Manamatu Herald. TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1880. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue II, 1 June 1880, Page 2

Manamatu Herald. TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1880. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

The vice-regal speech with -which Parliament was opened on Friday last does .not differ from the average production. The highest excellence is considered to be attained in a gubernatorial speech when the least is expressed, and judged by this standard the latest evolution of the combined Ministerial mind is a model. The first part of the speech gives a brief .retrospect of the history of the past' year, the second deals simply with the finance, and the third professes to give a forecast of the direction legislation will take during the session. "We need only deal with the two latter. In connection with finance the Colony is promised that as the result of the labours of the Civil Service Commission, the Government expect to effect substantial reductions in the cost of that service. This will J>e cheering news to the country, which has long regarded the Civil Service, as a veritable Old Man of the Sea. Probably the best means of interpreting the Governor's speech is to read it side by side with that of (the Premier at Leeston, the full text of which is now before us. Upon thjs matter of retrenchment in the ; Civil Service, Mr Hall said : — '"* 1 have told you that it ia the duty of the Government, to practise econqmy in ad. miniftWring'thtf finances of the colony. We d^d not conw into office telling the colony, 'as others did, that rednctiona would be ,'mßfle of 4109,0^0 'frg #ty|ftgpo.; i >V>; Knew aonjiethirig about; government, apd that to nfake fluoh 'pioniistos would be nonsense. We said we would go oarefuUy into the question and make what reductions could be

9ffeoted without i iinairinir tho ffTlctenc • o' the puliiii: sorvici?. Our promi cs )mvo b..>o:i kept. "Wlo-lffiiiistor f-n- Public Works <]nrinutile session- 1 o.luceil the cstim-ts for railways by .-£:)i),00i), mid during ill" piwsent year h-is m ulo :i siVin-x on li'iin milefttra of £ 1,0;),) mid on mlne'iong in thost ifF of £7000. By tin? uaj of native civil ho has h«en enabled to effi-ct v saving of £80 0. This, gentleman, I think U a satisfactory item. This moans :i tut.il saving of £3G,:~,G0, which is cqii'il to 17 per cent, on thj net. revenue. Fuit-iei- lednotioiiß two in progress, and in 'he course of n few months still t'ur h r fjroraiions will be accomplished, by ..which we h>po to save more wffhi'ut in nny w;iy interfering'with the eul.ienc. of tho" service. I hupe yon will ngrro wish imo in thinking that tho .Minister for Public A'oik* has kept his promiss. In thos-j dipartmants which a,re imiuediiiti/ly uudormy eh irgv, viz, ihc Post'vl and Telegraph, I have been able to mike soino reductions by the abolition. <>V some nv.ii! services which were not really nco.j::s;iry, anJ I Imp^ to do moro next .session if tho Parliament will assist with itauthority. Tho necessity for snving in these departments does not take the shape of reduction* in salaries paid, because they are ulioiulyvery modest. Such savings must be effected in the facilities afforded to the public themselves, because her.! wehivv become rather too luxurious. Two-third-of the telegnipn oilicrs do not even pay worldag expenses, and yet to abolish those which are so situated would almost raise a revolution. In fch ■> expenditure of the. Native Department large reductions have been effected. Ihe number of oflioera and penSigners dispensed with is 117; bosid a vacancies noc fi led up. Number of officer* and p nsionors whose salaries have been reduced, 67. Amount of j^utive vote for salaries 1879 80 was £15,iCi ; amount by which reduced, £0527, or 43 per cent. Savings on civil list, £1272: Besides this, large reductions have b:en made in the contingent expenditure. This, ;is I have s-iid, is money ov.-r which the Parliament lins comparatively little control, but is disbursed by the Minister mhe thinks proper. For fifteen months Parliament voted .€260 i for Nirivecontingencies, but the Nativo department spent £.18,000. If tho contingencies of the Native Land Purchase department are addrtl, which is also at the disposal of the MiiiiVter, t.'ie exjM-iiditure of this kind would be not less than £30,000. The Governor's speech then states there has been a serious falling off in the revenue, which Mr Hall amounts to £280,000 move than was originally estimated by Major Atkinson. As regards tho means of meeting this deficiency the Governor's speech indicates further retrenchment, and hints that " the public works which have already oeen constructed must I e made more productive," which we take to mean that the Government intend to raise the railway tariff. The next subject touched on in tho speech is one of paramount interest to these districts, viz., local finance. The clause is as follows : — You will be asked to. consider n plan which, it IB believed, will place tho finances of the local bodies on a satisfactory basis, .•ind will enable those bodies to carry on their works in a self-reliant and independent manner. The Premier made the following references to this subject in his Leeston speech : — It ha« been found necessary to discontinue, in their present shape, the subsidies granted to local bodies. The colony is noi in a position to nft'ord *o large a sum as ! lms hitherto been paid in that way — and paid, us we believe, in a grest many : n stances where it could be fairly spared. That remark applies especially to" the large cities throughout the colony, where heavy rates are levied, and where, consequently, heavy subsidies are drawn fiom the Co'onial exchequer. But we promised that tho subsidies wliould not be stopped without our endeavoring to provide sonic efficient substitute for parts of the colony where ro.idmnking has to be carried on under very disadvantageous circumstances. Many parts of the colony are less fortunately situated than we are here. In road clis tiicts ov counties where there exists a larg> area of Crown lands, and a comparatively small area of freehold, but where roads have to be made, the charge falls very hardly upon .the freeholders who are there. Manj' districts, again, owing to beinjj covered, or largely so, by forests, could n^t possibly make tlii'Jr roads without assistance from the Government. Assistance, therefore, will be provided in a way which, while entailing less pressure upon the (Ji.loninl Treasury, will, I liust, provide efficient asHi-ta'ice for those di.st rices where such help is really reqnir d. If the new system achieves what the Premier expei-ts, viz., assists weak and struggling districts without conferring large sums upon wealthy Counties and Boroughs — the Government will deserve the gratitude of the country ns a whole. With reference to measures to bo introduced during the session tho speech promises a Bill to consolidate and amend tho Licensing Law of the 'olony. Mr Hall, in his speech, remarked as follows upon this subject :— ' We have caefully considered the imporl ant question of the licensing of public houses. Our laws up-m the subject are in a great state of coufusi 1 v. I bi-lieve there are not less than tw.nty-six Acts or Ordinances by which tho mattvr is regulated in the various jimits of the colony. We 1 have a Bill prepared, which, whil<- denlin ■■. very strictly with everything of the nature, will not treat respectable licensed publicans as if they wore necessarily erin inals As to localoption, what we believe is a fair proposal is this- that with respect to all new licenses, residents or ratepayeis in the district shall bo at, liberty to give a vote; ! but wo do not think it reasonable that such 11 principle should apply to licenses that have been continued for any amount of time, and with respect to houses well managed, and in the hands of respectable persons. At any ratt) we do not think the application of this principle would bs reasonable unless there waß compensation, which we do not see our way to provide. The speech also promises the much-talked-of Charitable Aid Bill, and certain measures for the completion of the scheme of Electoral Eeform commenced last session. The Premier thus referred to these measures in his speeech :-r- --.. We shall introduce the measures of electoral reform that were not passed last session—a Bill for the Regulation of Elections, a Bill for tho Prevention of Bribery and Corruption, and a Bill as to the Trial of Election Petitions. . The last named measure will'provide that petitions of the kind shall in future be tried, not by the House of Representatives, but by judges of the Su-

prone Co-.irt— an abs >!r,tvly i:npirt!;il tiib m.'il, i>x which p >!itii:.s liave tloirtlliiencr?, and whi c l.'cinonS aro not li :elv to to qU''S l i'>nrd, n- *\\}*q o? Pnrli imont try committei.w m'w :y-i we. Tiere Ia also to bo intro.lucel a measure dealing -with native lands, and in order to discover the natiti'e' of this we niusfe again turn to Mr Hall's speech : — With regard to the Native q:irstio:i, wo fin 1 Ih.lt tho l.nv* b3iring upon the subject have, in the 00111-33 of years, become very complicitcl. Amisndin.ij \cts luive been passed mull there exists grunt confusi'in We propose to sweep awiv entiivly the existing legislation on the sutyn't; mid w> have prepared a series of Hills fur d -iilinj; with it. One 811 will ae.il with the Native Lands Court ; and ih will, I hope, be found | to introd'iou eonsid rable amendments in tbn working of the Cjurt, and to simplify its procedure. Another Bill wi 1 deal with that m>st difficult q-iestio'.', the nllena'i >-i o r pnichu-'c of N-Uive lands. The wli.de question i<, ns I have Slid, a very diftioalt one. It i-S in my opinion, not possible to propose a'iy course against which serious difticulties may n^t be raised. What wj propose i^ to adopt a course which wn* proposed many years ago by v late L'iiief Justice — Sir William Martin. The propo3.il is th it this Government shall, when the Natives wsh it, survey their lands, and shall enable them to get the title decided in tb.3 Native Lands Court : that when Natives wish to dispose of their lands, the Government will sell for them, in such blocks and subject to such oond tions as will condnc to settlement, and as will be 1110-t tain'Scinl to the Natives themselves; thai, from ih 0 proceeds there shall be deducted by the Government, before hanling thorn over to the Native*, the co3ts of survey, of taking the land through the Court, and also a reasonable contribution towards the making ■ of roads in the district. The only other measure of importance referred to in the " speech from the Throne " was the redistribution of representation, upon which Mr Hall spoke as follows : — We hope to introduce at an early period of the session a Bill for the Redistribution of seats. The existing distribution has become unfair, through the growth of population heing greater in some parts of the colony than in other?. This unfairness is especially felt in tho Canterbury district. and in Otaoo. The first consideration in the allotment of representatives will be population, but it will not be by nny means the only consideration. We thin!; that other things should be taken into eiui-Merniion also; for instance, the permann:ijy of the population — whether it is of a really settled charae'er or not. The question of contribution to tho revenue should have something to do with the matter, and the facilities any particular district may have for making its influence felt in Parliament and by the Government, should also be ••alceii in'o consideration. After carefully weighing all these points we shall lay before Parliament proposals for redistributing 1 the representation in a mnnner which, while doing justice to those districts that are now insufficiently represented, will, I trust, not do injustice to any part of the Colony. The above extracts from the Premier's speech will be found to contain full explanations of the measures shadowed forth in the Governor's speech. If the Government measures are equal to the promises made, and if those measures become law, the session of 1880 will deserve a good name when the history of the Colony is written.