The Mataura Election

Southland Times, Issue 17078, 29 October 1902, Page 3

The Mataura Election

Jill H. MCNAB AT MABEL. Mr I*. McNab, the sitting member, and a candidate for .Mataura electorate, addressed a meeting at -Mabel on Monday night. There was a very good attendance, including several ladies. Mr D. McKenzie was voted to the chair. A GENERAL DEFENCE. Mr McNab, who was well received, said that this was the fifth occasion he had been before a Mabel audience—four times at general elections and once at a by-election. On this occasion he wished them to understand that lie was not appearing to answer for his political actions in the past, but to explain the more important questions in politics for tile future, though at tile same •time lie would be pleased to answer any questions on any subject that he had omitted to touch on. and he hoped they would not lose any opportunity of asking about anything that had transpired in politics. In regard to the election campaign, the sitting member always felt at a disadvantage, if a supporter of the Government. A campaign was usually a question of attack and defence, and as no direct attack had been dealt to any extent at all, lie had to explain to them what might seem to them the peculiar method adopted of discussing political questions. The only gleaning he had been able to get about the form of attack on the Government was from the press reports of some local Oppositionists, and that showed that the attack would wage round the question of the finances of the colony. He wished Io deal with this subject at some length, and as he did not know the part’cular scene cf attack, he would endeavour to' strengthen the defence all along the line. THE NATURE OF THE FINANCES. He would take two points which he wished his explanation to gather round (1) the increase in departmental expenditure by the Government ; ,(2) the increase iu the public indebtedness. These were two entirely different things, but so far as he could see the Opposition candidates were condemning the Government under both heads. If he simply stated that the departmental expenditure had increased 50 per cent and the indebtedness by 15 millions in ten years, that did not convey an atom of information to anybody. He did not suppose one half of the people knew what departmental expenditure really was, and he wished to explain it as an expenditure required by the Government, to run the various departments of the State. Suppose that the colony had 500,000 of a population, and the departmental expenditure was £5,000,000. With a population of 800,000, the expenditure should he £8,000,000, and if. instead, it was .found to be .£10,000,000 the people would justly say the Government had gone in for wasteful and extravagant expenditure. Then suppose that, in this colony we have the railways owned by tho Government, and in the next colony they were in the hands of private corporations. In the first case all the expenditure on railways was charged Io the Government as departmental expenditures ami in the other it was not. So they would recognise that departmental expenditure did not depend on the population, but on the number of departments the State hud to manage. The Advances to Settlers was an entirely new department, and would alone add a large sum to the departmental expenditure, but not to the taxpayers’ expenditure. The Old Age Pensions Department was also a source of increased expenditure in administration. They had the lands for settlement policy, with the compulsory principle introduced into it, and the purchases of estates for cutting up and letting to small farmers. Thus, when they came to examine the departmental expenditure, not only had they to <add to the expenditure of 10 years ago the increase of population, but the increase of departments also. The question wa« now to consider whether they were getting for (heir money ns much as they got before, or ‘ even more. They must expect the expenditure in every single department to increase. The penny pc stage, inaugurated’ last year, meant a heavy increase in the number of letters posted, and therefore the number of post offices and servants in that department had to be numerously increased. He did not say that it cost the colony any more, as the revenue increased largely ns well ns the expenditure. He contended that departmental expenditure would always increase. It increased on railways when the Government begun reducing freights for produce and carried lime absolutely free. There was no proof of maladministration in these matters, and it was not a . sign of extravagance of the Government when the departments cost more than they formerly did. COUNTRY CONVENIENCES. If there was one thing which the electors were determined on it was that, more of the facilities enjoyed by city ' residents should . bo placed at the serif vice of country residents, and that the

latter., she uld not be.r!6ft<to- socuM these conveniences by their own unaided efforts. For* instance, the Government did not ask, before erected .a post office in a. certain place, if the letters posted there would pay for It. But ho must again -point out to them thav> increased facilities meant increased expenditure. He was at a loss to deal with’ the cliArges against the Government, as until he knew of charges in regard to specific items he could go no further than to say that the general mention of the increased figures conveyed no information at all. They had to ascertain whether there was increased taxation. The moneys used fox* advances to settlers and to purchase lands produced their own interest, and paid a sqrplus into the Consolidated Funds. The next point was the INCREASE OF INDEBTEDNESS

, of the colony as the result of Government borrowing. It had always been the cry that the public debt* was too large for the colony. The Opposition said so when the amount stood at £32,0UO„000, and held that/lhe colony could nc t stand another penny—there was black disaster ahead. It was now, in round numbers, -£52,000,000. The indebtedness was last year increased by £3,000,000, but he would say again that this bald statement contained no information for anybody. As an illuj> t ration of his meaning, he would suppose that a man, living in the backblocks, and totally unaware of Britain’s war in South Africa, was one day told that the National Debt was increased by 150 millions. That would convey no information nt all of the real state of affairs until he was informed that Britain had gained Orange Colony and the Transvaal, a result well worth the sacrifice. In another illustration there were certain other circumstances conceivable. Suppose it was announced to-morrow morning that the national debt of Britain had risen by the stupendous sum of 200 millions of money. Without any explanation of these figures absolutely no informa.tic a could be given to the (mass of the people.. But if it were announced that as a result of this increase in debt the Government had nationalised all the British railways, it would at once be recognised that the financial position of the country was unaltered—though some would doubtless say that the position was enormously improved, lie had stated these illustrations simply to let them see that to quote figures did not prove anything. There was nothing wonderful in the finances of the colony—(laughter)—They had to be conducted on the same lines as any other business. In regard to the £3,000,000 of money, he supposed they were ready to ask him /’Where the war here?” and he would reply that it was SCATTERED ALL OVER THE COLONY. Advances to settlers took up £500,000, which was money out on Joan tc the colony’s farmers. In this connection he wished them to notice one or two points—that the interest was paid by the borrowers, and the principal repaid at the end of the term. The Government was not spending the mcney. but merely acting as intermediary. He asked whether the increase was made in the interests of the country people or the cities. In loans to local bodies the Government had lent £213,000 for the carrying on of public works, roads, and bridges. The local bodies paid interest on that money, and on due date repaid the principal, with the solitary exception of that portion paid out of the land assurance fund. The Government was again just an intermediary, and again the benefit of the legislation was more for the country than the ’'town. Again, there was £BOO,OOO for the purchase of estates for subdivision and leasing to farmers. . The farmers paid 5 per cent interest, and to make certain that the money would never become a charge on the taxpayers of the colony, the Government would not give the farmer a freehold of the land, as an assurance that he would remain on it and continue to pay his interest on the loan. So far as legislation could go, the Government had tried to lock up every avenue "by which the money indicated should become a charge on the taxpayer. and he submitted that they had been fairly successful. Enormous pressure had been brought to bear on the Government to give the farmers the freehold of the estates that had been subdivided. For years past that had been the cry. But once the freehold was given tje security for the lands was gone, and if a reversal of the colony's land policy took place there would be no land available to realise for repayment. If the freehold had been cc nteniplated, the Government would never have carried out the present policy, as it might throw a loan by the Gcvernment, and then they should not be liable for. It was a matter first for the repayment of bhe loan by the GovernMent, and then they could consider the question of sale. There were similar sums of money to. those indicated outstanding for many years, and if the Government had not been successful in keeping the interest of this borrowed money separate from the taxpayers’ they would have had to put on extra taxation. THE RAILWAYS. Tic next wanted to deal with the railways. He was not certain what the loan had been, but ’it was between three-quar-ters of a million and a million. This gave him the opportunity of explaining what he thought the policy of the future would be—though he knew what the policy of the colony must be in connection with public works expenditure for the next few years. Last year the Government spent a large sum, and had also voted a large sum this coming year. He would particularly notice the position at the present time of the North Island Main Trunk, East and West Coast, and Otago Central railways. The North Island Trunk line was being worked at both ends, but would not be available for use at either end till the whole was completed. The Opposition had urged that, in place of spending £250,000 per annum which would complete the line in two years, ? they should spend £lOO,OOO per annum, which allowed live years for completion. I’he value of the work already finished was £1,000,000, and to hang the job over five years meant the payment of £35,000 of interest without any return, and 6J per cent, would not cover the depreciation, bringing the total cost of postponing the completion of the

line to well Within £900,000. They would lose money for the two years, but they had better do that than lose it for five. In connection with the East and West Coast and Otago Central they were in the position that the end was so near, that it better to make a strong effort to get these works off their hands, lie could tell theni that it was highly desirable to finish the North Island Trunk line, as one year's vote for It would finish all the smaller lines in the colony. In the debate on the Public Works Statement the Acting-Premier pointed out that Mr Jas. Allen (the practical leader of the Opposition) had waited on him one morning as a depute; tion to urge the construction of a railway to cost £300,000, and in the evening he had, •as an Oppositionist, condemned the Government for piling up the Indebtedness of the colony. (>n the Loan Bill a largo number, of memi.ers of the Opposition voted for it, but nt tie seme time condemned an increase ot tie public debt. The difficulty was to get them to say in what direction the public works expenditure ' should be reduced : they staid, wisely, that it -as not their business to indicate that the policy of the near future would I e .to complete the lines at present nearly constructed, and then there would be substantial reductions. He had rather startled one of his audiences by saying that toe Government would in the near future borrow £5.000,000 a year for railway ccrstruction, He thought that the colony would at its ordinary rate of progress, in 20 years, be borrowing £5,000,000 a year for this purpose, whatever goveri ment was in power. He predicted that for the next two centuries there never would be a year that the expenditure for railways would be under that amount. Since the construction of the first railway in b.Ugland, 70 years ago, which some of H em perhaps remembered, there had been spent £850,000,000, an average of about 12 million per annum. So they would see that the expenditure of £5,000.000 per annum by the colony was rot a wild scheme; and• although in the immediate future there must be a substantial reAuction in the amount of borrowing. in the future New’ Zealand would borrow extensively for her railways. If they did not do so the railways would be made by private companies or corporations. ROADS AND BRIDGES. The expenditure on these works had been very large, and schemes to reduce it were easily drawn up but difficult to put into operation. There were many places in the colony where there were settlements, and settlers paying rates, who could not get railways, and were obliged to go to the Treasury for assistance. Take the Morton Mains estate. It was formerly worked as cheaply as possible, with as few roads as possible, to keep down the valuation rates, and as ft consequence the settlers who had taken up the land there were compelled to ask for assistance. There were also difficulties in the North Island which were little known down here, settlement being accompanied by the wholesale destruction of forests and roadmaking under great difficulties. Although he. would be glad to hear of some scheme to reduce the expenditure he would point out that the very men who howled the loudest about the extravagance of the Government, were the men who occupied scats, on local bodies, and sent in lists of work required which were truly appalling, lie now wished to refer to one item in particular which they might have heard a good deal about, namely the non-success of the colony to get money from the HOME MONfcY MARKET.

He was asked at one of his meetings the following question, which he thought was a very fair and reasonable one " Do you think that the difficulty of getting money from the Home mn»ket was due to an impression that the colony was not financially sound, or was it due to the special conditions of the money market ?”V He would, give his view of the position. He read that the profits of Britain were £200,000,000 per annum. Imagine any person engaged in farming making £-200 a year, and how many such would be able to lend £136 to n man who wanted it ? Very few. Take the case of Britain. Last jear various ,oans were secured there for 156 millions, of which 75 millions was for the South African war. It therefore fcUnwed that a difficulty must be experienced by the financial people, who only nado 200 millions, to lend 156 millions. In place of wondering that the colony had to pay so 4ear for the loan, the wonder was thnt the money was there to get ut all. Therefore he had no hesitation in attributing the difficulties of floating our loans, not to the financial ] osition of the colony, but to the fact that the Home market was so drained of money for the demands of the Imperial Treasury, that it was difficult to find money for the necessities. THE FARMERS’ UNION.

In other parts of the electorate he had dealt with a list of questions submitted by the N.Z. Farmers’ Union, and he did not propose to go over these again. The fanners had shown their wisdom in forming a union and in having so many provincial and * district branches. The farmers had a great advantage over trades by the diversity of the interests their Parliamentary members represented. The same trades are represented in the North as in the South Island, but the farmer of the North Island was a different man to him of the South. But they both had the advantage of being able to get representatives in the interests of farmers generally, and also to get men who were engaged in the place where the farmer actually was, and who was thus conversant with the particular requirements of his constituents. But th:s was what had been done : When the Union met they arranged to draw up questions to be submitted to .candidates over the whole of the colony, and the man in the North Island would be asked to approve of questions which affected only the South Island, and vice versa, and it would work out that pastoralists in the North were to approve of the policy of the agriculturists in the South, lie believed that one of the most important platforms of the local branches of the Farmers’ Union was reduced railway freights, reduced steamer freights, ami the finding of new markets for their produce. If he asked the farmers present if the planks were to be cut down to three those he had mentioned would be selected, dealing with cheap .means of getting to good markets. But, as would be seen from the list of questions issued by the N.Z. Union, there was not one which bore upon any of these questions. They did not seem to care a rap whether the candidate approved of State ownership of railways or not, or whether the candidate believed in anything being done to negotiate for the opening of new markets. They did not show the slightest interest in what was actually the farmer’s salary, by the establishment of foreign markets, which were all the farmer could depend on. They never showed the slightest interest in their own salaries, but they asked whether the candidate would support a reduction in his salary. (Laughter.) They asked about the franchise, and urged a course which, if nd op-' ted, would prevent every Crown tenant in the colony; from having a vote in an election for local bodies. He was in opposition to a number of the questions submitted, and he was sure that rts was trying to defend the interests of the farmers, which they were giving away wherever possible. A peculiar result in the polls in connection with Southland, which was essentially an agricultural district, was that he was the solitary candidate engaged in farming pu-suits. The platform which was being submitted by the Farmers’ Union was one of the biggest menaces to the farmer, and as he was opposing it he was going to bo tabooed in the electorate. (Laughter.) He asked the Farmers’ Unions in the district to meet and draft questions in their own interests. Already ho noticed that in Auckland, Timaru and Oamaru, the branches had abandoned or . altered the list of questions, and substituted or added others to suit their local requirements and interests. His advice was for the Southland Unions to do the same. A SINKING FUND.

In regard to his remarks on the advances to he had heard it stated at one ol Ms B?et}pgs that loans repaid

uhder this Act were paid into Ihe consolidated revenue ot the colony, that its Identity was lost, and that when it came to be repaid by the colony it would have to be found by the general taxpayer. Up was perfectly satisfied, that no such course existed. The returns were paid over to the Public Trustee,’who hold them hi account,' and. - furnished Parliament with a return, and the money was held by him for Investment, He has power to haiid it/over to the Advances to Settlers Office “for lending out again, -and It could be used as a sinking fund or for taking out fresh mortgages. TIIK FIITUBE. Referring to the rumour of the early retirement of the Premier, Mr McNab said that he did not know personally whether there was any truth in thi rumour. As far as last session was concerned the first lieutenant, Sir 'Joseph Ward, earned golden opinions in the House for the able conduct, of the business. He believed that it the Premier did decide to leave active politics Sir Joseph would find no difficulty in forming n Ministry which would hol’d office for some years to come. The party would not burst up—there would not be a ripple on the surface of the water in the event of a change of leaders. The Premier had himself stated on arrival from Home that he had no present, intention ot resigning office, and therefore the future must remain to develop. IN CONCLUSION Mr McNab said that he allowed his actions in the past to commend l.im to the electors more than his words. li they should again do him the honour to return him us their representative he should be-only too happy to put his services at their disposal. He ;hanked them for the little trouble they had given him as part of his constituency, mid for their kind attendance that evening. (Applause.) questions.’ The chairman invited questions, mid ope was handed in dealing with the Bible-in-schools. Mr McNab stated that lie was in favour of referring the question to a general, but not to a special referendum. As to prohibition, he was in favour of the question being referred to the districts every three years. On the chairman asking for a motion. Mr McNab requested that no motion pi o posing confidence be proposed and, following tins. Mr W. Wright moved and Mr G. Amos seconded a vote of thanks to the candidate for past services ns their representative, and also for his address that evening.—Carried unanimously. Mr McNab briefly replied, and proposed a similar compliment to the chairman, which was carried with applause, mid the meeting closed!