THE PREMIER AT WANGANUI.

Evening Star, Issue 4074, 17 March 1876, Page 2

THE PREMIER AT WANGANUI.

[By Telegraph.]

Wakoandi, March 16. Sir J. Yogel addressed his constituents at the‘Oddfellows’ Hall to-night. The hall was crowded. There Was great enthusiasm. On the platform were leading citizens and ladies. Mr Beaven, who was in the chair, c mgratuiated the meeting on the divulgence to them of wbat interested-the whole Colony. Sir J, Vogel, who rose amidst vociferous applause, said he appeared at Wanganui under stratifying circumstances. Notwithstanding the strong debates last session, or the attacks made on him in his absence, he had been returned by a large majority. When he heard of his return in Melbourne, he was most anxious to visit Wanganui and desired to give explanations both as member nnd Premier. He was sensible of the generous exertions made during the election by strangers. He would co-operate with Mr Bryce, and as they held the same opinions, they would not be disenfranchising the constituency by voting in different lobbies. What he had seen in Wanganui enhanced the pleasure of. his representation of the district. There were signs of future prosperity. Every man was attached to the town, and the inhabitants said there was no place ike Wanganui. It was a pleasure not only to see his constituents present, but he .was glad to see their wives and daughters there. It was the commencement of an interest in public affaire by the ladies of the Colony. Personally he had strong convictions not to confine the franchise to the male sex, but to extend it to women. However, that was his conviction in private, not his opinion as a member of Government. In the municipal election in Liverpool 10,000 females voted. He was sorry at not being able to vWt other parts, of the district, ill health preventing. He would talk, to-night not as a representative, but as Premier. There was a large responsibility involved in his address, which would deal with Colonial, not local topics. The Abolition of Provinces no district had more consistently maintained the necessity for' than Wanganui. He would speak first on the subjecfc of his visit to England. The cable had been successfully laid since he spoke at Wellington, and no large cable had been laid before without a single bitch. It had b ien laid before contract time. The social and political advantages likely to result from the cable could not be exaggerated. The cost was small to the Colony, and the tariff exceedingly low. He had made arrangements with the Bank of England regarding New Zealand stock, subject to the approval or Parliament. Hitherto debentures were hampered with coupons. Now debentures were payable to bear pr, and usable as conveniently as money'at Home for permanent investment. -The embarrassment in using coupons hitherto, especially .in case of trustees where there arose verol such, was vei y great, there being risk iC holding paper security. A large amount of money would devolve on New Zealand if people could be entered hs creditors of ti'O Colony on the same principle as holders of Government consols. Various municipalities at Home acted on the same principle. Kogarding the inscription of the bonds, his anticipation had been fully realised, and other Colonies, through their Agents-Qeaeral, wished to effect a similar arrangement, and ha (Sir J. Vogel) assisted them. Speaking in Wellington about harbors, he had said that Wellington harbor should be under the management of the City. His remarks had been misconstrued, people thinking that the Government wanted to upset existing harbor arrangements; but this was a great mistake. The management of harbors should not in bis opinion be confined to municipal representatives, whose government must be more or less successful in theory, but to a representation on a larger scale than in Wellington City. Wanganui Harbor was useful to itself, but Wellington to the whole district. In confining its management to that limited body (the City Council) they would not carryout tho true theory of representation. The Harbor authorities should be in a measure elective, but not of a nominee character—nominees start well, but fall asleep from want of being criticised, Elective bodies get abuse, but that kept them up to their work. He hoped that to-morrow the two bodies. Harbor and- Municipality, would coalesce. Some L 95,000 to improve the navigation of the Wanganui Eiver had beeng ranted. Provincialism could not last long, and Wanganui would have a large sum of money to begin with. The policy of Provincial Governments was one of decentralisation. In the session of 1674 he found oil hope of preserving Provincialism at an end, and po ; great was his regret at being forced to that con- • elusion that he only wished to.disposo of the Provinces of the North Island, But lie was forced to act iu the way he had done under a strong sense of duty, which cost him many personal friends and severance of political Ji©s l He

stanced Mr Maoandrew, and said lie felt the severance from him which a sense of duty and the needs of the Colony alone diotiited and rendered imperative. There was no public man more disinterested than Mr Macandrew7 Ho (Sir J. Vogel) had not been all along a disbeliever in ttS' T kis Wend Sr Bryce, but he thought it beyond the strength of the Colony to S?&Sfcf« W i«. r ¥ ia . to the question of finance, ight that the Provinces should be dealt with wthout favoritism. They had been endeavoring to emulate the Public "WVi-hS policy, and ten bodies- ' enr* Th« w to Sp^, d al * th e P mOney they could Io ? 0 i9 o V ll ? mient took awa y thetroopa,; of 811 millions, and as a vigorous Colony with settlements on a small fringe of coast ine e ; t ries ma^m^ C l lnore o“ f euergies. Some called ours a bold nolicv .faw OfwT't”*? coul(i the same line of policy, twn m( l n v y expended in opemug the could not be misapplied—it caused' not b u fc t’* e of people into tue Colony with capital to invest iu it. The work* mg classes saw that by introducing othere we n?l^mt the T o£ *t ,lie Colony and Increased em. Immigration could be overdone, but not so long as labor and .capital acted, concurrently and so long as those who had means settled^n^the 5v f t r !S ce «° tbe Publio Works policy® he stated that the Government first proposed to been entered onm doable the time, andhence they had to go again on the money market. Nothwitbstanding spiteful expressions, the. Pour Million Loan had been successful, and was borrowed in the Enghsh market within forty-eight hours. Some colonists in London, who should have • assisted itsfloatmgjhad done .a great deal .of injury, to the Colony. We should not exceed the credit we possess. We could not expend money on largo works year after year, and let the Provinces do the same, and then pay their debts; and few People will realise the position when Government take them over. He would then be happy to find no overdrafts, liabilities, or outside onga?ements to be provided for which did not exceed half a million. He knew of a Prpvince having L 200.000 of engagements, of whichrwould be considerably on to the extent of L 150.000 -more before September. The policy of the Government was to apportion to each Government the general revenue. The consolidated revenue must be so regulated that we must not exceed the demands on it, and money must be laid out on bona fide public works, and, if borrowed, must be for reproductive works, and ordinary revenue must be devoted for general purposes. The finmimiO position required careful consideration, no doubt, and we must not be unduly elated to' expend beyond our means. We have all the money and toe eredit, which for the interests of the Colony, it is desit&ble we should spend. The proposal to have two Provinces in both Islands Gie Government would uncompromisingly oppose. The' Compact of 1856 is not undesirable, if we Consider so, but some of those who speak of it tofrfr that it is ’ only sacred (?) that they regard it so, yet those very i gentlemen are these who wish to incorporate the land fund of the Southern Island. A great deal had been unnecessarily • said, and there was a strongfeeling that the land revenue should have a special allocation. His experience was that not much! would be said on this subject .indhe House, for the prophets were generally wrong, and the subjects which ore anticipated are those neglected. With regard to the future, the duty of the Government would be to supply a form of local governmentiof a more inexpensive character , than now -existed. There were not unmixed difficulties in the way, bnt with extra work in Parliament, they would be able i? a l ocal system which would entirely avoid the difficulties first anticipated. He might draw a picture of approaching a strange town, to which, a* one got nearer, the difficulties decreased, although the road still preserved its local character. The. principles the Government wished to draw .word a broad and general distinction between works, which didnot require Provincial Government supervision, such as gaols, harbor, &c. People would know no difference when they handed over than they did in the conduct of the telegraph, and .postal service by tbe General Government'at present Peoplewhile recognisingnocbatige, would admit the economylof the arrangement. There would be no difference, yet there would be a saving. There would not be so much friction between the new system and timt of the Provincial atid General Governments. The whole would he s-,> smooth as not tocome in conflict with other institutions. The law says now that one day after the beginning of the next session, the Provinces would cease. This is purely conjectural, and now Superintendents only office till that day. ' Another Government said they must take immediate steps to realise their responsibilities. The first step was to place themselves in a position to tell parliament next session the cost of the carrying out of the new services, and the strength of the staff. They would" • incorporate the Provincial services temporarily till they could, he handed over to local bodies, and he uitended to invite the cordial- cooperation of the Superintendents as to whose services should be retained and whose should not. These expenses would be pa d from the, deportment of the Colonial Secretary, To combine the police and armed constabulary force would create offence, for the ; dice force was ex P o rience they had an old force m Otago which deserved me highest consideration, ihe proposed police forces would become port of the cepartmeut of the Minister of Justice, as would gaols, etc.; toe Crown lands, survey*, sheep inspection, etc., would come under tbe Crown Lands Department, and would afterwards be absorbed by local governments. He did not wish to mate any rapid, irritating changes; bnt it was necessary m the first instance, to be cautious. The goldfields would not be left entirely to that exceptional treatment which their members wished • but he thought they were entitled to a local body, as well, os other districts, to determine what was to “i5 ht create dissatisfaction, , R ut it would be better than treating them exceptionalljr. Something must be done to facilitate obtaining land for settlement. All should pay, but the land should be had on easy terms of purchase. Concerning railways and public works, there were many lines "which the Government must take charge of. After next session these would be taken over by the Public Works Department, but only temporarily, as eventually . tfiqjr management would devolve oh a Eaihyay Department. He had a great desire to avoid inconvenience to the majority of the people, and to preserve their local arrangements, so that there would be a-looal Treasury for the payment of contractors and others He proposed that education, hospitals, asylums! &c„ should be under the control of the Minister of Justice, but only temporarily in order that Parliament might localise education. HoVever. that Munster would be greatly under local control, but at the same time it was. the .duty of Government to watch ovor charitable institutions with jealousy The Government would send round three of toe ablest civil servants in the Colony to" all toe Provinces, and they would carry letters of introduction, who co«ld refer them to the Provincial auditors, but he -would prefer to receive estimates ftom the Superintendents. He hoped that the superintendents would recognise that it was their" duty and privilege to help the Government to the utmost extent. In the Civil Service a great amount of money might be saved by dispensing with a great number of officials. Mueh • pressure' was often put on, so that another appointment aacl , * . be “uu® to obtain, quietness. What would be the effect of dispensing with all Provincial officers—so much trouble even to those who pi ofess economy and Joe" Humeism P" ’ There was a certain amount of kindness in all natures not to sacrifice men to political existences, bub to deal liberally with them. He should propose that Provincial servants should -he dispensed with. They should he more liberally compensated than the present authority admitted of. He »did not tofr.fr civil officers overpaid—toe rise in house rent a-udiu goods through toe Public Works Policy making toom suffer. Still toe Government would look into the matter and see that toe Service was not extravagant. There should not be One superfluous officer, but each one should be well bald. The Government would submit a statement to Parliament regarding Abolition. They were not going to see seven men in the House revise the law, but would accept it as it stood, and qualify themselves to make it take effect next session. So long as things went

on as smootuiy as at present some Superintendents could not realise there was going to be a change but when they saw things face to face they would be inclined to assist the Government and the country. The system to be submitted to Parliament was not for the purpose of increasing the 1 central power of tlie Qener&X. Govenunfent, but of diminishing it; The Local Government Bill introduced last year, though tho same as in other Colonies, would not find favor, as it affords opportumties for exciting opposition amongst local bodies. He would propose a system by which road.distncls and counties should be distinct asregarded revenue, while at tho same tirqq it would be left- open to them- to co-ope-rate. The whole country would be divided into counties, but whether this would bo done by the Government or Commissioners, was not yet determined on. These boundaries would be subject to alteration. It was proposed in the meantime that the Governor should mate up seven divisions and each division of county boundary was not to return more than seven members. The first Board was to be in existence twelve months, and afterwards each County Beard would determine its own duration. The county by all its constituents isto elect a chairman, who is to be paid out of the county’s revenues, but he.is not to sit in Parliament if pa d. These counties are to hare caargepf maw roods, and to construct other' connected with tho district i but their action will be confined to large arterial works. The different rofti boards will receive liberal subsidies from the land and consolidated funds, to be equally divided. Licenses and tolls arc to go to the counties, but there can be no special'taxation without the consent of ratepayers. The electors to the county hoards, and those who pay rates for a rohd board district, will be perfeo ly distinct. Next session it is. proposed only to deal with counties, and not with road boards No borough is to be included in any county, but to stand distinct. ’Therefore the numerical voting power of any borough cannot be. used to swamp a road district, Any county want ing assistance for public works mav ask tho Public Worlfs department to cany it out, and save' expense pf management, 1 he counties are to hive power to borrow under special einnuustaaces,.but the Colony . would not be responsible for those loans.. Such loans, must be obtained pa tile country’s own security. Ihe trunk system of railways inns?

v* ont * *o that Auckland ‘would to, with •everjL-Pj'o- ,j ymce in this island* PwuwnftX lwlsfoiliM.»w. island with sadh. Otiior* ' W^siiftSslS' ho had sketched'? Would give loral government; that, oon^vaK as arbitrators In .local matters. The boclieswonld eaoh be carrying put their ownnho- • .turns more through local control than had^ltoen done in the pastrlfhe Gnldfl. Us as totmtiiwtortiia ’ be as able to look after their o*n tot reStoWsSbe i agricultural districts. ■ He cordl ■ * Bill this would like to abolish’BPeciaLmtoH. , m A Hchool?commif tew same superior board. He did d sire to-rWpßet - toe special features of exs ing arnmgements. but he would not piouise to go in for a sweeping measure next year, the Government would. .nowever, see - education properly carr el out (tom oue end of toe Cob ny to the other. Be would not allow an uneducated population to grow U P- The Qoverament> .woald -introdnoe-elllm.---mgnmts required,lotit no more. He did act con* aider that the counties should be necessarily ooter- • mmate with Provincial boundaries but'that counties might be divided. He would divide. tA6.lft&d food- -halt o& .ths. buis of sostilftfio&. • and' half ' ou ‘ H ft system by which the Provinces .‘are made responsibie for the debt and interest enroll way construetaon, presents insuperable diffidnltfes, and the Go- ' yerqumt proposed to ask Parliament to takeover , s toe control and responsibilities of all railways. The ? « £ol9?ya«rt week wind gohig to carrtyput hj rail-* , Canterbury and Otago, toe boundary oeiug the middle of a river, which would snake ao--* counts, difficult. When the changes in take place one might visit one of them ' missing the Superintendents. Briefly" stated, the proposals of the Government were~-No vexpenses to be incidental to the Provinces: the:/, management- to bo in toe hands of local bodies; the towns to have large revenues ; education to be* general, not isolated; the huge harbors to be t in toe hands of local boards, with ample meanh ' ?t, their disposal; toe General Government to take of immigration and railways: ‘ * and charitable institutions to be localised.? 5 The whole thing would be much lent costly, while , the machinery would work more smoothlyand harmoniously than had ever been the'ease, He wonlft S always aoniit the great good Provincial administro-. I tion had done in the past, and the die* intdrestedness of. - those who aflmlniatetod Pm* . vmcial affairs, istill he thought * toe ' whole > Colony would benefit by the change. He hoped as long 'as he was connected with Wanganui < they wonldnever have less reason to be dissatisfied sa^fcdv^ht^emf 3 at **** pr6,ieDt time to be. dto> ? J . AVoteof thanks, moved by Mr Duthie,was oarned; amidst tremendous applause. Sir Julius is to be, entertained at a bßnauet to; v ' “ffior Welh^n! 0^111^8 *** ** ’ b * ** ?