THE PREMIER AT CAMBRIDGE.

Waikato Argus, Volume VI, Issue 413, 23 March 1899, Page 4

THE PREMIER AT CAMBRIDGE.

This Premier arrived in Cambridge by train on Tuesday. Ho was accompanied by the Hon. McCulloush, Major Harris, M.L.C., and his private secretaries, Messrs Hamer and Crow. Tho Mayor (Mr W. F. Buckland) and several of the Councillors met him at the station Mr Seddon was taken to tho Domain, and subsequently drivon out to witness the Polo match. He appeared to take a lively interest in the game. On returning to Cambridge, he went to the residence of Mr Rout, whore a recherche dinner was served, several of the supporters of the Government having been invited to meet him. PUBLIC MEETING. At 8 p.m. a public meeting was held in the Public Hall, which was thronged, a good proportion of those present being of tho fair sex. The chair was taken by the Mayor, and upon the platform there were the Hon. Mr McCullough and Major Hairis, M.L.C., Messrs P. Lawry, M.H.R., W. Rout, J. Forrest, J. and H. Ferguson, F. O'Toole, Teasd&le, Dyer, Gresham, Castleton and Bradley. The Mayor briefly introduced the Premier, who commenced his address by saying he had come to Cambridge to redeem a promise made some months back. He was pleased to come to Cambridge and was pleased to have his friend Mr Buckland in the chair. They had fought many battles but had always managed to be personal friends as all should be when they fought fair and did not hit below the belt. There was plenty of room for diversity of opinion. Politics were like polo, it should be possible to fight hard with the most perfect good will. As to the condition of this colony, year by year it had been improving, and his advice to the electors was to let well alone. The Goverment were doing justice to the people and should not be disturbed. It was said that the Government had done nothing. He maintained that with the aid of the people they had done a good deal. It was flying in the face of facts to say they had done nothing. He would give them some reminders, and quoted from a circular issued from the Public Works Department, when the Conservative Government were in power, fixing the wages-of men on relief works. The first act of the Conservative Government on coming into power was to give work to the unemployed, but on conditions that were degrading. Did the people want to go back to 2s 6d and 3s 6d per day. These wages only applied to first-rate men, inferior men were referred to the Charitable Aid Boards. Certainly, in addition to that there were shelter sheds, but the accommodation are not so good as members of that administration had provided for their sheep and cattle. In 1890 tl.e people turned the Tories out. Did thoy wish to return to that state of affairs, 14,000 souls were driven from the country to the tune of 2s 6d per day and shelter sheds. What led to the depres sion. Why it was first the system of taxation then in vogue, seoondly the monopoly of land. The heart was taken out of the people and they saw no hope, and when a community saw no hope there was an end to prosperity. Isow, everyone in the country was satisfied there was work for those who desired to work and cheap money for those who wished to employ it upon the land in mines or in industries. This change had been brought about in eight years. Again, they were told that they should not interfere with the liberty of the subject. If they turned up Hansard they would find that Captain Russell had gone so far as to say that no man had a right to take unto himself a wife until he had reached a certain age and position in life. Was not that an interference with the liberty of the subject. If the Opposition returned to power they would have such legislation as would send the country to perdition. In further reply to the question—What had the Ministry done ? concessions had been granted on the railways, cheap excursion fares had been arranged for the benefit of school children. These were but a few of the things which had been done in the interest of tho rising generation. Thousands of sheep and cattle had been carried on the railways, when before thej were taken along the roads, which in consequence were cut up. The Government had diverted the traffic from the roads to the railways with advantage to all sections of the community and the revenue of therail ways had been increased. The railway reveuue would be £BO,OOO more this year than last, The earning power of the railways increased from £3 last year to £4 4s lOd. Mr Cadman estimated that the sum would be even larger than the sum he had maintained. But the policy of the Government was not to look to the railways as a revenue earning medium. They intended that the railways should be rua in iho interests of the people, and with that ob - ject intended to make further concessions. They wanted to give the Colony every opportunity of competing in the markets of the world, the proposals were to reduce the rates on agricultural product, wheat, oats, barley and other kinds of grain, flour, potatoes, oatmeal, grass-seed and sacks in Dales, besides on many other articles which came under the category of agricultural produce. New Zealand manufactured corrugated and galvanised iron being carried under this rate would participate in the proposed reduction. The reduction would amount to 20 per cent, on the present agricultural class E rate. Butter and cheese in lots not less than 10 cwt. would be carried at a rate and half. This would be equivalent to a reduction of from 40 to 45 per cent, on the present lowest rates for butter and cheese. It was also proposed to reduce the rates on manures rock-salt and soot to the extent of from 5 to 12 per cent, Flax would be carried at the reduced rate for grain, a reduction of about 20 per cent. These reductions on the basis of last year's traffic would probably amount to £40,000. He urged the Waikato people to make more use of lime, and thus improve their land and be in a position to enter into competition on the markets of the world. New Zealand would have a surplus of from eight to ten million bushels of grain, and thac would have to go upon the markets of the world. The colony would have to compete against India, Russia, the Argentine, Canada and America, The New Zealand farmers were handicapped because in Australia the freights were so much less than in New Zealand. New Zealand had been in the hands ot monopolists, in the shape of two or three shipping companies. Competition had compelled them to come down. The Tyser line had agreed to give the Government all the space outside ' their freezing chambers from April till October at £1 10s per ton on wheat and £1 12s 6d on oats, aud to reduce the primage 5 per cent. This meant a saving of 5s per ton. He would deal as little as possible with figures, but it would be necessary to give some relating to the colony's prosperity. Since the time of the \tkinson administration, the population of the country had increased by 125,095 or 20*83 per cent. The excess by arrivals over departures was 25,000. During the three years of the Atkinson Ministry from 1887 to 1890, the excess of departures over arrivals was 11,000. The exports of the colony had increased since 1887, 40.48 per cent. The wealth of the colony had also increased by £52,000,000 and the population of New Zealand was the wealthiest per head of any other part of the British Empire. The wealth of the colony was £252 per head of population an increase of £36 per head. As to cheap money, the Government have up the present received 1203 applications, the amount being £292,000. This had brought down the rate of interest and assisted the people. Cheap money had done a good

deal towards improving. It meant increases in manufactures and large cultivations. Money was cheaper than in the good old days. This proved that the credit of the people was moro powerful that tho monopolists, who never earned a shilling in his life but was content to draw his 5 per cent. Naturally the money lenders hated the Government. He was now going to deal with tho subject of land for settlement. To satisfy the earth hunger of the country it behoved the Government to get as much land as possible into the market. The one thing of all others which would make the country prosperous was to get the people on the land, and the Government had settled upon the land, exclusive of those who had surrendered, over 11,000 settlers, which, including their families, meant 55,000 people placed on the land bince the Government came into office, As to the Auckland district, they had purchared 2,000,000 acres from the Maoris since they took office. Did ever their opponents do that? The Government had first to get the confidence of the natives, and they had Bold their land at fair prices to tho Government. Could any previous administration say they had the confidence of the natives to the same extent as the present ? He said, no. Last year promises were made to throw open land in the King Country, The first lot, comprising 3027 acres, was advertised as open for selection on March 27. Another 5000 acres had been surveyed and was scheduled for advertising in June. These two blocks were easily accessible and were close to the railway. Seventy thousand acres, comprising the greater part of the Hauturu and Kinohakh East Blocks, had been in hand since last year. The Survey Department would have some 30,000 acres surveyed for settlement by January next, and this would be thrown open in February if the main road giving access was constructed. The proposed road would be formed for eight feet and the clearing and grassing on each side of the road two and a-half chaius wide all through. So soon as they got this land put through the Court they put seven survey parties at work upon the blocks. He hoped that the limestone country would be open for settlement by next Spring He claimed that they were a roads and bridges Go vernment. Since 1891 there had been 2141 miles of dray roads made and 1749 miles of bridle tracks. Besides which thero had been the widening of tracks. There had been 485 bridges of over 30ft. constructed, and the total expenditure on roads, excluding the goldfields, had been £1,331,791. The Premier touched on the subject of the million loan, and referred to the fact that it had been said that our credit was destroyed. He had as yet said nothing of the policy of the Opposition. He noticed that Mr Duthie was reported to have said at Westport, tha Government wanted to make the Maoris landlords. Fancy a free-born Britisher having a nigger for a landlocd ! It was an insult to the native race of the colony, and should be resented by every right thinking man and woman in New Zealand. One of the great things the Opposition wished to do was to uphold freeholds. How was a poor man without money to get a freehold ? At present he could get a 999 years' lease and money at 4 per cent. If they had a freehold system he would have to get money from the money lender at 6 per cent. This cry of freehold was the device of the enemy, and it only meant handing over people on the land to the tender mercies of the money-lenders. Then the Opposition wished to exempt mortgages from income tax, because, so they said, it was the borrowers of money who had to pay the tax. That was clap-trap. They forgot that at the present time the rate of interest was fixed by the Government's cheap money system. The mortgagees had to pay the tax, and this was only an attempt to exempt. He would like to say a word or two about old age pensions. They had been told it was degrading ; they had been told it was legalised charity. When the Conservatives were in power they passed an act which pave pensions to Civil Servants who were drawing their £IOOO and £ISOO a year. Did they ever say that was •' degrading " or " legalised charity ?" Then they were told that the people would be less thrifty ; that meant that the good wife who up to the time of the passing of the Bill was making her husband's wages go as far as possible, would the moment the Bill was passed be less thiifty, that she would say to her husband " Come on, Bill; let's go down the town, and after we hare paid our bills we will spend the rest because, you know, we are going to get a pension when we are 65." It was a specious argument to say that Bnch a thing would occur. Then they were told that they had not the money. This year it would be£2o,ooo. He did not think there would be for many years to come so many applicants as there would be in the first two years. At the next general election the electors would have to say whether the Old Age Pension scheme was to be renewed. He claimed in the interest of humanity, and he felt sure that the women and men would insist upon provision being made for the deserving aged. It would be followed by foreign countries. The civilised world had applauded and Would applaud the good work of the colony. He had done his duty with the support of his colleagues in passing the law. He wished it to be worked fairly, impartially and carefully. He spoke of the terrible condition in the Old Country under which the indigent poor struggled, and hoped that those conditions would never take root in this country. At the conclusion of the address the Chairman announced that questions would not be answered. Mr Rout moved and Mr Forrest seconded a vote of thanks and confidence, which was agreed to. A vote of thanka to the chairman was then passed.

Before the audience dispersed the Premier presented Mr W. C Castleton with a piece of plate and an address from the Cambridge Liberal League. In doing so he said he was aware that Mr Castleton had sacrificed his personal gain to aid the object he had in view, and he believed that if ever there was a man who acted up to and wrote what ho believed that man was Mr Castleton. Mr Castleton suitably and feelingly replied, stating that as long as he lived he should fight for what he believed in. The audieucethen dispersed, and the Premier and some of his friends adjourned to the Criterion Hotel and had a talk, after which he joined in a musical reunion at his host's residence and we learn the hon. gentleman contributed several songs in excellent style, He left by yesterday's train, en route for Raglan.