MR. A. L. HERDMAN.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1370, 22 February 1912, Page 6

MR. A. L. HERDMAN.

A SHARP ATTACK. THE XEED FOK REFORM. Mr. V. li. HERDMAN (Wellhißlon S'ort-h) "was the next speaker. Referring 0 the exchanges that had just taken, place jehveen Mr. Masjoy au<l Mr. Millar, he stated Hint the latter, in 1891, did not •ecord his vote in the division on the \dvanccs to Settlers Bill, but remarked, n a speech-upon that measure: 1 was •elurned to the House opposed to a bor•owiiis policy, and I intend to keep my aledge in that respect." " Mr; risher: Was that the Fame Mr. Millar? Mr. Herdman said that it was the .same Mr. Millar. Tlio latter had said (iu 1894) :hat ho objected to poing to tho London money-lender because it meant raising ine and a half, millions on mortgage. Mr. Miliar approved of the principle of the measure (Advances to Settlers), but did uot approve of the means by which the '..'oloiiiul Treasurer proposed to carry it into effect. The lion, gentleman did not record his vote in favour of the Bill nor igainst it. Thus it appeared that in 1912 Mr. Millar held one opinion, although in 1891 he had held an opinion directly contrary. A Decrepit Old Age. There seemed to be a tendency with apologists for fho Government to rely Dii what it had done in its youth. What [lid it matter to, the House what the 'Government had done in the past, or ;ven what Mr. Millar had done in the past. What the representatives of tho people had to detenu ine was whether the government was worthy of the confidence )f the people, judged by its recent policy and actions. Tho Government 'must be judged, in this no-confidence motion, not ipon its. youth and its days of'vigour, jut upon its decrepit old afre. The lion, tentloman who had.just. spoken might as ivell have- said that hon. members had io fight to vote against tho. Gjovcrnuiuiit because Captain Cook first planted pota:oes.in New Zealand.,lt would bo just-as =rood a reason—every'bit'-as good as the irgumcnts advanced by the. Hon. gentleman. It did .hot matter what had oc:urred in tho past. The Government :iad not managed the railways satisfac:orily, it had shuffled over the land question, it had not dealt with the Pubic Service, it had not grappled with tho Native land question, and it had not adninisfceral the public affairs of the coun:ry as they should havo been managed. \ Preposterous Document, Tho Minister for Railways had said ;hnt he did not belong to the "Baclclown parly." Hβ belonged to tho party yhich had brought down the Governor's Speech, one of the most ridiculous, prelosterous, and degrading documents ever placed in tho hands -of a representative )f the Sovereign. A Government member: From a Tory point of view, Mr. Herdman: "Not at all." . He went >n to state that upon one occasion Mr. Millar declared himself in favour of terminating the 899 years' lease upon the leath of the lessee. This meant that no matter how hard the wife or children of 1 lessee might haro worked, they were ;o be deprived absolutely of any interest n the lease on the death of the lessee. A member: In what year was that ipeech made? Mr. Herdman: I can't tell you Hint. Mr. Massey: In 1905. Mr. Herdman said that instances of 'back-down" were to be found in the jovernor's Speech. The Government had conceded the freehold. This had been lone not only in the Governor's Speech, but ireviously in tho Laud Settlement finance Act. The Prime Minister: Not Crown lands. Mr. Herdman: What, difference does hat make? The Government, he coninued, had always declared for-the leasoiold in days gone bv when Mr. Seddon let his back to the door, and hon. niemjers on the other side of the House stuck o the leasehold through thick and thin. They had gradually drifted away from ;he old policy and had backed down. iVhen the Land Settlement Finance Bill vas brought down, tho Government abanloned their old pretensions for ever, i r ery tardily tho Government had como :o the conclusion that tho Legislative Council should be reformed, that Nativo ands should bo more speedily settled, ind that some exemptions should be rrantcd-from income tax. The people had leclared on December 7 and December 11 that they did not want the Government. Now it was the duty of the Government, iaving,found out what the people wanted, to give it to them, by removing themselves from the Treasury benches. Local Government Reform. Ho invited hon. gentlemen to look into the history of the connection of the Government with proposals for local government reform. A Bill had been brought down at last, but how many years had it taken of promises and proposals, iterated and reiterated in Governors' Speeches, to obtain this Bill? In 1893 the Government promised to take action. In the following year nothing was done. In ISS." a Bill was introduced, but tho result was nil. In 1891) the subject was mentioned, but there was no Bill. In 1897 it was mentioned, and again iu 1899, but no Bill came down. Nothing had been done vntil 1912. Mr. Ell: That is not correct: Mr. Herdman said that he had quoted from Hansard. He believed that a Bill had been circulated on one occasion and sent to the local bodies, but nothing had been done. The Opposition had declared, fhallied on tho' laud question, that the and ho believed that the people had de. clnred, that tho Government was borrowing too fast, that it had been reckless in expenditure of public money, that it had bncked down and shuffled and shillynhnilied on the land question, that th* Public Service was'in a state of discontent, that the railways had been mismanaged, and that railway servants wort in a state of discontent, that the Na!iiv< land question had not been grappled with and solved ns it should have been These were the questions upon which th< Government had been judged, not upon things that were done in 1891. As to the allegation that the Government was corrupt, tho Minister for Public Works had been reported as saying—it was true thai he had denied it afterwards—that if peopl< minted public works they Imd to vote for him. What did this mean? t The Prime Minister rose to a point ol order, and asked whether the hon. momber was entitled to accuse lh« Ministei for Public Works of making a statement which he had more than unco denied making, from his place in the Iluine. The Speaker ruled Hint the Mnlvineni must bo withdrawn. Mr. Herdmau withdrew it, but a*kc<'; any member who desired to know hon public moneyi wac spent in this counln io take the Public Works Estimates Going back over a number of yoars il would bo found that the estimates foi public works had gone up before nr clwtion came round, and that as. sobi; as the election was over they had gom down. The only possible inference wn< that Ministers of the Crown deliberatelj used public ihoney for the purpose oj keeping themselves in power. This wa< enough to damn any Administration ii nny British Parliament in the world Th'ero was the fact thafmoney was voted beforo na election and never spent, and »s that had occurred time after time, the only possible conclusion was that the men outho Treasury benches hud broken thoir truit.

The Public Service. Mr. Ilordman said that without hesitation, he declared that appointments wore made to tho public service as the result of political inilucncc. The Commonwealth had followed the example, of New South Wales, with a Bill providing for a Commonwealth Public Service Commissioner, whose control would make it absolutely impossible for any man to secure appointment or promotion iu the service as the result of political influence. Speaking at a dinner of tho Civil Service Association in Christchurch' in October, Mr. J. Heid hi id that appointments were made which caused men to blush for the people responsible for them. Sir. Russell: A junior clerk. Mr. Hoidman: i'erhaps ho was a junior clerk, but he no doubt knew moro than the member who interrupted. Mr. Herdman mentioned an instance in which n man had been appointed to a position as typewriter expert; but afterwards it was 'found that he had tr> bo instructed in the operation of a typewriting innchine. After three and a half years (he Government had at last brought down tho Civil Service classification list. lie-ec-ntly a man of high ability and great probity had been appointed to an important position in circumstances that had caused much discontent. Those were some of the reasons why the people had voted against the Government, not because of the manner in which certain members voiod years ago. Reform Party and Borrowing. Mr. Herdman said that the imprudent, dangerous borrowing policy of the Government taught the people to be extravagant and improvident, so that borrowing would have to be continued until nc more money could be obtained. It was time that the people learned to be self reliant. In seven years the actual ex pendituro of the Dominion had increaser by over ,£3,300,000, and there was no justi fication for such an increaso. It absolute ly convicted the Government of recldes: finance. " Mr. Payne: It does not. Mr. Herdman: When you have beei hero long enough you will understanc that it etocs. Mr. Payne: Tho population has in creased pro rata. (Laughter.) Mr. Herdman: Don't make silly obser rations. He was confident that the ran ways wero over-capitalised, as a result o the manner in which predecessors of Mr Millar had expended borrowed monej where tho expenditure should have heei homo by tho system. The niaiiagemen of the railways would never be satisfac tory until there was an expert railway man at tho head of the Department. Mr M'Villy was no doubt an excellent chic clerh, 'but Mr Konayne did nut taki much interest in the'general managemen of the railways, while the Minister, in ■histrious and capable as he might be could not administer the system properl; owing to his lack of experience. Fundamental Principles. As an illustration of what tho Govern ment conld do, Mr. Herdman said it couli ignore tho strongest recommendations o a Parliamentary Committee. Parliatnen ("as the last resource of people who couli not obtain redress by other means. R< montionod the cose of Mr. Hugh M'Lean who had been unable to get redress fron tho Government although Parliaments; Committees had twice reported strong!'; in favour of Ins petition. Another Mr iriean,' of Southland, petitioned for re lief on account of the burning of his ha; stacks. A Parliamentary Committee re ported unfavourably, but this Mr. M'Loai got relief. Presumably he was person; grata, witlj the Government. The people showed at the elections tha they desired a Government possessing firmness, courage, and strong .h, and hi believed that never in the history of th country were such qualities more needec than they we're to-day. The Govern ment had gradually lost sight of tin fundamental principles that should in spire .in Adminis ration. It should en deavour to see that justice was securee for every man, that the whole of tin legislation should be directed toward: securing for the people of the countrj state of civilisation. The Gov eminent had mismanaged the railways muddled tho public works, refused t< open up lands, obtained money reckless ly and spent it recklessly. If they goi another Government, as he was sure the; would, there would be a better stato o affairs all over the country. People won afraid t> invest money, because they hac lost confidence in tho Government. Thej had it on -the highest authorities, thai of the banking directors, that there wai .1 want of confidence on the part of in ves'ors. Was that a good result of 2( years in power? The election had no! been won, as had been stated, by in nuendo and misrepresentation, but b.i putting before the people of New Zea land tho truth, and nothing but th< truth. (Applause.) The Hon. •!. A. Millar read a state ment from the Chief Kngineer of. Kail ways tha.:. tho engine referred to by Mr ile'rdman as unfit for use had been it use for years, but was in the sheds foi ordinary repairs.