MR. WRIGHT, M.H.R. AT ASHBURTON.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2259, 25 May 1881, Page 3

MR. WRIGHT, M.H.R. AT ASHBURTON.

Mrß. G. Wright addressed his constituents in the Town Hall, Ashburton, on Monday evening, at 8 o’clock. There was a very fair attendance, although many of those present entered the hall after the hour named. Mr T. Bullock, acting Deputy Mayor, occupied the chair.

The Chairman explained that he had been asked to take the chair in the absence of the Mayor, and then introduced the speaker. Mr Wright, on coming forward, was cordially received. He said he appeared before them in obedience to a custom grown up in this country for members to address their constituents during the recess— a custom, however, which he thought might well be dispensed with, except, of course, in the case of the Ministry of the day or leading members of the Opposition. He pointed out how irksome and inconvenient it would be for the newspaper press of England to be choked with addresses by members of Parliament in different parts of the country. Therefore there was an absence of so much of public speaking in the Old World, and if it could oa dispensed with there surely a small community aae that

of Now Zealand, with such remarkable facilities for tho circulation of information on public affairs, could easily dispense with sucha large amount of speechifying from its representatives, However, it was a custom prevalent in the colony, and he could not, therefore, well depart from it. At the same time, ho hoped they would not expect Hm to deliver a very lengthy address. To begin, he would refer to tho proceedings of last Parliament. It had been alleged by the opponents of the Government that the session of 1880 was a barren one—that the Government had to abandon measure after measure, and did very little in the way of useful legislation. Now, in reply to that ha would say that the number of Bills of a general character (introduced last session was fifty seven, including certain enactments which" ha would enumerate. (List of Bills read.) In addition there were twenty-three local Acts, and three so-called private Acts including the Ashburton Waterworks Bill. As many of these Bills authorised the borrowing of money for carrying out special works, it would be understood that many of them gave rise to a largo amount of opposition, and consequently occupied a considerable amount of time in discussing. In all, eightythree Acts were passed, and he thought that of itself was sufficient to vindicate the Government against the charge of the session being a barren one. It was most certainly unduly protracted, but not from any fault on the part of the Government, The reason of the delay might be found in the disorganised state of the Opposition, who had something like six leaders, instead of one competent to take charge of tho party. Of the Bills which had passed, that relating to Marriage with a Deceased Wife’s Sister happily disposed of a most important social question. The result of such legislation would not, in his opinion, cause an increase in marriages of tho class referred to, but cs snob unions did occur from time to time, ho thought it was as well to legalise them, to remove from, their issue tho ban of illegitimacy, and enable them to inherit property in the event of their parents dying intestate. He thought the good likely to result from the measure justified him in giving it his support. That Bill alone occupied tho whole of one evening, and tho greater part of the next. In addition to those measures which had passed into law,many were introduced which were either thrown ont or postponed. Of the latter there were some be would never see again introduced. As a matter of fact, the Government were such good workers that they supplied the House _ with more material than they could digest in one session, and, as to the Bills which, had been postponed, he thought no harm would result from their having an additional twelve months to consider their merits. Amongst these might bo enumerated th® Licensing Bill, the Hospital and Charitable x Aid Bill, the Representation Bill, and the Local Public Works Bill. This last, he trusted, would never reappear in the same form, it being, in his opinion, altogether too cumbersome ia its character. The provisions of the Licensing Bill were such as be would support, with the exception of that portion referring to bottle licenses and tho so-called. Working Men’s Clubs. He was satisfied that such clubs would degenerate into mere drinking shops in the obeenoe of police supervision or inspection of any kind. As to the bottle licenses, he thought there could bo no doubt that the traffic incidental to it had helped many a woman in a downward course. [Applause.] If charged with seeking to deny to the poor what he was willing to concede to the rich, he would answer that, in his opinion, no distinction should be made. He would advocate that, if necessary, every club throughout the colony should pay for its license, and if they were compelled to close their bars at eleven o’clock, he thought they would be very much, the better for it. [Applause.] Whilst on this subject he would say that he voted for the extra 3d per gallon duty on beer, simply because he felt the exigencies of our financial position necessitated such a tax for the time being. He might odd that he believed the public generally would benefit by the increased taxation, which, at the same time, would not unduly press upon tho producer. He was also of opinion that the public got better beer than formerly, and an equal amount for the same money. In support of his contention that the brewer did not necessarily suffer, be instanced a case which had come under his notice of a brewer trading for a moderate number of years, who had sold out his business for £BO,OO0 —a fortune made by brewing very ii different beer. [Laughter,] He would now refer to the Representation Bill, which was brought down in fulfilment of a pledge given by the Government in 1879. It had been manifestly the wish of the House that the measure should not be brought into operation last session, and the Government accordingly consented to postpone it, not caring to render its acceptance or. rejection a vital party question in view of the approaching general election. He pointed out that tho Bill in question affected tho district of Coleridge more than any other part of the colony. The census just taken farmed a good groundwork for rearranging the electoral districts on some general principle. In the Bill of last session population was the basis of representation, and on calculating the numbers of the Coleridge and Ashburton districts, it woe felt that they did not justify the House in giving another member at that time. In his opinion the population principle should be hold to moan the adult male population only; it was to tho actual bread winners they should give the franchise. With this limitation he should bo prepared to vote for readjustment according to population. The census for 1881 now before us showed that the population of this district had increased from 9220 in 1878 to 12,420 in 1881, being an increase of 34 per oont. in three years, while the total population of the colony bad increased at only half that rate. Clearly, therefore, this large increase in the population at Coleridge gave the district a right to claim three members [applause], that is, whether on the basis of adult population, or upon the basis of adjustment as proposed in tho Bill introduood last session. He bad dwelt, perhaps, at too great a length upon this subject, but his excuse was that it was one very materially affecting the interests of the constituency. It went to the root of every question bearing on the welfare of the district, and that was synonymous with agricultural interests in the colony. Now os regarded public works, there could be no doubt that the colony had progressed somewhat too rapidly in the matter of public works in the past, and we should have to proceed much more cautiously in the future. On the othe£--hand, whilst avoiding undue cxtravagancJp* we must guard against anything approaching to stagnation. The colony had drunk very deeply of the intoxicating draught offered in the Public Works Policy of 1870, and, as & natural consequence, it had been troubled with a very serious headache during the last two years. Over-speculation had resulted ia numberless failures throughout the colony, and the necessary partial curtailment of colonial expenditure. At the same time, we have profited by the lesson. The Grey Government had overestimated the land revenue of 1878-1879 by no less a sum than £360,000. They expended £504,733 of the last loan before it was raised, and entered into engagements, from which there was no drawing back, to the extent of £1,715,371 additional. It might be said that they were not responsible for the falling off in the land revenue of that period, but, in fact, there was no such thing as a falling off in tho land revenue of that time. Tho mistake arose through the fact of their grossly exaggerating the estimate. They set down the land revenue for 1878 1879 at £1,329,000, in spite of all remonstrance from members of the Assembly who possessed a wider knowledge of the resources of the colony and knew tho estimate to ho fallacious. As a matter of fact, however, the land revenue for that period did produce an enormous sum, namely, £869 729. Of this amount, Canterbury contributed £543,000. and tho rest of the colony £324,722. And this amount of revenue was quite as much as could have been anticipated from the source in question by any prudent man. It was quite true that a considerable falling off of land revenue took place subsequently, and for the nine months ending the 31et of March, 1880, it only amounted to £155,000 ; and for the twelve months ending March, 1881, £300,000. This, however, was not during the Grey Administration, if they excepted tho brief period from. June to September, 1879. The Grey Ministry had been led into making these fallacious estimates by counting on certain chimerical schemes with dim visions of a bank of issue with unlimited greenbacks. In regard to Native lands, rude hands had been laid upon tho Waimate Plains before tho just claims of the Natives had been inquired into, and a policy was entered upon which narrowly escaped embroiling the country in an unjust war. He would pass on to consider the actions of the present Government. It must ba.

apparent that the Ministry took office in a most critical period of the history of this colony, and with a full sense of all the difficulties and unpopularity of the task they had to perform in order to place the finances of the colony on a safe footing. That task was one which required whole-hearted men toperform ; who had to bo prepared, if necessary, to sacrifice their good name and popularity in the interests of the colony. He thought they hod fairly carried out their promises in that direction. The question of retrenchment was beset with very great difficulties. Everybody assented to it in the abstract, but, the moment an attempt was made to give it personal application, largo numbers were found to oppose it most strenuously. Here the difficulties of the Government began. Ministers of the Crown, like the rest of us, were but flesh and blood after all, and it was easy to understand that they hod no pleasant duty to perform in resisting the piteous appeals made by hundreds of officials against their dismissal from the public service. To reconcile themselves to their action in this matter, the Government bad nothing to sustain them bnt a consciousness of plain public duty. Nevertheless, he considered they had fulfilled their promises in the direction of economy, both by amalgamation of offices and actual retrenchment, for which they deserved the hearty thanks of the public at largo. Notwithstanding all that had been done, however, to reduce expenditure, much yet remained to be done. As on illustration ho would point to the Waste Lands Boards of the colony and the Property Tax departments. With regard to tha former he pointed out that, since the falling _ off in the revenue from the source in question, the Waste Lands Boards had comparatively very little to do, and yet largo apd highly paid staffs of officials were still maintained in ■every locality. The management of the details of the property tax, ho thought, might bo laid on the shoulders of some of the well paid members of the Land Boards, The Minister of Public Works paid off last year no less than eighty officials connected with his department, and ho could assure them the reduction was very much needed, the departmental expenses having more than doubled since Mr Oarruthers hod charge of it. The increase was during the time indicated from li per cent to 3 per cent, on the total expenditure. The difficulty was to find work for the engineers employed. Ho was much •verse to the division of the department, giving each island an engineer-in-ohief and staff; the which division was introduced by Mr Maoandrew when that gentleman proposed to cover the entire colony with a network of railways half a century in advance of the population required to support them. Ho thought it was time the engineers’ department should be placed under one head at Wellington. Indeed, ho felt sure that suoh would have been done before now had Mr Oliver represented any other than a Dunedin constituency, [Applause and laughter.] In reference to the October railway tariff, _ he pointed oat that it operated unfairly as against the great agricultural and farming interests. Those who made little use of the railways ■aid, in effect, “ Get what you can out of the tillers of the soil, and save ns who have invested our money in town properties.” Ho entirely dissented from that view. The burden of our debt should bo borne in due proportion by all classes. Heavy as the public burden was, he locked forward to better times, when increased population would lessen the weight of individual responsibility. With regard to finances, he thought it was a grave mistake to deprive the counties of 20 per cent, of their land fund. It was only carried in Committee (after a long discussion) by the casting vote of the ohairman, who departed from an established custom in the coarse he pursued, and was, in his (Mr Wright's) opinion, very much to blame. He thought it very questionable whether they would get the land revenue back again. Now, therefore, that they were losers of that and subsidies, they had to depend simply upon themselves, and pat their bands in their own pockets for all they required. Turning to the question of education, he thought a considerable reduction might be made without impairing the efficiency of the schools. For instance, he would get rid of the nursery element by excluding from the calculation infants of six or seven years of age. At that ago the children would be better and stronger for being away from school. He did not advocate the lowering the standard in our primary schools, but suggested that the bodies and the brains of tbs children should be more vigorous before they were started on the educational grind, and their progress would be all the Greater in the end. A precocious child selom turned out Al. At this point be concluded his general remarks by thanking the meeting for their attention, and more particularly for the manner in which they had always treated him as their representative. He felt honored by representing such a constituency. [Applause.] In conclusion, he said that be felt conscious of omitting some points, perhaps, which might be of interest to those present, and be should be happy to answer any questions.

In reply to questions, Mr Wright said he would support a Sill for imposing a heavy poll tax on Chinese immigration. He disapproved of letting or selling the railways, because it would raise up a dangerous political power in the country. What was required, in his opinion, to secure greater efficiency, combined with economy, in the railway department, was a general board of management, to have continuous existence, and consequently continuity of action. At present provincial jealousies would operate against such a scheme, but when this division of interests had entirely disappeared, he believed that method would be found much more satisfactory than that which had hitherto obtained. During the past few years the exports had exceeded the imports in value, which showed the colony was in a more healthy state. He would be glad to regain the 20 per cent, of the land fund for the counties. With regard to secondary education, he explained that the schools were supported chiefly by endowments, so that there was no considerable annual charge for their maintenance, and the tax on the colony for secondary education was not large. He did not approve of selling the reserves or resuming them for the benefit of primary education, and he did not think Canterbury would gain by the process. A question being asked as to whether ho had influenced the construction of the Mount Somers line of railway in a particular direction, ho answered in the negative, and explained that the course of the railway had been altered from that originally suggested to join the then proposed great interior Canterbury railway. In regard to the control of hospitals and charitable aid, he preferred the elective to the nominee system in the appointment of governing bodies. He thought a change in the present system as affecting this district highly desirable. He approved of local option, and would support any measure to secure it. As to local industries, there ought to bo no occasion for him to toll any one in that district, that he would do all ho could for the promotion and stimulation of local industries. He could also promise them that he would advocate the extension of the Mount Somers Bailway, whenever an opportunity offered. A traffic bridge over the Ashburton was a most necessary work. As a member of the County Connoil he had endeavoured to got it done, but had not succeeded, He would however try again. The questions being exhausted, The Chairman read a note from the Mayor, regretting his enforced absence through indisposition, and making a flattering reference t c Mr Wright as member for the district. On a motion for a vote of thanks and confidence in Mr Wright, proposed by Mr St. Hill, and seconded by Mr Cotes, Mr Parnell, who also supported the motion, spoke at some length on the political situation, ohiefly in condemnation of the present Ministry, who he declared should be the lust to throw stones at the Grey Government. This was by way of reply to some of Mr Wright’s remarks, Mr Wright briefly replied to Mr Purnell's attack, which he did not anticipate, and was, therefore, somewhat unprepared for it; but be might refer to Mr Purnell’s statement at greater length some other time. Meanwhile, he would leave the Hall Government to take of themselves, which he felt confident they were well able to do. [Laughter, and prolonged applause as Mr Wright resumed his seat.] The Chairman then put the motion—- “ That this meeting thanks Mr Wright for his address, and has the fullest confidence in him as representative of the district.’’

Carried unanimously. Mr Wright thanked those present for their attendance, and expressed the gratification he felt at snob an expression of goodwill, and assured them that he would only retain his seat whilst he felt that he deserved the confidence of his constituents. A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings. The meeting then dispersed.