CAPTAIN RUSSELL AT HASTINGS. HASTINGS, April 26.

Otago Witness, Issue 2358, 4 May 1899, Page 24

CAPTAIN RUSSELL AT HASTINGS. HASTINGS, April 26.

Captain Russell addressed a crowded meeting to-night in the Princess Theatre at Hastings. A large numbei of ladies were present. The Mayor, in introducing Captain Russell, said he felt sure the whole constituency would rejoice to find the member for Hawke's Bay was ablo to devote his attention to public questions after the terrible mxiety he had lately gone through. But they all knew that Captain Russell was the last man to desert his post when duty called. Captain Russell said no one regretted more than he did his inability to address them before this, and to expose the misdoings of the government, but he held there was still ample time to do this, and it would certainly bo done before the session. He could give fiftyreasons for not explaining the policy of the" Opposition at present, but the Premiei lepeatedly stated he was more firmly fixed an office than ever, and if that were so, what was the good of his (Captain Russell's) laying down a policy which lie was not to ha\e an opportunity of carrying out. They would find, however, that when the present Government were swept from office the Opposition would be prepared to bring down a definite policy. In a country like this also a great deal depended on finance, and it was simply impossible for any set of men to feay what they would do if put into power till they ascertained the poeition of the finances. Did the Seddon Government by any means enunciate a policy before they came into power? They did no such thing. The late Mr Ballance, •when not in power, had distinctly declined to state the. policy of the then Opposition, and they refused to give any information of their policy for several pays after they apsumed office, until -they had mastered the condition ■ of the finances. If they sought for illustrations from the old country also, they would ' find that the present Salisbury Government came into power without any enunciation of policy whatever, but simply on the defeat of the Rosebery Government in Committee of Supply. ja «Ho referred at length to the exchange of the property tax for the land tax, and quoted figures to prove that the country had not benefited by the change. They might take it for granted that the Opposition would ! never propose any policy which increased the taxation on the necessaries of life, which piessed so' heavily on the poorer classes. Referring to' ' THE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND, he said there was a constant and continual mystery over the connection of the Government with that institution, and he believed they would never know the real history of the "matter. Ho had never believed in the bank being under the patronage of Ministers, and ' after such matters as the Jones marine'scandal, it was most improper that the present Ministry should control institutions of thiskind. _He hoped that some day they would find business men. in a position to buy the Bank of New Zealand lock, stock, and barrel, and so to remove it from the patronage of the Government, which Had such a disastrous , effect on everything' they controlled^^ Referring to" * THE CHARGE OF STONEWALLING brought against the Opposition last session, they all knew he (Captain Russell) was not a ; political larrikin. But'the fact was that -for 'years 'past they" li ad been 'unable to obtain the least information from Ministers as to the state of ..the fir.artc'es of -the colony, on the ground that if-Uioy lAirnished' information theOpposition w'ou;ri «->c it to the detriment of the- Government.. - ( lood Jieavens ! Were they not entitled, as representatives of the people, to the fullest inforniation with respect to .the finances? - And if .Ministers were faithful stewards they would, not for a moment refuse to give the information asked for. The reaJ cause of the stonewalling was becausethis information -was withheld from the House, and the Opposition said they would sit there for a month unless the Premier proniised to give the details of contingency votes, and give them a promise as to when the Public Works Statement would be brought down. The Premier struggled against them for three days, but at length the Opposition gained a victcrv o\er the Government, and he (Captain Russell) believed that from that day the Pren.ier's power had be};un to wane. People also at next election would, he firmly believed, admit that the Opposition had done its duty in demanding to know how the public money was spent. Referring to tho PUBLIC WORKS EXPENDITURE, he hoped the day would come when roads and bridge? would be vested in local bodies, and so put an end to the system of bribery that had heSn carried on by the present GoTen. ment. His opinion was also that the nresent arterial lines of railway should be comgeted before new works were commenced, c regretted to see tr-at THE PREMIER constantly reiterated the assertion that if the Opposition got into power they would repeal all the acts passed by tho present Ministry.- There wa's not a shadow of foundation ■for this statement, and if he (Captain Russell) were put into power he promised them lie would do his best to administer the acts on

the Statute Book for the benefit of the people of the colony. They were also told that the Opposition intended to repeal the Old-age Pensions Act, but, as a matter of fact, the Opposition never objected to the principle of that act, but they contended that, as introduced by the Premier, it was a crude, illdigested measure, and that it was not brought in to benefit the pooi, bul to the glorification of the Premier. He would also like to state that if it were not for the Opposition there would not on more than one occasion Have been a quorum in trie House while the bill was going through, as the Government supporters frequently absented themselves from tho'House while the bill was being considered. Nothing was further from his (Captain Russell's) thoughts than to repeal the Old-age Pensions Act if he got the opportunity, and he wanted them to firmly believe that he was not opposed to the principle of old-age pensions. He considered, however, that £18 a year was not enough to keep body and soul together, and some scheme would have to be devised to encourage thrift and felf-reliance in the people. After referring at some length to the matter, he said the object of the Opposition would be not to repeal the Old-age Pensions Act, but to improve it and to r>rovide that it would no longer be degrading for old people to receive pensions, and that a contributory system should be established which would enable every pprson in the colony who required it to receive a pension. Another change which the Opposition thought should be made~was as to the constitution of THE LEGISLATTVE COUNCIL. They contend that th^ time has ai rived when it was absolutely necessary that there should be a change in the constitution of that Chamber so as to restore it to tho honourable and. useful position it formerlj' occupied. The present Government had effected a change in the constitution of the Council, but after seven years' experience he (Captain Russell) was convinced that the Chamber was worse than before. It was no longer a revising body, but a party body, responsible solely to the Premier, and that being the case the Opposition felt that a change was necessary. The only way to make the Council effective, in his opinion, was to make it elective on some modification of the Hare pystem. Referring to ! RAILWAY MANAGEMENT. He strongly condemned it, and said the management had been much worse since the Government, assumed control of the railways. Up to the present time our lailways had never paid working expeppes and interest, and he condemned the principle of making concessions to users of the railways, which was not just to the people generally. There was no doubt whatever about it that our railways were not managed as they should be. Our ■ lines were being starved, and the permanent way was not properly maintained. He pointed out that it wSs- a disgraceful state of -things that the railway bridge at Waitangi (Hawke's Bay), which was washed a-way by the great flood over two years ago, was^not yet constructed, and it would probably not be opened till just before the general election, t when Mr Seddon .would come to Napier with a great flourish of trumpets, accompanied by an army of under-secretaries,, and would tell the people what splendid railway managers the Government were. Amongst the numerous other instances of railway mismanage- • ment he stated that the" neglected condition • of our- railways was the 'reason why it took nearly two hours longer to run from Wellington to Napier than it did 10 years ago. He paid a tribute to Mr Cadman's desire to ' manage the" railways properly, and said he believed the real, reason why Mi' Cadman was about to resign the portfolio of Minister for Railways was became his masterful colleague, ths Premier, would not allqw him to manage the railways in his own way. He referred at some length to the way in which surpluses' were manufactured, and said Ministers., In order to create surpluses, put drastic taxation on the people and manipulated the railway estimates in r.uch a way as to make it appear that the7,r have large surpluses. He condemned the juggling of figuies and the cooking of the finances practised by the present Government, and said if this wjere done by pri- , vate individuals it would be called by a very ugly name. They would remember that last session a most improper transfer of, £30,000 was made from the Working Railways department to the Public Works department, and when the Oppopition demanded that it should be referred to a committee, the Premier obsti- , nately refused to allow Mr George Hutchison i to be put on that committee because he was a I man who understood something about finance. The Premier also treated the Auditor-general | with great indignity over bhis matter. Re- ; ferrine to