The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1912. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 198, 19 February 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1912. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

The Governor's Speech, read to the General Assembly is one of the most extraordinary documents of its kind that has ever been recited in Parliament. The Premier in it has covered every conceivable matter in which the country is vitally interested, and has shown that, if permitted, he intends to bring about the various reforms that have been suggested to him by the Parliament, the people and the press. A careful collation these matters, and a masterful method of embodying them in virtual promises by means of the Governor's Speech, places the Cabinet-maker apparent (Mr Massey) in an awkward position. There is little that Mr. Massey might do that Sir Joseph Ward does not promise to do, and the one point at issue is whether the Premier's promises will attract a large enough majority in the House to make the appeals of Mr. Massey of" no effect. The promise that local government and the advances of loans to local bodies will be put on a better footing is enticing. The Speech, however, does not indicate in any way what is really to happen, except that matters will be "more stable and satisfactory." The very general objection of the people to the constitution of the Legislative Council, whereby men of brilliant attainments who have won their places are set cheek by jowl with political proteges often quite unfit and sometimes illiterate, has been carefully noted, and the creation of Provincial Councils, which may elect elders to this august body, may minimise the discontent. Some of these elders will be elected by the House of Representatives, which is a fair proposition, and some will be nominated by the Government, presumably for. services, not to politics, but to the country, there being a vast difference between the two. A more equiti able distribution of land has been ds- ! manded for years, and therefore it is promised that a Bill providing that estates of the unimproved value of £25,000 and upwards may be compulsorily acquired at a price to be fixed by the Land Purchase Board and subdivided to. small holders on the deferred payment system. The only requisite to success in this innovation is the personnel of the Board. The rather vague promise inferred in the clause dealing with the settlement of native lands may have the effect of obtaining a wider alienatien of native territory, although the means by which these areas are to be acquired and settled, the method by which natives will be "financially assisted" and urged to farm their remaining land 3 are left in doubt. If the promise to "vlgorouiPy prosecute the purchase of native lands by the Crown" is kept, the untold miles of «ountry that are simply a pest and an incentive to the native to remain absolutely idle may at

last be used. A further promise that aggregation of land "in contravention of

the law" will be forbidden, is simply a very frank acknowledgment thai contravention of the law up to the present time has been a simple matter, condoned by the people who made the law. The promi'se is to be more business-like and less kind to evil-doers in the future. The 'promise of provision to prevent the trafficking in Crown leases is again an acknowledgment of past ineffectiveness. Tha trafficking in leases might have been prevented years ago by the simple method of insisting on permanent occupation, and the true and complete working and. improvement of the leasehold. The promise that the State will take a portion of the price paid for the goodwill in the case of transfer is encouraging, and may effect a very necessary reform by which the boodler who simply takes leases in order that neighbors may by their industry appreciate his interest will be hit where he lives. There is the alternative that the boodler, who flourishes exceedingly in New Zealand, may by the finesse so common to his tribe overcomo the law, and find new means of evading the proposed tax. That he is the chief handicap to successful settlement and the reduction of the price of land to what it will produce js absolutely certain. The sop thrown to Labor by the promise of provisions by which Labor may be allowed the use of Government money with which to become partners with their supposed masters and' 3mployers, will have the useful effect of appealing to many rebels. There is, in our view, no better justice in supplying capital to enable a worker to take a share in an industrial enterprise than- there is in advancing money to an employing corporation in order to develop an enterprise which will pay wages. The notion that employers will help to indemnify 'the Goverriment against loss, in order that employees may share profits, is rather unique. It may lead to most interesting derelopments. It is not stated whether the employees- will share the worry of administration, or whether this small matter will be left to the creators of business, who, by the sheer reason of their control, are- hated by the wageearners, or a proportion of them. The promised alteration in the electoral law by which the numerous persons are now disfranchised may exercise the vote is a reform much needed. In times to come it may be made compulsory to register p. vote, or at least for every person possessing the privilege, to attend a polling place either in person or- by proxy. Minority representation is bad "business, and it ia not at all certain whether the second ballot system is all that fancy paints it. Splendidly vague is the clause dealing with the promised revision of the customs tariff, and .except for the suggestion that a "true protective system" will be inaugurated (which in plain English means the exploiting of the purchasing public in order to build up businesses for existing and probable manufacturers) the suggestion has little real interest. It is stated that the greater revenue which, it is said,"is to be derived from the increase of the graduated land tax, will be devoted to "articles of daily use by small farmers, workers and the wives arid families." The only article mentioned is tobacco. The extreme vagueness of the promises contained in the Speech we have reviewed is its most appealing feature. It is indeed the shelf without the kernel, the lamp lacking oil, the engine without steam, the wEeel detached from the axle, the agreement without the signature of the parties. There are many other entrancing items which it is impossible to deal with now, and these items are just as appealing as those which have been mentioned. The whole alluring fabric may be shattered by the single vote of a very ordinary politician. And it is upon the vote and not the fabric that the eyes of New Zealand are fixed just now. Possibly the Government has in view an early appeal to the country, with the policy enunciated in the Governor's Speech as its battle-cry.