MR SEDDON ON THE WEST COAST.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2441, 22 December 1892, Page 4

MR SEDDON ON THE WEST COAST.

The Hon. Mr Seddon has arranged for a number of parties under the cooperative system to undertake the work of widening the Main South Road. There will be (says the West Coast Times) 10 parties of five men each ; two from Kumara, three from Stafford, one from Rimu, and four from Ross. The work will take about three months to complete. At Stafford, replying to and address presented ts him, Mr Seddon said he would subsidise the prospecting of the ground near Gillam’s Gully. The Stafford correspondent of the West Coast Times, referring to the banquet which followed says : was sufficient to induce large numbers to apply for tickets; and the anxiety to obtain money for a ticket to the spread where a good social evening with ‘ the lad ’ might be spent, would in some cases have appeared almost ludicrous had it not been so serious. And what a splendid spread it was! And how everybody enjoyed himself in good hearty West Coast style. The tables groaned, to use an orthodox phrase, under the mass of good eatables and drinkables provided by Host Henne of the Caledonian Hotel, to do honour to the guest and to show as one man said ‘that good old Stafford wasn’t to be done.’ ”

Mr Seddon, in responding to the toast of the evening, told some capital stories of his start in political life, which were heartily enjoyed by all present, especially as many of them referred to incidents and persons familiar to most of his audience. But it was in his political remarks that he touched the public audience. He defended at length the co-operative system introduced by himself in Governmentwork, stating moreover that Government intend to have it introduced in all cases possible where local bodies received Government money. If these bodies refused to adopt it, Government intended to do the work themselves on his own system. It was never intended that men should receive bare existence wages on such co-operative work. The work was to be calculated on the basis of a fair wage for fair work; and then was to be added a certain margin for interest on some of the capital that a contractor must have employed under the old system. Some of the engineers were opposed to his system because it made them do contractors’ work, and they had in some cases tried to injure it by cutting prices. But Government contended that every idle man in the country was a dead loss to the country—Booo idle meant a loss of about a million pounds annually, and it was perfectly right to employ these men on productive works as far as funds would permit. Under the contract system the men employed were often under subcontractors, who took the work at cheaper rates, and then defrauded the men, and through them the storekeepers and community. Referring to the work of the sesiou, he pointed to the surplus, the Land Act with its clause for lease in perpetuity, the Factory and Shop Closing Act, the Edwards case, Polhill Gully Commission, and others. He paid a high tribute to the earnestness and energy of his colleagues in the Ministry, pointing out that it showed the thoroughness of their work when several were ill and four were able to carry on the business, though under a very severe strain. A graphic sketch of the career and character of each of his colleagues, brought their personality vividly before the audience, and he assured them that so long as they remained in power the Government would be conducted, not in the interests of any one class, but for the good ail.