THE RANGITATA SEAT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1645, 25 August 1887, Page 3

THE RANGITATA SEAT.

MB PALMER AT WAKANUI. Lt»t evening Mr W. Palmer, one of the candidates for the Bangltata neat, ad dressed a meeting of electors at the Wakanul schoolroom. There was a large attendanoe, the room being well filled. Mr James Brown was voted to the chair, and brlsfly Introduced the speaker Mr Palmer said that he was pleased to see 10 many present. Be was opposing Mr Rolleaton for the representation of the Rangltata seat, and there was another candidate forward, In Mr Buxton. It was said that opposition was the life of trade and he wai therefore glad to see that there were a number of candidates la every place. He had not had the sources of Information that were available to some men ; especially to those who were politicians of 18 or 20 yean •tending, bnt he would give them a few of hti opinions. When the Treasurer foaad there was a deficiency m the revenue he proposed to make it op by ■noi of increased oostoms duties and a graduated property tax. The Government proposed to refer it to a Committee of enquiry bat the opposition would cot allow it and brought about an appeal to the oonntiy. He did not oonslder the Opposition deserved credit for this, it being to near the general election. Be would devote a tew words to the position of the oonntty. The imports exceeded the exports and 4£ millions was paid as interest on our indebtedness. We wanted more people here tq remedy this state of affairs. We had >hfcV tiohest country In the world if we developed our mineral wealth. We had coal, iron, silver, diamond he might say, and oil mines — everything' that was necessary. If they had all these resources developed and brought to light they need not apply to any country m the world for help. They could not, however, attain this position without capital and population, and he might also say protection. Look at America and see what Protection had done for her; she was now almost able to compete with any country m the world. Viotoria was m a good position through protection ; South Australia was going In for the policy and he thought we ■hould do so sb well. There was one port m .New Zealand where 100 tons of floor a month were Imported from Adelaide. These people wonld not buy Canterbury flour and he thought it was quite neoessary to have protection. Tne place he referred to was on the West Coast, There was a great deal of disputable grouad m connection with the question of Freetrade v Protection. Freetrade did a great deal of good to the towns because commerce Sowed Into them from all parts of the world. Bat Freetrade was jast as disastrous to the •onntry as It was beneficial to the towns. If they had freetrade the re? enue would have to be made up by direct taxation whloh fell mainly upon the farming community. In the Old Country, when there were protective duties the farmers were In a flourishing state, but they were not In inoh a good position now. The revenue was short and there had to be direct taxation. Produce was flowing m and brought down prices so low that the farmers were not able 'to compete, with the high rents they were paying, and consequently they had to leave the oountry A body of oommisiioners had beeu sent ■ound lately to enquire into the cause of the bad condition of affairs and the farmers thought that education was respcßjlblle ■•• on account of the increased cost of labor. He thought they had made a mistake and had overlooked the produce flowing In and keeping down the price. He would tell them where Freetrade Injared factories. He knew of a gentleman who had held large shares iv the ribbon factories m England, but. when Fret rade was Introduced, about 1860, they were done away with as they could not compete with the factories of France. They had formerly been the means of bringing a great deal of wealth Into the country. It was a good thing for us that there was Freetrade m England. That country obtaioed a quarter of its grain supply from the colonies, and m return we got £8 per head of manufactures. It was a good thing, therefore, that there was no protection on grain m England. Eight pounds a head of imported manufactures waa a large amonnt and be thought a little energy -here wonld stop it. They bad seen that one iron fsttory had been started m Dunedio, and there would be a great many more Industries started but for one thing that ttcod In the way, and that was the high sac* of interest about which he would e»y more by and bye, He next epoke of Land Settlement. What we wanted here was people with capital. How were we to obtain them ? He would suggest that suitable sized blocks of land to suit men with different grades of capital should to s*t apart where there was such land — In the North Island, Otago, and Canterbury eventually. Ha was afraid, however, that there would not be much m Canterbury, because, no doubt, the West Coast line wcnM abiorb a great dea 1 . Then send circulars to the old oountry, Belgium, Germany, etc.', advising the amount of capital that would be required to stock the kind. There were a great many farmers m the old country who would be glad to sell out did they know where to g§t settled again. They werp afraid to sell out for fear their money would be all spent before they get settled again. He was m favor of Village Settlements on reserves— Church reserves and Education reserves — where there was good land. There should not be too many |n a pl&ce for that was a great evil, If there were, too many it was difficult tc get work. They should be on perpetual lease and the rects would go to the School Boards and Church fund. The Crown lands and reterves should be leased by ballot at an upset price so that men should not rua one another. What was the use of allowing them to run one another if they gave such a high price that they conld not work their land to advantage. He wai of opinion that half the land should have been nationalised from the beginning. Had thus been done they would be m a better position now. The rents would hare been ja'd to the Govern meet, instead of aa interest on mortgages, and would have stopped taxation and they would have had sufficient funds to have carried on public works. The speaker deprecated excessive borrowlog. He thought provision should b( mide for voting | or i a million a yeai to provide work and keep the unemployec from coming on the Government foi subsistence. It would be a bad thing foi the oountry to baye unemployed oeoausi they could not expect people t< come here when they heard thi unemployed cry. He referred to thi ectlon£of the Atkinson Ministry it raising the grain tariff on the railways »n< ■aid that they were no friends to Qanter buiy, nor vrou^d they be so if they agsii got 'lnto power. The deficiency was th ■ext subject touched 00. He asid tha last year there was a dt ficlency of £20,00 but half of it had . been covered by on ■olidated interest. The falling off hai been In stamps, railways an,d on liqaoi Jt was Impossible for the Government t fcpotr there would hare been a falling o and therefore they were not altogether t blame for the deficiency. When th markets were depressed the farmers dld'n put m so moch crop and consequently di cot need so much labor. There being let money given m wages, the laboring olassr had lees to spend m drink. This ac counted for the falling off on account c lfquorv If the farmerß had nut co mac Crop Jhey would have leBB business an less correspondence, and there would b a falling off m stamps. Jt wss the / iam with, th.a railways, when t^ere wg| |ci

J i?ra?n crown, there wjs naturally leas e-irti: d. Ths spraker went on to re'er to the heavy debt of the oolony and to the feet that the Interest annually amounted to £7 10s per head of population or £80 per each adult man. Ha thonght the rato of interest could be lowered by the Government establishing a State Bank. The Government would borrow two millions to start the bank but would have nothing further to d > with it, its management being m tho hands of a Board of director! to be eleoted m ro'ation by the people of the colooy. This would bring down the rate of interest to about 5 per cent and every farmer would feel the benefit and be able to prodcoe more, bo that the exports of the oolony would be msde -to equal tbe imports. The candidate expressed himself m favor of increasing the duty on luxuries, but on admitting tea, sugar, and watertight boots such as need by the poor man, free. With regard to the Property Tax, if a man owned 100 acres of unimproved land, he would allow him no exemption; if he had 1000 acres of unimproved land, he would besides allowing oo exemption increase the tax by 116 th of a penny. The exemption co old be lowered if found necessary to £300. He was not well versed m the subject of reductions, a? he had not had many sources of information, No doubt there could be considerable reductions, bat ha thought they should not be carried too far, because if they were they would affect the Civil Servloe too muob and oanse unemployed. Ministers' salaries could be reduced, The Upper House should hare 00 honorarium, and that of the Lower House reduced by a fourth. High Schools sould be done away with, and m order that capable children might ■till have a change of obtaining higher education, he was m favor of a capitation allowance to those children who pas ed a special examination, after having pused the Cub. standard. He thought it necea sary that the present Ministry should be kept m power, so that the leases of tbe runs whlcb fell due m 1889 might be equitably dealt with. Tbe candidate was In favor of protecting the fruit industry ty a duty ob imported fruit and a special ra'e on the railways during the fruit season, so that fruit-growers m the country m'ght get their produce into the towus. He considered that a fine of from £1 to £5 should be levied on any person importing apples infeoted with codlin moth. As to other blight he did not think the Government had power to interfere. He had referred to theße matters bacanae of a circular he had received from the Fruitgrowers Association. In conclusion the candidate said that he thought the oountry was now m the position of a man between two opinions — whether he would do good or whether he would do evil. If an Atkinson or Ormond Ministry got into power it wo aid be m evil to the country, but if the present Government, it would be a bt nefit. A host of questions arising out of the sobjeots touched on m the speech, were asked and answered. A vote of thanks was accorded the candidate for his address, and a similar compliment to the chair, brought the meeting to a close.