POST SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1432, 24 November 1885, Page 2

POST SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

MR J. E. SUTTER AT PLEASANT POINT. Mr J. H. Sutter, Member for Gladstone, addressed his constituents at Pleasant Point on Saturday evening. The meeting was held in the schoolroom, which was crowded. Colonel Eicbbaum took the chair. Mr Sutter stated that when he went to Wellington he found the Government had a t-trong majority, but that did not long continue. Members soon became dissatisfied with the Ministry, because they did not carry out the programme they had previously laid before the House. The local government and other schemes had not been formulated, and this made one and then another member cemplain. Government soon laid measures before the House, and this action brought parties to their footing; each party took the stand most conducive to their interests or most likely to benefit the districts they represented. Judging from the proceedings of last session he did not think that party Government could be carried on in this country at all. When Major Atkinson went out of office he left a deficit of £150,000, and when the present Treasurer oame into office he assured the House he could pay £50,000 of this off in cash, and float the balance in exchequer bills, and that there would he besides a surplus of revenue at the end of the session. Instead of that, when the House met they found the deficit had increased, and they were something like £BO,OOO to the bad instead of being someihiog to the good. He was sorry to say that the matters to date showed no change, and that at present there was every appearance of there being a considerable deficit again this year. He had pointad out repeatedly that while the state of the railways was so bad there was bound to be a deficit, but the Treasurer would not listen to him. The money paid away as interest was increased by the Government borrowing the millions in March, and in addition to what was paid on loan last year the borrowing of this mouey in March ran the money paid away for interest up to a little short of £IBO,OOO. There was an increase in the education vote last session of £22,000 or £23,000, and £60,000 of interest owing on the loan conveitad into stock. Taking all these sums he anticipated that there would be over £200,000 of a deficiency next year. The expenditure is, in f«c*, increasing rapidly, while the revenue is not increasing at all, and this state of things must land the colony in financial difliculty. The only way he could see out of it, after giving the subject much thought and attention, was to increase the taxes. The Government also recognised this, for last session they brought down a new tariff/ which caused them no end of difficulty ; they put £d on the property tax, increased the stamp duty, and nearly doubled the probate, or succession, duty, as it is called. However, all this, and the fact that the Treasurer had seized the sinking fund, did not seem to mend matters, and he thought they would have to go direct to the taxpayer. Speaking of the finances, the Premier at, Dunedin and the Treasurer at Christchurch said that it was wrong to borrow money for any purpose than for making railways, but in the face of this they were willirg to allow no lew then £600,000 to be put

down on the Estimates for roads and bridges alone. They all knev that roads aD d bridges are very useful, but they do not bring in money; and what makes things worse is the faet that the great bulk of this money is absolutely spent in districts where really nothing is produced. Mr Sutter then referred at great length to the expenditure on. and the revenue from the goldfields districts. He said the number of mine's employed* on the whole of the goldfields of New Zealand for the year ended 31st March, 1885, was 12,034, being 172 fewer than the year before. They raised for the pear 225,870 ounces of gold, valued at £951,797. There was duty paid on this quantity £22 587 and there was goldfields revenue collected* £13,987. The whole of the duty and goldfields revenue was paid over to the County Council within whose boundaries it was raised, so that the State gets do direct benefit from goldfields ; the indirect benefit is the Customs. He (Mr Sutter) concluded this part of his address by stating that it is high time the miner should be told that if he cannot make a living on the New Zsaland goldfields without assistance of money grants the sooner he leaves the colony the better for himself and us to—and let us hear no more of him and his jackall the paraBite, who lives on him. Mr Sutter then referred to the East and West Coast Railway, and the claims put forward in justification of this line being made. The Minister of Public Works, who represents Kaiapoi, the centre of the agitation for (he railway, is of course in favor of the line, and made a speech in which he strongly advocated the construction of it. To this course he objected, as he held a Minister of the Crown should lay aside all local feelings, and represent the colony —not be a paitisan of any one class, a special pleader for a certain work, or help kick up a noise to get a certain work carried cut. When the proposal was before the House it was moved that a Committee of the whole House should discuss it, but he, amongst others, succeeded in getting this motion thrown out. In 1884 an Act was passed authorising the Government to contract with any syndicate and during last session Government came to the House with the Meiggs’ scheme, but this found no favor with (he majority of the members, and in the end the’ sum of £150,000 was placed on the Estimates for the line. The lino when made is not likely to pay, and even Mr Stout, speaking in Dunedin the other day, admitted it would not pay more than one per cent. He then read the report of the Christchurch Chamber of Commerce on the line, and also Mr Inglia’ evidence before the Royal Commission. From these they would see that even taking the most sanguine view of the proposal there was no prospect of the traffic paying more than working expenses. In laying the Railway Statement before the House the Treasurer assured members that the people living in the districts concerned in this railway were willing to rate themselves for it, but he found out this was totally wrong. The people said “ We will not allow ourselves to be taxed ; we are entitled to this railway, and we will have it.” These people said Mr Macandrew in 1878 pledged that this line should be made; but he had no power on earth to then bind future members of the House. This cry was simply one of the Railway League’s clap-trap stories like that brought forward by the Member for St, Albans, who stated the Canterbury people were entitled to the line because the Government when the provinces were abolished robbed them to the tune of £650,000. The real truth was that when the provinces were abolished Canterbury was in debt £BO, not counting the £IOO,OOO belonging to Timaru, which was taken by the North Canterbury people for their harbor, and which the General Government bad to hand back to Timaru. The line if built will not after paying working expenses raise money enough to provide grease for the carriage wheels, The land on the West Coast is not much good ia not fit for cultivation —as was conclusively shown by the fact that since the diggings broke out there 21 years ago only some 7000 acres of land had been sold altogether. When the Government - took office they pledged themselves not to borrow more than one million a year; but they soon broke that pledge. Last year in addition to the million they borrowed millions, and now they want to borrow four millions to carry out this work in addition to other works they are bound to construct. He noticed also that .Ministers stated they are going to raise a loan for the North Island trunk railway, but ha did not think they would [venture to raise the loan. Local government was one of the things Government pledged themselves to bring before the House, and the first measure they laid on the table was the Local Bodies Finance and Powers Bill. Shortly this Bill was to largely endow local bodies for 21 years, and give them power to go into the market and borrow money. Such a hovG was raised that the Bill was withdrawn and the result was the Bill was reduced, in quantity and quality, and in reality the country got no local government: things were left in the same state almost as they were before. It was proposed to give the fourteen goldfields counties an additional £IO,OOO per annum as subsidy, but this was last aside with the rest. Nothing daunted, however, the Government made provision on the Supplementary Estimates for granting - ' goldfields districts an additional £IO,OOO among them, and the item passed. The Premier assured him before leaving Wellington that the Government were going next session to bring in a large measure of local government. What form it would take he did not know, but his opinion was that the ideas of the Government were too narrow for the country. His idea of local government was to have a central body to manage affairs, and leave the road boards to work out matters ; to lei taxes on real property go to these bodies, and let the Government keep the tax on personal property for general government purposes. He anticipated in the near future that these local bodies would be saddled with matters connected with roads and bridges, hospitals and charitable aid, etc. : in fact this was bound to take place unless borrowing was stopped. He imagined, however, that, should the Government meet the House with such a proposal members would he dissatisfied, and then an appeal to the country would be made. On the House meeting, a Committee took ttp the subject*' Cheap Money, as members generally admitted something should II possible be done. After sitting nearly

the whole of the session, the Committee reported that they could not see their way to recommend a Bank of Issue being formed ; that they had come to no definite decision on the subject, but advised Government to write to Germany and Canada, in which countries good systems were said to be in vogue. The Committee further recommended + when the money was got it should be given through land boards, and the advances made in such a way that the board would have full power over the money. He might mention that the Mortgage Debentures Act was not passed to cheapen money as we understand the term, but to give facilities to loan companies here to do business on the same footing as foreign companies. Touching upon personal matters, he said whilst he was in Wellington the Rev. Geo. Barclay attacked him at a Board of Education meeting, and stated he had told falsehoods about the District High Schools and so forth. The rev. gentleman kept well within the mark in his attack, but he did not tell the whole truth. He could show that the Board had no right to pay the funds to District High Schools that belong to primary schools. The Waimate District High School has eight pupils, and to accommodate them the Board is paying away £95 more than they should do in salaries. They also spent no less a sum than £3202 in building a school for 359 pupils. Again, in Temuka the pupils attending the District High School are in number 255, of which but the smallest fraction take secondary subjects, and yet the Board put up a building there which cost £2461. To show the Wrong done Mr Sutter stated that at (Jtipua there are 32 families, and when he with others applied for a school to be erected there, he was informed that the Board of Education had no funds—all the money had gone to build large and expensive schools at Temuka and Waimate. As he had said, soma of this money Lad been wrongly spent, as the High School Board at Waimate had plenty of money to carry on and support their school. Another thing Mr Barclay had complained of was his remarks about children under age. This happened two years ago. He visited the infant school, Tiraaru, with Major Atkinson, and in reply to a remark of his that some of the children looked exceedingly young, he (Mr Sutter), by permission of the Head Master (Mi Scott), asked several of the little ones their ages. The answer he got from many °f iLe children was “ I'm rising five.” He pointed out to the Master that he should report this matter to the Board, as it was not right that they should extract money in such a way, and thus swell the cost of education, which was already becoming such an excessive charge on the finances of the colony. . Still no one wished to see education flourish in this colony more than he did. Replying to questions, Mr Sutter stated (here was no possibility of reducing the departmental expenditure by very much, the only way a saving might be made was to reduce the staff ; he had voted for the increase in the duty on tea, tobacco and whisky, because the Government were bound to have revenue —they had borrowed money, and it must be paid out of the taxes of the colony, and it was perfectly right each member of the community should contribute something in taxes ; he intended to vote dead against any farther borrowing. A vote of thanks and confidence was passed, and the meeting terminated.