ARRIVAL AT ROXBURGH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2672, 31 May 1905, Page 34

ARRIVAL AT ROXBURGH.

ANOTHER ADDRESS. ROXBURGH, May 29. Roxburgh was -reached about half-past 7 ©'clock, .when a -large number of townsprople and many settlers from the surroundang. districts met the coach at Heron's pot el. - After a hurried and the transaction of some public business tho JPremier addressed a tublie meeting in the j which was crowded to the deer- "The "local band,, under Bandmaster* Haughton, played the Premier -feo -the liail. ffhe .chair "was occupied by Mr 13. A. Hart, ' IMayor.of Roxburgh, and a seat on .the stage Hvas. also £&ken J>y Mr J. Sennet, M.H.H. Mr Seddon, ,on rising, was given a -very fiearty-jweicome. , After a" few .introductory remarks he -said that the bad v.o policy. He challenged them to bring forrward *beir. policy, if they had one, -so that j *he, country .couid judge -between it and jfcliat of the -Government. Under the present Government the .country had had toogressivd legislation -and clean administration. Mr Thrthie,. a, member of the Op_posi- ' lion, had' stated in a public speech that '•' the character of Parliament was .clean, and there .haeLnever- *>een a suggestion of anything Ibeing done except . in "the public in-.l-eresfc.- "Upon the. -whole" the .present "Ministry :liad,~ given .the country what-Jiad been desired -by the Jc,rge«. proportion of 'the people of New .Zealand." Surely that *was' -the .democracy. Jt- was not government ;bv ,the_ few, as the Opposition jwoiild have, he did not want«ven Mr jDuthie's certificate, though he -took all* that >aine along^-jajpplause)— and -was truly' fhasdcful. There.-iras'-a. oerfificate for tfce" jGkybernment -that night — the certificate the t>eople of Roxburgh had given to him bj their Jarge attendance that night, — >which teas anore to him than the opinion of Mr Puthie or any other .member of the "Opposition.— (Applause.) / Replying to Mr James 'Allen's doubt as to the existence of the' *uqjius ihe Premier said -that this was iin. insult .-to *the Auditor-general, and that Jhe' system of bookkeeping in vogue «o«r Xva« the same as in the- time of the Gonparty. He wished to be quite Irani;, iind admitted that in the surplus was included «ome small amcunt of accre-. jkn» to the Sinking Fund. _ He held >that llr Allen's statement was intended to shake ihe- -ersdit -of the cocmtry, and was doing a ' terions ynrong to ihe country, -for party purposes, deferring to Mr Massey's stateWnts -with regard to the Government *dv«artissments in newspapers, the Premier fcroauoed arefii?n showing what was paid to -the Mana'kaii Chronicle and the Examiner, and lite Opposition pappr received the ; larger amount. He said this colony had overy reason to h& pioud of its press. In the days when lie vas most bitterly attacked, lie' always .said t"he press of the colony '■ , oofiapared most fa-vourably with the press ia". £he rest . of the civilised world — (appla jise) ; —&&& in the progress and advancement made by" the -colony he gave to ; the iress that share of credit to which it jwas entitled. — ("Hear, hear" and applause.) Referring to 'ifix "Massey's remarks regarding appointments to the Civil Service, he ■would make a charge against the OpposiKon. It hacl misled Parliament in the time of the Atkinson Government, to •which reference was so frequently made by the Opposition. The Estiniaces wer^ submitted, And showed a reduction in several departments. This reduction was by retiring a Srge number of derks and others in various

departments, and the very next day those retired men went to work again as temporary officers, thus taking them off the Estimates. But some of them had been at work in thfi same offices 20 years since they were retired. He believed there were some of them to-day in the Justice Department. Some of these men continued on the same salaries as before, and that after receiving large sums as compensation. He could stay more to the Opposition than this, but he did not desire to. — (Applause.) Referring to the public debt, Mr Seddon quoted •figures to show how the increase of £51,746,759 had been brought about between 1871 and 1904. a period of 34 years, as follows:— 1871-2-3, £1,443,095, Fox Ministry; 1874-5-6, £6,855,325, \ogel Ministry ; 1877, £3,439,350, Atkinson Ministry; 1878-9, £2,125,600, Grey Ministry; 1880-1-2, £6,456,500, Hall Ministry; 1883, £965,900, Whittaker Ministry ; 1884, £1,626.571, Atkinson Ministry; 1385-6-7. £4,670,071, StoutVogel Ministry; 1888-9-1890-1, £.088,697, Atkinson Ministry; 1892-3, £427,490, Balknee Ministry; 1894-1905, £20,654,160, Seddon Ministry. The total under the Hall Administration (three years) was £6,456,500 — an average of £2,150,166 per annum. The total under the Atkinson Administration (aix years) was £8,154,618, or an average of £1,359.103 per Annum. The total under the Seddon Government {12 years) was £20,654,160, or an average of £1,721,180 per .axmusn. — (Applause.) Mr Massey had said there was an extravagance in the Agricultural Deipa.Ttm.ent, fclie expenditure in which wa3- £115,000 per annum. That department, he (Mr Seddon) said, had lifted the agriculturists and had done a great deal in the way of fitting the colony's produce for the markets of the world. — (Applause.) There was the grading of butter. Before the grading was started tfce colony's butter was bringing 5d or 6d per lb ; since grading had been introduced it had brought Is, while the average was from lOd to lid per lb, &nd New Zealand butter to-day brought ■about the same as the best Danish. Wihat had done that? It was due to some extent to the Government giving the assistance of the dairy instructors. Money spent in that direction was money welh spent. The Government had lifted the dairy industry irom a minor to almost th& paramount industry in the oolony, and whilst doing that it had been the means of increasing the value of the lands of the country. In 1891 land in the Taranaki district could be bought for £5 an acre which to-day was bringing £35 an acre. It was the dairying industry that had given the land its value. Mr Massey had also taken exception to the fact that £30,000 was spent in subsidy for -the* SoUh African Steamship contract. Well, Caoiada and the Argentine were both competing with TST&w Zealand for the South African trade, and the only way this oolony could get its produce there was by giving that subsidy. Why should the Leader of the Opposition, who was himself a fanner, object to the colony sending its produce at th? lowest rates to the place where there was a market for it? — (Applause.) The fruit industry had also received attention from the Government, and there was much to do yet. Mr Jacques, one of the Government experts, had stated that he was highly pleased with the class of fruit grown in the .Roxburgh, Nelson, Hawke's Bay, and Canterbury distracts. The reason why the fruitgrowing indisstry had perhaps languished was because of the limited facilities for markets for first-class fruit. He also said :

"The finest fruit of any description that I have found in New Zealand is produced in the Roxburgh district and Central Otago." In 1903-4 this oolony imported canned fruit to the. value of £19,625, dried fruit to the value of £71,118, and fresh 'fruit to the value of £119,361, or a total of £210,605. Why was this? New Zealand tad a climate and soil that were superior to those of some of the countries from which it had imported fruit, and instead of being an importer the colony ought to be an exporter of fruit.— (Applause.) And yet it was said there was extravagance in the Agricultural Department. In California there were 39,000 acres under fruit in 1870, producing fruit to the value of £327,000; and it had 383,000 acres under fruit in 1900, producing fruit to the value of £4-,340,000. Why, Roxburgh did not know its possibilities. If the -people got the right trees and went about the work systematically, and the Government would help, there would not be -room for the crop that would 'be gathered. — (Applause.) And if he came back in 10 years as Premier the hall would have to be "double its present size to accommodate the people who would wish to hear him. — (Applause.) In regard to the Otago Central line, he said that the vote for- the yefer ended March 31, 1905, was £50,000. The amount •actually expended on .March 31 was £44-;924. The amount authorised for -expenditure' on March 31 was £6543 ; permanent way .and other material, £5721; and centeaote let, £3948,;— or a -total of £61,136. With regard to future .proposals, -the 'work up to Alexandra wnas -not difficult, and Mr Ussher, District Engineer for Ot^go, advised thai the -work up to that point was fully manned. The formation -should take from 12 to 14 months while the platelaying and ballasting and finishing up would probably take cix months additional. Subject to funds, they could get the .railway through to Alexandra in 18 months. Between Alexandra and Clyde the formation was slight, and if deemed advisable the department could do that forma•tion to Clyde -within the same time — 12 to 14 months. During the term of office of the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. W. Hall-Jones) the railway had been opened {com Hyde to Omaiau, a distance of 5b miles, -auod the line would soon be available to Chatto Greek, a distance of eight miles and a -half from Oinakau, which would bring it within 10g miles of Alexandra.. — (Applause.) He thouacht this showed that the Government had done fairly well in the provision it had -made for the extension of the line. — (Applause.) When he was last in [Roxburgh it was laid before him that if quick meaD? of transit to a market were not provided the fruit wouLd be spoilt on the way. Well, since Mr Bennet had been member for the district lie had been a perfect nuisance to the Government. He had had the Roxburgh railway on the brain.— (Applause and laughter.) There wa* another part of Mr Bennet's district that wanted a railway, and •proper- -exiensiosi had been ,giv f en in ih*t direction. Nothing, however, had beec done in the way of brincing the railway between Lawrence and Roxburgh : and, though be -did jiot go about making p^oTQJses. he Ihought Ihat. looking at the Question frotn 'a. colonial standpeinr. something should be done in reaper* to it — (Applause.) Who had kept that railway hack for 12 mouths? It was tho Leader --f the Opposition and thr Opnosirion members, who. towards the close <tf the 1903

session, threatened to stonewall .the Railways Authorisation Bill, in which this line was included. The speech of the Leader cf the Opposition on the occasion showed th© attitude" he took up. All he (Mr Seddon) would do, therefore, was to get the principle affirmed by having the record reading carried that session. The bill was again brought in last session and passed, and it was intended this year to ask Parliament for a sum of money with which to make a start with the Lawrence-Roxburgh line. — (Applause.) Touching on Mr Massey's remarks regarding' appointment* to the Civil Service, he saic that permanent appointments could only bo made under the Civil Service Reform Act as cadets after passing th© Civil Service examination, except m the case of experts. Cadets were appointed m order of merit. In 1902 73 cadets were appointed (56 boys, 17 girls); in 1903 80 cadets were appointed (71 boys, 9 girls) ; in 1904 74 cadets "were appointed (65 boys, 9 girls) ; in 1905 (to date) 31 cadets had been appointed. After reference to a number of other subjects Mr Seddon spoke of the services Mr Bannet had rendered to the district. Their member had worked himsptf up to the nroud position of being the c.i&trict's representative It could never be said of him that he had been in the slightest subservient. If people asiked Mr Bennet to do that which it was against his conscientious conviction to- do, he would tender nis resignation rathe? than do it.— (Applause.) The Government desired to have returned to Parliament those who wo\ild see justice done to the people as a whole, and who ■would assist in carrying on the great progressive policy that had done so much for New Zealand."— (Applause.) .. m , . ... Mr John Eennet moved — That this meeting tenders to the Right Hon. Mr Seddon a very hearty vote of thanks for his -able and instructive address, and expresses its unabated confidence in the present Government and its administration. Mr James Orai^ seconded the motion, oxpressing the hope that the Premier would live to ride in the first car from Lawrence to Roxburgh.— (Applause.) The motion was carried unanimously. A vote of thanks was tendered the chairman «-nd cheers were given for the Premier and Mr Bennet. the meeting closing with the singing of "Auld lang syne and the National Anthem. . 4,fter the meeting the Premier was entertained at supper by a large number ot residents of the district.