THE PREMIER ON THE

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 43, 29 May 1880, Page 2

THE PREMIER ON THE

The, Hon. JTqhn Hall »dcbessed Bis conBtituenti at thoendo^kst weokj The 1 6K lowing are -the. more lalieat parts of him., •poeohj as reported m hi» Chmtchorch '' pocket oT&T^^ijMJPriss.--- ;t ooictaoi wiiri? tub atto^lustb rotra. "This brings me to Mother part of Sir. George Gh*»y'i speech at nanielj, the, so-called oompket jog hate, heard so.mUjOh about. Eroii? the yery firit Sir Qeo^B, G;rej insisted iq>on. seeing a, piece o£ paper, to, which my initials wereJ attaohei The more that thii ; paper should be pfbduced^the more the. paper did nojb came. (Laughter^) Possibly it might bAre briMjprbdu^ed'liaii he.not insisted, so;' maohii 5 ■ Gentlemen, the contents of that celebrated piece of paper hare now been jmadejpublia ui^onef or two. speeches. These {entlemen would clearly hare before them bur^Tiew^ Regarding the redistributipa of represenjtation, regarding the i measures, of Blectoral reform, and regarding the Education Act, and also whether we were willing', that aa enquirj slwuld be in*i^ |^ 1(0 hft^:

■"■aztiKaa ue&iKHil iv thft distribution: of i funds forimblic works 'in oomfl&mQn to the rest of the colony, BQ that if tli» inquiry A^? a i ? -^Mfi^^M been done to •übstantuiUy the accqunt jou have heard • fnZ^*****^ -On' weaving satisi »etpry asgaranoe- npon these subieots, the; r wdfe> *BW«d, to support theAJie treasurer at once made a searching £! e . 8t $»fcpn »*P %4nancu^condifcio.n of the colony. # h^^t been told that iti finMcia4;p6sittonuwM:» one, but m "Wj^»«w«d*fiJ Tso^Speaking «- *Ui S™5J. J*™m ■■»d r e^pwditure, S*,f over £100,000; but for^the subse-ir&-s&^m>9&, t fr ShichQwe then Ih^S? °^^ Zealand, fairly £S— ' l dU ■•*^ i <* the^nwessary ex-gSJSJ-vfeft-lOT-iPofe of Lss^than WBfW'Zp&*'*~*J, "nearly at the rate. -. eW»Ftea iby imtmb»rsl of was so B?f£ -.r^n* wh^is th. ifaot%e.have: noi^ , wh« labnths^^wsli' r&itffS'fflfe :•:«■ i«»d«rup,j signed, and , S^^JfiWPWM; th*t of thi ~£L rJ^^lftiii^ reverse., «lne aefioieniJy:ii jr«ater by £280,000 ithann : ong»M«Jr«t^te4 by MajoriTtkinson; ; f™. m Auckland, the other" te rt " Md , the defißfenc J W £80,00p- or £90,000. It-iß* -fact, however, that before . he went -out of^ pffice'deJfeienfcyTbllli'to the ''% f^^^^f hidabeeK issued, r^ n ° . on^ of ;*he i ;flrst f .meas}ire« .we. .had to^ - through aU its' 'itagek, for a .'^buthm jsimtaff . «» ,P«yn}eflb|^Quthw public? service could So much^h regard to v -fM\' *PvP**7 .-•: revenue, and ; i emenditure. „ v?°. w regard iio th* loan; Tvu are are '.aware that .a loan of £5,000,000 was iUthonsed to b* raised m the. first Session- : -^lai£>Fkrlbiueiit:'.-'The4ba)nV.l^ ! 'tn,fc been • i raised, »buti we vfouncl that it'hk'd been very largely anticipated by d^fts'aniw^ upon 99* >«g**»terrtti> JJondon; ' By^ ever^ mail }*\V. ioa H tfrat the t *xpendi)buM land' ■■^^^^tei^?hMlnii*HtatiiM out of that amounted topver £1,000,000; and • .furtlier;>liaTnlity had been incurred of 4bout fi »nbther million, to r b« paid befoW the end of June. In, point orfact wehad •pent, <MV;pmtically-Bpbnt, m anticipjitionl r pt that, lean .Wtfg raiwd, money to! the fs*?. B * 0^2,000,000. We found also that ,- Jiabihfaes had been "incurra?" for the Wr- ■ •^^k^ iltiT * ■ I '^ 4 f S -the>«tent Vet *l^qO?,£or j%% 5,000, and %11 itjiis „ before sixpence of cue loan had been raised. WiT.were. told^hatTve were'maghifying the difficulty.^Yqu^wiU,. say when the papers f.rrpubhsheithat.w. did not magnify' the i^ would have^ -been difficult l fer^tts ! io do so/ tbuiwilf understand that we could no r t g«t on with7??£ loan bamg raised/ upon 'one agenta m London,-' £ n f.i?»;J««^ thatrthe)«fmk of England had rtf used to advance those agents another •billing. If that; was,. t,ot..a f nosition of what v. .olican .barffly understand Government taking over the. finances of a v country rini a : (reater messj'-oi?' taking 6M6h fi '.- - « n S? r J*sre: disctturaging^cirouinsfcan.ces.^ y\ „':■■-.. VV^W/.JTSF-TiXM;'-':.'--. . •\ ' '"V --• iufc*rtained' what the Mqiiire'i w» dfeiw&ined |iS attempt „tp, pkc^ the, finances of the colony oh a sound arid' hbne*t footing. We' believed that th'ufeould best be done firstly by^deay<^n^to>reiiuca; odi 'fexperiditurei arl ihaH p?««ntly shpw you we have dono. She nextiteprwas to "raise iuch additional revenue sm : would fairly m>«fe-th», difleieiicy. iH^ow did - we» propose ' tolio that ?■ "Partly by an iacr«;aieton ; the T eusCbmß duties. This rev^ion pf^tha : iarM^»x*inpttd from duty law materials wad. m colonial manufactures, with a yifcw to encourage thos» ; "jbganuJEaev - fiifesi and thereby add to the sources of employment in "the 'colony.' Secondly,! by spirits, wine -"-. and tobocco, and pr increasing what are l "#l(Wi(thPiad^oreni duties.' These are not duties which press mainly on the Working; olMses^»nle«frwh,ere?th«jr happen to be connqerablecoiiaumftri of tobacco and spjHts. : vl. ?r* m »s»re that th^Prpperty Tax -»-%ot^p6pubr •' very: few taxes are, and, po««bly, * considerable amount of dissatis-, WWfy i ? lt ; iin/.ref erettdiriib 'tliis* tax m Butjl submit this, that the dis••tisfo } ctipn,.and unpopularity ought not to attach to ithotf who have introduced th'e ,^ J?Tr Q&WFPO* >■<&*. making, gbbd. the" alarmmg deficiiincy of our 'finances,, but upori-those who bequeath#d to us that defi'pien^; and made the tax necessary. Ifow, ;:; gir^Oeorge GTey^t Cbmtbh^rch the. other day »»id that this fi^ was buerwhich would ; press hardly upon the masses of thd.pjeople. - If this is true I must be glad, because no , jMirson willrbtytand whose' property does £&& |^;b> ha^gss thaji thii «meunt-he i does J n6t pay any tax at all, and , .therefore, jt follows that, if ;it iP .i»ssea.heavUy '-■ 'pn^tlie masses of the peopjie, these people have more thaff-&500 worth of property. J hop* it v §a m thit obacure village of B'uVgentlemoniitae: > ffiF^^AM^^™ 11 *" & therpeoplev willinot pay the tax at alt Another advantagk is that those who neaped altogether, or. nearly . •°.«h d «f thf pldtwd, now hate to contribuWto the revenue, such as persons who had , njPWJ, <>» m®rtg»ge. AnUtustration of this. • • 'was'p^t to* m> soini: tin^e' ago." It is that pf a eeutlen^a^- who. has large sums! of Wpn^J. ttQ t :■•* mortgage who f scaped. almost fcot free mnder the -old A*e.^ ; HBjts IQn»1 Qn» who ' doe» hofcuse. bj«*motfey m; t^e drW , ; §nd>h?:iiow;bJi«,(under)ihiip^^ Tax/ t? pay £loo a-year^ whereaa under thftlland 0j10y .£,5. .(Hear; heafA The oont#qu.np» is that gentlemen Uke these, ar, !.-.-'>g%^. #&*> *P TaxV IWe . hadliopea ...to, have bridged over the [gap HjJSf PJF ,s»f«ue *fIA ouy expenditur* hj-fou'TanU But'" dwing to th. fallSg .^^.^•^Tenre there is « vary serious; betwaan-revenue and ex-: i penditure. I- mm hot going toantioiikte the Jnancwl itatament, which m a fjf : day.' th* colonjriTr>llih«a ? f?om tha Cojomal Tr«a.ur*r." . .^-2. J. ■■..-■ . ' -^- ftS^^Htli* econokise w^ichrfha4'.jbft» liv,if1 iv,ifc c t ;ed; th# w ££ nt tod from this topic h. passed o^ito^v^mattlr.yd'.aling with, tfiew at jpreat length. _ ;° .-■• •.. -. i. I toany respects restrictive. Prices • wer. ' too EdHesfon "de^M^ fiuSsetf wftfr all ih»t ■T*&i-&s-Qi d w Wch you knowbepossesses, to introducmg Moendments of the lawJand J ' S? n Ti M 4 'sr*»* /Greater ficiiiti'esiire i; offered for the occupation' ! of land upon deferred, .paynientsr m those part, of i the pountry bast suited for thepurppse. |Mr. C^ff^/fcft/Wii % WK>rpg»tipn, tra;'W. I W«i-w»|. whole ;edpnyj tp,, ascertain ,fher.t W «ould be ad?ant»geouily thrown •■gj? result fhas ' been tV throwing open of ; j^bal area ( V^£'^ : iffiQP& W^fnpaitjiiita which williompaj* v«ry; favpnibly ? with anything ««S?W|^^|6njßby. I will not >oub>

you with 4etjaii».- It will be-eapugh to sxy that since the Bth April last; over 71,000 aores have been opeaod for occupation under the deferred payment regulation, upon very easy .term, The Govornment har« published a, littte .b,oo)t book called, ?he : OrownV. Lands (l^dei'VVbich c»,n h* ob-. i»ined for 6d ; at any land oifica, • ) n3 vfhjch. telis ! »xactly whit larids are open, and jupon -wri^tetm^^:^nry: i fit €0/ 4o»yi a -- i -.-''^-^--v;; .->-v ■.;■;. t i ■''" ';'.. THB DISTBIOT EAItW>AT«. • Ajtbin recapitulating th# ciroumstances attending the proposal of the Government re»peQting certain ;-distrV>fc »Uw»y/ii. Mr ! Hall said :— :" The utmost amount wh^ch anyone knowing tb» circumstances will tell you that ?we i could h^ve been.. t oaUed upon to spend is £loO,QOO bu]t it is not m th« , least : 3 decree/ likely we, .should have, been lever called upon, for more tnah 4560,000. There was great objection raised to. the granting of this .assistance ; but eventually Parlia-. ment authdrised^ upon ■ our receiving secu--Mty, from ,tbe t companies, the, guaranteeing . of weir debentures,--- wiiich could *not> be floated- as the- la vr stood, and so enabling the companies to raise .money to complete linii^e^V^^at'authittrity.liias' been acted ;upo^stor^.extenfc^f at |>he jpre.sent tim« ; and I 'am; sure 'that * when i the. r facfcs are laid b"etore Parliament, and ■ are considsred-by a fafi?, candid, an* ai^pa*sionate tribnnalj-ifr.'will be admibfced ;that what; has been don& will not eventually; cost t fchaic<Mintrj i ,,a penny;^ *...Qu.ito the icp^trarr,. "foil }t flnli 4ead' to the compWtion, 'at' an early 'd^t^, of rpuWtip , iworka .?t) great value 'to the' colquy-y-rw^ i enable raUw.ajs _to be opened thai; w^payjbet^rf'than-'many-bt tbTosft >tbak' havelib'ein' 'constructed but of publio._moiiay.'* -L ' ■' ' j vj:.>Afteri>ref erring shortly to the soreral. -Royal Commisaipns, Mr- Hall proceeded '^ to" deal witfr the coming session. .. \-... c]e ] IsM "fliTaa&ißa'To.i-iocAij noi>ia9t r j ,'-- ".TheLmost important. ' subjeet-^wa shall' have to deal with will* be one of finance. I have, already referred, to cthM.^to sonie| extent, and I will not anticipate th» siate* ment of tlje Colonial Treasurer. But ther* i? o^>e point; upon trhyhtljmay J^puch [ with' out inconv enienpe. It has been found ne- : csssavy to • discontinue, ( m their present Bhap^the^ubiidieß fc fS tq local bojliw. TKa^olony is' "not "in ''» position to, afford "so Jargea sum as has hHbertor been" paid,' in .that -^wajf-faEkd .paid,. aa.:Wft believe; m; a. "gWafc ma^ny Ans'taHces, 'wnere'/it bojild be., .fairly spired. ' That 'remark applies espef cially tp-fclieriarge/citie^- throughout ' the .colony, •whe^e' ; heavy'.ratea, are^levied, ;and w-herel'^cMs^quentty^'heavy^^t^sdM® ; art, drawn from. r the Colonial, exchequ«r.' But; weproWiMd'tKat the subsidies should not be stopped without our endeavoring to provide some efficient substitute for parts of the colony. swh ere^. road-making has to be carrie'di on. .under very; disadvantageous) circumstances,. Many parts ,of the , 'colony are ,fprtunat«iy situated tha.t»,. we are hero. In road districts ay countries where there exists a .large area of Crown lands, and a 'comparatively small area of freehold, bu,t where, roads have to be made, the cliarg« "faUs^vefi^haMlly fujyut ijihe fra'eHoldeM who are there: "vßfany districts, again, owing to be covered, or largely so, by forests, could not possibly make their roads witHout: assistance from the Government. Assistance,.therefore, willibejprQYi^e.d i in^a ,r»ay which 'w.hile entailing the least possible pressure apbn .'the'Gdrdnikl eTreasuryi! will; : I: ! tr ustj Rrqvide e^oient •a.ssistan.ce foij: thp^e ; -district%wher^suchheip is reaily required.;" "". < !:> --'"- 7 BiBOTORAi 'jJCßiaiiTiaa:-'.' ';; : : ; ," ?f We .shaU introduce^- the. intea'sures; ofelecforai.reform, that ,^»r» not passed last session-fa Bill for the TRegdlaljion of Elec^ . tions^a and- Ooeru ption, and a B.ill as to the. Trial of Election Petition^: The. last-natbed measure will provide- that petitions of the . kind shall m future be tried, not by ithe I House of Representatives, but by fudges 1 of the Supreihe-Gputt^-ao abiolutely impartial 'tribunal, , on /which" politics have. no. influence, and whose deeiaions.arenptlikjely to, be questionea, as 'those, of Parlimentary committeas always are. :■:' Wa hope: to intiro- ' duce.at'an early period of the session, a Bill fprthe Redistribution o.f Seats.. (Appjiause.) , The^isting distribution hat become fauynfchrough ; the gfovth> of; population being igrSater.uin some parts; of the. colony thananothers.; This unfairness is especially felt m the Cauterbury district aud m Qfeajgo. jTh'einirßt cphsicleration m thejall6tn\en.fc representatives will bo population^ bnt it will not be by any means khe only consideration. (Applause.) We think that other things should be taken into consideration also ; for instance',- the^p>rmahisncy' of jtbe, population — whether* it is of a really settled' charaoter or not. -The question of contribution to the revenue. should, 'have something to dp witlvthe n^atter,' and' the.facilities any; 'particular may' have If or making its'' influence felt m Piirlia'mont and by tlie Q-overnment;,"^ Bhould also s ; be ; 'taken into consideration. After -carefully- weighing all these points we shall lay.: -before Parliament 'proposals for redistributing the. representation m a manner " winch, while doing justice to' those- districts, that ]are_ Uow insufficiently represented, will, I tru3t, ?n(it do injustice .-to. any -part of -the colony." The Prejgnier alaq announced that the Government; would introduce measures dealing with the, Native, land question. ! JjOOATi OPTION. ! -'* As 'f» Ideal > b~pilon;~what i w.e believe, m a !fair.prop<Ma I tis l this— that wj,th respect to all new licenses, residents or ratepav^ra' iq jthe djaiHoVaU^iihiß.a^Uber^o give a vote jibut wa.dio.noJb thinjc it -reasonable that^ suoh a principW shbfdd apijly^o^icenses that haye been continued, for/ any amount of time, jand with re3pectto hpu.ses well managed, and m the hundS/ bif respectable? pprapns. -; : At jany rtite 'we>db' nbfc think- the application of the principle would be reasonable: unless there was compensation, w-hich, w.e do, not see. our way to, j>rovidy f : ' : •>„ -. , ■■' (rf**. ! . — ■"■/-'■ \'p^A'BiTAßi.a: aid; lj -f/\ ,-. "Then tfieWia i the 1 very important land diflioult. question "p.f %p maintenanea of hp3pitalsVand''tKe providing for Charitable iJii& r; ' {W% prbpoSt to deal with fehem,; by. i fixing by-law the responsibility' in.particular quarters? v At i presenfcj the responsibility; w very undefined. SWe pjroppse.lc) divid_«|th« /colony into. diptirictß,!; ! sftuob. . as : ha-vA] ejomvmuiUtyot intereijts, j^ndj are,- likely to avail themselves of the same class of institutions. We,, propose, that. in, < each^d^Btrici? a Board .s^hAUbWelectedj^bx the. loealiVodm s jfcp l^ave. such' Boir^ to say how the institutions shall be .n»n,aged and , hotr' supported }. and' to ' ; gjy«.'to ih^BflardVthe'right-^if the. insfciturtions. are; not^^ provided fpr^ m somft' other way— to call upon the local to make provision amongst them, m proportion to, population, ,f.or one-half the 'cost of , the institntiojo/i, j the other half tobe provided, out of 'the colonial excheqiker." ! Mr. Hall coAoluded by a reference/ to the work done by the Commission foe the consolidiitibnpfj the. Statute, law, and by s'tat; ing,his opposition to any proposal fotmaking ;^^er^b]f^eolbny.;efectiY|.-| l • '