ADDRESS BY MAJOR ATKINSON. His Criticism of the Government (BY TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Hawera, July, 16.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 212, 23 July 1887, Page 8

ADDRESS BY MAJOR ATKINSON. His Criticism of the Government (BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION .] Hawera, July, 16.

I M vjoii Atkinsox addicted his constituents on " Colonial Quotient " to-night. He commenced by refening to the present flnanoiul condition of the colony. He estimated that on the pre-ent ba-is of taxation and expenditure the deficit to bo made up really was about. LIB,COO or LI O,OOO a month, or between L 220,000 and L 230.000 for the je.iv. But thi« was on the estimates of a Governmenb that he deemed extravagant, for he asserted that the Premier had come into office on an undertaking to reduce expenditure by LBO.OOO or LIOO.OOO, and had really increased it materially, and rill his as^eitions as to reductions weie entirely misleading-. Ho analysed the ex penditure on Delenee and Volunteers, comparing that of 1883-4 with that of 188G-7, to show that the Premier's statement, which on this particular vote was \ery definite and positive, Mas inaccurate. Instead ot there being a saving of L 13,000 tliere was actually an inciease of L 7,000 on defence and Volunteers, which practically amounted to the same thing as a defence. It was easy to cut a piece off one end of a blanket and sew it on to the other end ; m.d that was what the Govoinment had done in their expenditure, for the savings on one vote were more than counter-balanced by the increased expendiI ture on others, The way to test the economy of the Government was to compare ! the total co&t of governing the country in 1883-1 with that in 1886-7. In the ioimer year, the total cost was (including linking fund) £3,440,000, while last year it was £3,761,000, or an incieaseof £351,000. And even including the increase of expenditure in the departments on which naturally there were increased demands (although a Government which pledged thcinseLves to reduce expendituie and reduce taxation could hardly claim advantage of those inciea&e&), the net increase was, in round numbers, £50,000. This was after including and giving the Government credit for natural increases on such items as interest, hospitals, subsidies to local bodies, telegraphs, working railways. A Government which produced such a result after promising a reductiou of expenditure, and came down with estimates professedly based on the maxim that an economy was an income, could not be relied on to retrench. The fact that they had come clown with proposals for fresh taxation, £174,000 on Customs, and £75,000 on property tax, supported his argument that they had not decreased oxponditime. In addition to asking for this increased taxation they proposed to reduce subsidies by £75,000, and so to add to local burdens to that amount. ' Really the, proposal of the Government waa to increase, taxation by £325,000. The Government insisted on the House agreeing to this or being dissolved, and the House chose the latter. TheGovernmenllooked on increased taxation lightly, as evidenced by Sir J. Vogel at Auckland, and Mr Ballance at Wanganui having declared that, as the people in 1882 paid 50s per head in Customs duties, ib was nob a hardship to expect them to pay the same now. They did not .seem to realise that people paid less now than in 1882, because they could afford Jobs, and that, the duty of the Government was to reduce expenditure tv meet the means of the people, instead of increasing taxation to meet fche requirements of the present ex-

pendifcure, Now, however, that the Government'were face to facwwifcli the corofciiuen-' cies, thay, had changed their tune, »ad the Premiennow declared r #*ati<he saw lmway to reduo«v the 1 expenditure by LIOO,OOG> op more if he went back- -<vitih a majority. Could tillers be a greaten* justification for the action of. the Opposition! in< defeaftfog, the financial proposals of the; Governmentduring last session, evow at- the cost of a> second session ? It was idle to-say that the Government Avas beaten on account of thograduated property tax and the Acquisition, of Lands Bill, as Sir R. Sboub said, on on free-trade and protection, as othor members said, for on these questions members on both sides differed. The- real issuebetween the Opposition and tlie (government was whether there was to ho effec--tual retrenchment beforo increased taxation. As to a graduated proponty tax. he decidedly objected to it on the ground, that it would have a prejudicial effect on- the colony- by pre\onting capital coming* to N-ew Zealand,, and ho especially objected, to it. at a time when capital was urgently needed.for carrying- on colonising work. The great difficulty now was that tho land was burdened too heavily with mortgages, and if estates could only be freed from, heavy encumbrances it would at once put a new face on things. To prevent capital coming to the colony at a> time like this was suicidal, and he believed such & tax would pi-event it, tor though the tax was only proposed at one-sixteenth of a penny, the fact of such a tax being imposed, and the probability of any unscrupulous Treasurer increasing it to meet a difficulty, would effectually prevent capitalists sending money here, 01 coming here themselves. Gi actuated duties were not unjust, and he himself had imposed them, but that was a very different thing to interfering with the pwoporty of poisons during life. As to public works, it was quite clear wo could not suddenly cease bon owing, while it was especially clear that increased taxation could not be. Boi rowing must be greatly curtailed. Hew as proud to .say that during fche past tw o 01 three years the Opposition had been successful in compelling the Government to reduce their expenditure. As to the land fund, he pointed out that while the late Government hud left the fund ia credit to the amount of L.80,000, last year thcio was a debit balance of Lfi 1,000 so that in thieo ye.uK tho fund had gone to leeward by L 1013,000, and this irrespective of expendituio on village settlement?. He believed in the deferred payment and perpetual lease experiments, but not to the extent of disturbing the h'nanco of tho country, and held that land in freeholds should be bold in limited areas. He .spoke stiongly in favoiu of providing for the settlement oi the land, as the sal\ ation of the colony depended on it ; but as a practical settler ho could see no advantage in the schcme> of the Premier mid the Minister of Lands, who had no practical knowledge. Village settlements would be of great \aluo po long as they were treated as the homes ol working men who had to rely on their earnings tor a livelihood, and could simply fall back on their sections when employment was scarce. It was hopeless to expect men to make a li\ ing oil 20 or 50 acres of bush land, and settlement of that kind could only end in disaster. Hoiepeated his objections to the Minister ot Lands' action in spending L 70.000 on village settlements, when only L.5,000 was voted, and then hiding the excess expenditure until information was dragged out of him. Ho particularly objected to Mr Ballance's recent justification, and his declaration that Parliament dare noteondemnhim, for the fact was that Parliament would have censured him, only that it did not wish to hit a man who was down, who was condemned by the people. As to Sir G. Grey's Land for Settlement Bill, and Mr Ballance's Land Acquisition Bill, while not pledging himself to vote for either, he prcfeireil the foimcr, and would be glad to approach the question with the desire of ar« i iving at a decision, not unjust to individuals while advantageous to the State. As to the f u tm c, he had no doubt that the Government should be got rid of, and he believed that the iirst act of the new House would be to get lid of them. There must be no fresh taxation until material retrenchment had been effected. The education expenditure was in every one's mouth, but it was a difficult question. Ho believed that the people of the colony wei o thoroughly agreed that the children of the colony should be properly educated, and he agieed with that. As to the higher education it must be remembered that it was the educated who go\erned, and the question was whether we weie to educate our children to become the go\ en.ora of this colony, or whether those Avho were to govei n should be imported from oountrico where there was better education. As to the cot-t of education nothing must be done to break down or do away with the compulsory education of every child to a certain degree, but in the condition of tho c6lony it was necessary to look the whole matter straight i in the face, to see whether it was not possible to get what we required at a considerably less cost than at present. He beHen ed that if more direct responsibility to the people had been thrown on education boards, greater economy would have resulted. It would be the duty of Parliament to see v/hal could be done, but he wanted ib to bo distinctly understood that he would do nothing to weaken tho efficiency of the education of the children of New Zealand, though he would do his utmost bo reduce the expenses to the lowest possible point compatible with carrying out that idea. With regard to general economy tho whole scale of colonial expenditure must be reduced. All'salaries from the Governor downward had been h'xed at a time when the colony was in a more flourishing condition.' They were incompatible with the present condition of the colony, and must be reduced. He would commence with the Governor (of course applying the reduction to the next Governor) recluco Ministers by say 20 per cent., the Council honorarium to LlOO, and the House to Ll5O, and then review the whole of tho salaries throughout ! the colony. He wished to do no injustice fco j the present officers, but he held that like ! evoryono else they must be prepared to meet the times. Then there must be fewer local conveniences which carried expense, and this was where ho feared the greatest difficulty. If, after all possible reductions had been made, there was still need for further taxation, and he feared there would be, he would revise the tariff, not as a protectionist nor as a freetrader, but first, in the interests of the revenue ; Secondly, in the interests of the consumer ; and thirdly, in tho interests of the manufacturer. He had no reason to change his well known views on the question, and when he had had to review the tariff' he had done so on a basis which, if not satisfactory to protectionists or freetraders, had been freely accepted as a compromise in the interests of the colony. Ho concluded by an appeal to the electors of the colony to remember that this was one of the ' most important crises , in the history of the colony, and that the weal or the woe of the colony for years to come depended on the manner in which they discharge their trust. The colony was perfectly sound speaking generally, but it like a thoroughly good ship that had started a rivet, and unless the damage was repaired speedily, depend upon it we should come to greater Difficulties,

The 1 neeting lasted till long after midwJghfc,an d after a long disditesion about the StiVatfori railway and other local matters, a fisotibn of thanks was negatiVed by ' 64 to 54 tfftswotu oif a vote of no-confsd«n«e.