BANQUET TO THE HON. J. G. WARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 53

BANQUET TO THE HON. J. G. WARD.

IMPORTANT MINISTERIAL SPEECH.

TRADE WITH SOUTH AFRICA.

(Fbok Otic Own Cohkespondent.)

INVERCARGILL, November 22. At the banquet tendered him at the Bluff last night,«the Hon. J. G. Ward, who, on rising, was greeted with enthusiastic and prolonged applause, thanked the mayor for the cordial feeling which had led to the sentiment he had given expression to. He recognised it as a great honour that there should ibe such a numerous gathering, also that there should be present gentlemen who did not see eye to eye with him on political matters from various parts of the district. These' being in attendance, it therefore j ■would not be proper for him to deal with subjects of this nature in the remarks he was about to make, and it was his intention to avoid intrusion on that domain. ' He observed in the vast company people from Forest Hill; Lime Hills, Greenhills, Waikiwi, Ocean Beach, and other parts, including ] Gore and beyond that thriving little centre. Truly, it. could be described -as a cosmopolitan gathering. It afforded him great pleasure to see all tlse "parliamentary representatives of Southland there. The mayor had/referred to- the ceremonies that day and the part he (the speaker) had taken in them. B;ut he could assure them that nothing could give him more delight than ' participa ting in . events indicating the material advancement of this part of the colony. The mayor had also eaid that he had been watchful of the interests of this part of the colony ; but he considered it only the duty of a representative of the people to carry out impartially and vigorously the duties devolving upon him. He should see that the requirements of the district were fairly and fully met. He thought the principle should not be abused. A great departure had been made during the last session. They had extended the boundaries' of New Zealand by adding to it islands in the Pacific destined in the future to play an important part so far as the. colony was concerned. Samoa had been handed over by the British Government to a foreign Power in connection with diplomatic arrangements, and part of New Guinea had been acquired by another Power not at all friendly with Britain. Had those islands ' been originally the property oil her of Australia or New Zealand, even England, wilh its greatness, , would hot have attenuated to ■wrest from its children islands that rightly belonged to them. The islands were in the , highway between New Zealand and the old world through the Nicaraguan Canal, "and in ' future the islands recently 'acquired by the colony would be irrevocably joined to New j Zealand. Nothing could take them from the colony. t They would see that the movement was a national one as far as the colonies were concerned.. A great step forward had been . made. Though, of course, trade would be jdbne with the islands, that vas only a small niatter. At the present time Australia had formed a Commonwealth, out of which New Zealand had decided -to stand,- but we recog- '' njsed that if we could get a reciprocal tariff , between this colony < and • Australia it ' would be - a very good thing, as the Commonwealth numbered nearly three million souls, and the annexation of the islands and federation with Fiji would be a great lever and greatly induce the Commonwealth to agree to reciprocity. Politicians ! on the other side had opposed the action of the Government, because they saw that it was to the material interests of New Zealand ) to acquire those islands, and a material loss ' to them. If they were allowed to annex the i territory referred to, they would become much > more powerftil and independent w,hen pro- ! posals for reciprocity were made. Their ac- [ quisition would add greatly to Now Zealand's power and prestige. In 1893 he (Mr Ward) had had the honour of attending a postal j conference in Queensland, and had moved a resolution that it was desirable that a cableshould be laid across the Pacific through Canada, along to England, so as to he almost entirely clear of every other country but our ; own, so that in. time of trouble we would not ! have a cable passing through foreign territory \ He was laughed at in moving the resolution^ ' and it was only after he v had shown persis- I tency of purpose that the motion was carried, j Only that evening the Government had re- ' ceived a cable from the Imperial Government i stating that at last they had accepted a tender ! for carrying- out the Pacific cable, which was ' an achievement they had all a right to be proud of. They few for the first time in the j history of the old land a matter looked upon, j years ago as extremely socialistic now ~ m< f course of bsSing brought about — that is. the ' State obtaining 'property for the use of the people. There could be no fear arising from. J the State owning the cable, because, instead ■ of the people of the colony having: to pay the . high tariff of 4s 6d a word, which had been J reduced from 9s some time ago, they would ' be able to send a. cable -for about fe 6d for j 10 words. — (Applause.) Once facilities were I given to the mercantile men and farming j v community to communicate across the ocean { before letting tl:eir produce go, the more speculative business would be carried on. There_ were thousands of people at the present 'time debarred from making even an ordinary inquiry. Mr Ward then referred to the penny postage, which in Jamiary next would be brought into operation, and paid there was not a country in the world that had done what New Zealand was some; lo do on the date he had mentioned. Rowland Hill had introduced the penny postage in England, but not beyond its borders, and to Mr Henniker H'eaton was due the fact that lEneland had extended the nennv postage to India and one other country. However, the New Zealand system had universal application. Mr Ward regretted thafc the Hon. Mr M'Kenfcie's state of health prevented his presence at the banquet, and referred to the beneficial land lesrislation of the late Minister, and to the great effect it had had on the prosperity of the colony. Mr Ward said that at the nresent time there -was more than £20,000,000 in the Savings Uanks — the largest amount that had ever .been deposited in them, — and when it was considered that we had 'only' 7so.ooo people in. the" colony it was almost incredible that such an amount should accumulate. No greater tribute could be paid, to the prosperity of the country or compliment to the industry and resourcefulness of the people as a whole. It ■was their duty to see that every part of the colony was treated equitably ; and he was ' Borrv to say that there was a cry last session j of North v. South, because the money waft . to be expended where it was most required , for roads and bridges. £351,000 had been voted for the North Island, because in many parts it was not so settled as this island. He could speak as to the motives of Ministers, and could say that 'in the innermost recesses ©f the Ministry he had never heard the cry

of North v. South. It was true that for many years the district of Southland had not received its dues, and 'because the Government showed that they would not allow that state of things to continue they were accused of partiality. It was their * duty to open up fresh markets, so that the value of our staple products might be maintained. Before he left Wellington his colleagues and himself had agreed to a resolution in Cabinet in connection with a proposal of his to invite tenders throughout the colony from shipowners for a service between New Zealand and South Africa for two years from five New Zealand ports to at least three ports in South Africa, in order to provide for 'Ehe carriage of our produce to that country. In a day or two he hoped to have advertisements published in the newspapers in different parts of the colony inviting offers, and he ventured to say that such a service would be of great use to producers, and of equal benefit to the commercial interests. At the same time, they could not go in for building steamers, as it would mean considerable delay. The English Government had within the last week or ten days asked the New Zealand Government to submit to them an offer for the exportation of 5000 tons of oats, and the tenders received were of such a nature that one of them had been transmitted Co the War Office recommending -its acceptance, and he hoped by next day to be able to provide definite information on the matter. - ...