Mr. Ballance at Waverley.

Patea Mail, Volume VI, Issue 518, 11 May 1880, Page 2

Mr. Ballance at Waverley.

\ -—— 2. w 7". 1 ; / XlEVlMikV#llß%lToAllo2^ vV ■ Jr; (by our special reporter.) On Friday ' eyenjng last, Mr. J.Ballance, M.H.Rjf addressed a largely - attended meeeting of r his constituents atWaverley, in the Town Hall, Mr Fookes occupying the"’ch?tiTr''Our w fn]PrCpo'rt''b'6idg’ tWlate' for publication on Saturday, wo now present a summary ..of .the address. i Mr BaUance, before proceeding with his speech, compMiuentcd the residents of Wnvcrley on the fine building they had ■c'l : eW'fed"W""'a~ToTyiT''‘Haill'.'' He' said Tli'e” building was superior to any of a kindred character on the West Coast. He then dilated on the defeat of the Grey Ministry,, and the appeal, to the country which’ followed,tiie result being that the various constituencies decla red that the Ministry was not nearly so bad as the Parliament of that day had afiinned by a party vote: Their, minority was only two, against lo prior to the d-'ssolution. COMPOSITE MINISTRY. Mr, Ha’l accepted the task of forming a Ministry, but several members who had voted with him went over to tho Opposition, and consequently he was also in a minority. Sevcal mcnbcis f.om the North Island entered into a bargain with the Government, and had theieby sold themselves. This was as clear, as Holy Writ. TAXING NATIVE LANDS. In speaking of tho practicability of rating Native Lands, he was of opinion that Natives ought to pay rates upon all lands that had passed th-ongh the Lands Court, and that the rates could be made a lien upon the proper.}'. As at present Euiopeans made roads and received nothing.; PUBLIC WORKS POLICY. In reference to the Public Works policy, he said that Sir Julius Vogel had been blamed in many qua; ters for the railways not paying. The cause was easily ascer-, tained. The colony had enjoyed a,certain, inflated prosperity, but bad been visited by a serious wave of depiession, which must pass away in another" yean No one had a right to charge Sir Julius Vogel with committing mistakes, as there was not a statesman in New Zealand since 1870 who had not. espoused and approved o’f the poilcy ; and even Sirs Edward Stafford, W. Fitzherhert, and others it ad actually claimed its paternity. How could these public men now turn round and condemn it ? The cardinal evil of that policy was that certain railways had been constructed on the recommendation of engineers who were largo'y interested in land through which the lines were to pass. I’hcy had presented a glowing estimate of the revenue of the 'districts. There were othe” works besides rai’ways which could not he counted upon as an asset, such as waterworks constructed on the goldfields. £60,000 had boon expended on the Thames Big Pump, which company was now being wound up. Out of the eight millions cx:pcndcd on pub'ic works, not more than four and a half millions expended on these works would return a per centago on the cost of construction.

WAS THK LAST LOAN ANTICIPATED.? It had been stated that the last fivemillion loan had been anticipated by the previous Ministry. That was untrue. The last two quarters’ returns will only show that one-and a-half million were anticipated. BRIBERY VOTES. • Ho denounced the bribervotes of last session, enumerating, them as follows : £G5,000 to North of Auckland, £50,000 for works in the Patea District, which money was being now expended at the rate of ,£GOO a day on tho A.C. Force, in a way which was not reproductive, and £50,000 for roads and bridges in Native Districts. The amount of interest which tho colony had annually to find, was onc-and-a-lralf millions. If wo ceased ,to borrow, it would mean the scraping together of coin, which would have a very serious effect upon the colony. RAILWAYS AND POPULATION. Some of our railways were not paying because there wore but few settlers along tho lino. One might travel for 20 or 30 mi'es and not meet with a hundred homesteads. Tho only thing that the eye met was sheep. There was nothing which retarded the colony so much as land monopolists. Unless the land is diffused among the people it nerer can pay. PURCHASING DISTRICT RAILWAYS. Last session the Government introduced an Act to purchase the District Railways* Scarcely one showed a payable prospect. Tho amount asked was £400,000 without any statistics or data being presented. The adoption of .the proposal .would have serious l ) 7 involved the colony. The Opposition demurred. ; There were, however, certain persons behind, tho Throne who urged members to bring motion after motion before the House. He bad urged the postponing of the matter till next session, to afford time for tho production of moic information, A compromise was, however, come to, The Government granted debentures to the amount of 75 per cent., only making itself liable for £ GO,OOO.

STOPPING PRKE IMMIGRATION. No temporary want of labour should induce the Government to , bring .out any more immigrants, unless they could afford them facilities for settling upon the waste lands of the colon}’. Faria laborers could command 10s per day, whereas now many were working for 21s per week. This fact clearly proved that the labor maikot was overstocked. CRYING FOR ’ A portion of 'the Victorian Press was clamoring for 1 protection against the importation of New Zealand oats. ’ This colony imported from Victoria more largely than it exported to that colony. Therefore imposts ought to be laid on Victorian exports in order to bring that colony to its senses. TAXING THE LAND. , The Land Tax of the late Government gave universal satisfaction, all improvements being exempt! It directly reached largo landed monopolists. During the passage of the Property Tax through the Ilousor tin effort was made to exempt growing crops without success.- Ships aro exempted. A certain patron of the Government, happened to be chairman of,the largest'shipping company in New Zealand. His estimate of £IOO,OOO for . .revenue under t the Land Tax wag realised. The estimate of revenue under the Property : Tax * was £470,000; but in committee £190,000 was swept away. The latter tax had a-(demoralising! tendency; as it encouraged persons to. undcrestimnte. and conceal their properties. By doubling the rate on the Land Tax £200;000, would be realised. ; i LAND LAWS. ThevLapd Laws qf the i colony werie noti sufficiently liberal to induce settlement,! and nothing was, mop injurious to small -farmers than to Have to compete rashly at auction for their land. When two or more coinpeted he would prefer the ballot to bo

|||K ; oduced, and then fanners would not yfjind themselves burdened in future years. W/ SWALLOWING A POLICY. %he Opposition, when coming into power* swallowed the whole of the late Government’s measures, with the exception of the Special Settlements Bill, and he considered that they were bound to adopt it. He was in favour of small associations combining for the purpose of taking"up land. The ■prmlege Jh ' ,! coiicMlecl' - Stewart, and should be given to others. NATIVE LAND BOARDS! T

The Governor’s speech recommended that ail Native lands sliould be placed under the-managementof a* Board possessingdhe ' confidence of the Natives. 'At present any man, witli large means, had a chance of acquiring land, as they alone-could'only ■afford to employ the necessary machinery. The. present mode .had been defamed by Mr Bryce, whom he (the speaker)'knew to be favourable to tliu creation of Boards, but his colleagues wore opposed to such a measure. If the Cabinet were favourable why was not such a billbrought down ? Why were blocks of land returned to the Natives, and then purchased from them at 10s per aero ? Both Major Atkinson and Mr Whittaker opposed such a measure, and their action was condemned by Mr Bryce in 1877. Ho next alluded to the Morimoln Land Company’s purchase, and, preferred the holding of tiie land rather than parting with it under the new terms asked for by the Company. THE COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT. Referring to tho Native Commissioners’ report, he was sure they all would say that this or that government were to blame. He would not say that the late Government were , entirely free from blame, but he would ask what was the present policy leading to? Tho Commission, composed of two irresponsible persons, were appointed with too large powers. As soon as they were endowed with judicial powers,.it..was found that the pillars were too weight}'. In the first place these two gentlemen go up to the Plains and hold a Commission, the}* draw up an elaborate report, strongly tinged • with a political character, throwing tho blame upon the late Government. Ills Ministry had given instructions for the laying off of the necessary reserves. Tc Whiti was considered a fanatic, who was going to raise the dead: perhaps tho literal meaning was, that lie was going to raise the land from the dead. The Commission had given all the land between 000 and Parihaka back to the Natives. He would ask what the}' were fighting for? .The armed Constabulary* costing £6OO a day. ; were, perfectly worthless. Some of the men introduced into the service were relatives of the Government. Where were Messrs. D. Atkinson and Hnrsthonsc? Why did Major Brown run off to New Plymouth in a “ huff,” although still drawing his salary ? To Whiti had said that he did not wish to fight at present, and had told his friends that the Government could not afford to continue the forces on the Plains, and that the road was being constructed.as much for his good as others, (laughter). The land which had been confiscated had been ieduced to an insignificant amount. Is tbe Constabulary to be kept watching ibis small area at a serious expense to tbe Colon}'? The Commission* in their report, say that the Government need not hope for the land to recoup the present outlay.

SURRENDERING THE LAND. In his opinion, the Commission have given back all the land on the Waimate Plains. Can their recommendations be repealed or rescinded ? They would be adopted. The publication of the reportamong the Natives was sufficient to show that the recommendations could not be reversed.

PROTECTING THU NATIVES. The largo powers given to the Governor under the Constitution Act impose upon him the duty to sec that the Natives are properly educated and that their rights are duly respected. These powers have not been withdrawn If .the recommendation ot! 25,000 acres had ended there, it would not have been near so bad. All tiic Natives had to to do was to ask, like Tc Whiti, for its return, and none of the land could be made available for settlement. After the lapse of 10 years, the Government :had failed to exercise any right of confiscation. The land bc3'ond Waingongora River had been virtually given up. If permanent peace,had been established, this concession would not hare been bo bad. TE WIIITTs POSITION’. The potency of Tc Whiti for evil is as great as ever. There he stands at Parihaka, and the Government cannot touch him. The Government have not the wil to bring Hiroki to justice. They liar I pow an armed constabulary of 700 rno° Within a short distance of Parihaka, and no attempt is made to arrest that man. The policy of the late Government was the settlement of the Plains, and the disposal of Te Whiti. No one can shew that the labours of the Commission have borne any fruit. The land is gone, and the Government is spending £6OO a-day. That’s their policy’. And what is there to show for it ? He would now briefly allude to the

BILLS PROMISED-NEXT SESSION. The licensing laws in force in different parts of the colony are so various, it ia the intention of the Government to introduce a Bill to consolidate them, giving the inhabitants w voting power to determine" J whether licenses shall he granted to new I houses. He saw no objection to that. A Charitable Aid Bill, with a poor rate attached, was another measure the Government would bring before the House. He was opposed to the imposition ,of a poor rate. A Representation Bill on' the basis of population was also promised. The number of members (84) divided by the total population of the colony, would be equal to one member for every 5,000 of the population., ; • / ■ PARTY POLITICS. ' * The absence of a party in the House would lead to the very worst principles. He was a party man, and party distinctions were, in his opinion, the sinews of freedom. If , his criticisms would tend to enlighten the Government, they were quite welcome to them. -Everytiling that he undertook to do, he endeavoured to accomplish, and he hoped that lie bad won their confidence. He had tried to promote the interests of his district locally, and the colon} at large. . 5 MOTION OF. CONFIDENCE. I Mr Winchcomb said that lie had great | pleasure in moving,- 9!That this meeting I conveys a cordial vote.,,of thanks to Mr /Ballance, and desires to express their confidence in him.” Mr Mason seconded the motion. In reply to a question from Mrßiselyin reference to Sunday trading in liqnour, Mr f Ballance said he wasin favor that the law in force in this Provincial. District should stand—that is, the prohibition of Sunday trading except (o travellers. * In.reply to Mr Bridge, Mr Ballance said , that if it was proposed to alter the boundaries he would.;be in favor,of a member for the County of Patea, if the population

would >be in accordance with the basis proposed. If, he could, get throe members from Wangaehu to Waingongora, do so. He would consider it his duty" to get as large a representation for his district as possible. Mr Riseloy—Do you consider it right that while respectable publicans keep their doors closed the whole of Sunday, there should be publicans of another class allowed by the law to keep open, the only penalty being £5. Mr Ballanco said the 'Licensing Bench could cancel the license of a house improperly kept, and .that was the highest penalty the}' could inflict, and .was of course a severe one. The motion of confidence and thanks was then put and carried unanimously. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings.