POST-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XL, Issue 3197, 24 December 1884, Page 3

POST-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

MR TTTRNBTTLL, MEMBER FOB TIMARU, AT THE ASSEMBLY BOOMS. Mr Richßrd Turnbull, Member of the House of Representatives for Timaru, addressed his constituents m the Assembly Rooms, George street, last evening. His Worship the Mayor (Mr John Jackeon).' occupied the chair. There was not a large attendance at the commencement of the meeting, but as it progressed the room became better filled, until at the close there must haTe been about one hundred and fifty persona present. The Chairman briefly introduced Mr Turnbull, ■who, on rising, waa received with loud applause. Mr Turnbull expressed regret at not being able to keep bis promise to meet the electors directly the session was at an end, as circumstances, over which he had no control, had unfortunately prevented him doing so. He had also to apologise for callkg them together at such an inopportune time as the present. It had been intimated to him, he said, that several of his supporters who had formed themselves into a society for the purpose of watching over the electors' interests, were going to take certain action as soon as they beard his account of what had taken place m the House. Whatever the result of this action might be, he did not wish to burk it, and if they were not satisfied with what had been done and decided to take further steps, he did not wish any action of bi3 to prevent their doing so. He waa plea^d to see that the great excitement of the late election had so far settled down, and he ascribed the rather small meeting to the fact that the majority of the electors were satisfied with the line of conduct he had pnrsued m Parliament (Applause.) He reminded them that at tie last meeting he had told them of the state the country was drifting into. It had come to pass as he had then predicted, and the Colonial Treasurer on meeting the House and finding that botb ends did not meet at once threw up the Government. The country ■was then, m a state of great depression. The present OoTornment had, however, greatly relieved this depression, and he would during his address mention some of the things they had done. Mr Turnbull then stated shortly what parties had done on the meeting of the House and how Ministry after Ministry were formed only to be defeated. Eventually the Stout-Vogel Government were appointed, and they had remained m office during the session. Mr Stout, he said, was a man the colony might well be proud of, and when the Mihistry was formed it was at once agreed that he was the proper leader of the great Liberal party! Mr Turnbull referred to the so-called "young blood" party m one of the Ministries that had been defeated, and said that the experiment of importing young blood into Ministries would not, ho thought, be tried again. Coming again to the present Ministry, and speaking of Mr Stout and hia colleagues, Mr Tumboll said the Ministry was really a Conservative one, and that the majority of the House were Conservatives, an 4 therefore m making up their minds what to do so as not to take m the leaders of the Opposition, Members had decided that an alliance between Sir Julius Vogei and Mr Stout was the best that could be formed. It was a matter for regret that Mr Macandrew had not accepted office, but as he declined to join unless. Mr Montgomery were taken m too the.' thing was impossible. He (Mr Turnbull) thought the safest course was adopted m appointing Mr Stout as Premier. He had not a word to say iigainat Sir Julius Yogel, but they must remember the Premier stood m this position : at his fiat the whole of the members of the Government go out j and therefore Members did not think it desirable to ■ place a gentleman as Premier who had only lately arrived among them. The oldest and most tried man among them should be placed m the most responsible nositiou. In saying these, things he d*id not wish it to be understood that ho was not favorable to Sir Julius Yogel. ;He was held m much respect all over the' colony, and was a man who desired to force the eolopy forward m every way. Tb»two,uld remember last timo he (Mr Turnbull)'addressed them ho had mentioned that one of the causes of the depression was that a great deal of money was cent Home by largo- Companies or Associations doing business m the colony ; and m many other ways money was, so to speck, locked up. To relieve m a sense the depression, Government had during the session introduced certain measures. Among these were the District Railways Bill, and the Wertport Coal Company's Bill: The district railways, as they were perhaps aware, were represented by debentures to the amount of many thousands of pounds, some of which were held by Government. These debentures after a time were found out to be not negotiable. The consequence was that the amount theso debentures represented was so much money lying idle,— monoy which, if the debentures were negotiable, wonld have 'at once been circulated and done good to the colony. Four years Bgo Major Atkinson proposed to buy up theso district railways, but he (Mr Turnbull) objected partly because the proprietors of many of them resided at Home, and had built these railways not to benefit the country »t larg*, but to boneflt their own lands. They had as it were forestalled public works, and then after tbeir lines were made come upon Government to buy them. Two years had been spent by the late Government m trying to legalise these debentures, but they could not succeed m doing so. Ono of the lines m the Bill that had been before the House during the lato seMiooJia objeoUd to, namely, the Waimate Gorge line. This line only benefited ono or two large landowners, and should the natter come before, them again next session he would again be found opposing it. (Applause.) As for the other lines, he saw no objection to aoy of them. He thought it

would be to the interest of the colony to pur chase them, as at present many of them wer. anything but a convenience to the travellini public. The Bill that had been introduced t< do this by Government passed the Lowe: Honse, but the Legislative Cotincil saw ill not to pass it, and therefore threw it out Afterwards the House passed somo resolu tions deciding that the lines be taken over and that after a valuation by ■ a com petent person, the colony pay jusl their actual worth. For that reaspr he had thought it his duty to support the resolutions. The Duntroon-Haksterames ■lino ho mentioned as one likely to prove th( best paying line m the colony. Speaking next of the Westport Colliery Bill, Mi Turnbull said tho action of the Government m this matter would give life to an immense amount of capital that was lying idle. Within a few miles of Westport were" over 140,000,000 tons of coal ; all appliances were at hand, but owing to there being no quick way of get ing the coal to market, all this money and coal was lying idle. The Bill gave power to constitute a Harbor Board, which was to have all revenues of railways, etc., and bavo power to borrow up to iJSOOO and carry out works to improve the harbor. Durine Major Atkinson's term of Government large sums of money had been spent on the harbor, but this had done ho good as they had not been spent m a proper manner. However, it was hoped that the measures taken by the present Government would be successful, and that one of the best beds of coal m the whole of Australasia would be opened up and taken to market, and thus give employment to many thousands of persons m this colony. Government had also decided that- £150,000 should be spent on the Qjeymouth harbor, and they had given the Board ample securities to borrow the amount stated to carry out the works. The works also would give employment to many. He w»uld now touch on a question that had proved a bone of contention to many, viz., the West Coast railway. Many years ago the West Coast had been looked upon as a sort of El Dorado by the people of Christchurch, and many of his hearers would no doubt remember some of tho pictures that appeared m a paper m that city some years ago. No doubt the line would greatly benefit tho people of Christchurch, but he thought if Government built the line it would result m great loss to the colony. The measure passed by the Government during the session made provision for a company or syndicate to make the line, Government to give them so much land for doing so. The land was not, perhaps, of the best quality, as was plainly shown m the report of the Royal Commission that had lately been presented to Parliament. The proposal of the Government he thought wa3 a fair ono. Before the line could be gone on with, however, a survey would have to be made, and the matter would'be again brought before the House before the line would be gone on with. Mr Turnbull read the clause of the Aot which compels this to be done. They would therefore see the thing was not going to be done m a hurry. As far as the land on the proposed line of railway was concerned it was of as little use at the present time as the interior of Africa. The line if ever made would cost two millions, and would employ thousands of persons m making it and working it afterwards, all of which would prove of great benefit to the colony. The land the line would run through was heavily limbered, but was of poor quality, and was at present totally useless. Government proposed that 15 miles of land on each side of the line should be reserved m this way : tho Company to have one mile and the Government ono mile, and so on to the fifteen miles, the limit fixed. In this way he thought settlement would be encouraged and employment found for numbers of persons. It was laid down thai land should not be valued at less than 10s an acre, — that whatever the land was valued at must be paid ; but this matter would probably come before the House next session. Taken altogether Ihe line would be of immense benefit to the colony, and he had looked upon the arrangement made as a very good Doe, and had supported tho Bill m its passage through the House. (Applause.) He pointed out that the Company were to take ill risks, and that should minerals be found >n the land the Government had quite as jood a chance as the Company of getting the wofits, as it was just as likely that minerals would be found on the Government mile >f land as on tho Company's land. He again reminded them that the line was only to be surveyed at present, and that before further action was taken m the matter, it would be further submitted to the House. The next measure he would speak about was a financial one, — the Consolidation of Stock Act— and had reference to the abolition of the sinking fnnd. This wa> no doubt a step m the right direction, and was one which enabled Government to reduce the taxation, and thus prove a great saving to the public. When the present Government took office, most startling assertions were made |m the lobbies and elsewhere, of the many millions they intended to borrow, and rumor was rife to the effect that m consequence many thousands of persons were about to leave the colony. What did they find when Government brought down their proposals; why that all they proposed to borrow was one and a half millions. To a certain extent borrowing Bven to this extent would not have been necessary if the' late Government had not trenched so largely upon the million that was to be borrowed m January. Mr Turnbull jgain referred to what had taken place on the Jefeat of the first Stout Ministry, and said the jction taken by the people at that time showed unmistakably the power they possessed.Ihejr action iad m more than one instance brought members to their senses. One thing which had taken place at that time he had regretted, that was the ridiculous custom of burning different members m effigy. This he put down as being the outcome of persons who desired a little amusement, and not to those who really had the good of the country at heart. He had, ho thought, told . them pretty fully what tho Government policy had been — most of which had met with his approval, — and ho hoped the action he had taken had suited his con stitdents. He considered Government had done a great deal during tho session, though he had heard it said by many that they had not. They had not during the session had time to attend to all the reforms they pro-, posed, but since .the -spttjng had terminated, they had energetically pursued tho lino of policy they had then, laid down. Among other matters proposed by Mi" Ballanco, the Minister of Lands, was the establishment of »peoSI settlement. If Tia3" always beon a great grievance that men ■were-, sont Homo to fetuh out people for settlement purposes and that m iom« cases large profits had been made out of such undertakings. It had been said that the people of the colony should be given privilege* m tho way of settlement also. This the Government had determined to do, and areas of land from one thousand to ten thousand acres m extent werff proposed to be set apart for this purpose. This he thought would be of great benefit, and would prove a wise step on tho part of the Government. Tho land could be secured on the most favorable conditions and m localities that wonld prove very advantageous. Among other hind to bo taken he mentioned some that wag situate between the Rakala and Sheffield, dovernment had also determined to reduce tho expenditure m, several of the Departments, and from all ho heard a rery great reduction was to.be made. Taken altogether the people of the colony might fairly look forward to a period of greater prosperity, and to a very great reduction jn taxation. (Applanso.) But, it required time to complete all arrangements They had, perhaps, seen that the South Island railway was to be gone on with immediately, and that it was hoped that matters would bo bo far advanced that tenders for two portions of tho lino could bo called for m January next. He had no doubt that during next session greater ohanges would Be made, and more suvjngs effected. He might mention that next session they proposed to deal with local government. Their intention wu to throw oil government, with the exception of that relating to telographs, pout-office, justice, and a, few others of importance, on tho people. To cnablo the local bodies to carry out works, &c., Government proposed that they ehould be given power to levy a small land tax. Ono of the thing« these bodies would have to attend i to w«« the administration of charitable aid

■- and the management of hospitals, and he fe c sure that should tho bodies be formed thei g mutters would bo far more satisfactorily a 0 tended to than they were now. He hoped t r see the electors before tho next session wt t entered on, and then they could ask him fc ;. information on any question they desirei and ho would answer it to the best of hi ■, ability. One matter ho would like to refer t< - about which he had receired a lot of correi t pondence, namely, his action with regard t 1 tho Eight Hours' Bill. From the lotters h fc hod reoeived, he could not gather whether the i wanted this BUI or not. In his opinion, th a Eight Hours' Bill was ono of the bigges y shams ever meditated, and he wo surprised that people had been le away by it. The Bill, oo getting into Com mittee, hod been found to be unworkable For instance, there was a clause m it that 4 hours should be a week's work uuless ther was, a contract m writing to the contrary. H asked what was the use of such clauses n that. He had been 83 years m tli colony, and had never heard of a mai working for more than eight hours day, and if ho ehould work longer ho go paid eitra for it. He thought they shoul not meddle witli this matter m any way, a should they legislate on it they woulc certainly find out that they were making i great mistake. If t\\oj got a system by whicl all labor was contracted for they would fini that the strongest would only succeed. In con elusion, he would ask them m considerinj what he hud done to separate his public ant private actions ; that was the action he hat taken on Government measures and on pri vate measures. The Government was doinj good work, and proposed to give every en couragment to local industries. He asked hii hearers to assist them m every way, and il they did so he was sure the remark modi once that this Island was destined tc become tho manufacturing emporium of these seas would be amply verified. They woulc find it hard to get on for some time perhaps for as long as the moneyed men got 10 or 12 per cent for only watching over their lands they would not help much j but after a time when only 4 or 5 per cent was to be got they would then gladly throw m their lot with them and assist all m their power. Mr Turnbull resumed his seat omid applause, and aftor an interval Mr Southwood asked, (1) if there was to be any Government grant for libraries this year, and if so on what conditions it was to bo allotted ? (2) Whether the Committeo of the Mechanics' Institute had any right to exclude the public from the reading-room altogether, and from the library during certain hours ? The questions were put m writing, and Mr Southwood added m a footnote that " public feeling on the subject was very itrong." Mr Turnbull replied that it was customary for Government to make an annual grant. Last year it was £4000, but he was not prepared* to stato the exact conditions of allotment. Replying to the second query, he thought the Committee had a perfect right to frame regulations for the government of the Institute, because they were at a good deal of pains and expense m keeping it up. As to the state of " public feeling " on the subject, he should offer no comment, for he was not aware to what extent it existed. Mr Moore said he should like a further explanation of the Eight Hours Bill nnd Mr Turnbull's reasons for opposing it. The explanation just given he could not consider satisfactory, for as a matter of fact there were employers who oppressed men and kept them ten or twelve hours, paying only for eight. In Melbourne and Syaney the evil was so glaring that immense demonstrations had been organised against this abuse of power, and he would like further remarks from Mr Tnmbull. (Applause.) Mr Turnbnll did not know what further explanation he could give. No evil of the sort referred to by Mr Moore existed here, and why make anticipatory legislation ? Mr Moore remarked that there was an understanding, but a law -was wanted bosides. Mr Turnbull continued that the Bill was a practical application, was besides an interference with the hours and rate of labor wluch the best political economist and thinkers had denounced as unwise on the part of any Government. Aftor some slight discussion on this subject, Mr James Bruce moved a vote of thanks to and confidence m Mr Turnbull, and m doing so eulogised the policy and measures of the Stout- Vogel Ministry. Mr W. Evans seconded the motion. Mr Jacob Hill supported tho motion, and m doing so eulogised Mr Tumbull for his consistoncy. At the same time ho contrasted him favorably with Sir George Grey, who after stumping the country against the property tax as the fruitful source of " serfdom and misery." etc., had actunlly voted against the proposal to reduce it. Tho motion was carried unanimously, and the meeting disperaod.