SIR GEORGE GREY'S ADDRESS IN DUNEDIN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1041, 14 May 1884, Page 3

SIR GEORGE GREY'S ADDRESS IN DUNEDIN.

The address given by Sir George Grey in the Garrison Kail, Dunedin, last Saturday evening, was listened to by a very large audience, the building being thoroughly packed. A most enthusiastic reception was accorded Sir George, who touched upon a variety of topics in the course of his address. Referring to the question of Chinese cheap labor, Sir George said: We do not want colored labor brought in in order to ma>e us gire !L2O an acre for land, or to compel people to live like Chinamen, who, having neither wife nor children, ara accustomed to a totally different state of life to what we live in. I maintain that it- would be starvation to a European family to attempt to enforce such a state of things in this country. Further than that, I say what I believe all of us wish and earnestly desire is that there should be small proprietors, who shall have labor within themselves, and who shall have education for their children, so as to be able to be a highly educated people. We do not desire to introduce into this country a system of enormous farms and a pauper population. —In touching upon the land question, the speaker said : Without going into details of the many unfair (rays in whioh the land has beea obtained — gridironing, the dummying, pre-emptive rights, wrong dealings in favor of a few in Native lands — without goiDg into all these subjects to show' how wrongfully large portions of land have been taken from the community at large, I will supply simply this : that' all the 'best lands in New Zealand, with the exception of the land in what is called the King country have now, I believe, passed into the hands of- Europeans, mostly m large blocks, some of whom have honestly, honorably, and fairly acquired such properties in accordance with the law, and others of whom have acquired them by means- which do not entitle them to retain 'possession of them at all, if justice, were .done. ... lam in favor of a land tax— that is a tax on the " unearned increment," which is that increase in the value of the land which is not due to the individual himself; which grew from our labor while he slept or was absent in England; which was created by the sweat' and toif.of a man who has now to pay himself for having worked, while the other, in luxurious idleness, could walk about, and even complain of the slow work and little labor, performed by the man who is ultimately responsible for the cost of the' whole thing. It is to me selfevident that if annually a certain Bum of money in the form of a land-tax is taken from the unearned increment we shall take that which is our right,, which will enrich the Colony, and will be. the salvation of the poor of New Zealand in centuries to come. There are some people who wish to, what they call, nationalise the land at once, and to take the whole of the land for the State. I say that what I propose will not interfere with that when the proper time conies. If you raise a nation so highly educated that they dojjnot wish to have personal property; ' you uiay|bring men to that, but I think it

will be a very long time before they will say, " We do not wish for a home of our own ; we wish to be turned out every 14 or 21 years, and take our chance of getting a farm again." I do not think you will get men to agree to that for a very long period of time But this other plan which I propose is an instant, an immediate remedy to a great and terrible abuse that now exists ; and one result will certainly be that many men will by degrees, probably very rapidly, break up those great properties, and that a man who purchases a portion of them, as he will hare nothing to pay for the unearned increment, will get it at a fair and just price. — (Hear, hear.) It appears to me that is a fair solution of the difficulty. Dealing with the subject of taxation, and after referring to Colonial titles, Sir George said : "There is another point I wish to speak to you upon, concerning which I think there has been very great apathy shown. There is a large Civil Service in this country, which is supported by yourselves, and according to all rules which bind men together, all those who contribute towards any object should have an equal share in it. I ask you, what is the use of educating your children highly, und instilling into them the desire for distinction, if there are no paths at all of a legitimate kind open to their just ambition ? I ask you this : Should one set of families always be allowed to maintain control of the Civil Service, and have far the best > chance of placing their children in it ? Should )we not have the same privileges as in England, and have the offices of the Civil Service thrown open to competitive examination— (applause)— so that the child of any man in New Zealand shall have an equal right to occupy auy vacancy,.- and talent ( andy-msrit shall alone decide to whom the privilege of falling an appointment shall be given 9 In concluding, the" speaker said : Let us deter* mine now at this present time to do our duty, to meet the difficulty which has occurred, to face the dangers ; and not to go maundering and thinking what did so and so in past years : that we have nothing to do with. Let us New Zealanders act as men in New Zealand ought to do — face the perils that surround us, be united as one body— not quarrelling on minor points— and following that course, depend upon it we shall attain success, and found a nation which will be an honor to ourselves in all time to come.