The Premier at Hokitika.

Manawatu Herald, 12 January 1895, Page 2

The Premier at Hokitika.

. #. The Hon. R. J. Seddon addressed a public meeting at the Princess Theatre, Hokitika, on Wednesday evening, His Worship the Mayor in the chair. Mr Seddon commenced by referring to his assumption of the Premiership, stating he held his position at the request of the Governor, by the wish of his colleagues, by the almost unanimous vote of the Liberal Party, and finally by the vote of the people of New Zealand. He now held it as a sacred right, and he considered the insults levelled at himself as insults to the people of the Colony. He declared that a number of the largest papers in the Colony were held by wealthy men, and these misrepresented the Government wherever possible, and it was his duty and that of his colleagues to meet the people on the platform wherever possible and refute these accusations. There had not been, so Mr Seddon said, any violation of the law in the appointment of Sergeant-at-Arma. Touching the "Spoils to the victors " accusation Mr Seddon gave instances on the other side which he declared were " spoils to the vanquished.'* As to the Samoa business they could not but regret the insult offered to New Zealand and 1 the whole of .. these colonies, The offer was. made in the interest of the 'islands and- of the colonies, and -would be' m -the interests M those who come after them. ibaWsession they had passed the Land' for Settlements Act. Parlianftnt bad now given them power to taKeitiis land, and money to pay for it. Tne necessity for this was shown by a return. Mr Seddon also,, read a statement showing the progress made in land settlement, showing an

increase of 819,8897 acres taken up for the three years, as compared with what had been done by their predecessors. He also read a stateinent of the increase in the dairy pursuits, and claimed a fair share of credit for what had; been- idctte in developing the country. 'To facilitate it they had appointed experts^ and^assisted by all _means^in^their^ power, to develop theseTn(|Sstflnes]l'!^/* Eeferringrto the railway •ioobtedl/ he maintained that .the Commissioners' tariff had strangled industries. They would not even carry road metal as back freight 'to rtfaableg roads to be made. The\Goyep|ment| had been charged with disorganising - the railway 'service i>y T rfeddbtidns. They had not done this, but they had reduced salaries wfien;.' too' high and brought them more in keeping :( with those in other ' departments. They had been told they bad done wrong in appointing Mr Ronayne general manage* 1 instead loi'llMy McKerrow. He could only say that . A Mr Ronayne was not only . ai x&ty able administrator, but had bejßU^ connected with railways ■ All his life. Mr McKerrow was.alao a ve^ftbig,.; administrator, but his experience^ had been in the Lands and Survey,;, Departments. He was only sept to the railways to learn 'the business. p. They had appointed Mr McKerrow] to a position for which. ,he Ms&c-, mainly suited. It ;had been t ; fjwcl. ,' they had done wrong in not appoint- .' ing him to the Land Purchase Board.,. Well, they intended to do so, £nd would as soon as the law permitted; Then there "was "thf Immigrants Bill. It had been said""] that he never said a inrord in favour "* of the Bill introduced by bis colleague the Minister for Labour. He did so now before his constituents. As head of the Government, He t6okthe*r> full responsibility for that- "821. t There were, no doubt, one 01;^ '' objectionable clauses which he had • overlooked, and probably his colleague • • the Minister for Labour had; Over-' •'<' looked also. One was that no man should be allowed to land unles& M . had £20 in his pocket. . All he could „'; ' say was that if this law had beenVin force when he first landed in ViotdtfiiuA he would have been sent back j.i^fid ... many of those before hin> ', never have been allowed . to land Un /,- this country. The clause ;was simply taken out of an American Act with others, and not properly scrutinised ; but he might tell them that the Bill with some slight modifications would agaia be brought forward and p^sM^ by the present Parliament. The financial position of the Colony was as ; .follows,.;.— Public ijj debt : Atkinson administration, in* ~~ crease of the gross debt, £2,494,098 ; net debt, £2,875,711. Present ad- •; ministration, .March, 81st, 1891, to March 31st, 1894, increase of the gross debt, £996,065 ; net debt, ./: £1,581,183. : ' ' ;■<■■':■■■: i^T's They had appointed a, committee | of experts from both sides ot'lhe.House to consider the tariff, ancf «n ~ ' their report a Bill would be drafted for next session. 'The tariff 1 was 1 a ri - : matter which could not be interfered, with lightly, and they had hesitated about taking" anj^iicgon 2^^^^ careful consideration t " A great deal had been said about a free breakfast, table, but he askedjhem if it would r not be better to have a week's work and pay duty on tea and sugars than to take thrdftty/pf^ndTJefe-thMn-g^t , ; only thrftfr : da.ji3vwSvk a, week/ '^H The Licensing Bill would again bo introduced,, and he would agree to some alterations, but he would not consent to making it a Government question. Local government reform wasfilso I a question that must be dealt with next session. The difficulty was that the different requirements of the various places Werfe so* varied'.^ believed the old provincial' without legislative functions was thfe*^ best. ' ''' :; \ i ' : -'- : 'f> < }'-'jii!io'j'jl. A vote of thanks anS' coiMftddcd^ in the Ministry was agreed to unanimously.