PARLIAMENT OUT OF SESSION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6848, 9 May 1890, Page 4

PARLIAMENT OUT OF SESSION.

SIR JOHN HALL AT LEESTON.

On Wednesday evening Sir John Hall addressed a meeting of his constituents at the Town Hall, Leeaton. There was a large attendance, and the chair was occupied by Mr G. C. Waby, the Chairman of the Eilesmere Road Board. Sir John Hall, who was received with applause, said that he had hoped to have met the electors at a much earlier date, but his absence in Australia had prevented him from carrying his intention out. He was afraid that he must characterise the last session of Parliament as a very disappointing one. He never remembered a session which had opened with fairer prospects of good work ; but those prospects were not realised, mainly owing to the determined stonewalls which were setup.One|stonewall lasted afortnight, during the whole of which time the business of Parliament was brought to a standstill. Such a state of affairs would not be tolerated in any other assembly in the country. Even if a whole session were spent in devising a remedy, it would, ho thought, be time well spent, for , it was not to be tolerated that Parliament should be placed at the mercy of an unreasonable and inconsiderate minority. The Financial Statement brought down by the Treasurer last session was satisfactory for three reasons, viz., that it was brought down very early ; that it was very short, and that it showed a surplus. In ISS^ the income of the Colony was short of the expenditure to the extent of .£400,000, but in 1889 the Trensurer was able to show that the income was not only equal to the expenditure, but that it exceeded it by .£77,000. The result had been effected in two ways — partly by additional taxation and partly by retrenchment. For the year which had just expired the Treasurer showed a further saving of .£40,000, and they learned that the estimated surplus of .£70,000 had been more than' realised, so that the whole of the defi-

ciency the Government found on going into offico would now be cleared off. The loan which had been raised for the construction of public works had been so carefully husbanded that it would not only last for the three years stipulated, but more than a million would remain in hand ; and this result had been achieved without impairing the prosperity of the country in any way. They would, he was sure, give the Govern-

meat due credit for the economies they lad effected and for their prudent finance. He was of opinion] that two years experience of the increased Customs tariff had shown that there was not much ground of complaint against it. (It had yielded approximately the ! revenue it was anticipated it would : yield. It had given a stimulus to local industries in no inconsiderable degree, as would be shown by the forthcoming census, and avoided going to the extreme lengthsof , the Victorian tariff. Proposals tor a further inciease were being made ia some quarters,' but to these he would be opposed, The measure of Protection they had been accorded should have placed our industries beyond risk of injury by competition, and to increase the Customs duties further would be to un- ; necessarily increase the cost of living to all Eections of the community, and the wage-earning class would be the heaviest sufferers'. It would be most unfair to the farmers of the Colony, because their industry was one which could not receive Protection, and the only way in which they could be compensated was by the payment, as in Victoria, of bonuses on produce exported, which, he thought, would be going to an exceedingly undesirable length. Last session the Government introduced a Bill for tbe . purpose of improving the machinery of the Property tax, the principal provision being one giving the Commissioner, or the person assessed, if a property had changed in value during the '■ three year 3 for which it was assessed, the right to apply for a revaluation. Very little solid argument was adduced against the principle of the tax. Some contended that it might be done away with if further large economies were made in the public eervise, but when it was remembered that the tax brought in £400,000, and that the whole of tho Civil Service salaries over J5200 only totted up .£300,000, he could not see how any considerable part of the tax could be dispensed with. Many favoured a Laud and Income tax, by which they meant the taxing in the first place of a man's income, however derived, and in the next the taxing of the land ; or, in other words, the taxing of the land twice over. It was most unfair that, while personal property should be only liable to one tax, both the land and the income

derived from the land should be taxed. la Borne quarters a progressive tax had been p.dvocated. One of the alleged evils of the Property tax, as at present existing, was that itdeterred investment; but a progressive tax would operate much more strongly in the direction of scaring inves- . tors awayj and it would also be found that, j I uuless it were made almost confiscatory, [ very little additional revenue would be i produced. Tnis question would come up . again, and it called for the consideration o£ ' theelectors. "What scared investors was not j the fact thatthey would be subject to a tax, but thatthey did notkuow whether it might Ibe increased, and if the amount of the tax could be fixed for a term of years, this objection would bo disposed of. He . would also like to see some improvei inent in the- system of valuation, speaker referred to the three Electoral ] Bills introduced by the Government last J session, the provisions of which he ex- ] plained at iome length. He expressed his entire concurrence with the proposals ; contained in the Bill providing for j the adoption of the system of pro- I portional representation. The electing ' School Committeea was much more '■. complicated. The Bill was pretty fully debated, andreceivedau unexpected amount of support,but thestruggle which took place between the town and country representatives, in regard to the readjustment of the share of representation, resulted m its being i shelved. That struggle arose over the i demand of the country members to return j to the principle adopted in the Bill which ■ he (Sir J. Hall) carried through in 1881, j and which provided for a population allow- ; ance to the country constituencies, of 33 j per cent, to counterbalance the advan- ! tages possessed by the town electorates in j the way of community of interest, oppor- j tunity for combination, &c, and to secure to the country districts a practical equality J in political influence and representation, i The town membcr3 bitterly opposed this j demand, reasonable as it was, but after a long struggle, the course of which illus- I trated the greater advantages possessed by I the towriia, the country party got the ' greater portion of their claim, an allow- j aace of 28 per cent being conceded ' them. He had endeavoured to bringforward the question of female suffrage, but though the Government had promised him an opportunity he had not obtained it. He felt strongly on this matter, and he contended that no electoral system was just which did notctonferequalright3uponwomen. Statements having been made that the present Government discouraged small settlements, he had ir^pved for a return showing what had been done sines 1880, and this showed conclusively that the very opposite was the case. The Eailway Commissioners had succeeded in obtaining a return of 3 per cent — a fact that, in the eyes of Parliament, would cover a multitude of sins; < but he thought some of their actions injudicious. Their treatment of the Lyttolton Harbour Board in regard to the grain : sheds had been exceedingly arbitrary, un- . ' reasonable, and unjust, and he thought ' boded mischief to the grain growers of ' Canterbury. Much good could not be ex- ] peered from next session, as Parliament i had only four months to run, and it was . only human nature that members should 1 think most of that which came after the i Eession, and look after their own political salvation rather thran apply themselves to j the real work of legislation. It vnas highly j desirable, since we were to have another 1 session, that it should be a short one, as 1 there was no prospect of any useful legis- < latioa being effected. Although a dißSolu- i

tion before the session would have been unpopular," he felt bound to say that it would have been beßt for the country, because they would have had a new House ready to give their minds to business ; and the question whether the Government was or was not to continue in office would have been definitely settled. If the elections took place next September, then they must either have two sessions in the year, or have the Government continuing in office perhaps without a majority. Either alternative was very unsatisfactory, and it would have been better were the elections over, and a Government carrying on its work knowing that it possessed the confidence of the country. With regard to the general industrial and commercial outlook, he had to speak in terms of congratulation. Our exports had increased to a marvellous extent, and the extent of that increase was much greater than at first sight appeared, because of the smaller valuation set on our staple exports as compared with afe w years ago. Another satisfactory feature was the increase iv local industries, the extension of which gave employment to our young people, and kept money in the country which would otherwise have been sent abroad. The credit of «the Colony had largely improved ; its securities had increased in value, and if the last loan could be floated now it would realise .£300,000 more. The restoration of confidence abroad had been mainly brought about by thejprudent management of the Government. Inconclusion, Sir John thanked the electors for the patient hearing they had accorded him that night, and for the generous treatment and kind consideration which he had received at their hands for many years.

"In answer to questions, Sir John Hall said that be thought it was undesirable in the extreme to raise another loan. He did not believe there was a 'word of truth in the rumour that the Government contemplated raising a new loan. There was nothing to prevent a person having hiß name on more than one electoral roll, but he could only record one vote. He was in favour of endeavouring to secure the immigration of persons with small capital. He was not in favour of selling the railways, and he was satisfied that if they were Bold it ■would not be many years before the Colony would want to buy them back again. Mr D. M'Millan moved — "That a hearty vote of thanks for his address, and of ccmtiuued confidence in him as our representative, be accorded to Sir John Hall, and that this meeting asks him to offer himself for our suffrages at the next election." He spoke eulogistically of the services rendered to the constituency and to the farming community by Sir John, and trusted that he would see fit to again offer himself for election, in which case he might rest assured that he would be returned at the head of the poll against all comers. It had been intended that Mr M'Lachlan should propose the resolution, but that gentleman was unable to attend.

Mr M. Jones seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.

Sir John Hall briefly expressed his thanks for the expression of confidence on the part of tho electors, aa contained in the motion that had been passed. It was always gratifying to receive such a vote, but it was especially so when, as was the case now, men who had formerly opposed him now stood up as his supporters. Unless circumstances altered very considerably, or his health failed him, he would have great pleasure in acceding to their kind invitation to again stand as their 'representative.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed by Sir John Hall, brought the meeting to a close.