POLITICAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 2, Issue 345, 16 May 1881, Page 2

POLITICAL.

[by telegraph. ] Nelson, To-day. Mr Shephard addressed his constituents at Wakefield on Saturday night. He said that retrenchment had been forced on the Government, and he thought the necessity for a Property Tax might have been avoided had Government, instead of paying the cost to the sinking fund, issued debentures for instalments and interest. This would simply have delayed the liability for interest on the cost of the incomplete railways. They should also have been charged to capital, and the 20 per cent, of land fund should have been taken from local bodies. He accused Government of duplicity regarding the West Coast railway, and spoke strongly against the withdrawal of subsidies in districts having no railways, which virtually subsidised them by the facilities afforded. Ho opposed redistribution of representation on the population basis, as Nelson would be the only district which would lose members, and that would be tantamount to punishing it for not having enjoyed expenditure in an equal share of the public money as in other districts. He opposed Chinese immigration most stronglj 7 , and supported the present system of free education. A unanimous vote of thanks and confidence was passed at the conclusion of the meeting.