Mr Bruce at Marton

Feilding Star, Volume VII, Issue 55, 17 October 1885, Page 2

Mr Bruce at Marton

The member for Bangitikei addressed his constituents at Marton .last Thursday. Mr Bruce was, on rising to. speak, greeted with a hearty round of applause He said that he thanked the meeting most cordially for the reception accorded to him, and then ceeded to give a brief sketch of the events of last session. He said : •'The*' ( session which has just terminated has been an exceedingly eventf uly on© —eventful from the large amount *of important legislation attempted by the Government, and eventful for the rejection of some of the most important measures and successive defeats, of the Ministry, defeats . whioh, : under ordinary circumstances,* would have been tantaniount to vptes of want of confidence, 'with their results; I told youiasiiyear that the policy of the Government was that of Yogel, and that it would continue to be SO, so long as he had a seat in the Cabinet that it was, in reality, Yogel with the brake on— not with the brake of his colleagues, but the brake of the House. And I also told you tinat party lines

had almost ceased to exist in the House. The first great battle of the session was over the Financial Statement and Customs tariff. From some points of view, it was an able statement, but it was an ingenious and disingenuous statement. Vogel's great principles were apparent — first, that it was an attempt to add £250,000 annually to the taxation of the country; and secondly, it disclosed a protective policy. The freetraders in the House, of whom I am ono, felt thoroughly alarmed. I believed also that the proposed duties would press with undue weight on the poorer classes, taxing as they did so many of the necessaries of life. I shall now deal with the Local Bodies Finance and Powers Bill. I believe its great fault lay in the borrowing 'gtipwers that it gave to local bodies. It proposed to give subsidies amounting to £300,000 annually to the local bodies of the colony. These subsidies to continue for 25 years. I shall now glance at another important measure, the Hospital and Charitable Institutions Bill. This is an honest attempt to grapple with a difficult question. The Land Bill was one of the most important measures passed this session. It was principally a consolidation bill, but contained some improvements, the principal being the extension of the homestead system to all parts of the colony. I think Mr Ballance is deserving of very great credit for the energy which he has displayed in throwing open tbe lands of the colony for settlement. Mr Bruce explained his action in reference to the Wanganui Harbor Bill, J saying that on the principle of fair j play he had supported Mr Bryce's \ view last year that a portion of Rangitikei should be included, but that since he had found from figures that Rangitikei could send her produce mere cheaply to Wellington by rail direct, he had altered his views. In reference to the East and West Coast Railway, he found that he could not : conscientiously support it, and had reluctantly arrived at that conclusion. | Touching on the political enibrogiios during the late session, Mr Bruce said — " As you are aware, the Government very narrowly escaped defeat. The I next movement in the direction of a j reduction of expenditure was Captain Russell's resolution to reduce it by half a million. This came most unexpectedly. I knew nothing of it till an hour before it was moved. I voted for it, and I will give my reasons. I am not an alarmist ; I like in life to look at the bright side of the picture. I have great confidence in the future of the country if properly managed, but while in Wellington tbis year I became quite alarmed at the serious nature of our financial position. We are at present sending out of this colony, in the shape of interest on borrowed money, £4,ooo,ooo annually, and the total annual value of exports is only about seven millions ; we have a falling revenue, and worse than all, wool falling, nor is it likely ever again to rise. The latest fall the other day meant a reduction in our annual income of £300,000, and every fresh million we borrow adds at least £50,000 a year to our liabilities. Now I have a few words to say in reference to the Ministry. My feeling • was very neatly expressed by Mr McKenzie, one of the ablest of the young men, when he said he wished to 'keep them in and their measures out,' and there is no doubt that that was the feeling of a very large majority of the House. Amongst those who came in with me, as good a ministry could be formed as those who occupy the Treasary benches. Out of such men as Scobie McKenzie, Menteath, Fisher, Samuels, Richardson, Garrick, and Lake, quite as able a ministry could be formed as those now in power, and one, in my opinion, possessed of a much sounder knowledge of economic science/ Referring to personal matters, the speaker said that he had beard that complaints had been made about his voting for Captain Russell's motion. Well, he had given his vote after very full consideration. It appeared to him that the time was ripe for New Zealand to put the brake on. Her indebtedness now was about thirty-five millions, which was, pei head of population, more than double that of any other colony in the Britisi Empire. He believed in progressin fact he was of a sanguine temperament — but his motto was progresi combined with prudence. Every fresl million r ised meant about £50,000 t year in interest, and the taxpayer! should bear tbis in mind when thej went in for borrowing money. Touch ing on the question of the North Is land Trunk Railway, Mr Bruce sah the Central route had been adoptee t- simply as a means ef settlement .Hence, aa the Central route hac been adopted purely in the interest o settlement, he found himself bound fc support a slow progress ofthe railway until the land required for settlemen along the line had been purchased b; the Government. Mr Bruce nex proceeded to deal with the Huntervill contract. He mentioned that blam had been thrown upon him becaus this contract had not been gone oi with. The fact was that the tender for this contract had closed severs weeks before Captain Russell's motio* was tabled. During the course of M Brace's speech the applause was frequent - quent and . enthusiastic, and at it conclusion he was accorded a vote o - A thank* a^ confidence.