THE RECENT BY-ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 642, 20 October 1909, Page 8

THE RECENT BY-ELECTION

-,; ;. COMPLIMENTARY' BANQUET.' ' ':: SPEECH :fiT THE HON;'J.- CABfiblL. '. '- .•' < B Correspondent): "' 'Wni.' "'- : '•' ■-■ '-'' : '' '••.■'■'Martdn,- October..l 9. , rhero' was.an exceptionally large' attendant at .th.e banquet tendered', by the Ministerialist; of Mancaweka .and district-to- Messrs: Geor fe . llow . s . HaU,,. on .Monday .evening.,.: Mr. '■ Tansej occupied/the chair .and' he was supported "br the left, by. the, Hobs.' J: ' Carroll. (member for Chalmers),;and .Mr.,E, W. 'Smith _Mr. i Carro]L; ln.speaking. to the toast■'of"Th« Government,... started, by .'deploring/the facl that, v m6mbers.-of: the Opposition, "notably MessrsoGuthiie and,Newman, had thought fit into; the/debate on- the' Address-m-Beply, ln^ances, and alleged . circumstances in- ronnechon.;mth, the :Eangitikei ■: by-election. It, appeared to, him- that -it -was. their- mission to covor; the ground of. defeat, or-to offer an apology/to the country on behalf of the-other side; way. things happened as they did. - It wa|:a ! m>or apology; however,'to suggest-bribery nnd:bther_ma]practice6 l 'as a reason for their humiliating' position. .Designedly, it appeared to,be, they.made a;centre of"their attack on the ? Native- land'-question, and -in doing so they, assailed and' raised i the colour banner.-;,--ior-his part, whatever they'said on that : , (not' 'trouble him: in', the slightest,: and -he was- sure that every Liberal would: rise above the-puerility of such methods pf;.attacK.^ t The;cduntry had ho" time for such tactics.'/.The' country; hod" greater matters to con&der.l'.bnt.'. he "was' only one of the'community,; and only a unit in. its: composition. It mattered ■ not,: therefore, from on individual point.of -view,"what they said, but in'assailing'a public man they assailed tho public, ilt would be for" the to take this, into account; and 'not .for; him. - Let that- pass' for the-moment/ What, it- might' eritail if was for thenuto answer, but were they to. understand ; that the .critics had any special claim to be placed'on a' higher ■pedestal than those whom.'they'derided?,.lt .might be.'true that they.were what they claimed to be,\biit beyond their, bombastic utterances there was ho evidence to show it. - - , • ' :'. Native Lands.•'"'.■ ': That'they knew nothing of the Native:land be guaged by their- silly utteri ances.; They spoke recklessly in regard to the huge, area,! of, Native lands lying-idle.' It was iLhblustar.-.ahd.blow'. -Here -Mr. Carroll gave a return of:the;area<of-Native land owned in the: Dominion,■;' the area under lease and proStable occupation, ■' the' area, being rendered fit for 'submission- to: the-public, and the area yet to -be'dealt with. This put, he considered, 1 quite complexion on the' state,of affairs from .what: the public had been led to'believe ivos the/case. :He pajd no'hoed to the vaunted iries'of reform, or. to the claim' by the other side to all the virtues possessed by any partv, Hedid not consider his own side, the party in power, .i a any way''immaculate. They pnlv trusted.t) the,preponderance of,merit over demerit. S.vfar' as their'.otlier merits werocouicrncd'thcy wore included, in" the'- Act's they lad.:placed: on. the/statute-book, and- in the jovernment administration of those Acts: Periaps' a! too close attontioti to'the'"needs and reluirem'ents'.'of every'.section' of the,community vas foreign to' the, .members whom the other iida h'el-3 dear.': The Government had 'addressed hemselves always.to the furtherance of the inerests :of,-4he ; farming-"ddmmunity, to tho [melioration of,the condition of the masses, to he solution of problems/ which ever and -anon acedlthein, to;lhe: upraising. of the labouring lasses, :to "the encouragement of the .small armer,- to' the further;.subdivision . of .'large states, .te.' the.assistance'that could be given o the .struggling settlers; through the,medium if the advances to settlers,': to the purposes em- : ibdied ia'.the Land/for Settlement Act, to.thie' ilacing.ofthe heavier incidence of taxation on best'able.to.bear the burden, to he remission of :; taxatipn on the necessaries, of, ifo, and: to the settlement'of the Native land' liiestnn/.by/wnich Europeans w'orild- gbtfaciliies: for. acquiring 'the land by way' of lease' or lufchase.and the'reservation of areas for the ise : and ■ maintenance of; tho Maori owners. ?hese wow the salient features,of the adminisration. What had the Opposition to placo gainst this?. Nothing but blank discharges of ituperation' and '.derision'. Abuse 1 was > ' their nly ciicnlating medium, but he vonturcd to ay it would profit them little! The OpposiionVactually; realised; that the country had ■ to novo; along in a progressive way, and, unless hoy kept time with such progression 'they oust for over remain ,the Opposition. As,new orccs entered into: the horizon,of politics they lad to bo grappled with and utilised for the lenofit of tho masses. Every new force prolerly handled was instrumental in 'adding to he well-being'of the community -.'-';'";' : ' ; ■ a-\:,f : 'A ~ ■ .: -The Pivot- Point; ';', :; / • There was always a,danger of going too far. ,nd. reaching extremes,, for. once they. passed ho pivot point they.would bo "bound to have . diminishing return 1 by, virtue of, the recoil, iut the greater harm would be to remain staionary, and thus retrograde, to the disaster'of ho public weal, iHere,he analysed what had leen done' in ' regard to the labour laws, and rhat had. been done for 'the'' workers' by, reguiting the hours of labour; improving their onditions, and'iraising •the -standard' of wages. Ip to the pivot point there ;had been satisfacDry results; beyond thatjithe present Adminisration for the; time.being were reluctant to b. , On the other hand," the Government had et itself to force closer'settlement of the lands f the■'Dominion, ; in •' the carrying -'.out of rhich. they . would".?,nbt , only- .increase bo number of:, producers on 'the soil, 'but Blievo. the:.congested' centres -of i'a percentage f: theiripppulation;- Economic 'laws were now ressing more .than . over, on their attention, nd! tho' study of'such entitled .them: to" take far wider range" than' they had hitherto been itisfied' with'.V.'lf /wealth: at all could in any ay bo. influenced, 1 it' should" bo: influenced -in he' direction': of/doing good to. all by qualified iffusib'n 'throughout' the..' whole vDbminion; Whatever faults'the Administration may have lade ..because,-of /.their, ideals and the'higher' bals' to' which-they.'aspired, it would be hotter hail: to be' an .'Opposition without ideals aid ■ithbut/; aspirations. •.;Th'e:;-mere-!,.matter .of overnment-.nnddts 'personal-constitution- was oithe'r here nor there.-, Men would come,-and len'would go.' i '"He earnestly:hoped.that"above II the -liberal' cauSb' .would;ever be strong nd continuous, '•refreshed '- in i'eaoh e'neration-by ;the infusion therein'of thegrow, ig. mind : and''the/:awake'nmg..interest and'the eveloping genius of our 'race.' (Loud aplause:)'.'.V-/,.•-.:-.;■■:,.. . ~;.:.;'/ Mr. Carroll spoke for nearly two'hours, and ■as frequently' applaudedi ■' /' ,-.- .:, ■;; Hon. 'D.8udd0...-."' ; The'Hbn. D.. Buddb.congratulated the com-, litteo on their, efforts in'showihg .their appreiation of-those candidates who 'were unsuccessil, yet who so loyally supported the. candidate ■ho.was on their own .'side inpolitics. Those ehtkhien''were.young ,men," and had 'been trenuous- workors •: in public lifej and /■ would ndoubtedly bo\ Heard r of.. in future councils of lie, Dominion/ "He. went, on to say that at the resent "time the "policy, of tho Opposition was vidently ' misrepre'sentatioh. - . Their ' northern rgau statedihat the New.Zealand farmers were javing for Australia to'; get '.better opportuniies.;.The Leader of: the Oppositioh had. emphaised this iu.the recent .debate by'stating that bbusan'ds. were leaving the, shores for someb;ing better. 'He"(the speaker) .'wished to .put he. true positionof the arrivals and departures f the Dominion before the public as showing hat this'was not the case. The arrivals'for ine months totalled 27,406, and the departeras 7,141, .or'a difference between January :l -to ioptbmbe'r 30 of 35 who had left the' Dominion, t would be difficult, he said, to multiply 35 nto thousands, taking into consideration that he greatest number of .excess of arrivals in the dominion occurred last year (14,2G1),' largely luo'tothe bountiful harvest and. the large jnount of employment offered, whereas there ras stall, three months to'go on, this year, and hey expected ;the, return of slaughtermen ,and hearers, -and, also 'New Zealander's who' had eft>n.pleasure .trip's.;' He, therefore, ventured o prbpnesv/ that./.before-.' the end of the year ;hore would be a substantial balance in favour if the Dominion.., He predicted that with the •iso. in the:',price' of -.frozen ,mutton -and -'the iati6faction'prices ruling .for products,'the prospects of the-farmers we.re extremely bright fdi the. coming season. : . , - '_.. : .