MINISTERIAL SPEECHES.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 372, 22 March 1902, Page 3

MINISTERIAL SPEECHES.

,THE PREMIER. (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, last night. Replying to the toast of his health at the banquet at Hamilton last night the Premier said he had just received a cablegram from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, stating that the Premiers would be the guests of the Empire League, and .that arrangements would be made for visits to tne provinces, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, He had given notice of his intention of bringing the following before the Premiers’ Conference in London : Preferential tariff, Imperial reserve in the case of emergency, increase of the strength of the Australian Squadron, rrihperial and colonial mail service to be all-British, the admission to practice in South Africa of all learned and skilled professions, triennial conferences of Premiers of the colonies and dominions over the seas with Imperial Statesmen. As to the Imperial reserve,, after the war they, would have a large number of highly trained men in the colony. They should make provision for these men to go into camp from time to time, and be ready when called upon. A £5 note for each .would, he believed, do this. .Where these men should be sent would, however, be decided not by an outside authority, but by the Pair liament and people of New Zealand. He had never heard any. complaints of the contribution to the Australian Squadron, but the time had arrived now when the squadron must be strengthened, Some of the cruisers .were out of date, and should be removed and replaced by. better vessels. New Zealand must contribute on a population' basis to the. increased cost. Mr Hone Heke spoke of the regret of the Maoris because their offer .to serve in South Africa was refused. The Premier said he had been pained because he had to. refuse to allow the Maoris to fight shoulder to shoulder with European troopers. Pie had been discussing with the Comniandant the necessity of training Maoris in case of war, and' having mounted corps of Natives in different parts of the colony,The difficulty was to provide European officers to take charge of these corps. Such a movement would help to save the Maori race, for they must be given something to do, and they took kindly to mounted work. One or two corps established were equal to anything in the colony. He hoped to be able to submit proposals that, if carried, would give the same rights to the Natives in this matter as to ourselves.

SIR JOSEPH WARD. (Per Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, last night. On the occasion of the A. and P. Show, Sir Joseph and Lady Ward visited Cheviot, and were entertained at a banquet. In the course of a speech, Sir Joseph Ward assured the settlers that the work on the railway would be continued after March dlst, ' and that the real cause of the stoppage ' was not want of funds, but the fact i that tlie whole of the money, voted by i Parliament had been spent, Reviewing the finances of the colony, he said

many people considered the socialistic policy initiated in 1891 was a mistake. ' A great argument against the policy, had been the addition of £10,900,000 to the public debt, and the huge indebtedness of forty-nine millions odd. The general taxpayer did not pay interest on £2,700,000 borrowed since 1891 to the present time for the purchase of lands for settlement, or £1,485,000 advanced as loans to local bodies, or advanced to settlers. Of the ten million seven hundred thousand pounds borrowed during the past ten years, £1 409,000 had been paid into sinking funds for redemption of loans, inis had been paid out of borrowedmoney, because to have provided it by e.vtra taxation would have been placing a burden on the people they were not able to bear. Last year the income tax, land tax, and graduated land tax totalled £465,000. Concessions on railways amounted to £4-0,000. Concessions had been made in Customs duties of about £130,000. The interest paid per head of population n had decreased from £2 10s 2d in 180 d to £2 5s 6d in 1901. This was due partly, to the conversion operations and part lv to the increased population- the total increase in land values during the past 5 years had been -16,366,3-8, This was an indication that the country was prosperous, and that a majority of the people were doing well, Referring to the Commonwealth tariff he stated that the colony should not take retaliatory measures until moral suasion had been exhausted.

Nevertheless, they ought to do their utmost to extend the markets of the colony by reciprocal treaties - . He suggested that we might allow American tobacco in free if America removed the duty on our wool.

In speaking of Mr Seddon, Sir Joseph Ward said the Premier would go to the Coronation as the representative of all the people, and he had no hesitation in saying he would discharge those duties as well as the representative of any other colony. The good work done by the New Zealanders in South Alrica had shown that with our volunteers there was very little probability of any foes succeeding, in case Great Britain should be involved in war with a foreign Power. They should now advocate that the colony should have some representa-

tion in the House of Lords or House of Commons, so that their opinions might be voiced on such matters as wars with foreign Powers or on great social questions.

Concluding his speech, he said the colony was in a happy position owing to the accumulated savings of the people, which would enable them to withstand any financial crisis which might arise from outside the colony. As to the reception to Sir Joseph Ward at Cheviot last night a vote of thanks was accorded the Minister, and an expression of confidence in the present Government carried by acclama- 1 tion.

This morning a memorial to the late Sir John McKenzie was unveiled. There was a large attendance. Sir Joseph Ward eulogised the determination and tenacity of purpose of his late colleague that caused the House to revolutionise the land laws to the most liberal in the civilised world. Sir John McKenzie had earned the memorial, and everyone would admit that his name would be bright in the records of the colony. Sir Joseph Ward was glad to say he had heartily supported the motion to acquire Cheviot when it was first mooted. Lady Ward unveiled the monument, and, in response to Sir Joseph, cheers were given for Sir J. McKenzie and Lady McKenzie. Cheers were also given, for Sir J. and Lady Ward. The ceremony was brief but impressive^