THE PRIME MINISTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2491, 3 May 1909, Page 6

THE PRIME MINISTER.

SPEECH AT INVERCARGILL

[Per Press Association.]

INVERCARGILL, May i. The Prime Minister delivered ai. important policy speech in the Municipal Theatre on Saturday night to an audience of about a thousand people. Sir Joseph spoke for a a ho ur and ti i ee- ' quarters. Ho opened lib remarks by deprecating the Opposition stafei. i-nl that tho expenditure for the March quarter of the present year was coitain to have exceeded that <4 tlm ro; responding quarter of the picvmjs year. As a flatter of fact the expenditure in the quarter just ended was nearly £4OOO less than in the; March quarter last. year. Speaking of finance, he declared that, ■);•«• • oh-c-u ling the tightness that had existed in the money market cif New Zevtind f« t s. iiit time, tf e finances were exceedingly satisfactory. Erroneous impressions existed as to the •period jin which a Minister of Finance was able to disclose results after the end of the financial year. The law required the books to be kept open until the 31st of March, so that at least three weeks must o’apse before all returns were to hand, and the final results ascertained. What had been adversely called his ‘'optimistic" views had been justified by results. For the financial year just ended he had estimated the revenue at £8,985,000 and the expenditure at £8,978,346, and, after bringing forward the previous year’s balance of £767,849, and transferring £BOO,OOO out of revenue to the Public Works account, lie had estimated the surplus at £74,503. A SURPLUS OF £184,000.

He was, therefore, not unnaturally gratified to say now that the analysis of the figures showed the year's, sur- ■ plus to be £184,321. That was £109,IIS more than tho Budget estimate. The revenue for the year amounted to more than nine millions,' an increase of £16,185 over the estimate. The revenue for tho year exceeded the expenditure by £215,672. To this railways contributed £2,918,507, an increase on the previous year of £153,112, in spite of reduction in fares and freight to tho extent of £950,000. Stamps brought in £.1,591,358, an increase of £40,394. Land and income tax returns reached £926,000, an increase of £83,194. Miscellaneous revenue was £264,210, an increase of £45,868; and registration and ether fees also showed an increase. The Customs returns did not come up to the estimate by £148,752, owing to an unexpected fading off in the import values for 1909, as compared with a steady increase for shine years previously, and owing to the excessive importation in 1908 in anticipation of the extended preferential tariff which took effect on 31st March of that year. There was a falling off in the beer duty of £786, and a drop in the territorial revenue of £13,133. .REVENUE INCREASED BY £600,000 Revenue as a matter of has been largely reduced during the last few years by the remission of Customs duties, railway' concessions, abolition of sheep tax, and transfer of large areas of Crown lands and Native endowments. Notwithstanding all this the revenue for the year just closed was £600,000 better than for tho previous year. A satisfactory feature of the year’s transactions was that £BOO,OOO had been transferred from ordinary revenue and paid into the Public Works Fund, otherwise the balance would have been £984,320. He drew attention to the amount obtained for requirements authorised by law during the past year. These included renewals, public works r-nd Manawatu railway, loans to i.ocal bodies, lands for settlement and advanvees to settlers, making a total of £7,797,257, a 1! of which had been provided for and showed the financial stability of the country. .. , The Minister 1 mentioned, incidentally, that the Secretary of Customs had that day wired that there was an increase of £9600 in Customs duties for the month of April, and stated that there was a much better feeling among commercial men as to the prospect* an conditions of trade. • .. . • Speaking of Opposition cnticim. regard to the post and telegraph bu;,iK lie declared that the Government did not view with any disquietude tlie «bb and flow of savings bank business, which were regarded as. a n se offence of fluctuations m the money market, £250,000 of the depend, last year were loaned to public bodies, so lint in addition to the whole o the rmcuritv of the country there waft the rating security of the local bodies who borrowed the money. THE MORTGAGE TAX.

"With regard to agitation concerning the mortgage tax, which was mleget to be driving money out of the country. l;e said that during the year investments under mortgage had increased bv £1,664,-393, which cud not look as if money was being driven out or New Zealand. This tax prevented people . evading land tax by mortgaging tnei. land to possibly a man of straw. THE TIGHTNESS OF HONEY It was absolute nonsense to say that 'the Government was responsible toi the tightness of the money market, me fall in wool made >a difference of over ;£ 3,000,000 to men who had drawn money on their wool clip. It was also caused by the fall in flax and by the locking up of money in land. IE thought, however, there was not the banking convenience in New Zealand - -to enable people to deal with temporary financial embarrassment. He thought that more banks should be. allowed to come into the country to cope with the expansion of business; also tbafc tuo operations of the Advances to Settlers Department might be extended with -advantage. Speaking of a paper currency, lie said that to adopt a sysetin of paper currency would be fatal unless there was behind it an equivalent m -gold. There was room possibly for banking reform, but the matter must be' approached without precipitancy on account of the intmense interests involved. DEFENCE MATTERS. Speaking of defence, the Minister !-:aid it was a great mistake to suppose tintt 'nothing had been done in the direction of improving the internal defence of the country, but the m.at'.ei v/as one reoairing to be gone on vnth ■very carefully. ■ Many of tho-;d v. no :f urged compulsory training did -hot reaff’Pse what it would cost to foot the bill. : . St would Ixi necessary first to find out -i toe maximum requirements, and second b A*.f: make &iT?.JigGixicTvts J co pay foi xhcni. During last year there had been record number of men in the volunteer ' system. The proportion was greater Y.tiian it was in anv oountry in the * world. He spoke in detail or what naci ' been done during the past'two years to - fesist the work of the volunteer forces, mm that "tb.-e wholo tiling, T4.w{i»sdu>t .drifting, as load been asserted, pDuring the next session .of I arLamen I’nleasiires would be iniroduceu to iurptV.r improve the system. '

With regard to railways there was no other country in the world where railway travelling was cheaper than in New Zealand. The total amount of reductions in pursuance of the policy to use the railways as an adjunct to settlement was £2,709,000. In the next few days there would be. introduced an arrangement whereby people travelling from, one part of the country to another would be enabled to obtain then railway tickets at the office of tho Union Steam shin Company. LAND SETTLEMENT. Speaking of land settlement, he said that the total number of selectors under national endowments to March was 1583, and the total -area was 0,/09,641 acres. The territorial revenue tor tho vear was £698,126, or some* £32,00 over the total estimate. The predictions of opponents of national ■endowment as to revenue had been totally refuted in a most practical way. With regard to Native Lands too Department had since 21st October, 1900, rendered available for sett.ement 1,690,047 acres of Native land. At the present time the Boards had m hand the surveying of-over 100,000 acres a lare-p proportion of which is- expected to be put" on the market almost immediately. The enormous difficulty of acfiuiriim Native lands for settlement bjTlSteW was referred to at.length. RETRENCHMENT. In the reorganisation of the public service the Government was anxious to make things as easy as possible fox thoso unfortunate enough to come xuider the retrenchment proposals. None of those affected would be turned out during the winter, or in cases where retirement was necessary they would be compensated for a period to. covei it. THE COMING SESSION. With regard to the . Government’s policy, the aim this session would be to introduce legislation remarkable more for quality than quantity. In the matter of the National Annuities Bill selfhelp must precede State help. The principle of the Lands for Settlement Finance Bill was to allow any five men to come together to acquire a limited area of freehold by tho State’s guarantee. It helped only those who helped themselves, and would encourage those who were disappointed by constant failure in the ballot and those who could not purchase singly. It was not intended to replace the Lands for Settlement Act, but to work in conjunction with it. In the last few years there had been a tendency to drift to. tho towns, and it was the duty of everyone to encourage people to go on the land. As to the National Annuities Bill, one of the fears haunting a low-waged worker was a poverty-stricken old age. Under the proposed Bill a man could make provision for his old age and for. his wife and children by making a small contribution per week to tho fund. Chief benefits would be given to parents supporting children. It was not charity," but was a. combination of individual and State effort that was financially sound. - ' An important amendment of the succession Duties Act was contemplated, bv which duties would be imposed on those estates which were in the best position to afford it. ~ Prison reform was advocated on lines already familiarised by the Minister for Justice. There would also be'considerable ref orms in the bankruptcy laws. it was under contemplation to bring back to the country all absconding debtors. Probably a Bill would be introduced improving the Patents Act, with a view to the -penalising of false track descriptions. Important amendments of the Friendly Societies’ Act, Hospital and Charitable Aid Institutions, Education, Workers’ Compensation for Accidents, and Municipal Corporation, and other \cts would also bo introduced.

THE NEW ZEALAND DREADNOUGHTS.

The action of the Government m offerin" to. the British authorities, a. rdft ora Dreadnought from the Dominfon has aroused wide and intense expressions of approval. Though a small section professed disappointment, the English Socialist leader, Blatchiord, liacf declared strongly for increasing the naval strength, showing that men on the s.not recognised what a calamity it would bo to the workers unless the British navy was made impregnable. The Minister drew a graphic picture ot the consequences of war, with the possible result of Now Zealand -parsing to a foreign country as an indemnity. “When anyone is talking of the cost oi a Dreadnought, or two Dreadnoughts, he said, “does he for a moment suppose, looking at it. from a mercenary point of view, that it would equal the cost of what the penalty wou.d be to , us ? Our very existence depended upon the strength, power, and mightiness of the British Empire, and to talk ot joining hands with Australia in die matter of a local navy was next to futile. The constitutional aspect of the matter would he duly laid before I ailiament. To have asked lndividiud members to commit, themselves woulu have been most unfair. The Executive •took the responsibility, and would its subsecraent ratification by the pco lie anlTirliamont in their loyal and practical support to the Old Land risin" above party and standing at all costs 0 to the mother that had given us protection for the Inst 70 y«»Uor » infinite small amount of naval subsidy. The Minister’s eloquent Peroration received with tremendous applause. V vote of thanks and confidence in the^Government was carried with unanimous enthusiasm.