THE WAIRARAPA CAMPAIGN.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 320, 6 October 1908, Page 8

THE WAIRARAPA CAMPAIGN.

MR. W. C. BUCHANAN AT MIKIMIKI. [81 THLEGEAPH.—SPECIAL CORRESPONDKNT.) Masterton, October 5. Mr. W. C. Buchanan opened his Wairarapa, general election campaign this even-; ing, when he addressed a largo meeting of electors, at Mikimiki, a district within a few miles of Masterton. The candidate received a very attentive and sympathetic hear-' ing. .' in his opening remarks; Mr. Buchanan expressed his sympathy with the electors-,at the change in the boundaries of 'the electorate, thus partially destroying tho community of local interests..' Speaking.on land matters, the candidate expressed the opinion that legislation of recent years had far from settled this question. It was'necqssary for settlers to fight on until the option .of: the freehold was allowed to all classes. The cultivation of the soil was the greatest and noblest of all work. New Zealand's prosperity was base'd on it, and the land tenure should be tof tho best possible character. ..The 1902 Parliament had a small freehold majority, which demanded the option as applied to lands for settlement, as well as Crown'lands. .The la'te Premier, however, had defeated' the freeholders bjfe sidetracking them : in the Royal Commission, wliich.cost the country £10,000, a Bum that was absolutely thrown away. The Commission reported in favour of tho option of tenure, but nothing was fan** P 7 "'

the i election, Messrs. Seddon, Ward, and T. Duncan all-pledged thomselves for the option •; The; new, farliainqnt, camo under tho control of the. new Government, which, had betrayed, .country: settlors and the country itself by attempting to blot the freehold from the: public. dictionary'..; The Government was practically hostile to the scheme, and attempted to cover its hostility by shallow pretence. • The'Cbyernirioht and the Freehold. ■'< The'speaker quoted Mr. M'Nab's speech on his now Land Bill, when he said that he was going to stand, ,by. his guns and go down with .them, if necessary, in the twinkling of an eye, and. ttat. "\ye,,w,ere not going to float I about for half a century hanging to the Treasury benches, while people were not ablo to: mako out what our land policy is." In tlio faco of...this brave speech delivered by ; Mr. 'M'Nab, ,the ;sequel was farcical. The Minister's attitude at'the first sign of trouble Was like,'that.of-the,-opossum which said to tho. American .coloflel" Don't shoot. I'll •'come dqwii;"; (Laughter.) Then the Government, in the following session,: had brought down quite'a different measure, which amongst other things allowed no. freehold option whatever. All this ' tended to lead settlers to the that thc- Government' was making an insidious-attempt to rob them of their legitimate' birthright. ' i • Mr. Buchanan; condemned the graduated land tax,; •and : ;asked' if this system l of indirect'confiscation was honest. It was like picking • tbiei of .an individual because he' could' afford' the loss, and;had' money in the bank.-, Under thisi iniquitous'system the Government had pocketed £117,000, and the 6cheme.' 'altogether' i represented a 'phase 'in . New T Zealand' politics ' which had been deplored by'politicians--from other countries as'showing-the tendency of the 1 Government to, convert -settlersinto 'financial milch cows. "Native Lands. '■•Witlj reference.'to 'the present eight million acres'of; unoccupied Native lands which the .Government'had-"declared would be 'opened, ■arid would dwarf all previous land for settlementoperations,, t the! speaker wanted to the' State jhad allowed this huge lareaito' lie idle' for.the past 17 years. Dealing the Government that .it,was going to. spend a quarter of a- million pounds. on . roads and bridges 'for the backblocks,' . Mr. i Buchanan quoted ' figures .to prove, that jif Lttio State had spent the money • voted for. this purpose during the past the necessity for this special " vote would have been done away with. '■The,' great fault with reference to tho on Government . contracts' was" that'.'iCwas used in numberless instances for political purposes, while the money of the being squandered in many ways ,by obsolete schemes of doing the wdrk':",':Mr. Davey, M.P., who visited the , cooperative worjes at Cheviot, had been 'so; astonished/,'at'what he stated-was nothing less than the' 'squandering of money that he had expressed the opinion that a Royal Cominvestigate the matter. _ Referring to the,'A.rbitration and Conciliation Bill,"VMr. Buchanan quoted from his •Hansard' s :"speech'' :; ih 1894 to _ show that -V he ".""'"approved of unionism,, but. that''"be was "entirely against compulsory arbitration.' 1 -The experience of the past Zealand in proportion to" itS iHSjJulatibii" had .'put up a record number'of"strikes,/proved the- fallacy of compulsory arbitration. The present Bill, ds' far" as 'the"conipulsoiy part was concerned,'", was-df for the purposo :of ; carrying:, the' Government over' its 'difficulties "till after''the election. The speaker expressed': his approval : of the conciliation proposals in : the Bill. , Mr. Buchanan' r expressed his pleasure that the Arbitration Court* had made no award ' in-the'fanners'' and'ifarm labourers' di&-' pute at■ seven men had cited 700 farmers. . A law that permitted this sort of thing was an: abuse. There was no doubt that farm labourers were deserving of justice' 'as : well as -'any other class, but the trouble was: that it: appeared to be impossible to framo;an .awarckwnich would be applicable to' theiimmediate'variety-of conditions. ! L '* V other.Matters, '

V.i'The speaker dealt briefly-with the Shearers' 'Accommodation Bill, which ho showed was ;riqt • eren' required by shearers themselves. Heapproved -m-thomain of the present Education.7 Bill -before.' the House.' The 'SiwondlJßallpt, had,., also never been asked idT. It ha.d been merely .introduced by the 'Government -which,-was now afraid that its 'Socialistic,friends. Would prove a thorn in its .side. sA-S a, matt?r';of,,.fact the Second Ballot was _mpst -unjust-'Jtor.residents in scattered districts, the population of which would havevto. travel ,ilongi>distances in order to :record, their votes..;, Mr. Buchanan considered nothing practically- was being done in aid „of volunteering,-and 'the business was being Killed simplyr:for;the .want of proper attention. , He..believed,] in; a proper system of instruction,% volunteering for our school 'cadets,, and .more (encouragement to volunteers. themselves.,; |Mr.; Buchanan concluded ; his address byi.stating that the Government had th\s. session'backed down in the case of the Water i Power'.Bill restricting private enterprise,;also.oyer;the Agricultural Produce and-Importers Bill, the dairy regulations, and the Second Ballot- Bill. This showed that it had partly lost .confidence in itself. The speaker dealt with other questions at some length, and'at. the ;cpnclusion of his speech was accorded a vote ,<pf thanks.