Mr John Stevens, M.H.R., at Marton.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 141, 13 December 1895, Page 2

Mr John Stevens, M.H.R., at Marton.

At the Theatre Royal, Marion, last evening Mr John Stevens, M.H.B. for Rangitikei, met hig constituents for the purpose of rendering an account of his stewardship during the past session. The hall was well filled, and the best of good order prevailed, the member being accorded throughout his address a most patient and attentive hearing. The chair was occupied by bis Worship the Mayor. Mr Stevens, on rising, was received with applause. He apologised at the outset for not having delivered his usual address at the conclusion of the previous session, advancing as a reason the lengthy work upon which he had been engaged as one of the members of ..the Tariff Commission. The question of co-operative works, \ was then touched upon, Mr Stevens" Btatingthat it was the opinion of many ' r ... that the system had not in the past : been an unmixed blessing. He hoped,) in the interests of all, that in the ensuing « session some improved method of the system would be adopted. It was true that the present Government was a nonborrowing one, but he ventured to Hwnlr that the time has now arrived when/ if the railway works of the colony were to be prosecuted with vigour, the Government must go into the London market and borrow one million sterling annu- ■ ally for the good working of the existing main artery lines in the colony. Particular stress was laid on the uncompleted Main North Trunk Line, and he sincerely hoped that the Government would in the future borrow in that direction for the purpose of restoring to this line the balance of the earmarked million which had been expended for other purposes, so as to make that and other lines remunerative, which at the present were not as remunerative as they Bhould be. Dealing with the public debt of the colony, figures were quoted showing that in 1889 the annual charge (Interest and Sinking Fund) was £1,656,588, and in 1895 £1,653,970, showing that the interest the colony has to pay was far exceeded by the receipts. On this matter - Mr Stevens quoted an extract from Bansard as to what the Leader of the Opposition had to say, to this effect:— "We have a gross total of liabilities incurred by the Government during the period ' that they have been in office of no less a sum than £6,541,109, although the Govern meat may say I am ratber stretching tbe point." As a matter of fact the actual increase since 1890 had been £1,---719,014. It was only reasonable to suppose that the Leader of the Opposition was not quite certain of his figures^ otherwise he would have said that he thfet he thought the Government .would accuse him of stretching the point. The visit of the Colonial Treasurer to England and his success attendant on the floating of the three million loan was next touched upon, the gross misrepresentations concerning him and his mission being deplored as most ungen- ; erous to a man of bis undoubted ability, one who certainly deserved well at the hands of the people fox his action in this mutter. • Mr Stevens thought, too, if ever there was a bright spark in the history of the colony that brightest was the passing of the Advances to Settlers' Act. There had been great opposition to it at first, the assumption being in the minds of the Opposition that it would not be a success. The opposition came from those getting their 8 to 10 per cent. The measure had not at first worked well, but he was now happy to state that it was, and were it not wearying to bis listeners, he could detail Urge and small sums lent oat to settlers. He ventured to think that farmers, under the new . system, would in a few years be able to pay off the mortgages on their properties, and hoped that they, irrespective of political creed, would thank Government for having introduced and passed into law such an excellent measure. In contrasting the resumption of the railways by Government with the old method, it was stated that thfr change had given all-round satisfaction, particular stress being laid on the cheap excursions instituted. Mr Stevens next dealt with the question of feright on timber, and its reduction. This he had advocated in every conceivable way. But the Government were afraid that the shortage would be so great that they would have to look for revenue in some other way in order to make up the deficiency in rates. He maintained that we had a mine of wealth in our forests if only reasonable opportunity was given for export instead of the burning that was going on, and he would do his utmost to get the Government to make a substantial alteration in the direction he had indicated. The Bank legislation of both sessions was exhaustively dealt with. It was contended that by their spirited action ia the matter the Government boldly came to the rescue and pledged the credit of the colony, not to say the Bank of New Zealand as an institution, but to save the colony. Such action -was not unprecedented, for it was on record that the Government of New South Wales came to the rescue of the Associated Banks not very long since and guaranteed the note issue. He bad every reason to believe that the purchase of the Colonial Bank would prove of great benefit. After referring to what occurred when legislation had been enacted, more particularly as to the sustained rise in the price of wool, the speaker said he was pleased to state that during the Bank crisis both sides of the House had risen to the occasion, the opinion being freely expressed that it would have been better to have lost a million of money than to have courted the financial disaster that otherwise must have happened. Concerning the Local Government Bill, it was stated that the chief purpose aimed at by the measure was to prune and simplify the present overgrown and unweildy system of local Government. There were at present 550 local bodies of all sorts in existence, the cost of management alone exceeding more than £107,000 per year. In some instances it amounted to 60 per cent of the total revenue — that was to say, it cost £60 to collect £100. It was anticipated tinder the proposed Bill that the number of local bodies would be reduced by more than three-fourths, and the cost of administration by more than one-half. The Government had used their utmost efforts with regard to the Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act of last session to pass into law such a measure as would give to the people the fullest power to control and regulate the tale of alcoholic liquor, while at the same time endeavouring to protect those who were engaged in what he considered the honourable business of conducting respectable hotels. Concerning the Amendment Act of last session, the Legislative Council had so mutilated it that it was hardly known when it was returned. The result was that managers were appointed to confer, and the amendments had to be accepted, or the Bill would not have passed into law. The Bill was not what could ba desired by all sections, but might be regarded as a stepping stone to future legislation. It had been averred that the Government were not sincere in this mat* ter, but he happened to know that they were, and also, that they were .desirous of passing it into law, co as to settle the liquor question for all time. The Bating on' Unimproved Value BUI was for the purpose of securing oho uniform system of rating, and, he thought there ought not to be a difference: ; The Bill, after pawing the Lower Home had

been rejected by the Upper House by the narrow majority of one vote. His opinion was that industry should not be taxed, »nd that reasonable time should be allowed settlers who have taken up bush land; that the Act would bear rather heavily on those who have not jet had time to make their improvements, and he considered that some provision should be made for temporarily excluding them from the Act. ThelmprovedFarm System next came under revision. This measure it was stated was authorised under the Lands Improvement and Native Lands Acquisition Act of 1884, and was termed " Lands Improvement and Native Lands Acquisition Act," one of the provisions , of which was that settlers could occupy areas of from 10 to 100 acres, the clearing being limited to 100 acres and showed the facilities there were for the making of homes by those who had no ready money, and who were really anxious to make homes for themselves. With regard to his action in the House as the representative of the Rangitikei Electoral District, he was returned pledged to support the Liberal Party and the Government of the day. He claimed to have done that without equivocation, and to hrve feared no one. He contended that, while we have Party Government, it was necessary that Parliamentary representatives should be loyal to one another. His actions, like others, had been described as subserviency. He had not looked upon it in that light, bat rather that he had carried out his political pledges in a thoroughly loyal manner. He would not touch on local matters more than to say that he had used his best endeavours in the interests of each part of the electorate, and if the estimates were looked up it would be found that Rangitikei had fared very well as compared with other districts. It had been said by his political opponents that it was not his intention of again contesting Rangitikei. He would say this .-—That so long as his friends would support him and accord him that loyalty and support in tbe future which had been so prominent a characteristic in the past, so long would be continue to represent Rangitikei. If defeated, he / would accept it with the good grace at bis command. Qnestions were then solicited, the only one being from tbe Mayor with regard to the Advances to Settlers' Act, particularly as to how much money had been advanced under the measure to the people in the Rangitikei electorate. In reply, Mr Stevens said he had not the actual figures, but he believed it was not less than £100,000 odd. He saw no difficulty in obtaining whatever money was necessary, stating that the fuuds were ample to supply requirements throughout the colouy iv accordance with the Act. Proposed by Mr A. Y. Mcßeth, seconded by Captain Johnston, That a hearty vote of thanks be accorded to Mr Stevens for his address, and also of renewed confidence in him as tbe member for Rangitikei. The motion, on being put to tbe meeting, was carried unanimously. —Mercury.