The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 1885. THE HON. W. ROLLESTON'S SPEECH.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1354, 18 June 1885, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 1885. THE HON. W. ROLLESTON'S SPEECH.

In reviewing the speech of the Hon. W. Rolleston recently we made a statement to the effect that while legislation wag not capable of control ling the weathn it might pogsih'y have si.me effect on the price of wheat. To most people this will appear strange. Very few will al first glance realise, that an act of Parliament can either increase or decrease the price "f w ' ieat ) anif'"consequently it is necessary to ofJVr a few words of explanation on the subject. But if these people look around them, they nill see proof of this staring them in the face. Wheat in this colony varies in price from 2s 6d to 2s 9d ; in New South Wales it is a shade dearer ; oats are Is 3d to Is 9d in New Zealand ; in New South Wales they have reached 2s and 2s 3d ; barley is 3s 6d to 3s 9d in this colony ; in New South Wales it is about the same. Now, here are two freetrade colonies whose prices are about the same, and when we contrast them with Victoria, with its protective duties, what do we find ? Simply this : that the prices of the cereals above mentioned Are one shilling per bushel more in the Melbourne market than either in New Zealand or New South Wales. Now, why should .there be one shilling per bushel difference in the price of wheat, or oats, or barley, be tween the markets of this colony and that of Melbourne ? What is the cause of the difference ? is the question that must interest w*. The cause is this : Several years ago Victoria adopted a policy of Protection, and by that means devoloped local industries, with the result that the population has been so increased thht she now consumes nearly all her own agricultural products. Thus local demand has been created, and farmers are not dependent on outside markets for their prices. The population of New Zealand is not sufficient to consume one-fourth the quantity of wheat produced, and consequently we must export it and take whatever we can get for it. This will sho'v any reasonable being that legislative enactments can control the price of wheat, although Mr Kolleston said they could not. Protection has raised the prict> of wheat in Victoria to one shilling more | than it is in New Zealand—and Pro teciion would in the course of a few years have the same effect in this colony if we had the sense to adopt it. And yet one can get a good dinner in a Melboarne restaurant for sixpence, which proves that Protection does not increase the cost of living. Again, the inference to be drawn from Mr Rolleston's speech is that farmers got themselves into the mess in which it is admitted they now are through over-speculation, and that because they did 60 it would not be right for the State to step in and assist them. We have already shown that bad legislation, and a demoralised condition of affairs were the primary causes of the difficulties of small landowners, and that they were the dupes of designing landsharks and money-rings. But, setting that point aside, we shall admit for argument sake that farmers themselves were very much to bjame for taking up more land than their capital warranted. Admitting this, we still hold that it is the duty of the State to help them if it finds it within its capabilities to do so. Supposing Mr Rolleston saw a drunken man fall into a river, would he stand on the bank and say : " It is your own fault for getting drunk ; you deserve.no assistance, and I am not going to assist you 1" He would not: he would take the most immediate and the most effective steps he could to rescue the man, notwithstanding that he was drunk. The position of a great many landowners it exactly analagous. They have.fallen into the river of indebtedness, and in our opinion the question ought not to be how they got in there, but hpw to get them put of it. There is only one way. Let them get cheaper money, and tinii to save themselves, and they will eventually swim safe to the shore of a prosperous independence. It is the business of the State to assist them. la England, in Germany, in India, in Canada, this principle has been recognised, and State assistance to agriculturists has been attended with beneficial results. We cannot blame Mr Kolleston for not having adopted these views. The matter has certvinly been brought under his notice ; he is fully aware that 6uch views have been pretty freely ventilated for the past twelve months —but politicians are generally very slow in adopting new ideas lest they might beheld responsible for them. It is the business of Mr Rolleston's constituents to let him know that they want him to adopt this policy —but they have had the opportunity of doing so recently, and they did not embrace it. For the last twelve months we have incessantly advocated a National Bank as the only means of getting the colony out of its depressed condition ; there is not another district in New Zealand that ha« had the question so fully ventilated ; yet, when Mr Kolleston addressed his constituents at Temuka and GeraUine recently, there was not a man in either place to ask him a question on the subject. It is not because the people do not believe in the proposal : they believe in it almost to a man. How can Mr Rolleston be expected to adopt those views if he finds his constituents so indifferent to them ? In Dunedin the papers have written in opposition to a National Bank, yet it (

has been taken up there and brought under the notice of Parliament. In North Canterbury an Association has been formed called the National Bunk League, and one also in the Ashhurton district. But in tin's district, where the-, idea was first ventilated, sufficient energy cannot he mustered to adk our representative a question on the subject. Wo are beginning to realise now that we have been casting m'd on very barren ground, and that it is useless to trouble ab ml it any more. The only satisfaction we have is that it is being widely discussed now ; that Major Atkinson and Sir Julius Vogel liave crossed swoids on the BuKject ; tl at it has been brought under the notice of Parliament ; that Societies have been formed to carry it into effect ; that Debating Societies have discussed it throughout the colony ; and that there is every likelihood of it becoming the subject of a Parliamentary debate before long. If, however, every constituency in New Zealand turns out to be so indifferent on the subject as Geraldine, nothing will ever come of it, for if pressure is not brought to bear on Members of Parliament they will never adopt it ; but if, on the contrary, the electors resolve not to return any man who does not pledge himself to a National Bank, it will soon become law.