ME W. J. STEWARD AT ST. ANDREWS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XL, Issue 3055, 9 July 1884, Page 3

ME W. J. STEWARD AT ST. ANDREWS.

Mr Steward commenced hi» electioneering campaign m the Waimatedistrict, by addressing a meeting of electors at St. Andrews on Monday evening last m. the schoolhouse. There were ai>ont fifty persons present. Mr D. McLaren was moved to the chair, and introduced Mr Steward to the meeting. Mr Steward said about three years ago he met the electors of St. Andrews m the name room, asking for their votes m support of his candidature for a seat m Parliament. So far as this electorate was concerned, he was then an untried man. Since then he had done nothing of which he was conscious, nor yet left anything undone as their representative, to forfeit their confidence or to weaken the mutual interest which should exist between a representative and his constituents. He had addressed meetings at Waimate, the centre of this district, after each session of Parliament, and bad thus let his constituents know his opinions on public matters. Having been honored with the confidence of the electors at the last election, he hoped for a continuance of that confidence. He had promised when he was returned that he would oppose the then existing Government, and he had kept his promise, and had not swerved one iota from the line he had marked put. He was the mover of the resolution which brought about the late dissolution and [put the Ministry on ita trial before the country. The Opposition on this resolution had a majority of nine, and would have had at least a majority of fourteen if all the members from the south had arrived m time. The fact is that the Government had been m a minority all through the session of 1882, but by their, delay m bringing down their measures and through dissensions among the Opposition, they had managed to keep m office. Sir George Grey had a certain following, and Mr Montgomery also had a number of members who accepted his leadership, bat their differences were so great that the force of the Opposition was weakened. After a good deal of discussion outside the House, he (Mr Steward) was at length selected to move the vote of want of confidence m the Government. It was a difficult task on account of the .position of parties, but the result was that bpth parties m Opposition followed and supported mm m his motion, and showed the Government to be destitute of the majority necessary to their retaining office, and carrying on the business of the country. He then proceeded to show that the vote of the House was justified. In 1879 Sir George Grey was ousted from office, by Major Atkinson, mainly on the ground that the Grey Government had brought the finances of the colony into a very, unsatisfactory condition. If that charge were true of the &rey Ministry, ifewas no lees true now of the result of Major Atkinson's policy, the colony having been drifting into debt at & rapid rate during the last twelve months. The Treasurer admitted ia hisStatementa.deftcitof £152,000 atthe end of the financial year ending 31st March, to which, if they added the balance to credit at the beginning of the year, they would find that the sum of £186,000 would now represent the real deficit as between the revenue and expenditure of the year. There was also a floating debt of £700,000 over and outside the permanent debt o£ £30,000,000. The sum of £380,000 had been diverted from the scheduled public works under the Loan Act and applied to other purposes, so that the constable had been outrun to the amount of nearly .€1,000,000, and Major Atkinson's finance aad landed the colony m much the same position as it stood m 1879. There were thja» the same, and even more forcible reasons for a change now, as then. Major Atkinson had wound up his financial Statement by what might be called an' electioneering paragraph, which should, never have appeared m such a place. He said that if this vote of want of confidence iad net been earned, he would have shown a way of getting out of the financial difficulty | without increase of taxation. Last year Mr Swansea asked that the Estimates be sent back to be reduced by £50,000, and this the Major said could not be done. If he could not reduce the expenditure by £50,000 last year, how could he now reduce it by £200,000 xn nine mouths of the financial year ? It was a difficult thing to reduce Governmental expenditure, and it could not be done at a moment's notice.. Civil servants must get iome notice before dismissal or reduction, smd with the expenditure high and a falling revenue it would be seen that the present tenons deficit would be considerably increased before eff ectuai retrenchment could be effected. The raising of the railway tariff on grain took *30,<}C0 out of the pockets of farmers, principally those of Otago and Canterbury. This was most inexpedient* occurring as it did after a bad harvest, with the prices of grain very low. _ ; It was unwise and unjust at such a tamo to levy a tax on a special class, and on a apecial portion of the.country. The railways m the Iforth Island had not yielded more than half the average revenue of the lines m thi* bland, arid if, would have been fairer to have raised tho railway tariff m the North Island, than to do so m the South Island. Again, a sujn of £260,000, colonial inscribed stock, intended to afford a means for the investment of small sums, by a stroke of the pen of the Postmaater-G-enflral had beon taken up out of the Post-office Savings Bank, funds under an Order-in-Gouncil ■which., had . never been gazetted. He had. listened with great interest to a •poeeh by the Hon. Mr. Bichardson on railway matters, which he understood better perhaps than any other . public man, and whose opinion was that i* is quite possible *,^ST th S railwi y expenditure by from £100,000 to £130,000. Several instances of mismanagomerrtrin this Department wero referred to, and. ; <upongst : others that f>{ a Cl.ri.tchurcb firm whiS, after makutg calculations of cost of .transit, found H co*t less to •mploy dr»7» *ft . convey a consignment of furniture by the Sumnerroad from Ljttelton to Chnstchurch thao to have it conveyed by rail. Half the timber leaving Oxford Bnsli was-wtaoved by horsa traffic, even when railway carriage was available, while the passenger traffio . between Christchurch and ' 'Kaiapol/ "by *ft few persons joining together, could be carried out at less cost than by 'rail. Such instances as these showed that there was great mismanagement, and there surely could be o way found to •ffect a marked improvement upon snob

) management as thiai . : Snrely they uhCuld seel i to attract fcraffio, instead-of- turning -it.awa^. F The system of mixed trains of passenger cart ■ and trucks, wa3 referred to as requiring im- ; provemont m management, so as to minimise s -the loss by wear and tear, and expedite the : transit of passengers. Mr Steward then , directed attention to the array of Civil „ Servnnts, the numbers and coat of which waa b startling when looked at and contrasted with i. the depressed condition of the over-taxed % public He had good authority, for example, 1 m saying there were no less than fifteen clerks ] m the Railway Audit Office, while the total > amount of discrepancies discovered m that department m three years amounted 1 to only £3 15s. There existed a j complicated system of books and accounts 1 as if made out for the purpose of giving emj ployment, which should be simplified and the > wbolo business managed on methods such as those of an ordinary mercantile firm. The 1 vast number of papera and documents which 1 had to be examined m connection with a I return moved for by Kr Wright, struck him i (Mr Steward) as showing a great waste of j time and labor m different, departments. He ; advocated a system of non-political Railway . Boards, one for each island, and was glad to see Sir Julius Yogel also approved of this. : The railway system should be managed on commercial principles, and not be subject to , sudden shifts and changes as parties came , into or retired from office. If this were done, tho management would be better. There would be more profit arising, more economical working, and all this was compatible) m many instances with a lower tariff of freights and and passage. Mr Rolleston claimed credit for the land leasing system. He was a good and painstaking Minister, and his heart was m his work, but he was afflicted with faddishness. He (Mr Steward) agreed that the pastoral lands should be retained by the State, as the revenue from this land would be increasing and valuable, but he could not see that m respect to the agricultural lands any tenure could be found better, or as good, as freehold tenure. It was Bimply impracticable to do away with freehold tenure; and if freehold were done away with, the colony would cease to attract immigrants of the very best kind, as English farmers would no doubt go m preference to colonies where a freehold system of tenure prevailed. He did not hold Mr Bolleaton altogether free of blame m reference to the cases of dummyism m Otago. The Minister should not prejudge. When these cases first came before the Waste Lands Board there was an equal division of opinion on the Board, and when three members retired Mr Rolleston should have put on three wholly unprejudiced men. Uor had sufficient advantage been taken of securing small capitalist immigration when opportunity occurred, as, for instance, when the AgentGeneral reported that he could load a ship with the most eligible of immigrants, who were all farmers with, capital. He (the Agent-General) was, as Mr Bathgate had phrased it m a recent speech, practically told to mind his own business. Yet these were the very class of men the ! colony would have most heartily welcomed. He gave Mr Bryce credit for his management of native matters, and for having reduced the . Armed Constabulary by about half its strength ; but ho (the speaker) was satisfied that a still larger reduction was capable of ' being effected arid safely carried out m the some department, thus saving a large sum. ■ He had been taken to task by some of his Waimate constituents for his actions and opinions with regard to hospital and charit .ble aid. The fact was, there was a wide difference m the dealings of the Government with the local bodies as to these mattess. The Christchurch Hospital, for instance, was wholly supported by the Government, while the cost of Hospitals m Oamaru end other places was borne one-half by the State and half by the locality. In Wotmate voluntary subscriptions were forthcoming to a considerable amount m aid of special hospital funds, and he believed the district would cheerfully contribute half the cost of the maintenance of the institution. He thought a uniform system advisable, and that Government should bear say half tho cost of maintenance, the locality finding the other half by voluntary subscriptions, if need be supplemented out of tha local rates. Thia he thought -would not be opposed by the ratepayers or be unpopular, if the institutions were economically managed and efficiently worked. A good deal had been said about the reform of the Upper House. He thought no member of that House should ba either elected or nominated for life. A certain number of years, say six for instance, should ba fixed aa the limit, retiring members to be eligible for re-election or re-nomi-nation. The Government had promised a measure of reform. The announcement was made m a Governor's Speech, but nothing had been done to give it effect. Major Atkinson had referred to Sir George Grey's fads, but lie was open to the charge of faddulmess himself, for example the fads of Insurance, Federation, and that of the quest of " a better tenure than freehold," fads which were pur- ' sued to the neglect of practical measures. Mr Steward gave an outline of the events m Parliament which led up to the late dissolution. The country was m a state of depression, its finances were m a very unsatisfactory condition, and it was high time other men were put m office. This was the feeling with the entire Opposition, but the question for some days waa who should "bell the cat." Sir George Grey was objected to by some, and Mr Montgomery was equally objected to by others. Under the circumstances, the task hod fallen to himself, and the result was known, and the vote of the House he believed fairly represented the feeling of the country. It had been said that if Sir George Grey's suggested motion m arrest of Supply had been carried, the country would have been saved expense, but he (Mr Steward) did not think that was the case, as there was no doubt & Ministry formed under the circumstances would have held office for but a short space of time, and greater delay m the public business would have occurred, and the dissolution have been postponed but for a few weeks, or perhaps days. In his opinion, owing to the position of parties m the House, a dissolution was inevitable, even if a new Ministry had been formed. One of tha principles of true liberalism was that no man should be prevented from obtaining the position of a representative by the mere lack of means, and it was to open the door to the poor man to enter Parliament that tho honorarium was provided. Members were blamed for voting the usual amount for so short a session, but to have done otherwise would have been to make the honorarium an uncertain amount, dependent upon political accidents, and to do that would have beon to introduce nn element of risk which would I prevent a poor man accepting the position, las such an event might happen during any I year. A large majority voted for tho full I sum, and he had yet to learn that one of those [who voted against it left any part of the I amount m the Treasury. He had heard of I one Member who had distributed his honora- | rium m gifts to public bodies, m nice little I sums throughout the electoral district, but he [thought it would have looked better had I such gifts been made at any other time I than on the eve of an election. (Applause.) lAs to the future, many nostrums were now I propounded. Some said " Borrow largely, all I that can be got j get money into the country, Ino matter how." For himself he could not I agree with a policy, of reokleaa borrowing, I though borrowing to some extent was m I evitable. It would require a million to oxI tinguish the floating debt and replace money I diverted from the allocations for public I works, and there was still the third million lof tho three million loan to be raised, and a I further million for the North Island trunk I railway. A gentleman who lately expressed I himself ac being ' against borrowing by the I Government, now advocated bdrrowing all I that could be got, and on being asked his I reason, admitted that he meant to sell out as I soon as the effect of the public expenditure Lhad sufficiently enhanced the valuo of proIperty. But it everybody went on that ticket ■ they would be disappointed, as they would Ibe all sellers and no buyers. Separation had 1 been proposed by others, but m nig opinion I separation could not be carried, and if it Icoald it would be an unwise step. Ho would I give local bodies more power and reduce I the number of Boad Board* and County I Council* when necessary. He had incidentally I referred to the North Island trunk railway, I and though there were those who inveighed I against it, he was free to say that m his I opinion, if taken by the proper route, it was a I work which m ips direct and indirect result* , I would justify the expenditure. Looking to I 1 the future, it mart be the wart: of their states'

men and public men to. increase the producing .puffer of the colony. They wanted more people with capital to come to the colon)' to employ the labor already here and to create a demand for BtLU. more labor, so that with a large increase of population there- might come a diminution of the burden of taxation, because there would be a greater number of shoulders to bear i He then entered into the question of taxation. The property tax might appear fair m theory, but m practice it was not bo, as, for instance, house property m Auckland, -whore houses were all occupied at the present time to the value of £10,000, could far better afford to pay the tax than house property of the some value m another part of the colony where rents were low and many houses unoccupied. So with goods m the hands of a merchant and storekeeper. . When quiok sales occurred and much,, goods veto put through m the year, there might be far less stock m hand at tha time the tax came round, and upon which the tax would bo paid, than m another, case where there wits a Blow sale, and, relatively . to the year's business, a large amount of goods on hand. He also considered tbe system of taxing improvements to hind and buildings a drag on industry, and advocated strongly the institution of a land and income tax, limiting the liability to incomes of, say, over £250. Similarly, under the hind tax land to a certain value Bhould be free ; tha tax to be levied upon the value of the hind without improvements and not upon acreage. Taxation of land could not fairly bo levied per aero 03 the difference of value was so great m different , places. He thought, too, that justice required that both a land tax and an income tax should be on a sliding scale, as those having very large incomes or holding very large landed properties could pay without greater proportionate sacrifice a greater percentage of the taxos, than those m receipt of small incomes or holding small properties. An equal tax on large and small landed properties wo? indeed unfair to the State, as the Customs revenue suffered to a serious degree from the few persons employed on very large estates aa compared with the number of people living on the same extent of country divided into moderate sized holdings. The land tax should be levied and collected by the County Councils, and a certain portion, at least onehalf, : retained m the locality for expenditure on local works, thus returning to the land what they exacted from it. The Roods and Bridges Act he considered a failure m this Island, though m the North Island this Act produced better results. He would be highly favorablo to the encouragement of local industries, but thought that a better plan thau that of a protective tariff, or the present bonus system, would be by the Government aiding m the establishment of such industries as would be suitable to any locality. There was iio doubt that a great opening for trade would be found with the Polynesian Islands and other Pacific Groups, which New Zealand Bhould be prepared to meet. Auckland was the best situated port m the Australasian colonies for this trade, and the Government should look out for the establishment of this trade by throwing open our ports •to it, and giving every facility possible. The development of such a trade, combined with the growth of local industries hero, would effectually dispel the present depressed state of things. As to immigration, he was quite opposed to it under present circumstances, with the exception of female servants, whom he thought it advisable, under the circumstances of the colony, to encourage. Too many people altogether unfit for colonial work were brought out a few years ago at great expense to the colony, and that mistake be hoped would never be repeated. A s to the reform of the Legislative Council, he would be m favor of having the number of members reduced to, say, forty, ten nominated and ten sleeted to represent the North Island, and an ;qual number elected and nominated for the South Island ; the term of membership to be limited to six years, and at the expiration of that time retiring members jo be eligible for re-election or re-nomination. ETe would wish to see the franchise confined x> one vote only for each elector, under whutsver qualification registered. It was not now practicable to lengthen the term of Parliament, md he would be against any change either of lengthening or curtailing the duration of Parliament until the triennial system had had i fair trial. The licensing question had received a largo amount of attention of late, md still much discontent was expressed at ihe working of the new Act. He had tried to utend the time for which Licensing Comnittces were elected, as £30,000 would be laved m each triennial period, if yearly elections ceased and triennial elections were lubstituted. He would like to see the system >f elective Committees have a fair trial, :>ut> no doubt if the arbitrary conduct of the Auckland Licensing Committees were folowed to any great extent, moderate men would seek to return to the system of nominated Committees. The education system of ;he colony was a liberal one, and proluced fair results, but the cost to the ;olony was excessive, and could not be borne much longer. The sum of nearly £400,000 jndor this head was an enormous annual expenditure for a community like that of New Zealand. In coses where parents were unable » contribute to the cost of educating their jhildrca the State should provide free educa;ion, but up to a certain Btandard only. Ehoso who could should pay at least a portion of the cost. With this contribution from parents the cost to the State would be considerably reduced. He never (vas against freedom of conscience m this or my other matter. The State Bhould givo a certain amount of aid to other than State schools, on the principle of payment by remits, the children being required to pass m State standards, and no question being asked is to any instruction superadded, whether the tenets of Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Mahomedanism, of Confucius, or of Thomas Paine. (Applause.) As to parties m the hew House about to be elected, he said Sir George Grey, Sir Julius Yogel, Mr Macandrew, Mr Montgomery, and a few Dther leading men, were pretty sure to be returned, and if asked whom ho would Bupport his reply wag that ho would work with those who were opposed to the present Government, and would support tho Ministry who succeeded them, and as long only as they were m his opinion governing the country well ; but if such a Ministry did no better for the country than their predecessors, then he would again be the supporter of a motion to remove them from office, and so on until a thoroughly strong good Ministry, commanding a working majority m the House, could be placod m office. They should not seek to bind their representatives to any particular man, an to do so would be to take away his influence, arid render him almost a cypher. The strongest man with the strongest following must necessarily lead. His desire was to gee economical administration, a fair adjustment of taxation, an improved Bystem of railway management, and the extension of settlement on tbe lands of the colony, and as he had enjoyed the confidence of the constituency m the past, bo he meant to endeavor to deserve a continuance of that confidence m tho future. He ventured to' consider that he had a fair, claim to the support of the electors. Another 1 gentleman, perhaps two, would probably seek their suffrages, but he would remind them of i the old saying " Beware of swopping horses m the middle of a stream." At the close of the speech the Chairman invited any penon who wished to question Mr Steward on public matters to do so. In reply to questions, Mr Steward said, m reference to High School matters, that he would bo m favor 6f encouraging pupils of good abilities by giving scholarships m coses where parente were unable to pay. Ab m primary education those able to pay should p ft «, — Ho had no objection to Bible teaching m schools, so long as it did not clash with the regular courso of school teaching, but there must be a strict conscience olause t tts m Board schools m the Old Country. Half an hour for Bible Btudy could be arranged for outsido of ordinary school time, ancT. those who wished to attend could do bo, while those who did not could remain absent. _ ■ On tho motion of Mr Moore, an unanimous vote of confidence- m Mr Steward was carried. ■ Mr Steward said he hoped they would support the candidato of their clioico with earnestness, and not neglect to comu to the poll. A vote of thanks was heartily given to the Chairman, who responded by thanking the meeting for the honor accorded him. 'After the meeting a Committee of sup-

porters of Mi- Steward was ab onup formed t< assist m securing his election. MR J. H. SUTTER AT WASHDYKE. Mr J. H. Butter, the late Member foi Gladstone, addressed a meeting of the electors m that district m the schoolhouse at Washdyke last night. There waa a good attendance, about 160 persons being present. Mr W. Balfour was voted to the chair. Mr Sutter gave a somewhat Bimilar address to that already reported, and ; afterwards answered a number of questions to the apparent satisfaction of the meeting. A vote of thanks and of confidence m Mr Sutter as their future representative, proposed by Mr Stevenson and seconded by Mr Buist, was carried'by acclamation. Mr Sutter speaks at Fairlie Creek this evening. (By Tblbgbabh.) Auckland, July 8. Mr O'Neil addressed tho electors nfc Edeo to-night. He avowed himself a follower of tha Atkiueon Government. A vote of thanks was passed. WooDVIIXE, July 8. Mr W.O. Smith addressed a large meeting of electors here last night. A vote of confidence was pasted. Ha-wbba, July 8. Mr John Jackson, eawmiller at Ngoire, has offered to oppose Major Atkinson. He proposes that the TToueo shall consist of four members, two fo ■ each island, and that the Premier should carry on tho whole Government business during tho reoess ; that there should be no Native Minister and no Armed Constabulary ; that the. present waste landß of the colony should bo distributed gratis among tbe present inhabitants, who huve had to bear all tbe hardships ; he also proposed other radioal reforms. : Wellington, July 8. The various candidates for the city and country electorates are addressing the electors iv all directions. In every case as yet a vote of confidence has been carried. Kaikouba, July 8. Mr Lance addreused an orderly and crowded meeting laet nifeht. He said that, if the late Ministry were m a majority he would BUpport them, but he anticipated Yogel would become Premier, and he would »npport him so long ac he did not oommit tho country to extravagance m borrowing Ho characterised Bir George Grsy as a dangerous leader. A vote of thanks wax carried. Chbistohtjboh, July 8. It is said that Mr Anßon, of Wainui, will oppose Mr Montgomery for Akaroa. Mr Edwin Blake left Chrißtchurch to-day for the Weet Coast, to cjntest Kumara with Mr SedHon. Mr Wukefleld addressod the eleolorj of Selwyn last night. He said he would assist m the formation of a now, moderate party, with Sir Julius Yogel as leader, and excluding Major Atkinson and Sir George Grey. A vote of thanks and confidence was carried by an overwhelming majority ; an amendment of thanks only being negatived. Mr McMillan received a vote of confidence last eight at Sheffield, and epocial thanks for opposing tho Government last session. ImNBDIN, July 8. Mr Hodge, at South Dunedin, has declared himself a strong Oppositionist. Mr jßmes Green received a vote of thanks only at Waikouai'i. Invbeoaß9ll,l, July 8. Mr Joyce, late member for Awarua, addressed the electors at Apploby to-night, and wns unanimously declared a fit and proper person to represent the conetituency. Mr J. W. Bayhe has relinquished his intention to contest iiokonui. The reasou assigned is the precarious stato of his health. Mr Cowan is therefore the only candidate m the field for thii electorate, Mr Finhy Murebiaon having declined nomination. Mr Cowan spoke at Waikaia on Saturday night and was well received.