LIBERAL DEMONSTRATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 41, 16 February 1903, Page 2

LIBERAL DEMONSTRATION.

+ MINISTERIAL SPEECHES. (Continued.) TECHNICAL EDUCATION. Mr Seddon said he would like to; touch on the question of secondary' education, It was his wish that tho children of every parent in the colony should have the opportunity of going from a primary to a sscondary school and from thence to the University, "Boar in mind," said the Premier, " that while there is an edueited democracy the country is safe, and with tbe best brains of the couatry fill'ng our professional, commercial, industrial and parliamentary life it is certain that New Zealand will maintain its position in the van of progress. (Cheers). Above all things d) not neglect the education of tho rising generation!" With regard to dairy schools claims bwd baeu put in to have a school at most of the towns in the district, but those who desired the multiplication of these schools were asking for impossibilities, as they could not be instituted at all the places advocatad, His view of tho matter was to have schools at central points, fully equipped wi h needful appliances, and a staff of instructors whose services would be available where required in othar parts of the disrict which they could visis from time to time for the purposes of giving info:motion. It was tar better to britig the schools to the psople than tike the people to the schools. HIS BEOENT TOTJK. With regard to the flattering mention that had been made of the servic is he had rendered to the colony during his visit to England and South Africa, he could say that in all he said and did, he was ever actuated by that keynote of Impuiialism which he had struck be--1 fore leaving the colony, Since his return the question of the importation of labour into South Africa had arisen, , aud he was surprised to hear that the Secretary of State was roported to have i advuci'ed the importation of Arian Übour. He had thought it his duty to address a strongly worded rpnnn- ' strance on the subj ct to Mr Chambar- . lain, but had been glad to tied from i his reply that there was no foundation ' fur the statement. As to what transpired at the confsrence he could siy, ' with nil due humility, that a grave 1 responsibility rested on bim and all | those engaged in the important deliberations of that-assembly.* It was, how- . ever, with pride that he could point tc , the fact that out of the twelve resolu > tions carried at the Conference, six had been submitted by himself. (Uheero). [ OUR NAVr, I He had been told that Australh id . tended to have a Navy of its own, but it was certain that we did find au-l [ for years depend on the Mother coun- ; try. We were her chi'dren, a*'d the ' highways of the seas must be kept open for the carriage «f our pro lues to the ' markets of the wcrld. Those who talked J abjut being free fr;m obligations and . suggested "cutting the pointer" were I lacking in intelligence. Tiie co'ony'e 1 present contribution to th >. Imperial 1 navy was £21,000, and when that amount was inorr-ased by the proposed s £19,000 the Austrubsian squadron , would be great ! y improve I, ai.d tbe i £40,000 a year would be piid for an up-to-date service of vessels of war. ' In conclusion Mr. Seddon said that Taranaki had always tre. ted him with the utmost kindne=s aud courtesy, and ! so kmg as he had health and strength | his services would ba cheerfully ren- , dered to the colony. The only reward i be boked for was that on such occasions as the prf s?nt the toa6t of tbe ; Ministry would be as cheerfully and | heartily received as it hid been that i evening. He would not wilfully wroDg 1 the people of the colony, but all men : were liable to err. He hoped thatafer the next general elect <jd, if he occupied the proud position as at present, he would come to New Plymouth, and receive the Bime cordiil welcome. After expressing the nl asure it was to him to most again with Mr Wes'on, with whom he had been associated in the pa?t, ind congratulating the people of New Plymouth ou Mr Weston's com ing to settle here, Mr Seddon announced thut next s.issiun the G ivemmvitit would introduc i a Bank of Nnv Zmknd Bill in consequence of the expiry of the guarantee to tho Bink Ho pointed out how completely the Government's action had been justified in giving the guarantee which had not cost the olony a single penny, but had placed the Bank in a sound prosperous condition, Mr Seddon resumed his seat amid another ou burst of enthusiastic ehe'ring. The Hon. T. Y. Duncan expressed his pleasure at being present, but said he wjs a hotter worker than speaker he would not detain those present with a lengthy Breach. He s*id he had interviewed the Commissioner of Crown Lands that morning, and could sttt'j that, in ronnd numbers, about 200,000 : acres of land in tha Taranaki district viz, at Tongaporutu, Whangamonona, Whenuakura, and Ohura, would be opened for settlement at an early date, . so that be hoped it wou'd not be necessary for 40 people to apply for one i section. As to roading, he admitted that, for furthering settlement, roads were urgently needed, but they were ! expensive. He was quite sure, howrtver, that the Colonial Treasurer would find the money for reasonable roading. i He hoped next session a bill would be introduced giving Crown tenants, on taking up land, from two to four years rent free to enable them to get the land productive as soon aa possible. He also hoped that roads and bridges would follow up settlement, (Cheers.) Mr Seddon proposed the Farming and Dairying Industries of New Zealand, and in doing so said that there was no doubt but that th? farmers were the backbone of the couatry, and there were none to whom the colony was more indebted than the farmers The dairy farmers had made Taranaki, and placed it in tho forefront as the most prosperous district in tht» colony, T he farmers never had better friends than the present Government, which had done, and was prepared to do fill that lay in its power to assist the firinas of every and although: an attempt had been made to the i farmers support fi om the Governme'it, it had u'terly failed, and the promot ;■ received an emphatic rejoiner at ti o polls. The farmers liked to exereieo the Englishman's right to grumble, bu* wheu it came to voting, the Government could depsnd upon their support. Siace tho present party cwui> iu'o power, enormous progress hud bran mrd!*,wool increasing from 128,000,000 lbs in 1891 te 142,000,000 in 1901, and had the same prico been maintained all through, it would hi ve meaut £2,200,000 to the colony. He was glad to say, hawever, that the price of wool went up tho very day

after the elections. The number of dairy factories in Taranaki ia 1891 was 27; 1896, 68; 1899, 153; 1900, 155; 1901,167; and 1902, 176. Th? value of butter and cheese exported from Taranaki in 1891 was £62,580, and in 1902 £514,911, aa intre.se of nearly Iwlf a {million. Not only were tliefarmeiH progressing, but the towns als), aud poopta were paying as much per foot for lind in Now Plymouth <*- in the city of Wellington. Since 1891 the unimproved v.ilue of Imd in the colony had increased £3,000000, aud the improvements £2,000,000. The are J in sown grasses by 460,000 acres; cattle 126,000, dairy cow* 53,000, and sheep 365,000. This proved that fanning was a good thing to tackle, and no one desired to do more for the farmers than ha did. With Mr. Symes he depreciated tho raising of a Town v. Oou itry cry. If the colony was to prosper, town and country must work tjgethur, The out-look was never blighter tha-i it was to-dry. The toast was drunk with enthusiatm. Mr. McKeown, of Pihama, sadne was very pleased to be called upon (o reply to this toast. Big as the figures quoted by the Premier were, he expected to sea th?m doubled in tho next five years, but they must have better means of connection, flo spoke of his experience, and sud the fanner had had a severe struggle, but thanks v:-ry largely to the Government, were now in a good way and out of debt. They wanted a ratlw.iy from Eltham to Opucake and a daily coach for New Plymouth. Mo. R. Cock Slid the dairy industry had ma le great slides, but it could not prog< ess, and prove as profitable as ir. should, unless the harbjur was improved. He urg-'d the Government to assist tho harbour by caking it over, granting prison labour, or making the Board an advanca of say £IO,OOO a year till ths loan matured, so that the Board could get the necessiry improvements under way, Mr. Cock eulogise 1 the services of Mr. Harness in tha matter ef securing tha Freezing Works for the farmert", a mnvement which would eventually prove of immense , benefit to the district. Mr Harkness spoke of the pleasure it gtvsi him to see the the Premier cf the colony propose this important toast and the able mauuer in which he hrd > dealt with i\ He took it as en ini dication that the Government realised • the importance of the groat dairy ini dustry. While he (Mr H-irkness) had > faith in the gold and coil ruining ioL dustnes he held that the dairy industrv ■ would outsee them all. Mr Harkness ■ then went on to dwell on the difficul- ' ties and the competition they had tc ■ contend with, and pointed out that 1 thoy still needed all the astis'ance tlu Government could give them. He considered the time had come when the • Government should establish a port- • folio devoted entirely to dairy and ag- ; ricukure. He did not wish to reflect ■ on the Minister of Lands who had i done good servic, but t'.e time hid i arrived when a Minister should devote i his whole time to thess important in--1 dustrie 3 . He eulogised the GovernI mont for what they had dona in this > onneotioa and commended this sugi gestion to their earnest .consideration. II Cn the last shipment of dairy produce i £7350 was paid for freight, half of ; | which was paid by Taranaki. 1 1 Mr Oonnett said, as the oldest dairy--1 mm in Taranaki, it was gratifying to . see the progress mide and he was satis- ' fied that a great advance would be made in tho next few years. He had been very glad as the one who had first advocated the erection of tha Freezing Works to co-operate with Mr Harkness in securing them for the farmers, but the n-xt thing to do to secure ihe fullest advantage of the industry, was to improve the harbour eo , thit the direct staimeis could wotk the port. The Harbour Board, of which he was chairmin, had just had complete loundings and borings madf», and found that within the sheltered area thera was ouly sand and clay to deal with, so that the harbour could bo deepened to any extent. He hoped the Government would recognise the impor aijce rf assis'ing them in this mai.t-jr. -Mr E. Dockrill, Mayor of New Plymouth, in a short but eloquent speecb, proposed " The Army and Navy," to i which Captain Cornwill replied in a few well chosen remarks. I The Ohsirman proposed " The Visiting Members of Parliament." Mi j Willis, the member for Wanganui, re- ' plied, exposing the pleasure he felt at bring piesent at such an important ' gathering. He claimed for Wanganui ' the honour, owing to the ab'e advo3acy ■of Liberalism by the late Hon, Johi Ballauce, of being the nioleua from which the grind Liberal majority spi u»sg. He was glad to see tha West Caast si unittd ia supporting the best Government that had ever sit on the Treasury batches. The Hon. Thos. Kelly, M.L.0., also briefly replied, referring with pleasure to the great growth of Liberal principles which had taken place. The P<emier proposed "The President of the Lib?ral Association, Mr Berry," and eulogised his services to the cause. Mr Berry briefly replied. Mr S. Hill proposed " Tua Ltdie3," and regretted their absence that evening. Mr Claud Weston briefly replied. " The Prf ss " was proposed in eulogistic terms by the Premier, and replied t« by the representatives of the News and Herald The tonst of "The Caterer," proposed by Dr. McOleiand, followed by Auld Ling Syne and the National Anthem, closed the proceeding*. SATURDAY'S PROCEEDINGS, Oa Saturday the Minister received deputations, which were introduced hy Messrs Smith, Symes, Jennings, and Major. MIMt-MOKAU AND OKOKE-ROADS. Messrs Pigott, chairman, and o'iSullivan, membor, of the Clifton County Council, waited on tbo Minis' er of Lands regardingthe Okoko-road. After hearing the views of tha deputation, Mr Duncan said he would give them every consideration, and the depu'ation could rely on goti.ing further assistance this yew- and a vote on the estimates for next ytar. OHUUA-ROAD. Tho question of (he completion of the gap on this road (12 miles) wns ably ur ( ?ed by Mr Jonniugs, and the Minis I tar promised that the neceesary funds j to give access to th* Cr.iwn land.; now being opened in tho Ohura. csun'ry from Taranaki should be provided at onco. noxious weeds. Mr Duncan, also at the instance of Mr Jeuning--, promised to considdr putting ragwort in the first schedule of the Noxious Woods Act.

WIDTH OF ROADS. Messrs J. and T. K. Skinner, W. D. j Webster, and J. B. Roy, introduced the question i f t';o width of roads and land cut tip under the Public Wo»kc Act, 1900, and the Laud Act, 1892. Mr McKenz'e, Commissioner of Crown was also prusont, Mr Duncm ►aid ho w-.mU look into tho m itt-r and mentioned that in same ea«>s they wsru ir.eiaiiig on rniiu streets being 1% c'-mins wide and s ; de ht.e;'s cne I chain, OKATO D3ILL SHED. I Coptain Knight of the Egmont Mounted Kifl«s headed a d-putatioo to the Minister of Defence regaiding a subsidy for a Drill Hill at Okito. i Air S..ddon promisod considera ion of the mat'er on his rotura to Vf't 1lington. j KELLY EOAD. [ In reply to Mr Jennings, Mr Duu-! cm promised consideration of ar»qaesi; to subsidise a loan of JJSOO now being rais d by the settlers on the Kolly' Ho id aa toon as hi got a report from ' Mr Murray, road inspector, whom Mr' Dunoui eulogised for his att.n iin to hisduti -.a. ! j While the banquet was on, on F. id «y ; evening, Mrs E. M Smith entertained Miss Seddon at ber h m?. 0 p~■••in SedJon and Mr Stuart Seddon were' also present. -Several ladies were in-! vited to moot them. , On Saturday afternoon the Minis-; terial pirty at d i-ev«ral townspeople j drove out as far as tho Meeting of the' Wiiteic i With ihe exception of Mi s S«ddon, • i the piry went north-by the Rotoiti' ion Saturday evening. 0 i Sunday i Afternoon Miss Seddon visited the i Hospital, and returns to Wellington I by the mail train this morning. 1 Mrs S:ddon, although in good I health, did uot feel strong enough to j etand thu fatigue of the jouro' y, as 1 biuce her illness in Engliud she has to ]be careful not to overtax herself. There wera many expressions of regret: . at her absence.