THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 368, 24 June 1884, Page 5

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

HOUSE! OF REPRESENTATIVES. tCjau»SDAT, n Jtjjsrß 19---'Mtficfr* 'Atkinson moved that the Speaker do leave the chair to go ink Committee of Supply. •Mr^CMCallaghan moved as an amend* ment, ** That this House, while willing to .groat Her" 'Majesty supplies for a reasonable period, desires to pla^e on redttrd its disapproval of the course «ddbte# by Ministers in recommending His Excellency to grant a dissolution without first affording the Opposition the opportunity of forming a Ministry haying the confidence of the House, inasmuch as Parliament has thereby been prevented from passing measures which it- is desirable should be passed before a general election, and also the expense of',' a second session being unnecessarily incurred." He did not think the Opposition could accept silently' the position in which the Go* vernment now jplaced them. Although unwilling . to resort to the extreme though justifiable course of stopping supplies,' he objected to the Ministry remaining , in office while they did not possess the confidence of the House, and to the expense of two elections;; The power of the House to form. £ .Ministry should first have been exhausted. ■ MrMacandrew supported the amendment,' The Opposition could form^not qnty| j)jie but three or four Ministries ifciVequltei.,,',' ..'. ." ; , „,'■ ; 'Mr^Seddon strongly condemned the conduct. 'and ! p r olioy of the Government. j'to 'blame for maladministration |ninariy , directions. He accused them of doing their best to strangle an?I !> extinguish the '< gold, mining industry.",';; .■',.'. . : . M JfCr. .Munro, al though a Government spf^jorterj ; thought Ministers should haver the verdict of the I&iise, and resigned and thrown ontte; Opposition the task of forming a new:: Ministr y; They had no rights stop; -business as • . they had ,torie.; J : if \./'- •-■' ■-•■-.■■ J '^t'.jSfqiiß.WiOuld support the GovernmentoQ the present occasion. -He did notytbinfcpthe. Opposition was., .working fdr fctye'publiii gpod, or that it i could 'I^>;^inißt4.. He. held ihat the Ministry sere quite justified in advising 1 la diasolutibn..: . . v. ij£jji g^tori'i thought the amendment .^as a vote of censure on the governor j •as well as on the Government. He: believed all had desired a general eleie-! ti<m, and that the Ministry had taken aj ,isgbt and proper course. 7( ; :sfr! denied 'that there was '-'itoyipor'tfolio hunt, but he felt a portion "6fjth^ J «Hght thrown on the Opposition ;'ti9^jij|^y I ';c|Qjttld not form a Ministry^ ,'r*jfeßF©twejpp. dozens as fit as those whd ißat on; the benches. At the same time, he regarded the amendment as a mis- \ riot support it. ;. \ ■';.); Jaffa J soyice supported the amendment, : although heiadmitted that *ie regretted ! hftff^ng to do so. The dissolution was a Wptoti unfortunate one for the coun T ■Mi ; Fish accused Mr Wakefield of be"trtt}ing the Opposition. Ho could '/not; ' apparently' b,e tiue to any partyj j and it /was no,, wonder after what he •f had just heard that Mr "Wakefield only a party of one — himself-^ 'Haft never taken the political posi.jiaoaip. which his talents entitled him; i; He could; not run straight. ' C/Aptain Mackenzie expressed disap. j>rbyal ;of the course pursued by the 7 Hp ; jiise.,, There, were many matters of <„IMrgency. demanding the attention of "the 'before dissolution took *-"bl£c# !., The ' Opposition should have 'Iwa^ecif', He did not think they could .'-have -formed a stable Ministry. Th 6 ?. Opposition would be responsible for "^ny'injut^ the Colony might suffer by qgiay. j $M. (governor had acted rightly *}.i^,£b.e interest of the country. j '< j iMr .Richardson had voted for the - "feoiebpfidence motion to force an imnio--".''sisteV dissolution, and he could no,» 7-.t herefore support the amendment. J -;•«•;>, Major Atkinson denied that the noj bonfidenc© motion would have been ' 'f, l^t^pi ijid .it not been on the distindt o/rUn^erislapding ot a dissolution. l|n V i thftupresent state of the House no " "4&overnnient could carry any measure. ;,'^^.^he Vpj)^)6sitioh was now fighting |, f j foiij^Wio,get.,bffice through the eleo .•Ji^onfc-; The,. Government had advised •' the^Gdvernor at the House desired. '" Af|eV £he experience o£ 1878 he woiil d . ) ,.^l^fay9, i 4o his utmost to prevent a iv certain 1 han, gentjeman getting on the 1 benches to manipulate the electiors. '• from a memorandum to tie „ .Wtpirfluw ,of ijTormanby in 1877 in .; defence of : the action . taken by tle J > ri present 1 ; Government, Had the G6- '' fdrnor'-'demanded written reasons for tiijair, .advice the Government would r >i7 have jumished them. He hoped for ■i- an/ Opposition not ashamed of its tf '.\] leiiider, and 'a leader not ashamed of his ! jfoilbwers. : j „ ;, Mr: . Montgopaery objected to the • '■•'< Premier saying there was no Opposi--1 tipnthat belie Ted what was stated in LV !^9 amen'dihient. Such a charge \ras ■,"o /entirely unjustifiable. In every Par ia- -•■ menfc a Liberal Opposition was ranged • lender different leaders of sectiens. " : i£e"objecsd; to the Premier's coarse „ tftunte' The Opposition had not a ■'■ word to aay against the Governor j they blamed the Government for pot ' ' ..resigniiig. When they had net jthe '•?' vconfidenice of the House, and coild hope for nothing from tbe couniry, • -: they should have lesigned and giren ( ';;,. the! 'Opposition an opportunity tofcrm [„ n /Ministry.* '■ . " . ■ ~i . i <, Colonel Trimble said they wjere v -Igpiiig *° *^© country at the request} of ~' lJl "the" Opposition. ' , I The House divided on the motion to go Into Supply— Ayes 37; N6es, T!.:- ; The -Speaker gave his casting vote :> ! the ayes, us . he believed it his •duty to refer matters to' the pc >plc ,»t jtfce earliest possible moment. [.',[ ..'.V.. *Th© House went into Committee oi *. ; jSwpplyj «rt*en Major Atkinson moved / „.^0 report, progress, which was agreed '"to, and' the House roke at 12.30 A am. 33ie iollowJDg is the -division lisl :—

Ayes : Allwright, Atkinson, Beetham Bryce, Buchannan W. C, Connolly, Dlek, Dodson, Fitzgerald, Fulton, Green J., Green M. "W., Hamlin, Hobbs, Hursthouse, Johnston C. J., Johnson W., Kelly, MacKenzie F. W.. M'Millan, Mitchelson, Moss, Munro, Newman, Peacock,. Postlethwaite, Kolleston, Stevens., Sutter, Button, Swanson, Thompson H, Trimble, Watt, Wilson, Wynn- Williams and Hurst. I Noes : Barron, Bathgate, Bracken, Brown, J. C, Cadman, Daniel, Dargaville, Duncan, Feldwick, Fish, George, Grey, Harris, Hutchison,* Ivess, Joyce, Macandrew, M'Douald, M'Kenzie J., Montgomery, O'Callaghan, Pearson, Petrie, Pilliet, Seddon, Sheehan, Shephard, Shrimski, Smith, Steward, Taiaroa, Tnwhai, Thomson J.W., Tole, Tpmoana, Turnbull, White W. ■ ■ . : Paibs— Ayes : J. B. Bro*n, Mason, M'llwraith, Noes : Morris, Pyke, Holmes. Friday, June 20. The House w« nt into Committee of Supply, and the Hon. Colonial Treasurer delivered his Financial Statement, in the course of which he assured hon. members that the financial difficulties with which Government had to cope during the current year were by no means of so serious a nature as some seemed disposed to think. In the statement he had the honor to make to the committee last year he estimated the total appropriations for the financial year ending the 31st March, 1884, at L 3,686,254, but the total actual expenditure on this account during the year proved to be L 3,681,320, being L 4784 less than the estimated amount. The ordinary revenue of the year, 1883-84, ihat is, the revenue exclusive of the receipts from land sales, was estimated in the financial statement of 1883 at L 3,573,800. The ! subsequent increase,* however, in the 'Property Tax of one farthing in the ! poand brought up the estimate to L 3,658,800. The actual amount of ordinary revenue receivel and brought to account by the treasury during the year was L 3,493,659, being thus L 165,141 under the estimated amount owing to Railways and Customs failing to produce the amounts it was thought might fairly have been expected from those «ources. The treasurer here pointed out the great difficulty of making an accurate estimate of revenuei Experience taught them that a very slight alteration in the price of either wool or grain very materially affected their income. In some years when staple products sold at a good price they suddenly found an overflowing treasury : on the other hand, when prices are low, they found themselves face to face witt that unpleasant fact for a Treas-, urer-r-d«ficit. After dealing with the. Land Fund, the Premier showed that ( on, 31st March, 1884, the gross public debt', of, the colony amounted to L 32,367,710, and the accrued sinking funds'to L 2,792,80 8; the neb public debt : was therefore L 29,574,902. Of this sum, however, there lemained unexpended, L 877,912. After alluding to various other matters, Major Atkinson went on as follows : — I would like to aay a few. words about the depression which prevails in this colony. In the first place, it does not arise to any appreciable extent either from defecdve laws or errors of administration on the part of the Government. .It doe 3 not arise from the withdrawal of capital or from the distiust of capitalists. There is no sign of such distrust to be found anywhere as far as I knovr. Capital can now be obtained in any amount, and upon reasonable terms, for any •undertaking which will give a fair return for the outlay incurred. Capital . has not, as a matter of fact, been driven from our shores either by our system of direct taxation, or by the nature of our laws, or by any other cause. Far more capital has flowed into the colony during the last three years than any period of our history. Nor does the depression arise from the large amount of interest, we have to pay upon our public debts and private borrowings. We can, lam satisfied pay with ease all the interest we have undertaken to pay, because the employment of the borj owed capital has enabled and. is enabling us to produce far more than the share our sleeping partners draw in the way of interest. This must be evident to anyone who will look at the amount of our exports, and remembers that this is the surplus after onr population has supplied itself with all tne chief necessaries of life ; and especially when the enormous direct advantage to the producers which accrues from' our railways is considered as a saving to the community of at least two millions per annum. The present depression is traceable ultimately io three causes. The first ia the habits of extravagance arising out of the wonderful prosperity which, with only slight and temporary check, we have enjoyed for the last .thirteen years, habits, which our real circumstances never justified us in indulging, if, indeed any circumstances could be their justification. The second cause is that the class of distributors and middlemen is far too numerous in proportion to our population There are no doubt too many merchants, traders, arid agents. Numbers- of these are trading upon capital borrowed upon terms which make it impossible for them to do business upon a sound basis. The consequence is that they interfere with and ruin the legitimate business of the responsible merchant and trader, this is 'generally admitted by all competent authorities. In the year 1882 an importation of goods to the value of at least' one million sterling took pI.K-e, and I find upon enquiry that the value in December 1883 to those in December 1882 so that, the relief which was ; hoped for l'aat year in the reduction of stocks has failed us for the present. The third cause will be ; found in the low prices which have obtained during the last year for your chief articles; wool and grain. It is said that wool and grain are never low in price at the same time, and this is no doubt true as a general rule. Unfortunately it has not proved true during .the last year. The loss to our spending power upon these two articles of export has ;beeri, I estimate, not less than half a million sterling. I myself believe that had wool and grain been at anything like average prices we should have had no deficit in our consolidated revenue to provide for. These causes sufficiently account for the want of confidence in our immediate prospects, and; for the condition of trade in some districts of lour 'colony. The real circumstance's do' not justify this lack of confidence, but there can. be no doubt that it is an important factojr in the present depression, and that we carjnot hope for a return of prosperity until confidence ia again restored. As I have on several occasions pointed out, the action of i the Parliament and Government has to a certain extent intensified the depression by the! determination which was arrived at two yjearago to limit to'a moderate extent the expenditure of borrowed money. As .hon. n|embera will have seen from the statements which I have just -made, the Governihent have not arbitrarily contracted the expenditure by a hard and fast line, "but have endeavored to make the reduction as little felt as possible by increasing the expenditure :during the current year to the full extent, of the . limits imposed by Parliament. Howj the depression is to be- speedily overcome! is 1 - a question of great importance to all , of uj3. I ppnfess at once that I see no royal roa^ by which we can be relieved' from' ifhe present ' dulness. The only remedies are to live | well within our means, to increase as largely as .\ possible' the number of producers by settle- ■ *'- 'mentoa the lands of a class of persons able

l t and willing to cultivate them, by encourag- i , ing the consumption of local products and i i manufactu!resi to believe in ourselves and to resolutely set our faces against the expenditure of public moneys from revenue or lo*n upon purposes -unnecessary or unproductive, while at the same time we steadily push on out public works. If we determine, as 1 believe we shall, to follow such a course as this, then our prosperity is, I venture to cay, already assured. Had it fallen to my lot, «r, to have submitted a complete budget for the current year, my proposals would not have necessitated my asking Parliament for an increased taxation for the purpose of carrying on the services of the year, as I saw my. way to make both ends meet, with a margin for contingencies, by means of reductions under proposals for the reform of the Civil Service, which Government have had under consideration, by savings which would have been effected under our Hos- i pitals and Charitable Aid proposals, and by the savings upon other votes to which we should have asked the sanction of the House. In conclusion, Mr Hamlin, I would point out that within six months after the Hall Government took office, which it did in October, 1879, the Government had to face a deficit of one million sterling upon the ordinary revenue. This, as I have often said, arose chiefly from the falling off in the land revenue, upon which we had been relying. The Government at once set to work to i'aie the deficit. In the first place it excluded th« land fund altogether as a source from which the ordinary expenditure might, be met, charging against it only the cost of its ad- i ministration, the charges to which it was locally liable, and setting apart the balance , for local works. To these separate objects it h^s been applied ever since. The deficit of one million for the period ending March, 1880, had to be met by a permanent loan, and the expenditure of the following year ' balanced with the revenue by means of a , very large reduction in expenditure, and a ' considerable increase in taxation. At that time, for some years preceding, and for two ; years subsequently, a large portion of the , charge for the Armed Constabulary was borne .' by the loan. Our five millions per cent, loan had been sold in December, 1879, at 97^, ' with the option of conversion into a 4 per ■] cent loan at Ll2O. In other words our 4 per . cent, stock tken sold for LBl J. This sale was .undoubtedly at the time a most successful ( ono, and certainly represented our credit in its most favorable light. In 1881 there was j . a small deficit in the Consolidated Fund, but ' in 1882 there was a surplus of L 203,000. The opportunity was therefore taken in the latter year of transferring the charge of L 75.000, i then paid, out of the loan for Constabulary, i to the Consolidated Fund, and taxes were reduced to tho extent of about LIIO.OOO. In 1883 there was a surplus of L 35,000, notwithstanding the large reduction of taxation ( which took place in 1883, and the fact that t the Consolidated Fund was charged for the g first lime with the whole cost of the Armed j Constabulary, an additional charge amounting to L 7 5,000. In 1884 we have * to face a deficit of LI 82,000. This has arisen t from the falling off on the railway receipts { to the extent of L 56,000, and in tbe Customs • duties of L 123,000. Upon looking at the * circumstances under which the estimates of ■» j 1882 were made, I cannot say I believe s j either estimate was what might have been g reasonably expected. The deficit is to be regretted, but it is not certainly a matter about which we should feel any anxiety. It s can be provided for without burdening any 'N class of the community. Moreover, our £ credit never showed higher than it does in London at the present time,, our last i L 1,000,000 4 per cant loan realising no less c than LIOO 6s 6d per cent. We have, sir, as c far as my judgment goes, nothing in our } present circumstances to dishearten us ; no- r thing, sir, but what should nerve us to renew our exertions with the certainty that great r prosperity will again reward our efforts, c Meanwhile periods of pressure may be on the ] whole beneficial to the community, by forcing attention to economy in our affairs, J public and private, prudence in our 3pecula- * tions, and better organisation in our industries and our administration. Waste is, p more or less an incident »f all human work, . which the greatest skill, sagacity, and prudence cannot wholly terminate, and the tendency in times of excessive confidence is S to neglect the attempt. It is generally ad- { mitted that but for this fact our large colonial enterprises of the last fourteen years would have been a more signal success. If * the country and legislature are capable of I profiting by the uses of adversity, our future \ progress as a people will more than com- j pensate in its increased stability for what- , ever it may sacrifice in swiftness. ] Mr J. W. Thomson contended there -j was a larger deficiency than L 150 ,000 as stated by the Treasurer. Altogether the income of the colony for the last . year had been over-estimated by L.205,000. That fact itself should 1 be sufficient to make the Treasurer j ashamed of himself, he having expended , L 187,000 in excess of income. Mr Dargaville pitied the man who , had to succeed Major Atkinson as Treasurer, for he would have nothing f to spend until next January unless : they anticipated next year's loan. The statement was not straightforward, but i wai intended to mystify whoever might be Major Atkinson's sue- . cessor. . Mr Richardson at some length con« j demnedthe present system of railway ] management. Greater power should , be given to the local officers. He ad« , vocated management by a non-political ■ Board. Mr Bathgate took exception to i Major Atkinson's statements as to the • ; causes of the existing depression. He 1 believed the Q-overnment was mainly '. responsible, owing to defective laws ; and parliamentary administration. ! Saturday, June 21. ! After a long and angry discussion on ', the action of the Otago Land Board in j the' matter of dummy ism, the kauri ■ gumdiggers' lands said to have been acquired' by the Minister for Public f Works to the prejudice of a number \ of diggers,and various other questions, : the House went into Committee ' of . Supply; when ( Mr Montgomery criticised the Financial Statement, showing that they , began the year with a balance of L 35,000 and their expenditure had exceeded income by L 187,000. That was , a most unsatisfactory state of matters,, the more so that it did not disclose the full measure of their deficit. Since 31st March last the deficiency had been on the increase, so that they were not in a position to grapple with the , difficulty, i Mr Holmes described the Statement as a financial Chinese puzzle. He dissented altogether from Major Atkinson' 8 views as to cause of the present] de" pression. It was not due t© the low price of produce, but to the absurdly high price deferred payment selectors had to give for their land. He advocated the Government's .borrowing money at four per cent. and. lending it to fyona fide settlers for at five per cent. -•■ ' : ' Mr Montgomery asked* for an assurance from Major Atkinson that no political appointments to the r j Legislative Council ".i would be ijaade , dm ing tke recess. He also asked '„ , . when , the writs would be issued. ; ' Major Atkinson, in reply, said the'

Government would, before the end of the session, take advice of the House on the latter, point. On the former one he wished to consult his colleagues.

Sir George Grey ascribed the depres. sion to undue competition for deferred payment lands owing to the blocks opened being too small. Great personal distress had thus been produced. He believed the great Liberal party would retr n triumphant from the elections and inaugurate a new era of prosperity.

After a long debate, progress was repoited and the House adjourned till 11 a.m. on Monday.