HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1577, 22 July 1885, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

MR MENTEATH ON THE NOCONFIDENCE MOTION. Sir, I fear that I am not able to agree with the honourable gentleman who gave expression to his view that the Premier was overweighted in the Cabinet by the Treasurer ; and I think I may possibly, before I have done, be able to convince some in tin's House — that is, if they have not been convinced before — that this is not the case. Sir, I rise to-day -under a sense of very great responsibility. I realise fully the difficulty of speaking on this question and at this time. It was said. by oue honorable gentleman who spoke this afternoon — the only honourable member who liks yet spoken who represents the West Coast of New Zealand — that no member who ventures to oppose the policy of this Government can hope to be re-elected on the West Coast. That, Sir, has been laid down by one honorable niemlier who spoke this afternoon ; but 1 venture to think that a large number of the electors on the West Coast are of another metal. I believe that the miners of New Zealand are one of the most independent aud intelligent classes in the country, and I think they will give a man credit for the conscientiousness with which he records his vote ; aud at least a large number of them are uot men to be deceived by the magic wand of the enchanter. They look a little further ahead, and they see where all this will land us in a very few years. And no doubt they may look on the subject from a prac tical point of view, and the honorable memlier for the Buller forgets that the vigorous administration of the present Government is not so apparent in all constituencies, even on the West Coast, as it is in his own. The vigour of the administration has been very partial. Therefore I say that, on higher grounds tban those which may tie call materialistic, the people of the Coast, as a whole are not likely to act on the dictum laid down here by the honorable member for the Buller. But, even supposing they were, even supposing that a general election were impend ing, and that I were called upon to meet my constituents, and those constituents were certain to return a ver diet against me. Sir, under the conditions I have named, if I have miscalculated tbe intelligence and respect for conscientiousness that exists in the breasts of an independent class like the miners, I say better a thousand times that they should reject me than that I should come back to this House by doing that which would forfeit the respect of this House and of every honourable man. I have cause to speak with feeling on this subject Last year I came up to this House a new member, and, for the first time, I was called upon to make up my mind as to which party I should adhere to in this House ; and before I came up I had rend that, very creditable literary production that the Treasurer delivered at. Ashburton. I believe that, al- ; though there have heen many quota tions from thp writings aud speeches i of the hnnou»*aWe gentleman given in < tliis Mouse, none perhaps so completely \ strikes the keynote?' of his policy as that i famous utterance at Ashburton. I ] will therefore venture to inflict this ■] extract on the House : — I

" What you want is confidence and capital, and when you can secure these I believe you will see such a sudden rise of prosperity, an advance by leaps and bounds in the improved value of property, that you would not know the colony for the same*" ' Now, tlas is the pregnant sentence : — " This has taken place before. Let me tell you that, when he proposed the ' railway policy in 1870, it was not tbe expenditure of the money, for that did not take place tilt afterwards, but the spring to hope, the enterprise, the energy which that hope inspired, which lifted the colony out of the slough of despondency, and which changed the face of the whole country in a few months. Gentlemen, I believe the same thing is possible now. Restore confidence, have nothing more to do with political fads, do not play with government, but deal seriously with questions that affect the settlement, that afiect the well being, that affect the happiness of the country, and I believe you would not know the country, after the lapse of a few months." I ventured to read between the lines of that utterance, and I-considered that the prospect the Treasurer held out was similar to that held out in 1870 — that is, that we are as a colony to enter into another reckless landspeculation. I happened to know the conditions of tliis colony, and I came to the conclusion that one great element of land speculation — tbe chief one — whs wanting 1 ; that it would be impossible, under the present circumstances, for the colony to have a landspeculation. But I had other reasons for believing it would be -in the highest degree dangerous and in the highest degree damaging to the prospects of this colon/ that any large policy such as is here shadowed forth — any policy of another great landspeculation, any great rise in the value of land— should be attempted at the present time. I voted against the policy that was shadowed forth in that utterance, and which was afterwards followed up in this House. I know what has been the consequence of that { I have the misfortune to represent a | poor constituency, a needy couslitu I eitcy, a constituency who have not obtained in the past a fair proportion of the puMic expenditure; and I must say that, judging by the past, the coii.jequences of that vote have not lie. vn such as to win me the affection and gratitude of my constituency. I shall proceed to give a short account of one or two matters which occurred ,during the recess, in order that the House muy judge of this active and vigorous administration of which we have heard so much, in order tliat the House may realise what this administration unguis, and how the money that has been collected from the people of New Zealand is spent I may state that, in touching for a moment on what may seem. a personal matter, in taking up the time of the House while I touch on tliat matter, I have no personal motive or feeling whatever ; and I trust that the House will believe tbat, in speaking ou this matter, I only bring it forward in order to strengthen my position when dealing with the subject of local govern ment and he other subject which I shall deal with hereafter. Oa the 18tb February tbe Premier paid a visit to the Inangahua district He came there at the expense of the colony, presumably in his capacity as Premier. He came there, as the honourable mem t»er for the Buller says, animated by a desire to make himself acquaiute.l with all the features of the colony, to find out its wants, so that thereafter he might l»e able to remedy them. I mu«t piv'e the Minister of Mines the highest praise for his assiduity in endeavouring to find ont the wants of each constituency he passed through. But all that I know of the energetic administration of the Premier is eraliodied in his speech. The Premier announced that he was going to give a lecture. If I recollect rightly, the lecture, we were told, was to be upon the past history and future prospects of New Zealand politics. He was in the position, almost, of my guest. I was showing him over the. constituency as in duty hound. We adjourned to the hall, and there was a large meeting there assembled to hear this lecture ; and, of course, from the tenu " lecture " and from the manner in which it was advertised in the newspapers, our conclusion was that it was to be of a purely impersonal character — a lectnre on abstract politics. To my surprise, when I arrived on the scene of this lecture, I found on the table a pile of Hansard*- of the previous session. I found that these Hansard* contained my speeches, and indications in the margins to attract the attention of he speaker; and presently the Premier of the colony got up on the platform and commenced iv this manner. He said " You in Inangahua have been told so-and so ; at least, I am led to suppose these are your views ;" and he then proceeded to I deliver an attack on opinions I had enunciated in my addresses to my con stituenta He followed them step by step, and line by line. Now, lam perfectly prepared to meet any fair argument, even from the Premier of the colony, under these circumstances ; 1 expect no quarter ; but lam not prepared in my constituency to be attacked, to be libelled before my constituents, by acensations such as the following. I hold in my hand a report which, I give the House my word, is an accurate n port of this part of the Premier's address. I took notes of the language and words myself, and Compared them afterwards with the notes taken by tbe shorthand reporter. I will not read the whole of tin Premier's remarks on this subjtvi, i because I should weary the atteutiuu

of the House ; but if lam accused of misquoting, or of making curtain passages of greater effect. I will read ttie part at length. These are the prtiicijial passages: »It had been represented that the Government had neglected to provide for this district ; ... and it wm because they pro* posed to do this that they were thrown out." Au extract was then read fro* ,the speech of Mr Gillies, the memoir for Brace, and upon that extract tho Premier says,-«- --'• The extract read would show tht meeting how and why the Government were defeated, and, if the Otago and West Coast members had not left us, the Government would have had a majority; and therefore, to they did not vote for the Nelson to Brunnerton Railway, he could say, — • 'Shake not yoar gory locks at me. He did not do it . . . . So the opportunity of getting the line was lost, aud the next Government bad not the power to do it." Members will recollect that the honourable member for Bruce attacked the Government because, among other things, they proposed to make the East and West Coast Railway ; hot it would puzzle honourable members to find oue other speech in which mention was made of the East aad West Coast Railway. Yet the Premier tokt my constituents tbat the extract read would sliow the meeting how and why the Govervment were defeated, I ask the House to say whether that is a true account of the fall of the first Stout- Vogel Government. I might mentiou that the Premier has given another account of it in a speech delivered in the Dunedin Drillshed, and I should very much like bim to place the two speeches before tbe House side by side and tell as which is tbe true explanation. But the Premier knew what he was about. He knew that there was a strong feeling in my constituency for that railway, and therefore he came to my constituency and put it to the people there that the reason that the Government were defeated was that they had tried to make the railway, and that their representative had contributed to the ; defeat of the Government, and had • thereby contributed to tbe loss of I the railway, although, the Premier ; knew thoroughly weil that it was not I tbe iutention of the Government to I construct that part of the railway | which my constituents wanted. Soob i are the speeches delivered by the Pre- - mier in various parts of the colony ; when travelling at the expense of the ' country. Tbe honorable gentleman ; weiit about the country trying to : inj'liience constituents by speeches of that kind, and stating things which, I I ven tore to say, he must have known to ; lie otherwise thnn true. This is one practical illustration I have had during the recess of the able, honest and : effective administration of the present Government. My district, as I said before, is a poor one, having a largo amount of unoccupied Crown land ; , but I never asked from Ministers a single thing which I am not prepernd to ask on tbe flour of this House. I , am not ashamed of any request tbat I have made whether it be for a tele* phone-station, a road, or^a bridge. I i never asked Ministers for anything which I am not prepared to ask for m this House with a seuse of the justice of my request ; but I have this strange ' coincidence to point ont as to tne ' manner in which the Government 1 have dealt with me : that, as to everything I have askid for from the Go- ; vernment, whether it were a trifling tiling or a large one, the remit has always been the same — a refusal, But ' the sting is not in that What are '. th* tactics that the Premier adopts? ' When he comes to my .constituency 1 he grants several of those things for , which I 'had' asked in vain, and he lias ' not the courtesy to say, . M Yoo ailed for these things before, but we coeJd ' not grant them ; now, however, I see they are necessary and I will grant . them." I had been constantly in correspondence with the departments about these matters, but nothing was done until the Premier came to my constituency ; but when he came they wore at ouce granted, the inference, no •■ doubt, intended to be conveyed being that I bad neglected the tnterests of my constituency, but that tbe moment he came there be granted them. Again? | a number of other small wants in the j district were either refused or I was { told tbat they were to be pet on the I estimates. Ido not suppose that tbe honorable gentleman had such an intention, but it might be very well said that tbe object of this was to get me to support the Government measures in order to get- what I wanted. If that is the way the affairs of this colony are to be administered, if that Is the way in which men who are opposed to the Government are to sutler— if they are to have nothing done for their districts, while the i money obtained by taxation of alt is to be lavished on supporters— l say, if this is to be done, members who are so treated should have the courage to bring the matter before the House, so that there may be created in this House aud in tbe country a wellinformed and healthy public opinion, which shall check such a miaow of the practically unlimited power tbat is placed in the hands of the Ministry of the day. Now, I should like, to say a few words about the Financial Statement that is before the House. The first exception tbat I have to4eke to %bat Statement is tbat there appears to be —I will not say thee there is, bemuse I hesitate to ascribe motives' to hoa. gentlemen sitting en those benches, but I say there appears to be— en in teu tion to mislead the public of Ne* Zealand as to tlm effect of the dttti** about to be levied. That appeal's to l»e t ie cardinal principal, f tba^ SicU»nieit. Talv. i*''" i'-'fj :!■."•. f k? o.iti," that aro iiUjjOticu uk ti.e <4«vo**4> ;,.* «a

life. Some geutlemen who have woken in favor of the tariff haye state! tint it is aU bumbo*. to talk about these duties pressing unequillv upou the working population of the colony ; but I ask honorable e^ntlemen to lecognise the fvst: that these duties are not ad valorem duties, but, as in the case of tea, so much m rhe pound' ; and the consequence is that the cheap tea which is t»ed by the working clasps has aetu«.Vv -o n-,v as much as the more «p.."ivp tr-* n*ed by the richer classes. That principle ( To be eonfintted). . . V v _ ■— *