PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 477, 4 June 1890, Page 3

PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

MR WITHY AT NEWTON.

Auckland, May 29. Mb. E. Withy, M.H.R. for Newton, addressed his constituents at St. George’s Hall last evening. There was a good attendance of electors, the hall being about half filled. The Mayor of the borough (Mr Ambury) occupied the chair. Mr Withy, who was warmly received, stated that he proposed to deal with the following subjects: —“A two-and-half years’ retrospect, Plow our finances stand, How thß increased tariff effects ue, Does the railway wage act as a etardard ? Land ownership and the property tax, Last session’s stonewall, and An Electoral Bill wanted.” A RETROSPECT. He therefore commenced with a two-and-a-half years’ retrospect, and with this he associated the question of finance. He said that at the last election there were two questions before them, the first of which was retrenchment and the second protection. The electors decided on retrenchment as the main object, and the Government and the House decided to put retrenchment first, and postponed protection till the following session. It was the general hope that retrenchment would lighten the burdens of the people, and that protection would strengthen local industry. He did not think there was any risk that any Government could absolutely bring the colony to ruin, but be recognised that they wanted a Government that would do its best to manage the finances of the country. (Applause.) They wanted their finances managedsothattlieirburdens would not prove an obstacle in the way of people coming here. (Applause.) A stranger who had come amongst them had denounced the trade of politics, but he could not have used any language too strong to express his (Mr Withy’s) own dissent to look upon politics as a trade. (Applause.) What they wanted to do was to make the business of the colony a thorough success, to study the questions of the Government of the colony, to throw over petty questions of men and take a broad colonial view of things generally. (Applause.) There had been an amendment made in the Representation Act which provided that in future there should be what had been called “one man, one vote” in New Zealand. No man would have more than one vote, and each man would have to vote in the district where he resides. (Applause.) lie did not consider that property should have a vote at all where it was a question of making laws for the government of the people ; but in local matters, where it was a question how much a man should pay to the rates, then property should have an additional vote or additional votes. (Applause.) It now devolved upon the electors to be careful to exercise their privileges in the right direction even more than heretofore. When retrenchment was asked for, he took it that the people wanted a reduction of their burdens—that taxation should be reduced, and he proposed to inquire whether this desire had actually been given effect to. In thirteen items of departmental expenditure to March 31st, 1888, the total was £2,019,572. This was reduced, on March 31st, 1890, to £1,959,355, showing a decrease of £60,217. These thirteen items were practically the only points upon which they could hope to make any retrenchment, as they could not hope to "touch the interest on the debt, and it was, he thought, perfectly clear, that with such small retrenchment as that, no relief in the reduction of taxation was possible. The Colonial Treasurer’s estimate in November, 1837, of the figure to which he could reduce the expenditure on these items was £1,799,200, but on March 31sb, 1890, this was still exceeded by £89,224, and at March 31st, 1890, by £160,155, the last year . exceeding, the previous one by £70,931. The ordinary revenue to March 31sfc, 1888, was £3,337,729, and to the 31st March, 1890, it was £3,734,208, showing an increase of £396,479 in taxation. From this he would deduct the primage duty, £55,827 in bhp past year, and that would leave an additional ordinary taxation of £340,652. We had less population and more taxes ; they had asked for bread and had received a stone. (Applause.) In 1888, when severe retrenchment was the order of the day, a few of the members earned for themselves the title of “skinflints,” because they thought the pruning knife should have gone a little deeper in the reduction of departmental expenditure, and he (Mr Withy) now reasserted his opinion that retrenchment should go through the whole of Government departments, even to the railway servants. From the sum of £340,652 he proposed to take £132,000, being interest for two years, and that left a balance of £208,652. They made a saving in expenditure of £60,000, and got £208,652 by additional taxation, making a total of about £269,000. They had a right to expeeb that this £269,000 should represent a largo surplus, because this actually represented the leeway that had to be made up to meet past bad financing. In fact, thesesums Wentfostopleaksintheship, andforordinary expenditure, instead of taxation being reduced. He gave the Government credit for a good many things, notably, that they had put the cost of new school buildings upon the revenue-instead of taking it out of loan, and for the transfer of other items from loan to revenue. What he contended was that they had nob gone half far enough. What was wanted was more retrenchment, and he felt assured that if the country did nob demand it now, or at the next general election, the state of things would continue as before. (Applause.) The Government made a promise during the recess to reduce the public expenditure to the least possible point, but he could not say they had fulfilled that promise. The expenditure during the year 1889 was £89,224 above the Treasurer’s estimate, and last session an additional expenditure of £65,000 was cheerfully voted, whilst we had now spent £71,000 more than in last Vear. He thought that had the Colonial Treasurer put his foot down firmly in this matter, and risked an appeal to the country, the people would have returned' him with a substantial majority at hjsback to go on retrenching. (Applause.) There wbre, in his opinion, only two chances by which 1 the depression could be stayed, by feqrroWing no more money, and'by reducing expenditure vigorously, (^.pplause,) HOW THE INCREASED TARIFF ' AFFECTS US.

Jfc was obvious to him that the increased tariff had resulted in a serious increase of taxation to all of theip. He had likened protection to a blunderbuss bred at the future in the hope that it would hit or stimulate certain local industries, and now he asked to be shown where there had been, on account of the proteotive duties imposed, any improvement in our local industries or in the rate of wages paid in the colony. There had been a stimulation of exports, but this came from quite a separate cause. The new tariffhad not succeeded in keeping out very much, and he did not think the colony was grateful to the protectionists for what they had done in bringing extra

taxation upon the people. He could n° see the profit brought about by the new tariff, and he did not think anybody else could. (Applause.) Under protection a man had to be content with 16s 8d worth of goods, while he could have had a pound’s worth under free trade, and he could not see where that benefited the working man. (Applause.) The tendency of protection was towards monopolies and rings, and had it not been for protection in America he was confident it would not have become as it was, the most monopoly-ridden country in the whole world. (Applause.) DOES THE RAILWAY WAGE ACT AS A STANDARD?

The secretary of the Society of Railway Servants bad stated in a communication to the Railway Commissioners that “it must be taken that a reduction of wages in so large a Government Department will act as a precedent in reducing wages generally.” He (Mr Withy) maintained that railway servants should not be paid at more than a fair market rate. The railway men had never come into competition with outside labour, and did not affect the market rate. Unfortunately, wages had fallen outside of the railway department because of depression in trade. Wages represented the share that labour got out of the annual wealth produced in the colony, and if none of the loss caused by depression wero taken off the wages of the railway men, it stood to reason that the whole of the burden fell upon outside working men. (Applause.) It had been stated that the Waikato trains were to be reduced in number; that meant that less men would be wanted, and that there would be less wear and tear, and he asked the railway men if they considered it fair that these additional trains should be run simply to give them employment? (Applause ) LAND-OWNERSHIP AND PROPERTY TAX. Land-ownership, as it existed, was the causeofmostoftheexistingpoverty and most of the disputes between capital and labour. An increased value was given to land by the whole community, and the tendency of competition, unfortunately, was to increase the reward of the landholder, while wages were on the other hand reduced. What the tenants did, added to the wealth of the community, but what the owner did, did not go in that direction, and consequently the owner had no right to demand toll from the tenant who, by using the land, did so for the wellbeing of the community. (Applause.) The property tax would, he thought, form a very good basis for taxation of land less improvements. There was no basis so proper as bare land for making an assessment upon. Land could not be hidden or removed. The rise and fall in the value of land could be settled easily, ana its value could be easily fixed in the incidence of taxation. Much more[imporbanb, however,the taxation of the bare value of land, exclusive of improvements, would be just. (Applause.) Taxes were required to provide funds for common purposes, and it was surely eminently reasonable that such taxes should bo drawn from a value given by the whole community. (Applause.) He believed this principle to be so sound that it must ultimately be realised. THE STONEWALL. He was not proud of last session’s stonewall, and he was not proud of fighting, but the Premier and the Government, instead of standing by the proper traditions of Parliament, joined with the country members and tried- to do an injustice to the four cities, and it was that which induced him to take part in the stonewall. (Applause.) Fighting was forced upon them, and when they could not get away lrom it there was nothing else to do but fight, and the result was that a compromise was effected by which the new Act was made on the basis of 100 in the country and 128 in cities and boroughs containing over 2,000 inhabitants. (Applause.) AN ELECTORAL BILL. He had several times made strong complaint about the stuffing of rolls, and now urged the necessity that existed for new legislation with the view of minimising this evil. He thought one very effectual check on impersonation would be to make every voter sign his name in the book kept by the Returning Officer, as any attempt at fraud would then make the perpetrator liable to prosecution for perjury. (Applause.) IMPECUNIOUS HARBOUR BOARDS. It was well known that the New Plymouth Harbour Board had made default in payment of interest on their borrowed money, and that some other public bodies were also in a dicky condition. An effort would bo made to saddle the colony with these liabilities, and he assured the electors that he would always offer his most strenuous antagonism to anything of the kind, (Applause.) OVER-GOVERNED. In conclusion lie urged that they were thoroughly over-governed in this colony. They had far too many people in every department preying upon them, and exceedingly anxious to retain their positions, and he felt compelled to say he considered the time had arrived when people who had their whole maintenance from the State should not have votes. (Applause.) QUESTIONS.

In answer to questions Mr Withy said he had recognised for a number of years that employers should recognise trade unions ; that the education vote should bo reduced, both in primary and secondary education, chiefly by the reduction! of school age and the avoidance of over-lap-ing; that Government could be materially simplified by the reduction of members and Ministers also ; that he was in favour of New Zealand joining with Australia in the federation movement on reasonable conditions.

On the motion of Mr Thompson, seconded by Mr Cleveland, it was resolved unanimously, “That this meeting has, full confidence in Mr Withy as its representative.” This concluded the meeting.