PUBLIC MEETING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 992, 11 July 1883, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

The meeting convened in the Town Hall last night for the purpose of discussing Mr Montgomery’s motion for decentralising Government was well attended. His Worship presided, and the following gentlemen occupied seats on the platform :—Messrs Alfred Saunders, Hugo Friedlander, 0. W. Purnell, A. Harrison, R. Alcorn, and J. Clark. The Mayor said that it was due to the meeting and to himself to explain why the meeting had teen called on so short a notice. The present session of Parliament, so tar as it had gone, had been a senes of surprises. For example, we found the Auckland and Wellington people strangely opposing the construction of the West Coast railway, and lastly Mr Montgomery had come to the front with a motion of very great importance, especially to the people of this island. We had as yet obtained meagre information as co the resolution that the member for Akaroa was to bring forward, but it was a matter greatly interesting the people of his district. It was generally admitted that the advantages that were anticipated by those who favored abolition had not been realised in this island. Take for example tho small amount granted for endowments to local bodies. Ashburton was perhaps better off in this respect than some other places, but for that they had to thank their wor hy ex-Mayor, now sitting be-ide him (Mr Friedlander).' The General Government had promised that we were to receive 20 per cent, of the land fund, but this had been taken away, as was also the pound for pound subsidy. The Government had always been ready to find excuses for breaking the promises they had made. Then, again, there was the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, which Major Atkinson had boasted would do so much good. No advantage had accrued from its provisions to this part of the colony, although ho doubt the North Island had derived some benefit from it. Taking these things into consideration it was evident that this portion of the colony had suffered for the sake of ocher parts. People might say that now the land fund was gone it was no use arguing anything about the matter, but he held that this was wrong. There was still a large quantity of land yet inalienated, and if this was vested in the County Council there would be no need for that body to strike a4d rate. Hospitals and charitable aid should also bo well enendowed, but no one could say chat under the present system this was the case. He would, however, not take up the time of the meeting further, as there were other gentlemen to speak who would fully ventilate the matter.

Mr Purnell said that His Worship had indicated the expediency of calling the present meeting. Local Government was an important question which had been hanging fire of late, but it should be discussed on its merits, an ! not as a pany question. When abolitio i of provinces was proposed the country was led to believe that a large number o' good objects would be gained, and if the promises that were made at that time had Seen fulfilled no doubt it would have done good. We were promised greater economy of government, better local government, and permanent revenue and endowments for local institutions, while the Land Fund was not to be lost to us. But not a single promise then made had been carried out and a crisis was now arising similar to that which preceded abolition. Why was provincialism abolished ?—The real reason was that the General Government had got into difficulties by a system of cribbing in the North Island, and they looked to the South Island to get them out of trouble. The Colonial Treasurer was continually saying, when twitted, that the colony was perfectly well satisfied with the present state of things, but there was plenty of evidence to show that this was not the case in this Island at any rate. The resolution that he had to move was this ;— t{ That the coat of the General Government is excessive, and by absorbing an unfair share of the public revenue tends to impair the usefulness of the local bodies ; that the undue centralisation of governmental functions which now prevails is injurious to the welfare of the people and opposed to the spirit of the Constitution : and with a vie w of remedy-

ing these evils the Government shall be re-constructed in such a manner as to largely augment the existing powers of local government, and to confine the General Assembly to the true functions of a Legislature.” To take the first sentence of the motion : this was easily proved. It was, however, impossible t» compare the cost of the Provincial with the General Government, as the former had to perform duties now falling to the County Councils and Harbor Trusts. But he would refer to the public accounts, and taking one item, viz., the cost of the General Assembly, he found that in the twelve months ending June 30th, 1875, the expense incurred was 1(28,730, as against last year’s L 45.313. This was a great increase, but still they had to further take into account that there was the constant expense of keeping up the Government building, which of course went on continually. Figures, no doubt, were rather dry to the audience, but it was necessary to give them in order to let people see how the case stood. The speaker then quoted statistics to show that the cost of Government had nearly been doubled since the abolition of the provinces. It was the vice of a General Government to be extravagant. Those present would, no doubt, remember the Civil Service Commission which went round thecolonysometimeago, and recommended that L 300,000 could be saved in this direction. Something was done in the way of reduction, but now we had the Treasurer coming forward and stating that it was necessary to revise the t ivil list, which meant that the old order of things would be reverted to. The truth was tnat when the provincial system came to an end the only check over expenditure was removed. When the General Government was selected from the Provincial Councils, it was to the interest of the members to keep down expenditure, but this was not the case now. Two or three reasons could be given why it was impossible under our present system to have economical government- In the provincial days popular opinion was brought to bear upon every question, and even the election of a clerk or an officer of any kind was freely canvassed. This served to prevent abuses, but no one could say this when appointments were made in Wellington. Again, when it was known that the seat of Government was to be in Wellington, property went up tremendously in that city. And why ? Simply because the people knew that money would be recklessly and extravagantly spent there. Passing on to the next clause of the resolution, Mr Purnell said that it could be easily shown that the General Government absorbed an unfair share of the revenue. Out of the L 4,500,000 spent last year, only L 230,000 was given to local bodies. As to the promise of substantial endowments and permanent revenues, that was never carried out, and the financial arrangements of the Government were so miserable that they have thoroughly broken down. Local bodies were to be endowed out of the Land Fund, but as there is no Land Fund available they are to be subsidised out of loan. It surely did not require much argument to show that when local bodies have insufficient revenue their efficiency is considerably impaired. Our own County Council liad done good work, but that was due to their having a share of the Land Fund. Now, however, this was not available, and they would have to depend for the future on rates. Referring to the undue centralisation of Governmental functions, the speaker said that many people did not know the extent to which the country was centralised. They were told by the abolitionists that administrative powers would be returned to local bodies, but had this been done ? The General Government took away from the provinces the administering of waste lands, the railways, the hospitals, education, etc., and not one of these powers had they returned, and the tendency was to increase this centralising evil. Last year, for instance, the Rating Act was passed, which deprived the Road Boards of the power to sell land on which rates had not been paid, but vesting such property in the public trustee. As to toe last sentence in the resolution, as to the proper functions of a legislature, he considered that the moat important. Mr Purnell then read an extract from a speech of Sir Julius Vogel, in which that statesman said that one of the great advantages of abolition would be the putting an end to the pernicious system of “log-rolling.” He would ask those in the Hall if these words, read in the light of the present state of things, did not sound like sarcasm. A candidate for Parliamentary honors was not asked nowadays as to his nolitical principles, but he was elected solely because he was an adept at lobbjing, and would use his influence to get some of the good things going for the district he represented. There was a time when New Zealand was looked upon as a model colony, but that was in the days of Provincialism. Since then the Parliament had become nothing more than a Board of Works, whose only thought was how money was to be spent. He was of opinion that the problem could be solved by establishing a Board of Works, or two, if needed, in each Island, having control of local affairs. At present the time of the Assembly was taken up with a great many matters that did not properly come within the functions of a General Government. He might take for example the case of the Ashburton Caledonian Society, not an important question to the colony certainly, but at the same time of local importance. This Society wished to become incorporated, and it was necessary that a Bill had to be brought before Parliament, while the whole affair could have been more easily and more satisfactorily settled by the County Council. Another important advantage that would be gained by this part of the colony by the federating of the Government would be that we should have control over our railways. The South Island railways paid more than double the percentage than ffid those of the North, and our profits therefore went to make up deficiencies in other parts of the colony. No doubt the present arrangement was good for the North Island, but we should consider what was best for ourselves, In conclusion, he would refer to a matter concerning which he feft some slight delicacy as it had a directly personal interest. If the Board of Works were established in this Island, as suggested by Mr Montgomery, it was not impossible that Ashburton would be the Capital, Christchurch and Dunedin would never agree about the matter, and Mr Montgomery had suggested Akaroa, but surely Ashburton, from its situation and growing importance had a far better claim to the honor. He exhorted those present to bear this fa t in mind, as it would serve to keep alive the interest in the local government question. [Mr Purnell resumed his seat amid loud applause.] Mr J. Clark said he would be brief, as the Mayor and Mr Purnell had brought forward facts and figures to show that matters were not right in these parts. He road to second the motion against his will, for the reason that he would have preferred some better speaker to take his place. When abolition took place a promise was made that the Land Fund should be retained, but they could see how this promise had been kept. The Road Boards and County Councils had no money to spend now, except what was obtained from rates, and he thought their revenue ought to be returned to local bodies. The Ashburton County Council had increased the value of property from at least 30s to 40s per acre by the water-races they had formed throughout the County, and if we had the income derivable from that increase we should be independent at the present time. He did not mean to enu-

raerate a scheme to mend matters, but it would be well if the motion noW rbefore, the House was carefully watched. He had great pleasure in seconding Mr Purnell’s resolution.

Mr Alfred Saunders, who on rising was greeted with prolonged cheers, said that it gave him much pleasure to see so many people present that evening, considering how bad the weather was. It was a good sign to see the Ashburconites taking such an interest in this important matter, which .Mr Purnell had placed so ably be fore them. The absorption of all power by the General Government had been going on for a long time, and he must confess that the provinces had helped towards that end by their extravagance. Had the Government worked economically bur public worss could have been, made without borrowing, but we had by our extravagance killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. If we had made our railways out of the Land Fund we should not be indebted to the extent we are now. To show what economy could do, he would quote from the greatest statesman of the greatest country in the world ; he referred to Mr W. E. Gladstone. The English Premier, in a recent speech delivered before the Liberal Association, pointed out that during the last three years of the ! ’onservative administration L 7 ,987,000 of the national debt was paid off, while during the last three years that the Liberals have been in power it has been reduced by L 20 ,443,000. Mr Gladstone went on to say :—“ Other matters are important but secondary. This lies ?.t the root of everything. It is not from mere extravagance, but it is from disregarding the relations between income and expenditure that these cases of financial confusion have arisen in different countries, which have found their upshot in revolution and ruin. So,long as you keep your income up to your expenditure, and the people pay their way, why, in a country like this if they find the burden too heavy, they will take care that you reduce your expenditure, and therefore this is the real, best, and the real safeguard and the true corner stone of all sound finance.” Perhaps they might think that finance was not a subject for remark at tl is meeting, but in his opinion it was one of the most important factors in the question, Mr Purnell had spoken of log rolling, but if this constituency had been wise enough to send that gentleman to Parliament he would have found out to what extent it was carried on. It was a thing that an honest man hardly cared to speak of. Here, for example, they had their, Dobbin’s Ford Bridge and their Ashburton Forks railway. So long as they got these local works sanctioned they did not consider the cost, which was that the colony was saddled wich a L 5 ,000,000 loan. The Government was at present administered by men whose only desire was to retain office and to reward their supporters, and he hoped the day was not far distant when the colony would refuse to support these loans. Mr Purnell had pointed out that L 300,000 could be saved from the Civil Service, but he (Mr Saunders) could assure them that the sum was nearer half a million. The effect made by the report of the Commission was very fleeting, and when Sir John Hall gave up the reins of Government the old extravagant expenditure was resumed, and now the colony had to pay half a million more, instead of that amount less, than before. Nothing had done him more harm than when he advised the people to believe in economy, but he hoped that they would give everything that they had heard that evening their careful consideration.

Mr Friedlauder said that everyone who bad read the Treasurer’s Financial Statement could see that there had been increased expenditure in every department, and that the increase would be still greater in the future. It was this part of the colony that would have to pay for this, and he hoped Mr Montgomery’s motion would be carried, as expenditure would then be reduced and our taxation consequently lessened. We had a perfect right to call this meeting as every promise made by the abohtioni-ts had been broken. If the General Government had given us 10s, they had taken away 9a and ninetynine hundredths of it.

Mr J, B. Buchanan mounted the platform and delivered a speech, in the course of which he expressed an opinion that there was not an honest man in the whole Government. Mr launders had said that they could save a half a million, and if this was so it was the dur.y of the district to send him to Wellington pledged to do it, or die.” Some of Mr Buchanan's remarks elicited considerable merriment.

The resolution was then pot to the meeting and carried unanimously. Mr R. Alcorn moved—“ That copies of the resolution passed by the meeting be sent to the Legislative Council, to the House of Representatives, and to the members for Ashburton and Wakanui. He was glad to see this meeting held as a protest againthe lavish expenditure of the Government, which had been clearly proved by the previous speaker. When an attempt was made to retrench it was done by an all round 10 per cent, reduction, which pressed unfairly on those in receipt of small salaries, while the higher paid officials were but slightly affected. Centralism was no doubt a good thing if it could be carried out, but it was proved that this could not be done. It was partly our own fault, as we should send to Wellington representatives pledged to vote against borrowing and to reduce the expenses of the Government of the colony. Mr Harrison briefly seconded. At the suggestion of Mr Saunders and Mr Purnell, the names of Mr Montgomery and Major Atkinson were added to the moton, and thus amended it was carried unanimously. A vote of thanks having been accorded to the Mayor for presiding, the meeting ended.