PREMIER'S NEW ROLE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1302, 4 December 1911, Page 6

PREMIER'S NEW ROLE.

fIUBUKES EXCESSIVE DORnOWING, LOCAL GOVKKXMKXT. [SILL PROMISI'W). (Br 'inlccrnoh -t'icss Amoctatlon.l Milton, Dcremhcr 1. Tho Coronation Hall whh not largo enough to iiccuiiiiiioiliilh nil who wonted to hear tho Prime MinisU-r's speech U>niglif. Many p"»plo went awny, and hundreds nl/jod throughout the nic-ctiiif;. The Mayor (Mr. King) occupied the chair. Tho Prime Minister, who was received with hearty cheers, mid Jin wa.s proud It) wo such :in immense audience. Jlo could go to any portion of the colony and speak lo his lellinv-colonis-ts on matters of piililio concern, and though h« might linvo to criticise si in parts, ho would not descend t/j hitting below the bell. One side of the public life was kept took from the people in order to convoy mi impression that they were going down n shppery road Hint would bring the/n to disaster. (A voice: "Wc wore told that 211 years ago.") As lie wa.s on lii.i >v;iv to the hall that night he learned Unit "Mr. Massey, m speaking ul Clililcn on Die pre. yious night, had said in rolcrente to tho borrowine; that "His partv's policy was to restrict, but not to discontinue 'it. Ho believed that Mew Zealand timid j,nf«ljr borrow threo or four millions it year, hut the Government hu4 pine 100 far in borrowing six and a. liaif milium* a year. Unless cheeked, the Government would in ten years build up a national debt of 1« millions." Jn reply u that he wished to say ho was dead against New Zealand borrowing between th'ree and four mjllons a year. (Applause.) He wished to tell tho people of the Dominion that Hie implication in tho statement Unit the colony was borrowing six and a half millions a year was absolutely unfair and unjust, and required nn explanation. (Applause.) One of the faults lie had to find with -his opironcnts was that their ideas of proportion seemed to disappear entirely when (hey dealt with the Government-. The Government had not laid down a policy, and lie would not be a parly to any policy of borrowing six and a half millions a year, lie would remind the people of something that the Leader of the Opposition had not done. The reason why the Government borrowed five millions in one tear was due to two factors —(1) a portion of (lie money belonged to the amount that should have been borrowed in the previous year; and (2) a ; portion was due to the fact that tho col--1 ony was making provision for the payment of JC1,250.000 for a- Dreadnought. (Applause.) Any person who took an interest in the \vell-bcing of the people must recognise that if wo were to borrow at the rate stated by tho Leader of the Opposition wo would bo ovor-burrowing, (Applause.) Ho would not allow this country to be carried off its feet by the prosMire of members of Parliament or bv the pressure of the people acting through their representatives, and it would be carried off its feet if it wei-e to borrow tho amount that the Leader of tho Opposition thought the Government was going to borrow at the rate, lie suggested. Jlo was vastly mistaken, and if he thought the country was going to borrow to that extent ho was coming to a conclusion that was unwarranted by the requirements of the Dominion. (Applause.) Kor the purpose of carrying on railway construction an average of a million a year was as much as the country could expect to borrow exclusive of what might be necessary to carry on the work of additions l'o open )ines. ; (Applause.) In the course of a few years from now the amounts they were providing for roads mid bridges would diminish very largely if they did pot cease altogether, booaufe the Dominion was reaching a point when they hod practically the end of the reading "policy in view. (Applause.)

Economy in the Future,

"Wlipti llio Dill dealing with local bodies :cam(> bi't'oro J'uHiiimi'nt next wwion h» believed it would be found under ils proposals that a, principal pchemp ut" liiuuice would be siiliinilti.'d Unit would on-

libit; the local bodied to co-operate with the Government in carrying <>n' their ivork, ami tlu\v would bo able to point to tho time when botli Iho local public bodies anil the central Government would bo able to pulliu very largely as fur as public expenditure was concerned. Home years ago the Government borrowed monoy to lend to local bodies so that they might provide sanitation, water, light, and other requirements. The local bodies had applied for over three millions, and the Government had provided (hem with .£2,800,000. Once these public works were carried out they would continue, in existence for many years, and while they continued no further public money would bo required for them. After this year or next year tho Government would not require to borrow anything like the amount that the Leader of the Opposition and his party were afraid to borrow an nually. (Applause.)

What was the cry at the present tiivo on tho part of the opponents of the Government? They worn now telling tjo people Hint (ho Government were borrowing too much, and they gave the total amount borrowed since he (Sir Jos.'ph AVard) bad been head of the Administration, hut thoy never said where the mmioy had been borrowed and tho purposes to 'which it had been devoted, when they held their hands in horror and declared that in comparison with Mr. Ballanoo and Mr. Seddon he (Sir Joseph 'VYnidJhad been borrowing, too fast. Did they tell tliß people what the circumstances were? They did not. Did they say that: in Mr. Ballanee's time there were over 100,UCt fewer people, in the colony than there \vcre at present ? No. Did they say thai during tho time of tho Liberal Administration they had made and put into us<) nearly 1000 miles of additional railways for tho people throughout tho countrj ? (Applause.) No. Did thoy tell the pcop.o that-the Government had loaned to tiic farmers a little over 12 millions to o.inblo them to buy or hold a farm or to provide homes for themselves, and to do so without being driven to death by tho usurer? "(Applause.) No. They did int. the Opjiosltion were professing great love and admiration, for the advances to settlers they did not say t.iat in the last year the sum of JC2,.t00,000 had been loaned to the settlers to ptoto.itt them from paying very high rates of interest. (Applause.) Furl her, while llicy said they worn anxious to see more people settled on the laud, did (hey sny that .til, 1)00,000 had been borrowed to purchaw landed estates upon which to place settlers?

Sir Joseph Ward touched on other subjects on the Hues of his previous addresses, and At tho conclusion of a lengthy epeech ho was thanked for his address, and tho mooting expressed confidence in him as the head of the Government and leader of the Liberal party. Only a fow voices wore raised in oppc-. silion. An amendment expressing no-confldonco and a desire for a change of Government wasnot seconded. [A portion of this messago appeared in Tim Dominion of Saturday.! ...... i The Wairarapa Caledonian Society will hold its thirty-sixth annual gathering nl tho Public Parle. Masterton, on Now Year's day. All entries for the different events closo ou December 15. Admiral Lord Charles Bcrosford says: "M'Clinton's soap is the best I have ever used. I shall always use it."* The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd., will hold a stock at Palmersl.on North on Wednesday, Decora ber C. Old Gent—"Hero you, boy, what nro vou doing out here fishing? Don't vou know yon ought to be at school?" Small lioy— "There, now. I know I had forgotten something. Addressing tho students of University College, London, the Provost, Dr. Gregory Forstcr, urged them not to mar their student lifo by becoming political par tisans. Tho new Lord Mayor of Bristol is to bo Mr. Frank Wills, a local architect, brother of the late Sir Edward Wills and cousin of the lato Lord Winteistroke. Giving as a reason the higher prices of food und materials, the barbers of Sutton-in-Ashfield (Notts) rcocntlv ' increased by 50 per cent, their charges for taurine and hail-cutting.