SPEECH BY THE HON. W. ROLLESTON.

Waikato Argus, Volume VI, Issue 423, 18 April 1899, Page 3

SPEECH BY THE HON. W. ROLLESTON.

(BY TKLKORArH—PRESS ASSOCIATION). CHRi-TCHUitcii, Sunday. Thk Hop. W. Rolleston, M.H.R for Riccarton, addressed his consiituents last eveniug, and .-poke virtually as the mouthpiece ot the Opposition. He prefaced his remarks by referring to his recent accident, which had kept him from moving about the constituency, and took exception to the newspaper paragraphs, which described him as getting old and decrepit. He said felt younger than 10 years ago, and announced his intention of contesting the seat at the general election. He was glad to say that the country at the present time" was in a most satisfactory condition. In fact, it had never been better, and there were less unemployed than at any previous time. Although the Government took the credit they had nothing to thank them for, as the prosperity was entirely due to the energy and enterprise of the people, and he was surprised to see the claptrap delivered by the Premier on the subject in the long speeches he was making over the colony. The success was in a cree.t measure due to the expansion of the frozen meat industry, which now gave an income of one and a-half millions per annum, and to the progress in the <'airy indnstry, which now represented an output of £600,000 per annum. IS either of these industries were made by the Government, but owed their position to the industry of the farmers. The fact was, the people were moving ou the Government, and not the Government moving on the people. The gold industry', had progressed through the introduction of English capital. Cheap money was also a great factor in the success. Mr Seddon attributed cheap money to the Advances to Settlers Act, but this was not a fact, as money was cheaper in Australia. The Government had merits in moving on the dairy industry, and in following up the land policy enunciated by their predecessors. Iu reference to the opening of Parliament there wete certain forms which had their roots deep down in the past. Many were good, and others more honoured in the breach than in the observance. The debate on the Address-in-Reply had its usefulness, and for not wishing to interfere with these forms he had been called an old Tory, but did not know whether he was or not. Speaking of what he described as the paralysis of Parliamentary Government, he said the Opposition by its fighting qualities had done a great deal of good. It had challenged the proposals of the Government in order to see what good was in them, and it was a Bound guarantee of good legislation that the Opposition should take the action it did. He had always been a fighting man, and felt the part he had taken had assisted to prevent mischievous legislation. Mr Seddon's idea of his position was not satisfactory. He was always racing about the country in trains and steamers at the expense of the people. He was not as particular as he should be in what he said, and not careful of fact. He repeated statements which he knew to be wrong, until he actually believed them. For instance, Mr Seddon said the private wealth of the country had increased £250 a head, which he knew was all bosh. He said the value of land had increased by 27 millions, while his own documents showed it to be only 16 millions. He claimed to have settled the question of freights with theTyser Company, but in this the figures were against him. Mr Seddon had spoken of the Opposition as having a breeches-pocket policy, but the Opposition, when travelling, had to put their hands into their own pockets, not into other people's. The speaker was so disgusted that he had given up looking into the statements of the Premier, having found them quite unreliable. The Premier claimed that higher wages were the rule under hia policy, while he knew that under the co-operative system wages were as low as Is 6d per day. Mr Seddon had charged the Government of 1887 with housing their people in sheds, which they would not put cattle and sheep into. The facts were that none of the Administration at that time were stockowners. The Premier was fond of abusing those who were elected by the people, but his utterances could only be described as twaddle and boßh. Itsickenei him to read the Piemier'a speeches, for the manner in which he distorted facts was appalling. Mr Peddon claimed credit for setting up the Police Commission, while its appointment was due to the persistency of Mr T. E. Taylor. The policy of the Opposition had been to check maladministration, and to preveut jobs, and had been the means of keeping Ministers off syndicates. They would have done more, but the Premier's powers and persuasive eloquence had got men elected to the House on personal pledges to support him, and havigg done so, he made every question one of want-of - confidence, aud compelled them to support him. Thus was New Zealand being manipulated for party purposes, and the Premier was becoming an autocrat. Mr Hall Jones bowed down to him. Mr Thompsou stooped to him, and everyone allowed him to take the reins of his Department. By his manipulation Hansard has become a record ot what was not said in the House, committees had become mere tools of the Premier, important Bi'ls were kept back till the expiring hours of Parliament, a notable instance being that of the Industrial Arbitration Bill, brought down too late to be property digested. Committees were dominated by the Premier, and out of 92 petitions referred to the N to Z Committee, he had taken ca>e that no racommendations were returned. In 64 the returns placed before the House were oot worth the paper they were written on. The return of £I7OO for the Premier's Jubilee expenses was allowed to be laid on the table without being signed by any authorised officer, aud when the Departmental returns came up it was found that the salary of one of thj Premier's secretaries had been charged to the Post Office Department while he was in England. The Civil Service was subject to the personal coutrol of Ministers, and Tammany ism was becom iog rampant. The Wrigg case was the standing scandal of the day,-but the N to Z Committee managed to shelve it, and no evidence ever came before the public, the committee being baulked in reporting to Parliament, and the matter was hushed up till next setsion. Then there was the marine scandal, which at present he did not know much about, beyond the fact that the Premier had accused the grand jury in that case of political biaß, which was quite unjustified. If Mr Seddon were allowed he would make shsrt work of anything that stood in the way of his ambition. He endeavoured to shelve the report of the Police Commission by proposing to refer it to the Public Accounts Committee, aud prevented a division being taken on the amendment to remove the service from political control. There was room for great improvement in the mrffcement of the railways, and the <*r was wrong in declining to make on frozen meat freights. There was much to be done iu connection with education, and the Premier had played with technical education in a manner not creditable to him. The present system of education was good, but further legislation was required to keep it abreast of the times, as they were not giving the youth of the country an opportunity to further their own iuterests. He was not favourable to removing the duties from the necessaries of life, and making up the loss by reducing the £SOO exemption under the land tux. The incidence of taxation should fall equally on all concerned. The present land tax proposals in several particulars were a distinct violation of this principle, and the proposed exemption was one of these, as a person would have to acquire pro-

perty before he could in it If they were going on with a vigorous public works policy there was little chance of reduction in the Customs tariff. Old age pensions required £250,000 to £300,000 per annum, and money had to be found out of consolidated revenue to compensate the owners of stock destroyed by the Government. The Premier said he had £230,030 set aside for old age pensions, but the statement was misleading for the speaker knew of no such sum, He sympathised with the small settlers who had the burden of the Customs taxes and local Government charges on their shoulders, and was uot prepared for a change in the fiscal policy to increase their burdens. Public works should be locally financed by means of loans to local bodies, it was not right that £300,000 should be taken from Customs and used on roads and bridges. Last year the money spent on public works in Canterbury came to 4s 61 per head, while- in the Premier's own district of Westland, it was £3 10s lOd. The colony had been steadily borrowing at the rate of a million a year for co'onial works, while very little actual work had been done, but he did not see how this could be stopped. A good deal had been lost by constructing portions of railway bridges, which were rotten before the trains ran over them. The money should have been spent in continuing the trunk lines, notably that from Auckland to Wellington. The manner in which money had been frittered away during the last ten years was not creditable to the Administration. The remedy was to put the money borrowed for set purposes in the hands of such a body as the Sinking Fund Commissioners. The Midland railway and the main trunk line to Auckland had been stopped, the Otago Central crawled slowly along, while that from Christchurch to Blenheim, which he had advocated in 1882, had not yet been begun. It had always been his opinion that a third line should be made in conjunction with the resumption of land along the route, with a betterment clause, and he preseuted this idea to the Government, who had often appropriated bits of his policy. Mr McKenzie had had his heart in the work of laud legislation, and had carried it out to the best of hia ability, but there was still room for improvement in his Department. Legislation for putting the people on the laud should be safeguarded against speculation ; 200,000 acres of land had been acquired for close settlement, and the rentals, which gave five per cent, on the outlay, were satisfactory. The speaker had advocated a policy of resumption 12 years before Mr McKenzie's Bill was introduced to Parliament. Such a policy was sounder than the purchase of native lands, and by putting the people on the land they would create a key to national happiness. The initiative of taking lands should be in the hands of Parliament, and the prices should be fixed in open court The Cheviot and Arowhenua settlements were a credit to Mr McKenzie, and tho Starborough.was a good purchase, but other blocks in the same district ought to be procured. He preferred the perpetual lease with revision of rents to the lease in perpetuity. The money accruing from the sale of land should go into a land purchase fund. Although a good deal was to be said as to preference for freehold tenure, it was evident from the quantity of land taken up that the public were not averse to the leasehold principle, but the freehold tenure must not entirely disappear. It was nonsense to say the Opposition was going in for the aggregation of property. All Liberal land measures emanated from those now dubbed Conservatives. He did not believe Mr Seddon was a Liberal. The Legislative Council had been demoralised by the Government cramming it. It was Mr Seddon's plaything, and he did not mean either to destroy or to reform it. The speaker thought it required reforming on the lines of the Canadian Upper Chamber, and should exist as a check on hasty legislation. In reviewing the legislation of the last session, he said the Stock aud Slaughtering Bills came down too late to be properly discussed. The Dairy Industry Bill, which he thought well considered, also came down late. The Irrigation Bill of Mr E. G. Wright was an exceedingly good measure. He did not think the Old Age Pensions Act satisfactory, and if the principle was accepted the only logical solution was universality. The present Act was niggardly and pauperising, and allowed many to get a pension who were not entitled to it. With regard to labour legislation, the Government should be placed on the same footing as other employers. Concluding, he slid the progress of the country was not to be interfered with. by any party which might come into power. With the present franchise the people would not allow a standstill policy, and when the party, of which he was a member, was allowed to come into power it would deal with the interests of the colony with less political bias than the present administration. He had faith in the future, but at present popular Government was in danger from the autocracy of one man, and the first thing to do was to turn Mr Seddon »ut of power. They must put in men who could rule, but dare not lie. Ministers must be the servants and not the masters of the people. A vote of thanks and confidence was carried,