PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1541, 25 April 1887, Page 2

PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

— ♦ MR WALKER AT METHVEN. On Saturday evening, Mr W 0. Walker, M.H. K. for the A-hburton district addressod his constituents m the Methven schoolhouse There was a fair attendance and the chair was takeu by Mr Julian Jackson. I The chairman m introducing the speaker ( Said he had much pleasure m again beins? . culled upon to preside at Mr Walker's meeting. He was sorry the attendance wan not larger, but that it was not so was no doubt due m great measure to tbo prasent fiat condition of politics. Mr Walker had thought fit this time to make t bis opening address m the former strong- > hold of hifc political opponents, but those Btrong political opponents had m consequent of the benefits he had secured for the distriot been converted into Btrong political supporters. Mr Walker, who was receiveJ with applause, said that ho felt flattered at the kindly introduction accorded him by Mr Jackson. With the Chairman he regretted that there were not more of the electors present, as it was the highest satisfaction to a representative to meet as many of his constituents as possible, as it was only by being m touchj as it were, with them that he could be assured ot doing m Parliament that which was acceptable to them. The House met next week to begin another session, and though perhaps it was more interesting to look forward than to look back, it was necessary to refer to some of the ocourrenceß of the past. It was with regret that he mentioned the number of deaths of members that had taken place Bince last fesßibn, many of the deceased gentlemen being men of useful and special missions Mr Coster, the late member' for Heathcote, and who had long been asxoc'ated with tbe distriot, was one of those whom death had summoned away, and also by a strange coincidence Mr James Macandrew, for if the former had sacrificed a long life m the service of the New Zealand Shipping Company, Mr Macandrew was the fist to prophesy that a direct steam service with the Old Country was a necessity to the colony, and manfully devoted his energies to secure that consummation. Last session ■aw a good record as far as the number of ACT 3 PASSED was concerned. The Counties and Municipal Corporations Ac s were only consolidation measures. Last session saw the conclusion* of the Acts authorising the construction of the Midland Kail way. He trusted that work would prove the commencement of real prosperity m connection with the districts to be opened up by it. Of course the Canterbury members who fought for the inauguration of the work had to face many objections advanced against it. The chief was that they were sacrificing wrongly a great estate to private persona. The circura stances were strong y against the objectors m that case. The so-called eatate m its present condition, was a barren waste, and of about as much use to New Zealand as if it were a thousand miles away. If by its being opened up by the railway it became a source of wealth, and the homes of thriving Bettlera and flourishing industries were disposed aleng the route, the colony would be the gainer by the transaction. It was impossible for the Company to hold the land except to part with it. It was of no use to them unless occupied, m the same manner as it was of no use to the colony now, and he believed it was part of the scheme of the Company to settle people upon the land who would open up its many resources Another reason why the work was important waß that the present condition of the colony prevents any large recourse to borrowing ia the immediate future. This railway was the completion of the series of trunk lines required to open up the country, and the colony had been freed from th« necessity of borrowing for it. To take the place, of the Roads and Bridges Construction Act the LOCAL BODIES LOANS ACT. And the Government Loans to Local Bodies Act had been passed and both were likely to prove of use m the matter of enabling local bodies to borrow on reasonable term*. The GOVBHUMGNTLIPa INSUEtANOE ASSOCIATION' After a short trial and npou receiving the report of a Committee appointed for the purpose of inquiring into the question, Parliament had determined to pat an end to the system of independant management and the control of the department had therefore reverted to Government. There was tome importance attached to this, as ii waß the firßt trial within the colony of management of a public department by a non-polUio*l Board and as the advisableness of handing our railways over to such a body was now receiving much attention, it was a matter of regret thai; the first attempt should be a failnre He did not think that it cculd be shown that it was a failure m Itself. The faults, it is probable, were enly those of inexperience. There were so many difficulties among the members of the Board and bo many charges apalnst Government of manupolating the representation that the mem bers were glad to hand over the control to Government again. CHARITABLE AID, With regard to this matter, Mr Walker said that he, and those who worked with him, had met with a disappointment m being unable to obtain the separation of this oounty from the reafc of the North Canterbury District for the purpose of the administration, of Charitable Aid, They did all they could to gain this desired end but they did not auceed, and this matter remained m the same unsatisfactory condition as heretofore. He needed not to say that no exertion on his part would be spared to gain the separation which this district required. It wbb satisfactory to note, however, that tho Act was begloing to bear fruit, and that the administration m Ohriatohurch waß becoming more economical, but stIH, as a matter of principle, they were not Batlsfied with matters as they at present stood, and he would do his best to obtain separation. Another Important question was that of the basis of contribution. Should it be according to rateable value or based upon tho property tax? The country now paid mare m proportion than the towns, bat if the basis were the property tax all olaases of the population wou'.d be called upon to contribute, and the tax <*ou)d not be solely levied on real estate as at present, The proportion contributed by town and country would by this means be much altered and the system would be fairer m Us operation. A proposition embodying this principle was brought forward but effect was not given to It iv the Bill. The question, however, was one that would have to be settled m the future, EBPRESENTATION, The present Representation Act expired m December and It was, therefore, necessary to pass another Bill, which would probably have the census taken i l»et year as the basis of representation. Of course m a colony like this 'there were ebbs and flows of population and dlatrlota which were newly settled when the last census was made were now populous, and. what were thriving goldfields then, have now lost half their inhabitants. It was therefore quite fair that readjustment of representation . hould from time to time b* made, and that was why the preieat Aot whs framed to expire this yeijr, so that Pn liimen might make suoh ag were necessary. It was attempted to paps a Bill last session, but many felt It wai inexpedient then as tho requisite infoTna. tou was hardly ready and besides as It was mainly the Opposition who favured tho pftsaiug of the Bill at that time a certain amount of suspicion attached to their motive?, The #om would thtve

1 fore have to consider the measure this sesßion, and they were promised that they would have it down almost as soin as they met. With regard to the bam upon whiob the representation should be founded — was popn!a'ion ; pare and simple, to be that oasis ? This would throw a great deal more representation m o the towns than they at present enj y. It was felt that m the towns there were uot bo many bread-winners m proportion to population aa m the oountry - hit there were more drones lv the towns— aud therefore the oountry was entitled to a greater share of representation than would be the caee upon a strict population basis. Then again the population of the towns was swelled by a great number of families I; whose bread-winners earned the where* withal to support them m the oosatry. The interests m the towns were muob more oompaot and united. It did'nt matter whether the town was one mile or five miles m area ; the interests were the same. But ia the oountry, there were so many conflicting and contending interests that m many oasea of the representation were apportioned on the same basis ai m town it would be impossible to find a man able to represent all clauses. For these reasons It was only fair to allow a concession to thfcountry, and he believed that m the new Bill such a concession had been made. Another point was the number of representatives, Was that number to be reducad m the new Bill. One or cha moat vital questions this yeir wai rettenohmant ; and how it was to be brought about. It : had been asked should not retrenchment ; commence by members making a saorifioo themselves. There waß a certain amount \ 1 of reason m this but he thought the arguments which could be advanced against; any reduotlon being made were | Itrong. He found that the great amount '< of time taken up m m Parliament m ' speaking— much of it useleea speaking, he 1 was Borry to say — was taken up by a 1 small section of the members. If any- ■ thing to keep out these members could be ' devißed they might hope to shorten che • sessions of Parliament but uufortunate'y ■■ as they were almost sure to be returned I to a new Parliament it was useless to talk • of reduolng time no matter how sma 1 > the Parliament might be, In point of i fact the average duration of sessions now f wan less than before the increase of the number of n»embera to 95. Before 1881, • when tha increase was made the average • duration was 117 das a ; since then it has > been 102, thuß showing that a decrease • m number of merabera of the House, did ) not mean a corresponding decrease m • the amount of talk. Then again m a ■ a small House the dangerous member who r aits on a rail had more chance of mischief. > i la a small House it was possible for two 1 > or three men to tun out a Ministry • and make their own terms. For these t reasons he would vote agaicst reducing t the number of members. The next queshe would consider was that of J BAIWAY MANAGEMENT. J and how important it waß, was felt by \ j M.lnlßters themselves, the Minister for Public Works when before his constituents the other day, making as it were an apoD lofey. The Minister folly felt the " fierce light " that beat upon bis department and the interest tha publio took m it, and he > endeavored to set before his constituents 1 the difficulties a Minister had to face. J Ha had to consider the question of net ; revenue, which was one not to be trifi d with and on the other hand the public were tr> ing to get reductions and concessions which they thought reasonable enought, but which were matteri of serious consideration to the Minister. As far as he could see, and he had had considerable dealitig3 with the department of late, the ocoaulon for the complaints now levelled against the railway imnegemont arose from the attitude the department had got into. Thty forgot that the public were the owners of the railways— shareholders as it were— and to treat them as Bhareholdern, managing tho railways for them, taring them into their co: 6dence am mutual trust. Whether the heads of the department were conscious of the at*te of matters that existed he did not know, but they seemed to resent all suggestions aB if coming from epemioa. He gave them credit for the work they performed and he supposed they did not realise their attitude and how it w=»b regarded by the public, but hn felt that the reaaou of the Btrained relations was as he had suggested. Anything that could aofuvu Ihoue teMkns and anything that would disabuse the minds of the Minister and his subordinates of the idea that the people who were using the railway were hostile would do good. In regard to the assertion, oft repeated, that oar railways should be managed on commercial principle, he had always held that till they were bo they would no. be of so muc service as they might be. This was one reason he had always supported the eetabllshment of a non-political board of management. It was simply waste of time to go on advat.oing arguments m support of this the thing was self evident. They had the example of the neighboring colony of Victoria and also the fact that New South Wales contemplated establishing a similar Board as soon as the neoeßtary change could be effected. The reasons m favor of the establishment of such Boards were conclusive to his mind but there were aome men even m Parliament who professed that they did not see these, and he could therefore understand the fact of the Minister dropping the question of a non-polilical Board. The Minister promised on going -into office that ir would be cne of the firat quentions dealt with and he had been attacked m coneequence of his not having carried his promise out. The Minister retortad that it waa of do use his trying and he (Mr Walker) could bear him ont m this because there were so many objections that there was no chance m years paßt of the pro poßal befog carried. There were mary members, some of them leaders m tho House whe felt thut the railways of the colony formed a gignntio mcnoplj which ihould not therefore he taken out of the control of Parliament. Ihey Daw that m other countries the railways were being bought up by Government m order to savo the country from a big monopoly whioh strangled its best interests. In England were it not for the enormous amount of mosey that would be required there would be a strong feeling that Government ought to secure the railways m the same manner that it did the telegraphs. This was one of tho reasons advanced egaipst handing over our railways to a non-political Board j there were others but they were not worthy of consideration. He admitted that the one he had juat referred to waß statesmanlike and deserved to bo carefully weighed, though he was confident that to make our railways of ihe utmost advantage they should be banded over to a Board. One matter the Minister for Railways coold olaim credit for, m addressing a Canterbury audience and that was that this Government had been very liberal In reducing the tariff on agricultural prqduce strictly ose of the moßt paying items as far as regarded the railways. Last year when the harvest was short, tbe revenue fell off. This year when the harvest was larger it was expected to make an increase m the revenue thus showing the value agricultural produce wai to the vail ways. It was only fair to atate that the Minister fyad assisted to bring down these charges nearly at low as ityey had ever been thuo giviDg a« much fair play tn the agriculturists as he o >uld He now Game to the administration of waste lands and the questions cqaneoted with T LAND SKSTTLUMEM. Everybody must admit thnt no one had worked harder than Mr Bailaooo m ploacing as many people under aa favorable conditions as ha could upon the land. He would chow a large reoord at the end of the year but Bu,oh a yacord would; only

be a good one wero the settlers to turn out Buooeesful. We would only be m a worse position than before if at the end of a few years these nnn whom wo have placed on the laada of the colony were to oouietotheMlmeierforLnndaandßiy "We cannot make bot t enda meet. We want f> steamer to take us away again from the i oountry." Of oourse he trusted that 1 nothing of that sort would occur and thai proper care had been taken m selecting a suitable olass of men and that proper land for tho purposes of settlements had > been chosen. Both these points wert > important ones It waa Impossible to make every man a farmer and no man 1 ouuld suoceed on barren land, but if each i of these matters has been well attended to Air Ballance'a administration would result m lasting benefit to the country. It wai 1 a matter for regret that the waste land , ' within this oounty was not only limited > but of bad quality— and It was difficult > to fiud aay places to settle families > upon. Soma few settlements had bean ! made, and he trusted the families would > not be disappointed. If the irrigation ) experiment proved successful the Minister ■ would be enabled to go to work with, t greater confidence m settling families > upon the publio land of this oounty. < Many of them would doubtless remembee r Sir George Grey m his speech m Ashbur- . ton about a year "ago, drawing a pioture l of the wonderful results of irrigation he 3 had seen m different countries. Since t then he (Me Walker) had seen a letter t from an old Canterbury settler deiorlbing t what had been brought about by means of fc irrigation on the plaius of Lombardy, a The writer asserted that the bulk of the t ! land m Lombardy was no better thin that b on the Rangitata plain. If that were so i and the same results were obtainable here a this part of the oountry would m the t future be specially suitable for the small 3 settler's home. There was another point. * m connection with land administration a and that was the question of LAUD EESDMPTION, c which Mr Ballance had promised to '"' 6 bring before the House m a Bill. It y was rather difficult to oritiolse a Bill d which one had not seen and m this £ particular instance, a though there had 1 been a great deal of surmise and quasi— lf inspired newspaper correspondence, It was » Impossible to say what its provisions o really were. Therefore he had ooniide?- --•> able difficulty m speaking on the subject . s as perhaps Mr Ballance really had not ■a the intentions attributed to him; The * principle of resuming land for State purd posea was a sound one. It was perfeotly n right and proper for the State to acquire a land it wanted on reasonable compensa- ° tion being made to the owners. The prac* '• tico obtained m nearly all oivllised 0 countries, and the principle was embodied 7 m our Publio Works Act. lv regard to © land being acquired for settlement purS poaeß the position at present was this : * Section 168 of the Land Aot of 1885 set forth. " When it shall be made to appear to him [the Minister] that it is desirable pv to establish a village settlement m any ' r locality m which there is no Orown land B available for the purpose it shall be lair* . ful for the Minlatar on the recommendsj tion of the Board to enter into an agree* J ment or agreements with any owner or 3 owners for the purch&so by the Orown a of any block or blocks of land not ex* . coeding m each locality the area of one t thousand acres; provided always that 1 every such agreement shall be laid before - a Parliament witbin ten days of the com* s mencament of the session next sucoeed- , ing the date thereof and shall have no . forca or effect unless and until approved 9 of by resolution of both houses of Parliaa ment." That waß the law as it stood at o present bub it had proved virtually inoperative and it was believed Mr Ball* anca'a Bill provided machinery for carrying out such resumption. They had been various Burmises as to other provisions of the Bill but whether they were well founded or not he did cot know. One was that the matter should ba compulsory on the landowner. If the necessity for this had arisen It would be right enough but he did not think it had at thia time of d-.y. Another alleged provision of the Bill waa that 1000 acres around the home* Btead should be reserved from the operation of the Act— or by a side wind introducing limitation of estates. No one could be more convinced than he was of the evil reanltant on large estates being s> majority m a country but m N»w Z athete was nothing of the sort, la most cases owners pt large estates would be only too glad to sell them and it was pro* bable that with people who did not wsnt to sell their properties would be bunt up by their successors. He did not think any necessity had arisen for limitation and if the matter were seriously considered it would result m a depredation of our securities, that would make itself severely fell by all classes of the community, perhaps more so by the^ small holder than the large one; He trusted, therefore, that m the interests of ail we would hear no more of this matter Another of the questions was the , CONDITION OF TENURE; was it to be perpetual leasehold 1 Theorists, and with them some of the Ministers preferred the perpetual leasing system. He might be oldfaihioned, but he thought that there was no tenure to equal to the freehold. He believed — and he was speak* ing to aa audience who had a special knowledge of the subject— that ho w*.u right m saying that there was no man who could Btand the vioisitudes of an agricultural life and tide through bad seasons better than the man who owned his own farm and who was Bettled upon it and no one worse than the tenant, who bad generally a stiff rent to pay. He main* talned that a oountry m which freeholds predominated was better off than one m which leaseholds were m the majority. However, they had got the leasehold system here and perhaps never would get rid of it. They had large reserves for varioua purposes, and these could only be farmed on the leasehold principle. Therefore, he wai glad to see ' that an endeavor would be made to siaoure an equitable arrangement m regard to rent. Last year, whan addressing a Methven audience, he had referred to the Scotch Fiars Courts, an adoption of whioh he considered would secure a fair adjustment of rents, and an artiole he saw m » Scotch papar the other day considering how the matter would aot m regard to the land question m Ireland might prove of Interest, The writer Baid " , . . , , Now the question arises how could this state of things have been foreeea and prevented ? The idea of paying a fixed rent for fifteen years under such a vacillating and general lowering of prioes as we have lately experienced is what every tenant should be very chary of entertaining ; and a very simple olauee m tht Land Aot might have' been of immense value m fixing the judicial rents. I refet to the piyment of rents by the "fiars " prioes. The •'fiars," or average prioes m Scotland, are the prioes of the different kinds of grain of the growth of eaoh oounVy for the preceding crop, as fixed by the sentenoo of the Sheriff, prooeading on the report of a jury summoned for the purpose, before whom the evidenoe of the sales of farmers and c^rndealers i» produced- The values thus ascertained bec«rne a rule for ascertaining the prioea of grain m contracts where they are nos fixed by the parties, and also m m»ny )urts of Scotland th,e rent of lanty is determined each year by the "fUrs" prioea. I need not here enter into a detailed aooount of the working of this system ; but it bears on its face the impress of fairness, that when the price of grain is low t*>e renh should follow, and alao converßcly. I will only add that oOLisklerable care is required m adjusting the startling point from whioh the oaloula* tion is made, aa it is this point tbtt virtually ases the rent, flqoluitfng with.

tho Annual variation In the prhea determined by the "Fiar'a Court." The " writer then gives an illustration — " The itarMng point is first dottrm'ned : thus, If we suppose the price of a bushel of •&0h of the three cereals, wheat, b.rioy, and oata to amount to 9s than the rort ti to be a certain mm per nore which fluotuatea with the fiara prices thns : — s. d. In 1881 the price of an imp. bushel of wheat was „ .... ..5 8 In 1631 the price of an imp. bußhel of barley was . . „ . . ..46 tQ 1681 the price of an imp. bushel of oata was ,« 3 0 For the three bushels .. 13 2 In 1885 the price of an imp. bushel of wheat was .. .. .. ..3 6 In 1885 the price of an imp. bushel of barley was .. 210 In 1885 tbe price of an imp. bushel of oatswaß „ 2 2 For the three bushels . . 8 6 So that if a rent had been calculated by the L»nd Court In 1881 at 18* 2d for the prloe of a bushel of the three cereals, it woild hare been calculated In 1885 at 8b 6d, or a redaction of about 35 per cant. To gnard against extreme flactuitions it is • f e to fix maximum and mini* mam pointa m the rents In like manter Where rents are paid on land m bultt-r producing counties the same principle might be adopted, and co with young •took on the secondary olasa of land as well en with fat stock on tbe better pastures." He (Mr Walker) thought tbat the quotation showed pretty clearly what was meant by a Court to settle the rent to be' paid each year, and he was glad to ace that tbe matter had been taken up by other and more able hands than hla. Major Atkinson — who, by -the- way, believed m leasehold tenure — said m his speech to bis constituents at Hawera reoently that the first question was to ccc that the tenure was of a fair description to the tenant. He (Mr Walker) felt aure that if something m this direotion were ■ot done there was no qoeßtion bat tha:, the freehold system was the preferable one. If tben tbe supporters of the leasehold tenure wished to succeed they mu«t see that it was fair to both parties. In conclusion the queitlon which would have to be settlad Immediately, and eatiafao* torily If possible, waa that nf meeting tbe DEFICIT Itf THE EEVENUJS; H« was satisfied that members of both ltdei of the House, if the professions nadt m their speeches were to be relied upon, wished to treat the matter m an open and honest way and do their level best for the good of the country. All were agretd on two things: There must be no more borrowing thiß year, borrowing m the future must be limited, and only for suoh works as were remunerative, and that retrenchment was not only possible but must be praotiaed. Both these matters had been referred to before by members when on the platform, but when ia the Houss their promises were thrown to the winds. He slnoerely trusted that suoh would not be the oaae thla ytar, and that the state of the finances of the country would present itself so convincingly to members that they would recognise the urgent necessity of doing now what they had disregarded before, As to how the deficit was to be made up, Ministers had given no indication. Be would assist m doing nothing but that whioh he oould see would be fair to all otasies of the community. He hoped that Ministers would be able by retrer Cement and Increased railway revenue to see their way to nearly meeting it, and that the readjustment of certain items of the tariff might make up the rest. It was Useless at this time for ua ia New Zealand to say that we could be anything but moderate protectionists, as the country oould not afford to relinquish iha revenue derivable from tbe Customs tarlfl. Mr Walker concluded by thanking the audienoe for the kind manner m whioh they had received him and expressed hfs willingness to answer any questions those present might desire to put to him. A few quentloDß having been asked and Answered, a vote of thanks and confidence*, proposed by Mr G. H, Alington, and i seoooded by Mr D. Cameron (Springfield), Was unanimously carried, and the customary oompllment to tbe chair brought the meeting to a close. .