MR IVESS AT THE ODDFELLOWS HALL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1522, 1 April 1887, Page 2

MR IVESS AT THE ODDFELLOWS HALL

Laai evening Mr J. Ivees, M. H.R , for Wflkanui, addressed <t meeting of constituents io tha Oddfellows' Hall There was a good attendance, and m tho abiouoa of the Mayo**, who m oonseq'ienoa of indisposition was unable to bo present. Mr K. Friedlaader occupied the chair. Mr Ivess, who on coming forward, was received with applauie, said that m accordance with hiß usual custom he had invited them to meet him that evening m order that he might give them an explanation of bis conduct during the last session of Parliament, and that he might explain ■o them the nature and bearing of the moit important Bills which had passed Into law. He had purposely abstained from meeting them at »n earlier priod because of the fact that harvesting operations had occupied the attention of a .nrprity of them up to within the last weak or two. He had alio entertained hopes that previous to his meeting the , Premier, or other prominent members of I the Government, would have unfolded the Ministerial programme for tha coming aesslOD,' but although the Premier had addressed three meetings he had given no indication of what the policy of the Govsrnment m the future would be, preferring to deal with generalities rather than to take the oountry into his oonfidence. This change m the Premier's taotlos was rather difficult to account for, as m the past Sir Robert Stout was constant m his desire to educate the publio m favor of any reforms whioh h intended submitting to Parliament. It had been announced that tha Hon Mr Billanoe would addrees his constituents that (Thursday) evening and that the policy of the Government would then be declared, but he regretted to learn that for seme reason the delivery of that address had been postponed till next Tuesday, by which time most of the members would have been before their constituents, and tho opportunity of questioning them as to their opinions and intentions regarding proipective legislation would be lost. That was to be regretted but it might turn oat that as the approaohing session would be the last of the present Parliament, the Government would refain from pushing forward important Bills and might have resolved raemly to introduce their intended reforms for the purpoßa of eliciting dissuasion, and then remit them for a final opinion to the constituencies at the approaching general eleotionr. He did not expect much good would result from the coming session of Parliament— it was what *rai known as a moribund one— and members would probably endeavor to bring it to a close as soon as possible HWAKCE

Mr Iyesa then proa eded to deal with the qaeitlon of finance. We were now at the close of the financial year and the outlook was far from pleasant. The returns of Customs revenue, published m the " Gazette," showed a great falling off, and it was an admitted fact that the Treasurer, instead of meeting Parliament, a« he did fast year, with a credit balance of £37,000, would thia time be compelled to meet it with a large deficit. The estimated expenditure for the present year was £4,070,000, which was £86,010 la excess of the previous year, whilst the estimated revenue was £4,074,000. The O >lonial Treasurer would be brought face to face with a serious deficiency and the queation was how was it to be met whether by taxation, borrowing, or retrenohment. Unfortnnatsly there was a growing inorease m our expenditure, such as interest on loans, subsidies to local bodies, and Education votes.' It was expeoted that £20 000 additional to the aam granted laetyear would be required for Education. Although the census teturn* sh .wed a large Increase m the popnlstlon of the colony there had been a great decrease m the Oustoma revenue, a fact that wad by s>me explained as being due to the people being less extra vagent than formerly and by others as being the result of the depression considerably reducing their spending power. The latter hypothesis he feared was the correct me. Wuh regard to the three courses open to the Government to bridge the difficulty of the deficiency m the re venae — borrowing, retrenchment and taxation— a« far as the first was concerned Canterbury had nothing to gain by supporting further b Trowing, as oat of the last, loan of £1,325 000 eh.9 only received a paltry eight thousand for the ext-iraion of the Mount Soraera Kail way. Therefore, he took it, it would not be to their interest to aanotion the raising of new loana to be expended on public works m other p*rts of the oolony ; but, at the same time, they must not lose sight of the fact that funds mast be provided from some source for the completion of the main lines of railway In order to promote the settlement of the oountry and to assist m pushing the railwiya on to paying points. The second remedy — increased taxation — he did not at all favor, and he was sure that it would bean unwelcome alternative as /ar as the farmers of Wakanui were concerned. The last remedy, that of retrenchment, must find favor m the minds of the great bulk of the electors of the colony and If jadicioußjy and prudently carried out no injustice or hardship would be it flic ted. The Parllmentary Retrenchment Committee, which whs appointed last session, did good service m its investigations, and the report which it brought up at the dose of the session, unfortunately too late for j consideration, showed conclusively how I large savings could be effected. The fact wat the colony had two many ornamented appendages m the way of Civil Servants, and tho aooner'these ornamental links m the Ciyil Servloe chain were severed the better for the colony. Turning now to a ime of the measures which occupied the attention of Parliament Inst session he would mention

THR FIBST OFFENDERS PBOBA TION ACT fhioh bad ahea^y done much good In tbo way of enabling thoße who had had the misfortune to make a slip to, once more embark m an houeßt life. It was well known that m a great many oases, through drink or other faotora, persons had been guilty of offences, which the O.mrt if the former Btate of the law had

permitted would have dealt leniently with ai d ilma havo saved many a first offender from aeßuiuing the garb of a criminal. He had been inf rmed by Captain Hume, the probation officer for the colony, that aome 43 perßonß had been brought under the provlaiono of tho &of, and that only ( na out of I hat number had thrown away the opportunity afforded him to reform, 10AK8 TO £CCAt BODJKB Since the abolition of the provinces and of the Bubsldieß payable out'of the provincial I Mid fund o 1 oal bodies a feeling of great dissathfaotJon had existed m con* sequence of theae bodies having to exercise their rating powers to the fullest extent In order to raise funds to carry out their functions. Government after Government had tried to devise come means under which funds could be raised for the prosecution of necessary pnblio works. It will be rom< mbered what an injustice ma perpetrated upon many parts of tho colony by the pmaing of the Roadß and Bridges Construction .Act, and a few favored looalhles were permitted to carry cff Inrge turns of money. That measure bad fortunately bern wiped off the Statute beck. The Government seemed sonewhat porplexed to fix upon a scheme which would give an assured finance to local b< dtefl. and lost year they proposed that subsidies should be payable fer a given number of years, but aft r much diecueeion it wbb decided that the lubsldies would only be K iven for cix months. Last session the Colonial Treasurer introduced the Government Loans to Local Bodies Blrfand the Looal Bodies loans Bill. • The first provided m what manner the Treasurer may obtain money which

l he local body may be desiriuus uf borrowing, and ext^udad authority to raiso £200,000 a year. The latter Act «i»vh porer to Connty Councils, Road, Town, and River Boards to borrow from the Gnvornment tor the construction of nsw.worKs, or th« reconstruction of bridges destroyed by fl iod, eto, tut It did not permit of borrowing for existing works. Any loan uuder this Act woulu be for a psrlod of 26 years, at 6 per oent, payable half yearly, and as the interest included siuklng fuad the loau woold be extinguished at the expiration of the period for whioh it was borrowed. Care was taken that the mono/ could not be borrowed unless a majority of the ratepayers recorded their approval. By this Bill it was confidently expected that the yearly scramble between membara ttnd Mlniatars for votes for roads and bridges would bo done away with, and the sole coat of these worka thrown upon the shoulders of local bodies, that members should become more independent of the Government and that the status of Parliamentary Government woald consequently be raised. He oarae now to th«

RRPJEUESENTATION BILL whioh the Premier had promised to introduce during the firat week of the approaching session. It might safely be predicted that the proposal to give an irresponsible Board, constating of three gentlemen, power to adjust the repreeeutatlon of the colony would be vigorously resisted. Such a proposal was tantamount to saying that the members were iacompetent to deal with the question, an [ inference whioh he repudiated , maintaining i that the people's representatives should ( guard the power now vested ia them, i with might and main. The Bill passed t in 188U gave additional representat ; on to , the South Island, and a promise was , given to those members who resisted its I passing that it should only continue m 7 force till December, 1887. As ParliaI ment expired by efflaxion of time on I August Gfch next, It would be necessary i to deal with tbe question. Although the r Houth may lose three members it would t be unfair to break faith with the North, i as a distinot pledge was given that any I inequalities m the representation between j the two islands would be fairly adjusted ; wh«n the time came. The present House j consisted of 95 members and the present population of tbe colony h 614,812. It ? might be said, and he was not prepared to i deuy the statement, that the basis of 3 representation w^aqulteoutof proportion to 1 thy population of BQe colony. In looking i over i ha representation of other oountrieß ' h f £'? l o < L tbafc Vlotoria » with a population J of 961,276, returned only 86 members to y the Lower House ; .Netherlands, with a population of 4,225,065, 86 members: Norway, population 1,9x0,000, 86 memr 1,027,16:?, 74 members. It would no c doubt be fonnd when the Krepseutation i- queitlon oame before the House that those ri uiembora who advocated a reduction m :, number of repreiemailves would be quite a willing to shed their brother* 1 blood bo ;, long as their own was spared, That wab c the difficulty which would be experienced. i He doubted very much if Ashburton aud - Wakanui would be content to be repres sented by only one member m thu House, s aud if tbe two distriotj were amalgamated 1 the member would have a very difficult 1 task to perform to fairly dtaobarge his a duty towards all parts of the district. The i pre3tnt baali of representation gave one r member for every 630? people, or every - 1427 electors, suraetbing like one memt>et » for every 3385 maleß m the colony, In , determining tha representation he though t a the fairest way would be to aettle it ov a b population basis leaving a margin of 1500 a oetwean the town and country districts r an oniug to tho scattered nature of th<i • population In the latter, It would ba unfair l to s»y that both town and country must ■ come up to the same number. jy_r Ivesa t said ho would »ike the meeting to give an J expression ot opinion at the close of his i address to guide him m caso any proposal 9 for tho reduction of the proaeut aum.et • of members cams before the House. r THB POBLIO ADVANCE-. BILL was introduced by tha late Mr James j Maoandrew, whose memory would long remain green m the mearta of all » thoae who had been associated with • him In publio or private life, and _ by whose death the agriculturists of r iNew Zealand had loet a valued friend and sympathiser. Mr Maoandrew busoeeded ia carrying the Beoond reading of J the Publio Advances Biil by 31 to 18 ? votes, m epite of the opposition of tbe Government, and had he been spared it was his determination to have tried to pass the Bill thia seesioa. The Bill pro- ' vided that the advances should be limited ■ to one-half the value of the land, und that , In no oaue should more than £2000 be advanced to any single individual or copartnership, and that the advances were to be made without cost to the borrowers. \ Persons who Lad had occasion to borrow would know what a saving that meant — 1 from £5 up to £20 for mortgage deeds. In Bhort, it provided machinery for the . landowner to take his deedi to the Land Heg is try office, and to receive debentures, . bearing interest convertible into Govern- , ment banknotes which were to be made , a legal tender. It would be remembered ; that he (Air Ivess) had been asked by the Colonial Land Association to take oharge of the Land Associations Bill. Prior to hia introducing it he convened a meeting of all members who were known to be m favor of 'oheap money," The Bill was generally disapproved of, being regarded aa unworkable, and he was rcoommended to withdraw It m favor of the late Mr Macindrew'e Bill. He communicated this to the Colonial Land Association, but they requested him to proceed with their meaiure for the purpose of eliciting the opinion of members of the House. He consequently Introduced the Bill, out with no favorable result, When Mr Macandrew's Bill came on for discussion the Premier made a vigorous speech, a»d It was made plain that the agriculturists of New Zsaland bad nothing to expect from the present Government m tho,. way of State, assistance. He (Mr Xvesa) pointed out that it wbb quiie as legitimate a function for the State to make advances to agriculturists as to transact Life Insurance, carry goods for a profit ov«-r the railways or to capital zj land purchased on the deferred payment system. He Instanced several countries where the piinciple was iv operation. Mr lvo»a said thai; to recapitulate the atgi.montß which he advanced >n favor of the Bill would an»wor no good purpose that evenlug, but as the agriculturists of the colony were be'njj weighed down with the excessive ra'e of interest, and as their industry was crippled m consequence, it wap to be hoped that they would band together at tbe noxt general election for the purpose of returniDg members who would look after their interests m the xloose. He found It once more necessary to apeak to them on the important subject of RAILWAY' MANAGKMKNT When th.9 present minister for Railways assumed office it was confidently expeoted that he would succeed m placing the rnilwnya of the colony on a better system than that on whioh they had been worked by bis predecessors, Messrs Johnuton and Mitchelson, whose management he (Mr Kiohardson) condemned In no meuaared terms. But he regretted to say that Mr Kichardson's management had been a signal failure. That gentleman evidently was r.nly second m command, and Mr Maxwell approved to be the sovereign head ci a department of whioh he should only be a subordinate. It would, doubtleiß, interest many to learn that there were 1613 mites of railway open m the colony, tho revenue accruing from which was £1,C47,41§. the expenftu ture being £600,000, giving a net revenue of £367,418 or only about 2$ per cent 00

the ooßfc. Although the railways hai been I extended and nanny lines oomp?e-ed the ! earnings had been atanciily decreasing. The railway >, bafore Blr Yliahar (son'-* neoond advent to office, paid 4 per cent ; 'hey had now comedown to £2 12s 61 i'lr Ivoss prooaeded to spoak at. aoma length regarding the reforms which hid : been promised ia ml way managemunt bat had never been efleoted. The Atkinson Government hid be«n turned out of office by the Canterbury members because of the unwarrantable Increase made ia the grain tariff on the era of harvest, but the railway administration of their luooesaorß was no better than theirs. The abolition of passenger return fares was a monatroas injustice to the travelling public, aod\; having had the effect of discouraging * people from using the railways, had seriously fcffaoted the revenue. Mr Iveas contrasted the railway management hero with that of Victoria, where every inducement wai held out to persons to utilise the railways, with the result that the lines were paying handsomely, and the people received great benefit from the w>se system adopted. The time had come when the necessities of the colony demanded that its railways should be p aoed under the management of Boards similar to that m existence m Victoria. THE RESUMPTION OP PRIVATE LANDS. Last session Sir George Grey intro luoed hla Lands fop Settlement Bill, which elicited a very friendly discussion at tho hande of members, but unfortunately owing to the ourtailmont of private mem bers dayß he did not seoure even its second reading. The time had now arrived when Government should say to the holders of large truota of valuable fertile country : " you must either cultivate your land or we will repurchase it from you at a fair mtrket price" It had been suggested by many persons that these large estates should be burst up by the imposition of a heavy land tax. That would practically mean confiscation and he would not be a party to such unfair legislation. The holder who purchased his laad under the laws of the country, and who was working that land to the best advantage, wa3 deserving of every o >nsideration. And he thought what he had previously Indicated was the only fair way of dealing with the question. As an example of the advantages of the subdivision of some of these large estates, he needed only to cite Lagmhor, a block of Borne 20,000 acres Were the Government to buy this estate at a fair market price from the owner and aubdividt it m o blooka of 200 acres each, 100 farmers could be profitably settelled upon it and as each family would probably average five that would mean 500 people helng settled upon the estate instead of as at present the manager— a very estimable gentleman— and the few single men employed as shepherds If the land throughout New Zealand were settled upon that principle the cry of the unemployed wauld soon pass away, and our villages would rapidly grow into towm and cities. The evil of which he Bpoke was of f«r greater magnitude doubtless than many of thoss present imagined. Last session Mr Steward, the member foe Waimate, made a commendable effort to induce the Govert ment to purohase a block cf land m the neighborhood of the township of Wainute for the purpose of a Village Settlement, but owing to the proposal being restricted to a particular locality it fell through. it was said however that the Minister of Lands intended embodying the principle m a Bill to apply to the whole colony. The advantages of the Vnlage Settlement System were already being made manifest m Ashbnrtrm, through the nuclens of a thriving settlement whioh had lately been established m tha vicinity of the town. This class of settlement wou'd help on the colony bj increasing tha population and creating more shoul 'era to bear the burden of taxation. The administration of the lands of the oolony w*s m the h*nds of a most painstaking Minister. The progress made m ngrlcul tu r e In No* Zaaland had been of a moat rapid ob.aract.or, and it would doub lesß surprise many to learn that one m ever? j five of the adult male population was pos sefssd of a permanent stake m the c untry. The namber of holdinga of one acre and upwards of cultivated land exclusive of gardens attached to reßi deuces and native holdings had laoreased from 20 519 m 1878 to 31,767 m Maroh 1886 ' The exports of agiicultnral and farm produce had Increased enormously being £262,930 In 1875 and £1,735;335 m 1885.

REFORM OP THE UPPER H'USB. Mr Ivesß said the present Government, m spite of the promise made by it on entering into office to reform the Legislative Council, had giade more additions to that body than any previous Ministry. To a certain extent this was justifiable, for the Government at the commencement of its career had just a bare work ing majority m the House, and It was but riciht that the Ministry should strengthen its position. He held, however, that when the opportunity arrived for the application of the promised Reforms the Government should have kept faith with the Bouse and the country, and this they had not done. The question wonld, no doubt, be trotted out a^ain at the general election to serve the purpose of a stalking horse, and it behoved the people not to be hoodwinked again.

LOCAL INDUSTRIES. It was of course admitted on a'l hands that we must have local industries, but capitalists wore not likely to invest their capital therein unless they saw some prospect of securing a reasonable return for their rooney. Custrns duties, which m the present state of the oolony were a necessary evil, h,e held should be adjusted from time to time, with a view to affording protection to articles manufactured m the colony He entirely disagreed with the absurd request made to the Colonial Treasurer the other day by the bootmakers' Association that the duty on imported boots and shoes should be raised to 30 per cent., and one. of the fading boot manufacturers of the colony had told him that: such drastic protection wns not needed : that a duty of ;16£ per cent, was all that was necessary.

1 THE EAST AND WEST COABT RAILWAY. This work, after some little delay, m order that certain amendments m the conditions nnder which the company waß to construct the line might bo made, waa now fairly commenced, and Lh had no donM that the £150,000 stipulated to bo spent < efore Ju y would be expended by that time. Although it might take seme time for Canterbury to reap any immediate benefit from the work, he felt that m the end very substantial and enduring benefits would flow from ihis important undertaking. THE ELECTORAL LAWS. He regretted that some Registration Officers wore not fulfilling their duties as they should. He had known instances m this district where objections had been served upon persons still res dent, but who, m consequence of the distance the; lived from town, wero precluded from coming and defending their rights, the result being that thoir names had been struck iff i he r»U. The ltegistration l fßcer, before issuing an objection, should satisfy himself that the Information whioh had been tendered to him was" correct. fie thought i hat if the Act were amended so an to enable an elector to recover oosta against an objector, m the event of the objectiou not heinjj susfftiufd by the Court, bonafide electors would not bo troubl d m the mtwiuer oomplatued of. He had been told ihtta large number of person? had had their names struct off the roll within, the lust few months. If any person who had been unfairly deprived of his ele<2- --[ toral privileges would sea him he (Mr Ivese) would guarantee that his name should 'be reinstated on ths coll without

THE POSITION OF THE GOVERNMBNT was anything but strong m the House, bub at iheatme tima, it was unavailable til* after the next general election. Hf> confnsied that; tholr two years administration h;»d not oume up to the people's expeotationa, and if they wished to reserve a contmannoe of the support < f the p-irty whloh had so loyally upheld them they would have - to go m fur a reconstruction. He had often thought that it was not wise, In the interests of any country, topermit any set of Minister! to remain m office for too long a period. New Miaiaters were generally found very attentive to the representations of their supporters, bat as time wore on they begin to show a careless indifference to the representations of their friends, proferlng to grant aoy request an opponent may politely prerer with a hope, probably, of enlisting his support. The oolony , might well ba proud of its Pcamier, who would be an ornament to any Legislative Aaiutnbly m the world. He was possessed of rare talent and was full of sympathy with the people. Although the Premier delighted to Btyle himself a Radical and a Democrat, he (Mr Ivess) regretted to remark that office and the distinctions which had recently been deservedly co deferred upon him had worked — unconsciously no doubt — a great ohange m the views onoe held and courageously adveoated by the peoples' Ciampion Sir Robert Stout. The Hon John Ballance had suooeeded m making a wonderful change m Native affairs, and m bringing the two races under one law, removing that blot from the Statute book whioh gave power to detain the Maori lawbceakera In prieon for an indefinite period without trial. The way Mr Ballance had succeeded m Hberalising the laod laws of the oolony redounded m the utmost degree to his oredit. The Infirmity from whioh Sir J Yogel Buffered sadly mlllltated against the good work he otherwise might do. He m some measure lost the inflaenoe whioh attached to him a few years ago when people Beamed to think he had a magic wand, a wave of which would dispel the depression. He was loyal to his friends and what he promised was sure to be fulfilled. CONCLUSION. Mr Ivesa, m the course of his con* eluding remarks, expressed a hope that hia services had met with favor m the eyes of his constituents. He bad frequently been informed that it was his intention to Atand for atiotber constituency at the tooxt general electioD, and he took the present opportunity of denying that statement. He never ever for a moment entertained such an idea^ Believing that he had served the ejectors of Wakanui faithfully la the past and, that he still poaiesaed their confidence he purposed "offering himself to t-iem, if the electorate should be maintained, against aU. corners. Before sitting down ha would like to say that upon every occasion he sought the assistance of Mesara Walker and Steward i i regard to questions affaoting his constituents' welfare those gentlemen most cordially gave their cooperation. Mr Ivess having ann6unced his readiness to answer acy questions, oonoluded his apeeoh amidst loud applause. A number of questions having lpeen put and answered, a vote of thankß and confidence to Mr Ivess waa unanimously carried upon the motion of Mr Protheroe, seconded by Mr Venablea.

A vote of thanks to the chair brought the proceedings to a close.