THE PREMIER AT STRATFORD.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1036, 27 January 1911, Page 5

THE PREMIER AT STRATFORD.

FINANCIAL POSITION.

DEFENCE OF THE FIVE MILLION LOAN. REPLY TO CRITICISM. (By TclccraDh—Press Association.) i Stratford, January 26. The Premier (Sir J. Ward) arrived" at Stratford by the mail train this evening, and was accorded a very hearty reception. The Mayor gave him a civic welcome, and Mr. Joseph M'Cluggage, on behalf of the local Liberal League, presented an address expressing a cordial and hearty welcome, and confidence in Sir J. Ward as head of the party, and saying that attempts to undermine his influence and destroy, the; Government made by certain politicians had only recoiled upon themselves, and that to-daj. the Premier stood higher in the esteem and regard, not only of the Liberal party, but o£ the people of New Zealand, than ever before. The Premier suitablj acknowledged the address,. and wai. cheered by the large gathering present the station platform being crowded.

POLITICAL ADDRESS,

FINANCIAL POSITION REVIEWER

'<Uy Telegraph-Special Reporter.) .. Stratford, January 26. The Prime .Minister dealt lengthily with the financial affairs of the Doinin. ion in his speech at Stratford to-night. His remarks were chiefly a defence oi the Government, and a reply to critics. He prefaced his remarks with congratulatory statements regarding the general, progress during tho last ten years. In that time the white population, which! had passed the million mark last' Dg- ; cember, had increased by 232,364. ,That! represented a 30 per. cent, addition,. or j 3 per cent, per year. This rate was un-' equalled in any other Australasian State.' In the three months ending with December last, the excess of arrivals over departures was. 60(7, as against 4968 for 1909, and 3412 for 1900. Here, he declared, was an answer to those . who talked of our fleeing population. - During the same period of years the trade of the country represented' by imports' and exDorts had' risen from .£23,800,000 to £3"9,20O,00O. . All. . tests applied proved a remarkable; increase ,in the of the Dominion. Land valuation had risen 100.32 ner cent., from £138,591,000 to £277,630,000. It was a' marvel that the pessimistic prophets of. evil did not recognise the idleness of the course they had. s;o long, and with such' barren results, pursued. Side by side . with this prosperity had been considerable activity in . public .works, expenditure. In tho last five years covering his ; period of Premiership, the expenditure on i roads, railwavs, and bridges, public. buildings, etc.," was £11,572,813,. of which, £7,271,500 was spent in the North Island 1 and £4,301,033 in the South. The great I' bulk of this had been in reproductive ■ | works. ■;■■':■: _■■

Revenue' and Expenditurer The revenue for the last iiine months ,v of the past year as against the"'similarW.. period of tho previous year, : had ih^;. creased by .£703,272, and for tho twelve', months the increase, was .£848,923. - The ordinary and territorial revenue for the 9 • months was ,£7,148,582, and' the expenditure from tho consolidated fund .£4,034,971. ■the Public - Works expenditure' for the , nine months (to December 31) was .£1,281,297. This, said the Premier, brought him* to the question of borrowing. He referred to the recent five mil- ' lion loau, and panted to direct special; attention to how it was apportioned, viz., naval defence, .£1,250,000; aid to Public ! Works and land settlement under tha Act of 1910, .£1,750,000; advances to settlers, ;.and advances to workers, ,£325,000. Th-s critics of tho loan-and; its notation could rightly be asked what ■ portion erf the five millions, had the responsibility been on them, would they, have omitted? They would hold up their: hands in holy horror if it were sus?ested| the naval item should be left out. (Hear, hear.) He similarly dealt with each other item. The responsibility for the > flotation certainly rested upon his shoulders, but tho veriest tyro on finance \ would surely recojnise that those whom; we trusted in Ensland to advise us. andj who recommended tho, time at which the loan should be .put upon the market; and the underwriters,.'who received what was admittedly not a largo amount, viz., v one per cent., were men of; high and wide experience. "iVas it to l>e supposed that the underwriters were inferior in. judgment to the Leader of the Opposi-, tioh?' ' ' ''

Some Comparisons. The .£1,850,000 loan-issued March • 31, 1910, was upon almost similar terms . to that of the five million loan on November 11, 1910.- The underwriters, in that case were required to tako 17 per cent, of the loan, whilst in January, two months earlier, an Indian 3i per cent, loan of of 90 per cent. Tesulted in the underwriters having to tako 50 per cent., and a 31 per cent. Ceylon loan in December, 1909, at 10s. per cent., compelled, the underwriters to take 90 . per cent. He was, therefore, entitled to sav that New Zealand came out splendidly by comparison. It was not long since that this and other countries would .havo required to have'paid four per cent, with a considerable discount. The last advice from the High Commissioner said that about half the five million loan re-" maiued in the underwriters' hands, and they were voluntarily holding it for investment. (Applause.) The advice further stated that up to December 30, 1910, .£763,200 had been converted, and that conversions were still proceeding. .He had also heard that some of the underwriters had earned a profit upon portions thev had sold. He further said that a Strait Settlement, loan of J52,750,000 at i per cent, was issued in October, 1910, at £95 10s., a month before our! five million issue. The underwriters had to take 93 per cent. What would those who cried out about our loan and the damage to the credit of the country say when they saw what was; being done in the case of those countries—lndia and Ceylon, and the Straits Settlements, in which tho credit of England herself was directly involved. None of the underwriters had found fault with the stability of the country. Sir Joseph then read from various London papers about the loan negotiations, and said that none of them, as far as he could ascertain, questioned the position of New Zealand. Ho claimed without egotism to have kept, the financial position of the Dominion strong.

Borrowing. Speaking generally of the policy of borrowing, he recognised that we could not do without it. It would, of course, be possible, but the 'discontinuance would involve either tho suspension of' tho policy of development, or to provido for -public works expenditure by fresh taxation to the extent of one and a half or two millions a year. It was better policy to borrow for reasonable requirements and spread the repayment over two or three -enerations. For the next fifteen or twenty years development must go on. The Advances to Settlers and Workers Accounts wer* well in fund. During last year they had" lent settlers '£1,329,000, and workers £103,0(10. Since its commencement ,£lO "50,000 had been lent to settlers, and to workers .£1,153.000. The board, at its last meeting, had decided to raise the limit on town properties to X2OOO. He al=o "ave a brier review of the work of la«t session. 'At times he referred in stron" terms to the criticisms and methods of the Opposition and the Opposition P The Mayor, Mr. J. Masters, was in tne chair, and Mr. J. D. Hine sat at the table. -V vole of thanks and confidence waa passed. .