THE PREMIER AT STRATFORD. REPLY TO MR MASSEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 85

THE PREMIER AT STRATFORD. REPLY TO MR MASSEY.

STRATFORD.. February 27. The Right Hon. the Premier addressed a packed meeting in the Town Hall to-night, and met with a good reception. His speech was principally a reply to that of Mr Massey, delivered here about a fortnight ago. He said he was going to deal with matters of importance to the colony, and the fact of Mr Massey having addressed the audience before him only enhanced the interest and pleasure for him. When he saw Mr Massey's speech he thought thaT gentleman must have credited the Stratford people with very bad memories, because when th© railway that connected Stratford and the Main Trunk line was proposed Mr Massey was opposed to it. — (A Voice :"* " Quite right, too.") The- gentleman who thought that held an opinion diametrically opposed to the best interests of the district. If he (the Jfremier) did not place his views before them he was not discharging his public duty ; but in discharging that duty he would have to regretfully prove that iJr j\Jas«ey's conclusions \v&ra wrong. Mr Massey had misrepresented the Government. Of course that was nothing ; but the speaker objected to his misrepresenting one of the late leaders — the late Hon. Mr Rolleston, whose memory should be held sacred bj- public men. When addressing them Mr Maetsey took exception to "no-confidence" motions, saying that when the Leader of tlie Opposition brought down anything particularly difficult the Premier took it as a want-of -confidence motion. Ho (Mr Seddon) bceged to inform t!iem that whenever the Leader of the Opposition challenged the Government and said " Come on " he would not be worthy to hold his high position if he did not " come on." Mr Massey had asked that when he (Mr Seddon) came along ho would speak on the land question, and he accepted the challenge. Mr Massey's speech seemed to him to ba the greatest apology for a speech ever uttered, and if he attempted to follow it his speech would be a miserable failure. Tho speaker quoted at length from various American axid Australian papers en the prosperity of the colony. It had been said by the Opposition journals that the colony was tired of Seddon: but, from -he vast assembly that night and the reception he had received, he thought that assertion was incorre-H- Only a selfish few. "'ho cared nothing for their fellows — capitalists a.nd large landowners, — had had enough of Seddon. They had enough of him 12 years ago, and were- not done with him yet. — (Laughter.) Ec w~as but the mouthpiece of the electors whose confidence he held, and who at gresent and for years past had kept him where he was ; and the moment he. felt that he had no longer the confidence of the great majority of the people he rould no longer discharge his duties to the colony. Then he would be only too glad to retire to some quiet spot and look on ; but while confidence was reposed in him and his colleagues, and he found misrepresentations made, it was his duty to sefe» matters right. TTnder the present Government New Zealand was a country which "licked creation," as the Americans said. Ho did not pay that he or the Government was responsible for that — it was the people of the colony who did it under good conditions, — but he would like to know how things would have gone on under the old Conservative party. What was the position in 1390, when th-e people made a change? They could not have done better. He went further, and said that there would be an absolute danger to the country if the old party came back, with ' its reactionary measures, and refused to allow the country to go ahead. In 1895 Mr Mas-^ev voted against the Advances to Settlers Bill, Land for Settlements, and in 1596 he voted against the Old-age Pensions Bill. The speaker quoted the Hansard report of Mr Massey's speeches on the lease in perpetuity, showing a radical change in his opinion. He (Mr Seddon) did not object to a man changing his opinions, but he should keep to the facts. The Opposition had no right to claim the sympathy of the electors without putting any policy before them. The absolute refusal of Mr Massey and his party to foreshadow their policy was a source of danger, and they had a right to know where the party was going. It was better to put up with the evils they hall than fly to evils they knew not of — that is, if the present Government was an evil. The business of the colony was now in tha hands of capable and honest men. — (Laughter.) Previous Oppositions had advanced definite policies, and the electors had a right to demand' one from the present Opposition, and if one was not produced they must come to the conclusion that they had none., and that their stock-in-trade was " wait till the clouds roll by." — (Laughter.) He (Mr Seddon) had lively recollections of Mr Massey attacking th 6 Government with respect to the loan before last and the investment in Government bonds, when there was a tightness in the money market, not only in New Zealand but all over the world. The Government was not responsible for the rates of interest and the tightness due to various causes, among which were the wars in South Africa and the Far East, the cotton corner in America, all circumstances which had an effect upon the market. Notwithstanding all this their loan was underwritten. They got it alt right, and on good terms. There were times in the history of every country when party prejudice must be set aside and all must work together for the good of the country, and not. as the Opposition did, to discredit the colony. When they went for another loan a few weeks ago a splendid opportunity was afforded for tho Leader of the Opposition to congratulate the colony upon the confidence in its soundness. They asked for £1 000.000, and £2,500,000 was offered, but Mr Massev never congratulated him upon it — (laughter). — thouirh he (the Premier) would have been the first to dp so if the positions had been reversed. With plenty of money and low rates prosperity was bound to be supreme. Mr Seddon went on to deal at length with the borrowing policy of the Government, which he defended vigorously. He differed entirely from those who thought the Government was borrowing too extensively. If the country was to be developed they must borrow. Roads and railway construction must be undertaken to enable the settlei-s to dispose of their produce in the markets of the world. In speaking: of the Land for

Settlements Act Mr Ma==ey had made so mo astounding statements which the speaker quoted from Hansard to refute. He chal1 lenged Mr ilassey's statement that e^ery I Crown settlor cost the colony £1150, and ' said the cost v.-as really £379 — a sum quit© j incommensurate with the ejain to the colony. 1 Mr Massey was o-ily £700 odd out in his ca'culation=. — (Laughter.) It was cheap settlement. In this respect Taianaki was an object lesson to other distracts cuis"d with large estates. Lot them take the country from Patea to New Plymouth and look at all the towns — all prosperous. — and . compare them with the land between Napier and Woodvil'e. There was the same land there, but they must see what the closer settlement had done for Taranaki. If the * Opposition were in power would there be this closer settlement, and would it buy jup large estates and cut them up? There were only three estates out of the- 129 cut { up which were unsatisfactory, and if no J rents were paid on these Ipikls there would 'be a loss of £166,000 to the country. Mr Massey did not .tell them this. The settler who came on to the land and was called upon at a certain time was penalised for I life. They should be careful whom they returned to Parliament, for the land policy was a serious question, and it was for the, country to say whether they could trust those who had c o far been responsible for the land policy o£ the country. The Government desired to give every encouragement to those who went on to the land, and instead of being- harassed by Land Boards and vancjers the settlers should receive every encouragement. It had struck him. if some "of these harassing conditions were relaxed the settlers would be better off, and so long aa the Crown held a paramount interest in the land and the tenant unduly worked the land, then it was the duty of the State to protect itself from, injury. But there was another view. They woul^^gree with him when ho said that the tenant's interest in the land was greater than the Crown's, and if the tenant was being unduly harassed it was the duty of the Crown to look into the matter. Lruid Boards and rangers had no right to touch the .tenant at all. Was it reasonable to expect men, because the interests of the Crown in the land amounted to about £1 and the improvements to £3—3 — was it likely men were going to injure their prospects in that land. The total area of the lands in the colony was 66,000,030 acres, and only 7,000,000 acres were available for settlement. The lands should not be loaded for roads, and in the past they had not been. The loading- of lands for roads should be abandoned altogether, and the sooner roads were made and metalled the better. AH far as roads were concerned, there was room for improvment. There was a great difficulty m this matter as regarded thirds. Instead of giving each local bedy £13 or £14at a time, these tnirds should be capitalised for 26 years and handed to the local boards ior roading and improvements td roads He thought if this were done and the money properly expended, and the settlers worked with the energy they should, then a great deal of the trouble experienced by local bodies would be overcome, and the road dl * o " lt y u^°«W bo Fo great. With regard to the Government advances to settler* they knew as well as he did that the moneylender was not noted for bowels of compassion: he looked to his own interests, and did not care how ibis country got on ►Settlers had applied to the Government Advances Office for an advance of £400 and had got £150. He did not know why th's should be so, and he would like to know who was responsible. It was not fair to the leaseholder. The board was responsible for this. The leaseholder was only allowed an advance of 50 per cent, on his improvements, and the freeholder got threefifths of his value. He (Mr Seddon) intended to bring down a proposal next session so that the Grown tenant might receive an advance on three-fifths of the. value of his improvements, and thus be on the same footing- as the freeholder. He thought this should be so, and then they would see- who were their friends. They would be met with the cry that the Government money should not be advanced up to three-fifth's of the valuation, but he wa« not only going to try it, but to carry it through. He bad gone through the Taranaki district in 1891, and everywhere there were Signs of poverty on every hand. This he comnared with the present prosperity, ' which he contended was due to the legislation of the last 10 years. Reference was made to butter and cheese, and the speaker quoted figures showing the tremendous increase in the. exports of produce. He said he had told ( the sheep tradeis that they wexG doing wrong in shipping ewe lambs, and they ■ wero sorry now that they had neglected his 1 advice, which . was based on the fact that sheep-farming would always pay in New Zealand. By shipping a rnill : on sheep during the last two years. 1902-05. there hacl been a loss of £1.000,00 Dof capital invested in the colony. H-e pointed this out to show I that those governing the country could : give advice to tho farmers. The legisla- ', tion brought down by the Government had lifted the price of butter from 4d to 5d j per pound to lOd and Is, and, tf-ith a proper system of grading, there was nothing to prevent their butter equalling the Danish. j If he had his way he would not let butter under a certain standard leave the colony. The same remark applied to the flax industry. Mr Massey had said that the workmen's homos had been a failure, whereas they had ! been successful in every district e.xcept Auckj land. A peculiar thing was that the gentleI man who advised them to buy land at Auckland was Mr Bollard, a colleague of Mr Massey's. The number of men employed in the industries in the colony had increased between 1893 and 1903 by 22,000, which showed nothing to complain of in that direction. Th© speaker referred to the first time he visited Stratford, when the children of the colony were working long hours without any pay. The labour legislation had changed all that. It was a mistake to pay that low wages meant increased prosperity to a country. Referring to local matters, the Premier pointed out that Stratford had received a fair share of expenditure, but not too much. Referring to the Land Commission, lie mentioned fch-e appointment o£ Mr W. A. M'Cutchan for Taranaki, and said that if every district were represented on the commission it would be a very expensive affair. In view of the fact that the commission was now sitting, he did not consider it advisable to go further into the question. The commission would probably cost, as Mr Massov had said, £6000, but it would be money well spent. - A vote of thanks and confidence was carried amidst some dissent. A ba.K;uet fol1 lowed. — "Rai thenware sleeper? are in use on aoine of the Japanese railroads.