LAND, LABOUR, AND CURRENCY REFORM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 18

LAND, LABOUR, AND CURRENCY REFORM.

Mr A. W. Hogg, M.P. (Masterton), de- I livored an address- in the Garrison Hall on the £th on "Land, Labour, and > Currency Reform." There was a fair attendance, the hall being nearly half full. Mr James Brown (president of the Trades and Labour -Council), at. whose,.' invitation Mr Hogg spoke in this city, occupied fohe chair, and, the Hon. J. T. Paul. M.L.C., Mr J. F. Arnold, M.P., and several trades unionists and SociaJists were on the stage. ; The Chairman said Mr Hogg was a man. ' who had suddenly become famous, not by the presentation of Dreadnoughts — ("Hear, hear ")—^>r by similar methods. On the ofcher hand, he had sacrificed power and money and his seat in the Ministry to take his place in the ranks and devote his time to the principles he upheld.—(Applause). He introduced Mr Hogg to the audience. Mr Hogg, who was received with applause, expressed his gratification et seemg 1 such a laTge audience on such a wintry ni^ht, especially as it contained a fair proportion of ladies. He then briefly referred to his earlier connection with Dunedin. He had been married here, and resided here 30 years ago, arid remembered many of the earlier characters, references to whom he proceeded to make to the interest of the audience. Coming to the subject of the evening. " Land, Labour, and Currency Reform," he first explained how he had entered the Ministry. He had been invited to do so. He had never been a place hunter, never knocked at any door, and never rang any bell. His principles had been well known, and durireg the 19 years he had been representing the one constituency in Parliament he had never hesitated to express his opinions on all public questions of finance and land, and had spoken in such terms that no man could say he had misunderstood him. The land for the people had long been his trump card — long before he ewtered political life, and while still in the field of journalism — and he refused, and would refuse, to let those 'principles go by the board as long as he lived. He would never sell his convictions. 'When he ascended to Cabinet rank he had been overwhelmed by congratulations. As Minister of Labour it was quite true he had received somewhat scant praise. Some were disappointed, but he had determined to do his best. The position he would have chosen had he been asked would have been that of Minister of Lands. However, he got one in which he thought he could help the settlers— that of Roads and Bridges, together with Labour and Customs, and had also oharge of th« printing office. To do his best he mad* a trip round the Xortfi Island to see the roads and bridges. He found there were lots of bush and fine land, the existence of which he had previously had no knowledge — all lying waste, waiting the incoming of labour to make it productive. He returned to Wellinetoa anxious to see this property improved, and very solicitous with regard to the working people who wanted to make homes for themselves. He found, however, that the Treasury was empty! Finding this, he spoke very plainly — so plainly that ho believed he shocked the Prime Minister and a number of his supporters. But he always spoke plainly — he could not help it. The Onposition were not shocked at anything he had £aid, because they "were around him lake carrion crows asking for roads and. bridges until he had shuffled off his Ministerial coil again and pot into the land of freedom. — (Lauchter.) But he nitied the Government. He knew the position rit was in. It was something- like a - Russian party surrounded by ferocious wolvea. He was asked to retire. Why? Becauee he had denounced the monopoly of land and the monopoly cf money, which was causing- so much stringency and distress in the country. — (Applause.) Ho had always denounced monopoly because he believed in standingtrue to the people, and for that reason

the people had always stood true to him. — (ApplaiMe.) But he made what was called an indiscreet speech. He admitted be spoke plainly. After all, he had merely put a stick in the tea to improve it. But the ory of the wolves frightened the Prime Minister; i± was echoed in the press, and sorhebooy had to be sacrificed to the hungry animals. When he (Mr H°gg) went out the people surrounded him. The Prime Minister also wont out among the people, and how was he reoeived?—(Applause.) He (Mr Hogg) had found, in examining the country, thatmuch of the land, instead of going forward, was really going back. Settlers who ought to be forming nice litfcle settlements were being driven back into the cities. Dairy farms were being ohanged into sheep-walks. In the Forty Mile Bush district he discovered a cottage here and there, but there was so little of the fine land occupied that when he came to a dwelling in which there was a family it was like an island in the ooeaa. The majority of the holdings were sheep farms. He saw a rusty boiler — the only thing that remained of a one-time dairy factory. The spoiler, the monopolist, had been there buying the people out. When he saw the scene of desolation he determined to expose the aggregation '.that was going on. In the Rangitikei district he found the same thing. In the King Country he woe told a great deal cf it was pumice country. But what did he find? Away towards Kawhia and round the coast he saw a lot of magnificent country — millions of acres of it— and in some parts forest land with milling timber. Only in a few places had an- attempt been made to cultivate it. All it required was to be roaded and settled and made to produce something. In this connection he thought the men who had been working on the railway lines in the North Island should have been placed on the land while they had been working there and were able to do some preparatory work in their leisure hours. Something he had said in that connection and Native lands had evidently disturbed the tranquillity of the Minister of Native Affairs. As Minister of Labour he could testify that he had found good feeling prevailing between the workers and the employers, and it was a libel to assert the contrary. With proper management employed and employers could work together each to his mutual advantage. When he found that the Treasury was empty and that works had to be stopped he suggested certain remedies, but there was no money to be had and retrenchment was necessary all round. Destitution and ruin loomed largely on the industrial horizon. The heavy Land of the money-lender and mortgagee was hanging over the settler in the country and was pressing very heavily. They wanted their money and were threatening the settlers with foreclosure, alternatively increase of interest would be extracted. Finally the distress of th« pettier and the manufacturer operated on the labourer. W,hen there was financial stringency everyone suffered— except one who was making his harvest, and that one was the pawnbroker.— Applause.) As Minister of Labour he witnessed distress in its most aggravated forms. Clerks, who had never been used to hard work, besieged him to be provided with work, even on the roads or railways. He had seen men begging for labour, ajid when they had been refused, retiring with tears* in their eyes j They had had free advertisements in the papers and soup kitchens in several place?. On« institution which did magnificent work in this connection was the Salvation Army. —(Applause.) They had been suffering from a glutted labour market, and notwithstanding- that, to intensify the matter as it were, thoy had vessels arriving loaded with immigrants. These were not form servants, but men whose occupation was to be manufacturers if positions could be found. A number of instances were then cited by the speaker indicative of the misery which had prevailed. Was it not a ahame that more value was often placed on the fourfooted animal in the fields than on an intelligent human being?— (Loud applause.) The labour Department told him there were hundreds of men who, if out of work for a day or two, would have to starve. Mr Hop.gr went on to refer to the existence of millionaires and of extreme poverty. He said there were 250 millionaires in England, but they were passing away at the rate of seven or eight every year. From one estate the Government Kot, through death duties, the sum of £2.300.000— 0r enough to build a Dreadnought — (Laughter.) The land of New Zealand was being monopolized. The ballot that was open to everyone who signed a declamation had given no relief, as it should have done, to the workers of New Zealand. Fraud and falsehood had been found on every hand. Great scrambles had been promoted. Men and women had stuffed the ballot boxes with their applications, making declarations that they intended the land for their own sole use and benefit. As a matter of fact they had no intention of going on the land, and only prevented the deserving: man from getting that whioh was intended by the Creator for his use. — (Applause.) Wlio paid the

deposits for those people? The capitalist — (Applause.) When land was mort^agvd it put the connt-ry in a bad position. He had always been a land nationalise*, and had never altered hia views. Or.cc a man got the freehold of his property he was tempted to go into speculation, and was tempted to borrow money — and a good many knew what the result of that was. Either foreclosure took place or the rate ! of interest rose, and very often the settlers found that aft#r wasting their lives in farming they were homeless. The result of the freehold and the mortgage system was that all the land was practically mortgaged up to the hilt. Most of the land J that had passed into private hands was earning money rather for the mortgagee than for the owner. The speaker then read an extract from a letter from a Taranaki farmer stating that " after 50 or 60 years trial the land is not free, but heavily mortgaged, and is being worked above its producing value." Land was being monopolised and depopulated, and what was the remedy? The remedy was within their power. It was j the remedy handed to £be people chiefly through the efforts of th« late Mr Ballance—he referred to the graduated land tax. — (Applause.) ~ He would like to have land-gr&bbisQf made' a luxury, and it was a legitimate thing to tax luxuries. When a man hadjnore farms than one the extra farms ought to be deemed a luxury- and taxed. The worker in all capacities should have an opportunity of obtaining a few acres of land. Means ought to be provided to enable every worker in Darted in, if he had the determination and the pluck, to go upon his plot of land and get out of the clutches of the landlord. — (Applause.) The country had had an experience of financial stringency in the last 12 months. There Bad been hard times pretty well all over the country. People did not agree as to tho cause. Some said it came from America, and others that the bad markets were the cause of it. He believed, however, that the times were now brightening up, and that more money would soon be set free. But how did the trouble begin? It began with a reduction and stoppage of payments generally. The Advances to Settlers Department was one of the first to feel it. When that department became dried up the money-lenders, bankers, insurance companies, and money-lending agencies knew they had their opportunity. The farmer could not po to the Government and get. money at 4£ per cent., because the Government institution had dried up. That institution was actually allowed to get into such a pitiable condition that it was of no use to the farmers. Tine farmer could not get even £100 from the office. It was then the money-lenders had their chance. As the mortgages matured the unfortunate farmer was told, " When your mortgage matures you must find the money, otherwise you will have to pay 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 per cent, for a renewal." The poor settler was actually in' the hands of the moneylender. A man in the audience interrupted, and several of the audience rose to eject him, but on Mir Hogg's advice he was given another chance. Mr Hogg, continuing, said that the mortgage took all the farmer's profits, the banks called in their overdrafts, and there was a ge-neral scarcity of money in town and country. Last session he made a direct appeal to the Prime Minister to come to tho assistance of the settlers, many of whom were suffering severely. He did not know even now why the Government did not come to the rescue of the settlers. Why didn't tihey borrow a million or two or even three millions? Mr Massey and his supportere would have backed him up ; they would not have dared to oppose suoh a proposal. The authority would have 6een granted, and in his opinion this money would never have been needed to be raised at all. The veTy fact that the Government had the authority to raise the money would have been quite sufficient. The money-lender and the banker would have said, " Our game is up," and the stringency would never have occurred. — (Applause). Their trade and commerce beg-an to suffer. That stringency had been the sole cause of the unemployment and the tremendous amount of distress that had been felt in every labour centre of this country. On top of this came retrenchment, intensifying- the evil and distress. While the country had been suffering in this way what had been the state of things with regard to the money-lending institutions? Did fchey suffer? They never had such a harvest in the last 20 years as they had 'had in the last 12 months. It had been the moneylenders' harvest in every sense of the term. Look at the dividend of the Bank of New Zealand. Thirteen years ago tHe bank was on ite laat legs, but the Government came to the rescue and put in £500,000. On this sum the bank had been fattening. In nine years the profit on this -working capital of £500,000 was £1,980,966. Last \ear the profits amounted t~ £^13.150, or

about 70 per cent. They decktred a 10 per oent. dividend and a bonu* of 2£ per cent., and carried the rest to the reserve*. Some shareholders had actually proposed that they should buy out the Go-vv-rnmn* as soon as possible! — (Laughter). The Bank of Ntw Zealand had about £1,000,000 in single notes ih circulation, and this represented a. loan from the people to the bank.- If they wanted to borrow thej would hare to pay 7 per oent., so the bank made a profit of about £70,000 a year That was one reason why we should issue our own notes.— (Applause.) If the State issued its own notes instead of learing itto this private instifcutior it would 6are somobhing like £100,000 or £120,000 a jear in" interest. Nothing could be safer than, an iesue of State notes by nuking them legal tender. They might say that a gold reserve was needed. He was very doubtful about that — ("Hear, hear"), — but, assuming that a gold reserve should be needed, they could find that gold reserve. — (" Hear, hear.") No country liie New Zealand that had issued legal tender notes had ever been known to lose a sixpence. Mr Hogg then referred to the history of the American issue of greenbacks by Abraham Lincoln and the. -present issues by Canada, and Queensland, saying that if these countries could srupport a note issue, surely New Zealand could. Our 70 millions of public debt was represented, by* what he might' call exaggerated bank notes*- by debentures of £100 each, — and surely if a Government could issue 70 million pounds' worth of debentures- it could also issue two - or three . millions 'Of bank not6s among the people. — (Applause.) In conclusion, he asked them to take the reins of power into their own hauds. The people were educated, and could manage their own affairs, and had a right to be entrusted as fully as possible with the administration of the country. He wanted to see the Jand in the hands of the people; he wanted to multiply the number of homes, and to give the workers every opportunity to go on. the land and make hon:es for themselves. It »vas the duty of the Government to give the people that opportunity. ' The people had the ball at their feet, and at the general election let them elect men they could trust and men who were not selfish. He thanbed the meeting for the encouragement it had given him in his campaign. "All I want you now to do is to stand shoulder to shoulder; have no disunion; and «■ workers and people of action— rmen and women — you must be prepared to battle for your "rights, and see that your political rights are won when the opportune time comes round." — (Applause.) Mr A. R. Barclay moved, and Mr W. H. Warren seconded, the following motion: — "That this meeting desires to thank Mr Hogg for his able address; and desires to congratulate him on his recent political action in giving up place and position rather than stifle hi« views on vital questions, and expresses , its warm appreciation of hid courage in defending the democracy of New. Zealand, and expresses the hope that before . long he will be as well supported in Parliament as he is in the country." No amendment wa« forthcoming on being asked for, and the motion was carried with hearty applause. Mr Hogg briefly returned thanks for the resolution. A vote'of thanks to the chairman closed the meeting.