PREMIER'S NORTHERN TOUR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1044, 6 February 1911, Page 6

PREMIER'S NORTHERN TOUR.

[. . , : 4 ~ SPEECH AT AUCKLAND; 1 ■ ' THE, FINANCIAL POSITION. CONCESSIONS IN SECOND-CLASS FARES. j ! •. {By TeleßrapU.—Press Association.) . Auckland, February 5. i Tho Prime Minister addresse<l a largelyj attended public mooting in tho Choral j Hall last evening, anil received an cn- ■ reception. Tho'Mayor (Mr. L. i J. ..Uagnall) pres'ded. i The Prirno Minister first Tefeired to the I finances : o'f. the oountry, which, ho said, ! rrero in- an extremely flourishing coii- ! dition. For Iho twelvo mouths ended ]: January 31 lasty tho finances had attained j a position.never! before reached, the total I. revenue Teceived during ' tliat period i hajpng exceeded' that, of tho preceding 1 twelve months by 088,000. For tho ten j months ended January 31 last, they also j had a record revenue, it being <£873,501 I greater than for tho corresponding ten | months of the preceding year, and by tho i -end. of tho" present financial year . they i would havo over one'-million sterling to < the'good in, the Treasury.. .£873,501 [ increase was mado'-up as follows:—- ••! ■■■- ; ' ■ • ■■■ £ I Customs ; I 30G,SG3 ; Stamps and Postal and Telegrnph 251,681 i Postal and Telegraph cash receipts 23,000 Railways 251,710 | Beet' duty ' ' 1,G46 ; Registration and other fee's 2,003 } Marine I ' 2,008 !• 2,095 f, Territorial revenue ?2,912 i The Prime Minister stated that these j increases were not brought 1 , about by in-, | creased taxation. The Customs tariff was i not altered last year.. ( So far as tho in-. ! crease in railway receipts was' concerned, i it might bo said .that'"this was brought about' by-' thfe- alteration'.' ill- the : long-dis--1 stance,.fares; but as .a matter of fact the | extra amount received from that source I did not amount to .one-fourth of the total ! increase. Tho Government' hoped' next i,. year to I 'make • considerable, railway ~'cpn-' !; :essions, particularlj" in ;the ~second-cla,;s, % fares.- (Applause.)' -The'oily'decrease.re-' presented, was in land and income .tax, j . the Avenue from 'which'had depreciated . by -£1307. This however, . was 1 in reality, a gratifying' feature, •as it j 6howed' that tho .taxation was inducing j.. the cutting-up' of th 6 . big estates, for ; vrhich-.it .was intended, and that more' • j■•'■'people'.' were being on the. land. • i'..' The increases were the outcome of the great revival .in trade, the increased j.. ' settlement ~'bn tho land, and tho great increase in, the: volume of our.exports, j.- apart from their value. \'et two or. three j. years, ago, .during the temporary .period j- 01. depression, they had certain people r going about crying out that tho'bottom p. was dropping out of the country, but tho. [■ Government 'declared' its confidence that i prosperity would shortly be. restored, and. i' this had proved to be the case. The talk, j moreover, about people fleeing from the ! country wqs quite contrary to fact, bc- [: cause s during; the-past few years the j'- population of Now Zealand" had increased j., at a greater rate .than in. any- of the j. Australian States.' There-were no unemj'.'ployed. (A voice: "What about Wellingi; ton?) Any man in Now Zealand who was j.* willing and able to work could get work to-day. (Applause.) -. , ,

t Reply to Criticism. j.'---.-. In replying to criticisms of the Govern- [;■ bent;-, .Sir Joseph Ward said that .they jV were Itold that'.the Government' had no • policy'and was doing nothing. He would ;. reply to tin's by quoting a few facts. In the first place, the Government had ■y loaned'the;.sum of .£1,500,000 to. tho local I; Bodies at : 3V per cent., plus sinking fund, ii During - the year ended December last !• JM07,900 had been advanced to workers in U the Dominion, and the total'now advanc- ! . ed was ~£1,152,000, whilst the total loans to settlprs was over .-J510,000,000. In regard i to ' settlement, thpj; were - constantly ; being 'tolcf- that tile-Government was do- . ing nothing. During the time-that he bad i". ( been at the head of the Administration ! -(ho would-not .go any, further back) a , great deal had been (Tone in regard-to : . the settlement of Native lands.' The area of Native land in'the Dominion that had ! been'worked under tho Maori Land Boards'was 1,049,525 acres; are area alienated, 268,378 acres; whilo.tho land in tho i course pf-. preparation ;in the market was ; 781,147 acres. The additional areas alien- ! ated by., the owners with the approval of I the boards and :.tho'Native Land /Courts f was 1,198,225 -acres leased- and 35,956 acres ! fold, whilst the total area purchased was j 473,884'. acres. The survey of theso lands h was being pushed on'with every possible : dispatch; Every surveyor who was willing to work was being employed, and tho ' Government was, importing surveyors in addition. It was impossiblo 'for the Government to go any further than it was : going in this direction, but ..nevertheless they were-being-constantly-criticised -far , not going any , faster. Those criticisms were, justifiable at ono time before, the

: necessary ■ amendments to tho laws wero made and the .present energetic policy initiated, but it was no longer justified. In addition to tho areas first referred to tho Government had purchased during tho samo period Native lands to the extent of . 473,894 acres. There had never -been a time when .tho administration ' of the Lands Department had been so active in : regard to either Native lands or the ord- ; inary Crown lands. (Applause.) Tho : Prime Minister then referred to other ', Crown lands,' and said that since he had . been Minister for Lands; some two years, the 'land opened for selection in tho i Auckland district had totalled 602,3GG ; ncr'os. The lands opened in tho Domin- .- 1 ion during- the same -time had been 7,301,706 (?) acres. The area now- advertised as open in the Dominion was 3.230.730 acres: .Total area of Crown lands under serr vey was 2.608,631 acres. (.Aiiplause.l Dur- ! ing the time .that tho Liberal GovernI went had been in power it had placed 103,000. people :on the land, and during the nine months ended December the ■ number of new settlers had been 1500 (on 432,000 acres), representing about 6000 1 people.' ■ North v. South.

In referring.to the cry of North v. South, Sir Joseph Ward said. that, the > total public works expenditure in Auckland province during tho past four years. ■ and nine months, during which period his Government had been in office totalled JE2,006,3C8, made un as follows:—Railways, iE1,25G,790i roads and bridges, buildings, .C61G,23!)j other works, JC350.201. : The amount expended during the.'sniao period in tho North and South Islands : ' wcro .£7,139,540 and .£4,008,828 respectively, an increase of over. £3,000,000 in favour of the North Island. He then .referred' to. tho criticism levelled by tho Leader of tho Opposition at the Public Debt Extinction Act. That Act, he said, had been held up as valueless on tho ground that it would merely i provide a- huge sum which would, prov.o.n. tempting bait. for somo hard-pressed Cabinet to seize in tho future.' But that had been specially guarded against. Tho Act stipulated that none of tho fund ' could be invested in Government stocks, that a special trust board apart from the Government should ba . established, that the funds as they accrued should to lent : out to settlers and to-local bodies, , and that all scrip "should have imprinted on the back that a sinking fund was pro- •- viiled. It would spell dishonour to touch !' it. As showing that others were impress- ; ed with the Act ho mentioned that ali TCadv two other Governments had' r.p- ---; plied for particulars regarding tho scheme. ' Inferring, to his coming visit to Engi land in'order to attend tho Imperial Con- : feronce, Sir Joseph Ward said his only : regret was that all parties were not to be represented at that important event. He believed that it would bo.a great and i grand thing if all classes of the community were represented _at the conference, and'that in Imperial affairs there should bo unanimity so far as New Zealand was concerned. (Prolonged applause.) i A motioji.of thanks-and confidence in \ tho Government, moved by Mr. Yv. 13. i Leyland and seconded by Ur. P. J. NcreI heny, was carried by a large major- ; ity after the meeting had negatived an ! amendment by Mr. W. Richardson condemning the Government borrow ing pol- !- icy on the ground that further protection would givo more employment, and | would save the country paying interest'lo 1 the fqreisn money-lenders. The meeting i concluded with cheers for the Prime Mini•. ister. | , Sir Joseph Ward leaves for Ohakune to- ! aisht.