Address by the Hon. J. G. Ward.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2954, 28 November 1900, Page 2

Address by the Hon. J. G. Ward.

Per Press Association. CLINTON, November 27. Air Ward addressed a well attended public meeting at Clinton in the Town Hall this evening. The chair was taken by Air D. A. AlcLaclilan, and Messrs J. W. Thomson and T. Alaekcnzie occupied seats on the platform. The chairman introduced the Alin.sior and made a highly complimentary ie.ereii' e.

Air Ward was received with prolonged applause. He thanked them for the cordial reception given him, and congratulated them upon the many signs of progress manifested in the surrounding district. Alauy improvements, especially in the agricultural line, had taken place in recent years, and now Clinton was the centre of a well-to-do district. He thought it would be wise for the colony to give such assistance as the State could afford towards the expansion of trade by the obtaining of fresh markets for the produce that was now available for export to the extent of about £12,000,000, a remarkable amount for so young a colon}'. They must have beard of the possibility of trade being opened with South Africa. The Government had decided to invite ajiplications for lines of steamers to trade from five ports in New Zealand to three in South Africa, Such a service would be of immense benefit and open

a large trade in grain, flour, frozen meat and dairy produce. It was also mtende to appoint at an early date a Secretary to Industry and Commerce, who would devote himself to assisting industrial and commercial developments. A good man in such a position would prove of great assistance to merchants, traders and farmers; and in fact, directly or indirectly, to the advantage of the people of the whole colony. A matter of great interest was the intelligence recently received of the acceptance by the Pacific Cable Board of a tender for laying the Pacific Cable at a cost of £1,900,000, This had only been brought about after a great deal of trouble, especially as it was to be a State-owned cable; an idea which at one time was considered to be extremely socialistic. While touching on Imperialistic matters he would like to mention that no colonial statesman had worked so hard as the Premier had done to bring about a good feeling between this colony and the Bid Country. It was a matter for congratulation that this colony had extended her boundaries, and it would have been suicidal if not criminal for the colony to have allowed any more of the Pacific Islands to be placed outside of the control of Britain. Mr Ward also touched on the defence question, and stated that we now had 17,000 volunteers. He adhered .to his opinion that the outlying posts of the Empire should have some representation in the House of Lords and House of Commons. They should he represented by able Imperial and experienced men. Should the Old Land be involved in trouble it would extend to her colonies, and they had now reached a position when it would he their duty to assist in the defence of the Empire. Mr Ward also referred to federation of the Australian colonies, and the visit of H.R.H. the Duke of York, and the celebrations. He also spoke on the great efforts the countries were making in order to gain commercial precedence on the sea, and said that it would lead to one of two things, either , high protective tariffs would have to be levied or there would have to he reciprocal treaties with other portions of the Empire. From the first of January the scheme of penny postage would commence. This would involve an annual loss of about £BO,OOO. He was regarded as a very sanguine man, but he was never far out in his estimates, and he believed that the postal reform would in a year or two not result in a loss but in a profit. The reform would give an enormous impetus to the use of the Post Office, and the increase in business would be large. Last year an enormous reduction was made in the Railway Department, and it was estimated at that time that the loss of revenue would amount to £25,000 yearly. He had held that instead of a loss there would be a profit, and he had not been a false prophet. They would be gratified to leam that from the Ist April, the date on which the reduced tariff came into operation, up to 13th October there had been an increase over the corresponding period of last year of £46,000. The increase in the number of passengers was 365,000. They would find that when making concessions it was only by going far enough with the concessions that success was assured. They would find in connection with the railways that in many cases the trains were travelling faster, were keeping better time, and the ordinary conveniences for the use of the travelling public were being greatly increased and improved. He hoped that before many months they would have a large increase in rolling stock, especially in the matter of trucks, and this with the additional engine power they hoped to have in use shortly, would ensure a greatly improved condition of affairs. In connection with the postal reform the penny postage wns not the only reform to he brought into operation, ft was proposed to establish from the Ist January an ‘.‘express” delivery by telegraph messengers for letters and parcels (no ir TRjst. the delivery in the meantime to he restricted to the principal centres, but gradually it would be extended to other portions of the colony. I mter this system “ expressed” articles would be sent from any Post-office within the colony, and such offices outside the colony as cared to reciprocate with us. The delivery would be up to three miles; for the first mile 6d would be charged, and for each additional mile 3d. Provision would also be made for “ expressed” articles and stamped telegrams being collected by letter-carriers and telegraph hoys. In the case of telegrams this should be a decided convenience to the people living a distance from the telegraph offices. Another proposal was to have uniform parcel rates for all parts of the Empire. The present rate to London was Is for the first lb, and 6d for each additional lb. The rate now proposed was Is for 31bs, 2s for 71bs, and 3s for lllbs. In addition, he also proposed to establish a telegraph messengers’ service m connection with the telephone exchange to enable subscribers to ring for a messenger to run an errand, order a cab, etc., and the charge would be the same as for the express letter delivery up to- three miles, and messages would be delivered up to five miles on payment of the ordinary cab or tram fare. He had every confidence that a success would be made of such a system. It would be self-support-ing and was worth a trial. The Government last year reduced the taxation of the people by about £300,000. The estimated revenue last year was £5,249,600, and the receipts were £5,530,386, which was £393,957 in excess of the former year. The gross public debt, £46,938,000, was certainly large, but the assets were enormously in excess of that amount. He referred to the tourist traffic, and said that the people should do all they could to cultivate it and see that tourists were properly treated and not regarded as fair game for extortion. He would not refer to other matters, but concluded by wishing-them every success, and thanking them for the attentive manner in which they had listened to him.

Mr Ward, as he announced at the commencement, entirely avoided the domain of party politics, and was followed throughout with marked attention His address was interrupted by frequent applause, and the vote of thanks moved by Mr J. Taylor, and seconded by Mr W. Millar, was with loud applause.