MR PYKE AT CLYDE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 888, 25 April 1879, Page 3

MR PYKE AT CLYDE.

(Condensed from Daily Times.) Last Saturday evening Mr Pyke, M.H R. addressed his constituents at the Town Hall. There was a large attendance, and Mr Welsford presided. Mr Pykk, who on rising was received with much ethusia a m, said : Mr Chairman and gentlemen,—ln asking you to consider with me the political problems of the period, 1 am not unaware of the fact that at the present time there are no very great and important questions disturbing the public mind. And perhaps I onght to congratulate you on that fact, because when there are large questions distracting the public mind to such an extent as to prevent the consideration of other questions whieh are possildy of equal value, it is an indication that there is something wrong in the ho ly politic—that th'ngs are not progressing so . rightly as they ought to be. (Hear, hear.) No doubt in general prosperity the tendency is to keep the minds of the public from dealing with what may be termed sentimental political grievances. Nevertheless, as your representative, I felt it to he a duty to meet yon here in Clyde—which, so far as New Zetland is concerned, I may term my political birth place—in order to discuss with you several of those questions which will engage the attention of the Parliament during the next session, unless it suffers a premature death, which is not improbable. Now, gentlemen, there are many members of the House running about the country and airing their hobbies. With one member it is one hobby ; with -another member it is another hobby. Thus

we have the Premier, Sir George Grey, telling all the world that the settlement of the Maori troubles is the most important, question to be considered at the present time. Then we have Mr Fox interaperately dealing with the temperance question, trying to persuade you tuat the whole of the next election? are to turn on that subjectThen we have Mr Stout, who thinks that the political salvation of the Colony is to be secure'! by electing our own Governor. And so the wheel turns round just at the present moment. Well, perhaps I have my hobby. If I have, you will find it out in the course of my remarks. But first I desire to take a cursory review of all the more important questions which are likely to be discussed and dealt with in Parliament, and I think you will all agree with me that the first and most important question or problem to be deal with is THE PROBLEM OF REPRESENTATION, (Hear, hear.) I hold, gentlemen, that equal political rights are essentially necessary to the good government of any country whatsoever—(applause)—and that where such rights are not equally distributed there can be no good government.—(Renewed applause ) You are aware that the electorate of New Zealand is at the present time composed of men holding many and diverse qualifications. There is the household right of franchise, the freehold right of franchise, the leasehold right of franchise, the ratepayer’s right, and the miner's right, and 1 know not how many more. So far, so widely does this right extend that it seems to me to bo more a question of time than anything else, before the manhood suffrage system comes into existence. And when I say manhood suffrage, of course I mean that every man of full age, not being an alien, and not tainted with crime, shall have the power to vote. Why there should be any hesitation about a matter like this I cannot understand. A great number of qualifications only tend to confuse and mystify the elector, and there is no need for that in the degree. (Hoar, hear.) Now I know ▼perfectly well that in certain quarters there is a desire that property should have special rights in the inrtlf ei- of representation. A greater fallacy never could be entertained. Men represent property- there could be no property without men on tho soil ; and if

you give men the right to vote, you secure not only legislation for property, hut also that which is of far more value—legislation for the lives and liberties of Her Majesty’s ■subjects, in which every man is equally interested. whether he holds property or not. Wherefore it is that I desire that every man in the community who, as I said before, shall he of the proper age, and nntain'ed with crime, should be entrusted ■with the suffrage. It is for them to say

I who shall govern them, and who shall guide the destinies of the Colony ; and if they are determined to do what lies in their power 1 for the advancement and welfare of this great Colony, they can easily do so. And I say there can be no danger in this system either, except—and I am bound to make an exception— except it may be from what I may term the rabble of largo towns—men who have not only no interest in the country, but who have not even a foothold in it. There in no that wo shall have to deal with this question of representation before the coming session has terminated. We have also to deal with extraordinary electoral inequalities, the existence of which is easily seen on reference to the statistical returns that have been distributed through the country. Now the proposal of the Government is to have one representative for every five thousand persons. But if the House assents to that it will simply assist the towns to swamp the country districts, and you in this, as well as other parts of the Colony, may as well be without representatives altogether, for you will be without power. 1 propose that for country and suburban electoral districts ' 500 to 700 electors should return one member ; and for large cities 800 to 1000. That would give a fair and equal distribution of representatives, and the same number of representatives would do for New Zealand as we have now. The electoral districts themselves also require adjustment. There is no doubt that the counties ought to be co-terminous with the electoral districts. I have a very strong objection to any constituency being represented by more than one member. I object to bl-told and tri-fold representation, now. He then touched on Native affairs, and in no undisguised terms condemned the Elective Governor j policy of Mr Stout, and then he said, I now come to the question of

TAXATION. That will interest you all, I know. Well, gentlemen, I have been, as you know, a supporter of this Government; but I am here before you to speak the truth, impugn it whoso list, and I tell you that in my estimation a more miserable and wretched financial policy than that enunciated by the present Government was neveremmeiated by any otherGovernrnent in the history of creation. Compare it to squirting through a keyhole—(laughter)—it is so small, so puerile. Parliament came down before and said, “We will have taxation on the necessaries of life abolished and have luxuries taxed ; I would like to know if any of you have your tea and sugar cheaper in consequence?- (No.) Our tariff, in fact, is a great bungle altogether, from first to last. It is neither protection not free trade ;in fact, it is a mixture of both. Those things we can produce ourselves are not taxed while those things we cannot are. There is no principle about it at all. 1 myself am an out-and-out free trader. I want to see all Custom-house swept away, for I believe solemnly that the world would get on much better if Custom-houses and Custom-house officers were abolished. (Cheers.)

PUBLIC WORKS. Tho Public Works policy is a question that must affect you very considerably. The Ministry of the present day are endeavouring to redress the injuries of tho past, and make the railways into the interior. There is this Central Railway that is so much talked about. I shall be very happy to see the day when this is commenced, but I am not at all sure about it yet. Some time ago we were informed that a tender had been accepted for a portion of this line, but I am very sorry to say that the tender accepted was a dummy, and the tenderer refused to go on with the work ; but I have been promised further information in respect to this railway, and expect to receive it shortly,

THE GOLD DUTY. Now, gentlemen, 1 come to a matter on which there is some stir—the gold duty question—a matter that is very difficult of solution. A movement has been made wi hj a view of getting the gold duty removed ; but as matters now stand I think it would be very undesirable that it should be taken off, because times have now changed. If }on take the duty off the gold you must tax mining property. If the miners arc willing, I am perfectly satisfied to see it taken off; but they must not blame me it they find they have bought a loss.—(Hear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, I come to another problem which 1 am not afraid to face, and that is.

THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. If you ask me wether I am a secularist, I say “ Yes. ” If you ask me wether I am m favour of denominational schools, I say “ No. ” But 1 am in favour of private schools being subsidised by the State. In the first place, I think it is desirable to encourage competition in education as in everything else And I say positively that tho State is doing a gross injustice in refusing to assist private school?. THE COUN.Y SYSTEM. I need not tell you 1 am a staunch advocate of the continuance of tho County system, and I think I should have to go a long way to find many who would oppose it —(Applause.) The system has been charged with being one of centralism, but I am of opinion that it is local self-government in its best form, and no doubt all of you here this evening believe the same. (Applause.) But there is danger looming in the distance—there are breakers ahead. The system has been assailed. The members of the Government themselves are opposed to the County system, because it has superseded the old Provincial system, of which every member of the Government was either a member or a staunch advocate. It is not at all sure that this County system can be maintained with so many assailants ; but, of one thing I am pretty certain : if we are compelled to adopt some other, system I shall do my best to get hold of. Jackson’s Bay and make this part of the Colony a province. THE LAND PROBLEM. And now, gentlemen, I come to the greatest question of all—a question that I have re-

served to the last—that is, the land question. This is my hobby ; and 1 think it is quite time too, that somebody made it a hobby.—(Applause-) We must cither get the land from the large runholders, or we must give way altogether. The object sought to be attained is the renewal of the squatters’ leases, and if that policy is carried out I would advise you all to pack up your household goods and go to some other country, for there will be no hope for you here, whether as miners, traders, or anything else. lam sure every obstacle will be thrown in the way of having it opened up. It was all very proper to give leases of these runs when the country was a sort of wilderness, but now the land is required for population, the lessees should clear out with good grace. Without population the country is useless, and unless you secure population there is no necessity for towns or railways, or anything—you can go elsewhere. Mining, as an industry, has been going down for a long time here, and if we don’t settle the people on the laud, what are they to subsist on ? Another evil to be deplored is that, except in the case of a few small runs, our runholders are all absentees. The men who derive their wealth from the land do not reside upon it. And yet runholders pretend to feel themselves aggrieved when a mere fragment of this vast territory is opened up for settlement ? Mr Pyke then reviewed the land systems of England and France, and afterwards quoted from an article by Sir Julius Vogel, as follows “The conditions of a sensible land policy are simple in the extreme. They may he briefly described in a few words. Land to be open to the settler whenever he wants it ” —mark that—“ at a price which will prove profitable to the cultivator, but exceedingly risky to the speculator.” He then said— Now, gentlemen, if Sir Julius Vogel hail taken the trouble when he was in power to put into operation the policy he there enunciates, lie would have left behind him a name with even more honor attached to it than it has already. We have here various land systems. We have the deferred payment system, and the agricultural leases system, and others. The agricultural lease system has been very successful in Tuapeka and Wakatip, where it was introduced by myself. As‘l’told] my constituency last year, and as I have told the House several times—and nearly carried it in IS77 — my idea is, “ free selectionj'before survey.” He the referred to the Canterbury land system, and to the debate in the House of •Representatives over the price of deferred payment lands. He then said : I know perfectly well that, however much this land question may be kept in the background, it will be the true tight at the next election in this district. It is for you to give the verdict as to who shal' be the possessors of the land. You are the jury, and you have the matter in your own hands. Never was there a people in the world who could not regulate public affairs in any way they might think fit. You can do the same, and if you allow yourselves to he imposed on—to be robbed of the land that ought to belong to you—on your own heads be the blame. Be true to yourselves, and no one can beat you. But if you are not true to yourselves you cannot win, and the runholders will remain masters of the situation for the next quarter of a century.—(Prolonged applause.) Several questions having been answered, a vote of thanks to Mr Pyke for his excellent address, and a vote of confidence in him as the representative of the district was carried with enthusiasm. The usual compliment to the chairman terminated the proceedings.