, included ; the amount would have been £1970. He went | on to say that be thought the expenses of. his secretary should have been kept separate, and (he amount would not have looked so Jarge. AJI that you will find in Hansard. Now, at this stage, I ask you could any human being believe from those words other than that the total expenditure had been given? — (Applause.) Well, during the next recess, a Wellington paper stated — I suppose there was a leakage from the public offices — that a further sum was hidden away under the miscellaneous items of the Post (huce Estimate*. We none of us believed it. At all events I didn't. But when the Post Office Tistimales were on, the question was atked. The Premier expressed himself as quite pleased that the question was a6ked. — (Laughter.) There was, he said, a further sum of £146, but it was his secretary's allowances, not expenses. — (Laughter.) You ree'what a difference there is between tweedledum, and tweedie-dee. — (Laughter.) You will notice the curious fact that a mere accident revealed to Parliament what the expenses were, and to this day people talk of them from sheer habit, from first impressions, as £1750 instead of £1896. .Now I will content myself with asking you this question. Slipposing a private employee had adopted the same line with his employer, what would have happened to him ? I feci pretty sure you don't require me ro an- | swer that question. Jf Sir H. Atkinson had done such a tiling you would never Jiave seen him on a public platfoim -again. — (Applause.) And you may depend" upon this, i too, that if these things are done in small ' matters, larger affairs would be all the better of having a little light thrown upon them. Here Mr Mackenzie, as another instance uf ; e\asion, entered ut length into the question of the bogus sale, of stores (a repoi't of which will ba found elsewhere) pointing, out that the Treasurer had given no hint in the i Financial Statement of the fact that £30,000 ' hud been added by the transaction to the year's surplus. Continuing, Mr Mackenzie t<aid : I ask whether you tl'ink it is good for, the colony that this sort of- thing should «co" ou?— (Applause.) We find that nobody really bolieves in the Government, but they continue to support them. What is the secret? f have told you a good many secrets to-night, and I'll tell you this.— (Laughter.) The answer is that members are not now free agents, as they were a year or two ago. — (Applause.) They are sent in as delegates to support a particular man. They dare not oppose tiie Government, however bad they : niiij think tLem. Mr Seddon has the power : to lose them their election, and does r-ot I Eciuple to threaten it. They have the fate of Mr Earnshaw before their eyes. If that sort of thing goes on there is no reason why a Government should not remain in for ever. People blame the Opposition for not ptitting the Gorernment oxit. but the fact is the Opposition are powerless under such circumstances. Now, for' this state of affairs THE PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE — (Applause.) What is wrong with them? Here I will let you into another secret which explain? it : The public mind has. been fascinated by a few jingling, empty words which entered it when it was in a heated condition. You may think it strange that a few words '<-ould hive such a power, but all history goes to prove that that is often enough the case. Let mo give you the testimony of a splendidly eloquent English divine, a man who* lived over 200 years ago, and who was an eye-wilness of one of the most infamous episodes of our history. Let me read to you what he fcayp on the subject: — '"With two or three ponul&r empty* words one may do what one will with the mass of mankind: for a I-lausible, insignificant word in the mouth of an expert demagogue is a dangerous and dreadful weapon. Take any passion of the- ', soul of man when it is predominant and I afloat, and just in the critical height iof it ' nick ' it with some lucky or unlucky word, and you may as certainly overrule it J to your owa purpose as a spark of fire falling ' upon gunpowder will infallibly blow it up." These lines are worthy of being remembered by every one who wants to understand how | feimply the public mind can be acted upon. The historical episode was extraordinary. One of the most appalling scoundrels that God ever created produced in England a bundle of lies and forgeries, sent the who 1 *) I nation into a frenzy of suspicion, and waa the ; means' of shedding the finest blood in Eng- [ land, -while heads were rolling off in every 1 direction. His name was Titus' Oates. He i did it with the utterance of two I words. The words were "'Popish plot." j — (Applause.) But you tell me that that hap-, i pened over 200 -years ag;o, and could not j happen now. Well, then, look at France at ; the present moment ! There- you find the i highest and mightiest in the land, combining j to utter the mo6t infamous lies and forgeries to Blielter themselves, to iry« and make the innocent appear guilty, and the guilty innoi cent. You will find millions of people as ' respectable as yourselves applauding them to the echo in all their infamies. It is all done with a single, simple phrase: "Patriotism, mid down with the Jews." — (Applause.) A j celebrated bishop once asked whether a na- | tion could go mad, as an individual did. The question has never been answered, but there can be no doubt that nations are Fubject to fits of extraordinary aberration. — (Apnlause.) Years ago the public mind in New Zealand i was heated over a most unhappy fctriko. At ' that moment "an exnert demagogue," to I quote Dr Souths words, appeared upon t!>e ' scpuo, and with two or throe iinglinpr words ! ho has produced all the evils I have alluded ' to to-night and a great many more. Tho words were: "Liboralism, -Progressivi-jm, and the Peopje,'s Government ." The pffrct has been to shut the eyes of the public to all the corruption that is going on around us. to the bare-faced way in which tho spoils are ec intj to the "victors." to the stuffing of the Legislative Council by political supporters who have rendered 'no possible service to the colony. — (Applause.) I see a man sitting in the hall to-night who has been in politics for forty yearß, who, I think, has filled almost every Cabinet office, and who has been Premier on several occasions. — (.Applause.) He retired from public life on the pcoro of illhealth. Would you not expect his services to be utilised in the Legislative Council? There was ■& vacancy in his provincial district, and -the choice fell upon Mr Twomey? — (Laughter.) The words I have mentioned have rendered the people blind to all that. They are blind also to the noble work that has been done in this colony in 50 years — blind to the way it has been turned from a desert island into a highly civilised State; blind to the magnificent system of free education, which, with manhood suffrage and other democratic measures,, wjib, introduced by the very

man, Sir John Hall, who is among the audience to-night, and before whom Mr Toomey was preferred; they are blind- to the fact that the foundation of all our labour laws was laid before the present Government was heard of ; blind even to the fact that' semi-social institutions — such "as the" Government Insurance and the Public Trust Office had been established before the cry of- Socialism i was heard of the colony. And" in -your blind- - ness you are ready to believe the Premier when he comes down here and tells you that , you were in degradation and poverty before, ' and that if you put in the Opposition $he colony will go to'perditioif. — (Applause.) All I say -• in conclusion is this : I ask you who have heard . me to-night, and who perhaps will appreciate j the historic and moral truth in a good deal of i what I have been saying, to remember it. ! I would like to say to niy opponents, if there are any present, that it is vain, it is impossible ■ to try to divorce morality and truth and ' straight-forwardness in public life from liberalism from — . x " j A. Voice: "Give an accotmt of your own ' stewardship !'' j Mr Scobie Mackenzie: "Give an accovmt of my stewardship?" Do you hear that? Could you get a finer instance of demoralisation than that? — (Applause.) Just fancy that ! Here- have I been sent into Parliament representing this constituency, and I find a Government' in existence that- is carrying on> the administration in a way I do not like and that nobody believes in. T have pointed cut that *act, and a man gats up- at the conclusion of ! my address and says " Give us an account of your stewardship.." Does not that give you a pretty good "illustration of what a few empty words can do? — (Applause.) I was saying ! you cannot divorce morality, truth, i»nd candour from liberalism. It is vain' to try . >t. You remember the words of the great j American Lowell : j In vain we call old maxims fudge, j And set our conscience to our dealing. The Ten Commandments will- not budge, And stealing still continues stealing. — (Applause.) It is the same with every other vice, every other evß thing is in precisely ' the same case, and I would not give a straw for the liberalism that divorces itself from truth and righteousness in the administration of public affairs. — -"(Loud, and continued applause.) The Chairman intimated that Mr Mackenzie was willing to answer any questions, and after a* delay of about two minules — no questions being asked — Mr Keith Ramsay moved — ' That this meeting heartily thanks Mr Scobie Mackenzie for his excellent address, and expresses the utmost • confidence in him as the senior representative of Dunedin." i Mr D. Nicol seconded the motion, which, on being put, was carried with one dissentient. . Mr Scobie Mackenzie, in returning thanks : for the vote, said that as no questions had , been asked, he would like to explain the pair | he had given to the Hon. John M'Kenzie. j Mr M'Kenzie had asked him for a pair on ' particular questions. He (Wfr Mackenzie),after consulting Captain Russell;- had gladly agreed i either to give him a pair -or see .him- covered .by some one else. He thought it would be I a shabby^ thing if the Minister, after being I 40 years in the colony, 20 yeais in Parliament, j and eight years a prominent member of the ' Government, had to announce that he could I net go Home for the benefit of his health be- | cause no member of the Opposition would give • him a pair. — (Applause.)

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