POLITICAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13340, 31 March 1911, Page 3

POLITICAL.

MR. C. V. PEARCE, M.P., AT WAVERLEY. , I Mr G. ,V. Pearce, M.P. for Patea, delivered an address in the Waverley Town Hall last evening, when Mr Jas. Dalton, chairman of the Town Board, presided oyer, a good attendance of electors. LOANS. ■ Referring to loans, Mr Pearce said that the Government's policy on this question had led to a great deal of controversy. During the last twelve months the Government had taken authority to borrow £6,530,000, and this money was to bo spent as follows: Public works £1,750,000, Hntt railway ,£35)000, working railways £225,000, water power £500,000, advances to settlers £1,500,001, mining advances £20,000, • loans to , local authorities £1,000,000, land settlement £500,000, and native land settlement £500,000. The last loan- had not been a success. Sir Joseplp Ward tried to mislead the public with Regard. to the loan. New Zealand issued, a; loan on March 31, 1910, for £1,850,000, of whioji S3 per cent, was taken by the public, and eight mouths l iter when the £3,000,000 loan was-issued on more favourable terms only 7 per cent, was taken up by the public,. and the remainder was in the hands-, of the underwriters. Financial institutions.-were holding the greater part of the loan, and the country Would not be able to put any , more loans on the market till the whole was out of the hands of the, money lenders. Sir Joseph Ward had made a statement, which no Minister of Finance should have -made,- that one-half of the loan had been got rid.of by the underwriters. He would ask them, if they thought, the underwriters could sell at £9B 10s when the quoted price was £95 as- reasonable, to , say that Waihi shares which are down to £3 10s were selling at£s., Sir Joseph Ward tried to mislead the people with regard to the cost of the ‘■loin. He said 3£ per cent, interest was paid, but he, (Mr Pearce) would like to point out that, the 31 per cent, debentures wore sold at £9B 10s, and then we had to pay 1 per cent to those who guaranteed the loan, which made it £97 10s. Then the loan had to be repaid in full in 1914, and £2 II Is for each £IOO had to .he added for those four years. Then'there was brokerage 1 per cent., stamp -duty, advertising, etc., so that the cost could bo put at 4-i- per cent. IF DEPRESSION COMES. He would like to draw attention to the enormous amount of debt that was being piled up in this country. The national debt amounted to £81,740,645, equal to £BO 14s per head of the population. In the Commonwealth .the debt per head was £SS ■ss 9d, United States £2 9s, Great Britain £l7-2s, and Germany £3 10s, so that New Zealand had the, greatest debt pcr_ capita in the world. There was a mistaken impression with some that borrowing was a wise policy which meant plenty of money, work, and wages. But he would remind them of what he had told them in 1908, that it was th > working man who was always the first to feel the slump when it came. What occurred during the financial depression of 1909? Single men left Wellington for Australia in thousands, and married men were frequently without the means to provide themselves with food. What did the Government do at that time? It sacked -half of the men employed on the co-operativo works. It was not the man who had £2OO or £SOO, or the farmer, who suffered so much when financial depression _ came along, but the working man. If this borrowing was allowed to go on there must bo a reaction. EXPENDITURE. . Mr Pearce condemned as totally unnecessary the duplication of the, Hutt-Wolling-tou. railway, on which £300,000 had already been spent, and £35,000 more authorised. The water power scheme was also going to be costly, and the Government wanted to borrow another £2,500,000 for it. It was of doubtful benefit, and only the, big cities would profit by it. He also condemned as extravagant the expenditure on the Post-Offices a'tAuckland and Wellington, £2OOO being spent on statuary at the. latter. Instead of re-building Government House, the Government had appropriated th site for Parliament, and built a new residence for the Governor at great expense. They spent £25,000 on it last year, and proposed to spend another £30,000 this year.

ADVANCES TO SETTLERS. Mr Pearce, while approving of the principle of Advances to Settlers, complained of the way in which that office was being administered. What position did the Advances to ’ Settlers Office take up during the stringency of the money market in 1909? It limited grants to £SOO, and for six or eight mouths it was impossible to get even that? During nearly the whole of the tiihc the Act has been in force more than £SOO could not be obtained, and of what use was that amount to a farmer in Taranaki, where a small dairy farm of 50 acres costs £2500? LICENSING AND GAMING. Mr Pearce went on to defend his vote on the question of the 55-100ths majority after pledging himself to the three-fifths. He - pointed out that his pledge was only in relation to local, option, while tlio. 55-10Dths referred to Dominion option, on which he had given no pledge. He was opposed to the hare majority, as being- too unsettled, and'liable to reversal at every election. Mr Pearce then condemned the Government’s attitude., on the gaming question, saying that last year’s hill was elite to the Governnient’s former had-legis-lation. Ho. condemned the Hon. J. A. Millar ..for voting in favour of the bookmaker. EDUCATION. . Mr Pearce declared ho was opposed,' ta : granting State aid to any religious denomination for education purposes, and declared in favour of a free and sepular system.. After, condemning the mortgage tax, - Mr Pearce commended Mr Hine for bringing his charges against the Govern-

ment,. and defended the Opposition from the charge of being behind the “Black" pamphlet." He ; then went on to speak, at some length oh RAILWAYS, contending "that the North Island had been unfairly treated in comparison with the* South. The North Island had the larger population, yet the cost of its railways was" only 13 millions as against the South Island’s 16 millions. There were 1144 miles in the North Island to 1573 miles in the-South.. The revenue fpomthe North Island was larger, being for the year ending February 4, £518,000, as against £468,000 for the South, -The exports from the North Island wore four millions more last year than from the South. Yet last .year, while the North Island had £465,000 voted for railways, the South Island had £435,000, nearly as ranch. Yet, in the South Island all the votes were spent, and sometimes something over, while in the North some votes were not spent at all. WHAKAIHU WAKA.. .. Concluding, Mr Pearce said he had at last succeeded in inducing the Government to put surveyors on the Whakaihnwaka block of 63,000 acres. It ought to have been done five years ago, but there were not votes depending on the block then. At tbs conclusion of his speech, Mr Poaroe was accorded a hearty vote of thanks on the motion of Mr Wm. Wilson, seconded by Mr R. Brewer.