MR WALKER AT THE ODDFELLOWS' HALL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1969, 13 October 1888, Page 2

MR WALKER AT THE ODDFELLOWS' HALL

Last evd&i-jg Mr W. O. Walker, M.H.R. for Ashburton, addressed hia conotltuenta at tho Oddfellows' HaH. There waa a small attendance.

The cluic was taken by tho Mayor, Mr A. Harrison, who Introduced tho spanker. \\v Walker, who was received with applause, regret.e l that thoro was not .. !„rj r att.'n Jarjon thore th»t evening, tha present was a serious time m

tbe history of tho oolony, and all who had an interest m ito wo fare should judgß carefully the actions of their representatives ln Parliament. When tbe present Parliament was elected last year, the electors generally felt that the position was suoh that the greatest care should be

taken iv regard to the class of members sent up to Wellington, «aod the now Parliament reoelved a unanimous demand

to reform all that was bad and hampering tbe oolony, and to put matters of State on an assured footing. Twelve months

had elapsed Binoe ih9 eleotion of that Parliament, and two sessions had been held, and the question for the electors was : Havo Parliament risen .to the ocoa»lon, and done aU that they should m the matters entrusted to them ; have they taken advantage of the opportunity given of making a fresh start, and have thoy obeyed the mandates of thoae who

aent them to Wellington ? These were the questions that every constituency aud every elector ought to consider, for now was the time for them to judge of the manner In whioh their representatives had discharged the duty entrusted to them At the last election the constituencies required their representatives to look into the finance of the oolony. They felt burdened by a large and embarrassing debt ; the revenue Instead of improving was decreasing and it was generally felt .hat unless something were done to make both ends meet, nothing short of financial ruin would fall upon the oolony. Tho new Parliament had a very great advantage if they availed themselves of it It was astonishing what a number of old leaders were rejeoted, and last September it might have been hoped, if ever there waa room for hope, that oid policies found unsuitable for the oountry would be thrown aside, and old faults abandoned.

He wished to show that night the policy that had been brought down iv tbe Ibbi two sessions, and ask if m their opinion that polioy met the necessities of the ocoasion and whether It gave hope of a future restoration of the finances of the oolony. Ab they knew, Sir H Atkinson

nas placed at the head of the New Government, and he associated with himself

nearly all new men, of whom it waa hoped ihey would b 9 able to ii flaenoe Sir Harry Un new directions and remove from the policy of the new Government many of the tendencies towards bad fiaancs which characterised older Ministries and administrations wtth which Sir Harry had been connected. Looking at the other aide of the Honse it was found tht_t matters there were m a preoiaely similar poßltUn. Old leaders had been removed by the verdict of the ballot box. In short, Parliament was ready to reoeive new men sb leaders, and to reoeive new ideas and to give the most Implicit obedience to what he believed was the expressed will of the constituencies, THK GOVERNMENT POLICY.

Let them take tbe polioy of the last two sessions, which were, however, virtually one Besslon. The first was held shortly aftor the general eleotion, and Ministers were then able to very fairly plead that they oonld not at Buch Bhort notice remodel the finano», and effect all tho retrenchment requisite, They made a beginning, however, In what waß a part of their great scheme, by inoreaßlng taxation, adding to the loan burden, and promising a eartaln amount of retrench-

ment. At tbe subsequent session they -*applomer_tc4 this scheme m what it waa supposed to ftave been wantlng"at firnt, and placed before the oountry what they olaimed to be a fulfilment of their promises. He would brltfly placa before the meeting the details ofthe Government pilioy. He would ohkfly touoh upon the haanciil part, for tbat w_ib the part the country was most interested iv, aud the part by whioh the country was acoistomed to judge of success or failure, aud because m the other work of the session the measures passed were mostly the result of the common sense of both sides of the House rather thau the direct offspring of Ministerial consultation and deliberation. When the Ministry took office the first question whioh stared thorn m the faco was the very heavy deficit whioh had been growing for the previous two years. The last Parliament had not faced th_t deficit but referred it to the constituencies, and at the end of laat September, when Sir H^rry Atkinson took offioe, it amounted to a very large sum Indeed. When the Budget was brought down this year it amounted to no leBB a sum tha-i £528,000 Part of that amount l £400,000) Sir Hany had arranged to meet by borrowing money on debentures. He would Bpeak of these debentures further on because they were really so much additional loan. The balanoe, Sir Harry promised, would be paid off m two years by a special tax to meet this' amount of £128,000. This tax, whioh no donbt, they had all heard of, had the original name of " primage " applied to it. It was an old name m commercial vocabularies, but it was now uaed for the first time In oonneotion with a tax Than came the Government; proposals m regard to

RKTRBJJOPMENT. The Ministry put this lo the foreground m obedience to the will of the constituencies, who stronglyafficmed that before any additional taxation waa levied all possible reductions Bhould be made; In this matter it was hard to judge whether the Government had oarried out retrenchment really and honestly as the country demanded. The mitter wes to his mind unsatisfactory, because they had been unable to get any details from the Premier as to what had been done. No doubt they had all heard of the mysteries of colonial fioanoe, and how hard it was to be pertain Of anything represented by figures. It was sometimes still harder to understand the explanations of Treasurers, whioh explanations ought to be eimplo, but which, apparently, were made as complicated as possible. On taking otrico a promise was made by the Premier that £300,000 would be relrenohed In the annual expenditure, bnt that, lt was admitted In the last

budget, had not beon realised. Sir Harry, [ however, olaimed to have effected substantial retrenchment to the extent of £233,000, bnt when he was asked to* go Into details he objaoted. Sir Harry stated that the amoqntq wore of suoh a nature and of suoh variety that no 'clerk m the office oould make out a statement, certainly not m tbo form asked for. Now during inoßt sessions a statement of thia kind would have created a groat deal of alarm m the minds of members of tho House, but the history of last session was of a peculiar nature. Tho proposals of tho Government were oarried before

they were discussed, and the result was [ that the statement of the Premier was | allowed to pass without the firm remonstrance it deserved from the House, lie like bofore going -tyrther tq point out that the saving which vj^b claimed, of £233,000 had undoubtedly boon greatly üßßisted by the retrenchment begun by the late Government They no doubt would remember the discussion-, tha 1 ; had taken place lauyoar m that hall and elsewhere, &■ to whether the late Government was a retrenching one. J-sany of b'a friends seemed to doubt that thie wai&o p but he hid got eorne fig ores whioh would Bhow that tho Stout'Yogela dmlnistration had retrenched to some purpose. He found that the

expenditure m the different departments ! of'Governmant durl-.g .h-- firu h%lf of the I year 1887 1888 was £973,897, whereas !n ' f.he latter half year the expenditure rose to £1,105,430, showing a difference In f.jvor of tho former period of £131,(583. He admitted th*t cotupar'sma of this natore were not always worth so muoh ap at first sight appeared. Thu Troaaury nnd tho «cc >unts at March 31 woroalwsy* I brought oloser np to date than at any •-.thur period of tha y«nr, but still the dlff >r»uce was pretty conaiderablo, aod it onuld bo claimed that when the present Ministry took offica the work of retrenchment was begun, and thoir work cousequentlymade lighter. The neck of extravagance, so to speak, had been broken, and a new system begun. It waa easier to carry out a. system already established than to make the firßt step. At all events, Sir Harry Atkinson did his best to show that he was thoroughly m earnest, and it was to be trusted fo? the sake of the country tbat he was, and that when he presented his Budget next year he would be able to show that he hid done quite as muoh as he had led peope to expeot. Sir Harry began almost bef >re he got into hia seat, outting down where it was most proper and necessary he should out down. Ha began with the Governor's salary, although no saving would, really be effect 3d la that direction till a new Governor was appointed. Tha honorarium of members had been cut down, and the expenditure generally of officers of the legislature, etc., jealously looked into and savings effected wherever poasil le, 1 REDUCTION OF MEMBEIIS.

The Government had alao passed a Billreducing the number of members to 74. He was bound to confess that he was not yet prepared to acoept the change as either wlbo or justifiable. As regarded the mere money pare, no saving to speak of would be effected. The increase of members to the present number took phoe In 1881. During the period from 1875 to 1879, when there w_'re 80 members, the cot-t of these to the country per head of population was Is 8-1. From 1880 to 1884 the coat was Is 9 i, and from 1885 to 1887 it was also Is 9d. lt would be seen, therefore, that the proposed reduotion would. me^n very little m the point of expense. But he thought' the qiesiim of a few thousands should not, m this matter, be suffered to staud m the way of the efficient representation of the people. He maintained that they wero now suff.ring from the effects of the administration of small Parliaments m th* p<.Bt. I. was a small Parliament which spoiled the Public Works policy aod dragged down the oountry to its present state — greedy members requiring their cji.sti'uenolea to be | bribed by useleeß expenditure and extra- I v*gant public works. The oolony had not yoi been able to surmount the d ffioultiea which had arisen from the bad administration «.,f the email Parliaments of the past. As he had shown them laat year a small Parllara -nt did not mean less talking or waste of time than at present, beoause he found that tbe average length of the session, before the number of members Waß increased, was from ten to twenty days longer than at present. Re admitted that there were 1 a large number of people who called ont for and approved of the reduction, but he oould not gee why. He was sure that lt was a mistaken dealre, and wes convinced that experience wonld •bow that it was so. He wonld tell them randidly that he had never seen any ieason for this reduotion. and he did not think ibere was mnoh ohanoe of any alteration m his opinion. At the came time when one was In a minority one had to bow to tho decision of the majority, and he had therefore to acoept the decision of Parliament |In this instaooe, though he was sorry [ that such should be the case, aB he was convinced that that decision was an unwise one. Streeß had beon laid on the argument that the reduotion of members wasjnot iv the Intoresta.of the people, bat tended to the advantage of property owners and thoie clrbbos whose interests were ln dlreot antagonism with the groat body ofthe people, and lv this connection, it waß noteworthy to observe that the reduotion was supported m the columns of thoae journals, whioh avowedly aupported ißtereßts, whioh were not those of demooacy. THE ACTUAL SAVINGS.

Before leaving tho rstrenohment question, he must mention that Sir H. Atkinson had oharged on the Oonsolidated Fund several items hitherto borne on the Publio Works Fond, amounting m all to £107,000. Therefore the savings had to be reduced correspondingly. Tho Ministry had further Increased the liability of the oolony by another loan which meant £80,000 per annum additional burden. So that against the Bavlng of £233 000 olaimed by Sir Harry they found tbat they had to allow additional oharges amounting to £187,000, thus bringing the actual savings down to a comparatively small sura. TAXATION.

Parliament found tbat increased, taxation was necessary, They would remember that not muoh more than 12 months ago the constituencies Btoutly obj?oted to auy further taxation, and becaEse of a proposal fcr additional taxation the Stout-Vogel Ministry were given a moßt decided hint that their proposal waa not occeptabie to the oountry. The StoatYogel MlDutry proposed additional taxition to the extent of £175, OQQ. Sir Harry Atkinson found it liece-tsary to lnoreapa the Property tax by £65,000 and the Customs dirties by £265,00Q ; bo that even if tho Stout-Vogel Ministry wore wrong ln their proposals, Sir H, Atkinson determined to go at least one better. Of courso there was no doubt that an increase of the Property tax waa necessary, because it was only fair th»t property ahould bear some portion of the additional burden, and that it should not all be levied by means of Indireot taxatiou. Speaking as to the effect of the

{ NEW TARIFF One had, to a certain extent, a diffioulty m summing up, beoause while many speakers and writers, aud even Ministers spoke of it aa being purely a revenue tax, on the other hand they found Protectionists claiming 1., If not all they wanted, at least a great advanoe m tbe right direotlon, and celebrating Its acceptance by Parliament by a series of banquets m the prlnolpal towns of the colony. This showed that ona party or the other must be mistaken, and although Sir H. Atkinson promised to bring down proposals that would suit both sides, no one expected that he would succeed so well as he apparently had done. He (Mr Walker) was glad he could look on the new tariff with satisfaction as being materially In the Protectionist direction. ]plko overy one else he objeoted to add I tional taxation, but this tax afforded a prospeot of bringing baok something m return, and if the oountry had to pay a little more through tho Customs It might hope to see Industries springing up around, and that population would be attraoted to these shores instead of being drivon away from thorn by want of work. Those I who claimed tbe tax as being a purely 'revenue one had not that satisfaction; they oould only look npon It aa so much additional revenue squeez>d out of the taxpayer^ while he and thoae who thought with him had some consolation for the dlsagreeablenesß of an incroased tax. Now the tariff was to q certain ex'ent to blame for a good deal of what happened last session of a very unusual oharaoter. It was the beginning of a series of occurrences when the Opposition found that to do its dnty to the country it would have to support the Government against the latter'a own fullqwers. The Government were deserted by many of those who put them In power, and the Opposition < thought It their duty, considering the l /

state of the country, to assist Government to carry the tariff, aud thua aff rd the country a reasonable chance of regalniu2 Its prosperity. Thero were aome proposals the Opposition d'd not like They did not like the tax nn tea, but the matter was so put before them that they had to tike all or lose wbat they thought i waa essential to the jprospnrity of tha ! citmt.ry. They did not think they were i jcntlfisd ln taking the tariff as a m?ans of patting the Goverament out, so they assisted tho Government ln making tbe tariff iaw. Next came 'he question of the HEW LOAN.

Ho was very sorry indeed that Government felt obliged to bring down proposals for a new loan. Thecilonyhad suffered and wai Buff .ring from the intolerable burden of the interest annually sont to England on the loans already raised.

When the new loan was proposed matters, commercially, were not looking so bright as they were now There was much astonishmont at proposes of tbis nature

coming so suddenly from the new Ministry, because if one thing had been insisted on at the ele:tion it was that loans Bhould be resorced to as sparingly as possible. The Ministerial Party appeared to have pledged themselves to thie, and there was muoh surprise on the Government asking for a loaa almost immediately on takin? office. He had to admit that there was a difficulty m Parliament refusing money asked for m the way this was. The money was also twice voted because

through an error m drafting the first bill rendering it inoperative, it had to come up again last Bession and be again passed. I It was pleaded that the matter was one which should be well looked into, and tbat the Ministry should hesitate before laying a further burden on the country, but m the most mysterious way it was hinted that it would bs almost disastrous if the mouey were withheld. The loan was raised, and he was sorry to say aba very large cost, for out of che loan of £2,000,000 more th%p £100,000 was spent m the cost of ralshg it. Government failed to take the opportunity which was afforded them ! of taming over a new laaf m regard to loan expenditure. Loans for individuals or countries were bad when they were applied to useless purposes or spent improvldently. The reason tbat former loans had done the oountry so little good was beoause more than half had been spent on temporary objeots, and had not benefited the permanent interests of the oountry. It had been urged on Sir H Atkinson tbat the old folly of expending loans on unproductive purposes should at Onoe oaaae, but the following statement would Bhow how the first instalment, that voted for this year,\was to be spent. For Olass i, whioh covered almost everything from a needle to an anohor, the amount was £404,555 ; for Class 11, No;th Island Trunk Kailw.y, £135,711; Class 111, railway construction, £355,541. Total, £895 807. They wonld therefore Bee that £404,000, out of £895,000, waa to be spent upon objects which wonld add hardly anything to the revenue. The works were mostly of a perishable nature, and In the present state of the finanoes it was folly that the money should ba spent. He admitted tbat there were some legitimate, and It might be reproductive Itemß, suoh as for loads to open np Crown lands, and the purchase of Native lands, but the amounts voted for these was but Bmall, The items showed that a very large amount of the loan was proposed to be wasted over what conld hardly even ba called luxuries. Therefore if thej Government were compelled to borrow It' was a pity they did not do so for the purpose of finishing tbe railways or something of that sort. They might remember that some time ago when Sir Robert Stout was asked his views abont loan expenditure, he stated it would be necessary to borrow two millions to fiaish the present railways, and for speaking thus plainly ha was characterised as a most dangerous man to be m oharge of the colony's affairs, Yet m acoordanoe with the old adage, that while tt la a crime for one man to look over a ga!*> yet another man may steal a horse with Impunity, Sir Qarry Atkinson didn't aeo anything out of place m borrowing two millions and chucking half of it away. He did not wish to be unfair to Sir H. Atkinson. He had indicated matters In whioh he was quite unable to Bupport or sympathise with him, aotiona and proposals from which he entirely dissented, and it wonld not bs right that he Bhould omit to mention matters whioh were to his oredit. It was fair to aiy that he (the Treasurer) had relieved the ohatgeß npon loan by i the sum of £107,000, v/z. £15,000 oq Defenoe account. £33,000 Bobaldteo, and £60,000 publio bqlldluga, whioh were now oharged upon revenue. This was a step iv the right direction, and which had his (the BpeakerVt) hearty approval. At the same time it was only a relief m the' nature of transferring the amounts from one account to the other and did not relieve tbe pockets of the taxpayers. Then there were certain proposals made In the Financial Statement— made m a way whioh he could not say he thought very highly of— and whioh he was glad Parliament Baw fit not to sanction when they were put before hon. members. One of these had reference to EDUCATION. He would quote Sir Harry Atkinson's own words. These were *s follows :— " I may here point out that £25,000 of this taxation wonld not be neGessary if Parliament saw fit to raise tho sohool age at whioh capitation is payable to a : x yoars instead of five as at present, and to abolish tbe Eduoatlon

Boards. The Government do not Intend to propose the alteration this year ln deference to what thoy believe to be the wish of Parliament as expressed m the laßt session ; but I feel It my duty to point out to the Committee where another £25.000 a year could be Bayed without any injury whatever to our educational Bystem, snd I would a(_k honorable members again to consider whether the colony oan at present afford so lurge a sum to provide what Is lhtle more than nursery aooommodation." This proposal to yaisp the school age with a viow to a saving of £25,0,00 was most carefully considered and debated, but Parliament finally determined to make no change whatever, because the majority were firmly "of opinion that the present system was a boon to the people, and the r;ght of tbe people (applause), and it was not their desire m any way to lessen the advantages given by it to the State It was m * vain that certain members tried to show that children taught so young were Injured bodily and mentally by boing sent to school, there was no proof adduced that this waa so, nothing but assertion, and moreover it was conclusively demonstrated that the change wqnld not work from a financial point of view. The Mioister was obliged to 1 promise that the country sohoola Bhould not suffer by change. It was shown that if children below six were shut out

Ihe numbers iv attendance would fall off, and certain .schools must be closed, the salaries of masters would suffer, and other pnrtß of the establishment would suffer, while aa to the alleged saving of £25,0Q0 the Minister was never able to Bhow how that could be done wh^le making up the losj to the oountry schools. Underlying the objections expressed to the propoaed change there was the unexpressed, but undoubtedly existent feeling, that it was not desirable to make any change of such importance m educational matters, while they had m office as the head of the Department a Minister whose attitude towards education was not altogether satisfactory. Passing next to the question of tho discontinuance of BUBSIPIEB TO LOOAL BODIE3 Mr Walker said that m this matter the Treasurer had Bought to th ow upon the Houee the responsibility which should fall npon the Government. He put it m this way tbat If the Bonce, oboaa to abolltjb the

subsidies then he wonld not put on thd tea tM. Tbat was an unfair way of presenting the question, and as they all knew the remit waß that the tea tax waa pissed. Auother of the Treasurer's proposals bad reference to

THE TRUST FUNDS aud this he was Borry indeed to hear. It W'iß true it affected only a Bmall portion— tha funds of the L.Dd Transfer Offioe, to the extent t f £70,000— and waa dropped m tbe House, where it met with little or no approval. He thought they wonld agreo with him th»t considering the p )stlon the Government held m relation to muoh larger trust funds, those of the Government Assucanoe Department and the Poßt Offioe Savings Bank, it would be a most undesirable and improper thing to begin, wtth even the smallest, the system of bulking it with the ordinary revenue on the p!ea . that the Government was ultimately responsible, and so allow of thsse trust funds being naed to assist Government m oase of need. It would have been unwise snd dishonest on the part of the House to aanotion »uy thing whioh might give depositors the idea that their moneys were not created as a trost. He repeated that this part of the Treasurer's proposals he was sorry indeed to hear. The proposal for the repeal of THB STROWN AND NATIVE LAUDS BATING AOX

was partially given effeot to, He said partially, beoanse a compromise had been entered into by whioh the Native rates were retained till 1890 and only part of tbe Crown land ratea done away with, these being gradually extinguished, oaasing altogether m two years' time, these changes of oourse by so muoh reducing the amount at the Traasurec'a disposal. Among the

MEASURES PROWLED but whioh promises had bu.. .o be oarrled into effeot, was that for reducing the Oivll Service to order and putting lt on a satisfactory footing. That measure waa still m the region of promises, for the Bill had not yet aeen the light. Then they were also promised the abolition of the Native Office and of the Publio Works Ofi-be. Both might be dispensed with to the great benefit of the oolony, and he hoped their abolition wonld soon be effected. They knew wbat the Native offioe had been m the past, and both departments were connected with all sorts of transactions wbioh it would be well were bnried for ever. Their pnblic works were coming to an end by the pro* oess of time, and the lessening of expenditure from loan, and It was right that the Publio Works and the Native Departments should oome to an end as there waa no longer any nse for them. He had now summed up the proposals of the Premier as submitted to Parliament, aud he only wished that he oould have been satisfied that they were sufficient for the^ needs of the colony, Bnt he was not so satisfied by any means and he was not satisfied with the proposer. . • ] °

SIR H. ATKINSON Was not a man of atroog eonviotlons— not a man who was ready to sacrifice any thing aod everything to prinaiple, ho was a man of expedients, he had grown up m party warfare, and what suited the time too often with him was right. He oould not throw off the effdot of many years' habits and training. He (Mr Walker; bad hoped that the new company m which the Premier found himself wonld have given him strength, would have set him free to deal with the position of the colony In suoh a way as to give hope that the old errors would not be repeated, bnt Id hla financial polioy they saw much the same sort of thing as they had had In the past subjeoo only to the amount of attenuation foroed by necessity. The old principle of making things pleasant, the old prlnolpla of expediency, waß. as clearly present m this year's Budget as m previous Budgets, and they oonld not hope bo long as Sir H, Atkluson remained m power that the oolony would really get the chanoe it deserved. The P.«.nier had begun a new increase of taxatiou whioh he did not fear to B-vy would have to be additionally lacreased uext year. He balanced In hla mlifd, and m tha Statement, what artiolea to put increases upon. This year he put twopeuoe on tea and saya that the. necessities of finance m*y require an additional tax on sugar next year. His tendencies were more In the direotlon of large revenue and lnoreased taxation than of real economy. They might also jfadge of him by what he had not done and he had certainly not rlßen to the oooasion and had not given the colony much to hope for m regard to Its true and native ludastries. He (Mr Walker) would begin with one whioh was not native to the colony— their costly exotio-rallway'system. How many months they had waited tit the promised reform! This was to bo effeotod by

I A BAILWAY BOARD. i But though the Act was parsed before ; Christmas, and cablegram after cablegram . had been exchanged betwe&n the Governi ment and the Agent-General, they seemed . to-day to be as far from the appointment ; of the Board as at the beginning. Mean- [ time railway matters were unsatisfactorily i managed, and grievances \yere held m , suspense pending the advent of the Board. This was most unfair to the country, a most unsatisfactory state of things . They . could not afford to wait m what was a i matter of daily life and death. (Hear hear !.) The railways had been a most costly luxury to us. They never had earned interest on the money with whioh they were constructed, and lately every mile constructed had helped to lessen the earnings of the previous mileage; The appointmentof the Board should have thelm mediate attention of the Government They saw from day to day all sorts of inspired paragraphs as to enquiries being made, and so on, but it was time something definite were done, and he hoped that some, day the Board would aetuully be appointed, and that the result wonld be a great im* proyement m rail way matters. As regards THE MINING INDUSTRY The Government had done very little Indeed the advantages which Nature had given ub m this direction had been sadly negleoted. Even tbe importance of sending a proper representation of our mining products to the Exhibition at Melbourne seemed to have been quite beyond the Government's apprehension. He himself knew nothing more abont the subj sot than he had seen m the papers, but there must be soma t*nth m the complaintß coming from so many different quarters, and he did not hesitate to tay that the cause for thoae oomplalnts arosa from the Government not taking any trouble, and being afraid to vote a few pounds for the neoessary expenditure. The mining md oat ry deserved great consideration, for from it ln the future they might expect the greatest relief and prosperity. Nor had the Government dealt any better with those who were interested m the productions of the sotl. Within the past few months they had at last bean able to §blr up the Minister In charge of

THE SHEEP DEPARTMENT to something Hue an appreciation of the importance of tbe Interests committed to his charge; but hitherto Minister after Minister had allowed the Depart* ment to oontinne m a state of the most disgracsful neglect. Other colonies had been able to keep their sheep free from dlsessa, and we might and onght to have done so also. However, a Oom* mlttee had sat upon the Department (m more senses than one) last session, and their recommendations were now being given effeot to, and he hoped that the result would be that disease would be entiroly oleared out of the oolony, and that they would he able to oommaud an extended market In Australia. What be complained of was that Micist ers la oharge of this Department should have allowed matters to go on as they had been goJag qqclet tfcair very noses* Sq

ar he had spoken of what the Gcvon ment had done and what they had omitted to do, and it was fair that h* should now say a ftw words about THE OPPOSITION.

He not'eed that Sir John HaH, Iv his recent speech bad expressed great satisfaction at tbe result of the session, gre.it satisfaction with the Government, and preat satisfaction with the Government Party, but, according to that gentkrnan, the Opposition was to blame for aU for'cof things. M' jor Atkihson had complained that the Opposition w»s disorganised because it bad not a head to assist him In. keeping order m the House. But he did'i.t seem satisfied either that there should be a bead for when

he thought there were symptoms of a leader cropplrg up— himself (Mr Walker) for ins' ance — he was manifestly discontented. He (the speaker) did not objeot to being singled out m this way, he took lt rather as a compliment, but when the Premier Insinuated tbat unworthy things were being done by him, with a view to grasping the leadership of the pjrty, tren he did objeot and he thought that- such inslnna'ions came badly from a man whose history showed that he weS only happy In offioe aud could'nt live unless he was there. Sir Harry Atkloson might well hold his tongue on that subject. The Opposition were not ashamed of their position. They had lost the leader, whom they had bad before the general eleotion, and bb they supported m many inttanoes the Government policy they remained without a leader. But he denied emphatically that the Opposition had In any way caused obstruction or aerated to obstruct business. Obstruction had been carried on by certain Individuals on certain occasions, but on Borne occasions certain members of tbe Government had been muoh to blame for the way m whioh they encouraged obstruction, as for Instance m oonneotion with a Bill of great interest m this part of the Oolony, viz., that to enable tbe formation of new charitable aid districts. That Bill had been strenuously opposed by a number of town members, who, no doubt, thought their motives respectable and not s >lfisb, and some of the most prominent or the stonewallers on that occasion were members of tbe Government. And he might remark here that if a disorganised opposition, that was to say an opposition without a leader waß a hindrance to business, a leader withont a party, Hkfe the present Premier was a great deal worse. At all events he conld claim that they had lent the Government fair rapport m all measures that they oould approve of, and it was certain that if lt bad not been for that support the Tariff Bill would never have seen its third reading, and the Native Lwd Bill, whioh it was hoped would effeot great and good results, wo aid never have gone through the House. So with nearly every Important measure cf the session; their pa.stge was due to the common sense and patriotism of both sides, and he did not recollect any one measure which bad been passed slmp'y btciuse it was a Government Bill and had the support of the Government party. But for the Opposition

THE FAIR BENT BILL wonld not have gone through the Honae, and he regretted txceedlcgly that the Upper House bad seen fit to rej ct It It was a measure very much needed and the BUI, or one on similar lines, would, he hoped, yet pass into law, IS CONCLUSION. He hoped tbat the people of the oolony would look Into its sffiirs themselves, and Insist upon their representatives taking the opportunity now given them of putting those affairs on a sound and honest basil". Last session they were m the mldit of deep commercial depression and there was hardly a gleam of hope before them, nothing apparently to justify them m looking fcr any immediate turn for the better, but during the last few months the change m the price of produce had given them a hope, almost amounting to % certainty, of the return of better days. This prospect gave them the opportunity of placing financial matters on a better footing than tbey oould if they were ■till struggling on as they were twelve months ago. When tbe last Budget was brought down he did not hope, he hardly thought that even the Treasurer himself dared to hope, that hia estimate of ie venue would be realised, bnt with the tnrn whioh things had taken for the better, there was now room to hope that thli wonld be the case, and tbat there wonld even bo a surplus; and with a baltnoe fn their favor tbey wonld then be able to carry out' further econo mies without feeling it. There was! a golden opportunity before them m this. better state of things, which if taken advantage of by the Government and Parliament of the colony— acd i\ shou'd be insisted upon by- the people— would enable them to put their Affairs on so sound a footing that they could never by | any possibility get baok to tbe old state of things. (Applause). In reply to Mr Gates, Mr Walker said that he hoped that there was no necessity for a tax on bachelors. No sensible man would require that inducement to join the noble army of benedicts. (Laughter) In reply to Mr Keir who asked why if Mr Walker thought there was more selfishness ia a small House than m a large one he did not propose an increase ? Mr Walker said that history bore out his view. He, however, did not claim any special virtue for the number 95, nor did he believe that a reduction io 74 wonld necessarily concentrate m thoße 74 the virtues of 95

Mr Cites : What's the use of two big Houses when the oountry can't afford one ■mall one? (Laughter.)

Replying to Mr Sileock, Mr Walker said that the periods he had compared as regards expenditure were two half years, viz., Ist April to 30th September and lst Ootober to 31st Maroh,

Mr Keir said that In addressing the House on the Tariff Bill Mr Walker had said that the farmers would be the greatest gainers. Would he explain how that was possible ?

Mr Walker replied at some length to the effect that tha home, ie, the local market was the best market, and tbat experience showed tbat the farmer -benefited by the growth of Industries and of centres of population. (We will give his reply m extenso In onr next.) In reply to Mr Gates, Mr Walker said that as he had already, statad he was not In favor of altering the sohool age. He did think the frequent changes of school books were a grievance,- and it had already been brought nnder the notioe of the Minister. No further questions being asked, Mr J* B. Steel proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Walker for his able address, and o£ renewed confidence m him as member for Ashbnrlon.

Mr W. J. Silcook, although not agreeing i& all Mr Walker's views, nor m his orltleisms of the present Government, had muoh pleasure m seconding tbe vote, as Mr Walker's zaal m loci! matters and his steady support of measures wbioh were for the good of the oolony at large folly entitled him to the confidence of the constituency. The motion was pot snd oarrled unanimously, and the usual compliment to the ohatr having been accorded on the motion f Mr Walker, the meeting broke op.