SPEECH BY THE PREMIER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10301, 8 March 1905, Page 4

SPEECH BY THE PREMIER.

WESTLAND V. AUCKLAND/

(Per Press Association.) DARGAVILLE, last night. The Premier delivered' a speech here this evening. Referring to attacks made on him by the press, he said he was often .misrepresented, sometimes wilfully, sometimes accidentally, but this was the usual experience of those who struggled l for reform and! stood by the masses. The great reception- given him at Dargaville and: throughout Kaipara, district showed that the people were not yet tired of him. (Applause.) Referring to the finances, the Premier said the revenue for

the colony for the eleven months ended

February 28th: was £6,305,009, as against £6,156,000 for last yar, an increase of £149,000. He would! 'be able at the end!

of March lo announce the usual surplus, despite the prognostications! of the Opposition. He also said the Customs should! show an increase of £30,000, land and income tax £40,000, and stamps £11,000. He referred! to -an article which had appeared m the New Zealand. Herald, and which had stated! that while the amount spent on railways north' of Auckland since 1894 wa s £400,000, hi Westland electorate £700,000 had been spent during the same period. This statement was unfounded m fact, amdl could only have been made m ignorance. He would give the exact figures as supplied by the Publilc Works Department. These showed that during the time he had been Premier, from Ist April, 1893, to February 28th, 1905, there had been spent m Westland electorate £179,271 on 25i miles of railways, whilst the expenditure north of Auckland! for the same period (exclud ling £50,000 of mortgage 'on the Kaihu line) was £219,854. He asked them to contrast these figures with those given by the Herald. Tliat paper had said £400,000 was spent north of Auckland, whereas only £219,000 was spent. It said £700,000 was spent m Westland, but only £179,291^ had been spent, The Herald was only out of its figures by £500,000. He did! not know why those misstatements should be made.

If the Herald: meant the whole of the West Coast, or what was known a.s tlie West Coast and Nelson, district, it should have said so, instead' of trying to make capital out of it because he was member for Westland!. These misstatements caused readers of the Herald to form wrong conclusions, andl m. his opinion it was done deliberately. He had never read more outrageous statements than those made m a letter to tlie Herald by W. S. Vaile, in. comparing the railway'expenditure of Auckland and' Westland provincial districts.. The misstatement could' only be accounted for by the possession of a powerful imagination and. lack of geographical knowledge. If the provincial district of Westland was meant the figures -were entirely 'fallacious. It was stated that the population of Westland was 14,000, hut tikis would include about •a third of Greymouth electorate. His electorate ended at Teremekau river, wliilst the Westland provincial district extended' to Grey river. Those who had taken out the figures evidently did not know the difference between * Westland electorate audi the provincial district. He quoted figures as regards expenditure on roads, tracks, and bridges m Westland electorate and the north of Auckland from April Ist. 1894, to 28th February of the present- year." The totals were: Westland £132,060 and north of Auckland £276,523. The approximate total mileages of roads constructed from Ist April, 1894. to 31st March, ,1904, were: Dray roads constructed, north of Auckland 839 miles as against 50 miles m Westland; bridle roads constructed, 293 miles north of Auckland, as against 113 Westland ; dray roads improved' were 796 miles north of Auckland, 269 miles Westland ; bridle tracks improved. 192 miles north of Auckland, 80 miles Westland. The average of roads maintained for a similar period showed a similar advantage m favor of north of Auckland, while 256 bridges of over 30ft span had" been constructed m the north of Auckland as against only twenty m Westland. Tlie expenditure on roads m Auckland provincial district from 1877 to 1891 (prior to the present party coming into power) was £617,000, whilst since the present administration came into power (1891 to the end of 1904) the amount of expenditure was £854,568, or an increase of £237,548. Continuing, lie said he would now announce that next year the Government proposed! to increase the expenditure on roads from £300,000 to £500,000. (Applause.) Coming to the timber industry, lie said! the end of the kauri forests m Auckland was rapidly approaching and with it the milling industry of that class of limber. The present approximate annual output of kauri was 120 millions of feet, and) it was estimated: that about the following quantity was left- : Kauri on Crown lands 431,800,---000 ft, on private lands 637,700,000 ft, or a total of 1,069,500,000 ft, which at the per sent rate of output would! last about eight years. Possibly there was about 1,320.---000,000 ft of other milling timbers left m the district. As a large quantity of kauri and kahikatea left the 'colony * annually, the question arose whether something should not be done to keep this? timber for ourselves. He gave particulars of land being opened iv tlie counties north of Auckland, and said' 800,000 acres of, Crown lands m Auckland district bad not -

; yet been opened! for selection. Alluding to the dairy industry, he said that m

1904 there were 210 butter factories, 73 cheese factories, and 445 skimming stations m the colony, as against 42, 45 ami 66 respectively iv 1894. During the same time the value of dairy produce increased from £125,657 to £1,623,384. Whilst there had becm an increase m tlie amount paid for labor, there had been a reduction m taxation. Besides providing the usual surplus the colony had oeen saved 1 £1,102,---376 m indirect taxation on private wealth. People had increased their savings. The bank deposits had gone up from eight millions to 17 millions during the last ten years. No greater evidence of prosperity than this could be desired. As to the Lands for Settlement Act, Mr Masse}' liad sakll he would not repeal the Land for Settlement Act. "No, he would not repeal it," said the Premier, "but he would not borrow any money under it, and the Act would thus become a deadtj letter." After speaking at further length 1 as to the progress and prosperity of the ' colony, he concluded by saying "that his cervices were at the disposal of the colony so long as the people wanted him. He was, however, no time-server, and if they gave him a hint that he was not wanted he would be only too glad to take it. The Government policy had been one. of moderation, and they might find a change not to their advantage. Not one measure passed l by the present Government had been repealed, which was more than the Opposition could say of their administration. The Premier was heartily cheered onresuming his seat after speaking for about an hour audi a-half, and a vote of thanks and confidence m the Government was carried by acclamation. At the conclusion of the speech Mr Seddon, as president of the Liberal Labor Federation, presented the Kaipara branch with a charter. In doing so he said that there was some misapprehension as to the object of the Federation. Every class could join. It was not an exclusive organisation. The Premier leaves early tomorrow morning for Maungaluroto.