MR, WILSON AT FOXTON,

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 270, 31 May 1889, Page 2

MR, WILSON AT FOXTON,

Mi 1 J. Q-. Wilson, the member for FoXtOii, addressed his constituents at the Pilttlic ffrtll last flight. . flue clniii ; $d$ tdtteri fej^ Etia Worship 1 the Mqydi; at 8 p\iii, iind He" iii a few \v 11 cho'seri words opened' £ke meet-"-" ing.. • Mi Wil&Qii then cande forward and was greeite'd \H£H affplauW. Mr Chairman and Grerifldmesd, it is a long time since I have addressed my constituents, but I thought you had had more political speeches than you vranted at last election, and theffc'.havittg tte'en 1 t^o 1 sessions close together tiler'e tfag iidt ritoch that would have bee'ii I re'Sn to' ytid. .iToii may remember that, at the! session I spoke of, began in August, and was noted more for the number of good men left out of the House. Sir Robert Stout was out, and though we may not care for his political views, the House would be benefitted by his presence. Then we lost Mr Bryce, who is a man that the more you know of him the more you respect him. He thinks for himself, and does not blindly follow the lead of others, and it is such men as these we want. The outlook was pecu iar, Sir Hairy Atkinson was very unpopular down South, and the members from there were dead against him, but it turned out he was the only man who could lead a party. We thought it fair to give them time to show what they could do. It was said at the time by a joker of the Opposition that when the Government went into Cabinet they took all the views that had been expressed during the recess and chose as a policy what appeared to be the most popular view. The Treasurer had stated that he would be able to retrench a sum of £300,000, and I thought he should receive support to give him a chance of doing so. The Government took too short a time, only five months, in which to effect their reductions, they promised to do it and also to bring in certain measures, they therefore were supported. We then had the recess, during which rumours of more taxation were afloat. Then came the next session and the Loan Bill. In the previous year the loan bill had been passed authorising the raising of one mil. lion pnunds, and when in committee an endeavour had been made to restrict further borrowing for three years. During the recess it was found by the'law officers that the restriction as to further borrowing had affected the million they wanted to raise, and the bill had to be amended. You are aware that measures are generally rushed through at the end of the session, and the Premier had rushed this Loan bill through then. The bill was however fuily discussed in committee, but the Government were anwerable for the error. It is impossible for private members to follow all the alterations made in a bill in committee, and they rely on the law officers for advice. It was said that this error had lost us £60,000 and I think it likely it was so, as Mr Gos hen was at that time proposing the conversion of English stocks aud if our loan had gone on the market then, it would have been subscribed at a premium. There was an unfair attempt made by those who object to all borrowing, to take advantage of this error, and to prevent the alteration in this bill being carried. It is quite obvious that as yet we cannot do without borrowing, the present loan will not com p ete the Gorge route, which must be finished. The Otago Central Eailway, now that the Midland is disposed of, is oue which may require money to be borrowed for. Ido not know if the tine is wanted. I appiove of the principle of giving land to Railways. A considerable time ago a commission was appointed to go over the Otago Central route, and I must tell you of a little joke. On© of the reasons given for making this lino was, that it would open up a splendid fruit growing region, but up to the time not a bit of fruit was to be found. The agitators for the line, not to be beaten, anxious to make a most favourable impression on the commissioners, sent ahead, ready at the place they would stay a short time at, a cartload of the finest fruits for their consumption. I wish to draw your attention to the question of taxation. I would tell you that the Customs tariff is the easiest mode of co lecting taxes, but on that the working man pays 25 per cent for everything he consumes, and the wealthier man pays no more in proportion. It is only fair therefore that the richer class should pay a direct tax to make up for the greater advantage he can take of the com orts provided by the state, at equal cost to all. A Custom's duty is made to perform other duty. The Protectionists state that it should be used to foster local industries. It is very obvious that where Ate have borrowed very freely we cannot expect to have the customs free, and we the Freetraders consider that if the duties had to be raised they should be raised evenly all round. Sometimes protection is used for the aggrandisement of a •

country. Thie Germans uffectit to 1 sliut Cliit Ffe'n'ch 1 mtiit& by offering Ufge bonus on all exported.. The French directly put on ttk Mpbrt duty cjf £2 a gallon, which ettecttfJ &'lf ptoWpeii the Germans. This is What is termed] the retaliatory process, In the same way 1 ' ti& French proposed a bonus on sugar which thus affected the English sugar refiners, and they went to their Government for protection. As the refiners actually interested only numb'eredt 60 with their employees, the Gfoverrimerit ridtttralfy objected to raiSe'srigar ahalf^n^y apwiacl on every co^utater .- Protectionists want fo give assistauc'e' iOiiifiemM tf costof the many . Uruguay in eTPotarttging thie export of mutton affects us settletfg here. $n! YictO'ia the farmers sat under protection 1 Jor many years very quietly, but at the las^ election they started a platform that all imported produce should be taxed to assist them. To show how unfair the towns act ta the country, only two candidates supporting: the farmers ■tfldtidM got .retufrnte* An a matter of fact, in tkiis ettlotoyv ail ouY large industries were started rirfcier tine old tariff. A protective CustoWfcr <3tu*ty is the worst form for raising revenue 1 .- After having turned out the StoutYogel Government for introducing a milder form of protection, Sir Harr Atkinson found that his old supporters, the freetraders, were in the mi ltority, and therefore I am sorry to say he fell and brought down a pro* tective tariff. I compared it with the Victorian and found the protection higher in many cases than that tariff provided. I consulted with Meisrs Bruce and Maearthur and we came to the conclusion 'tat we could not vote for it, and notified the Premier to that effect. The Opposition was delighted that Sir Harry Atkinson should carry a tariff like this and it was carried only by the support of the Opposition. I have always considered Sir Harry Atkinson to be the best man for the country districts, but still he was what is called a very " expedient " politician. He is a very good man when associated with good men like Sir John Hall, Mr Bryce, Mr Rolleston and others, but with weak men he is apt to take the whole management, and the Government becomes one man, which is not good for the country. We who have seceeded are in adifficult posi ion, we cannot go to the Opposition side as they are worse that the Government, and yet Sir Harry Atkinson is now turning round to land nationalisation. Next election Sir Robert Stout wil' come forward and will take the lead. Mr Ballance has a small following, so has Sir George Grey and a few others, but it needs a good man like Sir. Robert Stont to unite them. I do not agree with the Government on protection, but they have passed some very go»d measures. We belong to no party now, but are organised, and if we see good measures we shall support them whichever party introduces them. We shal in fact act on the defensive The freetrade paity will grow very big in time, and it is much larger now than it is thought to be. Touching the Education question I got a committee formed after the last election to see if the expenditure could be reduced. They did good service, but the experts had not a fair show, and they should have been heard. The report was published. Last session when I proposed to continue the committee, the Minister of Education, Mr Kisher, said he did not see his way to allow it, as it would serve no purpose. The very I first thing that should be done is to put the Educa ion question above all party politics. At present many members make it a stalking horse to get into the House with. I had whilst Chairman of the Education some very interesting correspondence. Mr Cohen, Editor of the Dunedin Star, believes that a Commission is needed to find out what is required. I hardly thought that, but to bring the question on for discussion I placed a motion on the paper, but it never came up, being shelved by tbe Government, and the no 1 ice kept getting lower aud lower on the paper. To explain my views more clearly I will read you the notice given as follows : — " Mr Wilson to move that the present Education Act be amended as follows:— That Boards should be abolished. That a C unoil of Education should be established in that Inspectors might he represented on it. That th*4 Committees shou'fl be enlarged. That the Inspector ■< should be under the Minister and might be moved from one district to another, and that a pound subsidy rniyht be paid to anyone providing tbe building providing that 50 scholars were present and subject to the inspection of Inspectors." In the old days the Boards answered very well owing to the difficulties of communication. The expense v more in the country than in towns. Large districts with large centres had therefore large incomes and could pay their teaohers well. In small districts with small contres of population, the income was insufficient and the teachers came therefore badly off. The present Boards have no time or power to consider the question of Education, their duties being merely administrative. Larger committees could do the work of Boards. I, however, do not » gree that the Minister should have the entire charge, but what we really want is to have a large Council of

contains gooA men who have a full' knowledge ot the question, and such meWterfir Hb these would be able tb con£?<J«*' education from an aduteational poiaft of view. The fj4y»>u& is now prepared by Mr EKoens, ttfldJ fee' alone is responsible, now a CottoS might discsua this and that must Tw better tiian letting it to one man, never minding how" good he may be. In the 1 London School Board we have the example of what #uch a council should be At presemfr there is too much overlapping. Werwant the infant, theprimary, and high schools and Universities separate. I hold however that e-^ry one should possess the chance of going to the University & desired. Uniformity of payment is another point, and if the teachers were all paid by the 'Minister their teachers in all the Boards would be receiving one scale of pay. I can sfee no reason that Boards could not be merged into large committees. We have a grave question to eon-' sider in this question of subsidies, as borrowing is evidently approaching; an end. We have been spending at the rate of £ 60,000 of borrowed s, money a year for erection of schools, and they are wanted yet. I waa < : fttfking to a Mr Still a clergyman in Wellington and he said he would like to obtain a subsidy of £1 ahead, and if he conld he would start a school where religion would betaught. This would relieve our large schools in the town, though itwould not affect the country. I have also taken a great interest in. the Kinder Garten system, thepnfficiple of which is, that children shouJd he taught naturally. I will reai you a letter received from Mis* Cooper a lady who takes great interest in the syst m in America (Letter read). This letter show* tbat the system has been a great snccegsall over the continent. We* have now the moral side ©t' teaching to consider* A child at presoaJ if lie can escape the sight of his teacbef, thinks he is tight in doing ill, which sbooW not be. Be* H^ion is necessary for the state, and we must keep in view tbat our eluldren as they grow up, will be as ye ba#,e taught them. During the time the Col omittee was sitting Mr Riley gave eridencV and he has shown that it is a matter of, much importance to teach drawing a» .the groundwork of technical education Technical education often becomes dangerous by stepping out of its proper plase and becoming developed into a workshop. Mr Fisher's bill has meaty good points but I object to the Minister having entire control. I think there is 1 every evidence of continued prosperity for the colony, and we are bound tocome out right in the end. We hate> the fact that wool has riseD, gold is de<velopicg, meat expanding, and no » the* fl*x industry. We have increased our exports by two millions, and the excess of exports over imports have been larger than they ever were before. I th»ok you most heartily for the manner in which you has listened to me. Applause. The speaker then resumed bis seat and after answering two or, three unim* portant questions Mr Thynm' proposed a vote of thanks, to which, th*.t of confidence was added, and on its being cc* conded by Mr Cook, waa carried unani* raousfy. A vote of thanks to the chair ' brought the meeting to an end . (In our next issue we shall give the text of the letter read, and also replies to questions put.)