A POLICY SPEECH

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 382, 6 May 1910, Page 5

A POLICY SPEECH

THE PREMIER AT WI.NTON. THE COMING SESSION. By Telegraph—Press Association. Winton, Last Night. The Prime Minister received a very cordial welcome from his constituents when he delivered his policy speech at Winton to-night. In the course of his speech the Prime Minister conwnented on the progress of Southland. This was well shown by tne increase of population—l4,ooo in nine years. The area under cultivation is 205,000 acres, in live stock 333,000 head, and the value of imports and exports over £700,000 from the ports of Bluff and Invereargill. The progress was well recorded by the Postal Department, where large increases were noticeable. REVIEW OF LAST SESSION'S WORK.

Reviewing last sessions work the Premier outlined the legislative work which had been made law, and in referring to the Special Settlement Finance Act he said that a misconception existed regarding the liability of each member of the Association taking up land. He wished it clearly understood that there is no liability whatever on the part of the associations, save for the purciuise money of the particular piece of land each settler takes. The Death Duties Act, The Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act, The Friendly Societies Act, The Advances to Settlers and Workers Acts, The Industrial School Amendment Act, The Reformatory Institution Act, The Old Age Pension Act, The Race Meetings ct, The Workers' Compensation Act, The Public Service Classification and Superannuation Act, and The Native Land Act were all reviewed. THE TRAD,E REVIVAL. The Customs revenue and trade returns showed a healthy increase. The increase in the value of exports over the ip;..:vious year was, at the end of March 04,475,273, and totalling £2,4!10,519. Wool was responsible for £2,400,000 of i his increase, while butter, cheese, frozen meats, grain, hops and skins have also assisted. Imports totalled £15,302,081, leaving the excess of exports over imports at £6,128,438. The estimated revenue for the year was £2,630,000, to which primage, £1976, and surtax, £18,750, must be added. The actual revenue amounted to £2,071,125, or £20,39!) in excess of the estimate. The progress of LAM) settl:-;:e:>:t

during the past year h.ui ' -i ..(nady, and had Leon met with, 2,270,184 acres of Crown lands being thrown open for selection. This has enabled' 2330 additional settlers to take their places on the land, probably, with their families, numbering 8000 souls. Nine estates had been acquired during the year for closer settlement, and eight opened for select.'on. The revenue from land during the year was £075,000, being £.10,487 over the estimate.

THE GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS. The Postal Department's revenue amounted to £0fi0.8;54, an increase of over £4OOO on the previous year. Money order and Savings Bank business showed good returns, the former being issued to the value of £2,308,000. Last venr there was deposited in the Savings Bank £7.011.000, and withdrawn £ft.,ifM,ooo. Toil years ago these figures were £3,045,000 and £3,417,021. PLENTY OF WORK. Considering the large amounts loaned to the various local bodies by the Government for works this winter, employment for the willing worker should be fairly plentiful. the Government could always he depended upon to do its best to meet nnv difficulty tint might arise, and any distress in this eonnect'on would be kent down to a minimum. He dcprpcnted the fact that so much was made of the unemployment trouble last winW, and that the wildest statements were sent abroad. IMMIGRATION. Last year 2797 assisted passengers arrived in the colony, and the arrangement with the shipping companies trading from the United Kingdom was still in existence. The first vessel carrying agriculturists will be the Tongariro." ar" riving in September, it having"beon considered advisable for this class of assisted immigrant only to arrive in the early summer months'. The Government had made arrangements that the Dominion .would not he flooded with immigrants when labor was scarce. THE RETRENCHMENT POLICY.

I Referring to the retrenchment policy decided to follow last year he pointed out that public and .private companies had also to retrench. There was now, however, no need for future retrenchment. It had .been referred to as "All wool and cry, and no results." There had been a nett saving of £98,078 last y<ar owing to retrenchment in five departments, though, owing to the increase of business in two or three departments, an increased expenditure had to be made of £IIO,OOO. THE TAXATION CRY. Referring to the cry about increased taxation, the Premier pointed out that thf- mass of the people were taxpayers only through the Customs, on which reductions amounting to 4% million sterling had been made in the last few years. Only about 41,000 people paid land and income tax, and during the rast seventeen years their aggregate wealth had increased about £250,000,000, and th.ey naturally paid more. During the last seven years there had been on increase in taxation except bv wav of the graduated land tax, and a tax last year to pay interest on the increased vote for defence. Both the graduated land t::x and the Dreadnought vote had been supported by the Opposition. A RECORD REVENUE. Last year was a record, the revenue amounting to £0,328.000, which was £237.000 more than the .previous vear's operations. " ! THE SURPLUS. j They had effected a permanent saving' in Government departments, and the j surplus for the year was £43,316. in l public works they h«d spont £203.(100,' and had at the. credit of the account to i carry con at the end of the year £()»4.701 i indicating a financial improvement in the country. Sir Joseph Ward stated that outside the £OOO,OOO deposits in the Savings Banks, the bank deposits had increased, between 1000 and 1011, from £14,000,000 to £20.000,010. THE RAILWAYS. railways had last year <pnid £3 iss 7d per cent. The revenue had beenj £3.420.780. or £320,024 move than that of tV previous ycr.r. and the passenger

traffic had increased over three-quarters of a million. The Government Jiad granted £2,280,000 in concessions to users of the railways, and had besides increased the pay to railways employees to the extent of £871,000, at the same time also shortening the hours of work. The policy of the. railways would lie the same in the future as in the |>a.st. No increase would be made in rates on goods and produce, stock or in passenger fares. It was bettor for the railways to help the man on the land than to bring a high percentage, as they could easily do from users of the railways. EDUCATION. In connection with education the Premier stated that something won A have to be done next session in the way ot amendments to the Act to assist'the, finances of schools. (Cheers.) ' DEFENCE. I Speaking on Defence, the Premier said that in the evolution that had gone on in the .building of navies and the equip- 1 pmg of armies. New Zealand has in duty bound done her share in the all important matter of self protection.. It is our duty to take a small part in making the British navy stronger than it is to-day, and in addition to the "Dreadnought" the sum of £IOO.OOO per annum is to be contributed to Hie Admiralty. The coast defences have been proved from time to time to be in want of ordnance, and with the advice of the Colonial Defence Committee and various admirals who have visited New Zealand, the stock of arms and field equipment for the -field forces has been duly augmented, and the defence force itself has steadily increased in numbers until, at the: end of the volunteer year just closed, the total of all arms was 22,313, an increase of ISBS on the previous years! The establishments necessary to remodel the force on modern lines, under last year's defence act are completed, snowing the for peace for each corps ar..; \r\h in the separate districts. The war establishments are the same as fur the Imperial Army. A sum of £150,000 is to be "xpended in three years for equipmeu: •- the rate of £50,000 a year, and ilu- lirst of these orders has already been forwarded, consisting princ':|.a'ly of small arm.; -«d armament, ma<'h:!ie guns. ciM'i" -.'.: "-id (> r 'ii;r»ent ami sample volrHis ;'< ,- {lie first liiu- ot transport. Two qualified officers of the Imperial staff have been sent for, and part of their duty will be to organise and supervise the necessary schools ot instruction. The condition of service for the selection of officers will be published next week, and 28 non-coms, appointed as soon as possible. This will avoid any delay in reorganising .the force and getting under way the necessary registration on subsequent training under the compulsory clauses of the Act. These officers, Sir Joseph said, he hoped would all be New Zealanders. or at least have been attached to our 'service for some time. Since the passing of last year's Defence Act Field-Marshal Lord Kitchener (has inspected the forces and reported. After careful consideration it has been decided to adopt his recommendations with a few slight alterations with inspect Ito his suggested' rate of pay of the higher officers, which is somewhat in excess of what a small country like New..'Zealand should be expected to give. The Necessary alterations in connection with our regulations have been made to fit in with 'Lord Kitchener's suggestion. It is estimated that we have in the countrv 05,000 men between the (ages of 10 and 25 to draw from. Besides these there are 19,142 junior cadets from 12 to 14. 38.251 senior cadets from 14 to 18, and 10,006 recruits from 18 to 10. Under Lord Kitchener's suggestion the peace footing for the Territorial Force will be—Officers, 10S7; non-commissioned officers and rank and file, 18,800; officers training corps at universities, 252; total, 10,139. There will 'be, in addition, 3G90 recruits find 2filo 25 to 20 year men available to at once augment the peace establishment,' nd 2700 will pass (annually to the vcserve. Thus in five vears we will have a total of 39..500 'fully-trained men. Rifle clubs will be continued and an increased amount of jam-munition granted annually. Lord Kitchener's recommendation for harbor defences will be given effect to. The cost for the year 1910-11 is .estimated at £350,000.

Eeferrinsr to the sinking fund, Sir Joseph said that we now owe about seventy millions, which bv an annual repayment of £156,000 .invested at 4 per cent, would be repaid in seventvfive rears, and he intends to submit to Parliament a comprehensive scheme to set aside annually a sum sufficient to liquidate the whole of tne debt in seventy-five years, instead of n separate ■fund for each l«;in on maturity, and «I«o to apply the same srstem'to enable all future (loans to be repaid at the end of the same terra. THE COMING SESSION. Dealing with the work of the coming session, Sir Joseph said the question of local government will be considered, and probably the number of (public bodies now existing will be reduced. The Native Land Act, MOO, was reviewed at length, during |\vhieh the Premier said there was at present a total of 420,000 acres in the North Island under consideration. Great ..difficulty was experienced in connection with the present system of valuing land, and he advocated a fixed period, every four years, to have the valuations of lands throughout the Dominion effected.

The National Annuities Bill will be introduced during the approaching session. Wireless telegraph foroposals were now being dealt with. »nul he hoped to see the system in working order within twelve months. ' Anti-trust legislation, he urged, was required: backblockers were promised even greater attention during the coming (year than in the past: and the old order of striking non-voters off the electoral rolls will be reverted to. The post audit svstem will be submitted to Parliament for its consideration, and a Bill effectin? an improvement in the (procedure of local bodies who require to borrow money will he submitted, and legislation for the complete control by the Government of the rirers and lakes for water-*uonlv and power purposes will be considered. In conclusion, the Premier ireferrcil to the silver coining question, the libel law (which the Premier admitted was unsatisfactory), and the encouragement of beet isugar crowing. <At the conclusion of the mfietintr a vote of thanks and confidence was carried.