AN OPPOSITION CRITICISM.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9534, 5 May 1909, Page 1

AN OPPOSITION CRITICISM.

. 4, MR MASSEY ON THE PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH. [Per Press Association.] . AUCKLAND, May 4

I The leader of the Opposition (Mr W. F. Massey) was interviewed to-day) with reference to the, policy speech delivered at Invercargill by the Prime Minister. Mr Massey remarked that the. Prime Minister had on this occasion adopted the somewhat unusual course of: explaining the financial position from his point of <,yiew prior ; to the^ financial details for the year ended March 31 being made public, and in consequence many of ihe statements made by the Prime Minister were of little value. The Prime Minister, for instance, < said the floating debt had been reduced- by £150,000, but he did not tell the country by how many millions the permanent debt had been increased. Sir Joseph Ward announced a surplus of £184,000, but omitted to add that for the previous year there, was a surplus of £767,000. Then, again, the Prime Minister announced that the deposits in the Post Office savings bank for bhe past year were £636,000, but he did not tell the country what the withdrawals were. Sir Joseph Ward also spoke of considerable increases in the railway revenue, but he forgot to remind his audience that the increase was due to the opening of the Main Trunk line and the taking over of the Manawatu line. " Right through the speech," said Mr Massey, "there is a want of candour and an evident desire to anticipate criticism of the public accounts when they rtiake __ their appearance. Those accounts have not yet been "issued, and I may add that when they are issued I shall take an opportunity of dealing more fully with these matters than I can do at present. I understood the Prime Minister was going to take us into his confidence with regard to the manner in which he proposes to pay for the Dreadnought, but ne has not done so, unless the tax on widows by way of succession duties is intended for that purpose. Sir Joseph Ward's attempt at cheerfulness over a falling revenue and the necessary retrenchment was almost pathetic, but the point that has impressed, me most forcibly is that, instead of the vainglorious boasting to which we have been accustomed in previous years the Prime Minister has now Teached the apologetic stage. He apologises after a . fashion for the failure of the defence system, for the^ failure of the Government in connection with the settlement of native land, for the falling Customs revenue and for the necessity of reducing expenditure and the * consequent cutting down of the public service. The Prime Minister asks pathetically for more banks, but it seems to me that if the Government made less use of the banks, including the Savings Bank, there would be more money available for the use of the public, and I may as well say now that I see no reason why arrangements should not be made to lend money on mortgage to settlers from the Post Office Savings Bank. It has been almost impossible for some time past to borrow money on mortgage at reaspnable rates of interest, except in comparatively small sums-, and something should be done to meet the difficulty. If the country is to progress it must have a plentiful supply of money at reasonable rates, and that is a long way from being the case at present. Apart from the figures there is little in the speech . that is new. except the admission that can be read between the lines that the Government's system of administration is played out, that it has been weighed in the balance and found wanting and that something better is required." Mr Massey was asked his view of the Prime Minister's statement of the position in regard to native lands. The statements, Mr Massey replied, meant little or nothing. Very little had been done in the past by the present administration, although it had splendid opportunities and it seemed, judging from the statements made and the position taken up by the Hons J. Carroll and A. Ngata that the present administration intended to do very little in the future towards opening Native lands to European settlers on a satisfactory tenure. If the Maoris wero able and willing to occupy their lands and bring them into profitable cultivation, by all means they should bo allowed to do so, but if not, then European settlers should have the opportunity. This question should be faced by the Government, and if no other solution was possible, the Maoris should have to take up the same position as the European people of the dominion. The attention of the leader of the Opposition was next drawn to the Prime. Minister's remarks on defence. " Above all things, 5 ' said Mr Massey, "I was sorry to notice that the Prime Minister is still behind the times with regard to defence matters, and evidently imagines that if we present a battleship or two to Britain that we have done our duty. But we have done nothing of the sort. Even if we contribute our fair share to the navy by way of battleships or otherwise, it is still our duty in the first degree to provide for our own defence. Why the Prime Minister and his Government should lag behind the Governments of other British colonies I. cannot imagine. Canada is preparing for its own defence, and so is Australia, and I should think the country as a whole i will be grievously disappointed to find that the Government does not contem-

plate bringing into operation some sys>tem for the purpose of training our young men." .

Touching on expenditure, Mr Massey said that anyone who looked into the position and noticed that the expenditure from the Consolidated Fund had been going up on an average about £500,000 a year, could come to no other conclusion than that the country was going too fast and indulging in wild and extravagant expenditure which must come to an end. The Prime Minister regretted the trend of the population from the country to the towns. The real remedy for that state of affairs was to open up the idle Crown and Native lands and give the settlers security of tenure, the freehold.