THE PRIME MINISTER AT WINTON.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 810, 6 May 1910, Page 6

THE PRIME MINISTER AT WINTON.

A POLICY SPEECH. THE COUNTRY'S FINANCIAL POSITION. PROPOSED LEGISLATION. LAND QUESTION : LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CBy Teleeraoh—Frees AssoaiationJ Winton, May 5> The Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) delivered his policy speech at Winton tonight. After dealing with the remarkable progress of Southland as evidenced in various ways, the Prime Minister proceeded to speak of the Opposition Leader's "carping criticism" of him for not having delivered a policy speech at the close of tho session. Sir Joseph Ward explained that it was necessary to wait till the end of the financial year, so that a knowledge of the year's results might be had. He went on to rally Mr. Massey about having been given some "rest cure," and assured him that he (Sir Joseph Ward) and his colleagues wero in good fighting form, and quite . ready for the meeting in tho arena of Parliament to which Mr. Massey and Ms followers professed to bo looking forward with so much zest. (Applause.) The Past Session. Dealing then with the work of {he session, Sir Joseph. Ward said that rarely in any session had legislation, at once so farreaching, so original, and so useful, been passed into law. There was no doubt that few people adequately appreciated the work done in this connection last year. He reviewed the measures of the session, and, by way of clearing up a popular misconception in regard to the Special Settlement Finance Act, under which five or more persons may enter into an agreement for the purchaso of land, the State guaranteeing tho purchase money, he stated that the Crown Law Officer advised that there was no liability whatever on the part of such associations of settlers the liability for the purchaso money' of the particubir piece of land that each settler took. (Applause.) Turning to Customs revenue, the Prime Minister said he was much, gratified to be able to state that the trade of the country, as evidenced by tho statistical returns of exports and imports, ■was in a prosperous condition. (Applause.) \ The Revenue. The estimated amount of Customs revenue for the year was £2,630,000, to which should be added primage £197G, and the proportion of tho estimated surtax for four and a half months, namely £18,750, giving ' a total. estimate of £2,650,726. He was much pleased to state that th'is had been exceeded by £20,399, the total for tho year being £2,071,125. The proportion of Tovenue derived from the different items subject to duty, including preferential rates, was about normal. Under tho tariff of 1907 great remissions of duty wero made, uhiefiy on foods, articles of general domestic ' consumption, and necessaries of life. Theso remissions wero at that tamo calculated to equal the sum of £405,000 annually, but it was not found that, owing to increased consumption, due chiefly to romoval of duty on dried fruits nnd sugar, the amount remitted for the year just closed was no loss than £478,823. In this connection it might bo worthy of notico that since the policy of gradually reducing tho duty on the necessaries of life and articles of domestic consumption was introduced in 1695, the total remissions to date are over four and a half millions sterling. It was undeniable that the concessions in Customs had given enormons relief to people, and especially to tho workers and their families, who were tho largest consumers of tho articles referred to. (Applause.) Land Settlement. During the past year land settlement had steadily progressed, and the domand for Crown land had been met by the opening for selection during, the year of 2,270,184 acres of all clashes of land, which had enabled 233G additional settlers to take their plnces on the land. This total of lands opened inclnded 44,146 acres of improved farm settlement areas, divided amongst 310 heads of families, who, with their families, would number about 1200 souls. The lands opened included 832,788 acres of ordinary Crown lands (including renewable lease), 83,507 acres of lands for settlemonts, estates purchased, and 1,353,889 acres of pastoral lands. During the year policy of purchase and subdivision of estates for closer settlement had been continued. Nine estatoe wero acquired, and eight had been opened for selection. The gross total of land revenue received during the year was £675,000, being £16,487 over the estimate; but there had been a falling-off in the territorial portion, principally owing to the- postponement until next year of the offering of Canterbury runs, and also to a number of persons holding leases with right of purchase failing to take advantage of the right to convert into the freehold. Postal Revenue. Post and telegTaph roventra for the year ended March 31 reached £960,844, an increase of over £46,000 abovo the previous yoar's figures. Such a result for a period generally regarded as one of depression in trade was indeed satisfactory. The increased revenue was fairly ovonly distributed over all classes of business—postal, telegraph, money-order, and telephone, all showing steady increase both in volnme of work and revenue derived therefrom. The general postal progress of the Dominion advanced satisfactorily, and there was no better index of prosperity of any country than the letterwriting habits of its people. The Savings Bank continued to sound its note of the comfort and prosperity of tho people. Tn the cjuarter ended last March,"" one person in every five in tho Dominion made a deposit, and together they banked £25,351,000. Ten years before only half the number of people wero depositors, and they banked a good deal less than half the amount, only £10,790,000 in the some time. Withdrawals for the March quarter just. ended amounted to £2,378,000, leaving still a good cautious balance on the deposit aide. Ten years before withdrawals amounted to only £985,000 for the three months. Savings Bank deposits for the year ended December 31 last amounted to £9,611,000, and withdrawals to £9,499,000. Ten years before . tho respective figures were £3,645,000 and £3,417,000. Steadv progress was being made in extending the telephonic services to outlying districts which have no communication with the outer world by telegraph or by telephone, and where tho Department is not warranted in erecting lines for purely individual services. Every facility is given those settlers who erected private wires to connect them with the telephone or telegraph offices. (Applause.) The Population. Tho Prime Minister went on to deprecate the effort which, he saM, had been made not long ago to create the impression that people were leaving the country, and that serious results wero likely to follow. Such reports wore widely circulated olsewhero, and he was sorry to say that, at ono timo it seriously told against tho interests of traders in tho Dominion. He proceeded to state that as a matter of fact the percentage of increasing population from 1900 to 1909 was considerably higher in New Zealand than in either New South Wales or Victoria, and New Zealand gained by immigration n. greater proportion of her increaso than axes tho coco in either of the States

mentioned, Victoria actually losing nearly forty thousand of her natural increase during the ten years referred to. Unemployment. During last year the Government had had to face a real difficulty in the matter of unemployment for the first time in many years. They had done all in their power to alleviate the situation, and he was pleased to state that the prospect was considerably brighter for all classes of workers. Though there would un-. doubtedly be some unemployment this winter, it was not expected that the unemployment would reach the abnormal total of last year. There was evidence that work for willing hands would be fairly plentiful, and the Government might bo relied on to do its best, with the help of private employers and local bodies, to keep distress 'down to a minimum. The Government was carefully watching the experiments being made in other countries to solve the unemployment problem, and was moving steadily along what were proved to be the best lines. (Applause.) , Immigration. Dealing with, immigration SiT Joseph Ward reviewed what the Government had done, and addel that he thought that in addition a system might well be established under which any one or moro people in New Zealand requiring labour which the Labour Department admit could not be obtained hero in the numbers required might ask the Government to arrange for the importation of such labour from Great Britain, provided those desiring tho work guaranteed employment for a period of at least six months after arrival, and at a wago uniform with the wages paid for that class of work now. This would obviato the first objection to a large number of people landing in New Zealand and having no immediate employment in view; and secondly the complaint by workers that tho ranks of any particular industry were being unduly swelled by imported labour. Retrenchment. The Prime Minister then reforrod to tho unpleasant duty he had to perform of retrenchment and said he was glad to be ablo to state that in consequence of the greatly-improved position of the public finances and tho still better prospocts for tho present year there would bo no farther necessity to retrench in the Publio Service, though of courso economy would be effected wherever possible, allowing for necessary increases owing to expansion of business in various Departments. A saving had been effected in this connection of £38,970. Taxation. As to taxation tho impression wae created by Opposition criticism that the burden upon the mass of the people had boon increased in both rate and amount. .This, was a gross perversion of facts. Direct taxpayers * were about one in 25 per cent, of tho total taxpayers. It was admitted that tho taxation paid by them had increased because their wealth' had increased. Therefore the amount produced (£800,000). by direct taxation during the last ten years had fallen on those who were growing rich and were well able to meet the , further burden, and during that period the Government had relieved the burden upon the workers and the groat mass of the people. Tho Prime Minister then gave a comprehensive review of the year's finance, and said he was bound to say that the poriod of depression, recently passed through was aggravated most unnooessarily by the declarations against tho country as made by opponents in their endeavours to injure the Government. The troubles that then existed wore world-wide, and absolutely beyond the control of tho Government. Everything that could possibly be done to meet the people was done by the Government. Finance. Hβ was very glad to be ablo to say that tho revenue for the year, amounted to .£9,238,261, a record in the history of tho Dominion, thti largest amount previously received in any one year being ,£9,055,946. Tho revenue of the year .exceeded that of the previous year (190S-9) by .£237,076, and the expenditure under the annual appropriations was less than tho previous year by .£98,970. This was the first time for a nuinber of years that there had been any decreaso at all in annual expenditure, and this should- be a sourco of satisfaction to all well-wishers of the country. That reduction in the annual' expenditure, notwithstanding the record revenue for the year, has been brought about by economies carried out in various Departments, and was the strongest answer that could be given to opponents upon the question of retrenchment. To have, notwithstanding the largelyincreased business, reduced expenditure by .£98,970 in this way, considering that the economies practised by the Government began to take effect from the latter portion of the year, was very satisfactory. The financial results showed a magnificent recovery in so short a time from tho position of the previous year, and the remarkable buoyancy of the revenue might be judged by the fact that in oi"ht Departments there was an increase of £313,017, and a decrease of .£94,756 in three Departments. Customs was better by £41,121, railways by .£208,262, land tax by £17,270, income tax by £16,835, beer duty by £2369, marine £91S, miscellaneous £26,099, endowment revenue £142. The decreases were:—Stamps £68,618, registration and other fees £4695, territorial revenue £21,412. Railways, compared with the revenue of tho previous year showed an increase of £339,756, land tax £37,369, miscellaneous £31,859. Those who took an interest in the financial position of tho country would remember that £700,000 of Treasury bills were outstanding on March 31, 1906, and had practically become a permanent debt. He intimated that he proposed to make provision from year to year until this amount was extinguished, and during the year he was glad to say a further £100,000 of this amount was paid off, with the result that the amount outstanding was now only £100,000. The Surplus. He waj very happy indeed to tell tho people of the Dominion that the surplus of ordinary revenue at the. end of the year amounted to the handsome sum of £432,316. This he need hardly assure every class in the country, from tho humblest to the highest, was a matter of the greatest importance to them, and lie could express his deep regret that the Leader of the Opposition had already been attempting to minimise this satisfactory position by his extraordinary allusions recently to the surplus, by his proclaiming that it belonged to two years because of tho balance that was rightly carried forward from the previous year. He could with tho same amount of logic or reason declare it a surplus of ten years or more, as the balance of former years must, and rightly so, be carried to the succeeding year every time. The total amount of public works expenditure was £2,030,176, independent of amounts authorised -.by separate accounts, such as lunds for the duplication of railways. All sources gavo £054,741 available- for this year, .which was ample'until further authorisation by Parliament—so he thought he was amply justified in saying that tho country, from the financial standpoint, was in a healthy and most encouraging position, which should inspire confidence both hero and among our own people beyond our shores. During the past ten years tho amount to credit of depositors in the Government and iirivate Savings Banks increased from £6,005,314 to £13,557,506. That was an increase of £6,892,462; from £S 13s. 6d. to £13 15s. 10d. Dor head, an iacieaso of.

£5 2a. 4d. per head. The amount standing to credit of depositors had more than doubled in toil years, and now Topreeented an average of nearly £14 for every man, woman, and child in the Dominion. Again, tho operations of the banks of issue reflected the progress of trade, and, excluding amounts standing to credit of Government deposits, taking the averago of four quarters, have risen from .£14,793,239 in 1900 to £20,689,251 in 1909, and _ advances during the same period furnished convincing evidence of increased commercial activity and the ability of the banks to supply the needs of customers. Advances went up from ■£12,081,744 in 1300 to £20,366,307 In 190!).

Flotation of Loans. . Begarding tho financial position of the Dominion ho need only direct attention to the satisfactory flotation of loans. On April 2 this year the rate of interest was 3J per cent., and tho loan realised £98 10s., and was quoted after its issue at half per cent, premium. Of tho total amount the public subscribed 85 per cent., and he wanted his hearers to compare this with the South. Australian loan of April 14 of this year, to the amount of £789,400 at 3} per cent., at £101, where the underwriters had to take 66 per cent, of tho loan, while in the caso of the New Zealand loan only 15 per cent of the loan was taken by tho underwriters. Again, there was tho New South Wales loan oi £2,750,000, floated in February of this year at 3* per cent, at a minimum of £97, and an Indian loan of £7,500,000 in January of' this year, tho price of this being £96 10s. Ho called attention to these facts to show that New Zealand had done better than any of those States named. The following extract from the "London Financial News," of March 9 last, was indicative of the high favour in which our stocks are held by British investors. It said: "You need not have any qualms about your New Zealand holdings. New Zealand is among the most progressive of the colonies." The actual amount of land tax collected during the year showed an over-estimate of £17,270, and an increase of £37,370 over tho collections of the previous year. The enect of the graduated land tax had been the subdivision of properties and the promotion of settlement. Attempts wero still being made by large owners to evade the provisions of the Act by reputed sales, and such attempt was being exhaustively investigated. Tho acquisition of the Manawatu railway and the completion of two blind sections of tie Main Trunk had enabled a great reduction in the cost of operating tho lines and materially increased the net earnings of the -Department.

beyond requirements, and the problem was how to bring about a reduction while meeting the requirements of the people. He was quite satisfied that the system under, which subsidies were granted should be completely altored, and that an increased amount should be given and an inducement held out for the establishment of comparatively large county conn,cils, giving them wider and greater powers than at present. Hβ proposed to ask Parliament to affirm certain principles by a resolution, and upon that being done a. Local Government Bill would be introduced and circulated, and full opportunity for its consideration would be given to those concerned bctoro it was actually proceeded with. J- he matter was most important, and necessarily a far-reaching one, and presented many difficulties which, however, ho trusted, would be overcome.

Native Lands. In rcard to Native lands, the Government was administering the new Act with vigour, and did not intend that it should remain a dead letter. Purchases of Native land in the North Island, which were being actively pursued, were expected, if completed withm this year, to absorb the full provision made by Parliament. Farther areas were coming under offer every day, and providing surveys could keep time with the applications that wero being made to tbc.department, an additional 200,000 fo 300,000 acres should be well forward on negotiations, or completed by the end of tho financial year. Apart from this, the Government has in ten years dealt with a total area of 2,476,291 acres of Native lands for settlement,- and no fewer than M 77 private alienations of 1,817,000 acres had been dealt with, so that people who talked about the Government doing nothing in connection with Native lands were statin" what was absolutely contrary to fact.

.Land for Settlement. The Government, fully recognised the importance of obtaining land for settlement and of prosecuting the system vigorously. "I cannot too 6trongly emphasise," he said, "that the policy of the Government is to open up as quickly as possible all Crown lands which have been sufficiently surveyed. There is_at present under survey by the .bands Department's staff of surveyors an area ot 1226,289 acres of rural and settlement Crown lands, and also 267,592 acres of Maori lands, either for Maori land settlement purposes, or by order of the Native Land Courts, to forward settlement.

The Railways. This year's railway results were highly gratifying, the total revenue from nil sources boing 12s. This • was an increase of .£320,204 Is. on the previous year, and showed an earning power of i; 3 ss. 7d. per cent. Passenger traffic showed an increase of passengers of almost three quarters of a million, the number alone of ordinary tickets issued being nearly 10} millions. Season tickets have been issued equalling seven and a quarter million journeys. The railways had thus carried during the year nearly eighteen million passengers. The total tonnage handled amounted to 4,871,874 tons, an increase of 351,540 tona. With tho exception of timber, which showed a decrease, every other description of goods traffic showed a largo increase, wool boing responsible for 13,135 tons, grain 250,000 tons, merchandise 9696 tons, and minerals for 141,073 tons. The railways are now on a most satisfactory footing, track appliances and rolling stock being in first-class order. It would be the easiest thing possible for the Government to make tho railwaye pay a high rate of interest, but the policy of tho Government remained now, as always, and it was intended to continue, to make the railway servico subservient to the interest .of the Dominion, and to give the people using the railways the fullest .value for their money. It was not intended to increase rates upon goods, produce, or livo stock. Up to March 31 just ended the railway staff received .£871,000 in concessions more than they would have done if the former scale of pay had remained in operation. Prison Reform. In a short review of prison reform proposals, Sir Joseph stated that it would be necessary to enlargo the sphere of the indoterminafe sentences to give judges power to order indeterminate sentence, not as now only, when an offender had proved himself to ° be an habitual criminal, but where tho indeterminate sentence was expedient both in the interests of tho community and for the benefit of the offender. \ Education. In rogard to education, the Prhno Minister said that tho Minister had economised in the only directions in which economy could bo exercised without injury to the system. Tho redactions made resulted in an actual decrease of expenditure of about .£43,000, leaving a net increase of expenditure on education of £G2,000 for the year over 1908-9. With an improved revenue it would be possible to make fuller provision for the current year. One of the things it was intended to do was to place the finance of the school committees on a better footing. Ho was glad to announce that he proposed to nsk Parliament to restore to the Estimates this year the library vote of .£3OOO, which was among the victims of necessary economy last year as the outcome of the varied undertakings that the Government carried out for the people. Sinking Funds. It seemed to him, after careful consideration, that the question of the providing of sinking funds for paying off loans should be dealt with upon a comprehensive basis. Three, courses were, open, namely, to pay oif the sums borrowed in a short period, leaving those who immediately succeed us in possession ot works without burdens; to pass on tho debt to future generations who will have to replace the works as well as repav the moneys spent on previous worksor to spread repayment, over two or three generations, each paying its share. Sinking funds were a serious -burden when they had to repay short-dated loans but annual payments were remarkably light when spread over a long period in too no of a nation. A century is not a long period, and seventy-five years would bo a reasonable, time for repay nient of its loans by sinking fund, S It was almost, certain that all our large loans would have a term indudinereminil as long as, if not longTr K, 75 years before being repaid A sinking fund would mean a renewal of the loans in more favourable terms than if the .fund did not. exist. If renewed at a quarter per cent less in consequence of having the fund, it would jnean that in (b years the whole sum borrowed would be more than repaid by the reduced interest. New Zealand more than anything else required cheap money, as proved by the recent temporary shortage. The future of New Zealand should be one of steady progress for many years. The oenefits of 'sinking funds would be great both to the country's credit and to the settlers. •» A Comprehensive Scheme. Ho proposed therefore to submit to Parliament a comprehensive scheme to "set aside annually a smn sufficient to liquidate the whole of our debt at the end of 75 years, instead of a separate fund for each loan on maturity, and also to apply the same system to enable all tutui'o loans to be repaid at the end of 75 yoars. "I am of opinion," added the Prime Minister, "that the country can afford to do this, and I'shall put it beyond possibility of critics to refer adversely to our debt mounting up when they know that, so lone as wo are making railways and advancing money to settlers, and acquiring land to put the people on, that borrowing for this is necessary, although I am of opinion that some of the highest authorities who dedart that » linking fund \s not necessary for extinction of loans until the borrowing period has ceased take a perfectly dependable view.. Still, after very careful consideration, I feel that the safest and strongest courso to adopt is the one that I am recommending, and I will submit a comprehensive scliemo for that purpose." Justifying the donning of the prophetic mantle by allusion to the fulfilment of a. prediction in tho lost Budget, the Prime Minister oxprcsscd tho confident opinion that the material progress of tho country wonld reach a higher, mark this ..year than that obtained last year. Local Government. It was recognised that local government required to be vastly improved. There was a multiplication of bodies ,which was generally recognised to be fax

The System of Valuing Land. A great deal of difficulty was experienced in connection with the present system of valuing land, and he thought it would be better if, instead of having irregular intervals at which valuations take place, they were to fix a period of every four years to have valuations on land throughout the whole Dominion effected, making suitable 'provision of course for revaluations between the periods named at any tifiie should it be found necessary. Then, instead of sending out a land tax notice every year to be filled in, where there, had been no alteration in particulars, it ehould be sufficient to eo advise and forward the amount of land tax of the previous yeai. The question of incidence of taxation as it affected investments in towns and cities would also, he thought, require to be reviewed. It was never intended or contemplated that a tax imposed in order to bring about close settlement of landed areas shonW, whilo effecting this desirable result, militate against those industries concerned in towns and cities which Tequire to have sums of money, small or largo as the cose might be, invested in them so as to ensure their successful carrying on, and upon whose success the employment ot Urge numbers of people was dependent The matter was engaging has attention with a view to seeing in what direction a difficulty of this kind could be met A Land Bill. Whilo maintaining tho operations of the graduated land.tax upon large areas of land, or where land was m the aggregate of a high value, a Land Bill, •perhaps modified in form, but containing the same principles as that of last session, would bo submitted again. He proposed also to ask tho House to pass the National Annuities Bill introduced last year. . He would'endeavour, to extend the principles to meet cases of widows let in poor circumstances.

Wireless Telegraphy. Wireless telegraph proposals to meet the requirements of defence, the navy, ana mercantile servico in the Dominion were being dealt with. These proposals wouldg provide for high-power stations at or near Doubtless Bay and the Bluff, with tt range of 1250 nautical miles, and tnree medium-power stations, one at or near Gisborne, one at or near Cape Farewell, and one at'Sumner. These mediumpower stations would command ships at 'ea for a distance of 500 nautical miles, 'und the Sumner one would reach, the Chatham Islands. Doubtless Bay would command Sydney and Fiji, while the Bluff would command- Hobart and Melbourne, both stations commanding, vessels of the navy and mercanti e marine as well. Stations would also be able to in-ter-couWunicate with each other either direct or by transmission. Ships approaching New Zealand from any direction equipped with wireless apparatus Xld therefore be able to communicate with one or other of these stations. He hoped to see the wireless the pleted and in working order within the next twelve months. Anti-Trust Legislation. As to anti-trust legislation ' the sr te Mh r«ss- rn £w- , s: iste in Now Zealand. Matters have come rmsh y odlfdo^bu«tS Snr^^x^fK, | forced upon the country what is an undoubted monopoly. There should be complete freedom for the peop e of all classes in the country ,to deal with whom they like. As it is at present, thtf is not the case and that is an undoubted evil. It should bo made impossible for any company or person, however strong nnancially they may be, to compel traders, and indirectly the community, to deal with them, and them only. Freedom oi trade means competition, and competition is not only the life of trade, but is essential for the welfare of our people. I will ask Parliament to pass an anti-trust law next session." Electoral Law. Legislation would be introduced to enable a more effective system to be carried out in. connection with the elections, so far as the electoral rolls are concerned, and reversion to the former system of striking the names of those who do' not vote off the .rolls after an election is considered . desirable. Strong representations were made in the House, and, in accordance with his public promise, he proposed to ask Parliament to give effect to changes necessary to bring about this result. . . Other Measures. A Bill to give effect to the post-audit system would be introduced next session, also a Bill effecting improvement in procedure of local public bodies who required to borrow money, as the present system was cumbrous. He proposed to ensure that where a local body had received the authority of the r-itepayers for the raising of a loan, the remainder of the procedure to curry out what the ratepayers had authorised would be made as simple as possible. Legislation would also he introduced for the complete controt by the Government of the. rivers and lakes of the Dominion for water supply purposes, and. to enable the large wastage now going on to be useful to the people; .£500,000 per"*annum would be voted, and this would make for the supply of power at low rates. The matter of silver coinage in the light of Australia's new system was' receiving attention, and he hoped to be able to make before lonjj a public announcement regarding it. j The Libel Law. Referring to tho libel law the Prime Minister said: "Tho position of the libel law in New Zealand is at present admittedly unsatisfactory. There have been many reasous why up to now an advanced reform in. this direction has not been possiblo of accomplishment, but I think the timo has arrived when we should be. able/ to put the libel law in Now Zealand upon a nuro satisiactorv

footing, and legislation in Hiia diiectionwill be submitted to Parliament." Beet Sugar. : Encouragement of the beet sugar iadostry in New Zealand was worthy of Hβ fullest consideration, and proposals would be submitted to Parliament this eessan; to enable tliis important industry to-i» established in the Dominion.

Conclusion. In the course of his peroration Sir Joseph Ward said: "Even though my opponents may' delight in calling me an optimist, I affirm my strong belief, that tlie progress of trade throughout tho country is.good, and that there are all the evidences of a sound revival of trade. Our public finances are strong and healthy, our principal Departments of State reflect the widespread activity of our people. The returns for our staple products, exceeding twenty-one millions for the year, should certainly inspire even the pessimist section of the community with hope and confidence for our future. Our population is increasing, and the number of people who are settling upon, the land is increasing, and must turther increase during the approaching years. . . . I do not, however, for a moment discount the necessity for caution and prudence among all classes of the community, both privately and publicly; but they must have confidence, and preach it if they wish to ensure that active and continued progress which the assistance of broad and comprehensive legislation; and the opening up and development _of the country under the vigorous direction of the Government has, I say without egotism, materially assisted to' bring about." No questions were asked, and tne meeting carried without dissent a vote of thanks to the Prime Minister for hit address, and of confidence in the Administration. The Prime Minister had a cordial reception. Mr. C. D. Moore (ex-Mavor di Winton), Mr. J. A. Hanani M.P. (Invepcargill), the Hon. Geo. Jones, Mr. W. A. Ott (the Mayor of Inyercargill), and others were on the platform. Lady Ward was also present. Sir Joseph and Lady Ward received a warm -welcome, and the speech throughout was heartily applauded by the 500 auditors.