SIR JULIUS VOGEL AT WANGANUI.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 602, 30 March 1876, Page 2

SIR JULIUS VOGEL AT WANGANUI.

O^b speech of the Premier, the garbled edition of which we latelj referred to, it of too much importance now that it h«i coin* to vi in propel form to withhold, though it mmt n.ceisanlr oecupj ■ large portion of our space. Efea now we hare omitted tho major portion of it altog*-thtr-matten referring to his home riiit, to th» jnicnptionofJf.wZeaUnd debe.turei, to Harbour management, and gire to-day io much M refer, to the Abolition of Province, and thepropoied country syitom, loarmg other int«re»ti fl g and important matter to our next.

ABOLITION OF *BOTINOM. When w e brought down our Publio Works th!,* A™ 110 ,! 1 poho * tho colo "7 had beta abandoned by tho Trnporul Government; they i Uk «. n il aTfa 7 th«r troop, an d Itft vi to our515 1 kf" ™ * ttrden of tboutr £6,000,000 of debt. Wo were here comparatively • handful I of people but vigorous and strong, although, for the time, ia a depressed condition. For som* time put public worki and, colonisation had been almost abandoned—in' fro» ia the North laland th.y bad never be«n carried out, except to a •mall extent aloDg the coast line. Therefore we ,aid ' We must its if we stnnot bring to tho country a larger number of periona to •hareita burdens and show the people that they haye -something to work npon. f> I admit it was a bold policy, and a policy that was not applicable to many countries m tho world. I think there are very few countries ao favoured a» New very few could adopt inch a policy ; but 1 say it was a polioy of necessity here, unless we wuaed to see the colony f«U into suoh a depressed and languishing oondidon as we ie» existing m a neighbouring color y. Ido not likt to ra.ke lnyidious remarks, but I allude to tbs Colony of Tasmania. We were safe in our conviction, became we Halt that money expended in opening up two iuch Islands could not b> money thrown away, but matt in the end have good re.ultt— (applause). That such if the case ib proved by the roiult of the policy even so far as it has yet gone, beoauso wo have had nob only added in thu country the people whom we have brought out by mean* of free immigration, but we have had tho»e alio who, attraoted by what they have learnt of New Zealand, hare come *t their own cost to cult their lot here, and invest their money in the colony. W« hare expended money in bringing people here to work, but many have alao come bringing with them cupvtal to employ that labour ; and it u redounding to tho honour of the people of the country that there hat not been any clast complaints at the increaie of population »uuh as are made in the neighbouring colonies when immigration u proposed. All classics, and the working men especially, have seen that instead of injuring them by increasing the population we have added to their prosperity by enlarging tb« •pher* and scope of the wants of the people. I» of course, r«cogni»e that the tbing may be overdone> but whiUt it is not overdone— while we art able to see that labour and capital are being concurrently brought into the colony, and if wa can arrange that men who earn money by labour ara able, when they cease to desire such employment^ to settle upon the lands of the colony, we are safe in pursuing the policy I hive desoribed— (ap* plause). Ido not tbiuk that many persons realise fully the force of what I have said with respect to expenditure by provinces, and by the colony. As to the colonial expenditurej when w# brought down our proposal to oonstruot trunk lines of railway from end to end of each of the two islands, we suggested that tht work could be done by a* txpendunro of aboub £8,000,0J0 spread over ten years. But it became so obvious, as we proceeded, that those works were certain to prove successful, that the greatest possible presture was brought to bear — the pressure of tho Legislature itself— to cause the hastening of the work. It was said, with great oogency, " If these works are going to pay, »» appears oortaia to be the case, it is belter t> finish them as soon as poiaible, and not to havj to find interest upon them unfiuuhod, while they would pay much of the interest upon their cos: if only they were fiaithed." From la7l to the present time, we have, in faot, done as muoi work in railway construction as, uuder tho original proposal, would have occupied at least halt as much m>re time. Hence, we hay« borrowed more largely and rapidly than was anticipated.

TMB LAND VOXD. Now a groat deal lus been Ball about th« Compact of 1856. I go outside the Compact altogether, and say I belie™ it is a cjnremvnb and desirable thing for every great division of the country to ha»e an interest in the landed rerenue, and the prinoipte of the Compact of 1856 ia one not undesirable if we * ore free to reoonaider it. That principle I uuderstand to be to set apart the land revennt, both in respect to where it arises, and to the objects to which it is to be deToted, But what surprise* me it that tbois who speak about it think it should only ba maintained so long as they consider it desirable. They talk of putting all the land fund of th# Middle Island into one coixtinon purse, bats nothing could less represent their views of the ooinpaot. But the Government will consent to nothing which does nnt give the residue of tht land fund for the expenditure of the local bodies and no proposal will be accepted whioh would make the land fund lose its special character* I believe it is the general feeling of the colon/ that the land revenue should be specially applied., A great deal has been said lately about this compact, but I do not myself expect that so much will be said upon the subject when Pa-liament meats as has been predicted. My experience teaches me, and I think my friend Mr. Bryo* will b3ar me out, thai thero are always during the recess innumerable prophet* foretelling what will take place when the Assembly meets, and the subjects which will be chießy dealt with, and that those are the rery subjects whioh are (oner* ally moat neglected during the session.

AKRANGIWfINTS »0R THE FDTCTBI. I hare as yet only spoken about the abolition of the Provinces, and will now say lometbing About the future. I recognise that it ha* become the duty of tho Government, which haa been the mauni of asiing the colony to content to tho abolition of the ProTinces, to eupplr something satisfactory in their place— to supply a form of local Government of a more inexpensive character (hear, hear) .We accept that responsibility, and I undertake to say that we (hall propose to far* liaroeal a form of local government which will bo more satisfactory, although it will not ha?* fiose features of miniature Parliament*, and mini* ature responsible Gorernmenti whioh characterise the present Provincial ayitem. • * We want to draw * broad distinction betwsea tho great publio serricea in the provinces whioh c»n be oarried out ju«t as well by the General Government as by the Prof inoial Govern .Bents, without in tho slightest degree causing inconreai' ence to anyone. For itistanoe, the management of gaols and of the police, and such duties M he Provincial Governments perform with respect to harbour.— l mdan administrative dutie*, not those connected with harboUr improvcmenta —these and other things whioh go to mike up the grtat part of the cost of Prorinoial Govern* ments' salaries may as well be attended to by the General Gpternment, and oan be so attended to, not only without inoonreßienc* to the inha* bitants generally, bnt without the great mass of the people knowing that any change has been made. They are services wbioh are mo more o£ a looal oharaoter than are those conneoted with the Post O /Hoe or the Telegraphio Department. We have from one end of the colony to the other postmasters who have been appointed by, and are under the control of the General Government and whose salaries are Voted by the Assembly 2 and we are able to carry on the postal service in a manner which is, I believe, exceedingly satii* faotory to the colony. The servioes I have mentioned or indicated can be performed br incorporating the Provincial with the General Go* vernment Departments j and * great deal of money may in that way be ssved. There is no j neoessity for having a department with a depart mental head in every service in every province. Wo are able to carry on the General Governmint ser?ioe* without many. I am not complaining of what has been done. While the provincea exist, each most have iv distinctive staffs ; but, by intorpomtions, we believe that we o»n get rid

of mo« (jof th«ae distinctire featnre* and that weNn b 4t» much money. Another principle the GoTernmeot (indorse in arranging for the futura is, that the institutions which aro to take the place of the provinces must be free from the diffioultiM, and they are not theoretical merely, hut hare proved to be practioul, which I hare sapped the foundations of Prorincial institution*. There must not be 10 much friction, or oonfliot, with the new institutions, as there has been between the Provincial Q-oTemment and the General Goternraent. In »hort, instead of haTini? ill-defined claims upon the General Go•rernment as the provinces haro had,' and the consequent state of conflict between them, the now institutions must have functions so clearly defined that they can be constantly worked without conflict and without friction-

SHTLEMENT OF LANDi. Th# GoTernment are sensible, whilst they dssire not unduly to interfere with local administration of the land, that something mu*t be dona to increase the facilities -for obtaining land 'for settlement (cheers). There are a great many young men throughout tho colony who must bo enabled to possess themselT«s of land upon which to settle, if th»y so desire ; and the Ooyernment ha/c th* belief that less is to be done in that way by any artificial system of ■pecial settlements, than by offering faoihties to all who desire to obtain land and settle upon it (applause). '(Jp3n one point tho GoTernment have a very strong opinion, and that is, that those who want land should pay for it ; but that it should be offered on easy terms of payment, just as a large purchaser going into the prirate •market would be able to obtain oasy terms for ,<his payments (applaust). I &m not, howerer, prepared to state what, if any, steps we -ahall take in this direction, at present. I have-indi-'cited the direction in which the GoY«rnment are inohned to go.

comrrx srtmu. I will ftow say a few words about the system of counties— for that is what we purpose to call them— which W3 intend submitting to Parliament next session. * * * , * * s?he bill wfcioh the Government introduced last session was modelled on Acts in force in some of the neighbouring colonies, by whioh shires are created out of road boards, on something of the Datjlinian principle of the survival df the nost fit. That bill did ntt find favour, and 1 is no doubt open to the charge that these changes are not, as a rule, mad« without -groat opposition v and conflict between the various bodies conoerned. We now propoie a system by whioh counties | would be entirely distinct from road districts . In fact neither will hare any oontrel over the other. We propose to keep them quite distinct, each hating Us own duties, and eacli having itp own revenue, and while they will be able to oome to any agreement between themseltes as to any general works, it will not be necessary for them to do so or to enter into opposition or oonfliot with -eaoh other. The general idea is thw : fc'irst of all we consider that the present provincial boundaries are too large, and are not '•uitable for the future divisions of the country. We propose that the whole country shall be divided into counties, and these divisions shall *b» made after dv« consideration. lam not prepared to say, at present, whether the Government will do this or invite the House to do it, or appoint a commission to do ifr; it is enough to •ay that the ' Government propose that the country shall he divided into counties, and that ' the boundaries of these counties shall be subject to alteration if found dssirable. We propose that, in the 'first instance, the Government, or Parliament, or probably the Governor, shall arbitrally," if you so like to call it, make in each county not more than seven divwions, but less if it should <bo thought dertrable; that those divisions shall return each, at least, one member to 1 the County Board, th» members to be not more than seven ; aud that the Board so constituted shall have the pow«r to re-consider tha question of divisions and of representation, and to ' increase th* number of members, subject to the Hmit, which I think we should set, that no 'Board shall consist of more than nine members. 'We propose tbat the Board first elected shall ' <xi»t for twelve months only ; and that there ■hall then be a fresh election, subject to any ■permitted modrCcations which the first Board •may have made. We think that the Boards so elected should exist- for three years ; and that instead of the sptem which is adopted in connection with most municipal bodies, of somr mambeM retiring, and the vacancies being tilled by elections each ye-w , all the member should continue in office for three years, and the whole of the number be re-eleoted at the | •ama tide. Tho County Cluirtnan, We -incline to think, should be elected by tuc ' whole constituency of «aeh county. It is quite .possible it may bo found necessary that the Chairman should be a paid officer, in which ca«e ho would be paid ont'of the County revenue ; bwf, 'in order to prevent county boards bscoming in any sense political bodies, or the creation of any of those Jifficulties which have been encountered under the Provincial system, we are of opinion it is desirable no County Chairman should bo 'eligible to sit in Parliament— (applause). We propose that the county boards shall have charge l of the main roads of the country ; tkat it shall be their duty to maintain those roads, and to construct other large works whioh may be for ' the benefit of the districts they comprise. The duties Of country boards will be quite distinct from those of road boards— they will be confined to the construction snd maintenance of arterial 'works within their own districts, which will each represent a large division of the colony. The 'boards should have means at their disposal. Yo» are aware, probably, that by the Act of last session, Parliament decided that there should be • contribution of £1 from the Consolidated Revenue for eaoh £1 raised by local taxation not '•xceeding Is in the £1, and that there should bo an equal amount contributed out Of the land revenue. The Act provides that tht contribution of £2 to £1 should be paid to -road boards ; but by a subsequent clause it was provided tbat in case of »hires being formed, the whole amount ahoald'be paid over to -them. A like provision was made as to liceose fees. But what we intend to propose in, that the subsidies from the Consolidated Revenue and tho Land B*votfue shall ( be equally "divided between road districts and oountj boards. The county boards to have the tolls on main roads, and also to have power to levy special rates for specified works, provided that these works and the amount of the rate be first approved of by a properly convened meeting of ratepayers— (applause). So taat, while ! >© .hall propose to give the county boards : T ery largo powers, we shall also provide that the constituents of these boards shall be able to express their wishes, and to-take care 'that those wishes are carried into •ffect—(applause.) I have spoken of " wnsfcituents, and you will naturally ask, " Who are they to be P 'Our proposal will be that tho electors for a •county shall be all those persons who qualify themselves by payuwnt of rates. The electors irithin road districts would be the electors in counties. It may be possible, but Ido not think It will b« at all .general, that in some parts of colony it will b» desirable to have a county but not to have road "boards ; and in any such cast tho subsidies which I have mentioned, would go wholly to the county boards. The electors in road districts will be electors in ceunMes ; but the county board will bo entirely lndependaut of Toad boards; and the latter out of their own revenues, will carry on their functions as they have been in the habit of doing. We consider it desirable not to mix up legislation with respect to the two bodies ; and, therefore, while we propose to Aeal with oounties next session, I am a: prepared to say we. will deal with the other bodies, except so far as to enable existing road boards to continue their functions, if any legislation should be found to be necessary for that purpose. There is anotker matter w,hich it is important to mention which I hope will find favour in your eyes and in the eyes of the country. We do not propose to include any borough in any county. Wo think the borough should be as distinct as any county or road distriot. The counties will not therefore, find themselves Kwamped as in the past by the numerical voting power of the towns. The counties and the towns will have independent existences, and yet whenever it is noeessary to come to any general arrangement it will be quite possiblo for tko county,

the borough, and the road district, to co-operate and arrive at a mutual agreement. Nor do wo lose sight of the necessity to keep down the expenditure of counties. If the counties are willing to forego expensiyo staffs, the General Government will nssist them as much as possible. W« will, I believe, make provision by whioh by agreement with a county, the Publio Works Department would carry out or maintain for the country any work agreed up. That would be a voluntary agreement between the comity on the one side and the Public Works Department on the other. We alio propose that counties should have pow«rto borrow ontheTevenue raised by rates and on general property, and tolls, but not upon subsidies. We propose to keep these revenues to distinct that in future the colony shall not be liable tor the indobtedne.s of any county. 1 cannot sufficiently express my opinion of how important i» thnt provision. For a long tim« it has been impossible to allow the provinces to borrow beoause it was impossible to get out of ! tbe position, that if province! borrowed, the colony was liable for the debt. That is not the case, and must not be the case with th» new counties. They must borrow upon thi meant which they possess, and with the content and approbation of the ratepayer*, the money they expend must be obtained upon their own security, and not upon the security of the colony. The oolony willtiave enough to borrow for itt own workt. It has still a very great work to perform, for it hai the grand trunk railways to carry out. We do not want our railways to finish at thirty miles north of Christchurcb, and forty miles out of Nelson, or thtt there should be no railways in Westltnd ; and we do not want that the railway from Wanganui, should close in one direction at Rangitikei, and in the other al Waitotara. Wo want that all the provinces in this' island should have inter* communication with each other, and so with the proTinces of the other island. We must bear that in mind, and we must rimembor that our own responsibilities require that tbu be carefully attended to. It will be our duty to do with is hi tie borrowing money as ponsible until our railways give evidence, which I mu«t say they are beginning to give in a remarkable manner, that they can pay a considerable portion of the interest on the money out of which the* have been constructed (cheers). If this new iyatem fulfil our expectations, it will be a tystem which will give to the countiy the most complete local government system it is possible to conceive. We shall have a variety of local bodies throughout the country which possessing special and peouliar functibns, will save Parliament much responsibility and care. They will relieve Parliament of many of those duties upon which members have looked with great dread, because thej are called upon to deal with matters with which vefy few are acqnamted. We shall have separate, borough, road distriot, and county government, and each body, it is pretumed, will carry out its function without coming into contact with the others. We thall arrive at thit result without renewing the Provincial form of government. Care will be taken to prevent any heavy ttaff expenditure, but you will have ' a much better system of looal control than anything you could' possibly namt in the past.

We are requested to direct special ntttntioa to the advertisement of Messrs Hwwin and Brothers, Grocers, &c, of on the 4th pagit of this impression. — (Advt.) Auother Charming Song, " My Own Home," with Pianoforte Accompaniment, will be published in Saturday Nioht, April 1. Also, Three Thrilling Serial Tules, Moral Essays, General News, Wit and Humour, Scientific Goiiip, Items for Ladies. All for 3d.— (Advt.) Those who want new drapery and clothing will -do well to see the immense stock which has just arriyed at NgaruaWahia, and which will be -sold at prices hitherto unknown in the Waikato. There is a large stock -of boys', men *nd women't strong elastic and laced up boots which will be sold at very low prices to reduce the stock. J. Gilmobr & Oo (late W. H. Hubert), Ngaruawahia.—(Advt.) Oxygen is Lipl—Dr Bright a Phosfhodyne. — Multitudes of people «re hopelessly suffering from Debility, Nervous and Liver Complaints, Depression of Spirits, Hypochondria, Timidity, Indigestion, Failure of Hearinc, Sight, and Memory, Lassitude, \V«mt of Power, &c,, whose cases admit of a permanent cure by the new remedy PHOSPHO DYNE (Ozomc Oxygen^ wliich at once allays all irritation and excitement, imparts now energy and life to the enfeebled constitution, and rapidly Hires etsry stage of these hitheito incurable and '! ist reusing malacLes. Sold by all chemists and d.ugijists throughout the Globe. figjp Caption.— Tho lar^e and increasing demand for Dr Bright'a Phosphodyne has led to scTer.il imitation* under somewhat similar natneo , purchweM of thi» medicine should therefore be careful to observe that each case bears the Government Stamp, with the y/oklj, I)r Brighfs Phosphodyne engraved thereon, and that the came words are also blown in the bottle.