BANQUET AT BALCLUTHA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 33

BANQUET AT BALCLUTHA.

HON. R. iI'KEXZIE HONOURED. POLITICAL SPEECHES. (From Oxtb Special Reporter. ) BALCLUTHA, August 15. On Saturday evening the Clutha Valley Railway League gave a banquet to the Hon. R. M'Kenzie and party in St. Mark's ochoolroom. There were half a dozen ladies and over ICO gentlemen present, included in thi6 number being members of the league, representatives of all the local bodies, the County Councils of Uruoe, Tiiapeka, and Clutha. Mr John Dunne (Mayor ' of Balclutha and president of the league) presided. The Hon. T. Mackenzie, Messrs Jas, Allen, A. S. Malcolm, and Robt. Scott, M.R.s, were present. The loyal toasts of "The King" and "United Service "y (the' latter proposed byMr Wm. M'Elrea .and responded to by Mr Jas. Allen, M.P.) having been honoured, Mr D. Stewart proposed " Our Guest," who, he said, had largely assisted the Liberal party in passing many measures which had brought muoh benefit to New Zealand. Be now held two important portfolios, Minister of Public Works and Mines, and had a very difficult task before him. He. eulogised the frank spirit theMinister had always shown in his .replies, and referred to Hieir guest's great" activity during his 16 years in Parliament, saying that they were, fully satisfied to' trust him or Hon. Thomas Mackenzie, for the future. The Minister, in reply, spoke appreciatively, vigorously, and at considerable length. He first justified Ministerial travelling, and said he had been delighted with the country on this visit. It was very well worth developing. It may, however, be in a higher state of development than other parts of New Zealand, and this showed that in the past Otago and Southland had been very strongly represented in Parliament. Round Roxburgh at present there appeared to be radiating all the .public interest fend public influence in Otago and Southland that could be brought to bear upon him. People in the north had ( hold him to take the jailway in from the north, anjj people in the south advised him to go from the south. At Alexandra he was asked to take it inwards from there, -and here the people wanted the line to go up the Cluthtf Valley. He had listened to many arguments for railways, and had taken them all to be gospel truth. In the end he would go over the country and examine the routes themselves, and by the time be had finished he would be able to give his colleagues in Parliament the impressions made upon. him. The Government had at present 15 lines of railway under construction. Some people had got a false impression that the Government was going to retard progress ,by discontinuing railways, but the Government >had no such intension. The matter was in the hands of the people, and if the money was given the Government was as anxious to develop the resources of the country as any people in New Zealand. At the same time they might alter the railway construction policy to 'an extent that would, in his opinion, be a very great improvement — namely, that when they onoe started a railway .they would finish it as fast as they possibly could. For many years past the country had had from one to two millions lying idle in unfinished , railways, on which it had to pay interest, without getting any direct advantage. If they concentrated their energies and finished the railways, or left a few more standing, they would get far better results than by spreading their energy over large areas. Among the railways in this part of the country four lines would be finished this year. One had already been finished at Waikaka. The Switzers line would be completed within four or, five weeks, the Orepuki lino would certainly be finished within a month, and the southern end of" the Oat 1 ins railway won'd be finished in about a year. After these were out of hand they would be able to earn interest on the cost of construction, as he believed they all would. As 6oon as these were clear they would be able to shift the staff and plant and devote their energies to some other part of the country. In Otago and Southland, and also in Canterbury, the settlers were not badly off for railway facilities--certainly immensely better off than parts of the North Island, where there were juet as good opportunities for profitable construction as here, probably better, for they had excellent country. He had never known the roads of the south to be so bad as to require half boat and half dray for their negotiation, as wa* the case in the north. On public works generally last year the country had spent about two millions. That was a large, sum, but the Government recognised that it was dealing with a young country, and that it was necessary to spend money and develop j the resources before the country could be I used to the best advantage. The policy, ■ so far as public works was concerned, was j to give every' facility to every settler in ' the country to improve his property and j himself, but the demands were exces- | si<e. In his opinion, the people of New Zealand had come to ldok J upon .the Government to do too much for them. They should do more for : themselves, and look lees to the Govern- | meat. Some tusked that they be allowed - to make railways for' themselves, but there f wei'9 objections Tso that. The Government would have to find the money in almost every case, and there was. a limit to the [ amount available for railway construction in every year. There was also a danger, if lines were allowed to be built indiscri- ' roinately, that they would cfcasa with each atJhar, and none would be profitable. Railway construccion" was only in its infancy, rhey had 2500 miles of railway, but if they had 5000 it would not be too much. To ?arry out public works borrowing was nece~- ' sary, but critics said the Government of j tc-day was borrowing too much, and nar- j row-miraled people eaid they were loading posterity with debt. On the contrary, pos- | lerity was being provided with the finest e-tate in the British Empire. Touching 3n retrenchment, tSie Minister said the Go- \ eminent had drawn odium on itself be- [ ?ause it grappled with the affairs of th<* country, necessarily curtailing the staff of :ho public service. This had been a most j disagreeable duty. Ir hi* own two departments he had made ""reduction* of 160 md 170 men. That would mean in salaries md travelling expenses £40,000 a-year. This ' i« found would not impair the efficiency of . L-he service. The amalgamation* '"of the Roads and Bridges Department with the Public Works Department he thoroughly ipproved of, as he considered they ehould never hare been separated, as it was

merely a duplication, of staffs. As far as xkxhAs in country districts wore concerned," .the Government had decided to make more use of the local bodies, which already were j concerned in maintaining the roads. The] ""Government would give them any assist? tance --required, amd in - this direetioDCi £250,000 or £300,000 " economised by the{| Government would #o a long way. . T Q SSt|! would not require to borrow money to.doj| ' it. — (Applause.) As far as important worfcss '■ were concerned, the Government would~injj| sis* on the plans being made by competen^ ' ' officers — say, by ..the Public Works ]£nginee£a| at Duaedin or Invercargill, The plaiis%« would be examined and reported upon be-^ fore any money would, be granted. Insteao^ I of having- six or seven public works" stafiVl ! on different lines of railway, they would? have one . staff on two or three lines of ■ railway, anjcb tins would be quite sufficient. ■? Having one. staff, in** Dunedin, they wqultJL be able, to make a. railway up the Clutha^ valH>y, if they got one there-— (laugh-^ ter),— or. continue it from Lawrence, ofc^ make shorter the distance from EdievalejHe -would be able to carry on three ok 1 four different "lines. With one staff in' * Otago, and another in Canterbury, another on the .West Coist, and six other staffs -in \ the Nqrth Island, he would be able to dispense with 159. men out of the Road* i and Bridges Department, by organising it «n a proper footing. The Minister 1 i { 0109e3 his address with a brief Teferenc©^ to the defence question, and the "Volunteer * position, and sat down amidst general am i plause. -. " * " Sucoeas ito the Clutha Valley railway,- , coupled - with the name of Mr Hugh' S Cameron," Was the toast proposed by Mr t A..' S. Malcolm. He Said he was delighted! „ to support the railway He considered thafc j it was justified in the best public interest. • Now thai- tihe Catlins line was in view - of completion, he intended to pursue the * object of the Clutha railway with the same*/ enthusiasm, and he trusted with the same success. — (Applause.) People had said tho Minister of Public Works had come to Otago determined to say "No" to everything,', but he gave him. credit for having comer J down prepared to consider everything oa"!| its merits.. He trusted that when tb& Min- : -g ister had seen the proposed route he wouldf J express .his thanks that he had at las*';* found something to the request for which' "i he would give an affirmative reply. Thej( would continue to press the matter upoa, * J the Minister in the hope that eooner or t later this railway would be prosecuted to ; * Tuapeka Mouth.— (Applause.) '» Mr H. Cameron briefly replied od behalf of. the league, saying he had every ocnfi- ' denoe in the project. The toast of " Parliament " was proposed - by Mr D. T. Fleming. ; The Hon. T. Mackenzie replied, and -' spoke eloquently upon the proposed rail- ' way. He was prepared to say that unless Roxburgh was arrived, at as the destination/they did not have much chance of getting( • ' to Tuapeka Mouth. This valley was a(;' great natural channel into the interior. Irf * was not the policy of the Government to . make short sections of railway. He knew] ' €he mind of tKe Government in connection!with that. The same natxiral agencies ' w-hjeh. had gouged out this valley, and * made a course for the Clutha Kiver railway! also made a highway into the interior, and) ' had the policy of railway" construction in/ ' the South Island . been based upon sound! principles in the last 40 y^ars, the interior : j would have, been opened up either by the Olutha Valley or by the valley behintl Dunback. "If," said* the speaker," "you are g-oingi i to try to pop over the mountains either, . I from Edievale or Lawrence you are notf" ; , i likely within a reasonable period to haver the wide gauge railway connected with - j Roxburgh." That was hie candid opinion, 1 '" ■ and he said so unhesitatingly, knowing thatf > j as he made this statement he was making? * enemies. If at any time a railway shouldl \ conaicct the W«et Coast with the east, thd j route would be up the Clutha Valley andf - I down the Haast Pass. His own opinion a ! was that a light narrow-gauge railway .\ j could be made from Balclutha to Rox- \ burgh for £97,000. Any division of opinion: 1 in connection with this work would brf certain for a time to frustrate its final i consummation. Mr James Allen, M.P., speaking next. made some criticisms of the speeches oi the two Ministers. He first congratulated the Hon. R. Mackenzie upon the high pesi-' tion he was^ filling, and hoped that as tha result of his travels he would come to righti ■ conclusions with regard to what he hatf. t saad about railway construction. He begara to wonder how . long it took members of v Parliament to learn the lesson the Opposition had to teach them. The conversion* . taking place were simply wonderful.. Thd doctrine -of finishing railways and having »Sf with them was preached 10 years ago, - r «\, Min J? tt * ;r: B y the P«eent MinisteK ' of Public Works? Mr Allen : By fhe present member fo» ' Bruce.— (Loud laughter.) Mr Allen oontinued, and said ths Government was adopting so much of the Opposition teaohinu that he wondered where the division soon would be. He wanted to know how the country had bean standing: .- tb3 excessive expenditure of £250,000 a yea* without necessity. This money could have been much better spent on railroads during the last 10 or 12 years. He thought thtf time was coming when they would looW round and ask whether they had been? running the country on right lines. He ; recommended the Minister of Public Works 1 to look into the rest of the railway construction, and see how difficult it was for the country to pay 3£ per cent., and how\ .. it was that railway construction was costing 50 per" cent, more than it had. They had come to serious -times in this Dominion. - Retrenchment ivas rendered neoes^arv by, the extravagant policy of the past, and by] piling up the civil Gerviee unneceesaiiljr. Mr Allen thsn 'turned his attenfion to Mr i Thos. Mackenzie, and said he did not aeree with him one bit wheji he suggested that a, narrow-gauge railway would do. If rhovi were to ask for such a thing they wouldl get nothing at all, and he did n'-yt think Lhe Minister of Public Works agreed with any such 2ft 6in gauge. "He was" persuaded! that a line of the existing gauge could bo Mirried to Tua-peka Moutih at between £3000 and £4000 pear mile, and at this price it would easily pay interest. He advised" the district to be satisfied with asking for ' the kne to. Tuapeka Mouth. If they asked! or Tnoare they would get nothing He Uways said that the railway shoukl go to luapeka Mouth, but nevea said it ought ■ i» go any further, or that it should compete with the Roxburgh line. Mr Allen, wnoluded by saying that the Minister of Public Works bed not yet seen the Lawrence line, and that he (Mr Allen) wanted

! completed on right lines without any iasted money. fMr Robert Scott spoke very briefly. >Mr Malcolm also spoke, and referred to ie afternoon's deputation, claiming the Bnister's reply to have been fairly satisictory |The banquet drew to a close with the toast" t " The Ladies," by Mr C. Anderson. ■ jMrs Mitchell responded, and made a peech of one sentence^ — "All that "I am ping to say is that I am sorry Mr Ander6n should only have looked upon us as r restraining influence." This was greeted with appreciative apktuss. -Mr Watson also responded on the ladies ahalfThe Hon. R. M'Kenzie rose to propose ia toast of " The Chairman," and seized je opportunity to reply vigorously to Mr Hen's attacks. "I belong to a fighting ioe of people,'' he said. " When the memer for Bruce says he has converted me > his fossilised old ideas he is saying some. hing he cannot establish. The hon. m«mer is an old acquaintance of mine, but I o not hesitate to tell him that he has ©en travelling 25 years oehind public bin ion ever since I have known him. i&eiry liberal measure coming before Parliament has been strenuously and persistently mposed by Mr Allen; and then he says fe has converted me and my colleagues to tie views !'' Mr M'Kenzie continued to ay that Mr Allen had opposed the Adfcnoes to Settlers' Act," the Old-age Penions, and '"every liberal measure for the ist 20 years." i "What an imagination you have got I Interrupted Mr Allen. / = Mir M'Kenzie was now roused, and proSeeded to allude to "the policy of saying she Government had been wasting £250.000 fearly. This was an exploded notion, as ma the saying- that the Government were a*lcin# railways they should not make. Md the member for Bruce assist in passing he Otago Central railway?" ■- Mr Alkn: No. \, Mr M'Kenzie said he knew many political feiilways. fe Mr Allen : There is on* coming from tne West Coast to the East Coast. \Mr M'Kenzie : That railway when finished |riU bo one of the best paying lines m fchis country. There is a population of 150,000 at one end and 100,000 at the other. £Fhe latter requires ccal, which the line bill suply 4s per ton cheaper than by sea height. * Mr M'Kenzi© then turned upon Malcolm, and said he should have a or two's experience. At present he. taas a nioe man at a wedding.— (Laughter.) *ut he (Mr M'Kenzie) recognised that lie young and innocent, and not a ca-se-fiardened old Tory, who was beyond relike Mr Allen; and he might "■uggest the best thing would he to get a. few liberal ideas as soon as possible. TJntil be got them he would never be much use to his district or to anybody else's. - The toast of the chairman (Mr J. Dunne) tod vice-chairman (Mr D. Stewart) wa? then drunk, and thm gathering broke up shortly •fter midnight.