MR. HURSTHOUSE, M.H.R., AT WAIMEA WEST.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 46, 23 February 1880, Page 2

MR. HURSTHOUSE, M.H.R., AT WAIMEA WEST.

About thirty electors met at the Waimea West Village schoolroom on Saturday evening to hear Mr Hursthouse's account of the late session of Parliament. Mr W. Bell having been.voted to the chair. Mn Hursthouse said that he was sorry there -was not a larger attendance of the electors to hear what he had to say, and to find fault, if they thought there was occasion to do so, with his votes and proceedings as their representative. He hoped, however, that he might regard it as a proof that they were satisfied with him. The last time he had addressed tbem was just after the dissolution, when he was returned unopposed, and pledged to a certain course of action. He believed he had faithfully fulfilled all his promises, and hoped that he continued to retain their confidence. When the dissolution was granted, it was riot on a questien of policy, but of men, and Sir George Grey considered that though he had been beaten in the House, he had the country with' him. The majority before the election was fourteen. The country was then appealed to, and the result was that when the House met,, and the Opposition had elected Mr Hall as leader, a no-confidence motion was brought down and carried by a majority of two, showing ttat, by & mwov majority tbs

country had declared itself against Sir Or. Grey. After the motion was carried, certain members felt aggrieved that they had not been invited to join the new Ministry, notably among them being Mr Stewart, of , Dunedin, who, because he was not offered the Attorney-Generalship, turned round and bitterly opposed the party of which he had tlefot'e been tt thick and thin supporter? and there were Othet cases of a similar kind. After Sir George Gi'ej' hfld been ousted, his party dethroned him, and elected Mr Mac Andrew as their leader, although tlio apM ffolntme_it was not altogether satisfactory id tne ;j.af_y. Mf Majcandrew commenced hostilities _mri_ed.a.e_y/ Uiid g&ve notice of st, no-confidence motion before Mifristers had taken their seats on the Treasury JBericbes. The Government party were prepared td mfiet them fairly in open fight, if they would drily fillow them time to make themselves fiequsimted with th.c state of affairs, biit this Mr Macandrew t'ef used tti do,- arid obstructed business in every possible wcty, while the Government, on the other hand, resorted to all available Parliamentary tactics to prevent the motion being brought forward. The position they took up was a desperate one, for they were holding office in face of a majority, but they considered they were fully justified in doing so by the financial position of the colony, which they knew to be almost as bad as was possible. It was a wellkAfown, faft'i th&i, if an Opposition acted Unfairly; they Only increased the determination of those they, were attacking to hold oufc, and so it wsis iii this case.- After matters had gone on thus tot several days, the Government party were strengthened by the accession to their ranks of four of the Auckland members, who came over to them unconditionally, and not in consequence of a compact between themselves and Ministers, as had beeri stated. This gave the Government a clear majority, and Mr Macandrew then withdrew his opposition. They then proceeded to pass what were known as the Liberal measures, of which so much bad been made by Sir George Grey, but, as he had told them before; he did not believe them to be of so Liberal a character as those who proposed them asserted. The Triennial Parliaments Bill, for instance, he thought, was calculated to give immense advantages to the wealthy as against the poor candidate; however, the majority seemed to think otherwise, and perhaps they were right and he was wrong. Referring to the Qualification and Regulation of Electors Bills, Mr Hursthouse said that he would not go at length into those matters, as probably most of those present had read Mr Pitt's able and exhaustive speech ifl which he had fully explained their purport. But the most important question of all was the financial position of the colony. Those of them who had thought and read anything about the matter felt that the situation was anything but cheering, and their gloomy anticipations were fully realised when Major Atkinson got the opportunity of examining the state of affairs. The fact was that the colony was fast going to ruin, and there was every prospect of its becoming involved in a serious financial crisis. There was an alarming deficit of between £800,000 and £900,000 a year, owing principally to the falling off in the land revenue, which the previous year had yielded £1,500,000, and had been estimated for the current year to bring in £1,250,000, whereas the actual receipts were only £800,000, showing how unsound was the system of finance which treated as revenue that which should be regarded as capital. He thought the General Government had acted most judiciously in eliminating the land recipts from the ordinary revenue, and setting them aside to be expended only on public works, local and geueral. But to carry this out would necessitate a large increase of the revenue from other sources, and this it was proposed to create, partly by a property tax and partly by an increase of the Customs duties. A tax on all property, both real and personal, was what he had advocated on more than one previous occasion. That it was unpleasant to impose additional burdens was unquestionable, but in this case ono of two alternatives had to be adopted; they must raise the revenue or repudiate their debts. Certain reductions might doubtless be made in the expenditure, but ifc was impossible for a Government new to offlce, in thejmiddle of a session to say positively that they could do so to the extent of £100,000. They had, however, given their word that they would do all in their power in this direction, and he believed that they would redeem their pledges. His own views on the matter of reduction in departmental expenditure, he might say, were thafc it should be effected by the amalgamation of offices rather than by the reduction of salaries, as one well-paid official would do more than two ill-paid ones. The property tax would of course be very objectionable to very many, for all who possessed property above £500, exclusive of their liabilities, would be called upon to contribute. He had been asked by some of his constituents why he did not support Mr Saunders' proposal to exempt machinery and stock, and particularly horses — for Mr Saunders was death on horses. But if they exempted horses, why not cattle, and if cattle, why not sheep, and ii sheep, why not other descriptions of property. Nor did he see why machmery should be exempted, for the owner should be able to pay on that as well as on property of other descriptions. Some wanted to have an income and property tax, but, as a rule, he believed that the man I who had a good income had also property, and the man who had a large property had (Continued on Ath PageA)

-^fao i%rt&s^i_s? ! ?s&__ it 5 'wis" objected that reilflSiPftijßSl^a mehrprofeasional men, and Mlnistars t>f -the Crown escaped scot the latter, if there vai anything hi this "Contention, would it , f educe, their salaries at once {.em with one hahd and take Sl^rajr witHtha- other in the shape of thebro?erty tax ? Then- as to doctors and lawyers. hert,*were '.very*, few of these, he iA^ilWugaip S&o ' had ' not' 1 property above JS6OO; J "and if T ;they? spent their Ihou•and a year, or- whatever their inebme mJtht^sL^'ih^y'cdtrttibuted to the rertjnue T'*teKSUg|.,t^a- pqst.QnHjyduties. One s reason ""wfiy property »_H_utd"_'e taxed' in preference to hxttnaa waa that the income, which ; depended ou hie exertion, and hraini, died with tht man. Tak«/the case of a man with a property jor a&r craT tnou_and_ of pounds, and^^-'.awyfcr^ith an income of thousand!. The former, when he died, left behind him a substantial endowment for bis farriily, tk« other, nptftiny. but the name of a fi/atclasa pr<ffi£n.oßal h%M. Another argument •fainst: an^income tax that to yield anything like appreciable results it.mußt'.be yery heavily laid on." A calculation had "been •■^lfiWel-KiieSfl "'oitifcr : te Vaise in New": 'Zealand aa zaaoh ac a proparty tax Of a^eijny; in jthe Ennd ifould yiel# fi an income tax would ▼£ t# «B» '&▼_& & eightienpence in ;the '?fip*»ujDßi^i:"A«^_ J rule ,hehad foand; tbat;the 0 principal ©bjectota .to ' ih U, tax 'we're those political agitatori M&llwMyi looked. witha Jealoaaey* ifjtifiMd! <Mtf were it a. better •po_itio93hfi|'|heiaiel^e*.2r Some of those ,-4qw fouactSiat tfielr ow.n ..property was* of &fflm 'MtfeWlt render them liable to ithe *. Mx;%m-ihepyrtTm iferyin* but because they had to share $tx* harden that they sought to plaoajintirelT Upon the shoulders of their "^Ss^^wSltKr ffeighbors. ! The l land 'tax would nowwibiforbed in "the property fax, &*l)&iaNfawW"*&- t&te diterwee, that 3_^a*ij_*.**i^i^tty^3rQuld bea penny the^^To -tKfc-ind tax.he_ had always .a- -|*^ W,%d%^inWpr ea 3*d heavily upon |pf_lp&ty which waa least able to bWar c ,i^Y^ ow ' bowejrer, pat only the ow#«i*£?^andi but ofc- all kinds j»f property would* I>e" called* apon to pay, irhUatht poor man v. a^ exempted, for he TO »^9P?^w S*?»/»lponr man who possessed p_»pertf^_^fipm>ll liability, to the value •f £I«W*^Wl^l^io^t^ W ; some sort of Mwrihat^ybtitfc J^nrasv to he made ev^ry■^^^M^^P^onjropid^TeTealedto tv*rjhody aiie, but heTpaheTed that .the •aciacy maintained, in thil^&spect would he quite aa lavtsSole^Ui 'TOf tfrfeterTticl in [the T«l«^ifccy^epar4n_cntO -Hkc;wa_ . by : no ne^ anxiety &£ but t__t_HK_mßw! °* th e colony rendered it a fflsm*Mf;%nM4 $oWßAwarn them all the flattering unction to their «h«___ .hit tfciii lay would not .be enforced, fer ha felt perfectly certain that it, or sokuo->-&Bj_fi^?ery^H]_e ftj wis absolutely necessary if the government of the country was to be o__rriiWhn aaid out interest regularly paid. '^!l&P|l_a_n think for a moment whose fault it — waa that- increased taxation .was required. It mast, have struck all who had devoted any thought "to th# matter that this was a most expensive country -to govern, owing to some extent^ jtft'ita:' vfteographical conformation, Custom 7^-ig.llset, att Tmtnense extent of telegraph .iTSdrJsi>_a_sd'- T long lines.: of. railway. These D-'^U-giiJkndrespeeially its, great extent of seabord, rendered it most expensive to govern, for ipstance, with Victoria, ' whVi^nere./.-w^^ybut. one or two Custom houses,, Then, who "demanded all the roads : at^P^a^? !s V^'raphs r and mail services that th^ofiJfijrfcapt np ? Who but the people '.' '-'WHißw^ffe'alanS. They would have them, and tjJfiy_waitbe..prepared.io pay for. them, for tk®y were i»t to be had without money; the _»umber_of miles ci railway was, in proportion to the popalation, greater here tban in any. T; , g|^fT9oWtry.in.the wo^d; the miles of tele""1 - gr»ra&^siCg uia'f xb^every village had its ■_fldefiver^^«J_W*io>_t elaborate and alse * nest eflleleßtlysiem'bf national education; aad WjetaKt'ettMeß and Highly-subsidised mail kesttr«_#^l_eep Ui in 7 ebim_.unication with Ihe ou*tr%4tlc_j lfi-*afct; we went in for . ,:df Saiie.Bi.right jro* _h_ft,. ..aJpd; h_,vjng called " th<Has^«xwt*jMie— we ' wu^ " ot corop? 8 * 11 wltsa&&«4 upen $o&Kf:. for othem. To do thia the revenui'cwaa to be increased by a ta^^&y^mri£ and. iacreased Customs SluaeflfxM^uty ojTtohacco had been raised a thiUing FpeStid; £MW£frsrtw6 shillings QWZMffi.&S^mjpii complain of this taxing the poor mam's tobagco and whiskey, 'but Ss could show the poor raan, if there was oae ia f&ejEOQte.&ow _» avoid this particular tai enough, for aU he had to ..4RwWßa^SF%fi^g to* -drinking. (Hear hear, attilffoghter.) The ad valorem gs^^...^siM_i^a_»aj^:rc3itouia .' preßa; more :^SS^tHA^¥ e d»teis9a*Pß? had ke^ in " C^rMUMrtt_taLWupu«bt the people of Nelson 6> 'ti ngrSfceful for it. M^; Acton Adapt; he noticed, had aaid that it was he « itr.po_i.ion of .the injm until r hfe? had 7 read Mr Acton Ad_uft_ti*^sfceedf. ; hS'wa* under the yy, j_mkuta?£Bit hV(Mr ßi£__#_oii_e) had had i&KSkwi&tZßf Sto'susy -• to it. 7:yHowever, : as ** l_brs^fi«M aij^pßea^'to -Tjevab-* particularly aftxiovl ta obtain all the credit jhe woaln aot object, to his appropriating ' idet&tful-wliether sil^-iyMr^'-lK^^^^fe or 7a .free trader, Tw^ttjSjjte^fipti^fiSw^s* Jfefrk toy l6 - W foJriy called protection as the public — dl 4 &6t suffer, for it would' not add to 'the s^_.^^W c -a ; Bti6taS.tion, haythought, com_f_ez_OM wXMdt %f.?natoy were niade to suffer *_&Sii-.XP* MtrviKiwA that the- Signer's route and that tiia/eady wajr to take the line vra^ by way of tie '.jtop^MQ^'fßa tWfr&o reason whatever tabfU^ettiat j^r. Blair had in any degree jMMiLlnAnenoed r .elti^er by any section of the ' s t^F^ffl^^ .r^l '■W^ thaJHouso. *^^Jm^*rt^aMrwstys';ihthß oolony were f ifetteF^>T^% -S^*Ji_§B_!l_r£ ,^^pfJ^foFth«htereßt, ttfmmf O&otem, |bu«.«tl^^^g.u^wary the Saeet f«mllßl_»_weme-it and the Strictest the people were ,_ to.T^lailie, for-t3_^woul<i not be satisfied With f ..A^iAmiimi^^fij!t ifhich^. waa speed insist' upon a JMte J tl^ox^*Veuidg,'l}ius necessitating bwricr w__ta, afionger rolling stopk, and more ff. i f|ll»»f fTO l^ f meeting he »_ riJ^jW^a^l^ 'power t& price iio^m>^mW'-^ i^ i y'^% i^ & ,J *fy " thftt ithis haM txm »een fixed at ten'^hSlliil^s instead .^rft^j^iaggßllhidfa- would, tetid to proihote j, Jtjtleinant fn t_ife~dfitTlrt. -where, however, __owefcld like to ace tiae prfoe still further tiUcca, Hwurk lie feared it was hopeless to «?i<s&B_& m&mk^&Jto" native questl^. lte was qnlteconvinoed that the present be r farjn6re economical jmd ,that Mt Bryce 2^ffl^P^^^pX^ »^'*«?QO for | cab ■HeiaatT^ for aeettetft^.flflffi'liJjKcN. Kt»-Tiad «H$ highest <95fe^tfi^m:liittlMW.po_ed the greatest -^r mPilAwPftotf'w-iA h» beliered hip to be co

'. . thoroughly conscientious a man that, if he failed to carry out all he had undertaken and promised, he would resign his seat in the Ministry. At all events they might rest assured that they would hear no more of Ministers dancing attendance on mock kings and fanatic prophets, and that if Te Whiti wanted to see the members of the Government he would have to go them like any other civilised person. The present Ministers were nearly all known to the colon 3' from having been engaged in its service at one time or another for many years past. Mr Hall had always taken the '. deepest interest in public affairs arid had devoted much of his time and attention to local matters. So far as he (Mr Hursthouse) knew, he was actually a loser by taking office, and certainly could not be said to have sought it for pecuniary purposes. Major Atkinson was a , well tried servant though he had his faults, amd those not a few, hut his last statement showed him to be an able financier as well as a bold one who was not afraid to grapple with fche enormous difficulties presented by the finances of the colony. Mr Whitaker was a veteran statesman, and Mr Eolleston was well and favorably known to all who had taken an interest in the provincial history of the colony. Mr Oliver was a new man, bvit there was every reason to believe that he would not he found wanting - . Unquestionably the most difficult task before them was the dealing with the financial position of the colony. In this part, we were determined to have a railway communication completed hetween here and Otago. The North Island would not be satisfied until Auckland and Wellington were united, and this of course meant a large addition to our already large debt. At present we were pledged to refrain from further borrowing for three years, and so there was ample time to think over the matter and te decide whether we were prepared to add to our burdens for the purpose of. completing onr railway system. It was, at all events, quite possible that the South having, got all its railroads would oppose further extension and say to the North, you must do withoutit, for human nature was proverbially selfish, and they were but human. , Retrenchment ; in departmental expenditure was^much required , : but it would be difficult ta hrihg about. Many of those who thought, and many who .didn't think hut only talked, were in the habit of saying that they .did not save as they might do, but he would point out what sort of a House they had got. Be..tween two and three in the morning when the estimates were being discussed they came to the item £20,000 for expenses of members. At that time numbers of members who thought that they did their duty if they remained in the House from two p.m. until .midnight had gone to their beds and were snugly Bleeping, and had left those who remainedto' settle affairs. '" One of them proposed to reduce the item 20 per cent and that was agreed to. Next day, those who had been slumbering proposed to re-commit the estimates with a view to replacing the 20 per cent, and so numerous and strong were they that they succeeded in doing it. Could they expect those 8G men to reduce the expenditure unless they were led ? No private member could propose to make a single reduction, for immediately he would offend a dozen of the officer's friends who would defend him and assert that he was the worst paid man in the service. It was therefore their duty to see that they got the best men they could obtain in the Government, for if Ministers were sincere in their desire to make reductions they could do so, and if they failed to do it ' they should be removed. Some people were under the impression that he was pledged to the present Government, but he could assure them that he was under no such obligation, nor had he anything- to expect from them, and he was prepared to oppose them at any time that he thought they were not doing their best. It was a most difficult thing to get good men to take part in the Government, for larger incomes were to be derived from bussiness or professions, and it was a mistake to think that it was a boon to be a Minister. Ahd the difficulty was enhanced by the provincial jealousies which oftentimes prevailed in the selection of the best men. for the districts had to be studied rather than the colony as a whole. Before concluding he would like to say a few words upon immigration, as they had all read painful accounts of meetings of the unemployed. For himself, he had never been a great advocate of immigration, except of the right class, and if they had confined themselves to bringing out that clas3 they would not have heard much, about starvation, but, when it came to the agents of the colony, who got so much a head for all they sent out. drafting men from the large cities, it was not likely that the immigrants who found their way out here would be of a very' desirable type, but they might expect to get exactly what they did, turbulent spirits who were of very little use except to grumble, and certainly were not ornaments. In saying this he did not wish to condemn all who came out as immigrants, for among them he had known many very good men. There was another matter he would like to refer to. This extra taxation, the property tax for instance, on whose shoulders would it fall? He would give an illustration. A very wealthy man had said to him, " This property tax wiU cost me £1000 a year. I can't afford that, and I shall have to give up some luxuries, and to begin with, I have written to my manager to dispense with three of my gardeners, to whom I give £100 a year each, though ifthey choso to accept £60 I should keep them." He (Mr Hursthouse) was no advocate for . a reduction in wages, but he was iii an agricultural district, and the question he was about to put would go home to every one of them — Can a farmer with oats at one and nothing a bushel afford to pay 8s a day to his men ? There had been disturbances down South and an outcry about starvation, but not one of those who thus complained would work for 5s a day. At Ashburton they had been offered 6s and a free pass- to. go to their work, and out of 200 but two had accepted. In Wellington the Government had been making work for them at 7s and 76 Gd a day, and this had been thought by many to be a mistake, for if such inducements were held out it would simply lead to men rushing from the country . into the towns in order to get wages which j they could not obtain elsewhere. It was beyond all doubt the duty of the Government of a country such as this to see that none were in a starving condition, but it was not their duty to go out of their way to find work for those who were too lazy to go abroad and look for it. The public themselves had much to Bay to this state of aff airs. They were not content that the railways should be proceeded with steadily and at a moderate pace, butthey must have them pushed.on hurriedly, and the consequence was that tht Government had to let contracts at exorbitant rates because, the contractor htid to pay men 9s and 10a a day. He repeated that he had no desire to see wages reduced, but he would again impress upon them that one of the results of the property tax would be that those who contributed most largely to it would either reduce their staff of laborers or the wages. At the same time he believed that" ijhere would never be found any unemployed amongst those who were willing to put their swags on their backs and go off into the country in search of work, and with an honest de.ire to obtain it. Having alluded to tho public works commenced or about to be undertaken in the district, Mr Hursthouse said he would , be glad to reply to "questions or to receive suggestions from any of those present,

Mr R. Andrew : Why was the shippinginterest exempted from the property tax ? Mr IIUESTiiorsT. : I can explain hest hy stating a fact. At the time the tax was under cli.cussion there were six English, vessels lying- at the Wellington wharf, half of them helonging 1o the New Zealand Shipping Company, and half to Shaw and Ssivill ; the former might be taxed hut the latter could not, and the result of imposing it would he to drive the owners to register in foreign ports, and to stop ship-building in the colony. Ivlr G. W. Ligiiteaxd :' I should like to hear what you have to say about one serious exemption under the property tax, namely, the land belonging to absentees, of which there are large tracts in the Nelson district. Seeing that the owners derive the benefit of the improvements going- on around their land, I think they ought to contribute. There is another matter I wish to speak about. Don't you think that instead of personal appeals being made for assistance for the

Tr_eh,i-it would have been better that the State should vote a certain sum towards the : . fund. V • ;' Mr Huesthoitse : The absentees are nottreated exceptionally. Their property is assessed at its value' to sell, and is taxed accordingly. Of course the owner ' gets the advantage of not having made any improvements, but it is impossible to compel a man by legislation to improve his property in order that the State may tax it. " lam as much opposed as any one to absentees holding land, for I consider them great nttisances who nre reaping- the benefit of the enterprise of their neighbors. "With regard tothe Irish matter. I hope Aye shall havelieard the last of it before May,, when the Parliament meets. ■ " Mr Andrew proposed a vote of thanks to and confidence in Mr Hursthouse, which was seconded by Mr Schwass, and carried unanimously. A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings.