POLITICAL NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1900, 9 October 1906, Page 2

POLITICAL NOTES.

r tJ" - « THE OPPOSITION AND THE WORKERS. to .Gisborae Timts.) Wellington, last night. Speaking in the House a few days ego cn Mr Massey’s proposal to lend money . to workers under the Advances to Aot, Sir Joseph Ward said the Opposition attempt to get oredit for having attempted to benefit the wotkers was ludioroue, He added that Mr Massey’s suggestion was impracticable, and that advances to workers must be dißtinot from advances to settlers, because a different system and different conditions were required. Tbe Opposition, he said, were endeavoring to seoure some credit for an attempt that, if suooessfal, would be destructive of a very valuable measure, and would not benefit tbe workers. Comment is now being made regarding the faot that the Government Advances to Workers Bill, introduoed into Parliament a few days later, is almost exactly on the lineß laid down by Me Massey, and, mores over, it is to form patt of and be read together with the Government Advances . to Settlers Act, 1906. THE OHRISTCBURCH-PORT RAILWAY. Canterbury members have been bombarding the new Minister for Railways with a request to reduce tbe rates cn the Lyitelton-Chris:ohuroh railway ' line, but Mr Hall-Jones in the first instance intrenched himself behind a solid barricade of facts, by which yesterday he succeeded in utterly routing the enemy Indeed, it would appear as if tbe good people of Canterbury wore getting better terms than are given on moßt of tbe other port lines of the colony, excepting perhaps the Onehungi-Auckland line, and that on the whole it would have been wiser for tha Canterbury deputalionists bad they left well alone. Tbe Hon. Mr Wigram, who was ooe of tbe prinoipal speakers at Saturday's deputation, produced a maze of figures from a well-known firm of Wellington accountants to show that the people of Obristohuroh were paying £26,800 a year more than they should pay according to the average rates paid oa other port linee, but Mr Hall-Jones promptly disposed of this argument by pointing out that these figures bad been worked oat on a wrong basis. Complaint having been made that tbe terminal charges were too high, tbe Minister showed that tbe total oharge was only 4s 3d, —M whereas the terminal oharge by the great English railways amounted to no less than 5s 5i per ton. He also pointed out that the people of Canterbury had benefited enormously from the redaction in the oarriage of sheep, wool, frozen meat, oto„ and to a far greater extent than settlers in other parts of the oolony where a great deal less frozen meat, grain, eto., was carried over the lines than in Canterbury. On the whole, he Bbowed conclusively that the people of Canterbury, instead of oomplaining, thiuld have eyery reason to bo oontented with their lot,