THE RANGITATA SEAT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1644, 24 August 1887, Page 2

THE RANGITATA SEAT.

MR BUXrON AT THE ODD. FALLOWS' HALO. jgLast evening Mr Baxton add rested • meeting of eleotors of the Rangitata district at the Oddfellows' Hall. The™ wm a very Urge attandanca m epi'e of the large attendance In spite of the bitterly cold night, about three hnodred beta? present, and the Mayor ccoupied tho^ai?. The Mayor m a few brief remarks Introduced the ■peaker. Mr Buxtou, who was received with app'ause, said that he oime before them that night with a oart&in amount of Umidity, this being the first occasion 01 whioh ho h»d stood before an audience, tn the imporant poiition of a candidate for eleotton to Parliament. However, ha always regarded the fulfilment of th 9 wishes of his fellows a duty that mas', ba attended to ; and it was became of the expressed desire of his friends, that he now stood before them, Bef jre proceed Ing to explain his views he woold lika to say a few words about HXMSBLT There ware a great many people tote who knew him, and had known htm for years ; and again there were many who did not know who he was, but bad doubtless often seen him. He had been m the colony 21 years last January. He lired m the neighborhood of Ghristchurch for about 9 years, and he then moved to the Rangitata Island where he hid been for the last 12 yearß. He had had dealings with a great number of people, and was pretty well known from Christ chnroh to Timaru, and from the sea to the foot of the mountains As an employer of labor, and as a man generally he had nothing to be afraid— nothing to be ashamed of . He had no cause to Eear meeting any man or any woman m New Zealand. He had been engaged m farming pursuits ever since he time into the country. As a tenant farmer he had worked hard, and the home which he had been enabled to establish he was not ashamed to show anyone. Mr Buxton.. then alluded to the reasons which had led him to come forward. He had not been a volunteer ; the matter had been pressed on him by various people. When several friends asked him to come forward to contest the seat with Mr Bolleston, he compared himself to a-apider alongside an elephant, and said that he would be small indeed ia comparison with a gentleman of the übiltty and experience of Mr Rolleston. His friends told him not to mind , that ; if he would but come forward they would do thoir best to secure his return. In addition a numerously signed requisi ton asking him to contest the seat had* been got up, and the upshot was that he had come out. MR BOLLBSTON Was a neighbor of his, living about six miles away He was a gentleman whom he (the speaker) wa3 intimately acquainted with, and whom, personally, he held m very high esteem, but their view* on political matters did not harmonise: For three years he (Mr Buxton) had been reading *' Hansard," and watching the times till he had been drawn from Mr Roileston's views, so at last his opinions were about half way between the two parties. He had been m this position when asked to contest the election, and had thought that he would havo stood as an Independent member. But when he began to devote careful consideration to the subject, he was drawn towards the present Government. As he looked upon the r r past actions, their proposals and avowed future policy, he was drawn towards them Be would not have liked to have seen a gentleman have a walk over for the RangUata seat ; the election to go. as it were, by default; therefore he thought the eleotors should have a choice of candidates. If they did not put him (Mr Baxton) In it would do him no ■ harm and as he had told Mr Rolleaton it 1 would be no qu>ki mwu -«« i» % boaten D> a man of his Influence • and attainment). He had h<ard that Mr Rolleaton had said that he (Mr Buxton) had promised to mpport him. If Mr Rolleaton really had said that, there must have been some misunderstanding somewhere. He had never promised Mr Rolleaton his support | and he had never evan bean asked f >r it. It was true thai when hn heard ut the occurrence at Rakala, he had expressed I himself mMr Rolleston's favor* At that time he thought it would be a pity to loae Mr Rolloaton from the Hoasa but •ince be had come to devote a great deal of attention to political matters he had altered his opinion. He failed to see how Mr Rolleston oould say that he had promised to support him. If he bad made snch a promise ,he would have stood to hi* word like a man and never have left It. THE rOSITION In his remarks that night he w mid ■ay no'.hlng against Mr Rolleaton if he oruld help It. H-j was a man living m a reraotd part cf the district and with the wotk of his farm preasing heavily on bia attention he hac not had tlaia to obtain the /acts and figures which were accessible to his opponent Be woold therefore leave these and make a few plain statements as to his views. He did not think things were Bobid as painted by Mr Rolleeton. At Rangitat* Mr RolleVoa had for three hours delivered what he (Mr Buxton) called a tirade of abuse against the "Stont-Vogel Government. It seemed to him to have been Mr Rolleston's direct intention to open his (Mr Buxtons) eyes to the fact that he was going to run with the greatest foos the country over had. He thought Mr Rolleiton had been directing his speech against him — at all events. every now and then he looked very earnestly at him (laughter.) He had yet to learn that abuse was statesmanship and he would like to keep from it if he oould. This was rather difficult, howevar, aa one was rather Inclined to get that way when defending one party from the attacks of another. At the present time all the prominent men seemed to be abnaing eaoh other and it was. difficult for an outsider to judge where the really good men were. One man would say that Sir Robert Stout was a great tcoundrel and another would maintain that Major Atkinson and Sir John Hall were still greater. This would put any one m a quandary. If all the leading men were bad what a fearful state of affairs there was. He | thought, however, that a more oreditable construction could be put on it than that. He did not think that these gentlemen were logues and liars, but that they misunderstood each other. They were gentlemen of education, of culture, and of intellect, and how oould they lower and demean themselves m the way that was sreely attributed to them. There was something m It that puzzled him, but he hoped that matters were not so bad as painted. He had heard two of Mr Rojleiton's speeohe*. They were both of the same character ~ constant abuse of the Government,' Some people attributed this to Mr Rollesfcon's deilre to get baok to the scarlet cushions, bat he thought that all had a liking for those oushiom. He had read Sir John Hall's ■peeoh and it appeared calmer than Mr Rolleaton'e. Perhaps It appeared so because it was on paper, but at any rate it seemed bo him to be more modified and oalm. He had a very low opinion of the reality of Sir John Hall as a statesman. The impression he had gathered from what he had read was that Sir John Ball was not the man to leglslata for the interests and well*belng of the country. What that gentleman had done m the past, was he thought, sufficient to prove, that be was not the man for thenj a Thoie gentlemen seemed to be at a low \o §n~d oat a better policy than that of the Gbremojept. Tbelp gre*t pelgt w*b i

KETKBXOHMSM, H) vr v"d like to say a few words regarding retrenchment. He thought that as regarded the farming community they bad gone ebon*, to the bottom in' the matter. The farmers had retrenched tremaudously and the farm laborers had also baen sab j acted to the flatting down process. When he oame to the colony rwenty-one years ago a farmer paid £1 an acre for ploughing and be had known a man piy £2 an see and be thankful t> get the work df>o3. New the j urneym»n farmers were only too willing to ploaeh f>t 5i an aore. If th%t was not retrenchment he did not know what was. When he first oame to the oology farm laborers receive! 8* for a day of 8 honrs work. Now they were paid 5a a day and were glad to get that, because if a farm laborer got ouh of employment it was d ffiou't to regain it. tie Instanced a osse whore a steady and itiduatriooa farm laborer Retting out of a j b had the greatest difficulty m finding work and was ultimately thankful t ) acoopt a situation at lOt a week. He thought that farmers and farm laborers bad retrenched as low as they possibly could ' Coming to the CIVIL SERVICE, Nearly til the candidates said that they were golnt; to do wonderful things In reg*rd to retrenchment In the Oivll Service. II \ impressi.o \ was thit they should go luto the question m ao. henest straightforward ma n )r and oomuenolng at the lowest g<i npwards. The lowest, he ihiu^ht, wai low enough. They, sbotfd draw the line somewhere and he thought that they would all a.jree with him that to retrench the hardworking man who earned no more than 10 j a day was a mistake. If he had his way he would draw the line at that. If they did re trench it should be donecantiously. Some men were worth double others, and they should not retrench all alike, but should use honest candid judgment m the matter. Ho was not going to cay what ooght to be done m the direction of retrenchment m the Civil Service, as he was not acquainted with the duties and responsibilities of Civil servants. The gentlemen who legislated for them were acquainted with those duties and responsibilities, and they ought to be careful what they did. Hejaext c»rne to the HOXORABIUM, And the question of the number of mem-, bcrs of the Upper and Lower Houses. He wished to state that ho would oppose cutting down the honorarium, and he would tell them why. Ho knew a poor man and his position ; a bard working man and his position, and if they, only gave £100 as honorarium, they would not get many men from the industrial classes to come out and Jeave their work to con test a seat In the first plaoe it was rather expensive contesting an election. Not long ago some friends talking about the matter told him that if he had about £300 to spure he might get returned (Laughter ) if it co3t that much how were they to get farmers, working men and tradesmen to contest an election Mr Rolloston hid told him that it had already coat him £50, nnd that if he (Mr Buxton) came out he would have to trot round again. (Laughter.) So they would Bee that there was £100 gone at once. (Laughter.) On account of these and various other reasons he would, if returned, go to the House opposed to cutting dowa the honorarium, bat so far as he had seen he was the first man who had said so, and if he were tho only man m the House m favor of maintaining tho present sum he might, with the rest, have to come down to £150. As to the LEQISLITITE COUNCIL He was not acquainted very well with their duties, but it seemed to him that the Chamber might be done without, or if it could not, the members might very well do with a great deal lees honorarium. The members of the Council were not poor men ; if there were any poor, it was only a vary short time sirjee they had become so. He had never read or heard of a poor man m the Legislative Conncii. He scarcely liked interfering with the Governor's salary, as it seemed like interfering with the Crown He gave an amusing account of a dialogue he had had with Mr Uollcston on the probability of reducing the'Govarnor's salary. He (Mr Buxton) considered there would be a great deal of difficulty involved m securing a reduction of the Governor's salary ; through the various channels a Bill for that object would have to go; but he thought that if convinced it was for the good of the country, any Governor would submit to some reduction. | education. | He would like to see the education of ! our children carried on m the best and most substantial manner that could be. I There seemed little to find fault with m the present system of primary schools, and it would be dangerous to interfere with them. Of course there might be ■otne improvements which could be made. He believed m a free system of National Education, and they should not try to clog this important matter, but give it their sympathy and help. GRADUATED PROPERTY TAX, The idea of * grada*tod property tax seemed to touch some people's feelings rather closely. The present property tax wag said to be fair and equal. The exemption was £500 j some peroons laid that it should be more and some leas. However, this amount was taken* to represent the sum needed for the main* tenance of a family which, therefore, Bhould not be taxed. With this exemption to rloh and poor the tax would appear to be fair; At the same time the operation of the Custorra made it appear to him at first sight as though the poor were taxed doubly. He thought that a progreiaive tax would fall mainly on the poor, though the increased cost of living j it would entail. Merchants' goods would I be taxed, but they would recoup themselves out of the pockets of the consumers by increasing the cost of articles. He thought that all taxes m this particular form should be done away with, and a land and income tax substituted. If they bad a property tax the most earnest and industrious workers were taxed for their industry, and for doing their beat to improve the colony. Industry was taxed by it. If the land had a heavier tax upon it, a great deal not m cultivation would be brought into tillage and thus add to tho prosperity of the oountry A land and income tax would be a great deal better than a property tsx. THE LAND LAWS Affected them considerably, and he might say that on this question he differed from many of them. A great many persons believed m the freehold tenure. A good many things could be said igainat the freehold tenure. He knew of instances where men had bought land at £2 »n aore ani watching their opportunity foisted it off on some unsuspecting person at prices very far beyond Its value. He remembered a young gentleman who oame oat with some thousands being caught this way. Ho straggled on for a few years bufc he hid to leave the laud and his thouiahda were gone. The last time he heard of that man he was m Tasmania, with a blanket on his bt.ok, looking for work. That was an Instance of what freehold tenure had done for a man. Ho thought a great «Jeal of the perpetual lease system and he believed that were the whole of the land of New Zealand under that system the country would ba more prosperous. If a person instead of investing all his capital In a freehold had, as he would have m a leasehold, the greater portion of it free for the employment of labor etc., it would be Infinitely better for all concerned. He had lately read trh&t Sir B. Stout had said on the subject md he was delighted to find that his rieya coincided with those of a gentleman )f tha standing of Sip B Stout. jj c loffld, with tfee Premier, thtt the State

would never part with another acre, and - if he went to the House, he would, whether they liked it or not, try all m hit power to prevent any more land being parted with. With regard to the Land Acquisition Bill, he believed that this measure would be acceptable to a good many companies and gentlemen. The land of New Zealand had become too dear, or tbe price of produce had become too low. They conld not alter the latter, but if they had the right men they c >uld [' remedy the former. The acquisition of v land by the State would be all right if it could be done without abase There was so much abuao and so much suspicion of abuse, that he was afraid the price which would beset on some of the large rani would be considerably m. excess of what they were worth. The valuation, the , Sxate would be oajled on to pay, would rise to an alarming amount. If land were purchased for the settlement of the people it should be purohased at a fair and an equitable price, so that the persons who took it up might work it with advantage to themselves and corresponding benefit to society; FRBBTRADB V FBOWOTIOMf This was a burning question, ffefwas not going to dwell long on it. Ha believed m moderate protection* Thtj • needed protection to foster industries and they needed industries and a ooniaming . population. Freatraders said thai the towns would reap all the benefits of protcption, but the country would get j ait as many advantages as the towns. He bad very little sympathy with Freatrade and he described a cartoon he saw whan a boy, depleting the English farmer clearing oat to California because of th> polio/ of Froetrade whloh had just at that time been embraced by England. H« thought that if the farming oommtnity had to pay a shilling or so extra for their Implements or clothing, they Would hare no right to complain ; because they would la retara ha*e a much extended local market for their products. PARTY GOVBRNMBNT. His opinion of the good service of party Government had been much shaken Utely, and he thought that If it could bu done, away with It would be a good thing, [f the Parliament could be condubted m the same way that Road Boards and County Oouooils managed their business ha thought it w uld be best for the country. Paity Government was .expensive ani played some carious tricks-. As regarded the present leaders He was decidedly m favor of Sir R. Stoat and Mr Bla :■. As to Sir John Hall and Major Atkinson he had very lititla opinion of them. Another question which was exciting some attention was the NUMBER OP RBPBESEtfTATIV£a.£ I He thought that thsy had too many aod that fifty one would do very well. Bat then, again, came the matter of the £2.0, which the poor man had to tarn out to contest a Beat against the .great and kflaentlal professors of politics, and to reduoe the number of members would m :an the constitution of very large electorates, ond inoreasad necessity for a long purse. However,hethoaghfcthatthismatte* might be easily aranged if electors would cease to demand so much from candidates as they do now and would themselves go to a liccle trouble. In England candidates did not speak' in every little sohoolhouse like they did here and if constituents would cease to expect this and would come m to the centres of population to hear the contestants' views, the strata oa the purse of the poor candidate would be very considerably relieved. Ho was of opinion that fifty one members would be quite suffioant for tbe House of Rep* reseatatlves, and' as for the Legislative Council 30 would do very well, Mrßuxton dealt at ume length . with t&« qu«»tloQ of th« tans, this leasai of which fall mln 1890. He thought they should be let m farms of from three to five hundred acres, and ihoie parts not suitable for farms might be let as rnns, and they would be taken up by men who, would pay more rent than the present tenants. CONCLUSION. Mr Buxton read two lettarsou political matters which had appeared m the news* papers, and he commented on them at dome length. He thought that tifcesn men, representatives of the Industrial classes, should be returned to Parliament, and he referred to the necessity for every member doing bis duty fearlessly and impartially, In conclusion he said that he was reminded very much of a story he had heard A boy laid a train of wheat wiioh attracted a number of sparrows and these the boy shot. On going to pick up the birds he . found a robin redbreast amongst them. Tha robin is a sacred bird among the boys at Horns and the little fellow m this Instance expressed his sorrow at having sauted tha death of the bird bat be concluded his sympathetic remarks with ; " Bat too should have kept out of that company." It was the same with this election ; if his esteemed friend Mr Rolleaton headed the poll he Could only say : " Poor Me Rolleston yon ahould have kept oat of that company " (loud laughter). The speaker, who received a moat cordial hearing, resumed his seat amidst loud applause. One or two questions wsreaaked and answered. An individual, evidently under the influence of liquor, marched with unsteady gait up the hall and close under the platform, and addressing the candidate m a strong celtic accent, asked, if he were re* t uraed, would be endeavor to reduce the the price of beer to 2d a pint. Mr Buxton informed bis questioner that he would be very soon out of the world were such a reductien made. Other questions having bean replied to, Dr Tievor proposed that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded Mr Buxton lor his address. The speeoh had been an ex* oeedingly able one, and he was euro the motion would be passed unanimously. Mr T. M. Jones seconded the motion. Mr B. Hughes having addressed the meeting at some length, his speeoh being a condemnation of Bir John Hall's administration, the motion waß put and carried unauimously. Mr Buxton proposed a vote of thanks to the Mayor, which was duly carried, and the meeting; came to a close.