IN DEFENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13274, 27 November 1911, Page 3

IN DEFENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT.

REPLY TO OPPOSITION

CRITICISM.

DOMINION'S PROGRESS UNDER LIBERALISM.

Tho Hon. R. McKenzie, Minister for Public Works and Mines, addressed about seventy electors at the Oddfellows' Hall, Wakefield, on Friday evening and received a very cordial and attentive hearing. Mr. H. J. Harris occupied the chair, and said it was unnecessary for him to introduce Mr. McKonzio, who had represented the district for the r>ast fifteen years and was now Minister of Public Works. Mr .McKenzie, who on rising to speak was received with loud applause, said it gave him great pleasure to meet his old friends in Wakefipld. He had held their confidence for 15 years and claimed that ho had given them every satisfaction as their representative. He had filled practically every position in Parliament, except the"Speakership. Ho was Chairman of Committees for three years, and after that was appointed ii member of the Administration. As ;i Minister of the Crown he was in the extraordinary position of representing tho whole of the Dominion, and in consequence ho had not been able to be among his constituents as much as he would like to have been. His electorate covered an extensive area; and extended from within 8 or 10 miles qf Nelson to within 17 miles of Westport.

OPPOSITION TACTICS

A policy of misrepresentation, distortion, 'innuendo, and vilification was being adopted by the opponents of tho Government —it seemed to be their only policy. They did not have a political policy, except in their advocacy of an electivo Legislative Council and a Civil Service board. Take these away from their policy and there was' nothing left except vilification. When tho Ija'.lanco Government was first formed, one of the first misrepresentations made by tho Opposition was that Mr. Ballance was a hawker of jewellery —not that there was any disgrace in that, but as a matter 'of fact ho had never hawked jewellery but was a journalist until ho became a politician. The next misrepresentation was that Mr Ritchie, of tlie Stock Department, was married to a daughter of Sir John McKen/.ie, and that a billet must bo found for him. When the matter was inquired into it was found that Mr. Ritchie had never married a daughter of Sir John McKenzio at all. Mr. Ritchie had filled the position creditably from the day he was appointed to the present time. Then there was tlie Bun Trick scandal, and the voucher incident which it was unnecessary for him to refer to. Then in regard to E. A. Smith. When this was inquired into it was found that Mr. Smith had been appointed by the late Sir John Hall, as shipping agent in London for tho New Zealand Government. The present Administration had nothing to do with tho appointment. It was continued until retrenchment took place 14 years ago, when it was found that tho High Commissioner's office could do the ivork. Tlie next attempt against the Government was tho Hine charges. The Leader of the Opposition had made at Nelson and elsewhere the audacious statement that the whole of the [line charges had been proved. As a matter of fact not one single charge had been proved against the present Administration. Mr. Massey was a member of tlie committee which investigated the charges, and tho report was signed by the members, including Mr .Massey. The report stated that the charges of bribery against the Administration were not proved, still Mr. Massey had the audacity to say that the charges had been proved' up to the hilt. There were three charges against three members of Parliament, and eight levelled against the Government. All of the latter were entirely disproved. In regard to tlie charge against a Native member Natives could see no wrong in giving financial assistance to a member for doing something for them although no pakeha member or Minister of tho Crown would countenance such a thine;. The Leader of the Opposition had accepted £1000 from the people of New Zealand, and the Native member thought he had as much right to receive money as the pakeha had; and these was a good deal in tho Native's aspect of the question. Some other charges had also been brought against the late Mr. R. J. Seddon and Sir John McKenzio, one or two being in connection with tho Klaxbourne, hut none of the present Administration were concerned in them.

THE MOKAU TRANSACTION

As far as the Government was concerned it had-nothing to do with the Mokau transaction. They wore no doubt familiar with this matter. In this country there was a land assurance fund which was rosponsib.e for any mistakes by Government officers in 'connection with the granting of titles. Not many years ago ho got for a resident of this district £500 been use the survey of his property was 400 or 000 acres short. If there, was a faulty title, a claim was made on the land assurance fund. In connection with Mokau, the Natives leased the land to Joshua Jones, who went to the Old Country and sokl_ his rights to lease to a linn of solicitors in"London. They afterwards sold to Hermann Lewis. The latter sold to three gentlemen in Hawke's Bay for whom Mr Chambers was acting. A joint stock company was formed to deal with tho Mokau estate. Three members of the company were members of the Opposition, and when it was out who "wore in the company, portions of the charges were dropped. The '.ease to Jones was faulty, consequently there might be a claim on the assurance fund. The Government , were advised by tho Crown law offi- j cej-s and other legal luminaries,, that if they took up one side or the other there'would bo a claim winch might cost the tax payers anything from C.10,000 to £80,000. They could have bought the property from tho Natives. If this had been done Lewis would have had a claim against the land assurance fund. If they recognised the lease to Jones, the Natives would have a claim. At one time it was intended to buy the lease from the Na tives for £20,000, if they had, tho fund -would have been made to pay. Tho Government told both Lewis and tlie representatives of the Natives that they would have to arrange their troubles the best way they could. It was necessary that an Order-iu-Coun-cil should be issued, and it was becauso of this that the Opposition had tried to create a scandal. The Order-in-Council was made to givo a legal title to tho land. Sir John Findlay, Sir James Carroll and Mr. McNab were- supposed to have got something out of it. He noticed that Mr. McNab, who owned a tenth share had offered it to the Leader of the Opposition for what it cost him plus 5 per cent interest. Still tho Opposition said that some one made £25,000 out of it. It was well known that the syndicate had given more money for it than it was worth and instead of making money, they were likely to lose by it. So far as tho Administration was concerned it had nothing" to do with it, and had protected the people from being had in connection with it. (Applause.) RAILWAYS. The Government had been misrepresented in regard to borrowing, and charges had boon made against the Government on that platform of extravagance. Hhe proposed to give

them the correct-version (hear, hear) because tho people who made the charges knew nothing about tlie subject they were addressing thtm on. (Applause.) - The public debt of tin. Dominion on 31st March last wub £81,078,122, but after allowing for the sinking funds it was actually £79,837,288. A large proportion of it was interest bearing and paid its own way. Attempts were made to mislead the public, and it was stated that they were made to pay enormous amounts in taxation for tho debt. Tho railways had cost £29,314,000 and everyone knew the railways last year paid £4 Is 8d per cent, and as the money had been borrowed at under £3 15s per cont the Government had actually inado a profit of 6s 8d per cent, while tho indirect advantages of the railways had been enormous. They had been a groat boon to tho people of New Zealand for without the railway system it would be impossible for the people of this country to compete with other .parts of the world and it would be impossible to carry tho population. Instead of having over a million people spread all over tho Dominion they would have eight or ten sheep runs in each island. The railways had been a great boon to tho people, and no one would suggest that the construction should stop. He had no hesitation in saying that if their railways were offered for sale they would bring £50,000,000.

LAND SETTLEMENT POLICY

The Libeial Party and the Opposition had always been in strong disagreement in connection with the land settlement policy. The Opposition always represented the large landowners, and the wealthy moneylending class. Their special duty in Parliament appeared to be to protect the squatter and the money lender. The Liberal Party recognised that the land settlement policy was necessary to settle the people on the land, thus interfering with the people represented by the Opposition, consequently the Opposition opposed that policy. Tlie Government had spent £G,303,----000 in the purchase of large estates, and every one had proved a profitable investment. The Government were making a profit en eacli one and instead of being a burden on the people they were relieving them of taxation. ■ ADVANCES TO SETTLERS. ' To settlers £7,939,000 had been ad-' vanced, and was not costing the taxpayer a penny in interest. The securities were improving in value, and the money earned was also relieving tlie taxpayer. WORKERS' HOMES. This was a most Liberal measure, and a sum of £500,000 had been borrowed for this purpose. Anyone could get a home with a deposit of a £10 note, and the taxpayer was not paying any interest for it. OTHER MATTERS. The Government had a'so invested £500,000 in Bank of New Zealand shares, and a most profitable transaction it had proved. Tho Government had also borrowod £4,882,000 for loans to local bodies for various works and interest was being paid on this amount by the local bodies. A sum of £1,431,000 had been borrowed for telegraph and telephone lines, and this was the most profitable investment the Government had made. The Telegraph Department paid tho country handsomely, and the taxpayer did not have to pay the interest. PUBLIC BUILDINGS h:ul cost tlie country £5,240,000 ana some people doubted if the amount was interest bearing. He control.cd all the public buildings and had no hesitation in saying that they were not only interest bearing, but profit earning. The Government had been accused of extravagance in spending £100,000 on post offices at Auckland and Wellington, but it was no extravagance whatever. There were no less than four post offices in Wellington and at the present time the Government was paying £5,100 a year in rent. If the Government had to pay in proportion all over the Dominion they would have to foot a very large amount. He was satisfied that the new post office in Wellington would not prove too large, and it was the policy of the Department to put buildings up ahead of requirements. Since he hud been member for Motueka he had got a new post office for Motueka. It was built 12 years ago and was the first brick building in Motueka, It cost £1000 and they were proud of it at the time. However at the present time tho building was not nearly largo enough for requirements and in a year or two another £10U0 would have to he spent on it. In Takaka a post office had been built which was supposed to be large enough for 25 years. Last session however, £700 had been put on tho estimates for the enlargement of the building. The residential portion would have to bo used for office work and another residence built. The same thing applied throughout the country. Buildings put up 20 years ago were far too small now as the development of the country had gone on at such a rapid rate. It was the duty of the Government to make tlie necessary provision sufficiently far ahead. (Hear, hear.) The post offices at Auckland and Wellington would be too Bmali in 25 or 30 years. In his opinion every post office ought to bo built large enough for the requirements of the people for 50 years. It was necessary to give this information to meet the charges of extravagance. ROADS AND BRIDGES. Ho disagreed with the contention that £10,554,000 spent on roads and bridges was not a profitable investment. A large proportion of it was interest bearing. Before the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, local bodies used to do this work with money borrowed from tho Government and they had to find tho interest. Now Crown lands that were being opened for settlement were being loadod with the cost of roading, and the settlers paid the interest, not the general taxpayer. He believed that roads should bo made through la/.o before the settler was put on it. (Applause.) STATE COAL MINES. The State coal mines, for the development of which £415,000 had been borrowed, had made a very handsome profit indeed from the day thoy wore started up to the present time. Tlie State had reduced the. price of coal to the consumer by 10s per tonj and this was a great advantage to the people. This was a branch of State enterprise that the Opposition had been opposed to. He had accounted for practically £60,000,000 of the public debt. All sorts of attempts were being made to HOODWINK THE PUBLIC by making it appear that they had to pay interest on this money. The railways until a few years ago had been a burden to the taxpayer. The Nelson railway had never yot paid anything like interest on the cost of construction, but ho was looking for-, ward to the time wlion it would be a profitablo Investment. He thought by th'p. timo it reached Murchison it would pay as well as any other line— it would then certainly pay interest on the cost of construction. THE BALANCE OF THE DEBT. He had still £19,000,000 of th° public debt to account for. The Government in the past had bon-ou-ed £5,000,000 to carry on Maori wars, and ho considered this the only dead debt the people had. £2,000,000 had been spent on immigration, but he did not consider this unprofitable. This country wanted population, and although the amount might'not be directly- interest bearing, they must admit it was a highly profitable investment. The Liberal Party while in 'power raised £42,000,000, and tftm-ng 30 years the Conservative Party raised £38,000,000. In flotation expenses the Conservative Party paid £7.000.----000 or £8,000,000, while "tho Liberals had paid a little over two millions in tho same way. Tho Liberal Party had borrowed four millions more than the (Continued on Fourth Page.)

Conservatives, and it had cost them six millions Jess to doit. Ever Mnce the Liberal Party camo into office they had kept a close grasp on the :i {fairs , of this country, and tho affairs of th? i country werb never mol'o 6c6nomieally ■ administered than they were at the present time. Comparisons of tho public debt of this country had bf en made with Canada, United States Of America, and Great Britain, but the positions were not analogous. Ho believed a fairly close comparison could be made between New Zealand and the States of the Commonwealth. THE CRY ABOUT UNSATISF.VC-

TORY ADMINISTRATION,

Mr MclCenzie said much had l&en said-by the Opposition about unsatisfactory administration. The Advances to Settlers, which the Opposition declared was going to be ruinous, had lent Since its establishment £11,648,----000, and had earned £456,455. The Advances to Workers during the four years it had been in existenoo had earned £11,355. The amounts earned by other departments were, State fire Insurance (in six years), £12,?63; Bank of New Zealand shares £13G,----600; Lands for Settlement, £377,71 H; Cheviot Estate, £63,152; National Endowment lands £189,153 ; State oyster fisheries, £1.803; Public Trust Office £130,094; State coal, mines £73,978, and that after providing £13,200 for sinking funds and placing £10,226 to reserve. The total earnings of th(s ton departments were £1,429,033, which had been paid into the public account. All those departments except the Public Trust were oppo'ieu and condemned 1»y the Opposition. He had not included in.the list the pest offices and railways, both of which had saved the taxpayer enormously, and it was only a matter of time before the profits of all those departments vt iikl repay the -whole of the capital i'ivested in them. It had been stated that the cost of the civil service was £1,700,000 a year. As a matter of fact, including Hip railways and postal denartments it was £700,000 a year. The gentleman who made that statement did not know what ho was talking about. (Applause.) TAXATION Mr McKenzio said that wo Were tho lightest taxed country in the world, and stated that tho Liberal Party had remitted duties on tea, sugar, currants and raisins, fencing wivo, sheep shears, rice, and hundreds of other articles. If the duties which wore on at the time of the Atkinson Government had not been remitted the people would have paid over £700,000 in Customs duties. The land and income tax had replaced the iniquitous property tax, and the graduated land tax was no doubt going to be the means of putting land on the market for the people. It had been made fairly stiff on estates of tho value of £40,000 unimproved value and over. He did not think there was one man in Nelson who would have to pay the tax on that amount, but in Msu-lborough, Canterbury and Hawke's Bay there were estates valued at from £100,000 upwards. The> were the estates that ought to lie cut up. The Government did not desire to injure the large householder, but if he wanted to hang on to the land he must pay more than ho had done hitherto. SELF-RELIANT POLICY. The Government had been twitted with departing from tho self-reliant policy of tho lat© John Ballance, but Mr Mclvenzie contended that it had done nothing of the kind, but had done more to maintain it than air. other government they had had. In the last year they had transferred more money from revenue than an.> other government had done. The country now produced 2\ times moio than it did 20 years ago, and the population was increasing. There wns more capital in the banks than evt r before, and more money per head i ; the Post Office Savings Bank. In 18!;', there were 118,344 depositors hi th<> Post Office and private savings bank. , and last year there were 432,000, tl;.:----average amount per head being £V ", 10s 2d as against £36 3s last year. The value per head was £5 0s 4d a> against £15 11s 6d. The per centair? of depesitors to the population was. 1890, 19.92, as against 43.09 last year. The average per head iv all banks in 1890 was £25 13s 9d, as against £4i> 9s last year. That was conclusive, proof of .the success of tho policy oi the Government. In 1891 tho population of the Dominion was 634,058, and at last census it was 1,032,444, an increase of 404,000 in 20 years. The deposits in public banks during that poriod had increased from £12,796,098 to £24,968,761. and in the Post Ofh'c!.> and private savings banks from £2,----695,448 to £14,104,990. * BORROWING OF THE WARD ADMINISTRATION. Tho total amount borrowed by the Ward Administration was £18,887,0bz, and it was made up as follows: — £ Advances to settlers 4,529,700 Loans to local bodies 2,318,900 Land for settlement 1,600,000 Railways 4,815,688 Telegraphs 455,344 Reserve fund securities 800,000 Public buildings 909,482 Roads and bridges 1.218,030 Lighthouses and harbours 37,970 Goldfields development. 55,904 Immigration 44,31? Tourist and health resorts 89,742 Miscellaneous 866,27b Workers' homes 500,006 Defence 1,145,727 DEFENCE. Mr McKenzie spoke at length on the question, of defence, and defended the offer of a Dreadnought to Great Britain. Without a navy New Zealand he declared, would not be worth a year's purchase. It was made perfectly clear1 to tho Imperial Government that the offer of the Dreadnought was made subject to the approval of Parliament. In this country wo were paying less than 5s per head towards the cost of tho Navy, as against 18s lid that was being paid by the people of Great Britain. The Government were paying £250,000 i\ year towards the cost of the Navy, and we were getting our defence at a cheap rate. In regard to internal defenco, he was satisfied that if the question of military training had been left to the lads themselves, 90 per cent would have supported the scheme. (Applause.) Mr McKenzio referred to his visit to Nelson Collego with His Excellency, and spoke of the splendid military appearance of the cadets. Reasonable training, ho contended, improved youths morally, mentally, and physically. THE LAND QUESTION. He was a freeholder, except in respect of ono class of land—that was the land that had been purchased by tho State for settlement. He was also opposed to giving Crown tenants the freehold at its original value. . The values had been enhanced by the expenditure of public money, and it | should bo divided among the people. The proposal made by. the Opposition ! was an endeavour to get the settlers to cast votes for the Tory Party. j WATEII POWER AND IRON INDUSTRY. Mr McKenzio referred to the water power scheme of the Government and the Parapara iron industry on the lines of his previous addresses. Ho believed the Parapara would prove a profitable investment for the State. Railway material, fencing wiro and corrugated iron could be manufactured quite easily, and there was no doubt as to the quality and the quantity or iron there —it was a.matter of labour and capital. The Opposition had tried to prevent the Government from going on with the water power by voting that the amount to be expended be reduced by one half, but were unsuccessful. He thought the country would derive as much benefit from the water power as tho railway system. Mr McKenzie referred to the irrigation of Otago and Canterbury, and' believed tho scheitfe would prove profitable.

CO-OPERATIVE SYSTEM. Mr McKenzie said that tinder the co-operative system the profits went into the pockets of tho people instead of into the- pockets of contractors. Small contracts, however, were all ■ right in conjunction with tho co-op-erative system, but one had to see the conditions to judge which would be the most profitable. THE COST OF THE NELSON RAILWAY. Mr McKenzie again denied the statement made by another candidate that the Nelson railway was costing £15,000"or £16,000 a mile to construct. The cost was £7750. Mr McKenzie said tho cost ef railway construction had increased because they were now being made better. In the* old days 401b rails were- used with 2000 sleepers to tho mile, now 60 to 701b rails wore used, and 2500 sleepers to the mile. In his opinion one mile in the Hope Valley would cost as much as five in the Waimeas. The average cost of railway construction in New Zealand was £10,700 per mile, not £16,000 to [ £17,000 as was stated by the Opposition. CIVIL SERVICE BOARD. Mr McKenzie said he did not believe in the Civil Service Board, because it would bo an autocratic body, under the control of nobody. Considering the number of persons in the service of the State there were very few complaints, and it was incorrect to say that the service was "seething with -corruption." The service, ho Considered, was one of the finest in the world, but of course there were j black sheep in every flock. If they | were found out, they were dispensed with. A statement had been made by another candidate about n man receiving promotion improperly in the police force. The name of that person should have been given, as it was only when a definite charge was made that it could be enquired into. Personally he did not believe there was corruption. LIBERALS SHOULD BE RETURNED. Speaking as a candidate and not as a Minister of the Crown, he said that for more reasons than one it was very important to tho people of this district that there should be a united representation for the whole of the district. It was no use sending him to represent one part and a man who disagreed with him to represent an adjoining electorate—they would only vilify one another. The representatives of Nelson, Buller, Marlborough and Motueko should work together harmoniously. (Applause.) lie wanted to sc.> the railway pushed to Murchison and ultimately connected with tho railway system of the Dominion. If they got an. Opposition Government into powei the railway would be stopped. Tho Opposition always opposed the Nelsrm end of tho Midland railway, and it was due to the efforts of the late Hoi'.s Pitt, Trash, Reeves, and Messrs Calvin, Graham and himself that tlr.W got the work started again after it had been stopped. Mr McKenzi" then concluded his address, which occupied'over two hours. In reply to Mr Allen, Mr McKem:ie said there were a number of offier? in Now Zealand capable of <lrilli:if-r the defence forces.

Mr Allen: Why does the Government import officers to drill them 'i Mr McKenzio said it was the di;h\ of tho Government to see that the best instruction possible was givon to the forces.

In reply to Mr C. Baigent, Mr McKenzio* fnid t!mt Mr Durbridgc h-.::l stated that there was a largo area of land looked up in the Dovedale hills. and lie had wade enquiries from 11:i■ Commissioner of Crown Lands, y;id found that it was let on yearly leases. From the limber on two sections a considerable amount of revenue h:ul been received, 'i'lie particulars of V.k portions that the fire went through had been sent to Wellington to have the reserves lifted. This would be dc>.\c next session.

In reply to another question by Mr Baigent, Mi- McKenzio suid if tendering for tliio timber on these reserves was restricted to sawmillers only he would take action to-morrow to have the advertisement altered. Tho pul lie ought to be allowed to tender whether sawmillers or not. (Applause.) Mr E. S. Hoult proposed a heaity vote of thanks and confidence in Mr McKeiiJiio, which was seconded by 7. 1r Taylor and carried unanimous^, amidst prolonged applause. A vote v.i thanks to the chair eo'ncludcd n successful meeting.