POLITICAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5191, 25 February 1895, Page 4

POLITICAL.

THE PREMIER AT ANNAT. The Eon R. J. Seddon addressed a public meeting of eleotors, ia response to a request, in the Public Hall, Annat, on Friday evening. Tho hall waß densely crowded, nearly. 300 persons, many of whom were ladies, being present. The chair was occupied by Mr F. Bull, chairman of the East Malvern Road Board, and among those present were Meeerß A. Saunders, M.H.R. for Selwyn, and D. Buddo, M.H.R. for Katapoi. An apology was received from Mr R. Meredith, M.H.R. for Ashley, who was unable to attend. Mr Seddon, who was received with applause,- said that he had much pleasure in addressing them. From the time when Weatland had been p&rt cf Canterbury he had looked upon the people of the two districts aa one people, and he had been one of a minority on the Westland side who had opposed the separation. Again, it was a duty which those in power owed to the country districts to .meet the people there face to .face,' and by the exchange of thought beget confidence. In the past the country districts had been neglected in this respect. He had never missed an opportunity of speaking to the people ia the small districts equally with those in tho large centres. He had last spoken at Waihou, and previous to that at • Hamilton. In both places many wrong ideas which had been formed were dis- •■: pelled, and he hoped that the same would happen here. » REPLY TO MIBREPRESBNTATIONS. Grave misrepresentations had been made ■ concerning the Government. Some of theße Krose through ignoran ce, and others through rejudice, and he would not be doing justice » himself and those with him if he did not ry to diapel them. He was not going to abuse, but would tell a plain, unvarnished story, to show thai the Government and the Parliament were doing justice to the country, notwithstanding much that people read which might lead them to think otherwise. They were told by some that they had no desire to injure the Government, but no Government in New Zealand had received as much abuse as had been heaped upon 1? the present Ministry. (Hear, hear.) They had been called the stwen devila of socialism and brigands, but such abuser enly showed that the people who used it had a bad case. This Government had been charged with governing the world — they had been told that they were reaponeible for the depression. After that he would not be a bit surprised to be told that they were responsible for the war between China and Japan. THE DEPREBBION. The depression whicL had come over the world had 'been brewing for years, .and the warnings of it had been unheeded, bat he believed he was speaking tbe truth in saying that New Zealand bad felfc^ it the least of any country on the face of the globe. He would take them back a few yeara, to 1887, 1888, 1889 and 1890, when th.9 Conservatives were in power. In those days 14,000 more people left Now Zealand in three years, than cause into it. In Auckland land values weie less than they were to-day, and houees wore empty in numbers, and 80 they were in Wellington and Christcburch ; and the number of the nmniployed was far greater tbafa now. Yet, iv those years, the prices of our staple products were better than they had been for yeara before, and if they only had theni ■fco-day the country would have true prosperity. Lsb thorn compare with ihab Btate of thinga their position tod/* They had liad an increase in populao4 deluding the natural increase, * ,\A)O souls during the last three years. H chad Baid that the warnings of the dopreesion had been unheeded. Where was it felt the most keen'y ? In Otago, Hawke's Bay and Canterbury. Why? Because in those ilistriots a few people held large tracts o? conntry. The chief things there were cattle and sheep— a few cattle, nearly all sheep— and the roault of the low prices waa tbat Canterbury alone received nearly half a million leaa than ehe had three years ago. Let them, therefore, not put all their eggs into one basket; let them introduce other and different industries and products, aa had been done in Auckland, Wellington and Taranaki, wlr'ch were absolutely prosperous as compared with Otago, Rawke's Bay and Canterbury. To show tbat the Government; was not responsible for the depression, he would read the opinion of a Conservative newspaper on the causes of the depression. The Wellington Evening Post in ita summary of the year, had said : "All over tho world the depression has been felt. Industrial disturbances, financial crises and low pricea have prevailed. , Wool, grain and frozen meat had to face glutted markets. Prices have left no margin to the producer. Wool and grain were past praying for, but there was a fair opening for dairy produce." Government had endeavoured to remove the difficulty arising from the land monopoly ia New Zealand, but in such a way as to recognise the rights of individuals, lie had been around the district in which he than wa?, and bad Eeea that there was a great necessity for closo settlement. (Loud appjlauae.) Though the bulk of the products exported had increased, yet the spending power of the people had decreased in three years by nearly a million poundß. In 1889 the exports, excluding scecie, hr.d been £9,044,607. In 1890, •£9,428,761, and in 1893, £8,557,433. He had compared the valnua of staple products exported in 1833 and 1893. Ia 1893 109 719,6811 b of wool bad been exported, of a value, at B*cl per lb, of £3,77-1,738. Had it fetched the average price ruling iii 1883 it would Imvo realised £4,857.38:5, ho there had baen a decrea.se of £1,082,014. Taking tho wool, gold, grain, phoruiium, kauri 'gum, butter, chceee and frozan meat i exported ia 1893, tho net decrease on what would have been realised, h-ul they i fetched the 1883 prices, wag £1,5-28,774. The way to meet our difficulties v/.i<j by fostering clcaer settlement and avoiding the evilß which prevailed in older countries. THE IAHD QUESTION. Mr Seddon quoted figures, which have already been published, to show the extent to which' land monopoly prevails in the colony. He then said that, in order to show how the position of affaira id regard to set*

tlement had improved, he would quote figures mating to Canterbury. In 1890 the land taken up there was 94,961 acres, in 7800 holdings. In 1894 tha holdings were 8600, an increase of 800. The land under cultivation showed an increase of 360,000 acres over 1890; the land sown in grass an increase of 670,000 acres. There was also an increase for the four yeara of 635,000 sheep, but in cattle there was a decrease of 11,000. The export of frozen meat in 1894 showed an increase of 465,000cwt over that of 1890. The export of butter and cheese showed a decline ; the export oi wool an increase of 1,312,0001 b. The wool consumed in 1893 was 600,0001 b, and in 1894 720,0001 b, an increase of 120,0001 b. Did not the3o figures show what splendid returns would have been obtained had prices kept up ? Did they not show that there was a necessity for the State to step in and show to those governed where there was a chance of improving their position P The cultivated holdings in 1884 were 29,814, in 1890 38^083, in 189445,290, the increase from 1884 to 1890 beiug 8269, and 1890 to 1894 7207. The numbers of bales of wool exported were in 1891-92 301,861, 1893-94 368,357, an increase of 66,496. The increase of land in root crops in ton years was 84,261 acrea ; the increase in grasses 3,440,063 acres, the increase from 1890 to 1894 being 2,172,948 acres. The frozen meat exported in 1882 was 1,707,3281 b, and in 1893 100,262,4531 b, an increase of 98,555,1251 b. The wool produced and exported in 1884 .was 77,022,8981 b; in 1893, 119,643,8731 b, an increase of 42,620,9751 b. The wool purchased locally was, in 1884, 1,580,0001 b; in 1693, 2,629,8551 b, an increase of 1,049, 8551 b. Of butter there was exported in 1883 8869cwt • in 1893 58,1470wt, an increase of 49,278cwt. The cheese exported in 1883 was 2519cwt ; in 1893 ! 46 > 198cwt, an increase o? 43,679ewt. At j present there were 55 cheese factories in the colony, 62 butter factories, 60 creameries, and 57,000 cows being milked, j Notwithstanding this great increase in ; volume and quantity, through the low I pricea the people of Canterbury had re- ! ceived half a million less than they would had the prices kept up. However, this increase in volume showed that tho colony was gradually but sarely forging ahead. Had there not been a change of Government this would not have eventuated, and the present Government might take aotne credit for having assisted to promote settlement. The number of settlers under all system 3 of settlement for three years ending Maich ■31, 1891, was 6912; for three years ending March 31, 1894, 7276, an increase of 364. The number of settlers (excluding occupiers of pastoral runs) for three years ending March 31, 1891, wae 6307; for three years ending March 31, 1894, 6985, an increueo of 678, The area of land taken, ud under all systems for three years ending March 31, 1891, was 8,520,782 acres; for three years ending March 31, 1894, 4,244,439 acres, a decrease of 4,276,343 acres. The area of land taken up (excluding pastoral runß) for three years ending March 3], 1891, waa 1,422,098 acres, and for three years ending March 31, 1894, 1,741,937 - acres, an increase of 319,839 acres. Tkeo9 figures showed that the late Government had sold large tracts for caßh, but had put less, by 364 persons, on the land than the present Government had. RECIPROCITY. They must not eit down with long faces under their difficulties. They must strive against them. They must look further afield for markets. As the. other colonies had hedged out New Zealand, her markets' had been prejudiced. New Zealand had not retaliated, but had merely embraced an opportunity which had presented itself when she was labouring under difficulties. This colony had made Beveral attempts to obtain reciprocity with Australian colonies, but $ had been found that there waa no chance of success with any but South Austral i*, which had offered to take New Zealand oats, barley, hops and horses free, and New Zealand was to take from it wine, salud oil, olives and fruit dried and fresh. The way in which we had been met by South Australia had broken the chain. (Applause.) He would tell, them how the agreement affected New Zealand. South Australia imported last year 288,G981b of hops from New Zealand, valued at £1C,685, which meant a loss in duty of £6,048 17s 2d ; 23,147 bushels of barley, valued at £5352, yielding a revenue of £1736; 58,580 bushels of malt, the duty on which was £10,928. The quantity of New Zealand oats sent to Australia was as follows: -'To South Australia, 1284 centals, value £340; to Viotoria, 17,196 centals, value £4949 ; to New South Wales, 12 centals, value £7; total £5296. Maize was not included in the present arrangements, but it possibly might. New Zealand at one time supplied the whole of the colonies with maize. If they got our oats they would make their own oatmeal, which, in Australia, was a very large item indeed. Should they adopt prohibition in New Zealand what would they do with their barley and hops ? Sejid them to South Australia P (Laughter and applause.) He believed that if they had a light, good colonial wine, at a reasonable rate,' they would find less whisky and "hard" grog in New Zealand. So far from injuring the makers of New Zealand wines, they would rather be their benefactors ; some of the New Zealand wines were very drinkable, but others were not. The timber imported by South Australia from New Zealand was 103,700 superficial feet, valued at £422, and the total quantity of timber imported was 4,623,439 superficial feet, valued at £28,481, the duty on this being £3460 12s. Of deals and battens there were imported 12,688 loads, valued at £3874, tho duty on which was £1585; of laths there were 745,000, valued at £3450, the duty on which was £186 ; of spars and marteiy 72,792 loads, valued at £28,864, the duty being £890; other loads 34,313, valued at £71,683, received duty free. The value of wood ware imported was £11,056, the duly being £2389. The total value of the timbers imported waa therefore £174,408. If New Zealand had commercial connection with South Australia, it was possible that she might find a good market for her timbers there. Objections had been made to the treaty by' Victoria and Newv South Wales, which did not like the idea of losing South Australia. It was complained that the agreement excluded other colonies for seven years, but ib must be remembered that it was

terminable at twelve months' notice ; and if any other colony wanted to come in, lot ifc give notice, and in twelve months it could be admitted. He complained that the mpment New Zealand had made a fair bargain with South Australia, which was ; beneficial to this colony, and ought to be acceptable to its people, strong objection came from within the colony itself. In connection with the timber trade, he might say that Great Britain annually imported £18,000.000 worth of timber. Of this amount £9,200,000 was Bent from Russia, Germany and Scandinavia. Germany spent annually <£4-,000,000 and employed 500,000 men in forestry. He hoped no one would blame the New Zealand Government for having sent Homa an expert and taken the risk of bearing half the freight of trial uhipmentß of timber. FINANCE. He had seen in the public Presa that this year there wa3 to be a deficit of half a million i then it went down to a quarter of a million, then to .£125,000. He epcke with a due sense of responsibility when he said that the statement made by hia colleague, the Colonial Treasurer, that there would be a gross surplus of £350,000 was absolutely correct. They were told that they would only have .£IOO,OOO available for public works ; .£250,000 would be transferred to the Public Workß Account, leaving £100,000 available for public works next year; but it was forgotten that they did nob depend entirely upon revenue for their expenditure on public works. They had taken moneya in connection with the roading and purchasing of Native lands, and they had taken power to purchase land under the Land for Settlements Act, and for the improvement of Government lands; and he could. Bay, as Minister of Public Works, that they could go on very well for another year, even supposing they had only the £100,000, without the necessity of- going to the foreign market for a loan. Since 1888 New Zealand had not gone to that market | for a loan; and he thought it deserved ; some credit for having been the only colony I which had been so long without going I there. With regard to the increase of the public debt he would point out that the Atkinson administration had increased the gross debt by £2,494,093, and the net debt by £2,375,711. Toe gross debt in December, 1890, was £62 per head of the population, and in December, 1894, £58 125. The loan conversions in 1887-90, under the Atkinion administration, amounted to £2,894,800, whereby a caving of interest amounting to £33,132 was effected. The saving of interest by the loan conversions under the present administration was £52,000, and the debentures redeemed or converted amounted to £6,498,200. It was said that when Government required to make a Sinking Fund payment they issued debentures, borrowed money, to do so. They were accused of reborrowing £847,100, Sinking Fund, during the last three years. This was absolutely incorrect. The Sinking Fund released, during the. three years ending March 31, 1894, was £1,290,321. £803,762 of that Bum had been applied to the redemption of debentures, in compliance with the Act, £100,000 to the reduction of the floating debt, and £386,559 in aid of the Public Works Fund. Another charge was that the Government bad taken from outside insurance companies doing business in the colony £200,000 cash deposited by them as security. He had read that in a paper published in Christcburcb, but it surely must- have been misrepotted, because the wholo Bum received from foreign insurance companies by the Public Trustee was £2000. only £198,000 less. These companies deposited securities, mortgages and other deeds, which afforded all the security the safety of the public required, but which were not available for any purposes of the Government, and the £zOOO cashjras not used by the Government. (a.pplause.) Government was charged with having issued deficiency bills at the end of last year to the amount of £811,000. Government had not issued a single bill, and those who mada the charge had been misled by the fact that £811,000 worth of Treasury bills were outstanding at the end of the year; they had confounded outstanding with issuing; Taking an ay theamount issued to redeem guaranteed debentures, the Treasury bills issued for revenue purposes were £3000 less than at the close of the previous year. Government had been told that it had increased the expenditure ftom the Consolidated Fund. It was quite true that there had been an increase, but he explained that those who found fault with the Government on that account did it a gross injustice. Thero had been an increase of £174,526. Of this £12,331 was in the Treasury expenditure, and £48,905 was in the Poat and Telegraph Department. As the population of the colony increased, so did tha business of that department; it was' making large profits, and were they to say that the new telephones and oflices required by the public were not to be established P The increase in the education expenditure was £36,977. But were they to close their school boards, and send the children about their business ? Must they not make provision for the continually increasing number of children P There was -an increase of £43,738 ia railway expenditure. The I Commissioners, and" not the Government, were responsible for that, but, to be just . to them, he questioned very much whether any serious reduction could have been made in that, though some saving might have been effected* There was an increase | of £41,996 in the Lands and Survey Department., but that was defensible. A; number of people who had bought land from the Atkinson Government did not ! know exactly where their land was, nor how to get to it. (A voice: That's a fact.) The department was doing good work, and therefore he would accept the responsibility for the increase. The following departments showed a reduction in salaries as from 1890-91 to 1894---9 5: — Colonial Secretary (messengers and office-keepers), Registrar-General, AgentGeneral, Land Tax Department, Supreme Court, Bankruptcy, Prisons, Customs, Marine and Harbours, Land and Deeds Registry, Militia and Volunteers, Stores and Magazines, Police -and Government Insurance. la the present position, of affairs he was not prepared to support an increase under these heads, and he hoped the people would support him. (Applause). Another charge was that Government had added £220,000 a year, more than £650 a day, to the amount paid for interest They had done nothing of the kind. He knew I what the accusation covered. By what i they had done last eeEsion, there would be payable, when the whole of the moneys were raised, the sum stated, but it would be paid by those who received the benefit, not by the taxpayers. He would take each item of it, and'let the people judge. First, the Bank of New Zealand guarantee of £2,000,000. Those who had read the last half-yearly report of tho bank muot admit that the Government must ejfcher have permitted a national dißaßter, or accepted a grave mponsibi iby, such as had nevor been cast on any Prime Minister or his colleagues. Government had accepted the lesponsibility, and thua prevented widespread ruin, but the bank had to pay the interest on the £2,000,000, and not the tßxpayers. (Applause). Ho believed that, under the present Government control and the changed administration, the bank would again bo prosperou?, and that tho people of New Zealand would not bo called on to pay a penny of tho £2,000,000 guaranteed; but if he had known that the colony would have had to pay ib he wculd have taken tho responsibility sooner than have allowed the ruin which would have been caused by the bank failing. ADVANCES. TO BETTLKHS. I Thenastothe advances to settlers, who I paid tho interest? Tho people who j borrowed the money ; not the taxpayers. He had been told that tho rate of interest and the coat of administration would entail a loss on the colony. Wo'l, if this Government were not fit to admiaibter tho Act; co that there should bo no lis*, let the people send them about their business. Heavy rato3 of interest were a curse and ruin to thousands. (Hear, hear.) Government hod determined" to brobk that ring: the people had Btood by them, and the ring had been broken. (Applause.) The Advances to Settlers Act was no new thing. Such advances had been made with

success in England, Ireland, France and ; Germany. Even in New Zealand it wos not cew or revolutionary. I n 1885 the House of Representatives, on the motion of Mr Macandrew, appointed ! a coaiinittee to consider the question. Ha (Mr . Seddon) quoted from a Blue Bjok to show that, on Sept. 3, 1885, Mr Macandrew brought up a report from the Advances on Land Committee, which concluded with an expression of opinion from the committee that the public credit of New Zealand might with advantage be applied towards enabling settlers, on security of their land, to acquire advances at a comparatively low rate of interest. That report was unanimously adopted by the House. He also quoted from Hansard a speech by Mr John Holmes, who heartily supported the motion for the appointment of the Select Committee to inquire into the question, and expressed the opinion that the money was wanted to allow men a cheap means of fencing and clearing their land, and making it fit for settlement. LAND FOB SETTLEMENT. Another item was the .£250,000 for acquiring lands for settlement. In a previous year J250.000 had been voted for getting land for settlement, and so this was not a new thing, but simply an extention, the natural consequence of the action of Parliament in giving power to the , Government to compuleorily take land for the purpose. The grant of .£250,000 for the purchase of Native lands was no new thing. As compared with what had been dona in that line in former years it, was a very small thing indeed. Government had the power to borrow £500,000 for- that purpose before, bo this was only an extension. The grant of .£250.000 for improving Crown lands and lands previously bought from the Narives, waa a. wise one, and ita expenditure would help small settlers to get on the land. The interest on the whole of the £750,000 made up by these three amounts would be paid by thoae benefited by it. CONBOIB. It was said that Government was attempting to borrow £1,000,000 on colonial consols. The amount was really £250,000 a year in two yean, and the scheme was simply an extension of the Post Office Savings Bank system. The consol was merely a savings bank deposit with the Government for a fixed period. NATIVE LEGISLATION. They must endeavour to preserve the Native race. Europeans^ had in tho past scarcely done the Maori justice. The pakeha and the private purchaser of land had done him great wrong. He (Sir Seddon) had said that he would call upon the Parliament of New Zealand to stop this and to empower the Government to refaume the pre-emptive right. It had been said that the Government was not offering the Natives a fair price for their land. Well, the private purchasers had offered, say, £1 an acre, and hud picked i out the eyes of the land. Bat the Government would not purchase land on those terms, but would offer, say, 5s or as low as 3s 6d an acre all round, including mountains and every other class of land, and it would pay the Natives better to sell their land all round at that price than to take £1 an acre for the best part 3 only. THK BAILWAYS. Some persons had Bpoken as if an earthquake would come if the Railway Commissioners were removed. They had been j removed, and there had been no earthquake, no increase in rates and no decrease in revenue. He would tell them what had taken place. Government had reduced the rates on the carriage 6f fruit to give the small grower a chance to compete, with the fruit sent by sea*. The Government had also done what the Commissioners had refused to do-r-lowered the ' rate for gravel and road metal; and in the North Island, where there were many milßß of road mere claybeds for want of gravel and metal, roads were being improved and the opening up of the country greatly helped. By the establishment of cheap excursions for school children the revenue bad been increased, the i children benefited, and their parents- pleased. He sympathised very much with' the pastoralißts in their present troubles, and. would do all he could to help* them. He had seen the losses caused through the heavy freights on the carriage of sheep on their way to the market or the freezing works, and the freights had been reduced. Great benefit would be conferred on the pastoraliats, and there would be no loas to the railways; Artificial manures should be carried at the lowest possible rates, as they were a necessity in some parts of the country. Government had had a conference of the traffic managers, and concessions had been agreed upon. THE CUSTOMS TAEIFF. There had been' no alteration in the Customs tariff since 1888. Since then changes had taken place in regard to industries and other matters ; and a change was required in the tariff. It behoved the Government of any country first to keep a strong finance. Then they should not tinker with their tariff, lest they should disturb industries and commerce. He hoped that the- Government would receive valuable help from the Commission ; and he might say that he did not think that this was the time to propose putting any increased taxation upon the people of New Zealand. RATING ON THE T7NIMPEOVKD VALUE. He suggeeted for the consideration of the Government that the incidence of local taxation should be modified by taxing on land value only, for the following reasons: —Local taxes fell heavier otbemall owners and occupiers of land than the general taxation. They included Road Board rates, County Council rates, N Hospital rates, Harbour rates and special rates all levied on occupiers of land. The land values, generally speaking, were about half the value of land and improvements ; and as the local rate was levied on both, the speculator in land, who made no improvements, only paid half the rate for local purposes that the working occupier, who improved his land, paid. The effect of this waa that speculation in land was encouraged and frond fide occupation, so far as improvements were concerned, was discouraged, because the speculator/ who made little or no improvement, benefited by the expenditure of local rates, and when settlement had advanced, Bold out at a large profit without paying his fair share of local taxation. It was, thereS fore, desirable, in the interests of the great | mass* of email occupiers, that local rates should be levied on land values only, which, if done, would be a popular measure, ! and do away with great dissatisfaction in country districts. In order to provide the same revenue to the local bodies affected, I the maximum rate for general purposes j would have to be raised from three farthings to a penny farthing or thereabouts. The effect would be to more : equitably adjust local taxation in accordance with the general policy of the Government. In the first instance, he thought it would be politic to make the change, optional, so that any local body could bring it into force by special resolution -, and he thought ib should at first only apply to county councils, road I boards and hospital boards. As an example of the outcome of the present ! system, he took the case of bush settle- ! ment where the land had been sold at 30a j per acre, and showed that on 100 acres cf unimproved ltmd the rate would be 183 9d, and on the same area of improved land £2 153, while under taxation-on-land value the amounts would be — on unimproved £1 lla 3d and improved £1 15 a sd, a much more equitable distribution .of local burdens. LAND AND INCOME TAX. The land tax collected to date amounted to £277,23^ ' and the income tax to £86,953, a total of £364,190. There was outstanding land tax £1392, and income tax £4700, making a total collectable of £370,282, beiog £20,000 above the estimate; yet when those taxes were levied they had been told that they would never be raised. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. New Zealand was the most over- governed country, locally speaking, on the face of the globe. Every ninth man one met was a member of some local body or other. Government proposed to reform this by amalgamating several of these bodies. Police' ehould be controlled by the central Government, so should Customs. Educa- [ tion and harbour management Bhould not

be interfered with. The proposed bodies would feave almost the same powers as th» old Provincial Cooneilß, except that they would have- no legislative powers ; Government would have to give them an assured income. TH3 LICENSING LAWS. Government intended to amend the licensing law 3, and they badly wanted it. | Thoae people who were working for bring- j ing about reforms were working in a good j cause, bub the way they went about it made their cause recede. There was no necessity for scurrility and abase, and yet these were ÜBed by some who ought to know better. The licensing system should I bo brought under the control of the electors of New Zealand. Who had given them that power ? The present Govern- ! ment. It was a power the people had not got ia any other part of the world. Yet for doing that the Government got no thanks,, no encouragement, nothing but vile abuse. If they were weak and were affected by abuse, they would say to their detractors, "See what you can do yourselves ;"and it would be precious little. However, they were not going to do that. He had found that the moiety vote did not truthfully express the views of the people, and it required amendment. The Houbo having affirmed the principle of elective committees, he was ready to accept it, and his Bill next session would contain that principle. He saw no objection to having the licensing polls on the eame'day as the general election. The question was becoming so important a factor in our political life that the two elections might ju3t bs well be held on the same day. (Hear, hear.) Eof or ma were needed; he was quite prepared to trust the people, and if the time came that the people wished prohibition, they should have prohibition. Aa to Clause 21, which he waa not afraid to refer to, he did nob know anything wrong in connection with it. Two judges had siid that ib was not retroactive and two had said that it was. Ib was never intended to be retroactive ; it was to meet casep, which he had been given to understand existed, and it was not passed on account of the Sydenham case at all. THE BEBGEANT-AT-AKMS. There had been no evasion or violation of the law over the Sergeant-at-Arms appointment. If there had been, let the objectors take action under the law. The whole thing was bo trivial that he was astonished that intelligent people should have been found to read all the trash written about it. (A voice: The majority of people object to his character). He was very pleased that the gentleman had mentioned that point. The man appointed had been five times Mayor of (Thames, had been three times returned to the House, and had held her Majesty's commission as colonel of volunteers. That should be some evidence as to his character. When he (Mr Seddon) told them that Sir Robett Stout went to the Thames and made a speech for the sole purpose of securing Colonel Fraser'a election to the House, they would see that Sir Robert Stout should share the responsibility of that appointment. Supposing that thirty odd years ago some charge had been made againßt Colonel Fraser, if thirty years of exemplary life, as decided by public support, was not to be considered as making amends, all he (Mr Seddon) could say was, "Go to your clubs throughout this colony, and you will know a great many persons of very bad character in New Zealand," because he held that between stacking cards and the way in which many card players tried to best one another, there was not much to choose< He did not believe in cards at all ; tho best way was to have nothing to do with them. Colonel Fraeer had tried to obtain an inquiry into the charge, but the Hall Government would not permit it. One thing more he would tell them. When Sir Robert Stout was defeated at Dunedin, Colonel Fraser was the first man to telegraph to him and place his seat at his disposal. PARTY GOVBBNMENT. He was opposed to the abolition of party government. The principal reforms gained in New Zealand had been got under party government, and nothing had taken place to make him wish to see it aboliehed. It had been said that there was weakness in the House because of party pledges. He would admit that nearly every member was pledged in regard to some policy, bat to say that personal pledgeß were given was not correct. Ho read an opinion expressed by Sir Robert Stout some time ago, strongly against nonparty government, and said that the result of the, abolition of party government would simply be cliques, chaos and unlimited log-rolling. Instead of two or three parties in Parliament, there would be eight or nine. THE MIDLAND RAILWAY. The consequence of the refusal of the House to pass the Government's proposals in respect to the Midland Railway would probably be that four lawyers, two on each tide, would fight over the matter before three others acting as arbitrators, while the Government's money was going and the Company's money was going. He did not fear the final reeulfc of the arbitration. As the matter was practically sub judice, it would not be right for him to say more. He considered Mr Salt's statements not well founded, but he was prepared to- have a fair compromise. UNDESIRABLE IMMIGRANTS. He believed that the Pilgrims would have refused the off-scourings of London, Russian Jews, Chinamen and Assyrians permission to come in with them when they settled Canterbury ; and circumstances in that reßpect had not altered in the least since their day. Ib must be remembered that Russian Jews were a very inferior race, not at all like the Jews in England and the colonies; and steps must be taken to keep ouball such people. (Applause.) CONCLUSION. The country must go on advancing. They could not recede. They must nob go too fast. Some cf the laws required amending. They must watch carefully the working of the reforms made here, and must not go beyond public opinion. And they mu3t nob complain until they had ju.3t ground ; and must not be led away by the cry that Government waß going too far. Ministers had only one desire — to make their country prosperous, to see that tbe people were happy and contented ; that they might avoid the evils which had befallen their fellows in the old world, and that when the time came that they had to leave the world, each one might say that ho had endeavoured to leave it better than he had found it. Might they leave their country good and great, and say, with Bracken :— God of Nations, at Thy feet In the bonds o£ love we meet ; Hear our voices, we entreat. God defend New Zealand. (Loud applause.) A handsome bouquet was presented by three little girl?, on behalf cf tho school children, to Mr Seddon, who warmly expressed his thanfeß. Mr W. T. Popple said he had been a;ked by several people to inquire if there was j any probability of the Government pur- ' chasing any portion of the Hoinebush Estate for settlement. Mr Seddon said that he knew nothing of the matter. The acquisition of land under the Laud for Settlements Act was conducted according to tho recommendations of a Board, and must be kept clear of politicp. Mr Popple moved a vote of thanks to the Premier for bis addresa and of confidence in the present Ministry. (Applauao). Mr J. N. Lawry seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously amid applause. ; Mr Seddon returned thanks and moved a vote of thanka to the Chairman, with which the meeting closed at twenty minutes to twelve o'clock.