PRE.SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 299, 9 June 1898, Page 4

PRE.SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

MR J. BOLLARD AT DEVONPORT. Mb Bollard, M.H.R., addressed his constituents at Devonport on Monday night. OBSTRUCTION. The Opposition were charged with obstruction, especially in connection with the setting up of committees. He held it to be the duty of the Opposition to see that the committees were fairly set up. In these committees the Opposition should be represented as well as the Government. What the Opposition claimed was that in a committee of 10, the Opposition should have four members, but the Government set up committees of 14 and 16 members with only four or five Oppo sition members. Before Mr Seddon took office the custom was for the Premier and the leader of the Opposition to meet and decide on the proportion of members to be put on the committees, and the leader of the Opposition was always allowed to select his men. Mr Seddon absolutely refused to allow the leader of the Opposition to select his men. In these circumstances, he (Mr Bollard) held that the Opposition were perfectly justified in blocking busiuess till they got fair play. the surplus. Mr Seddon had stated the surplus to be £354,286, but had the accounts been properly kept the surplus would have been £136,728. Was it in accordance with proper finance to bring forward the surplus from the previous year ? As a sample of how the accounts are kept Mr Bollard stated that during the year ended March 31st, 1897, £109,521 4s had been raised from the re-sale of native lands. In the first instance the lands were bought with borrowed money. Was it proper finance to place that £109,521 at the credit of the revenue of the country ? It was the proceeds of borrowed money, and to put it into general revenue simply meant adding to the national debt. Moreover, at least £40,000— representing the first cost of the land—should have been placed at the credit of sinking fund. The railways might be given as another example. For the last year the Railway Commissioners were in office the railways earned £2 16s per cent. The Minister of Railways had made a statement showing that to March 31st, 1897, the net earnings of the railways came to £3 3s lOd per cent. But when the railways were taken over by the Government, a Commission reported that the rolling stock and permanent way were in good order. Now the Minister of Railways said the railwayshad earned £3 3a lOd per cent., but immediately after he asked for a loan of £200,000 to put the railways in order. The fact waß that the Minister of Railways was entitled to ask for £50,000 for rolling stock to place on new lines, but the other £150,000 to keep up the railways should have been taken out of the earnings. The £150,000 had gone to swell the surplus—done purposely lo throw dust in the eyes of the people. Just let them take this £150,000 and the £40.000 from sale of lauds which should have been credited to sinking fund, and they had £190,000 against the surplus of £138,728, positively leaving a deficiency of £51,272. Ihe surplus was bogus, but if it existed Mr Seddon should use it to reduce duties. In 1895 extra duties were imposed and the customs revenue of 1897, as compared with 1894, showed an increase of £339,693. That was a splendid opportunity to reduce taxatiou. But the fact was the money was not in the chest. JUBILEE TRIP. The question of the Premier's expenses was a delicate matter, but he thought he was justified in throwing some light upon it. When the Premier asked to be allowed to go Home, he distinctly said that £IOOO would cover his expenses. Others Premier got £IOOO, and said it was more than enough ; but Mr Seddon, who was Colonial Treasurer, paid himself with £1750. The Opposition, in these circumstances, were entitled to a3k why the expenses had gone over £IOOO. The Premier refused to give information till he was compelled to do so, and then he submitted the following statement : Steamer and train fares for self, Mrs Seddou and secretary, £790 ; tips to servants, £l2O ; hotel expenses, £2lO ; postage stamps and sitting-rooms, £IOO ; miscellaneous, £550 ; cash out of pocket, £2oo—a to f al of £1970, showing that the Premier was £2OO out of pocket. (A voice : " Were those accounts ever audittd ?") There was no need for comment on that statement. (Applause). Then for his Hobart trip Mr Seddon got £5lB for seven weeks. Wheu Captain Russell, Sir George Grey, and Sir Harry Atkin - son went over for nine weeks, their total expenses were £3315 13s sd, and their persoual expenses were £2O, £44 and £25 respectively, against Mr Seddon's £2ll. Last year the Premier received from the colony : Salary, £IOOO ; house allowance, £2OO : expenses of trip Home, £1750 ; and Hobart trip, £slß—a total of £3408. In addition to that he received £ISOO from the Anglo-Continental Syndicate, and £250 for his seat on the Assets Realisation Board, making a total for the year of £5218. All this was done in the interests of Liberalism and of the poor working man. OLD AGE PENSIONS. Mr Bollard said this question had puzzled the greatest political economists of the age, and none of them had been able to solve it. The systems in Denmark and Germany were working badly. Few people in NevV Zealand would be unwilling, if means could be devised, to give the respectable poor pensions. The difficulty was to find the money. Mr Seddon said they could pay the pensions out of surplus, but few people believed there was any surplus to pay them from. He (Mr Bollard) was in the lobby when the news came down that the Legislative Council had thrown out the Bill, and Mr Seddon seemed better pleased than anybody. The Bill was simply an electioneering dodge. He (Mr Bollard) was positive they could only pay the pensions out of loans. Were the people of New Zealand to tax themselves in order to pay old age ptnsions ? In whatever way they looked at it, old age pensions meant increased taxation, and it was unfair that the thrifty man should be taxed to pay pensions to those who had spent their substance in riotou3 living. In order to encourage thrift, the Government might subsidise to a small extent a man making provision for himself through au insurance company. There would be more sense in that than lu the Bill introduced by the Government. Under such a system a man who insured for a pension of £2O might, with the assistance of the Government, get a pension of £3O. EXTENSION OF FRANCHISE. Touching on tho Municipal Corporations Bill, Mr Bollard said he was quite willing for an extension of the franchise to tenants piying a reasonable rent, but he did not think it fair that every man and woman on the electoral roll should get a vote for raising loans and for the election of mayor an 1 councillors. If those who paid no taxe3 got voting power, they might depend upon it the taxes would be increased. (Applause). GOVERNMENT LAND POLICY. The Government land policy had just about had time to develop, and it had been an utter failure. There never was a time when so many Crown tenants were throwing up land as now. Thousands of people were throwing up the lands they had taken from the Government, and many of them had paid their rents by gettiug money from the Advances to Settlers Department. The Pomahaka Estate cost the Government £20,253, and the roads eosc another £3183. Seme men who knew the land said it could have been purchased for £14,000. There were 25 settlers on it, and they all petitioned Parliament for a reduction of rent. The rents had been estimated to pay 4j per cent., but the settlers all said they were paying half as

much again as the land was worth. One I of the number made application for au advance from the Advances to Settlers' Department. It was refused because he had mads no improvements on the land, and there was, therefore, no security. The man entered into communication with the Premier, and in six months he got intimation that his application was granted. He owed three quarters' rent, he sent his deeds to the oflice, the rent was deducted from the advance, and the man got something like £3 7s b*d. That was how this settler paid his rent, and it was how many Crown tenants were paying their rents. THE RECORD OF THE GOVERNMENT. In concluding, Mr Bollard asked what the present Government had done for the colony. They started by saying they were self-reliant and non-borrowing, and they had increased the debt of the colony by £6,000,000, and pledged the credit of the colony for other £5 000,000. They had given hundreds of appointments to their own followers, and had so kept their seats. They had so demoralised the community that it would be dilliculL lor t' e next Government to carry on the government of the colony honestly. Lhen the Government had thrown dust in the eyes of the workinginan. Hardly a man could get work under the cooperative system unless he were of the right colour, and under the Premier himself the co-operative system had utterly broken down. Then the Government were pauperising the community by teaching them lo rely on State aid. They had created a war between capital and labour. Why, if the Government had the interests of the working man at heart they would encourage capital comiug into the country. Worst of all the Government were killing private enterprise and teaclrng the people to look to the State for everything. This " Liberalism " was beginning to stink in the nostrils of the people, and Mr Seddon would find that at next election. A unanimous vote of thanks and confidence was passed.