MR J. BROWN AT THE ODDFELLOWS' HALL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1652, 2 September 1887, Page 2

MR J. BROWN AT THE ODDFELLOWS' HALL.

Laot evening Mr Jas. Brown addressed ] a meeting of the electors of the Rangitata ' dißtriot m the Oddfellows Hall. The bail ' was well filled and the Mayor occupied ' the ohair. • ( ! The Mayor briefly introduced the ' speaker, 1 Mr Brown who wag received with ap- 1 plause said that he had come before them ' as an elector, as a farmer and as a colonist of many years' standing. Hla politioal ideas were the result of his own thought an : observation. As the head of a large family he had had considerable experience of the educational system about which he Intended to give them his views that • evening ; and he was m auch a position that he could afford to Bay what he thought about the political position. He waß very much pleased to see that politicians were getting more numerous every day. It was a very good sign, although these pollcicauß as such were m various stages of growth. Whether he had arrived at a atate of perfection as regarded bis abliity to render his services to the public it <ras not for him to say ; that was a matter for them to judge. As he wished to place before thorn the necessity for RETRENCHMENT, He would first bring them face to face with the national debt. Thii was according to the last Financial Statement £37,558,000 bat from that amount had to be deducted the accrued linking fand amounting to £3,366,000, the total being £34,192,000, or m other words £58 per head of the population of the colony. Before he looked into the matter for himself he had from what he read and heard, been led to believe that the country was m a bad ■tale and was going headlong to ruin. The result of his investigations was that he had come to the conclusion that the state of affairs was not so bad as It had been made to app9ar. He found that the amount of interest — the annual charges that they had to pay —was £1,727,000. aad after paying these annual charges there was a deficiency of about £97,000 between the receipts and the expenditure. Now if they made up that deficiency and stopped borrowing, he though that all would be right. Mr Brown alluded to the deficiency on the estimates and said with regard to the deficiency m the beer duty that it showed that there had been a very considerable Improvement ia the habits of the people which mutt be taken as a very satisfactory sign, In regard to the imports and exports of the colony, he quoted official statistics showing that the imports had decreased while the exports had increased. This was a very satisfactory sign and he would like to see the exports equal the Imports. A great deal had been said about the proposed INCREASED TAXATION. The Opposition had objected very ■trongly to any increase. jNow It had Appeared neoessary to the Government m order to place the finances of tho colooy upon a sound footing, that there should either be au increase of taxation or very severe retrenchment. He w&b of opinion that the retrenchment which would have been neoessary, was so severe that neither the present nor any other Government would have been justified m undertaking It without having firat appealed \o the country on the question. He also thought that the Opposition, under the olroumatanoes had done nothing more than their duty, Although the proposed TABIFF. Wae not entirely satisfactory it was as near the mark as it well could be. One itom he objected to was the large duty on boots. The increase wbb to 20 per cent, Snoh a duty would tell severely npon every poor man with a large family. A good deal had fceen ra'd upoo the proposed increase of the tariff. The Chambers of Oommeroe at Dnnedin, Auckland and Obristohuroh had held meetings and had tried to influence the Government m the matter. They bad propoeed that the Government should Impose extra duties on " tea, sugar, spirits tobacco and other luxuries." Now It appeared to him that tea and sugar were no longer luxuries but were necessaries, snd he thought he cou'd show that m this matter the Chambers of Oommeroe were actuated by selfish interests mine than with a regard to the interests of the country. During the three weeks before the proposal of the increased tariff was brought down tea to the value of £15,000 and sugar to the value of £12,000 were withdrawn from the Customs. This showed an enormous increase upon any other period of the year, and he thought that it was perfectly clear that the people who had drawn these Articles expected to make their fortunes, or at any rate, verj large sums out of the transaction, but as the sequel proved they had been disappointed and they were all now on the Op. position side and entertained no friendly feelings towards the Government. That showed them the patriotism of the Chambere of Commerce. The Government had been accused of extravagance and of not having effected. RETRENCHMENT. He noticed that the Premier had stated that when he took office m 1881, the field force was 463 men costing £60,000. The number was now 346 and a saving of £13,003 had been effected. He thought that that wan retrenchment and that the Government deserved credit for it. The Government had stated that they could effect further retrenohent to the extent of £100,000. He had no doubt that they could do this ; but as he had said before they would not have been justified m institutiog suoh severe retrenchment without taking the voioe of the country on the matter Then again there was the Minister of Public Works Statement. This showed that although 250 additional miles of railway had been opened and 53 additional stations erected, the cost had been very little inoreased. Mr Brown quoted figures on this point and also oalled attention to the great Increase there bad been m the amount of farm stock carried on the railways, He considered that the present Minister of Public Works deserved great credit for the way m which the railways were managed, and he said that he had never known a time when there was loss grumbling than there pas now among the farmers m regard to the Railway management. A great deal had been said on this matter of RAILWAY MANAGEMENT And bo had noticed that a great many candidates had expressed themselves' m favor of non-political Boards. He did not exactly know the duties which it was proposed to assign to these Boards, but he supposed that they were to manage the railways on what were known as commercial principles. Now his experience of commercially managed conoerns was that they tried to squeeze as much out qt the publio or out of private individuals as they possibly could and he was very suspicions that that was the way In which these proposed $oards \youltj manage our railways. Before ho would be preparod to give nff sanction to the gemstitutlon of such Boards, he would want to know a little more about them j and as matters as present stood, he much preferred Mr Richardson having charge of the railways. It Jiad been said that these Boards were a success ia Victoria, bat there was a great doal of difference between Viotorla and this poultry, and he thought that it was vary questionable whether Boards would answer here. While, however, he did not think it advisable at present to have a ohange In the management of the railways he thought jyhafc it would be as well to reduce the tariff and faveo eg much as possible. Be did not look upon the call^yg ag a Woollen Factory or elinlUr money making concern, as something that should return a certain interest on the money expended. He reftrrtd to the itatement of B|r Juitps

Yogel that the railways ware the great ■ < public highways end similar to the ' ordinary roads A great deal of money ] was expended on the roads but no one i looked for a return from them, and he i thought that It should be something the same with the railways. He did not say that the latter should be free, bat he did ■ not think they Bhould insist on their ! paying 4 or 5 par cent, A reduced \ tariff, even if It did not lead to ' more revenue being yielded by the rail- 1 ways would benefit the people indirectly. 1 He compared the present Government's • management of the railways with that of , the Atkinson Government, and drew attention to what was likely -to happen, should an Opposition administration get into power again. Major Atkiosoo m a recent speech atHwern had unmistakably stated that his Government had made £40,000 out of the Canterbury farmers, then they found Mr Hursthouae when addressing his constituents saying that the revenue might ba raised to the extent of £80,030 by increasin » the tariff. Theae were the views of members of the Opposition, and the farmers of Canterbury, knew what they might expect did the Opposition get into power. Mr Brown reiterated his opinion that It would be good policy to reduce the railway rates as low as poasible, booause by the benefits it would afford, If we lost on the railways, we would be better able to make up this loss some other way. TH9 ©OVJBBM4BHT. He was a aupp rter of the present Government. He had faith m them and he believed that they were tha boat Government that they ever had m New Zealand. They were most certainly a Government that had the Intercut) of the people at heart, and they therefore deserved the confidence and support of the country, BALABIES Thero was any amount of room for retrenchment In the Civil Service. The amount of salary received by the higher paid Civil Servants was, from the woiking man's point of view enormous, and he thought that the state of afiii a was tucb that it should be put a atop to. The Speaker of the Legislative Council received £600 a year, the Speaker of the House of Representatives £6 JO, and the Chairman of Commlteea £400. These salaries were fixed by statute, but the recipients were able, (it was publicly stated by a member of. the House, who was m the position to know) by a aott of "h'noodling" to materially Increase them. Mr Brown alluded to Acts passed In former years, fixing the salaries of the higher Civil Servants, and against theße he compared the Civil Service Reform Aot oarrled by the Government m 1886. This latter was, he said, a moat beneficial measure to thj country. Under the Civil Service Aot of 1866, a Civil Servant was entitled, after serving ten years, to a year's holiday on half pay and after serving a certain number of years to a re irlog allowance. The civil servants enjoying this latter privilege did not, however, always retire and the anomaly was effordod of a man drawing both sala r y and retiring allowance. He oompared the lot of theae Civil Servants with that of the farmer and farm laborer. The former were able to continue m their office till old meo, but the farmer who had to knock about m the broiling sun and m the wee of wiuter, laid up the seeds of rheumatism for his old age, when he received no pension, as did those more fortunate individuals who had had a so rauoh happier lot during their prime. Since 1880 the colony had been paying pensions to those gentlemen engaged uuder the Civil Servioa Act of 1866 to the tune 0f£9.693 a year or over £67,000 In all. He thought that it was no wonder that the ratepayers obJ3cted to snoh a state of things as thla. The Civil Service Reform Aot passed by the present Government put matters on a differed t footing. That Aot provided that all future appointments t) the Civil Service should, be through competitive eliminations, and not rest as formerly m the hands of the Mlnistars of the day ; every youth In the colony thus having a chance to enter the Service If he wished. The Aot further provided that every Civil Servant should be a monthly servant, and that m place of the years ahrcnoe on half pay allowed by the Act of 1886 only three months should be allowed. Briefly the Aot pabied by the preeent Government pat tbo Civil Servants on the same footing with other classes of clerks, and It was only right that this should be bo. It had now passed into law that; no man could join the police unless ha had passed an examination equal to that of the fourth Standard, and they c mid, therefore, lc ok for an improvement In the status of tha men composing the force. Another excellent measure which had been passed by the Government was the MUST OFFERERS FBOBATION AOI. He briefly explained the objects and scope of this Act, and characterised it as a most benign inoasure, Riving persons who had made a slip a chance to reform, LOANS TO LOCAL BODIES. They had heard a groat deal about the sul jact of cheap money. The Government Loanß to Local Bodies Aot, one of the measures the present Ministry had passed, was an Aot which provided for the obtaining of oheap money, though not by individuals but by local bodies. This Aot would, he was convinced, be of groat benefit to the colony, because no public money went further than that of which the administration was m the hands of local bodies. The Government which had passed all these useful measures deserved the inpport of the country. It was noteworthy that the Opposition m all its attaoki on the Ministry had refrained from referring to these measures, whioh would, however, be of the greatest benefit to the colony, and were a oredlt to the Government that bad passed them. education. He wished to nay that ho was In favor of sepnlar education, and he withed further to say that ha would do nothing to lessen tbp efficiency t)f the cysfam. He believed that it was the duty of the State to see that every child had a good eduoation, The objection he had to the present system was that it was too extravagant and costly. He had had considerable experlepce In connection with education, and from that experience he had drawn the conclusions he intended explaining. He would be no party to raising the ago at whioh children are admitted to school, because m these hard times the poor man could not afford to allow his children to remain at Bohool long, And to raise the school age, consequently meant curtailing the eduoation the poor man's children would otherwise reoeive. He referred to the faot that the average age at which children passed the First Standard was throughout the colony 9 years. This be thought showed something wrong some* where, and he thought that the Reaching was m some measure to blame. Bart of the bad result might also be attributed to the greai number of holidays. He quoted from the report of one of the inarjeotors showing that In lome sohoolg (he holidays given h.ad amounted tq fifteen weeks m the year. The great number of ftolidfyt and perhaps also tha negligenoe of some parents In not sending their children regularly, to a great extent accounted for the bad result. It was a well known fact that many children had bad memories and if kept from sphbola short time forgot nearly everything thpy had been taught. After quoting a report of Inspector Edge as to tha loose manner m which the llina tables m some school* were kept, Mr Brown went on to say that the schools were not managed m they might be, and he was of opinion that they never would be propgrly managed under tha present system. Anyone loc&I»g lnfcotho matter would be surprised at tae extraordinary difference m sohoolmftatera oaloflos. Aj

no matter had to teach higher thaa the 6th Stand trd, one wculd think that all would be p»ld alike, with of course, a small allowance, for larger attendance. The schoolmaster at Sydenham received £391, at one of the Ohrlstchurch schools £459, at another Ohrißtobarch school £433, at Lyttelton£4Oland at Asbbutt)n £318. He did not see why these men should have each high salaries m comparison with ether teachers. Teachers were dirided int> five olasses from At) B. A holder of an B certificate, was supposed to be able to take charge of a sohool of 100 teachers d d the beet service to -the pupils, and he believed that this class of pnblK Bonusea were given, ranging from £9 to £72, but the teachers m the E olass got none of these. If a holder of an X certificate who i had done good service m a country sohool applied for a situation m a town sohool he would have to go under a teacher who received about £400 a year, while the E teacher got only about £120 though quite as competent to teach as his euperior. He could understand the distinction made if the higher class teachers had to teach over the 6th Standard but this they had not to do. It wib the came with regard to the mistresses. He mentioned a number getting from £299 downwards. There had Veen a tnistteas at Wakanui getting only £75 a year, yet he ventured to say that she did at good service to the State' as the one getting £299 He did not know the eyatem on which theie salaries were arranged but he was confident that it was groeily wrong. When the salaries of the inspectors and the whole management of the Education Boards was looked at it WBi seen that m regard to them thera was a very great deal of extravaganoe. The salaries of the Inspectors' ranged from £675 to £600,*£500 and £400, he thought they might pet just as competent men for half the money. In these higher branches of the Civil Service competition was not allowed to operate and he suspected that a good deal went by favoritiaim. The administration of the Boards was most extravagant . Some of the Secretaries received enormous salaries. In North Canterbury the Secretary received £570 and there were two olerke at £250 and £150 ; In Auckland the Secretary received £500 and there was a clerk at £200. In the majority of cases he thought the clerk was the man who did all the work. He had been looking into these matters of salaries and he thought that there would not be the slightest difficulty m saving from £25,000 to £35.000. He would reduce salaries of £400 to £300 ; £300 to £250 ; and take a little off salorhs of £250, He would not touch a uingle salary under £150. By this means he was confident that the sum he had stated oould be saved, Mr Brown then went on to speak of the High Sohool system. These schools were on a wrong basis, each being on its own account as it ware. They were very expensive to the country, the ocmt of the Akaroa High School to the country being £20 par pupil and there were other* costing nearly as much, He thoujht thai if arrangements were made wboreby- i High School education oould be given al the primary schools it would meet the case. Country people would then have s b.t er chance of securing a High Sohool education for their children, and as the 'master would then have to teaoh over the 6th Standard there would be no objaotloc to his having a little more salary than those teaching lower Standards. LEGISLATIVE RETRENCHMENT The Governor's salary with allowance: amounted to £7,600 and he th-u^ht with those who maintained that £100) mighl > hi knooked off this amount. Ii reg»rc i to the Legislative Council he was In favoi t of a redaction to 40 and the honorarlun t might weU be reduced. He was not it ) favor of doiDg away with the Council ; h< b had a rather high opinion of it, because k members did not speak to their cotstitaen< 1 ces through Hansard, bat said what the] > had to, censlbly and to the point. Ther< ■ were some of the members who however i took no part m the business and these r oould be done without. Therefore he s was m favor of a reduction to 40. He ) would also have the members of the I Council elected for 6 years, half the , number to retire every tht'ee years. The i question of the number of the House had j been settled for three years, but be f thought the number might have well been t reduced lo 80 and the honorarium tc 5 £150 He noticed that members of the i Opposition bad been raising a great outI cry about the amount of travelling I allowances drawn by Ministers, Th« i amount of the travelling allowances thai i could be drawn was fixed by statute »t c two guineas per doy and why if the Op> , position objected, did they not alter the . law and make the amount a smaller one, r f r m lieu of travelling allowances pay t fixed mm. VILLAGE SETTLEMENT. i A matter they had been told a greal i deal about was the Village Settlement i scheme. Mr Ballanoe had come m for t , great deal of nmerited abuse on accounl of having incurred liabilities In regard tc the scheme, Now, while he (Mr Brown] did not approve of the Tillage Settlement soheme as a mode of settling the land, he thought it was a wise and excellent means of disposing of the unemployed difficulty. CONCLUSION. Mr Brown said that ho was m favor ol Protection for this colony- He was m f »vor of selling lands on cash and deferred payment— There was one member if the Government who had received much undeserved aboae, yet he stood amongst their statesmen as Mount Cook did among their mountains — towering above them all. He oould Bee olesr'.y what was best to provide for the future— not for this district or that— but for the whole colony That man wbb Sir Julins Yogel. Mr Brown who hal spoken for nearly two hours resumed his seat amidst applause. Tiro or three questions were asked and answered, One that created much amusement was ; «' Sir Julias Yogel says sago it made from potatoes ; can Mr Brown tell n« what ' soft soap ' is made from."— Mr Brown confessed himself unable to answer ihe query as the article alluded to was one that he had never dealt m. Mr B. Hughes made a lengthy speech saying £hat it was gratifying to find men among the farmers lika Mr Burton and Mr Brew n. He was confident Mr Brown conld worthily represent them io Parliament, lut it was a pity he had not come out before. It would never do for two Government candidates to run for the seat, because if they did they would split the votes and the enemy of Canterbury would go m like a shot." Mr R. Elefcon proposed that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded Mr Brown for his able address. Mr D. Thomas said that he had very great pleasure In seconding the motion, le agreed with a great deal of what Mr Hughes had said and It would be a mis fortune if two Government candidates were to ran against each other. It was a pity that Mr Brown had nqt came out two or three weeks ago, before they had pledged their votes. Had he done this there was not the slightest doubt that he would have headed the poll, {f Mr Brown, at any future time, decided upon standing for Parliament he oould, if he went on the lines he had advocated that evening, depend upon his (Mr Thomas') support, Mr Brown said that he was not a candidate. He was not going to split the votes with Mr Buxton, $c had come forward that evening as an eleptor w|th the hope of leading some of them \o think on political matters. Tho vote of thanks wan oarried upanl. raousiy and a gimilar compliment to the ohair concluded the proceedings.