THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1545, 27 January 1887, Page 3

THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

Premier addressed bis constituents , last Tuesday evening in Duuedin. He i referred to the falling off in the revenue, which was due to a falling off in prices, and in the consumption of intoxicants. ! The population had increased, but there ' ■■- wan do increase in the cost of goverur . went, which proved how carefully things | were managed. The Native policy of the Government prevent landsharks from . speculating in Maori lands. No Maori iAcould Be l' h' s ' Bnd now excß P l through } v the Commissioner. The counter proposal of the'Opposition waafreetrade in land, ( -that men with large purses who had money could bribe the Maoris and get . land. If the system now in force . had been started long ago the Maoris . would have been more creditable to 'lis than they rere. During 1886 they bad settled more people on the land 1 than in any year before. j LOCAL INDUSTBIBB. ; ' 'Whilst he recognised that New Zealand, considering its position, climate, and soil, i must for a long time remain eminently an j agricultural and pastoral" country, he was j tot ~bi'n d to tne * act tnat n 0 coQntr y i could be great were it to depend oo one | pr two industries alone. Without manu- , -' ttires our position as an agricultural < Bod pastoral country would be lowered, t claimed that, as a Government, "i ' his administration 'had used both ; energy -and industry in the promo« ] tion of other industries. Tbey had < . accepted tenders in ibis colony for work i formerly iivited from Home, and had tried to give an impetus to our local in- j dus tries, and if there was to be true pros- , Jperity in this colony much more would ihave tobe done. He admitted that the Jtariff required revision, but in its revision it would not do to ignore local industries .ry* if they, were to have a chance of surviving ' jnenr midst. Then in the railway tariff 'the present administration had granted '; agricultural and pastoral settlers a bonus of something like £75,000 a year in reduction of fares. It would be misch'ievous to teach the people that railways ~• were only required to pay the cost of ; i itheirrworking and that the rest of the ;, colony was to be taxed to pay interest on the cost of construction. '-■f ,','.-. RETRENCHMENT. 'aT.IU Ketrenchment in the public service could only come in two ways—first, that the General Government work was lessened, and second, that payment for was lessened. If the General wrernrnent work was lessened it meant . either that the local bodies should perform ' functions previously performed by the ► .General Government, or that the people ?! ¥btild look to the Government for fewer conveniences. If a sitting of a Court was lessened in a country district Government were inundated with memorials as -.though some comet had struck that E articular place. Bofore economy could e got in the public service the people must demand it by being prepared to put up with fewer conveniences than they now possessed. Of all this talk about economy, three-fourths of it was unreal. *~ They- practically said "Economise in ...v. aomel Other member's district, but for heaven's sake don't touch mine." He ] < aftrmed that the higher and mora responsible officers in the Government ' service were nob too well paid. The ' members of the Miuistry were not prepared to dismiss several old officers, and ' he hoped that in dealing out reductions ■' in the Civil Service public men had hearts. How, then, was true retrenchment to be brought about ? If they wished to cheapen the Civil Service -they must proceed on Vome'system, not neglecting the rights jat had grown up with old servants, but S»o6me systematic plan/'th, at' Would be

fair. The Civil Service Reform Act had been proposed with that object, but some cf its miio provisions were excised by the Legislative Council. Last session he had promised that the expences of the Government should be reduced. There were some departments* that could not be reduced ; for example, in the Educational Department. Though they had reduced clerical expenses in the W< ''ington office, the General Educational Di pirtment would go on increasing as the number of our children increased. But Government this year w ould be able to show very large savings io the public expenditure. Ou the vote for working railways a large saving would be Bhown on the Estimates for the past twelve months. A small reduction would also be shown io the Justice Department. In the Native Department there would be a saving of at least £IO,OOO. There would bo a saving in the Mine* Department, in the Customs, in the Colonial Secretary's Dipartrnent, and, ?'i fact, in every de- : partment of the Government, so that when the Estimates next year came down, instead of a saving of £20,000 or £30,000 as he had promised io the House, they would be ab'e to show double that. JUITJRE POLICY. He was still convinced that if we were t-"» provide no* for a mere temporary prosperity, but for permanent stability in our finance, borrowing must cease. (Continued cheering). He believed that next year they ought to do without a loan. They must take a new departure in New Zealand finance, and though it might cause ua additional taxation for a few , years, and entail some additional hardships, we must depend on ourselves, and not rely on the foreign money lender for assistance. He did not know whether we could fiuish to a paying jpoint, or, rather, ha should say, to a working point, some of the railways now in hand without an additional loan ; but if it were necessary to raise a small loan next year for that purpose, then we should no longer depend on the London money market. Loans for public buildings should b? | wiped out at once. He knew of no more imprudent finance than borrowing for wooden buildings, which in twenty-five or thirty years would not represent capital ur all. He as-ked the people to put up with some hardships in order that they might raise the financial standard of the colony, and that they might, as colonists, set their children an example of self-reliance in not having to depend on outside aid for their prosperity. He did oot believe that the prosperity of this colony was to come from borrowed money or paper money, but if the colony was to progress it would be by the work and thrift of its colonists. REPRESENTATION BILL. He hoped to be able to pass the [Representation Bill next year. The leading principle of the measure was based on population, and for the life of him he could not understand what any other basis any man could find. They would not take area or wealth. In order that this Bill should not cause a fight in the House every three or four years, he proposed last Besslon that a Board should be provided, and that after every census this Board should alter the boundaries in accordance with the population. Had this Bill got into Committee it would never have been curried, because some members who had voted for it said openly in the lobbies that in Committee they would vote against the population basis, as they wished some modification for country districts. He was willing to allow an advantage of 600 or 1000 to country districts, but otherwise he would stick to the population basis. He was opposed to single electorates, and hoped that in the new Representation Bill the cities and some of the suburban districts would be welded together. This would give Universities a fair chance of representation. CONCLUDING REMARKS. In conclusion he asked those who had made New Zealand their home in tbe past to be hopeful and not to be downcast. l,et them look at the saving 'that might be effected if the people would abolish the two millions a year they spend on drink and the money they spent on tobacco. If people would only be saving and had faith io themselves and in the colony he believed there was no place in the world that had a brighter future before it than New Zealand. He advocated a policy of self-reliance—a national policy. J A vote of confidence in Sir Robert Stout was unanimously accorded amid acclamation,