POLITICAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5583, 5 June 1896, Page 4

POLITICAL.

<• I THE HON CAPTAIN RUSSELL AT THE OPERA HOUSE. The Hon Captain Russell, M.H.R., gave an address at the Opera House under the auspices of the National Association last night. There was a very large attendance, the hall being crowded. The chair was occupied by his Worship the Mayor of Christchurch. On the platform were Sir George Glifford, Messrs A. E. G. Rhodes, W. Jacques, R. M. Macdonald, G. T. Booth, J.Richardson, Candy, Gourlay and many other gentlemen. The Hon Captain Russell, who was received with prolonged applause, said that he felt they had paid Mm a great compliment in asking him to come again and address a Christchurch audience. He had received so favourable a reception last year that he felt that he was justified, he thought, in concluding that the people of Christchurch appreciated the fact that he spoke to them with frankness, and endeavoured to put before them the true state of affairs in regard to political matters. He wished to specially thank the Union Steamship Company for their kindness, in delaying the steamer in order to allow him to speak that evening. He had received many compliments lately, and one of the greatest was that he, a wandering star, had been pursued from place to place by a posse of Ministers, with special trains and special steamers, bent on contradicting his utterances. Next day they would have an address from the Premier. (Cheers).. Whether that was a pleasure or not they would be able to say at 11.30 p.m. (Laughter and interruption). While Ministers should be, in their offices preparing the business of the country they were following him about, and the business of the country was at a standstill. (Interruption). Ministers said that the country was not now governed by under-secre-taries. By whom was it governed ? Not by Ministers, who were going about seeking political support, or living iv Invercargill, attending to their private business, when they should be in Wellington looking •to the finances of the colony. Nobody was governing the country : it was praying for the Opposition to come and govern it. (Applause, cries of " No," laughter and interruption). BEPLY TO THE PREMIER. He had had another compliment paid him. He had been in political life for twenty years, and Ministers had been obliged to go back thirty years to throw a little bit of mud at him. (Applause.) (A Voice: '"What about the eight hundred acres ?'') It was about that. Ministers had -wilfully and deliberately stated what was untrue. Only that morning he had read in the speech of the Minister of Lands at Auckland that he (Captain Russell) had received .£BOO worth of land, that he had come to NewZealand as a soldier thirty-two years ago, at the country's expense. (Interruption.) He had not received .£BOO worth of land, had paid his own passage to New Zealand, and had not come in the service of the colony, and had never received one penny from the colony, except in his position as a member of Parliament. The Premier had deliberately, wilfully and of malice aforethought stated what he knew to be untrue in connection with the whole thing from the beginning. ' (Interruption.) He (Captain Russell) challenged the Premier to make the statements which he had made on the public platform, on the floor of the House, and he .would prove that the Premier had deliberately stated what was untrue. (Applause and interruption.) He had no desire to' introduce personalities. (Oh, oh !) He had said that certain statements made about him were untrue : that was not descending to personalities". (Applause and interruption.) THE OPPOSITION. It was said, " Why does not the Opposition bring down a policy ?" (Interruption. A voice: "They haven't got the ability.") They might not have. He noticed that in the Lyttelton Times he was called an amiable failure. That might be, but why should four or five Ministers pursue an amiable failure all over New Zealand to try to refute him. Ministers had worked put every idea they had, and wanted the Opposition to bring down a policy, so that they might rob them of it. (Applause and uproar.) The instant the Opposition were called in and had felt the financial pulse of the cqlony, they would prescribe for the wretched patient, and. would restore him to health. (Applause and interruption.) The Government had come into power vn£k a majority larger than that of any other Government in New Zealand. (A voice: "They'll have it again too." Cheers and interruption.) The Opposition were fifteen against sixty. They sought nothing for themselves. (Oh, oh! and interruption.) But the men in power had set aside the interests of the colony, so that their personal friends and supporters could take up the places of honour and profit. (Prolonged applause.) The Opposition knew that a dissolution came and the people were again appealed to they could get nothings He was not a professional politician. (Interruption.) He was probably an older settler than anyone in I;he hall. (Interruption.) He had come to New Zealand in 1845. It was to his interest, and that of everyone in New Zealand that the colony should be well governed, and he was acting as lie wa3 because he believed it to be his duty. (Applause.) What did they owe to this Government? Was work more plentiful. ("Yes," and "No.") Were the unemployed more plentiful? ("Yes," and "No.") Were wages higher? ("Yes," and "No"). THE UNEMPLOYED. The unemployed difficulty in New Zealand was attributable mainly to the action of the present • Government, and of the Premier in particular. (Applause and interruption. A voice: "The capitalists won't give work.") He was glad of that last remark. Well, the Premier of New Zealand had appointed himself to the Bank of New Zealand Assets Realisation Board. (Interruption). The Minister of Lands had said that this statement of his (Captain Russell's) was incorrect — that the Cabinet had appointed the Premier to the Board: The Cabinet ! They were . only pawns for the Premier. (Interruption.) This Board, to which the Premier belonged, had gone from station to station, where six, eight or ten men had been employed, had sacked the men, had sacked' the women. He knew of an instance where one man, with a Maori wife, had been put in charge of a station. In July, 1892, Mr Seddon, then Minister of Public Works, had'written to Mr G. M. Prendergast, vicepresident of the Melbourne Trades' Halli explaining the beauties of the co-operative work system of New Zealand. 'Then Mr M'Lean, whom Ministers had successfully worked to get in as member for Wellington, had gone to Australia under the egis of the Government, had lectured, as reported inthe Argus, on the Government policy, had expatiated on the beauties of the co-

operative work system, and had said that the men received free railway and steamboat passes, and restaurant coupons which enabled them t© get meals at sixpence each, and that there were not fifty genuine unemployed in the country. All this was a direct invitation to men in Australia to come and compete with the labouring men of New Zealand. On June 27, 1893, a year after, a list was presented to Mr Seddon of 207 unemployed in Wellington alone. As proof that people had been attracted by the statements he had mentioned, the Hon W. Hall- Jones — on whose appointment as a Minister he must congratulate Canterbury, though he thought that they might have selected somebody with a little more power in doing something for this great province — had said that the unemployed difficulty was largely due to immigration from other colonies. (Applause). THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AND THE CHEI3TCHUBCH ELECTION. He had much pleasure in speaking in favour of the National Association (Apphmse). That Association had done noble work at the Christchurch by-electionj (Applause, interruption and cries of "it was a fluke.") It was not a fluke. Mr Lewis was exactly the class of man they wanted in . Parliament. (A voice: "He only represents a third of the people.") He (Captain Russell) had offered to come down and speak to help Mr Lewis, but Mr Lewis had preferred to fight his own battle. That was the kind of man of whom Christchurch had a right to be proud. (Applause and interruption) . He believed that even if the fio-ht had been solely between .the Government and the Opposition, Mr Lewis would have won hands down. (Applause and (cries of " No.") Even assuming that the 4400 vote 3 for Mr T. E. Taylor were opposed to the Opposition, with Mr Lewis's 4700 votes there had been 9100 against the Government candidate. Three Ministers had spoken in favour of Mr E. M. Taylor, and he had been at the bottom of the poll. Mr T. E. Taylor had been more bitter against Mr Seddon and the Government than Mr Lewis had, and supposing his supporters to have been Liberals, 4400 Liberal votes had been given against Mr Seddon. Liberalism in the truo_ sense of the word was sick of Seddonisra and all its works. (Applause and some' cries of "No.") The National Association advocated jmrity of administration, which the Government supporters did not want. It preached that the accounts of the colony should be published to the world, which was not done now. The National Association sought to make every man and woman feel that he or she was part of a great machine, and that the Government rested in the hands of the men and women of New Zealand, but the present Government was endeavouring to destroy that self-reliance which had made the English name the glory • and wonder of the world. (Applause and cries of "No.") It was interfering in our daily life, and was an autocracy under the guise of a democracy. (Applause and interruption.) AN INDICTMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT. He could prove that just the reverse of what the Government claimed was true; he would prove that the colonial debt and the interest charges were increasing, and that the colony was not prosperous. Government had borrowed secretly, and had kept back the returns which it was bound to furnish to the representatives of the people. In direct defiance of the Act, which provided that an abstract of the year's revenue and expenditure should be published within thirty days of the end of the financial year, the Government ■ had .kept back the return for ninety-five days after the end of the financial year. ' Contrast that with England, where Sir Michael Hicks Beach had published the financial statement sixteen days after the end of the financial year. It was said that the National Association had command of large sums of money, which it would use for purchasing votes. He only wished it were true that it had large sums, but what about the purchasing of the Press ? Was Government advertising given fairly, according to a newspaper's circulation? How. was it in this town,; (Interruption.) Papers which supported the Government got the great bulk of the advertising. (Interruption.) The Conservative Party had done most for New Zealand. It had introduced the Ballot Bill and the Triennial Parliaments Bill. Female franchise had been long fought for by Sir John Hall. Messrs-T. Thompson, J. Carroll. J. G. Ward and J. M'Kenzie had opposed it. Mr Seddon had not had the courage of his convictions, and had walked out of the House. (Three cheers more here given by a portion of the audience, for Mr Seddon, followed by three ones for the Government.) He (Captain Russell) had supported female franchise. (Applause.) The present Education Act had been introduced by Mr Boweri, a member of the Conservative Party. (Applause), THE ADVANCES TO SETTLERS LOAN. After considerable interruption, Captain Russell said that he could not see how loans by the Government at 6 per cent could bring down interest, when private companies were willing to lend at 4£ to 5 .per cent. He strongly condemned Mr Seddon's position as a paid director of the Anglo-German Gold Company as being incompatible with" that of Premier of the colony. The raising of the Advances to Settlers Loan ' was a fearful piece -jf bungling. The colony got only ,£94 odd for every .£IOO, and paid interest on the whole loan from May 1, though the whole of the money was not received till September. The expenses of management and interest would amount to .£BO,OOO during the first year. LAND SETTLEMENT. The Minister of Lands claimed to have