MR A. W. HOGG, M.H.R.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4930, 19 January 1895, Page 3

MR A. W. HOGG, M.H.R.

POST-SESSIONAL ADDRESS. A very fair Audience asseiubM at tho ilasterton Theatre Royal last l evening to hear Mr A. W. Hogg, VkM.H.R., deliver an address. Mr George Heron, Mayor of Masterton, occupied the chair. Mr Hogg, in opening, said, as far as lie remembered, it was the first public meeting he had addressed since last election, and although perhaps there was not such a numerous audience as at some of his previous meetings, ho felt flattered that it was sotlioronghly representative,nndtlial the had weather lmd not kept them away. As all were aware they were living in very stirring times, when more time was being devoted to political science, than in any past history of the world. It was an age of emancipation; the century had witnessed the emancipation of slavery; al 1 over the world they had witnessed the emancipation of the masses; and iu New Zealand the emancipation of women, probably tho most important the political history of the people. It was due to the lever of education; to the press, the pulpit and the school, and even greater reforms

would be witnessed if the lever was jyan'operly used. Looking at the cvenls fftf the past few years, they would remember that a great battle had been fought at last election, when the people and the Liberal Party gained a great triumph. It was the action of Sir George Grey in getting his one-man-one-votc liill passed which had enabled the Liberals to snatch a victory from the Conservatives in 1890. (Applause). One of the most important constitutional struggles which had ever taken place in NEW ZEAUXD I'OUTICS, was the reforming of the Legislative Council by curtailing the membershi|) from life to seven years, or practically on their good behaviour. This triumph had been a costly one to the Colony, which had through the hard work imposed upon tlieni, caused the death of two of their greatest men ; Sir H. Atkinson, who in spite of his detractors, lie thoroughly believed had the good of his country at heart. Again the late Hon. John Eallance had succumbed to the messure of work, and no country had jflkver produced a greater patriot or "etter statesmen. (Applause). They had been told that the Liberal Government would bring about utter ruin, but although they had not pleased everybody they had endeavoured to do the greatest good for the greatest number, and in doing so had been obliged to tread on some people's corns. Briefly in the Parliamentary period between 1890 and 1893 they had altered taxation, land reforms had been carried out, and other important matters attended to. The founder of these reforms —the Hon. John Eallance was no longer amongst them, but his spirit still continued to guide them on to greater things.

LAST SESSION" had been lengthy and important, He was not looking at the number of measures because some thought that less might have been passed. But the Government had been endeavoring to carry out a patriotic policy, «id to inaugurate a policy of self:liance, and was now endeavoring to construct the Public Works out of revenue. The Government had been accused of sly borrowing, and it was true to a certain extent that the public indebtedness had been increased, but it had been necessary to have capital to develop resources, and even in the most wealthy countries they had a national indebtedness. In March, 1891, the public indebtedness was £38,830,000 ; in March, 1894, £39,826,000, or an increase in the

three years of £996,000, or close on a million. The interest and sinking fund in 1891 amounted to £1,865,500, and in 1894 totalled £1,874,600, an increase of £9,100; so that they would see that although the public debt increased by nearly a million, the Government had financed so well, that interest and sinking fund had grown very little. With the increased population the average debt per head was also reduced. In 1891 the average debt per inhabitant was £59 lis lid, and in 1894, £57

8s lOd, showing a reduction of £2 3s

>ld per head. He would show how Aind for what purposes the public •Hebt had been increased

WITHOUT BORROWING by the issue of debentures. £477,466 worth of debentures had been issued yielding immediate returns, The sum of £72,000 had been expended on the purchase of Natives lands; £250,000 on the Cheviot Estate; £116,000 on loans to Local Bodies; and £39,000 in the purchase of lands for settlement. All were productive expenditures, which must largely benefit tho Colony. Tliey were told that a very large addition had been made to the debt of the Colony; that the Government had been authorised to expend £3,000,000 on Advances to Settlors; and other sums making a total of £6,250,000. He would briefly allude to the details of the figures. The Banking Bill of last session had been a great measure; a bold stroke bad been performed, but the Government did the right thing, Whatever might be said against the Bank, tliero was no doubt that it was one of the chief financial institutions of the Colony, it was recognised,when the measure Jftme before them, that it was time traction,not consideration. If a huge building were on fire immediate stops would be taken to put it out, and this was the case. A rush on the Banks—if the Bill had not been passed—would have meant widespread ruin and calamity, and recognised it, and acted (tecordingly. (Applause). If they compared

THE OLD I'OLICY of borrowing in tie London market with, the present proposals of the Government they would see the vast difference in the policy. The money was not being raised to benefit the few, by useless railways, huge universities, palatial prisons, or that kind of thing. They had to look at both sides of the ledger, and although £6,000,000 on the debit Bide looked bad, what was on the other side? The Advances to Settlers Bill meant the development of the countrv by helping the farmer, the setfr, and the producer. With Now aland's climate, soil, and natural features, it occupied a most advantageous position, but to succeed, the country must be able to pay its way. Hitherto the settler had been handicapped by the difficulty of borrowing at a reasonable rate; the smaller the loan required the greater the charges generally. A few days ago a decent, honest Bettlerhad told him that at one time he wished to borrow £SO. He had the use of the money through a large legal firm, and between commission, law charges, pnd interest, although the unfortun-

ate man only Lad tlie money for six months, it cost him £200! They would at once see that tlio Government must go to tlio

RESCUE OK THE SETTLER, and i{ possible provide him witl cheap money. He (Mr Hogg) lm< long seen the necessity of it, and line taken an active part in securing tin passage of measures to enablo tin leaseholder as well as the freeholds to obtain assistance, the leaseholds could obtain adyancos up to one lial of his valuation and the freeholdei up to three-fifths. The influence oi the legislation lately introduced hai been very benoficially felt in vorj remote parts of the world. He had seen by tho cablegrams that the Scottish Banks had reduced interest to one percent, which meant thai the golden barrier to industry was being removed. It had been carefully computed that tho total advances on New Zealand properties by private persons was in round figures £30,000,000. This at 1 per cent, meant an iuterest of £2,212,500; at the Government rate of 5 percent it would be£1,475,000. or if all the borrowers had theii money from the Government there would be a clear saving of £737,500 to the people of this Colony, thus largely increasing their spending power. Again the profit to the Government on the issue of £500,00 C would be £22,500 and tiie cost of administration only £5,000. Anothoi measure was the consols Jiill, which enabled the Government to become the depository of thepeople's savings The Government had had large sums lying idle in the Post, Ollice Savings Bank, and it had been felt that bj the issue of

STATE CONSOLS 11 at 3i per cent., the Government to' use the money in the most reproductivemanucr, instead of leaving it 1 buried, enabled the people to invest with the Government, and instead of the Government having to goto ' the foreign capitalist, they obtained money in the country. There was a 1 great demand for hind, and it was highly necessary for the Government to acquire Native and oilier lands, 1 instead of allowing these lands to ' puss into private hands The present:' Government had, in following out' this policy, secured 1,000,000 acres.; i Briefly, the whole policy of the Go-1 vernment was to spread the people i! on the land of the country, to make . homes for the people, and to give, them the opportunity •of placing •' themselves beyond the reach of 1 destitution and privation, whatever ]' might happen to the markets andj' financial institutions of the world.' i (Applause). A great deal of useful 1 work had been done in the past 1 session. In Parliament, he had en- 1 dcavored to look after tho interests ' of the people of his constituency, ' and in no part of the country had settlement progressed better than 1 in their own. The Forty-mile Bush j' was going ahead in an unqnestiou- ] able manner, and tho establish- j mcnt of Butter Factories and Creameries, and the increase ' of the exports from this district, was an evidence of the progress made. In 1 order that the Special Settlements ! should be a success it was necessary that tradesmen and others taking up land should be allowed a fair 1 amount of latitude, and the rent ! made as light as possible. TheMin- 1 ister had been approached, and asked that to e.nablc settlers to get a return from their land, the first two ( years' rent be not called up under the old Act, to which he had consented. But unfortunately many j who had formed ' | l

RECENT ASSOCIATIONS had been informed that their rent! started fioiu the commencement of j their leases. This was certainly the way to prevent settlement progres-1 sing. The valuations had in his ! opinion, in many cases been unfair, j and it appeared that the object of the Land Office was to extract as much revenue as possible, because it was out of this fund that their salaries were paid. He had fought for the valuations being reviewed by the Board and not finally fixed by j the Land Office. Had this' been done: in the past, he felt convinced that j the late Special Settlement troubles j would never have taken place. He, with all due respect to the Minister of Lands, was of opinion that a cruel i wrong had been done to tho people,' when the Special Settlement system had been suddenly abandoned. They had abundant evidence at Pahiatua and other places of the great ad vantages of Special Settlement. As all' were aware, during the last session the Government had decided on the removal of the RAILWAY CONTROL to the hands of the Government. He had always favored this action, and already tho fruits of it, were visible. The fruit grower by recent freight reductions, had been given the opportunity of competing with the imported article, He had pointed out in Parliament, that their own fruitgrowers could not compete with the Tasmanian fruit-grower, owing to the high railway freights. In the past, too, there had been no inducement to grow fruit-, because if the local market was over-stocked there was no output. The Wellington market was supplied almost totally from outside the country, when New Zealand l.ad a fruit producing soil and climate as good as any in the world. He had estimated that quite £I,OOO a week was spentin Wellington alone in fruit. He was glad to see now that the Government was offering encouragement to fruitgrowers, He merely mentioned tho matter to show what might be done with the railways, which should not be merely worked for L s. d., on commercial lines, but on national lines to promote settlenient,iiicrcaso exports, and help the settler instead of perhaps earning a few thousand pounds, Again the people in the seaport towns would largely benefit by getting cheaper produce. For the benefit of the producer and consumer

PUBLIC MARKETS should be established in the large centres, and the railway so worked that the producer could take his goods down to these centres, on market days, and meet the consumer direct, thus doing away with the middle man, to their mutual benefit. If there was depression in New Zealand, and the people felt the pressure of the times, it arose from circumstances which no Government could control. In 1893 the value of New Zealand's exports was roughly speaking 9 millions, while in 1890 it was £9,428,761. This Bhowed a great falling off in value, and was principally in wool and agricultural products, the latter having fallen away in value by one half in four years. The quantity, too, had materially increased, but the markets had fallen and Governments were not responsible for thisunfortunato fact. He believed that the time had como when an effort should be made to manage the distribution of their own products, when the State should tike

the mattemp, and do away with tho commissions of foreign middlemen, He was strongly of opinion that it would not only benefit the producer, but the consumer at the other end. i Ho had j MANY OTHER QUESTION'S I ho should like to lmvo referred to. , He believed the State should take in hand the question of Firo Insurance. Some companies made so much as T)0 per cent, profit. He did not believe in the people's pockets being picked like this. Fire Brigades should he supported by the Stale, and properly equipped, and he hoped the day was not far distant, when ample provision would be made for the men engaged in this heroic work. (Applause). He was |in favor uf the inspection of food j and drink, and hoped the Govern- | mont would soon take the matter up. 1 He had come to the conclusion that I the Police Force should not be re- | oruited from the Permanent Artil- ■ lory. He hoped to see tho Police i'orce elevated in the near future, and a policeman be something more than a mere "body-snatcher." (Laughter.) Ho was not speaking i against the force, which contained j many estimable men, but ho thought I progress should be made; that amongst their duties, should be the inspection of food, for which they should be educated and madecapable, During next session, the Charitable Aid question would again be dealt with. They all knew his views 011 the matter, and as time was getting j on, he would not say much 011 the 1 question. He hoped to soon see more !extended and I IiETTHR J.OCAIi GOVBIINMEXT ; ] more electoral power; and the

| general Government divested of ' many mutters which could he better mauiged locally. In conclusion lie ' said ho felt exceeding proud to represent the Masterton constituency, It wits, as lie had already pointed ■ out, ii most progressive one, and if a large amount of money hud been expended in the district by the present Government, it was for the whole colony's good, and the Gorern- , ment had :i return on every shilling granted. (Applause), He had re- , ceived many letters, even from other ' parts, congratulating him on his , stand in many matteis, and 011 what ;he had done. He had felt it his | duty to place his district in front, because to it be owed his political birth; his home was in it and his ' intei'csts were theirs. But at the same time lie bad not forgotten to . act as he thought best for the wel;fare of the whole country. (Apiplause). Thanking those present for their patient hearing and for the confidence placed in him, lie would conclude. He would endeavour to answer any questions that might be asked. Mr Hogg resumed his seat amidst applause, the Chairman inviting j questions, but 110 one coming for ward he remarked that if all were so well pleased that they had nothing to find fault with,be would ask some one to move a vote of thanks. Mr T. li. Price moved a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Hogg as their representative, aid confidence in him. 3lr G. W. Woodrooflo in a somewhat lengthy speech, seconded the motion, which was put to the meeting and carried. In returning thanks Mr Hogg said be had never once sacrificed his independence, 1101' the interests of his constituents since lie had entered Parliament, in supporting the Government. No pressure had been brought to bear 011 him or any other member as far as be knew. He had supported the present Government because he believed it was their honest intention to do their level j best for the country. (Applause), j He had now much pleasure in movj ing a vote of thanks to the Chairjman. The motion was carried by acclamation, and the meeting dispersed,