PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1173, 3 May 1884, Page 3

PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

MR POSTLETHWAITE, M.H.R., AT TEMUKA. Mr Postlethwaite, M.H.R. for Geraldine, addressed a crowded meeting of his constituents in the Volunteer Hall, Temuka, last evening. About 8 o'clock , Mr Postlethwaite said Mr Talbot was to have taken the chair, but was absent , from the district, and Mr Quinn bad kindly consented to take his place. . (Applause). i Mr Quinn then took the chair, tie , said he would not detain them with a ■ long speech. It was quite a new thing for him to occupy the chair. He trusted that as colonists they would give , the speaker a fair hearing, and if they did ; not agme with all he said, let them come ■ up on th ' reform after he had finished, - one by mie, and say what they disagreed ; with, ai 1 he had no- doubt their member ( would answer them. They all knew the member who was going to speak to them ] that evening, and he would now call upon ] him to speak for himself, when he would | give them an account of his actions ] during the last two sessions. ] Mr Postlethwaite, who was greeted with 1 applause, then came forward and said I he had invited them to attend, that ' evening so that they might have half an hour's —or as much more as was necessary < —talk on political affairs. He had ! noticed in the papers a number of i anonymous letters, wondering when . their representative in Parliament was i going to address them. He was not i afraid to meet them as brother electors, " but it was only right and fair that the one who represented them i should have the privilege of picking bis i own time. Then they had been busy i with the harvest. He knew perfectly ' well that it would have been very inconvenient for them to leave their harvesting and attend. He did not think that a month made much difference. In reference to this subject, it had been pointed out to him since he had been in Temuka that evening, that a local had appeared in a paper staling that a petition had been goiuff round tha district for signatures, asking him to address them. He could assure them that ho knew nothing of that, and he was prepared to prove that he had taken the Hall a fortnight before that time. While on the subject he had to thank Lieut. Findlay for allowing bim to address them in the Hall that evening, as he believed the volunteers were to have been in it themselves. Having said so much, he would i take the opportunity of telling the ! Geraldine electors what he had dona in the House during the last two sessions. The most important matter in regard to Temuka was with regard to the formation of Temuka into a borough. A requisition was forwarded to him as their representative to that effect. On receipt of that requisition, he at once put himself into communication with ' the Hoa. Mr Dick. He placed the desires of the petitioners fully before him, and he had every reason to suppose that that petition would have been granted. It was only after his return from Wellington that he had learned (he thought he lparned it from the newspapers) that another requisition had been forwarded petitioning against the formation into a borough. He very much regretted that the promoters of the first requisition had not communicated with him, so that he would have had the opportunity of speaking to the Hon. Colonial Secretary. He believed, according to the paper, that a number of names were on the petition that had no right to ba. He was of opinion that the townspeople had a perfect right to form themselves into a borough if they so wished. The next subject he would speak on was of interest, net only to Temuka but, to the whole county of Geraldine. He alluded to the 1 Waterworks Bill. He knew that that Bill was to be introduced into the House. They knew that he had said he did not think the Bill should be looked upon as a Private Bill. He found that the Ashburton Bill had been introduced as a Private Bill. It had come to ' bis knowledge that some individuals had stated that he Dever intended to pas* that Bill, because he was opposed to the ' scheme. It did not affect him one way I or the other, as it only affected thos e i ratepayers who made use of them, jt II was wrong to make such statement

He had always conducted himself honorably and uprightly in his public life. When he became their representative he did not enter public life for the first time. Twenty-three years before he came to the colony of New Zealand he had some knowledge of public life in England. To be respected a public man must act uprightly and honestly to all. He was going to show them that, the "Waterworks Bill was introduced, read a first time, and sent before- a Committee, which, he addressed over and over o»ain. He went before a Committee, a Committee formed by the two Homes, and urged that the matter should be looked upon as a public one. He would read from the Journal of the House of Representatives to show the action he had taken in regard to the matter. (Mr Postlethwaite then read some extracts to show what he, as Member for Geraldine, had done in regard to the matter.) Now that showed that the Bill was presented in the proper way, and that it went before a Committee. (Mr Postlethwaite then read extracts from the Journal of the Legislative Council to bqow what had become of the Bill. it showed that the member for Geraldine had brought in the Bill, and that in their opinion it was a Private Bill, and ordered to lie on the table.) From these two atatements it w«s te bo seen that the Bill would not be allowed to pass as a Private Bill. It had been thrown out in the Upper House, and he waa not responsible for the acts of the Legislative Council. And then they came upon what gave the County Councils the special powers which they now enjoy. He found that a clause could be inserted in the Counties Bill, or Public Works Act. It had a double effect. He <ras asked by some member* to push the matter, and it waa said that it would not only benefit his own district but the whole colony, and now they had it in the Counties Act Amendment Bill. (Applause.) It would be eaan that clauses 30, 32, 33, and 34 of the Counties Act Amendment Bill dealt with the question so that all the power* required were supplied with that Bill. As regards the Temuka-Hilton railway, he told them when addressing them at the election that he would oppose any further borrowing. When he went to Wellington he told Major Atkinson he would agree with him ia everything except the loan which Sir John Hall had foreshadowed in his address to bis constituents. Aa regards loans, very few of them had any idea of what occurred in Wellington. The first thing was to hold a caucus meeting to allocate this loan, at which the members behaved more like schoolboys than statesmen. Oning to what occurred at the caucus meeting he opposed the loan, and the journals of the House would show ha recorded his vote against the Government. He meant the tlnee million loan, because he saw at the caucus meeting a great deal ef the money would be thrown away. (Mr Badham : What about the one million loan?) He would go into the matter and show them what perhaps they did not know: He had a conversation with a member who stood high in the Opposition ranks, who had letters to prove that the Native King was well pleased in regard to the. construction of railways in the North Island, and he had not the slightest hesitation in saying that when the natives saw the railway running through their land they would give them moie than a million in return. They knew what was goed for them. The finest land in New Zealand belonged to them, and would become, a power of wealth in future. Some of thair land which was only worth 5s per acre is today worth £5 or £6. Ihey are the shrewdest of men and alive to their own interests, and with the way the Native Minister has brought these matters before them, they will only be too glad to see the railway running through their territory. What was the fate of the three million loan 1 The construction of a number of railways was asked for during the last session and he asked for £35,000 for the construction of the railway between Temuka and Hilton. He was met with the remark to hava it constructed from Hilton to Rangitata. But that would be absurd, for the Waihi Bush was worked out and no material benefit would be derived from it. That was the reason why he voted for the one million and against the three million loan. He did so for the welfare of the colony as a whole. (Mr Postlethwaite then read a list of the railways asked to be constructed). That madaa total of £943,000, and for roads where railways could not be constructed, £IOB,OOO. It showed them that the statement that had been going abroad that be did not try to get funds for the Hilton-Temnk* railway was entirely without foundation. In regard to the School Committee question. It was one of the greatest trouble to many in Temuka. They had all read in the papers, no doubt, that Mr Steward, of Waimate, brought in a Bill last session dealing with the question of cumulative voting at the election of School Committees. He (Mr Postlethwaite) approved of it, and assisted to get it through the House. It was passed by a large majority in the Lower House but it fell through In the Upper. Ha had no •doubt bit that if Mr Steward brought the Bill in during the next session it would pass both Houses, as it had been incontestably proved that the cumulative votiDg had not answered ; for the reason that the Roman Catholic body, who had just the same privileges _ as other denominations in regard to voting at the School Committee elections and made use of their vote there with others, were unable to put in the best men through the action of a few in their cumulative voting. He had not the slightest doubt but that cumulative voting would be done away with during next session. No less than 288 School Committees were ngainst this cumulating voting, and 64 were for its continuance. That was a large preponderance against it. (Uproar). He would now deal with the Education Act. In reference to the Bible in schools. During the last sesdion he pointed out the unfairness towards the large body of colonists in every district who were left out from the benefits of the Act, because they did not believe in unreligious education. He hoped the day would come when every child in the colony would stand on the same footing in regard to its educational privileges. He remarked in the House that every man who contributed towards the taxes raised in the colony should enjoy privileges in regard to school education that had no t previously been given. If the question came up again he would take the same action as he had previously done, J and give fair play to all. Ha would

ask Were they in the position to 'spend £290,000 a year in education on half a million of people? He would say they were not. [t they would have their cakes they must pay for them. In regard to the higher brunches of education, he voted against any sum* being allocated for such a purpose, on principle, because anyonegoingjin f or f the higher branches for the education of their childien were well able to pay for it. He would recommend those who had not read Smiles' ' Self Help' to do so. The best men that England produced rose from the lowestjranks. (A voice : Tell us what you have done, never mind about England). He was not speaking about England, but the Lower House. (Continued uproar). The Chairman here interposed and asked that Mr Postlethwaite might be heard. A voice : Will Mr Postlethwaite speak louder, so that people can hear him 1 Mr Postlkthwaite said it was impossible for him to speak louder. If they did not wish to hear him. he would go home. He went there to give an account of his stewardship and those who did not wish to hear him could leave the hall. (A voice : Go on). There was another matter he wished to bring before their notice and that was the ' Koads and Bridges Construction Act.' It was an Act that from the time it was introduced into the House he formed the opinion that it was framed specially for the benefit of the North Island, and he declined to support it. They would find that in less than two or three years it would break down. It will be a heavy drain on the funds of the colony which they do not possess. No less than £64,000 were asked for during the first year that Act was passed. Somo of the Counties had asked for £70,000 and others £60,000, and Manawatu, if his memory served him, had asked for £94,000. Some of the Counties had even asked to have their streets formed. The Government give £3 to £1 raised locally, which was bad in principle. It would be all well and good if the money did not come cut of the loans, but when they saw that unless they raised monsy to keep the country going or else it would collapse, would it not be better to meet their true position rather than increase their liabilities t That Act would break down. It stated that £100,300 would be taken from the Land Fund and the rest from the Consolidated Fund, but they found that from the former only £26,000 were available. The Land Fund was diminishing. The land mania had passed away, and in Canterbury there was little land left to be sold for agricultural purposes. All the money will, therefore, have to come out of the Consolidated Fund. Would it not be better to say they declined to give large sums for local expenditure? In regard to the railway tariff, he would go back to the session of 1882, and show them his action in trying to get a reduction made in that year. Ho made one of a deputation to wait on the Minister for Public Works, and he also visited him by himself, to urge upen him, if he could see his way clear, that it was urgently desirable that such reduction should be made, for they had had a bad harvest and the grain was almost destroyed and would not bear a heavy expense ia carriage. Mr E. G. Wright wrote a letter to the Press, which appeared on 26th March last, in regard to the action taken by some of the members of the House in 1882. He was with Mr Wright when that interview with the Minister for Public Works took place, but the difference between Mr Wright and himself was that Mr Wright made it appear that unless the request in regard to the reduction of the railway tariff was granted the deputation would go against the Government. He (Mr Postlethwaite) said that he considered the answer given by the Minister for Public Works was such that they could not press for more. The Minister for Public Works said that he would make a full enqmry into the subject, and if it were found that the railway rates could be lowered the Government would do so. He would ask them in the face of such an answer if he would have done right to have gone with Mr Wright and do an unconstitutional act? He was not one to do an unconstitutional act, for if such were done there would be an end of good government. Iu regard to the raising of the railway tariff recently, he went to Christchurch and attended a meeting there to remonstrate against it because he considered the Government had done an act they should not have done, and they did it at a very inopportune time. The Colonial Treasurer should have found out his deficiency weeks before he had and then was his time to act. No farmer would be desirous to have his grain carried at so high a rate as hid recently been imposed. The railway estimates had increased over L 14,000 and therefore the increased tariff could not have been put on through a falling off of the railway revenue. Major Atkinson in his speech made the other day had informed the Colony that the decrease was in the Customs revenue. He (Mr Postlethwaite) did not consider it right that the Government should have the power to raise one item of revenue for tha purpose of increasing another. He had not only remonstrated privately, but had protested with the other country members. He had told the Government that they should have held on till Parliament met. Who do the railways belong to? Why, to the people of New Zealand, and he would Hay that the Government, to his mind had committed a grievous mistake in raising the railway tariff. There was a Bill introduced into the House which affected Temuka as well as every other part of the colony, and that was the 'Abolition of Grand Juries Bill.' It was an excellent measure, but owin» to the lateness ot the time in which it was introduced it was not passed. During the many times ) he had travelled between Temuka and Timaru he any amount of complaints in regard to the Grand Jury system. It was not right to saddle the colony with a measure that was passed in England in the tenth century. I They possessed well educated lawyers and to his mind the Grand Jury was a nonentity. The Bill was introduced by I Mr Tole, an Auckland member, and there was not a better one brought, forward during the session. He believed the Go vernment would take it up and bring it in next session, and it will pa3S through all its " stages in the Houses. He would now speak , on what was termed decentra isation. Mr Montgomery was right in his local 1 government scheme, and he would give

his reasans for voting against hiin. The cost of management in England under centralism was greater than when managed by the magistracy. (Great disturbance and noise at the back.) Mr Postlethwaite said if they did not wish to hear him they could clear out. The Chairman said they showed vary bud taste and asked them to listen.

Mr Postlethwaite essayed to speak again, but the noise increased and continued for some time, the Chairman making an effort to restrain them, and Mr Postlethwaite sat, down. The noise continued for some time, till the audience evidently got tired, when there was a lull, and Mr Postlethwaite went on to say that as he and they had a little rest they might go on again, and was proceeding to speak on the effect of centralism in England when the noise again increased. The Chairman complained of it all coming from one person in the back. Mr Postlethwaite said it was very much like anonymous letter writing. A voice: Give us your views of the future Mr Postlethwaite said he had been charged with having done certain things and he wished to acquit himself. It was his intention to give an accouut of his stewardship. That was what he was there for and if they did not like it he would bid them good night. He then proceeded to &ay amidst considerable noise that the question of centralisation would be a most inportantquestion in future. It was apparent to all that the way money wa* squandered was not a proper way to make a colony. It was distributed at caucus meetings amongst the provincial districts. Sir Julius Vogel told them when the provinces were abolished log-rolling would be abolished, but one-third of the money under the Public Works had been logrolled. (Here the noise became so great that the speaker was inaudible, in the midst of which Mr Sweet jumped up on the stage a»d assumed a menacing attitude towards the speaker. What passed was inaudible, but lookers on thought that Mr Sweet misunderstood something, which was explained, after which he shook bands with the Chairman and vanished.)

Mr Postlethwaite continued to say if they wanted an honest Government they must educate themselves to send men to Parliament to look after the colony as a whole. He was not afraid to aay that he looked to the interest of the colony as a whole, and would never be a party to go round to the back door. (Gr«at noises, uproar and disturbance, all the people getting up, and one individual with a blaek mask was dragged forward to the foot of the stage. This continued for about tea minutes, when all sat down). Mr Postlethwaite resumed by saying he was in favor of self Government, and had always been. The only objection he saw against it was that we had not men to manage our local institutions. The greatest benefit from local self-Govern-ment would be to do away with logrolling, which had driven everyone who had any respect for himself out of ths senate of America. They would have to remove the power of dealing with large sums of money from Government, for the object most representatives seemed to set before them was to get for their constituency as much money as they could, every one who did not do so was a very useless individual, no matter whether the money was spent on unproductive works or not. Taxation had reached a scage now that they ought to think what they were doing. They were sending six millions of money out of the colony every year in the shape of interest, and when the population was only half a million they could realise what that meant. It was such a drain on their resources that they could not stane it. Their imports were a great deal larger than their exports—by one million. This wa3 ruining the colony and driving capital away. He knew meo who had come to this colony with large sums of money to look for investment for it, but went away again owing to these causes. Now, what was asked was a fresh loan to keep the country going and this would go on until their power to borrow ceased and they could get no more. He was not afraid of a land tax and would support it. provided an income tax would be also levied. The income tax would catch the merchants, tradesmen, doctors, and lawyers, and he believed all should pay their share. (Applause.) He had long experience as an income tax commissioner at Home and had not the least doubt but there would not be the least difficulty in airiving at a man's income. (The speaker here referred to a speech delivered by Mr Peel in the House of Commons, but what he said was rendered inaudible by the noise. He was understood to say that in England two hundred aud seventy nine millions escaped free of the local rates, which showed the amount the income tax reached.) He was not opposed to a land tax. It was said that those who improve their land pay more than those who had large tracts of land unimproved. He was opposed to a progress land tax because the people who had bought the land had paid for it, aftd their money was then very acceptable to the colony. They had no right to jump on these people new, and if they did it would be interfering wi ! h the rights of property. They were sending out of this colony daily as interest on public and private property £IO,IBO. Tney could realise what a heavy drain that was. The exports were less thin their exports, and taking all those lie considered they were sending away six millions annually. He ugain deprecated the idea of members who had no object in view in going to Wellington but to get as much for their constituencies as they could, and said that a Hawke's B<vy member said to his' constituents the other day that when all the members were selling their votes he had sold hip too, and what he had got foi his district was the price of it. This was disgraceful. If they wanted the colony I to be sound financially they must get men who would represent the colony, and look after its interests as a whole. He would tell them now that he was not speaking for himself, as he was not going to stand again, but he would not support anyone who did not entertain these views. He would ask them not to be led away by men who had a great flow of language, or men who would be at the beck and call of everyone, or men who wanted the honorarium. He would tell them that efforts were ms\ce to increase the honorarium, from £2OO to £3OO a year. He opposed that and said he would rather reduee it to £lO. He did not believe in making billets for a IoL of men who would not work (applause). There was only a majority of six against increasing it. As i regards the Upper House, he was at firat

iii favour of the Honorarium to its members being done away with. He, however saw the importance of that body. There were many members who gave votes in the Lower House because thay were afraid of their constituents, and hoped the Bill wou'd be thrown out by the Upper House. He looked upon it as a very dishonorable thing for any man to give such a vote and throw the onus on the Gpper House. The cause of the depression was that they were going both in public and private life beyond their means. Those who laimched out too deeply made no more money than would pay interest on their loans, and they hare nothing to improve their lands or employ labor with. People can avoid thi3 by being content with what they have, and net go beyond their means. As regards the Land Bill of 1882, it gave people an easy way of settling on the land without having to lay out a large amount of capital. In England he knew several yeomen who sold out their farms of 150 acres, and took up leaseholds, which they were able to work with the capital derived from the sale. Seeing that, he advocated the of the Bill of 1882, because it enabled men to be settlers on the land without kny capital. He believed they had no right to alienate any more land except inch small portions as were unfit to utilise. They were getting a revenue of, he believed, £200,000 from the land at present. As for the confederation, he was opposed to it, and he believed most of the members were. They had no funds to waste on it, and it would do them no good. He would vote against it. He would now thank tie most of them for the kind and patient hearing they had given him. (Great cheering, hissing and noises, amidst which Mr Postlethwaite sat down). The Chairman then invited such as were desirous of asking questions to come on the stage. Mr Russell naked: Are we to understand that you would revert back again to the denominational system of education ? Mr Postlethwaite said that what he had stated before was that he was in favour of the Bible being read in the schools and of the giving of a grant to the Roman Catholics, because they had scruples against sending their children to Godless schools. He would be in favour of any school that produced results that would pass the government standard getting a capitation grant. Mr Russell asked when Mr Postlethwaite opposed the grant for higher education waa he not going against the interests of the working classes ? Mr Postlethwa ; te said if he looked at the attendance at any of the higher schools the children attending thorn were those of parents who were well able to pay for them. If there was a poor youth whose possessed brsins he had a means of getting educated by winning scholarships that would enable him to go. Mr Russell asked would Mr Postlethwaite support Mr Green's Local Option Extension Bill ? Mr Postlethwaite said h? could not answer that until he saw it. He would not promise anything he could not carry out. Mr Scannell asked how it was Mr Postletwhaite did not address his constituents last rear 1 Mr Postlethwaite said he addressed them at Geraldme and invited the whole of them there. He did not think it necessary to go round to all the places. Mr Badham asked, if he were not afraid of Temuka how it was he did not come down last session? Mr Postlethwaite said he had already replied to that questien, that he had addressed the electors and received a vote of confidence. Mr Badham said he had given some soft soap to a certain section of the community with regard to Education. What did he think of childi en who were receiving no education at all owing to their being too far away from the schools 1 Mr Postlethwaite said it was impossible to answer that question. It was the duty of School Committees to see that they attended. Mr Badham : How if they live ten miles off ? Mr Postlethwaite did not know, unless it was to send Mr Badham to Parliament. Mr Badham : Soft soap again. Have you received any complaint* fiom anybody here about the police ? Mr Postlethwaite said no one, except Mr Badham wrote to him on that subject. Mr Badham wrote to him te the effect that the police here wanted another horse. He got the horse for them, and \ Mr Badham wrote thanking him. Mr Badham said he hesitated to ask him as he was a political opponent, but he would as soon do it for an opponent as anyone else. Some further questions on the same I head were lost in the noise made in the body of the hall. Mr James Guild asked : Why did Mr Postlethwaite support such a corrupt Government that was buying votes 1 Mr Postlethwaite explained that he had attended a caucus meeting ot the Opposition, and found they had neither a leader nor policy. The suggestion that was made by an ex Minister was, let them turn out the Government and then find a leader and policy, He did not believe in joining a party like that. He might say that he had now written to the Government, telling them they need not count on him as a supporter any longer. (Cheers). Next session he would support measures and not men (Cheers). Ho would vote for what he thought best for the colony. Mr Guild said they jumbled up the railway sccounts. Could he tell whether their railways were was paying or not. Mr Postlethwaite said owing to it beina: worked in sections it was difficult to tell. He saw a letter from Mr Maxwell, which stated that the railwaj-s were not paying interest on the money expended on them. This was owing to political ruilways. He had heard of a railway on which there was only one train a week, und there was in it only one man. The Little River line was a political railway, and so was Mount Somers. He did not believe in making railways through private property held in large blocks. That was his reason for opposing the West Coast liDe. Competent engineers had said it would ] not pay, and he did not believe in con- j structing while they had water carriage. Mr Guild asked, would he be in favor ot having the sections of the railways so arranged that they would be leading to a port. For instance, would he have

from the Rangitata to Timaru and from the Waitaki to Timaru in one section, so that they would bo leading into the port of Timaru, and so on. Would he he in favor of this aud let every section pay for itself, so that they would look for the interest for the money spent in the district where it was raised ? Mr Postlethwaite said that was alway his idea, and he was in favor of it. Mr Deßenzy asked what it cost for the special train to bring the members home 1 Mr Postlethwaite said he could only find that out by a question in the House, and he would ask it if Mr Deßenzy wished. He, however, did not come by it. As regards paymeut of fares of members' wives, he thought it a most abominuble business, and he would oppose it. Members' wives should find their own way to Wellington. Mr Ensor asked if it were true the Government Insurance Department was going to be amalgamated with some private company, and if so, would Mr Postlethwaite oppose it 1 Mr Postlethwaite said he had reason to believe it Was not so. He would support the present system. Mr Davis asked if he were in favor of the plural voting in School Committees elections? Mr Postlethwaite said he had Assisted Mr Steward in attempting to do awaj with it. Mr Scannell moved—' That this meeting has no confidence in Mr Postlethwaite.' Mr Harrop seconded it. Mr Twomey came forward and essayed to speak, but was not heard. Mr Russell moved a vote of thanks to Mr Postlethwaite, but had to collapse before the howl that was set up. < Mr Enscr seconded the amendmenf. . On the amendment being put a large number of people held up their hands for it, but on the motion being put a much larger number held up their hands. The meeting then broke up.