MR. BALLANCE AND THE RANGITIKEI CONSTITUENCY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4605, 23 December 1875, Page 1 (Supplement)

MR. BALLANCE AND THE RANGITIKEI CONSTITUENCY.

(FEOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Marton, December IS. Mr. Ballance has, during the past week, been addressing the electors of the Rangitikei district at Turakina, Bull's, and Marton. I send a resume - of his address at Bull's and Marton, not having been able to attend the meeting at Turakina. boll's. The meeting was held in the Town Hall on Thursday evening. There was a very fangathering of the electors, and the proceedings were conducted in a most orderly manner. Mr. S. Fagan presided. , Mr. Ballance, who was received with considerable applause, said he scarcely knew how to notice the almost too eulogistic introductory remarks of the chairman, as he was conscious that the services he had been able to render them were not "deserving of-such flattering allusions. He wished to point out to them that iu the last session of a Parliament, a new representative had to contend with the prejudices of the old members, which had grown stronger and stronger session after session, and thus found himself in a very unpleasant position. When he went down to the Assembly, it wa3 not with any idea of " setting the Thames on fire ;" but he went down animated with an aspiration to do what he could for the benefit of the colony in general, and of that district also. He thought that a member should suit his course of action so as to benefit the country generally, and not confine his attention to the district which he represented. They were then in a time of transition from one form of government to another. This had not as yet obtained the full measure of local government, but the time would come when local affairs would be administered by local governing bodies. "When that time arrived, representatives would have to devote their attention to, and study general interests and general principles, and leave local matters to be dealt with by local bodies. He noticed thi3 particularly, as he had observed that several papers had stated that the system of local government about to be inaugurated would necessitate on the part of representatives more extensive knowledge of local wants and 'requirements, whereas the reverse would be the case. Mr. Ballance then reviewed the course of the Abolition Bill from the introduction of the resolution in 1574 until the compromise arrived at late in the session of 1575. He then alluded to the proposed endowment to local bodies, and explained that owing to the land revenue being still in the hands of the Provincial Government, an alteration had to be made in those endowments, and that until the Act came into operation, they would receive only 13s. 4d. and 6s. Bd., instead of £2 and £1 for each £1 of rates collected. When the Act came into operation, however, these endowments would be as originally proposed. In Rangitikei, the rate amounted to £I6OO, .so that they would then have a fixed revenue of £4BOO, in addition to the licenses, fees, &c, which would -imount to about another £2OO, making £SOOO a year, a sum which would enable thein to prosecute local works whenever needed. (Applause.) With regard to the Local Government Bill, he might observe that it had been introduced at such a late period of the session, that even had the measure besn a satisfactory one, there would have been little chance of its being passed. It had, however, been recognised that the system of local government embodied in that measure would not satisfy the wants of the country, and it was therefore withdrawn. The Government would have leisure during the recess to elaborate a scheme that would satisfy all the wants of the colony ; and next session such a measure would, without doubt, be introduced. In his opinion, a system of shire councils, as in operation in Victoria, would prove the most satisfactory. But these shire councils should be invested with borrowing powers, without being obliged to have .recourse to the General Assembly on every occasion. The next subject he should allude to was the administration of the land fund. Opinion was divided on the question as to what body should be entrusted with its administration. Mr. Macandrew had suggested that the present waste lands boards should be continued, and have entire control. There was, however, a strong party who fancied that these bodies might act as the Waste Lands Board of Otago had done on a former occasion, when they sold 40,000 acres for a, mere song to a Victorian. It was his opinion that the House of Bepresentatives should have entire control of this fund, and make distribution of the same to the various shire councils. Mr. Ballance next referred to the Debtors' and Creditors' Act as a reform in the bankruptcy laws, that had been very much needed. He observed that this Act, which was passed last session, and placed the whole administration of bankrupt estates in the hands of the creditors, had been introduced by the Minister of Justice. The Bill, as introduced, had contained a series of clauses called " the 3fter-acquired property clauses," which rendered a bankrupt, after obtaining his certificate, still liable to pay 20s. in the £. There was a large party, however, who thought that thi3 was both harsh and impolitic, as it would have the'effect of driving men from a colony when they had no chance of regaining their position. They thought that the fraud clauses should be made exceedingly stringent, and a defaulter in thi3 respect punished as an ordinary criminal, but that an innocent man should be entitled to a full discharge. He was glad to say that this course had been adopted, and the objectionable clauses removed. Tho question of the incidence of taxation was one that had received a large amount of attention during the session. Sir George Grey was of opinion that taxation, as at present imposed, pressed unequally on the working man, and he had introduced a measure— a, la John Bright's free breakfast scheme—to repeal the duties on tea, sugar, and coffee. The working man had been a great word in Sir George Grey's mouth; but he had overlooked the fact that the working man in the colony was not in the same position as the working man at Home. (Applause.) As this measure would entail a loss of revenue to the extent of £150,000 a year, and did not offer anything in the way of compensation, it had met with instantaneous—he might say ignominous—rejection. His own opinion was that necessaries should be dealt with on the Gladstonian principle—by «ontinuous small reductionss so to increase their consumption, that the revenue, instead of being diminished thereby would be augmented. He now came to the loan of the colony. Many persons were under the impression that the indebtedness of the colony was much greater than the amount stated by the Treasurer. The Hon. Mr. Waterhouse made out that we yrere two or three million more in debt than the Treasurer admitted. He (Mr. Ballance) had gone carefully into the subject, and found that for works authorised between 1870 and June 30,1874, the sum of £9,830,877 was required, of which only £5,795,210 had been raised,leaving abalance of £4,044,667 required to complete these works. It was this four million which had necessitated the Premier's visit to England to negotiate its loan. This had been done on very satisfactory terms. They received £9O 7s. lOd. for every £IOO debenture, and had only to pay £5 Is. lOd. per cent., instead of 5 1 per cent., as estimated when Mr. Vogel proposed the ten million loan in 1870. To complete the works now in hand the sum of £882,786 would still have to be raised, and though it had been stipulated when the four million loan was negotiated that New Zealand should not go into the market again for the space of two years, there would be no difficulty in raising this amount. The Imperial Government had on a previous occasion guaranteed a loan of one million, of which only £200,000 had been raised, so that they could go in with the Imperial guarantee for the £BOO,OOO required for the works now in hand. On June 30, 1875, the public debt of New Zea- I land stood at £17,671,106, but the sinking fund amounted to £1,074,647, so that actually only the Bum of £16,596,458 was due to creditors outside New Zealand. The annual charge on • this amount for interest and sinking fund was £945,785. On June 30, 1877, the aocount would be, public debt, £19,380,906 ; by that time, however, the sinking fund would have accumulated to £1,400,000, so that the debt of the colony at that date would practically stand at £17,980,906. He would next say * few

words in reference to our revenue and expenditure. The revenue of last year, including a surplus of £205,500 brought forward from the previous year, amounted to £1,906,860, and the expenditure was £1,786,414, showing a surplus of £120,446 to be brought forward to the current year's account. This large surplus after paying interest on loan, was a sufficient refutation of the charges so frequently indulged in, of the colony being in a bankrupt state. (Applause.) The estimated Customs' revenue for 1875-6 was £1,325,000, or £IOI,OOO more than the actual revenue of the previous year, ihe Customs' return show that the Treasurer had overestimated the excess. The return for the September quarter of 1875 was £312.471, and for the corresponding quarter of 1874 it was £311,631, showing an excess on the quarter of only £300; and, unless there was very great improvement in the three remaining quarters, there would be a deficiency of some £IOO,OOO on the estimated Customs' revenue. Ministers were beginning to fear that result. Blajor Atkinson had recently alluded to it it, when he said, "If public works are to be carried on the people must pay for them by increased taxation." Fresh taxation seemed inevitable, and the question arose what direction was it to take. There was a strong opinion that the large landholders should be made to disgorge. (Applause). But then taxation on the° land must not be made so heavy as to amount to virtual confiscation. The time, however, had come when some fresh provision would have to be made, and whatever form was adopted taxation should fall on those who were best able to bear it. In glancing at the future there were three subjects of importance which must engage the attention of Parliament, namely, local government, education, .and land administration. He had already intimated his opinions regarding the first of these. With respect to education, he thought denominationalism could not be dealt with by the Government. He himself was in favor of secular education, but would vest in the local board the power of setting the schoolhouse aside at certain hours for the purpose of religious instruction. In towns where there were a sufficient number of children of any denomination to justify such a course, he thought a liberal concession might be made by appointing as teacher one of their own denomination. He would wipe out of existence central boards, and establish local boards, having control of districts coterminous with the highway districts, having under their charge all schools in that district. He would also raise the status of teache rs to that of civil servants. With regard to the land, he thought the principle laid down by the treasurer should be adhered to, that "land shall be used only with'a view to settlement, and not for revenue purposes." He advocated the adoption of two systems—first, sale by auction in small areas after survey ; and secondly, sale on deferred payments for agricultural purposes. By carrying out the land administration on those two systems they would have as the result a healthy, vigorous, and independent yeomanry, such as existed in the old country. Referring to Sir George Grey's idea of a federal government on the American plan, he expressed himself as utterly opposed to any such tampering with the institutions we had received from the mother country. Let them tread in her steps, and they would have unity of principle, and complete distribution of power. Mr. Ballance then referred at great length to local matters, and concluded by appealing for a renewal of the confidence they had entrusted him with at the previous election. Several questions having been answered, a vote of confidence in Mr. Ballance was carried unanimously. Mr. Ballance briefly returned thanks for the honor they had done him, which he esteemed a sufficient reward for any services he had rendered. The usual vote of thanks to the chair terminated the proceedings. MARTON. A large [number of electors and non-elec-tors assembled in the Town Hall, to hear Mr. Ballance give an account of his stewardship, on Eriday evening. Mr. George Bevan was called upon to preside, and the utmost order was maintained throughout. Mr. Ballance, who was warmly applauded on coming forward, said : He could not say that, in one sense, opposition was not desirable. In politics opposition was essential, otherwise stagnation would ensue. He came before them in fulfilment of a duty which every member owed to his constituency—that of giving an account of his stewardship. Eight months before he had contested the election, and though he did not feel it as a great hardship, he might observe that he was the only man in New Zealand who had to contest two elections in so short a time. He hoped, however, to fight the battle fairly, and without undue asperity. Mr. Ballance expressed himself in favor of the compact of 1856 being adhered to. He objected to an income tax on many grounds, but was favorable to a tax being imposed on land. He thought a similar provision to that which existed in the income tax as in operation at Home, might with advantage be introduced into any land tax that might be imposed, and all holdings under 100 acres be exempt. He thought that fresh taxation should not be courted so long as we could raise sufficient to provide the necessary ways and mean 3 out of our present imposts. He did not believe in the popular fallacy that "more taxation meant increased prosperity." He dissented from the proposal to do away with the Native Lands Court, and to bring the natives at once under European laws. His own opinion was that the Native Minister should be allowed to go on with his scheme, which hitherto had worked very satisfactorily, and but for which he believed we should have been involved in several native wars. The sum of £700,000 which had been set aside for the acquisition of a landed estate in the North Island had been productive of a good result. The total amount of land acquired, or in process of being acquired, was 6,184,467 acres. With this six million acres judiciously used, the prosperity of the North Island would, he believed, keep pace with that of the South. He thought that as soon as immigration produced a glut in the labor market it should cease. 61,000 immigrants had been already introduced, and yet there was no sensible diminution in the price of labor. He was of opinion that fresh loans for immigration purposes were advisable. Comparing the railways in New Zealand with those in Victoria, he found that we[had 991 miles, at an average cost of £6OOO per mile, against Victoria's 441 mile 3, at an average cost of upwards of £26,000 per mile. This he considered a most satisfactory result. With regard to the Upper House, he instanced the great benefit it had conferred, but thought that fresh blood might with advantage be imported into it from the mercantile classes. Mr. Ballance then went at great length into local topics, explaining the action he had taken with regard to the Rangitikei bridge, the railway, and the supply of water to Marton, and concluded his address by asking for a renewal of their confidence as accorded him some eight months ago. At the conclusion of his speech Mr. Ballance intimated his willingness to answer any questions which might be asked, but none were proposed. A vote of confidence was carried unanimously, and acknowledged by Mr. Ballance, and the proceedings were brought to a close with the customary vote of thanks to the chair. [I have only given an outline of those portions of Mr. Ballance's speech at Marton which did not occur in the address delivered at Bull's.]