The Prime Minister

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 225, 28 January 1911, Page 5

The Prime Minister

ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECEIVED AT NEW PLYMOUTH. The Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) addressed a public meeting in the Theatre Royal last night. The Theatre was crowded in every part, the dress circle being reserved for ladies, who were present in large numbers in all parts of the hall. Sir Joseph Ward was accompanied oi» the platform by His Worship the Mayor (Mr. G. Tisch), who presided, Mr. Okpy, M.P., and a gathering of representative citizens and supporters of both sexes. In introducing the Prime Minister to the gathering, His Worship stated thai he would disclose the true linancial position of the country and combat the statements made against the present Administration. It was hardly necessary that he (Mr. Tisch) should ask for a patient hearing. He knew they would give him a cordial welcome. (Applause.) THE PREMIER'S ADDRESS. On rising to reply, Sir Joseph Ward was greeted with thunderous and prolonged applause. He prefaced his address by stating that he was present' because he was a public man and because he had been invited as such. And it was desirable tp put before the public a true statement of the administration with which all were directly or indirectly concerned, and to combat some of the statements made by those who to suit their own ends put matters in a certain light. As a matter of fairness, too, the position should be laid before them, and let them judge for themselves. (Applause.) . OP LOCAL INTEREST. The Prime Minister said he wished to refer to some local matters before going on to speak of public affairs. On hia arrival that afternoon he had visited the oil works in their district, and he wanted to take the opportunity of saying that the success of the industry would do an enormous amount of good, not only to these parts, but to the whole of the Dominion. (Applause.) He could only express his fervent hope that the efforts of the enterprising men who had taken the work in hand would meet with the fullest possible success; it loked as if the prospects would materialise as the outcome of the their labors. He hoped for the sake of this portion and also for the whole country the industry would be developed and in such a way as to be successful. IRONWORKS WITHIN A YEAR. Sir Joseph referred to a communication received that evening which led him to believe that ironworks would be established in the Dominion within a year, and he wanted to say that if any part 'Parana ki would benefit by the erection of works of the kind. He also referred to the interest and enthusiasm which in this industry had been exhibited by the late Mr E. M. Smith. (Applause.) He only regretted that the industry was likely to be started here when Mr. Smith was not with them to see that for which he had worked so well and so faithfully during his lifetime. (Hear, hear.) LOCAL WIRELESS STATION. Another local matter touched on was the establishment of wireless telegraphic stations throughout the Dominion, and particularly the fact that New Plymouth had been chosen as a site for a lowpower station. (Applause.) It would be erected on the top of the Post Office, and would be workable for a distance 01 500 miles. "Experiments which have been conducted by officers of the Telegraph Department at Wellington," said Sir Joseph,, "have satisfied me that the smaller stations can conveniently be erected on the roofs above the post offices at the places named—a course which will materially reduce the cost of up-keep, as the stations will be under the immediate charge of the postmasters. The high-power stations, however, will be" independent units, staffed by special staffs and remaining open day and lrght. When the proposed stations are erected every corner of the coast and the ocean surrounding New Zealand within a considerable radius will be within the field of our wireless telegraph system."

DIRECT STEAMERS FOR NEW PLYMOUTH.

Sir Joseph briefly referred to the good work which was being done by the Harbor Board, and said the Board should make up its mind to reach the goal quickly which was the natural due of New Plymouth, and that they ought by competition and representation to the shipping concerns which controlled the ocean traffic of the world to secure direct steamers coming to and going from New Plymouth. The Board was working in that direction already, he said, as he could see by the amount of development that was going on, but the towri and district would never attain to that distinctiveness until they were able to possess that means of direct communication that was invaluable not only to the business people in the town but also to the settlers in all parts of the district. They had already at the port got a depth of 33 feet of water at the wharf, and 45 feet at high water, and there was no reason why in a district whose j exports and whose population had increased with such rapidity should not press to have the invaluable connection of the district with the Old World, and not rely on thecostly and expensive system of transhipment that now obtained. TARANAKI'S PROGRESS. The Premier referred to the fact that in the five years during which he had been Prime Minister Taranaki's exports of cheese had increased in value by £170,000. and of butter by £IOO,OOO (in round figures). New Zealand, lie said, was -holding its own in the production of dairy produce. He wanted to speak of one matter concerning the Government and the industry, and in passing touched on THE DAIRY REGULATIONS. (Laughter.) He stated* that when the Government suggested a system which it was now recognised would have been a, good thing for the farmers and for the Dominion, this was seized upon by their opponents, and the Government was misrepresented and most unfairly treated in the matter. The scheme had been suggested not for the benefit of the Government, or to hurt the farmers, but to assist them to obtain the best results, and it was used for the purpose of party politics, and used actually to the detriment of the people who were exporting dairy produce from this district. This was the reward the Government received for inaugurating a scheme which the farmers and dairy factory people now recognised had been for their good, in assisting them to sustain n regularity of quality and a uniformity of price. It had been clearly shown that there was a desire on the part of the Government to help the man who milks the cow, and he mentioned the appointment recently of the three experts to educate and guide the farmers and factory companies of the Taranaki district. He averred and emphasised that ,there never had been in this country or in any other country a Government which had done so much for the farmer

as the present Government, and the sequence of Governments of which this wai the successor. (Applause.) MORE THAN HOLDING ITS OWN. The Premier said that lie believed il a good stand-up British fight in the electorates, but they should fight fair. Despite what had been said, New Zealand dairy produce 011 the English markets was more than holding its own, except against Danish butter, and they could not hope, until the means of transit were very much hastened, to successfully compete alongside the country which could put its butter before the consumer fresh day by day. He thought lie would be able to show that things in this Domiion were not quite as blaek as they were painted by some folk for political purposes, but that op the contrary New Zealand was doing very well. THE RECENT LOAN. Referring to the five million loan, Sir Joseph said lie would direct special attention to the manner in wflich the money was apportioned, it was as follows: £ Naval defence account 1,250,000 Public works and land settlement account 1,750,000 Advance* to settlers 1,070,000 Advances to workers '325000 Those people who, for political purposes, had been attempting to discount the flotation of the loan, and who were declaring luat it had resulted in the credit of the Dominion being injured, though no newspaper or public man in England had maue any such statement, might rightly be asked what portion of the five million they would nave omitted. Any talk of omitting the £1,250,000 raised .to pay for the Dreadnought would have caused the critics to hold up their hands in holy horror in protest. The Opposition party had regularly voted for the general loans, and so could not consistently object to the item of £1,750,000. It would be interesting to know who would strike out the item for the advances departments, which did such an enormous amount of good in the country. Only for political purposes would anyone urge that any portion of the five millions was not essential for the pur- • poses for which Parliament set it aside. Referring to the attempts made in the Dominion itself to discount the success attending the flotation, he said it was regrettable, in the interests of the Dominion, that the policy of the Opposition for many years past had been to try to gain office by deliberately discounting the financial position. He drew attention to the fact that of the £1,850,000 loan issued by New Zealand on March 31, 1010, the issuo being upon almost similar terms to those of the £0,000,000 loan, the underwriters were required to take only 17 per cent. Two months earlier, in January, an Indian 3y 2 per cent, loan of £7,000,000 at £O6 resulted in the underwriters having to take 50 per cent., while in the case of a Ceylon 3% per cent, loan issued in December, 1909, at £96 10s, the underwriters had to take 90 per cent. Did the Leader of the British Opposition immediately cry that the bottom had fallen out of India? No. New Zealand came out splendidly in comparison with other countries. Half of the £1,850,000 loan was converted within 11 fortnight of issue. ' The latest advice from London was that £ 1,001 ,800 of it had been verted to the date of writing. The conditions as to conversion, etc., were quite common ones. The agreement that the loan should be floated by the underwriters at 1 per cent, was implicitly carried out, and to show the value of some of the criticisms passed upon the transaction, the latest advice from the High Commissioner intimated that although half of the loan remained in the hands of the unaerwriters they were holding it voluntarily for investment; the conversions were still proceeding, and some of the underwriters had earned a profit upon tlife portions of the loan that had to be sold to the public, and which was alleged by Opposition critics here to be such bad stock. There was absolutely nothing whatever to justify the pessimistic condemnatory speeches and articles which had been made and written. There had been no statement published in England, so far as he knew, regarding the discredit the loan was supposed to have brought to New Zealand. None of the underwriters who had taken the loan up had found fault with our stability, and no paper seemed to have questioned the Dominion's financial position. The Leader of the Opposition and his supporters had quoted isolated sentences from Home papers' suggesting that the credit of New Zealand had been seriously shaken, and it was only a matter of fairness that lie himself should give some of the statements he had found, which evinced the utmost confidence in the position. The papers he had seen all said that the position was excellent, and that the financial stability of the Dominion was undoubted. None appeared to have done other than say that New Zealand was most successful in obtaining its £5,000,000 loan from underwriters by paying only 1 per cent, commission, and that it was bevond all question th'at the causes which led to the public not relieving the underwriters were not connected with,, the credit of New Zealand at all. No one had attributed it t'o default on the part of the Government. Only the New Zealand Opposition had (done that. TliE BORROWING QUESTION. .Speaking on financial matters generally, he was of opinion that we could not do without borrowing just yet, if we were to have roads and bridges constructed to meet the needs of settlement. ADVANCES TO SETTLERS. . The advances to settlers and workers oflices were now well in funds, and during the past year hail lent £1,32!),000 to settlers, and £-108,000 to workers. Since the inception of the system the Department had lent £10,254,(100 to settlers altogether, and £1,152,000 to workers. The full amount of £3OOO was now being lent on country properties, and at the meeting of the board on Tuesday it had been decided to raise the limit for town properties to £2OOO. LAND SETTLEMENT. During nine months 1500 people, apart from their families, were settled upon the land, and £27,000 lent irrespective of the demands on the Crown lands of the colony. What did their opponents suggest to provide in tiie place of the Govenunent's system for land settlement! 1 It would be suicidal, retrogressive and dangerous, said the speaker, to slop the land settlement at once. If they did so it would be like going back to the old days when they had all wool, with bullocks and waggons. That was all very well foi the wool men, but the Government had to provide 20 millions for railways to open up the country so as to have a decent line to their properties, and they had to endeavor to prevent mistakes that had occurred in the Old Larnd. They had to remember that this was a different country, and they had to carry on an aggressive and defensive policy. Besides their ordinary work the Government of this young country had to remember tlieir attachment to the Old Land, and this brought in its train huge responsibilities; and any man with ordinary sense must admit that the Government had accepted it. They had to maintain the navy, because if two or ' three nations managed to effect damage

to the Empire, it was going to do their, young country a lot of damage. lie re-, ferrcd to the gift of the Dominion's Dreadnought to the Empire, and to the: loan raised to pay for it, it was a great' policy. The country was paying very I | largely towards its loans in the way of ! taxation; and the people who got the benefits were rightly paying. Every I year more people were'going on the land and were increasing the imports and ex-1 ]jorts, and in carrying the railways oil. they were doing much to assist in paying the expenditure on behalf of the j people of New Zealand. Sir Joseph referred to the position of Canada, where j one private-owned railway borrowed! more money for one line than the whole National Debt of New Zealand and the people behind it. The position in Can-1 ada was that the railroad company would possibly rule the country. Such a position could not prevail here, ana 110 one would have it so. But in spite of what the Government had done they fdund those who had been assisted and had gone round and spoken against the Government, coming and asking for huge expenditure for their own districts. Til. • triroached the Government with! fiiv !• ability, even discursively, andwiiparent earnestness, stating the! reason why—"Oh, Mr. Okey here, knows j it!" ("Ha, ha," and loud applause.)! ''That," continued Sir Joseph, "was what, they called playing the game," As to Quensland, and the report about money p and settlers going there to reside, the; latter of whom had made their money i .out of New Zealrfhd, only the other day' some people left and immediately he. received word from the Queensland Government asking if they could take 1 the money for investment. "I took it like a shot," said Sir Joseph, Far-oil fields, are green, he admitted was a popular phrase, but many of those who went out, of the colony after making: their money in it, returned in six or' twelve months and said: "I have lived j in it and I will die in it." New Zealand was only a young country, about 70 years old, and unlike the older lands, with, their traditions of race and age, had. freshness and brightness and beauty. Their laws were in advance of many of the Old Country, and the Australian Continent had paid them A HIGH COMPLIMENT i the other day in regard to this. And he | would tell them that if Australia had: I to get alongside our Dominion in re-| lation to our advanced legislation, even' supposing they passed everyone of them in one session, it would be 25 years be-' fore they would be on the statute-j book. "We have a right to be proud of l our position," said Sir Joseph. "We- 1 have our mistakes and faults, but who! has not?" They must judge not by the I mistakes that were made or that there' were only a few mistakes, but that they | were made in the endeavor and with; the best intentions to do what was right. | lie believed that the bulk of the people | recognised what had been done for them. SIGNS OF PROGRESS. During ten years the value of the trade of the country—imports and ex-| ports—had risen from £23,800,000 to! The same record of re-i inarkable expansion was shown by what-1 ever test one might apply. The valua-j tion of land and improvement represnt-1 ed an increase of 100.32 per cent, in the' period, having risen from £138,591,000 ] to £277,030,001) —an increase of over 13!) millions. All went to show that duringt the decade, notwithstanding the rever-j berations of the pessimists, there had been a steady march of progress, de-| ! velopment, and solidarity. All the pre-, j sent indications were so striking in that direction that it made one marvel thai! the prophets of evil did not recognise! the futility of their cries. THE EXPENDITURE. Side by side with this development there had necessarily been considerable activity in public works expenditure. During the last five years, which covered the period of his Premiership, the Government had expended £11,572,840 on railways, roads, bridges, public buildings, and other works, of which £7,271,810 had been spent in the North Island, and £4,301,033 in the South Island. The great bulk of the expenditure had been on reproductive works, and those parts that had not been directly reproductive had been for absolute necessities whic/i hail indirectly helped to increase the output of the land to ail extent which represented considerably more than the interest that had to be paid on the loans. Of the total expenditure during the five years the distribution had been as fallows:— £ Railways 7,208,806 Roads and bridge# .. V)ll,182 Public buildings 1,171,009 Other works 1,109,780 LAST SESSION. The session had been a ]onr> one, and he could stay for a week, and speak every night, and then not have time to explain to them the valuable legislature that had been put on the statutebook. They had done work of a character that so far had not been done by any Parliament in the world. He then referred to several of the most important measures which had become law, viz., National Annuities, for which anything from £30,000 up to £IOO,OOO had been made provision by Parliament; and through which by a small contribution weekly people would be able to provide for their old age; legislation whereby a number of people could join themselves into an association to buy land and 'go to the Government and get the money for payment guaranteed—this suited the man of small means, while at the same time the owner of the land having got the Government debentures could turn them into sovereigns; and each man could have his own piece of land by depositing £lO and the Government would enable him to build on it. (Applause.) He considered it was the duty of a Government to see that the people lived in conditions of ordinary comfort. Reference was also made to the advanced lines of legislation in the shape of Local and Dominion Option, the gaming laws,' suppression of trusts, amendment°to the 1 libel laws, etc. 1 The Prime Minister also touched on the general advancement of the Domin-I ion for the past ten years and to the! wonderful progress of the province of Taranaki itself. There had been an' increase in population of 15,000 since 1893, and there were great prospects be-j fore it in respect to its harbor, its oil-' works and the possibilities attached to

ironworks. His wish was that all their hopes in these directions would be realised, as individual effort sissisivd not only to the advancement of tiu- district but to the stability, dignity anil general advancement of the Dominion. (Load applause.) THANKS AND CONFIDENT.'*:. At the conclusion of the address, Mr. E. Dockrill moved the following resolu-; tion: "That this meeting accords the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Ward its hearty thanks for his statesmanlike address, 1 and expresses its continued confidence in the Liberal Party and in the Government of which he is the distiguished head." In speaking to the motion. Mr. Dockrill congratulated Sir Joseph on his work in lifting the Dominion out of the zone of financial depression a few years ago. He asked the audience to carry the motion unanimously to show their confidence in the Government's action in that crisis, and their reliance upon the "Wizard of Finance," who would appear to have thoroughly earned the title, judging by his excellent address. Mr. W. Fitzpatrick seconded the motion. Mr. A. Forbes wished to move a vote of thanks only, and stated in the course of a short speech in which he was told by the audience to "sit down," that it seemed anomalous for a place to pass a a vote of confidence in an Administration and then return an Opposition candidate. There was no seconder to his proposal, and the motion was then put to the meeting, and declared carried. Sir Joseph briefly returned thanks for the vote, and hoped that some day he would return and give another address, when he felt confident he would be able to convince "that chap with the musical face (the mover of the amendment) to look on my side," when be was sure he would not fail to be with them. (Laughter and applause.) A vote of thanks to the chair, and hearty cheers for the Prime Minister concluded the meeting.