FINANCIAL DEBATE.

Speech delivered by Mr. G. HUTCHISON m the House of Representatives on the 15th July, 1892.

Mr. G. HUTCHISON. —I had hoped to be able to congratulate the Ministry upon their choice m putting forward the Postmaster- General to defend their policy, but I regret to have to say I am grievo.usly disappointed with the result.; I have always entertained the highest respect for the honourable member. All sides of the House, "I may say, looked upon him as the commercial pillar of the Ministry, and it was surely not hoping too much to look forward to his being able to strengthen m. some degree our confidence m the finances of the colony. I regret that m this respect, and every other, I am grievously disappointed. He has taken up the time of the House simply with recrimination — references to the dead past. What have we to do with the Continuous Ministry ? Is it ever likely to be revived m this House, or m this country ? That is highly im probable. And yet the whole burden of the Postmaster-General's speech —or the greater part of it at any rate — was to contrast his policy, as he called it, or rather the policy of the Ministry of which he is a member, with the policy of the Continuous Ministry. What we are concerned to know is the bearing of the policy of the Ministry of the day on the future of the colony, and we looked forward with some anticipation to the Hon. the Postmaster- General to throw some further light on the prospects of the colony. There is a general feel ing m the colony that the Colonial Treasurer has no practical knowledge of the details of his department, and there was some sort of an idea that the Postmaster-General, as a gentleman who has had considerable experience m com merce, would lend to the Ministry that m which it was otherwise lacking. All must grieve to think he has disappointed our reasonable ex pectations. He charged the honourable mem ber for Halswell with setting, class against class, and surely the charge is a very serious one; but, although wo waited for proof, wo waited m vain. He came at last to some quo tations from a speech of the honourable mem ber: but not a word upon that most serious charge which he indulged m at the beginning of his speech and reiterated more than once. What he did succeed m quoting was that m some report the honourable member had anti cipated a deficit. In that the honourable mem ber was wrong; but it is to be observed that the satisfactory surplus which we have to congratu late the Government upon was largely due to an underestimate of the Colonial Treasurer's with reference to the Customs. The under estimate was nearly £100,000. We are, I hope, entitled to congratulate not only the Ministry but ourselves upon the achievement of the colony m having so unexpectedly, and, m the opinion of some, against many adverse circum stances, responded to the call. It is perfectly absurd to suppose that any Government, pre sent or past, is entitled to special credit for the wonderful expansion of our exports of wool and frozen mutton. These are due to the energies of the settlers of the colony, and we may all congratulate them and ourselves upon the magnificent results of the last two or three years. We hope that that expansion may con tinue. The Postmaster - General went on to refer, m another part of his speech, to the savings of the past year. I trust I may be allowed to congratulate the Ministry upon these savings without being thereby necessarily precluded from afterwards pointing out some defects. They have saved money on " the housekeeping account," if I may so call it, —that over which the House and particu larly the Ministry have control. They have saved on their votes £26,304; but they have also exceeded some of their votes by £11,824 ; leaving a credit balance of £14,479, reduced by a debit from the Land Fund Account of £1,857, but still leaving for the twelve months a saving of £12,G22. The colony would be better satisfied, however, if the Ministers were a little less care ful of themselves. Year after year ■we see Minis ters accumulating on those benches. Session after session we see them clustering round the fleshpots. In the first session, it was, I regret to say, my honourable friend the Post master-General who came to swell the Ministry beyond the constitutional number. Ho joined the Ministry, while yet incomplete, without portfolio—that was the Ministerial statement m the House—but it was also mentioned that he would practically takp over the administra tion of the Post Office. The portfolio to which the remaining salary was appropriated was for a time unallotted. It was ultimately given to my honourable friend Mr. Cadman, as Native Minister. But I think very few who reflect upon the position of my honourable friend the Postmaster-General can concur with him when he seeks to justify his position on those benches without a salary appropriated by Act of Par

liament. It is against all the principles of true democracy—and I hope ho is a true democrat — for any one to be m the position of serving the country without receiving an adequate return for it. Although as a Minister he has*not yet drawn £800 a year, he is m the position to claim house-allowance and travelling-expenses. An Hon. Member.—No. Mr. G. HUTCHISON—As a Minister he is undoubtedly entitled to house-allowance or a house, —either one or the other. lam not mis taken m supposing he had a house; whether he gave it up or not I cannot tell. As a Minister he is entitled to house-allowance or a house; and as a Minister, or a member of the Executive Council apart from any port folio, : he is entitled to travelling-allowances, and I have no doubt he has drawn them. He endeavoured, somewhat technically, to draw a distinction between his case and that recently decided by the Privy Council; but it is not necessary to put his case on any higher footing than impropriety. If he cannot see grave im propriety m the position he now holds,—well, I hope he will soon discover it. No one wants to see him out of the Ministry. Although his speech to-night has shaken our confidence, we still think ho is probably the best man m the Ministry with reference to finance. That is not saying much, certainly, but still we have to put up with what we find and he is " the best of the bunch." That improper addition to the obligations of the country was m the first year of this Parliament. In the next year—that is, the present year—we find another member of the Executive Council appointed, and the appointment was brought about m rather a curious way. Some months ago it was publicly announced that the Native Office was to be abolished, and the Native Minister to retire. The portfolio was to be abolished, and the duties distributed among the other departments. Then, m connection with that announcement we heard that an honourable member had been added to the Executive Council for the special purpose of taking care of Native inter ests. There is a declaration m the Governor's Speech on the subject which reads almost as if it had been written some months ago. It speaks of its having been " considered very ne cessary not to leave the Maori race to imagine that this meant any lessened attention by the Government to their wants and interests " — that is, the retirement of the Native Minis ter; wherefore the honourable member for the Eastern Maori District was added as a member of the Executive, and, for all practical purposes, he seems to have taken over the ad ministration of Native affairs. A member of the Executive Council, apart from any office, holds a position somewhat analogous to that of a Privy Councillor at Home, who is supposed to give his services m advising the Crown. But there is an anomaly m such a position m the colony : a member of the Executive Council can have travelling-allowances m addition to the salary which may be provided. To find authority for such an appointment, the Minis try had to shake off the dust of nineteen years from a statute superseded five years ago. If there was anything clear m the intention of Parliament m 1887, when the number of mem bers of Parliament was reduced, it was that the number of Ministers should also be re duced. It was expressly enacted that six should thenceforth be the number of Ministers for whom salaries were appropriated. And here comes m again that principle which my honour able friend the Postmaster-General seems to challenge, but which I think is substantially correct—that Ministers should not be under the favour or disfavour of this House m respect of their emoluments. They ought to be beyond the vote of the Committee of Supply, — their salaries ought to be as permanent as those of the Judges of the Supremo Court. But we find that the intention, if not the provision, of the law has been broken through ; for, first we had six, and then we had seven, and now we have eight Ministers—a greater number bound to gether by pecuniary interests than there were m this House when its members were twenty one more than they arc now. That is clearly contrary to the intention of the Act which was passed m 1887, and gives an undue preponder ance to the Ministry. In fact, seven or eight members on the Treasury benches m a House of seventy-four members is a sufficient num ber to determine or give a majority upon almost any question of policy which practically affects themselves pecuniarily. Ido not like to deal with the question of travelling-expenses. We have not the particulars yet. Mr. FISHER.—Ob, yes ! we have now. Mr. G. HUTCHISON.—After this debate, probably, we shall have the particulars. How ever, there is no doubt that m the aggregate

the Ministerial allowances amount to more than £1,000 for the last financial year. An Hon. Member.—Each ? Mr. G. HUTCHISON.—No ;in the aggregate. They could not 'very well exceed that sum. The limit of Ministerial allowances is £1,000, and, according to the return recently laid on the table of the House, we find that Ministers drew within a few pounds of that sum for the finan cial year; and it is suggested that some charges are also made by the Minister for Public Works and the Minister of Lands as against funds on Public Works Account, and which may bring up the aggregate for the year over £1,000. Apart from these matters,, which I leave for the pre sent, I go on to look at the financial situation. The Treasurer began the financial year with a surplus of £43,905, and he ended it with a further credit balance of £121,608, which, how ever, was nearly all due to an underestimate of the Customs revenue. These together made a surplus at the end of the financial year of £165,573. And now, dealing with the financial year on which we have entered, we come to what I may again call " the housekeeping ac count." The estimated expenditure upon that account —the account which is prepared by Ministers and voted by this House—shows an increase of £27,474. This is without the sup plementary estimates, yet to come down, and which will not, probably, be less than £80,000. That would make the increase upon the cost of administration this year over last of £107,474. There are some reductions, but they are not m that account which is under the control of Ministers. They are m the Permanent Charges Account, over which Ministers have practically no control, and the reductions there are conse quent on the decrease m the interest and sink ing fund, following upon an arrangement made six years ago. The net reductions I have just referred to amount to £44,895, which would leave a surplus of £62,579 on the current year's transactions. The Treasurer puts his probable surplus at more than twice that sum, but he does so by not allowing for the supplementary estimates. Strictly speaking we do not know anything about them, but it is proper to bear them m mind when taking a survey of the situation. Deducting on that account such a sum—say £80,000—as they will probably reach, and accepting the Treasurer's estimate of revenue for the year, we shall have an ac cumulated surplus, if expectations be realised, of nearly a quarter of a million—a result on which we may assuredly be allowed to con gratulate the Treasurer without being charged afterwards with inconsistency if we venture to suggest that the manner m which the surplus is proposed to be used is not one conducive to the welfare of the colony. It may be observed that the surplus of this year, after allowing for supplementary estimates, will be under £85,000, and that more than two-thirds of the accumu lated surplus at the end of the year has ac crued from a system of finance for which the Ministry is not entitled to any credit. Out of this surplus of nearly a quarter of a million, £200,000 is proposed to be devoted to public works. It may be said that there will be further deductions to be made m connection with the purchase of Native lands; but I doubt if that scheme will have practical effect given to it, at any rate for some time. The idea that the Natives of this Island are going to take paper for 50 per cent, of the money agreed upon for the purchase of their land fails, I think, to give them credit for that business capacity which their representative on the Go vernment benches will probably tell us they are entitled to. The proposal is that 50 per cent, of the purchase-money is to be retained by the Go vernment, and that the Natives are to be paid 4 per cent, upon it. Is that, I would ask, an indication, following the language of the Go vernor's Speech, that there is no " lessened attention" paid to the interests of the Native race ? Wo know that money invested m the open market will bring them m 6 to 7 per cent. Why pay the Natives 2or 3 per cent, less than can be obtained on ordinary invest ments ? Perhaps there are some covert means by which the 4 per cent, will be made worth more to the Natives than to other people. If there be, no doubt the Minister specially m charge of the interests of the Native race will give his attention to the point, and explain the position to us. It is, I think, very necessary for him to do so, because, so far as I can gather from the Natives m that part of the colony which I represent, their confidence m the honourable gentleman has been considerably shaken by the fact that he has consented to receive something which they, at any rate, look upon as a pension—crippling the usefulness of one who m the past was looked upon as likely to safeguard their interests. They now look

upon him as one bound to back up the Minis try m whatever they do, and as one no longer exercising an independent judgment on their behalf. Therefore he especially ought to ex plain how it is that the Natives should be put off with 4 per cent, instead of the current rate of interest m respect of half the money for which they are to sell their lands. I now come to the question of "Borrowing." My honourable friend the Postmaster - General has told us very decidedly that there is to be no more bor rowing. Well, perhaps he is correct. There is an old maxim addressed to a not very scrupulous section of the community to " beg, borrow, or steal." Of course this does not apply to Minis ters —not m the meantime at any rate. To beg they are not ashamed, but it would be waste of time. They are not going to borrow, because it is useless to attempt it. The easiest method suggests itself. They are not going to beg, nor are they going to borrow, but they are just going to — what shall I say? — "use" some money which is expected to find its way into the Public Trust Office. I think the explanation of my honourable friend the Postmaster-General as to the reason why the Government propose to make this forced levy upon the insurance offices was " not good enough." If they want more security, by all means let them have it; but it is not security that the Government want. They want the cash. They are going to extract £25,000 from each of the life insurance offices and £10,000 from each of the fire offices, which have their head offices outside the colony; and they are going to give 4 per cent, for that money, although m the hands of the companies the money earns about 6 per cent., inflicting thereby a loss of 2 per cent. On whom will that taxation fall ? An Hon. Member.—On the policyholders. Mr. G. HUTCHISON. —On the provident people of the colony—on those seeking to guard against the risk of the present and to provide against the future. But then we are told by the Postmaster-General that the money will be lent to the small farmers. It is easy to say so. Perhaps Ministers hope for the reward of good intentions. If so, the sudden inspiration of my honourable friend must be considered a pretty cool slab which may be of use by-and-by m a place which is said to be paved with such intentions. But mark the procedure. Into whose hands are these moneys going to be placed? Into the hands of the Public Trust Board, the Chairman of which is the Colonial Treasurer, — into the hands of a department administered by an official—the Public Trustee —formerly a parliamentary officer and then m some degree independent of the Government, but now a political servant entirely under the direction and control of the Treasurer of the day. Do you suppose, if there were £200,000 or £300,000 thus lodged m the Public Trust Office, and the Colonial Treasurer wanted it, he would have any difficulty whatever m getting hold of that money on deficiency or Treasury bills ? For what other purpose does he want an extension of the limit of Treasury bills by half a million ? We are told that the extension is required because the Imperial-guaranteed debentures are to be lodged m the Bank of England so as to save six days' interest, or something of that kind; but this is one of those explanations which we may be excused for being a little reluctant to accept. Where is the correspondence between the Agent- General and the Bank of England on the subject, or the correspondence between the Agent-General and the Premier? We ought to know more of the conditions under which this arrangement has been made, and which is quoted as the authority for raising another half-million of money. Well, now I pass on to another subject which my honourable friend very gingerly dealt with, and that is " The Tariff." The Financial Statement says, "it is more important that work should be found for all than that certain articles of consumption should be a little less m price." Will that satisfy the great bulk of the people—those who find their own employment—those who have still to pay heavy taxation day by day ? It may not signify to those who are employed on co-operative works that there should be a duty on the necessaries of life. They are to be fed and clothed at all hazards. The Government will provide for them. But those who have the ambition to improve their condition by their own energies, without the nursing-hand of the Government, will have to suffer. Then, as to this proposal to refer the matter to a Select Committee, I wonder the Premier, after care fully considering his financial position, could offer such an evasion to the people of the colony. This Committee is to be the feather-bed on which the Ministry may fall—a bed stuffed with feathers plucked from the Ministerial