PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 293, 17 June 1896, Page 2

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT-

(Per Press Association.) Wellington, June 16. On tbe House meeting this afternoon, Mr Seddon announced tbat Mr Ward had resigned his portfolio ; also, as member of the Executive Council, and his] resignation had been accepted by tbe Governor. Tbe Premier regretted the circumstances which bad led to his colleague's ' retirement, and said the latter would make his own statement later od. Mr Ward rose and said he had resigned tbe whole of his portfolios, and said he had done so without the least pressure from his colleagues or his party.' He thanked the party for their kind consideration and his colleagues for the way they had stood by him under such diffi- : cult and trying circumstances. He pro*; posed to deal with the various phases of: the case, and he expressed the hone that the Press Association would do him the, justice of reporting his remarks fairly and fully. He had been pursued privately like a sleuth hound, but he could tell his enemies they might get him down for a month or a year, but tbey would hear of him again. Going back to 1893 be reminded tbe House that every banking institution in the country approached tbe Government to assist them to steer through the times of trouble and pass a note issue Bill. This was done, and now one of those wbo had been assisted was most virulent against him from behind cover. Then Government was first approached to give a two million guarantee to the Bank of New Zealand. He (Mr Ward) never opened bis mouth to any banking institution in which he was connected in his private affairs and no condition, suggestion or stipulation of any kind whatever was imposed by bim on the Bank of New Zealand. As a matter of fact the National Bank was the first approached with regard to amalgamation with the Bank of New Zealand, bnt they fell through. There was from tbe first an open hostility between John Murray and George McLean, but when the National Bank refused amalgamation Mr Murray forgot his hostility and approached Mr McLean. Ho had been accused of bringing about the amalgamation of the two Banks for his own purposes, but as a matter of fact the Bill he had brought in had stopped the purchase of tbe Colonial Bank. He declared that he had never exercised any pressure in regard to Mr Murray's appointment, and the decision bad been come to unanimously by the Cabinet. He would challenge Sir R. Stout to deny the blackguardly communication he had written and asked another persoe to copy reflecting on the character of another person who was loved and revered in his country— be referred to Sir George Grey— and if any hon. member wished to see the letter he (Mr Ward) would show it to him. He charged Sir R. Stout with being the author of several articles appearing in the Evening Post, and challenged bim to deny it, alluding to his private busi- i ness. Mr Ward said in 1889 his total 1 liabilities amounted to only £2000, and < his business was bringing him in an i income of from £3000 to £9000 per 1 annum. If he had attended to his own ' business and left public matters alone 1 he would, although young in years, have j been a rich man. After the banking 1 legislation was passed he had an offer I to band over his business to the Bank < of New Zealand, but he refused the offer. ] If he had chosen to do this he could "• have done it without reference to any- i body. Sir R. Stout broadly hinted he c (Mr Ward) bad been bribed respecting < this agreement. < Sir R. Stout : No. 1 Mr Ward— Well, the honorable gentle- i man insinuated it by saying there were < members of the Ministry affected by i tbe agreement, and the statement' was telegraphed all over the colony. As to ' the 4J 55,000 of which they had heard so i muoh, he wished to say he believed ] then he would be in a position to provide for it, as his assets at that time were worth between £45 .000 and £50,000. He had never advised anyone, to write | that amount off, and it had never been \ written off . He challenged Mr Duthie of not being in position to give evidence j before the court respecting that trans- \ action, be had be^ placed in a woaiua- ' t

fair position overit. Me read a letter from Fisher, hiSTmanager, to the effect that his (Mr Fisher) took the responsibility for the preptluration of |tbe balance sheet, which w^in-no way cooked, and he felt certain in all Mr Ward's actions in connection \". -with the > Co__pa*oy! Tftel ; had acted honorably. That letter Was never before the Judge and the T£Bo,ooo never came back to the Ward Atitocia^T tion, or had they to provide for* ifclHei^ contended that other respectable com- T pauies, adopted the same plan ai hadT been adopted in preparation of. the' balance sheet in question. _nen» ! 7! tioned Sir R. Stout, Mr Duthie, Dr r Newman and Messrs Tolhurst, -7<fr G. Stead, John McGregor ahU-ittU^i solicitor in Dunedin, as the, chief conspirators, who had been arrayed against him. He vehemently criticised several of these gentlemen, and^saidsome of their past tranMctions.especially in regard to limited Uabihties, would not bear the light of the, day. He challenged Sir R. Stout to deny whether he and others had not heen doing their best to spy into his (Mr Ward's) affairs and had a paid representative who went about lying about mem* bers of the Ministry. Would Mr Duthie tell them about his own business and 7 his connection with the . banks ? With respect to the Judge's decision oh his affairs, he found no fault whatever with TT a just Judge who gave that judgment. He (Mr Ward) was not. represented at Court at all. It was the Uquidatora of the Colonial Bank who had applied for confirmation or otherwise :of 7 ; ?the;X; proposed agreement. It haoV b^ n ; said the balance-sheet was cooked, but as a matter of fact he (Mr Ward): was not in the colony when the ; T_lßo,ooo transaction took place, and-as a result having, when a member of a select com- : mittee, been concerned.in an account of a well-known southern company, which owed £250,000 to the Bank of New Zealand, and which could hot pay 5s in the £. -Sir R. Stout : No, Mr Wardl^'He could produce Sir R- Stout's own letter, and he quoted the balance-sheet,. which he maintained proved his v statement: He asserted the Bank of New Zealand had had to provide a reserve fund mr £270,000 to meet losses incurred by several of these, companies which" Sir It; Stout and other of his \ehemes „wer«J connected. ' Sir R. Stout had asked Km to leave the Premier, but hehad refused) to do so. (Sir Jt. Stout : Wait: till ?l ire*; ply. I will explain: that.) f Mr S>eddon had been a good leader^of the parj^y^nd^ he (Mr Ward): would 'not desert Let the Honse enquire into: the transr actions of Sir H. Atkinson, ' Sir -F. Whittaker, and Mr Mifchelsoh, and 'they would find some interesting Trnttttersw^ Mr Ward Went on to Say he might have made mistakes in his poUtical career, but the whole time there had been men undermining bis character, and attempting to injure him by writing down his private affairs^ and there men wei£ associated with; what was caUed' toe upper crust of society i' He defied -the whole of these men, and was not afraid of them. He was proud rto say that oh retiring from .the Treasury there: 'was yi&y surplus of £215,000 and the stocks of New Zealand never stobd -dghe«Tthaii'^ to day. He had been untortuiiateT u_T business, but he could point to Di_raeU;7 Gladstone* and Pitt, the fer mer of whom . ' had been helped by friends -to keep- hia_ from going under. y If ■< it : f had;" fljcjfo beep-;- y for the banking legislation passed yby the House his (Mr Wain's) piivate position to-day would ha*tfevbwnva> solvent one. In saying farewell to; bis^ * colleagues for a time he was bidding good bye to loyal^and jteo^ had stood manfully, by him, and he; also thanked the party for the wiay they had supported bim through itwC; troubles.'-'' .. y^^Jyy Sir R. Stout regretted Mr Ward had • made attacks on those putiidej__^ Hpise who were unable to defend themselvei. 7 He (Sir R. Stout) had neveriKfened to Mr Ward's private affairs outside or inside of the House. He- gave * N B_o«t emphatic denial to Mr Ward's si^toment;tbat he had influenced^ratrag_loi)&ce_^ T tain newspaper editors; in We As to the letter referr^ to by^Mr Waidj ; and said to have t^n written wheh^_M>T (Sir R. Stout) *wl^i^^^C|^; : ■ recollected' they facts, of yjo^^i^hmiy declared there was not a syllabi in that letter but what he believed to be - true, and could, be believed, be' proved. 7; H<?' did-not object to a committee inveati- 7 gatiom He never boreTMlcTiWji*^; airjrv v personal animosity, and none was more sorry than he was for -Mr /Ward in ;hu| present position. \ „'.;■ 'y • , "'" >' =£T.l]' ; ;w\ " Mr Seddon gave' a most emphatic denial to Sir R. Stout's stetement tLnw Government had influenced the Bank of New Zealand officials against the company with which Sir RIT Stout wis connected; and it proved 7to , __h*avi_h^: v ' certain people had absolutely determined to ruin his late coUeague,ejid bje wife and children. Those who had attacked and villified Mr Ward had^nbw V accomplished their object^ and T_u_- wife and family were practically in -"the streets. Mr Ward was the only victim of the banking legislation; passedTbyi-he Government. Thbusiind^^ men had been benefited by^itj but the late Treasurer was the only one ruined • by it. -■■ r -y*yyny y yy. Mr Duthie contended that I^' Ward had in no way e^cidated the matter j and said his financial position to-day was due to his own plunging and reckless carrying on of his own business. As to his (Mr Duthie's) private business, Mr Ward was at liberty to dir^ that before the whole colony. His bankers would give Mr Ward all the infot-aatioh he desired. HeowednoperaonapeJiiny, and nobody asked ; him t*«yi<»r|prT^ntaccount. It was his own bpimon'that the banking conspiracy wm the most dastardly thing that had occurred in the colony, s . ,' '7.77.7.7.' y,\ '■ The Hon Mr McKenzie jdehied there was a cut and dried" arrangement between the Government and 4he Bank of New Zealand prior to theibanking legislation. In every transaction Mr Ward bad been engaged in, he bad done s all for the good of tbe colony With respect to a letter referred to by Sir R. Stout tbat gentleman knew yery weil' the conditions uuder which lie (Mr McKenzie) joined the Ministry, and he had done bis best to reconcile Sir R. Stout .and Mr Seddon, but had ! failed. ' I Mr Ward, in reply, said be had been . known in Southland for over thirtyvyears and asserted that, even if he, resigned his seat, no man in the colony could stand against him for bis electorate.-, He again referred totheattacks mallp on him by people whom ho regurdecl^as vipers. He asked Mr Dutbie whether , he would have beeh able to ca_ry 7on a i successful business if he had had sleuth bounds at his heels trying to damage him in the markets of the world. He charged Mr Duthie. with baling improperly got information frpin men who were sworn to secrecy. With *r_^_rdT to the £30,000 transaction, he declared the sum had never come back ; to the debit of the Farmers' Association, and bad not come .out before the court at all. Ho bad not bad fair play in his troubles, and members inside the House bad combined -with persons oqtside- toTbring about his ruin. i ; Mr Duthie in a personal esplanatipn ; said lie had not obtained in surreptitious manner information regarding Mr Ward's private affairs. , T'-.'^^'t The House rose at 11 p.m. yy 'y-.yyg% 7