SIR JULIUS VOGEL AGAIN INTERVIEWED, AND BY ANOTHER REPORTER.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1203, 12 July 1884, Page 3

SIR JULIUS VOGEL AGAIN INTERVIEWED, AND BY ANOTHER REPORTER.

The following clever skit appears in the New Zealaad Times, of July 9th :

[" Copy " picked up in Wellington in a very muddy condition ; the following is all that is legible]. Keporter : And now, Sir Julius, that the part of our interview that is intended for publication is ended, I want a little private information from you for the benefit of those gentlemen who are supporting you in the coming elections, and whose motives for doing so are perfectly well known to y©u. Sir Julius : I think I shall be able te satisfy you that they will not be disappointed, and I will state my views with the utmost frankness.

Reporter: Why do you object to the Property Tax, or any form of direct taxation?

Sir Julius : Because it brings people face to face with the consequence of borrowing; its effect has already been to create a large party in the country averse to any further borrowing. By introducing indirect taxation, the effects of borrowing will not be felt while the borrowed money is being spent. It does not concern me to look beyond that time.

Reporter : You propose, then, to largely increase the Custom duties ?

Sir Julius: Yes, but I shall not put it in that way. 1 shall call it " encouragement of local industries." For instance, I shall say that in the present depressedcondition of the wheat and wool industries, it would be desirable for farmers, to turn their attention to th« growth of beetroot, and the establishment of sugar manufactories. This will enable me to put a protective duty of, say, 25 per cent, upon the imported article, and the consumer will not feel the extra payment while work and wages are plentiful. I only mention sugar as an example, but I should promote the local manufacture of other things, and put on protective duties accordingly. The establishment of these local manufactories will give plenty of employment to the working men. Whether the industries will ultimately succeed or not does not concern me.

Reporter : In what other way do you propose to raise revenue f Sir Julins : I shall largely increase the stamp duties ; in fact, I shall propose a progressive stamp duty. This will catch the professional men and the traders, but I do not anticipate any opposition from them ; they would prefer a little extra taxation to the present stagnation of trade. Borrowed money will make business brisk tor a time, and if they are wise, they will take thoir bills and write quickly. Reporter : Do you not think that the depression in the towns is owing principally to the fact that there are too many traders and distributers t Would it not be wise to let the natural process ef selection work out the remedy and bring about the proper balance between producers and distributors 1

Sir Julius : That may be sound political economy, but the country has not the courage to face its difficulties fairly, or the patience to wait for any such solution. It demands relief from the present depression at any cost. It has hid its experience of prudent administration and gradual development and is evidently heartily sick of them. If we have a temporary inflation we can galvanise these superfluous distributors into life again, and keep them going for a little longer. Reporter : As you object to the facilities for settlement offered by "perpetual leasing," how do you propose to put people upon the land ? Sir Julius : I don't propose to encourage the settlement of the land by people of small me«ns, A country of small holdings is not a country that will attract capitalists. My sympathies aad interests are all with capitalists and companies, and my object is to make the lands cf New Zealand again attractive to speculators ; this I understand to be the desire of those who are supporting me in the present crisis. With the future of Few Zealand we hnve no ooncprn.

Reporter : You complained in your fipnech at Ashburton of the unfairness of compelling the mortgagee to pay property

tax. Do you not think that if an estate is mortgaged, say, up to two-third* of its value, the mortgagee's interest in the property justifies his bearing his share of the burdens of the country 1 Sir Julius : Possibly ; but my interest and sympathies are all with the moneylending class, an«i I shall always do my best to protect their interests. I told the electors at Ashburton that I could not see my way to any Bcheme for cheapening money. Reporter :'> Did you think you were leaving a pinking ship when you left New Zealand in 1876 ?

Sir Juliiiß : I thought the condition of New Zealand then very critical, and in 18791 thought national bankruptcy inevitable. But as my successors have managed to keep the ship afloat I shall use it again for my own purposes. I look to the support of my friends here, who desire to sell out of their properties as speedily as possible, and to the support of the working men, who do not care at what price present prosperity is secured, to keep me in office, for the next three years. During that time I shall have secured my own future. I grant that I am using New Zealand and its people as counters in a game of chance, but I have always believed in a gambling policy, and in this case I shall play to nin. I have no stake in the country, and shall leave its shores with the utmost unconcern when the game is played out. "Reporter: And now, Sir Julius, one word more. Have you any objection to state what, inyour'opinion, will be the condition of the colony at the end of the period you have mentioned, namely, three years t Sir Julius : 1 would rather not give you my opinion ; but one condition must, inevitably arise, which, perhaps, will not be displeasing to some of your frierdc If I introduce money and people freely during the next three years, the money will soon be spent but the people will remain. The working classes, who will have been enjoying their fool's paradise, will then wake up to find the duties on the necessaries of life enormously increased and labor so plentiful that wages will be regulated bv a stern law of necessity which they will be unable either to stem or control. [The rest is illegible.]