Sir Julius Vogel at Christchurch.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1494, 30 October 1885, Page 2

Sir Julius Yogel at Christchurch.

IjXTMCTS E^ROM HIS SPEECH.

V. j (OJIIJBD^ESS ASSOCIATION.) '^^Efist Thursday. SiHrawil Voge2 addressed lus constituents m the Theatre Eoyal last night. The mayor occupied the chair, and "the" building *as crowded. The basis of policy generally on whioh they had asked for an increase of Cos- . toms revenue was that they wished to could be, giyen to>cal bodies out of it, instead' bfc out 'of '»dorroVed money. by tnTiate^WovernmeT^ " besiaes some fence and fixecTchargest They had proposed also to increase property taxation, iaivi"|he^-Ki|ir. thatpf thliiivjfigws "Were f^alrfeu^thl-House next Bfißiibn»w«U«. be able to proceed with a vigorous policy. The duty on tteaywonld { nptf have beea burdensome, as tea was much cheaper jioyr -than ten years pea. OtberincrieAse* tt xhe^tariif wereton ttiiele&newJy aft of hielv *fair ionL which, could bo obtained m the Colony, good and^ejjuaUy'cJieap^AAnyo^e^^alked through the Wellington Exhibition would admit that persons < not content with New Zealand = manufaotar^ aught nob to grudge Spaying; l for fhW of both it aud " Free Trade." He would substitute a sentence^ four little woirds, •' Live and le|;iiye^i^Ee applied this to the whole commufipy. No one regretted more than he^lhat the East and West Coast and Nelson Railway had not been begun, but'he couidgot think there was reason^to be> cast'doTO. Negotia— ■ tiona were' still going on^jpra might bet successful:^ ■ The aniotiu^j^fcolved was largo, aoxTit might b^aupp^d that the* House j^ouid iiak- tinM^to^OTidor the* question of expenditure.-; If;the /House Wainet th» Canterbury., Nelson, and ,Wel^d mem. bers inva fair spirit, life V&8 convinced that they would haye i bben^atisfied with, anything^reasonablein^thel shape of a. small beginking, but the'riSfeatment they had received, had been, simply abominable. TheJ&lsb,OOo whicfi Government had put on the Estimates would still have left open'the qaestio'n of how the. line was tv be construct^-whether by the land concession, ; Dy%abint guarantee of Government and the dptricts interest ed, or by Government solely. If it had been really desired thit, the line should have been made bjf private enterprise, a. little conciliation woulctliave gone a longway toward promotin^jfq^hoijgh previously m f avor of nialcmg*h by private' enterprise, he was beginning to think that it might be, .better^f or* the Co^onj to make and own lit. i He- hadf watched with great .care for sonrs a W. / BastJhe countries, N and £ h«y knejr % that iraUways ' were Wa'd'e'at a cost of tnillidriAnrongh countries whoUy unpeopled and-, with far less prospects of paying thaii^ai^ line . presented ;t tha^olgH^^l^^ afford to borrow money for indis&riroija■^lfSßMW?* so/»jbr railways. " It must be done, for tn* expenditure of'the {other col6Bifeß m this: bers had made - a- very, •severer cetaliation for^he.way m which they- had bfee^r. *A« ; cffnneclß*w"ith"*n^(iNlrlt ment, he had been-unable to take part m it or e,yeo.to it^ >»t v ltga was no douDB thyt, Aby .Btoppftpg/ Ih^i' rotes for the lines all over the country, they had adopted a coufse' which must react the fact that CaptainJßusseil's resolution had , virtually, r injppunded the . North Island Trunk Loarir--'ThB ;i; phTp6se 4 i^ whiph loans were designed .had for years ncfrtteen f aithf aUy 'kept. ; 'tn^ie ipjlfopriationA'ctsthey were'i'aMtfthped together, and the votes-charged indiscrim-. i«aJ#Xi*^ain§t them., Jlor^anjnlft^oiJgi £300,00Q, i w,eEe to,.he l «^nt/oxt -JSTtifica. tions. These were not proviaea for m any, loan, and, the ' Government d^sigßedH: ' F^%^to4i/#de%im^n«teMd" postponing the^uCa^th'eWVunk Loan. Captain Russell and-hissimporters would until a new loan was provided... - fche-.. ; Tronic Loan would have-to do the-aaw^ ; service for other purposes as other loans had hitherto done- to. -it.? Major Atkinson had, ef coarse, beeni a^re of tbis^ and it waß ; ;incredible^£^a^ Wy other North Islrad^^mrj^r/-was n^at. -At any rate, it did not'-B^mu<?£fqrMe Intelligence ofeai#'nfemb^r > o^o - d^^not ask himself out of what lpimharartifi cations, and defence come. A_ great many North" Islanofmem bers follor f . edG^tain'Eusseirihvoiin'gfWihi^^aai suspension of the North Island. T" run k line. Tfi?r^wasrat^iili'Qil?iißr / 4 ooney availahje for constructing It-_ What objeotvbbvila,they' h v ave{iia^; I^lQ^f^ it but to enable their loan to W , n BB A fQr ottiß?-«isi.r^oSe^ ?^'Aft6r*' Wbi a |l mass ; Guid last .weelc,- andfafter^iViie^femier's exhaustive speech,, it_\vss 'nnneceasajy tp\xefeiJf^tneV laSt iSeseVodi^xcep^^^^r'" Jtnat the storios about diiggehsions m the 'Cabinet, undthe desW c o '£^ me me mber» to .resjign and of othe» -s'not .to do so, were •- puVoeiSveritibtfsV 'TJ-^ Ve^m^^nM jOf the Opposi^h»jikd' > iri'e'ff|gl9one much to consolidate th«e - coalition elements of ther.CivJUße.t sX'hainixtMjessioffJiwsifer ioo distant totnakpitid^sirable to attempt to describe the oouxsej^hich ther mignt y. Yogei) rhpugot it .was as necessary *to . btfeTcr<%pnßn^'a'na i 'e^^H^lm j J>hysican tO'd'ci a>Hri«ft ji riches through inertness and lassitude. iHevhaaTsaid AvhatswasiaOfaci^Jofflat dei pression esteted^eyejgtwhSre, and . thatNew Zealand, far from being the worst,.. waa'then «nd now bettertiian-sonie < othißr n ' Countries, He urged that the greater wotk. He woutd refeT^tir tne^nmgs helis fdihSant polic^*wouia notnave done M bettor *or worse for them. lrnirieaiaS^r after takii^goffic'e,'iGovernmen££hadarranged for the West Coast harbors to Central and North" Island Trunk lihe,*and iried to start the West Coast and Nelson lines, and'to purchase"the district railways. They had succeeded the last session m regard tolheaistnct^ riailwa^^'Snd not jonly had Ha r^^.umbe,^^silpayerß. been relieved jaw would: proceed, and wistjii eltkrjismnjj what. t yrould be one jwthe largest <^bs of the-^ 'mence the Wq||"C. Jil^i^e^^nl Brbury and Nelaonjwould^ave?fieen^ltyidifrer.ent from They* J^ad opened new services of industry m« the forests andynsherie^ '^They were. qSeringj- large aidsrtoygoldm^nina^andi > were^eatibUshirig^r^oial^eltleyents' aii GUborne. Ashburton, and, Christchurchv . cpntinHingthe .construction of railways;? HB'haH^Sdv'ahfcV^saiil -diHß&rt'^ rvrould be np party to expenditure for the tempor*r^<b%riSm it^nfigh^ c^riiferUmTess lie was convinced that the object was desirable. The next thing he would tell them was that Government was about totF^vaftAnjexpterimenit, anayßt6m«og som§ t g thing like sixpenny telegrams. Instead "of delayed telegrams, being) -sent only at night, they woulcl be sent not only at night, but they wouktbe^eent throughout the day, and be put into, the private let- , t^r boxeai', b: ideffv«eß tibyf-fth^ioi^ter-(Carriers at the first delivery. The plant would be on trial f orthr&e months to see* if it could be done withqnt.,imdy]Ka|kQt n y-

probably aware of the great delay and difficulty from which which public works contractors had suffered m the way of getting money from the Government; A system was now -being arranged by which payments under the Public Works appropriations would be made without imprests and without reference to Wellington. Government would save by it directly, and would savo inimensaly indirectly, tor there was no, ; doubt, the evil had grown to such magnitude that contractors m consequence of it were m the ; habit of adding largely to y their tender prices. The employe's 'of contractors of the working classes would benefit by prompter payments.* With regard to 'the position of the Colony and its urgent needs, the whole world was suffering from business depression without a counterpart m tlie memory of the present generation. Much more acute depression had'existed m various parts of the world,' but none so univarsal. The cause seemed too* ♦obvious ! t,- They, rwere suffering from the reverse ''of' the causes ; which' had led to so much prosperity! m 1850. and some twenty siipceeding years. Then the enormous discoveries of gold' led to vast advantages to those engaged m business. During the last fifteen yejars the supply , of gQld had greatly .diminished. ; The reduction had been;; concurrent with a great demand for it, cbnsequent on several nations having adopted it as their currency.' Gold had, to use^ the technical phrase, anpre jiatedi— that was to say, its .purchasing; power was greater. In other words, commodities were cheaper. ; The complications produced by this change were .innumerable, but he would only; refer to the 1 most prominent. When gold possessed a larger purchasing power those .enjoying fixed incomes benefited by it, whilst those engaged m business had to praduce more largely and do more work for the same money. Appreciation of gold benefited the drones and injured the bees. Governments which owed money [were the" first to, suffer from it, andj it L might be said that they suffered to the extent that those to whom they paid interest benefited. The general depression was largely modified by local circumstances. • The appreciation of gold hit New Zealand, there being so few, drones among its resident population. Worst e of all,Jt suffered because there _ were a great many resident bees wjho worked for th£absent drones. This was. what was called private indebtedness. A large number of people worked properties of all sorts on the, basis that they had to pay to the absent ones a fixed income, r This worked, very hardly. When the bargain was entered into the working partner hoped, say, to get an income ot £1000 a year, out.of.wlii^h he was, to 'pay £600 a 'year interest* <N^w ; hefcoulrl only make .£7OO a' year, and his balance was £100 instead of £400. l|et_ them see the reverse of the^picture. The benefits 'fteV Zealancl i^ceiye/1 from tpe appreciation of gold were enormous. Ohej ! was the recluction'of :the iate of interest. Government suffered severely from the; '.. appreciation of gold with! regard to^pdst, borrowing, but they correspondingly benefited with .", regard, to : loans negotiated while the appreciation was proceeding.. .Tworthirds.of Hew Zealand's indebtedness had been contracted, while the ' appreciation was : proceeding. In 1870, he had based his estimates on ihterest at 5£ per cent. The Colony had gradually come to borrowing at 4 pfer cent — a great saving, ; but what wasja greater* advantage to a country like Nejw Zealand, bent on constructing great works to hand down to posterity, was the cheapness of commodities. Steel a^d c iron rails were, he"* believed, less than half th.c'"price.they were m 1870. Did not this. offer inducements to continue the public iworks? "New/ Zealand w^s very wealthy. From a calculation he had baref ully made, he had estimated that the wealth of the kind always estimated m the calculations over and above* all her indebtedness, amounted to 1270 millions sterling. Capital, howeyer, was too much locked nph Whilst the lojw '" price" of materials" benefited the Colony" as regarded the Public Works policy, sit affected with terrible force those who dbpended on $ie prices they had to receive from*other countries. -The ; appreciation of gold had increased the purchasing: power of the sovereign for wool and _wheat. Us , well 'a> for other^commoditid3. - However, a change must Come.- A'learned authority had told him; and. had given very potent reasons^ that wheat 'mu^t <■ rise ; as population increased. ; .. The ,; -farmersi of New""Zealand would have m ;a steady home market a source ■of income of infinite value to them.. ;It ..was M tlie .farmer's interest to, see ihe artisanpopu- . lation increase,' and attempts to persuade them that the encouragement of local industries was inconsistent *with ; their interests were as mischievious as ,"iUfounded. He would say somethinjar aboiit wool and gold.^Beginning.,. with less than half a million^ they ' had" ; during twenty -fiye years exported;. woq!\ to tbje enormous value of £54,000,000. Notwithstanding the fall m prices^ they hajl sent awaveachof the last three years over i #SPP,OOQ Iworth1 worth of wool,^besides the q)a|iri- ' tity used up m the Colony. Gold ha& yielded during. the 25 years £41,090;000, There was reason to. believe thajt valuable deposit? of gold still existed. The maintenance of the export duty wa'p poor policy. 4 royalty on particular mines where cold was obtained m large quantities Was equitable and?not impolitic The chargesf or miners' rights and for leases until gold' was struct should be very light. If the country was to^-bOr come rich, it must be; a" manufacturing as well as an agricultrirai • aln'd^ y gr*a^lng country . Supreme among its industries should be the manufacture of woollen goods; Could 'pot-, the people of New Zealand form a league binding thetnjselves to- wear nothing but colonial fabrics as far as they wereTprpfcurabJe ? % They wanted,, also to;~send ajyay woo^ manufactured instead of iii its raw state. ■Small farming industries, such^ as frnii • arid dairy prod dee, should be erfcouraledl . Here! he would say that thelate Gbyemji ipept; were, entitled : to great crediti /lor , ;the. Jway .th ey en con raged daj ry-f ai;rniqgi , As .regarded., legislation, -V the -subjects 'tnbsfr heeding, attention were with' Native lands, and'pro.yiding'me^ii^ '■' by Which Ipcaldisrricts "could properly deal with roads and bridgesiwithout re? course to Parliament and Government; .'Another; subject of vast ihterest,to which he was not clear, there was ;! a Tenaedy^ .was the high rate of interest farmers , were paying. -He would ask if any of thorn remetiiberpd the depression of 1869. The energy of Government then srtyed - the Colohy^from unutterable suffering.; In 1870 less than half the numberof the ■'present population mastersd the situation. Let them be firm and energetic, and they ■ would be no.less successful. They w ; ould earn" the right to asicfrpm'; ( the .Govern^ ment corresponding ' 'energy apd. , deterrhiriatfon; He hoped to befiable to me|oti them again before the '■' session; - but ri if 4hat grarificatibn was denied'liirri; 'they i would know it was because of public duties. .;• .-;. .;t , )..rr. . ■ ■, ■ ;, U :'; ':