MR ORMOND AT WAIPAWA.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2375, 12 November 1881, Page 3

MR ORMOND AT WAIPAWA.

WA.IPAWA, November 11. Mr Onnond addressed a densely packed meeti-ff of electors at Waipawa electorate this evening. iIE D. Guy occupied the chair. Mr Orinond, who was received with 10-d n plause, recalled the meeting- held at Wai] a« before the session, when he explained his v;e»=> and received an unanimous vote of coniider.ce.. He claimed in every action during lastlsession to have carried out the line he then marked ont for Mi Belf. Major Atkinson had spoken of political res . but he (Mr Ormond) then ventured to express the opinion that Parliament should only pass the 2edistribution of Seats Bill and give the necessary supplies to carry the Min : stry over the elections, and then go to the country before any of the lax| measures proposed were dealt with, and the wlsdo of his advice had been fully borne out. When the session opened he said that the Government in his opinion were not sufficiently strong to carry anylarge and useful measures, and that was another. reason why the session should be cut short. Th" usual business at the opening of a session w s tb Governor's address, usually a manifesto of th Government. The one this year was a meag document, and there was very little in it of consequence to the people of New Zealand. In the debate which took place on the address in reply, it very soon became apparent that the question oE local government must come on if the Govcraaa-at were called upon touring down measures aca.a.gwith the subject. The debate collapsed prematurely after a few important speeches had tec made. The next business brought on was th Charitable Aid Bill, and this again brought np.th same subject. When it was brought forward large majority of the members insisted that tho matter was one which should be left to the local bodies, and instealof discussing the Fill the delate turned on the question of local government. Shortly after the Bill was dropped by viie G.-vei-a-aent ani allowed to go down the oi-der p.apei „.ud was never seen again. Then a motion e:n.ie cby a member (Mr Murray) ashing the House to deal with the question of local government:. The Premier then said that the Government v.onLl comedown early with their proposals cu the i.aa'.:er. 'his thing went on for six weeks, during, ?hich time practically no business was done except the passing of the Licensing Dill. That Bill was held by many as one which satisfied the wants of the country. There was this pjeu.air.ty about it, that both parties who were mist concerned in it appeared to be satisfied with ::. It wi« also a curious thing that while telegrams fro publicans in the south of Otago urged the passu „ fo the Bill, the Good Templars in Auckland ".ere equally anxious to have it passed. They had ve. .o see how it worked. It was really the only useful measure affecting the general public passed during last session. Other measures were passed, but on the whole the sessions was practically barren with the exception or the Licensing Bill. Most of the busness >:r-;rght down by the Government were Bills for loer government, and their proposals were eon:a.a._a ■. wo Bills, the Crown and Native Lands h.a>in K Jill and the Eoads Construction Bill. These two measures contained the Government policy f"idealing with the question. At that time l Colonial Treasurer had also made his tnat.c._._ statement, and that announced to the House tfcut the funds which had hitherto been provided for local bodies in the shape of subsidies were to t stopped, and that funds must be provided by ioci bodies themselves. This statement the tw Bills mentioned wee the whole policy of aranee i connection with local government. These Bills were received by the whole Honse, mending the Government party, a great many of whom, lit himeeM, considered the measures tuisatißfsictoTy,

and the Opposition rejected them. The measures wore opposed on the grounds that there was nothing in them to provide extended local governinert for the country! that there was no definite finance, and that they did nothing towards the decentralisation ot the Government in Wellington, ■which had been the tendency during many past ye.irs. Tl.o principle of the Crown Native Lands Eating Bili was objectionable, and he had argued and urged in thin direction that those lands . sho-jM bo rated in the measures introduced last sesvou The i-i*in" was not coidined to boroughs, bat applied to land in oonntle*. lie approved the ■prive'-y.c of r.itiuc- Crowu and Native lands, hut ! di-irc-d wilh nearly the whole of the rest of the Bill.™ It said that it was a fair thing to value the agricultural lands in the hands of the Natives at £. an acre, and pastoral lauds at 6s Bd. That was not : nst, because in the future Europeans would have" been heavily rated to make roads which would irreiMv improve the Crown and Native lands, and it was unfair to class simi'ar hinds p.t very diifcrer.t Wues. To tafco two instances: there was Henare Toraoana, who owned a largo block in the Napier riaius which, under the Bill, would have been •valued at £1 an acre, while the adjoining lands of E'i-'ivans. i-iiicllv similar, were valued at £lO an acre." In the bush districts tho land held by Europeans was assessed at from Bi to ,C 5 an acre, but the Crown and Native land, which was far more extensive, would have been valued at Cs Bd. These ■were the main Mots in the measure, but there was another extremely undesirable proposal, and that was that the valuations should be made from "Wellington, thus further i'osteriug centralism. He thi: 1-,-ht the local bodies the proper institutions to value tho lauds. Next was the Roads Construction Bill. That wa3 a ineasnro for providing funds for local government. His objection to it was that there was no duality about tho proposal. A certain amount of lnouev was to bo takeu from loan ani a certain amount from the trust funds aud an annual amount, if possible, from tho surplus laud revenue, tho whole forming one fund, which it was proposed to lend to the locat bodio3 ou favorable terms. This was a mere stopgap, an attempt to stave oil tho question. Whon the fund was exhausted they could not go back to loan or the trust funds. TVhUo the fund lasted it was to be doled ont by a central Board, consisting of a Minister and several members of Parliament sitting at Welli: groa, and was taking n still further step in the direction of centralisation. He knew that a great majority of the Honse of Representatives viewed these measures with great disfavor, and the question arose how could they be stopped ? When he last addressed his constituents ho sketched a plan whieli would have given tho people real local solf-governmeut, but these measures wont in au opposite direction. After aseertaiuiiig the feeling of the House he came to tho conclusion that it those Bills were allowed to pass their second reading there would be little chance for him or anybody else to have them amended in the way desired. There was in tho House at that time a great absence of cohesion in tho Opposition; ti'.2re was in fact no connected Opposition, and he saw no way but absolute oudemoatien to prevent tho measures passing as introduced. He therefore moved a motion deciariug that the local government proposals of the Miuistry were not satisfactory. He was folly aware that that motion amounted to " one of want of confidence, but the cirenmstances were peciliar, and ho considered himself free from much of the responsibility origimlly attaching to a motion of want of confidence. He considered that Ministers, if defeated, had a right to ask for a dissolution, and that it was thjir dntv- if these measures were defeated to ask the opinion of the country on them. [Applause.] At first it seemed that there would be a very largo majority in favor of his motion, but other considerations came in. iiinisters lot it be understood that if defeated they inUht possibly resign, and that influenced several members who" agreed with tho motion, but feared that if carried it'would lead to the return to power of Sir Geerge Grey. Still there was a majority, and then Ministers qnietly made an arrangement with certain hou. gentlemen, who wonld otherwise hive voted for his motion, that if the Bills were allowed to nass their second readings they should be dropped* and nothing more seen of them ; in other words, Ministers agreed that they would not «'.tempt to pass tho Bills into law before they had bo ••a before the country. There he gained the object he sought, and any proposals for local government would now be discussed iu a new Parliament. Of course all sorts of reflections were passed upon him, that ho sought office, aud so on ; but he could afford to treat those insinuations with contempt. Ho repeated that ho had absolutely and entirely gained his object. Practically for all deliberative business that was the end of the session. A great number of Bills were passed under circumstance he would presently refer to, but there was no deliberation. The Redistribution o( Seats Bill was next brought forward. Ho voted for its fiecond re idiug, because he agreed that a redistribution of seats was necessary. Afterwards, with his colleague, Captain Russell, ho repeatedly voted against the provisions of the Bill, for, in his orinion, it reflected a great injustice on the North Island by largely reducing its relative representation. Before consideration had al-.-ays been given to tho peculiar difficulty the North Island labored uuder iu the Native difficulty. But this Bill ignored all outside considerations, aud fixed a hard and fast population basis. There were Other provisions with which he disagreed, snch as dividing the largo towns into several siugle electorates. H> thoughtltliat a most illiberal step. The chief argument raised in its favor was that some mm of great power like Sir G. Grey might, under the then existing system carry into tho Honse with him other men who would not be otherwise selected. lie thought tho larger towns had a right to give their collective opinion as they chose. fApplanso.] Many of tho Southern members told hini outside tho Honse that they agreed with him, bus they dare not go to their constituents aud tell them that they had voted for giving the North Island proportionately greater representation. But if the Northern members had beeu true to each other they could have gamed tho same concession. "When the distribution of public money came before the House the North Island would see the effect of its inferior representation for public money always followed the voting power. |"Anplau3e.] After that the manner iu which the business was conducted was discreditable to the House. Measures were rushed through without any deliberation or consideration whatever, and iu that way a great majority of the Bills of ihe session were passed. Ho would give them au instance of this. After teveral motions for the further reduction of expenditure in the Civil Service had beeu disposed of, Ministers accepted one by Mr Bryce providing for a reduction of £30,0C0. Ministers being left to make the reductions in the best ■way possible. Consequently the ordinary estimates -were allowed to pass as printed, the chairman merely mumbling somethiug as to the cause of the different votes, and declaring the ayes aud noes. Suddenly ho (MrOrmond) heard something about railways. He jumped to his feet, but another member was before him asking how they caino to railways. The Chairman then explained that they had got half way through the Public Works Estimates, and not a member knew that they had ever reached them. That showed the disorganisation of tho House. [Applause.] He could not for the life of him understand how numbers could go to their constituencies after that and say the business was conducted creditably. [A Voice—" Why did yon allow it ?] It was simply impossible for any single Jmeinber to stop it. The fact was that Ministers—before weak—grew weaker aud weaker last session. They were net strong euongh to pa3S their policy measures or to keep" control over the Honso ; they had lost uii 'prestige, and threw down their Bills on the floor of the House, iu the hope that the same would fail. It was while the House was iu this disordered state that the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act was passed, a measure which contained some good things, but many absurd things. Hereafter many amendments wonld ha vo'to be made in the legislation passed in snch indecent haste. He contended that Ministers should have adopted one of two courses. They should either have availed themselves of their right to a dissolution or they should have resigned. [Apxdause.] After referring to some local matters, Mr Ormoud went ou to ' refer to the departure of numbers of workiug men from tho colony. Last year he said that tho captains of steamers trading to the other colonies had told him that at every trip they carried over large numbers of men, generally of a most desirable class, and taking with tham £SO to £;00 jor £-00 iu ready cash. He contended that Ministers were not free from blame in the matter. The session before last, when the unemployed were crying ont for assistance, the Honse passed a special vote of £75,000, in order that these men might be employed and kept in tho colony nntil an improvement in trade brought plenty of employment. Again, last session, on looking over the expenditure, he found th.t no part of thi3 £75,000 vote had been expended. It bad been absolutely untouched. The unexpenditure of that voto lost us hundreds of most desirable colonists—men who would have become pormauent settlers of the best type—men whom we had paid to bring out from England. [Prolonged applause.] Kr Johnston thought it a matter for great congratulation that the immigration returns should show thr.t the colony had not retrograded. Ho thought it a matter for regret that through the action of the Government the colony had been kept from progressing as a young country should have dono. [Loud applause.] Mr Ormoud then went on to speak of Native affairs. He said that during the last few wei.ks Native affairs had prominently engaged the public attention. When he last spoke to them, he expressed his entire concurrence with the action of the Government relative to West Coast affairs up to the time that the Governor's aide-de-camp was sent to Parihaba. He thought that was most impolitic, and it had brought in its train great difficulties. It afterwards came out that Mr Bryce had advocated measures similar to those carried out last week, but he was prevented from having his way, and he resigned, after which affairs were allowed to drift. Until tho other day there had boon no official correspondence on the subject between tho Governor and Ministers laid before the House; but they conld put two and two together, and they wou'd couclnde that Mr Bryce left because the Governor refused to let hiin carry out his policy. Mr Bryce has now gone back, and had successfully cirried ont that policy. [Loud applause.] Ho (Mr Ormoud) contended that if his colleagues endorsed Mr Bryan's action tlioy should have resigned too and appealed to the country to a man. [Loud applause.] Major Atkinson had beeu called a traitor becan.se ho had not followed Mr Bryce. Major Atkinson was incapable of an act of treachery, and anyone who said that did not know him. But it was evident that ho did not take the same view of his responsibility aud dutv as air Bryce. At that time a great number of To Wbiti's followers wore in prison there was a strong trained force on tho Plains, and how easily Mr Bryce's policy could then have been carried out had since been demonstrated. "Why had tho colony been pnt to the expense of maintaining a largo armed force for another year. Eor what had settlement been checked for a year? From the time when Mr Bryce went out of office nntil he returned affairs grew worse, and at last an outbreak was threatened. However, tho Government had now taken vigorous action, and although he did not agree with them on many points, it wa3 his duty, and that of every true man io this colony, to give a hearty, absolute support to the Government on this point. [Prolonged applause.] If he wero returned u.<ain to Parliament, and this thing was not finished, ho would stand on one side and give evory opportunity to Ministers to finish the work they had began, so that tho Native difficulty might be ended once and for over. [Ap£lauio.] In connection with the Native question, 0 could not help expressing his disagreement with the policy of abandoning tho purchase of Native land in largo blocks of country. Considerable sums Of money had been paid, and ho thought those purchases should bo completed, and tho money which had been sot aside for the purpose and otherwise spent shonld be refunded. [Applause.] They need tho land for settlement in the North Island, and ir they were ever to derive any benefit from ■the principle of giving grants of land for railway ■ construction, as provided for by tho Railways Construction Bill, it must be by purchasing those lands. Now, he came to the question of local government. "Ho hn.4 boon accasrd by his opponents of being vague in his views. He had repeated those views at ioinjth on seToral occasions, and bad pot

them before thom as distinctly as a man could. He had not time to repeat them in detail again, but he wonld briefly say again that his views were these :—That at present, outsido municipalities, there were two governing bodies performing tho same functions, County Councils and Road Boards. These bodies often clashed, and they were always engaged at the same work, aud that meant multiplicity of office aud attendant want of economy aud efficacy. Ho wonld enlarge the Road Board districts, making thom, say, co-terminns with tho ridings of thß oonnty, and would commit to thom all road making functions. In tho Waipawa county the funds raised iu each riding were spent in that riding, aud that was but carrying that principle to its logical conclusion. "What advantage did tho scattered settlements iu the Seventy Mile Bush receive from association with the rest of tho country. This would simplify government aud result iu greater efficiency and economy. Then there wore various bodies which under the present no-local government system performed various functions. Some of these bodies Were wholly nominee, some wholly elective, some partly nominee and partly elective. There were Education Boards, Charitable Aid Boards. Waste Land Beards, and other Boards, and the whole of their duties could be carried ont by one body, having jurisdiction over areas, which might for convenience be made equal to the provincial districts. He had been charged with advocating a return to provincialism. lie had done no such thing. The provinces wero things of the past, and never could be revived with their legislative powers. What ho bad advocated was local control over Ipnrelv local affairs, and decentralisation of aoministratiou. In regard to the tendency of the centralism, a little thing had come iuto his head while speakiug, and that was about the rabbit nuisance. Why, they tried to regulate the rabbits iu Hawke's Bay fiv m Wellington. People soon would not bo ablo to go iuto their back promises without first getting tho necessary authority from "Wellington. Iu connection with local government he had omitted to speak of ono point, and that was the necessity for absolutely defining the fiuauce of whatever local bodies happened to exist, so that they might carry out their duties efficiently. Speakiug on tho question of taxation, he said that last session Government reduced the property tax from 11 to a ;d, thongh no very definite reason was given for tho' reduction, except that the Treasurer said ho was happy t > tell the House that the colony no longer wanted the wholo )d. He did not see why they could not have got rid of some other tax. From the boginuing he hnd been opposed to principle of rroperty tax. Ittaxed the improving settler, and under it there was no proportionate tax to reach the mm-iinproviug settler. Other taxes had been t liked about, and he had advocated au income tax. When ho came before them in IS7S as a candidate he expressed tho opinion that property did not then bear a fair share of taxation, and favored a property and income tax. This question must crop up at every step they took in the direction of taxation for future local government : What sort of taxation they wero goiug to entrust local bodies with. If they wero going to have a tax for local bodies, then the qnostion arose whether a land tax was not fairest for snch a purpose. The matter depended upou what moasures the House passed for local government. It was a bad thing tor a conutry to be constantly altering its incidence of taxation, and caused immense expenditure iu official work before they could got into a position to levy the tax. If the property tx was to stand, ho would do all ho could to relieve it of its present obiectionable features, and endeavor to have exemptions for improvements on l.md and on machinery. This would give a stimulus to industry, aud it wonld bo a good deal to tho settlers of the colony if tlio3 - could remove the objections to the tax which existed. It had been tho fashion of late in certain places to describe him as a man desirous of escaping taxation. He did not profess to desire more than any other man, but he recoguised that it was the dnty of property to bear taxation. The question was how that taxation conld be best raised, and applied to the advancement of tho country. Taxation they must have, and property would have tobearit. Ho" had adhered to the views ho bal always expressed, aud even voted for the property tax, not because he believed it to be a good one, but because he had pledged himself to voto for the first proposed ta* on property, so that it might bear a fairer share of the financial burden than it had done up to that timo. Ho also voted for tho land tax on the samo ground. Iu dealing with the question of taxation care should be taken that the influx of capital was not likely tobo checked or any driven away. What was the position of the North Island especially and the colony ? On the whole ho found that there were sixteen million acres of laud in the bauds of Natives, which meant *that it was utterly unproductive and useless. Iu addition to the laud held by tho Crown, they should try and utilise the laud, make it valuablo and subject to taxation, and so relievo the present heavy hardens of the country. It was absolutely necessary that they should so regulate taxation as to invite the owners of over-burdened coffers in the old country to come hero to benefit the conutry aud everyone. The working classes wonld most benefit by this; it would mean more work and higher wages. The principle was abroad that they should grasp as much English capital as they could. They shonld do so by all reasonable means, but ".'lot kill the goose that laid the golden cgL'S. In regard to the progress of public works, he said they first start d the scheme with the plan of having trunk lines of railway from North to South of b ith islands. The South, which had no Native difficulty, got the greater portion of its trunk line completed, with numerous valuable feeders, aud the lines had rapidly improved iu everyway. Iu the North they had nothing but isolated pieces, as iu Hawke's Bay, Auckland and "Wellington. "Were the people of the North Island to bo content with that ? They wanted the completion of the main trunk lines. Iu the South Island they were calling out for more. The Otngo central lino, at a cost of a million and a half and a lino from Canterbury to tho West Coast, were both projected. To give effect to those requirements the Government passed tho Railways Construction Bill. Ho agreed with the principle of that Bill, that they should give grants of laud where it existed, with proper provision for dealing with the land, so as to invito capital to come iu and make those lines for which money conld not at present be spared by the colony. lie objected to the provision nnder which it was proposed to allow the Government to enter iuto contracts under the Bill without obtaining the assent of Parliament. To relieve them from the control of tho Houso in this respect was dangerous and faulty. How were tho wants of the North Island to be attended to. He h°d looked at it from all points of view, aud saw there was no other thing but to get fresh loans to complete the trunk lines, and if elected again he would go back to the House with that object in view, ihe loans wonld have to be raised with some safeguard that if the money was raised for trunk lines here it shonld not be spent elsewhere. They should go into the money market with proper estimates and plans showing for what tho money was needed, and let the English capitalist see it was to be well speut, aud they would got the money upou more favorable terms than they otherwise would. There were two or throe other purposes for which money must be borrowed. One was for the acqniromout of Native lauds. The rate last year had beeu spent on railways, and that would have to be refunded out of the noxt loan. They must also open up lands for settlement. In those parts where railways could not run there had been a scheme proposed to add the cost of making the roads in opening up the new districts to the price of of tho laud, but that would be too much for the iutoudiug settler to cope with. As time was drawing on ho would have to make his other reuiarks short. They would have to go ou giving every facility iu their power for making easy the terms of settlement and encourage the deferred payment system. [A Voice —"At £1 per acre."] That wonld bo remedied if they had an Electoral Land Boards, as he proposed, instead of a nominated one as at present. [Applause.] There were some largo areas in the South falling in, ruus which wonld have to be dealt with eo as to ensure settlement ou them. He had always advocated the extension of settlement wherever it could be done, and was a thorough s> pporter of the deferred paymuut system and of cheap laud. There was a very general idea springing up that in future the sale of Crown lauds should be stopped, and only leased. [A voice—" Too late, now."] He was not in favor of that. People came from homo with the idea of getting a freehold, and sale must be continued. He had beeu urged to do as other candidates had done—canvass for vote 3. He had never yet asked a man for his voto, and wonld not do so. To do sd was an infringement of the principle of tho ballot. All he had ever asked anyone to do was not to pledge themselves till they had heard him. He wonld briefly refer to the manner in which he came to disagree with the Ministry. When it was found that Mr Hall was chosen as Premier, not becanse he was a prominent party leader, bnt becanse there was less personal objection to him than some of the other members, notably Major Atkinsou—although the latter had greater ability—he (the spoaker) was one of the party which agreed to that election, and so far as he conld ho supported the Ministry. During the first two years the Government wero in office all that they did was to ;p.ass tho measures left by the Grey Ministry in the pigeon ,holes when they were defeated. Ho was not an admirer of those who wero content to take up and wear other peoples' clothes. That weakened his respect for the Ministry. Iu the session before last the Treasurer stated that subsidies amounting to £250,000 a year would have to be stopped from local Boards. He also told the House that the interests of tho loans were rapidly accruing, aud a large sum wonld be reqnired to meet the debt. Tho Treasurer thou proposed a considerable dose of increase in the taxation upon every one iu all classes. He (Mr Ormoid) had looked ot the question from a broad point of view, aud saw that if fre3h taxatiou were permitted the colony would go back. There was no adequate proposal to check the rate of expenditure. Ho found that the fear that Sir G. Groy would return to office had more weight with a good many members than the dnty of attempting to force any other on the Government. He did not like the idea that any such fear should stand in the way of attempting to make this Ministry do their duty. He made up his mind oi bring abont a rednction in the official expenditure, and he did it. That was tho sort of action a man might feel prond of, although it might be only once iu his life. He had forced the Government to save £250,000 a-year. That was, perhaps, more than his opposing candidates would do if they lived for fifty thousand years. [Laughter, applause, and hisses.] Iu connection with tho reduction in the Civil Service he wished, in justification, to state that though he forced that reduction on the Government ho objected to the principle on which it had been carried ont, by takiug 10 per cent, off the salaries all round. Ho held that they should have commenced with the largest salaries, starting at tho Governor's. There was no resxiouse from his party as to this last-men-tioned proposition. The other members said they could not well do it while tho then occupant was in office. The all round, reduction was very unfair on the smaller salaries. A more general amalgamation of offices should have taken place. Last session the breach was widoned. As ho had already explained, if elected he would go back, as he had always gone before, free and unfettered to work for the good of the colony. Ho could not say that he would go directly against the Miuistry, nor had anyone ground to beliove ho was an extreme Opposition member. It would depend upon what measures the Government brought down.

Mr Ormoud was loudly applauded on concluding. Koplying to qnestions, Mr Ormond said that tho direction of taxation shonld be to let oil" the settler who improved in proportion to his improvements. As to reaching absentees, it was a difticult business, but the non-improving settlor, whether resident or absouteo, should be got at iu every possible way. He believed that in the fnture a charge would be made upon tho districts by rates on property for school buildings, leaving Parliament to pay the capitation foe.

Captain Howard movod a voto of confidence, which wag seconded by Mr Lloyd. An amendment was moved conveying a vote of thanks. On being put to the vote, the chairman declared the motion carried by sixty to fifty-six. There was groat excitement about the chairman's decision, and the meeting brcko np in disorder, with cheers and counter cheers, applause and hiisos, and the usual compliment was not even paid to. the chairman.