MR MASSEY AT WAIMATE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14452, 26 May 1911, Page 2

MR MASSEY AT WAIMATE.

$ ENTHUSIASTIC MINTING Vu'A A I.AtfiJ iWCY. TAXATION AND WASTE.

Ilia Loader of tho Gpno-s-tsou r \Y I'. amv„d at WainiaU' .y-it-crdiiv iiv.-u :ru:u a p-ailical c»impuigu in i lit north. mutfiiiitt at rtauuato k«>t wat> attended, and Mr Aia-isey £Ji an ox'-vi-ieiiu hearing. uicvsc prjt-ont tt'vro the member lor the district (Sir \Yiitiam Jukes Steward;, Mr C. A. O. Hardy M.l\, and Mr Frank Smith, who will oe the Opposition eaudiduw ior the Waitaki &cut. Tho chair was occupied by thu .Mayor (,Mi* Norton Francis). The chairman said he hud much pleasure in weloom.ng Mr Mussey a»id was pkiassd to &co to many present, including a number oE ladies.

Mi* M.uisoy, who un.s received with thanked the audience tor tiioir cordial reception. It was a great pier-sure to him to addrt** a Waimafcc audienoe, as maaiy of them were, like himself, sous of tho soil. Ho would hare great pleasure in conveying to Y/aimate of the north the good wishes of Waimate of tho south. Tho opinions that- he would -express, though they might not bo those of some of his audience, were heartfelt and sincere. fie had n.> quarrel with Sir "William Steward, but -with the party of which Sir U illiain was a member Ho -enterta jiV'* highest regard for the member lor Waitaki, and he trusted that their fnendly feeling would, always b> maintained

THE LAND QUESTION. 3tr Jlassey -dealt first with the land question. \Wl2n. the- Waid administration eamo into power they first introduced the famous, or he might sav infamous. Land Bill ql 1906. This B:il which did not come into force, was intended to prevent any settlers on tho Crown lands of tho future from getting the right to the freehold. Then again there was the Bill which came »uo force m 1907. This Bill altered vhe existing optional svstem, and exchanged the lease in perpetuity .or the renewable lease. There, were classes or men that the renewable lease m?to Ti Ut 1 "- S s . T "'Pnt-]iies went out to tho class oi man who li-id 110 capital • except musclo and brain. H© I '' a -' io UP V'° leaSo °" tlle 4 P er cent, basis, and was debarred from obtaining the freehold. The present renewable lease was 110 good for t-He man with limited capital. Was this for rlrn if "o»ld only be fair nw„ +T TV? tlie H ,nd t0 bo aWe to cmn the land he settled on. In connection with tho ordinary rural land of the colony, the tenant should have the opportunity of becoming the owner of his holding. He would also support the application of the optional system to the lands purcnased by the Government for settlement, He held that C 'o;-e''»u;ent parted with this mortgage'.} to' the T pm'n"nn a 'nrfoV"'"wi w 'V' !r ; 1,0 a Hood tiling for the State and the settlor to allow settlers to purchase the. frevhoM of ,A Pt ,,!, , ns e.) The Crown settled tiio l.i.p. lands and tli-n went ST™, V ■«» d borrowed to buy more jniKis. 1 .•!•:•>- were rcallv Darting with the freehold of the,',- lands to tho money-lenders 111 England. They could do better t:um this. They could gne l i p. settlers the option to buy the tho fvLn"+ l' t! ' e '"° nP - T r6rort t0 tiio brow n to Imy more estates with This would ohviat? the necessity of borl ™ ,r ' nK f llalf , i! million of money every year for tlie purchase of lands for Every year a fresh Land'Bill was introduced, and last jcar .fc- came rdon" as_ usual. and with it- Mine Mine new principles. _ I> ? 8.1 l p-ovfded for the first time ror compulsory leasehold. Tins was meant to apply-to larger blocks of land, but* tiie principle would, he would say. soon have been <; nclied to smaller Works. The provision did not have a chance of hein"- w ccnfl Mr Jlassey went on to 'deal "with various sections of the Bill NATIVE LAXDS. '

There were four million acres of native land lying -idle. It was beinroaded and railed, and yet was cou° tributing nothing to the rates of local ood.es. The native land question ought to be dealt with and that laud! should be productively occupied THE PUBLIC DEBT.

The public debt had "been increased by about £19,000.000 in five years, and a record v. put up last ~.var when £0,500,000 was borrowed " He was not opposed to moderate to rowing, but he was opposed to plunging.

Less than throe years : go t! ere was a drop m the prices of soma of the country's st.-r.ie products. in wool particularly, and the •-onseciiKni<*e was a very sharp depression, v ificli fortunately lor the country <!id not 'ust long, as prices rose again. It was not so much the amount- of monc-y the Government borrowed that mattered, irtt rather the manner in which it was expended. He was quite satisfied" that tlie country was not obtaining the

value il ought to rc<:< !\*o for a largo pan. o: l 1 x' uuuv-y borrowed. Tile Vovornnioni evidently wished to control t.he whole of th<? financial operations oi tin.' oi.untry, and that money sh.'idd !»;• J by local 1)l(1;iu ami privrt'.u individuals from the Go-v-v'i'ii7ill:tii. It v\ a;-. xwy dcsirablo that the Dominion should inspire eentidenco in th« lemlcis, and then Uliero would ho a ' d:isusoi' of rates of interest runn r.g up to s-even and eight per cent, i ■*-th-o not indebtedness per head . , lOd, and by 1910 it had I to £7- 13s 9d per head, an *u> for the sixteen yenra of -£ls

k- >i d )*:r hciid. Tho average* iridobt- ' tdr.trss i>er head in Australia "was £SB ;5* Dd, U-.ss than -Now Zealand hy j ;L' 1 4 8s per head. There had been an incroa.se in tho cost of Government during tho past, few years. The permanent and annual appropriations in 11*05-0 were £7,194,142, and last year they amounted to' £0,343,106, in" increase of £2,149,964. Tho cost of Government had increased by £400,000 x»r year. For last year tho increase in ordinary revenue, mostly mado up by taxation, was £1,053,762 Mr Massey invited his audience to consider these facts, and also to remember that it was no argument to say that part of the borrowed money was on reproductive assets. Unfortunately all the assets were not ro- ; productive, and on that account taxa- ; t'oir was being very rap!dlv increased. He ventured; the opinion ti nt if this had not been election year therr- would have been loans amounting to x(i,000.000 raised last year. (Applause.) : ihe Hon. Air Ballance had said "our debt is great, the population to hoar the burden is comparatively small.-We have marched for twenty" years at a furious pace, too sovoro' to last, and we have piled up obligation* wMr-h should make sane men pause.'' The words of Mr Uallance were as true today as thev were, twenty years ago. DETAILS OF EXPENDITURE WITHHELD. Mr Massey commented on the difficulty of obtaining details of expenditure. For some years past the Opposition had found it impossible to obtain particulars of the cost and expenditure involved in the raising of dilfercnt loans. Mystery begot suspicion, and he claimed that representatives of the people were entitled to the fullest information. There were two * clauses ' moved last yejir on tho New Zealand Loans Amendment Bill. The first, moved ,bv Mr James Allen, proposed i that -particulars of the terms on. which loans were, floated, together with all the costs and expenses of raising the same, shall he laid before Parliament within twelve months of raising the same. Tire Government hud, all their supporters voted against tho proposal, which was negatived, as was a further amendment hy Mr Herdman requiring that particulars should be given within two years of floating the loans. 1 The Government's refusal to supply details of expenditure was an insult- not only to members of Parliament but to the people they represented. Ho believed that tho last loan cost the country not less than 7 per cent. The London people omy took up 7 per cent., leaving 93 per cent, for the underwriters. The credit of tho country suffered only temporarily. he was glad to say. He thought that it was a mistake to place a five millions loan on the market at once, and lie did not believe that it ■woul(3 have been done had this not been election year, when the Government Mould attempt to bribe the electors wit! l their own money. The Hon. Mr Millar hnd stated that t-lio policy of tho Government was ono of progress. It was. Mr Mnssey snitl. n policr of progress by way of incivnstxl taxation, improper .?iid scandalous methods! Wfiich was not the soi-t of that- would n-.ako tliis country respected among the nat'ons of the eartli. (Applause.) POST OFFICE SAYINGS RANK. Hie Post Office Savings Hank had now ;i capital of about £12,000,UU0 belonging to the public, who had l investetl meir savings in it. Many people had asked liim what was done with the money. The siinole answer was that probably ninety "per cent, was lent to the Government. Sir Joseph Ward in his capacity of Post-master-General lent it to Sir .Joseph AVurd as Aiinister oi Finance. (Laugnter. There was nothing wrong about that, but he contended tliat the money should be mode available for the purpose of lending upon mjrtgnje'in the same way ns were the monevs in the hands of the Public Trustee, and other Depatnients of the State. (Applause ) Another interesting financial point

was that the Government, were Gelling land either for cash to intending 1 settlers, jor to people ivljo had taken up land in past years, under the ik-fcrr-ed payment, or occupation with r:ghtof purchase systems. The money received in that way last year, £Go,OOO, instead of bring paid "into a fund for the purpose of purchasing other land, was paid into the Consolidated Fund and \ised as ordinary . revenue. That was wrong, though it assisted the Treasurer for the time Deiug Ly swelling his surplus. INCREASED TAXATION. The increased revenue of last year was very largely due to increased taxation. 'mere was tlie surcharge, ivjiich came to an end on March 31st. The (juv-crnmenc bow got a tiemendbus revenue from death duties. Tne estates 01 poor men which had been exempt lioiu taxation now paid death duties -.men lore to people who were not relatives of the deceased. The Government iiad increased: taxation on banks, racing ulubs, and income tax, and had raista the railway fares. The Government replied that they put the extra taxation on tlie shoulders of those •ust able to bear it, but anv taxation came back cn the rank and* file. The merchants and banks passed tlie cytra taxes on to the.r customers, and ultimately it affected the whole community. The taxation on land had bec-n increased by increasing tlie valuations. The increase in the railway tares affected the working man, and he claimed that the increase in the long distance secondvdass fares was out oi all proportion tj the increase in the nrst-class fares. * :

All interieetor called out that the working man was batter off now tlum *£? ago- 3fr Massev thai; the working man was bethJ r ~sard to taxation than n- "., twenty years ago. If the in- / v- d , Wn a married man O.h.ch i:e- (In] not look like) he would , , s was received too' 1 ! a "'J led to some repartee between Mr Masnjy and the interJ,r ras "--.v scored every time, ami tiie audience supported bis statement that the voice from the back was | ra?e of summer "bloom-

PUtiLIC "WORKS EXPENDITURE. Oo ::a oil to deal with the subject ■ ' ;'• .works expenditure, Mr Masqat two nuflion pounds per is ■-.pent in public works. The : ' , v ;!t members to Parliament to " I; niter ihw interests in the matter of punlic expenditure, but Parliament as a whole had no control whatever over the expenditure of this moiK'v—no more control than so many individual* outside Parliament. Instances of Tilie- way money was spent \vore quoted, notably the" example of tiiD Hutt and Mosgiel railway dtipli-cat-on works. The local bodies should ':o ?iren on assured finance.

WHAT I'OLniCS ARE COMING TO. The Minister for Public "Works, whilp in Taranaki and when asked for n the Opnnake railway, stated that if t'hey d;d not sunport'the Government thr-y must go"without their railway. He praeicnlly stated thatif they tlx! rot vote for the Government they would have to cro without their railway. That was "apparently

what politics had com© ,to in New Zealand. The" Ministry wore tiro trustees of the public money, and yet tjhey said to one section of the community tliat if they d:d not vote for the Government they would i?jt get their fair share <jf public expenditure. Was that .honest? (No.) Ninety-nine mfcii out of a hundred would say that it was dishonest. If a trustee cf a private estate acted in this way ho would liavo great difficulty in keeping himself out of the four walls of a gaol. He knew that there was sufficient independence among the people to resent that sort of thing. When the proper time cam# the people who were seeking to introduce these Tammany methods--lie itssd th-e words advisedly would be relegated to the obscurity which they undoubtedly deserved. (Applause.) THE OPPOSITION AND THE WORKERS.

Oho Minister had bran telling the poo-pie that if they wanted to fight the Labourites they should support the Government.. This was whispered; in the ears of the people up and down the country.

A voi.co: Wouldn't you do it? Mr Masseyn I have been in Parliament 17 yours and have nothing against my character. . He was prepared to sacrifice ,h?s political life if «nything discreditable could bo brought against him. There was no sat of men more anxious for the prosperity of the workers and small men* than those on the Opposition benches. Referring to the industrial system he said its weakness was.it did not encourage the exertion of skilful workers. They ought to try to have some reward for the good man. They should have less recourse to arbitrary regulation and more to conciliation. (A Voice: Socialism.) The thin edge of Tammanyisni. he was sorry' to have to sav, was being introduced. It was a sorry state of affairs when a man could br> appointed to Legislative Council on account of his financial influence working for the Government, or if a man's connection with a party newspaper could be considered as a big factor in his appointment. When public money was expended for party -purnoses that was Tammanyism. All these allegations, and some a great deal worse, he was quite prepared to prove. (Applause.) COXCLUSION.

Mr Massev referred at some length to tho Hino charges, . and went on to say in conclusion that he had been speaking oi the Government as an Opposition member, and had dealt with the methods of the Government. He challenged any Minister of the Crown or member of the Government- to disprove anything he had said that nMit # Mr Hardy, M.P., said a few words m praise of his party leader, and reierred to him as a good sample of the men ou tho* Opposition benches. Several questions were asked and :nswered.

Mr George Dash moved a rote of thanks to Mr Massey for his forceful and enlightening address. Mr R. Meredith seconded the vote, winch was carried with long and sustained applause, and Mr Massey returned thanks.

thanks to the chairman concluded a most enthusiastic meeting.