MEETING AT OHAUPO.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2156, 4 May 1886, Page 2

MEETING AT OHAUPO.

Mr K. Lakk, member for Waipa in the House of Representatives, addressed a meeting of his constituents at Delaneys Hall, Ohaupo, on Saturday evening. Owing to tho unfavourable state of the woather, tho night was extremely wet and dark, tho attendance was not large, but of thote present many had come froir. a distance to hear their member. On the motion of Mr Kusabs, Mr J. T. Edwards was voted to the chair. The Chairman in opening the uroceedings said it was to be deplored that the elements were no much against them, but nevertheless there was a good sprinkling of the intelligence of the district pi esent. A certain old philosopher had remarked that when he had one pupil he had the whole country, and this reflection might perhaps console their member. (Laughter.) He > felt that Mr Lake needed no introduction at his hands, and ho would therefore simply call upon that gentleman to address them. Mr Lake, on coming forward, was received with demonstrations of applause. He said it was with feelings of pleasure that he saw so many present on such a very unpleasant night. He felt that some apology was due to them and to the whole constituency for the hurried way in which his meetings had been arranged. It had been his intention to devote a fortnight to the work, but through causes over which he had no control, his plans had been frustrated. He did not propose to weary thtm that evening with a long array of figures, or to indulge in any elaborate review of the proceedings of last session, but simply deal in a general way with the events which had transpired since he last met them. The Policy of the Government. He would ask them to go back to the figures with which they had to start with in 1884. In the Estimates for that year, the revenue was set down at £3,722,500, and the expenditure £3,775,152, thus showing a deficiency of £52,652. This they would see was very like the old story. Major Atkinson had been reproached over and over again for getting on the wrong side of the ledger, which was not such a difficult thing to do, as many of them know from their own personal experience. In view <>{, this deficiency, the Treasurer, Sir J. Vogel f persuaded the House to allow him to borrow against the Sinking Fund. He did not think the Treasurer was wrong in this. Though there were many people to be found who advocated the retention of the sinking fund, he did not consider it necessary in the case of continuous borrowing. When a sum of money was borrowed for some specific object, such a fund might be desirable, but otherwise it meant simply borrowing money at a low, and paying it back at a high rate of interest. When the Premier was speaking at Napier the other day he took credit to Sir Julius Vogel for having restored the financies of the colony to a healthy state. This sounded very well, but if Major Atkinson had been able to do as Sir Julius had done, he too would have been able to convert a deficiency into a surplus. When credit was claimed for the present Treasurer, it should always be borne in mind that he had obtained money from sources not accessible to or not utilised by his predecessor. Mr Stout had stated his belief that there would be a surplus of £37,000 at the end of they ear, when Parliament met. He (the speaker) hoped to show where this surplus would come from, that it was accomplished by ways and means which had not before been resorted to. In the estimated revenue for 1884-85 was included the sum of £244,000 borrowed against the Sinking Fund; when the amount of the deficiency was deducted from this there remained £191,348 of a surplus, which was so handsome that the Treasurer at unce felt justified in reducing the Property Tax one-half, or by about £131,000. The surplus remaining after this was £60,348. When, however, the supplementary estimates came down it was found that the estimate of expenditure had been understated. Instead of £3,775,152 the actual expenditure turned out to be £3,795,191, leaving a balance of £22,003. Thus the estimated surplus was reduced from £52,052 to £22,003. With this he paid off £2,112 of the deficiency bills of the previous sesson, leaving £150,000 to be carried on. If they had believed the Treasurer they were at that time embarking in a voyage which would lead them to national happiness. The finances, Sir Julius said, were elastic, bnt the colony had been dozing for tho previous five years. What they wanted was an improved system of local government and stable finance and then the colony would go ahead by "leaps and bounds," and, as Sir George Grey added, by "jumps," Now, he purposed to enquire into the action of the Government, or rather of the Treasurer, for they all knew that he was the guiding spirit of the Cabinet. He had shown how "the Treasurer had obtained money from sources from which his wredecessors had no right to hope for assistance, and he had shown how the contemplated surplus had vanished. He had also quoted the opinion of the Premier that there would be a surplus of £27,000, and now he would attempt to point out how this result was obtained. Almost the first thing the Treasurer had told them in his statement was that he was not a free trader, and that he was not a protectionist ; he was just what they pleased. He was "not a Whig, not a Tory, but just a candidate." Well this led them naturally to expect that uome considerable alterations in the customs tariff would be proposed, and they were not disappointed. The Tariff Bill astonished them. But the Treasurer was not nothing if not audacious. If it were not highly improper to refer to one in so exalted a position in such terms, he might almost say impudent. > The Bill increased a large number of duties, but it put duties on things not before taxed. For instance, it put a duty of 2.* a ton on coal, notwithstanding the faot that the capacity oi their own mines was taxed to the utmost, that the demand was greater than the supply, and that no complaint had been made by the colliery owners of the colony. The duty on spirits and wine was increased Cd a gallon, while an extra 2d was put on tea, raising the duty from 4d to 6d. Woollen goods, which already paid 15 per cent., were to be charged 17£ per cent., and in some oases 90 per cant. These altera* tions must have been felt by the Government to be very high-handed. They knew that tha increased duties would be felt by the agricultural class, and they therefore proposed to do something on the other side. And what did they do? They put a duty on imported hams, bacon, butter, &c ! Now, it was well-known that sqarceJy any produce of this kind was imported. It was true that they did import a little a few years ago, but now they got nothing of this description except *vhat came in the shape of surplus stores in emigrant ships, and that was not worth mentioning. On the other hand, New Zealand was now a large exporter of cheese, bacon and butter. The object of this proposal was simply to bamboozle the farmers. He was glad to say the proposals were rejected. The usual practice, as they knew was to put the proposed alterations in resolutions which were deemed to have been carried if afterwardsconflrmed. Thereasonforthiswasthat if the extra duties were not imposed until the Tariff Bill was carried, the goods affected would be drawn out of bond and the colony would lose. The resolutions were brought down on the 18th June, and after passingtheincreaseon spirits and wines, the various items were rejected until that of "carpetbags" was reached, when the Government thought they had had enough of it and moved to report progress, which was done and the bill was thrown out. Under the circumstances most Governments would have resigned, and he believed the Premier was inclined to take that course, but he was overruled by his friends and staid in. As he had shown, the Government had a large amount of money to make up. The revenue from spirits and the railways had fallen off, and something had to be done to raise revenue. They knew in what unsparing terms the Government had condemned the Property Tax, and yet the Treasurer raised this tax from jjd to gd, thus making jt higher than it bad ever been before. Local Government. The Government had said a great deal about improved local government with an assured finance, and they had been told that the two leading liffhts of the Ministry, the Premier and the Treasurer, wpye devoting their attention to the subject, the former preparing the machinery and the latter the financial part of the promised measure. The House and the country looked forward to the appearance of the Bill with auxiety, but ho coqfessed that h« did not know where the " assured finance " would come in. When the Bill was brought down they found that it contained provision for borrowing £300,000 a. year

to be guaranteed for 25 years. Power wai, however, given to borrow the whole amount forthwith on the security of tlio annual subsidies, and he had no hesitation in saying that had the Bill been carried the.se borrowing powers would liavo been largely availed of, in the hope that when another Government came in tho borrower*! would be relieved of tho liability. If tbia was "assured finance" he did not know what the term moant. Tho proposal was received with derision. The House would not have it at any price. It was a Bill of 57 clauses and 3 scheduled, and it was finally passed with nine clauses and one schedule, and then only to be in opor.ition for six months. Local bodies had therefore a subsidy for the latter half of the ye.ir only, and if when Parliament mot no scheme were pi oposed, they would thereafter have to rely on such funds as they could raise loc.illy. Tho present measure was a return to the old subsidy system in vogue some years ago. When ho coma to the colony the local bodies got £2 for £1, and afterwards £1 for £1. Then succeeded the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, the principle of which, while it suited the North, where roads had yet to be made was not so popular in the South, where tho roads had been made out of the land funds, and where many large districts, such as Selwyn for instance, were so well provided with funds that no rato was levied. That Act was not perfect, but it sought to do away with theweaknessinherent in all systems of subsidies, which gave the rich districts large and the poor districts small sums of money. In Sir Julius Vogel's Bill a sliding scale was provided tA meet thii difficulty. If a district raised £500 in rates it got £1000, and it got no more if the rates were £GOO, £700 or £1000, but when it raised more than £1000 it get £1 for £1. The fault of this w»s that many districts in the North could not raise £500 or anything like it, while there would be a tendency in districts which raised large sums in rates to split up, an that they could get a larger share of the subsidies. The Government had shown that they were utterly ignorant of the wants of the poorer districts, for under the Act it would have been possible for a rich county like Selwyn, for instance, to strike a rate to secure £10,000, to which it would be en titled. The question of local government was a most important subject, and at the same time a most difficult one to deal with. He believed the time was coming when they could not hope to get all they vyanted out of the Government purse. Districts like Pukekura would soon be able to go alone, but assistance would occasionally be wanted in case of emergency, and to meet such cases means ought to be provided by which they could raise money at a low rate of interest, say two or three per ceut. There were, however, districts, especially to the north of Auckland, when such facilities would be of little use, because their roads had yet to be made, and they could not make both ends meet. He believed in the principle that rates should be used to maintain roads, while new works should be constructed out of borrowed money. The Government had the poor satisfaction of kicking out the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, but it would have been wiser to allow it to remain in operation for another year, or until something had been devised to take its place. !

Taxation for Hospitals and Charitable Aid. With regard to the surplus spoken of by the Premier, the Government had devised other means to bring about this result. The sum of £75,000, charged for the maintenance of hospitals and charitable institutions, had been shifted on to the shoulders of the people, who have never been called upon to pay for such services before. He did not say the principle was a wrong one, because he thought tho hospitals ought to have been supported to some extent by the local bodies. He believed local aid had been given in some cases down South, but it had not been done in Auckland, where the refuges and other similar institutions were in a coudition which would not be tolerated in any part of the Old Country. Last session was so taken up with squabbling that party lines were almost obliterated, and it was not possible to get up anything like an organised opposition to the measure. The Canterbury members were bound to support the Government because they wanted the East and West Coast Railway. As one of their number bad expressed it, they would have to get the railway or " burst. There were seventeen or eighteen members of the Government party known to be opposed to a land tax, and yet where could they get a better land tax than that provided for in this Act? The charge of maintaining the hospitals and charitable institutions was thrown entirely upon the land. Government tried to soften the dose by making provision for subsidies out of the Consolidated Fund for five years, but these could be stopped at any time by the Colonial Treasurer if he had reason to suppose that the money obtained from other sources was sufficient. In the original bill the counties of Waikato, Waipa and Raglan, and the Borough of Hamilton were, together with the districts as far as the North Cape, joined to the City of Auckland. It was quite evident that in a district such as that no control could have been exercised, because the expenses of travelling were so heavy. His colleague, the member of Waikato, and he had tried to alter this, and moved to have the counties he had named and the Borough of Hamilton, cut off and formed, with the county of Piako, into a separate district. Such a district as that would have been workable. Unfortunately every one else who represented a country distiict tried to get his cut off, until at last the Premier, acting in the interests of the large towns, carried a resolution the effect of which was that though country districts might be separated for hospital purposes, they must still remaiu joined to the large towns for the purposes of charitable aid, whereupon he and his colleague abandoned the position. Nothing could be more subversive of keeping a proper control over the expenditure than the method by which the districts were formed, It would cost the Raglan representative at least £5, and the Waikato members, say, £3 to attend a meeting of the board. When the board first met a circular from the Premier was read, in which it was suggested that the members of the United Board need not meet more than once or twice a year, and in the House he had suggested that members of the District Board might be elected, m was the oase with the Board of Education, from amongst the residents of the town. Now the cases were wholly different. It mattered not how the Board of Education squandered their money, it did not effect the people directly; although the money had to be found by the people it did not cqme out of rates, whereas the contribution to hospitals and charitable institutions did and that made all the difference. When the people of the County of Waipa were called upon to pay £400 or £500 to the Auckland Hospital, &c, they naturally wished to follow that* money and see that it was properly applied and not wasted. B, ut as it was now, representatives who went to Auokland, and who evinoed a desire to look after their money, could easily be checkmated by adjourning the board from time to time until the expense of attending the meetings would approximate to the amount demanded in contributions. He quoted figures to show that it would be simply impossible fop country members to attend. If Raglan sent a representative to the monthly meetings, which it was proposed to hold, the expense connected with his visits, would actually amount to nearly half what the county [was called upon to pay towards the hospital. There were some thing* about the Act which were very difficult to understand. For instance, provision was made for what was called "separateinstitutions." This meant that if a hundred people subscribed a pound a head they could get the institution towards wb,ic,h. th.ey subscribed vested in them. Such a course might be followed in respect of the Auckland Hospital. A hundred people might obtain the complete control of the institution, and all the pleasure the. ratepayers would enjoy would consist in paying whatever was demanded. They had the right to appeal to the Colonial Secretary, but that was all. If such a scheme as that was not subversive of liberal government he did not know what wai, The only good point in the Act was that the management was got out of the hands of the Government and in that way would do something towards decentralisation. He hoped the country representatives would unite during the next session in an endeavour to make it a workable measupe. The Waikato County Council had made a series of suggestions, whiqh ha. thought would, if adopted, make the 4ct a success. If the members for the country constituencies kept together he believed they could accomplish their object. The East and West Coast Railway. was a subject thaf attracted a great deal of notice. II had been proposed on the previon-s session to construct this line under the Drovisiooa of the Railways Qoaitruction

and Land Act, ffivinpr so many pmnds worth of Crown Jam] fm mi m.uiv miles of railway. He, with ntheiN who wore heiten upon this point, tried to niAc the loss to the colony as small at possible, and were successful in carrying a resolution that none of tho land should be valued at less than 10s per acre. Mi.-t of the country was of no use ; the line was to go mem mountain range, and the tho n-y of its advocates was that \z would connect the two coasts, biking produce from tho Ea>t and bringing back coal and timber. Tt was of no use to point out to these people that the minerals and timber could bo earned to Lyttnltnn much cheaper by water. The fact was they wanted three or four millions of money «p»nt in the district. Tho bill was passed, and the delegates went h>nie to fl.iat tho company. Then followed the celebrated Meigg's proposals. This firm were quite willing to build the line, but, in addition to the land, they wanted the sum of £97,000 per annum for twenty years. They stipulated that the sections of line should be paid for as they were completed. The measure to grant these conditions was of course kicked out. It was> then proposed th.vt the colony should do the woik, and the sum of £150,000 was placed upon the estimates to make a beginning. This item, with others, was attacked by what was now known as Captain Russell's motion. Since the session it had been frequently stated by Ministers that the Government could not do this, that, or the other thing, because the estimates had been cut down by Capt. Russell's motion. There was jam truth in these assertions. If knocking ott £500,000 was so fatal to the carrying out of the Government policy, tho Government should have resigned. But in fact tho re duction did not operate in that direction. The Government were given plenty of money to complete all the contracts required, but they had not enough to do work necessary to purchasepolitical support. The excuse was utterly unw.orthy of any Government. I

The District Railways Purchase Bill. There was another bill over which considerable excitement was manifested, and concerning which he felt bound to take a strong side. He alluded to the District Railways Purchase Bill. The Government proposed to buy these lines at cost price, plus the amount of rates paid. He referred to the origin of these lines, many of which he claimed were made with the object of forcing them on the Government, as they'could not possibly pay. In the case of the Duntroon and Hakateramea Railway only the sum of £370 had beeu actually subscribed ; the balance had been " financed,'* so that the " cost price" would be something very high. The House refused to agree to this, and the Government subsequently brought down more reasonable proposals. Engineers were appointed to report on the lines and ascertain their values. The purchase of some of the lines, on which money had been paid in a bona fide way, such as the Rotorua line, he supported, but when he found that the bad were going with the good, that such lines as that at Wairaate were to be included, he opposed the whole lot, but, as it turned out, uselessly.

The Forests and Fisheries. In his statement of 1885, the Treasurer referred to the question of forest conservation. Ho dwelt on the value of the colony's timber and deplored the enormous waste witnessed year after year. When the Forest Conservation Bill was brought down, not a word was found about tree planting, but he found reference to another subject for which he was quite prepared; he meant borrowing. Power was given to borrow £50,000 for the construction of "forest i ail ways." What such things were wanted for ha could not imagine, but ha quickly disovmod that it was wanted to make a line in tho Xoith, which could not be constructed in any other way. The old Act was swept away, and but for the strenuous exertions of some members it would have been abolished without any provision being made for those who had worked under it. The Fisheries Conservation Act was a different kind of measure. It simply offered bonuses and was intended to afford facilities for the establishment of what might be called fishing fatms. Whether advantage would be taken <»f its provisions or not he did not know. Some fishermen had come out to the colony, but nothing definite had been done yet.

The Promises Unfulfilled. Of all the promises made by the Treasurer, to which he had before referred, nothing wai left. They found that they occupied just the same position as before. In the matters of local government, of stable finance, and every other, the promises had come to nothing. Everything had resolved itself into the words borrow, borrow, borrow. The proposals of the Government proved that they were utterly incompetent to understand the wants of the country districts. In further proof of this he would refer to the Counties Act Amendment of last session, which had to be licked into workable shape by outsiders. In the original bill provision was made for the election of county chairman by the ratepayers every year. The proposal was quite unworkable, because everybody who had had any experience in county councils knew how important it was that the chairman should be in accord with his fellow members, a state of things which the proposal referred to would do away with. The best men would not stand, and some fussy, noisy man would be elected, with whom the members would not "gee." Auditors were also to be elected. The only excuse for the change was that some felt that in goldfields districts, where good salaries were given, the prizes should open to public competition.

The Counties and Education, There was one provision in the Amendment which so far had not attracted much notice, and indeed it had been put in very quietly. But it was very important, and the time was not far distant when they would understand its meaning. He referred to the power given to county councils to erect school buildings. They would find out the full meaning of this when a new school was required, and the Board of E.lueition referred them to the county council. He did not object to this, because when tho ratepayers b'gan to feel the pressure they would be disinclined to let the expenditure upon education go to the extravagant lengths it had it) the past. It was the custom when any amendment in the educational system was proposed for certain people to raise an outcry about " the thin end of the wedge,*' but those people knew as well as he did that the expenditure was far too high.

The Land TaxThe Premier and Minister of Linda had been frequently taunted about their affection for a land tax, and they had brought forward a bill on the subject; but the tax proposed was simply the property tax, with the difference that improvements were exempted. He did not desire to weary them by going into the question of Land Tax versus Property Tax, but it was evident to anybody who knew anything about the matter that if at the present time the improvements were deducted from the value of the land there would be very little left. Of course the bill was kicked out, and they were now paying a higher property tax than at any previous time fur the privilege of having a Heavenborn Treasurer to watch over their financies.

The Borrowing Policy. Sir Julius Vogel had promised them a large reduction in taxation, but be had increased the stamp dutie* and property-tax, imposed a fresh tax for hospitals and charitable aid, tried hard to increase the customs duties, and threatened them with a larger increase in the interest payable in borrowed money. The Government had had one loan of a million and another of a million and a-half, and when Capt. Russell's motion was carried, they wanted another million. Now, they must bear in mind that every million they borrowed added £4Q,00Q or thereabouts to the burden of interest whiob they had to bear, and they ought seriously to consider how far this could go on. Produce they knew was going down, though he did not think it could go much lower, and confidently looked for a revival. He had always opposed, and would continue to oppose extravagant borrowing. It would be a mistake to itop borrowing altogether, because that would involve serious consequences and would throw a lot of people out ot work, but if the borrowing were not tapered off, so to ipeak qnd th,e raonqy strjotly expended on remunerative objects, and in that he "inoluded roads, the sooner some of them cleared out of the country the better. He intended to do the straight thing, not only by his own district, but by the whole colony. He might not always have voted as thev> would like, as for instance on Capt. Russell's motion, hut he had endeavoured to do his bo=>t. Although that resolution had been made to work out oruelly against Auckland, were, he placed

in the sama position again he would vote in the name way.

The Trunk Line. They were of course beneficially affected by the expenditure of public money in their , district, but at the same time he could see no necessity for pushing on the North Inland Trunk Railway while tho l.vnd remained in the hands of tho ;i uives. When tho line was authorised it was understood that the land along it would be secured for settlement. This had not been done. A «trii» one chain wido for the line itself had bean given by the natives but not an aero near it. He certainly did not think that in these circumstance*, and considering the tiu.Mictal difficulties they were in, th.it tho line should be pushed on needles*!}* fast. For about 30 miles at either end tho quality of the county* is gond, and if this were secured for settlement there would be a prospect of the lino piyinsr, but without this there could be no advantage in m.ikuig the line boyond the mere spending the money. However, the loan was now hanging liko Mahomet's coffin, between Hea\en and earth ; the Treasurer was anxious to got hold of it, and although everybody cried " hand* off,*' it was necesaaty to do something on the lino in order to secure the money.

The Native Land Policy. Considerable abuse had been showered upon tho Opposition because they h.id opposed the native land policy of Mr Ballance. Before last election he (Mr Lake) felt that the time had arrived when the scandals connected with the Maori lands should be removed, and provision made whereby small settlers might enjoy the same privileges in buying land as were held by large companies. The Disposition Bill contained clauses which seamed to promise this, but closer examination dissipated th« hope. It was provided that the Native Committee* should first of all resolve what native land was to be sold, and the matter would thereupon go into the hands of three commissioners, two appointed by tho Crown and ono by the Native Committee. The chairman, who was appointed by thB Government, was to have the power of veto, and fchry could easily see what a h mdle for corruption that might be. This view of the case might be exaggerated, but there were other and sufficient reasons for concluding th.it the Act would not work. In the first place the land would have to be surreyed, cut up, and then roads would have to be made. The sale would then be conducted by the Land Board, and the charges for survey, Mad making, &c, would be deducted from the purchase money. Now it was well known that in many cases Crown lands had failed to recoup the Government for the money spent on them, and it was not likely the natives would consent t<> the scheme, j when they could sell straight to the Government, aa provided in another part of the Act. This simply meant, then, giving the Crown the preemptive right. He was not sure that this was not the proper thing to do, but he wanted legislation that carried its meaning on its face. Large blocks of land were going through the courts and would probably be purchased by the Government, but whether they were fit for small settlement he did not know. The Bill was sent to the Native Affairs Committee, on which were several native members, and it effectually got the heart taken out of it. Consequently upon the fate of the Disposition Bill the Native Landi Bill was not brought forward.

Conclusion. From what he had said he was afraid that hehad given them the impression that he had nothing but fault to find with the Government, and that in his opinion they had never done any good. This was not the case. The Premier, at any rate, was an upright, honourable man, and whatever might be said against him, one thing was certain, and that was that he derived no profit from office. He believed him to be incapable of falsehood, but unfortunately lie was a barrister, and like all barristers he sometimes felt it his duty to make the worse appear the better cause. Concerning the rest of the Ministers he had nothing to say. The whole power w.is wrapped up in two men. the Premier and the Treasurer. As for Sir Julius Vogel, he was bound to say, much as he admired his determination and pluck, for it was a plucky thing to labour as he did under under such serious physical disabilities, ho felt that so long as the Treasurer was connected with the Government it would be unsafe. Ho did not know how matters were at the present time with the Cabinet, some liitle time ago there was coniideiable talk about a reconstruction, but since then they had heard news about the floating of a company in England to construct the East and West Coast Railway. It was almost too good to be true, but of course the details of the scheme had yet to bo laid before the House. If the matter was settled all he could say was that Sir J. Vogel was a very lucky man. If the work could be done without injury to the colony he hoped it would be effected, because a dead block would be removed from Parliament. If it had been found that the country would not borrow to complete the line, there would undoubtedly have been a split. The negroes were wont to beat their fetishes when things went wrong, and it might hare happened that the Canterbury members would have chastised their idol, the Treasurer, had they not been abl • ti get their railway. What might happen it was difficult to forsee, but in any event they might rely on it that he would be found voting against large borrowing and extravagance. Mr Lake resumed his seat amid loud applause. The Chairman said they had all doubtless listened to the speech of their member with pleasure, but if anyone desired information upon any point which had not been touched upon he was sure Mr Lake would be happy to answer any questions. There being no response, Mr H. Kusabs proposed a vote of thanks to and confidence in Mr Like. This was seconded by Mr Prince, and. there being no amendment, it was put to the meeting and carried unanimously. Mr Lake thanked them for their confidence, and could only say that nothing on his part should be wanting to continue to .lpsorve it. Tho usual vote of thanks to the chair, 11 oposed by Mr Lake, brought the proceedi'igs to a close.