THE GENERAL ELECTIONS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2236, 31 October 1908, Page 5

THE GENERAL ELECTIONS.

THE GISBORNE SEAT. HON. J. CARROLL AT TE ARAL Tlie lion. James Carroll opened bis election campaign by an address in the To Arai Schoolhouso last evening. Mr. C. Gibson occupied tho chair, and there was ,a moderate attendance. Mr. Carroll said he appeared before the electors as one of the candidates for tlie seat, arid would divest himself of his Ministerial office, and meet the other candidates upon a common footing. lie could only submit himself as having represented Gisborne for many years, and could say lie had honestly tried to servo the people. He might have made mistakes, and might have had misgivings, but he was not immaculate, and he would not go so far -as to-' declare that lie was the best representative the people could got. Mr. Darton and Mr. Clayton had contested tho seat with him at tlie Last election, and ho could say tho political battle had been fought out on fair and honest lines, and ho was sure the same characteristics would prevail throughout this contest. Mr. Clayton represented what was called the Opposition Party, a party thatcontained some of tho best intellects' in Parliament. Tlie party now called tlie Opposition was the old party that was in power seventeen years ago, and in their day performed great and valuable services; but tlio party had been gradually diminishing. Ho (Mr Carroll) belonged to what ho would call the modern party, a party that had been in power for over sixteen years, and it was some testimony to the administration by that party that the people allowed the members to remain in power so long. Then there was the advanced or socialistic party, a party with advanced ideas, but too far advanced for the political possibilities of the preset day Air. Darton represented the new order, Afr. Cl a v toil the old order, and be (Mr. Carroll) had the honor to represent tho middle section, that recognised that while it could not go too far forward. it could not, any way, lag behind. The country was still young, and required a. steadily advancing Government. The present Government felt that the country must go along carefully and advance by easy stages as near as possible to the goal of prelection. Reviewing the work of the present Administration, Air. Carroll said tho Government had brought into law tho graduated income tax, so' that the heaviest form of taxation would rest upon the shoulders able to bear it. New Zealand did not want poor people or multi-millionaires. It was for that reason that the Land for .Settlement Act had been brought into force so that the land could be cut up and made to carry numbers of thriving families. The Government had also brought down the Advances to. Settlers Act, which had been a great boon to( the settlers.. Some little time ago the financial crisis had caused an excess of demands upon the advances obtainable, and Parliament, at the instance of the Government, had given increased power to obtain money for the settlers. The Government had also established the old age pension system, and New Zealand had been the first country in the world to thus bring relief to the door of trie needy aged. The Government had also placed upon the Statute Book labor legislation that had gone a long —'v to bring about peaceful labor tf tCX| There was a temporary 3 , , Vrst such legislation; but ’ ; OOj£jie people would not. be . .At a tangent, but. that SlSC'je and fair play would I pikers back to the normal fj -y one of these measures | g* Opposed by the Opposition, 'eminent bad carried thorn I ifi of tlie Opposition. Yet tion Party claimed to be file, and its members said | administer those Acts betJfie Government that had .Jpiem into force. Would I trust a party to administer 'f|lic party had opposed? Jfd to land legislation, Air. •|] the people had been told ,y f s always a fight botween i $ pd leasehold, and that the would be turned out on Ofiuestion. The Government Liway with the lease in per--4 frm of tenure which was a %*nMi*rae ; -)f ] a nd tenure, and had in-«-T he optional system of holdJYLJL' leaving the freehold, the W TC jpi with right of purchase, nf all, the renewable lease. ■ prised that the land did not ail. Kincl£j.j ie G ove r nm ent, but to the bwitches.'ncl the Government could aes, I a b'] lc land away without makcan rie c. iou f or f u ture generations. eWen 7«’ays supported the principle tu “ ' * nents, because endowments “thing for tlie benefit of the Opposition said:, “sell 2 n.f.p fund the money, and the 1,731 increase.” It was impos-”Lui-mark any funded money GRi’ifial purpose, hut the land TCILT.'Ui-ainod and its revenue CREAM, -ays come into the Trcaspremier ' endowments were for edu- | l;'®° : Srposes, for education cost fully retry £1,000,000 -a year, and K the skiSyvvment for education, pur\W nobler than selling the jjl the only.ndividuals, who wished to •,al other wealth at the expense in ° r S ° .’Lelo ,of the future. IT© had M Mi* accused of apathy in the II Hi tion of his own DepartVj Tn'fl! he claimed that the Gov\lj & *|iad done more to deal with If is delioL/e land question than any si imparts;,,nrnment, and lie challenged f/i w vrhrin of tho Government to If I powder! anv other Government had VI arter-effe'o. ‘The critics, however, Wil ?M°" OI rsO ill generalities, and they || glowcf he caught on any particuy&jf A'evcr.t Since 1900 the Governsettled over 1.000,000 acres m [icilm lands, -averaging about 500 W £ each individual. That was fjj |>rm of settlement where two Vi| X . individuals got together and S lip large .areas, hut the dis--1,, f, of the land among genuine Fluoi jj c claimed that the NatCommission was doing good K ' '* -getting valuable information ,* ;oun try. He estimated that " fro about 6.000,000 acres of TH,iids i-n- the North Island, hut .-500,000 acres were unfit for -jt. I Tho Commission had ready with about 1,000,000 TIMEd .recommended that 600,000 I for settlement to tlie pnbVho balance set -aside -for the I(io Natives, for the Natives gp settled oil the land as .well Europeans. He expected the tio-ri to conclude its r prl? m • ■ -- '. - tiima ...

about February next, when about 4,000,000 acres would'have been dealt with, and he (Mr. Carroll 1 ) considered that when the final report of the Commission came to hand the Native land question would be definitely settled, for the Government would cut up and'road the lands and throw tliom open for settlement. The Native Land Commission would cost perhaps about £IO,OOO, but lie recognised that the work was worth the money. Mr. Carroll then referred to tho small gracing runs question, as reported elsewhere, and said he was sorry lie had not more time to appear before the electors previous to polling day, but that only his Departmental duties had kept him away go long Short as the time was lie hoped he would still find favor with the people on election day; but if they preferred one of the other candidates he would accept their dictum as graciously as lie could. . In reply to a question, Mr. Carroll promised that the reading of the To Ami settlement would bo done as early as possible, for lie was given that assurance by the Minister lor Lands. Ha. promised to send a telegram to Mr. McNab asking him to put the work in hand at once. •On the motion.' of Mr. C. Gibson, a vote of thanks to, and confidence in, Mr. Carroll as the representative in Parliament of tho electors of Gisborne was carried unanimously. Mr. Carroll briefly returned thanks, and a vote of thanks to the chairman closed the meeting.

The Hon. J. Carroll will address a meeting of the electors at Waercnga-a-liika this evening. Mr. W. Lissant Clayton, the Opposition candidate, will address the electors at the Makauri Schoolhouse this evening at 8 o’clock, and at Till iroto on Monday evening at the same time.

THE BAY' OF PLENTY SEAT. MR GOW AT ORMOND. Mr J. B. Gow, who is contesting the Bay of Plenty seat as an Opposition candidate, delivered an address in the Ormond halt on Thursday night. There wis a large audience, and the candidate was given a most attentive -‘hearing. Mr J. McLeod occupied the chair, and briefly introduced the speaker. Mr Gow, who was well received, said ho was pleased to address such a largo audience at Ormond, lie regretted in 'i way that lie was contesting the Bay of Plenty electorate, because the district was formally represented by. Mr W. Herries, who had served the people faithfully. He was a gentleman who had a colonial reputation, and whom he (Mr Gow) was sure the electors of the Bay or Plenty would regret losing. Mr Herries had, however, decided to contest tho Tauranga seat. It was usual in New Zealand for the people to find one party calling themselves .liberals. Such exclusion could not exist for a party line between liberalism and conservatism could not be drawn. Upon the Government side of the House could be found more conservatives than upon the ’Opposition benches, and the balance of conservatism was with the present Government, which had had such a long innings that privileges and customs had so accumulated around the Ministers that they found it impossible to get- away from the ultra conservatism that bad grown up about them. There had been a constant wish throughout the country that some reform of the Upper House should take place. New Zealand- claimed to be a democratic country, and yet contained a chamber in Parliament that was not responsible to the people. The Opposition, by seeking to make the Upper House elective, was truly liberal, and had always advocated the abolition of the custom of making the Upper House a dumping ground for rejected political aspirants. Tho Upper House as at present constituted, was a conservative institution under the will of the so-called Liberal party, and lie hoped the electors would express their opinion that the Legislative Council should bo elective. The late Mr Sodden had said that a reform in local government- would be in the best interests of the Dominion and promised year after year that a bill would be brought down to reform the whole system and give local bodies tlio solo control of the expenditure of money on roads and bridges that were of such vital interest in the settlement of a new country. The question had been staved off so long that the promise had almost been forgotten, and that was another instance of the conservatism of the Government, in refusing to give expression to the will of the people. The legislators in dealing with the Public Works Estimates seldom understood what they were voting for and agreed to grants being made blindly at the dictation of the minister of the day. There was thus a danger that while the country claimed to be democratic, it really had an autocratic Government. If a proper system of local -Government prevailed such a. svstem of waste and expenditure of* money for political purposes could not go on. Under the present method tho cost of administration of tlio -grants was charged against the amount voted by Parliament, so that in many eases the amount voted was swallowed up in preliminary expenses, and another year had to go past to allow money to be set- aside to continue the work. Reform in local government was asked for by the people, promised by the Government, but put off from time to time. Was it not time such a system received a rebuff at the ballot box.

The peoplo were also largely under the domination of what was virtually a southern administration. Such a fact could not be lost sight- of. To-day tho North Island liad far outstripped the South un importance, but the South Island still retained the predominance of political power and retained it to tho detriment of the North Island. Tho accusation was not alone his. It was also that of Mr McNab. When Mr McNab was at the Mot’u he expressed surprise at seeing such- a fine district' and said it was one of tlie best in the Dominion -and only required to be opened up. Why was it such a discovery should bo made on the eve of the election, and when the district was represented by a member of the- Cabinet -It was the duty of Mr Carroll to- keep the importance of tlio district before tho nolido of his colleagues and if Jie neglected to do so tho peoplo should reprimand him at the ballot box. They bad soon how the East Coast railway had been neglected, and wore tols tJapre

•were ,no funds to pu«i on one work. The Government hod no i'undn to do what they did not wish to do, hut had money to waste on a handsome railway station, in Dunedin. If the Government had money to spend upon luxuries it had money to spend to give the settlers access to their homes. Gisborrrfj imported thousands of feet of timber annually, and yet the Government refused to ‘ open up the •railway to tap the great timber resources of the Motu country. If the electors were true to themselves they would show their disagreement with such a system of administration on election day. No other work in. the Dominion was so called for as the linking up of the East Coast railway with the main' lino at Rotorua.

Travelling through the country he had seen the roads of the district, and they were, as Mr McNab had admitted, the most neglected in the Dominion. It was the custom of 'the members of the Government to claim that they were the friends of the worker, but'lie claimed that the Opposition was as much the friend of the worker as any other party. It was wrong to educate the people-into class jealousy and teach that one class was the enemy of the other. Yet such a thipg had been going on. The Opposition had tried .to bring about a readjustment of the tariff so that the burden could he placed: upon shoulders where it could he better borne; but the Government had placed taxation upon the necessities of life, and relieved the taxation on the .luxuries of life. AVhat was that-hut taxing the working man? The Second. Ballot Bill was not a step in the right direction, and had not led to the true, idea of rights representation. Parliament should represent the opinion of the electors, and in such proportion as those opinions prevailed. The Second Ballot Act, instead of getting closer to true representation, really wandered away from it, and would have one party absolutely disfranchised, 'and with no voice in the councils of the country. Such a measure cuts at the very root of true representation. The gag clause was similar to the laws of Germany, where autocracy prevailed, and sought to take from the people the right to speak. It had been attempted to take away the liberty of the people at the second ballot, 'and he was glad to see that the legislative Council had cut out such a clause with scorn. He honed the electors would show- their disapprobation of such an illiberal spirit. There had been a persistent attempt by the present Government to attack the freehold. If the Government did not desire to (abolish the freehold, why had an attempt been made to bribe people to take up a tenure in the name of lease, a lease for 999 years with the first ten years rent free.

The Land Bill of 1906 was an attack upon the freehold, and attempted to cut off 16,000.000 acres for ever on leasehold. The'principle was called endowment, hut it was not endowment, it was an attack upon the freehold. The only endowment the country needed was a free people with their free homes. The endowed lands were said to be for some special purpose; but a free and prosperous people would be table to bear all the taxation necessary to carry on the affairs of the country. The system of leasehold was only advocated to find fresh corners for Government billet hunters.

Tho recent actions of tlie Ministry and the Land Board over the renew a. 1 , of local grazing run leases showed that no justice could be obtained when justice was asked for. Why was one leaseholder singled out for preference and that leaseholder not the genuine settler, but the fat man. A voice: “He is a settler."’ Mr Gow: The whole matter is a disgrace, and if the Government has a policy let it be carried out impartially and no preference for any person shown. (Applause.) What the people want is only fair play and even-handed justice meted out to them. (Renewed applause.) He did not want them to think he was against the leasehold, but thought the leasehold should be but a stepping-stone to the freehold, and when the leaseholder had made enough money he should be allowed to invest it in a home of his own. When a man had his own home he was ready to work for it, ready to die for it, and when-such a condition of tenure existed there would be no meed to fear the yellow or any other peril. They were told there was a land hunger. Yet there wore enormous areas of unused, unproductive native lands lying waste. The people were promised that the whole question- of native lands was to be finally settled, but the question was not settled, it was only balked. The Government had employed a Commission, at great expense, to carry out tlieirown work. The great evil was that it was not principle that kept the Government m office, or if any principle existed at ad it was the principle to cling to office at any price. A grievous injustice had been done to the native race, and tho Maoris wore called upon to waste their time running after courts, and no finality as to the ownership of the l'and was ever reached. The time hod arrived when there should be only one class of citizen in the Dominion, and the same laws should be extended to all, Native and European alike. An elector: “And Chinamen?” Mr Gow : That might be your op;nion; but it is not mine. Treat the Maoris as a free people; treat them as we treat ourselves and you will find them a peoplo who will worthily respond. Since tho Ward Government came into uower over £1,000.000 had been voted' for roads and bridges; but only a. little over £070,000 of that money had been spent. The people had a promise last year that £250,000 would be devoted to opening up the back blocks. But the session had closed, and a largo proportion of votes that usually appeared for constructing roads and bridges had been put on tlio estimates as money for opening up tho backblocks, (and the excess ‘over the usual -amount was only £BO,OOO. Tim Government could well afford that sum, for £IOO,OOO of the amount voted the year before was not snout. Yet the vote tor tfic •Tourist’s Department was over spent. If it was necessary to nincli anv class of people the last class to pinch was the country settler, and any industry in the Dominion should be allowed to "suffer before the Government allowed the heroic men and women in the backblocks to feel the pinch. Mr Gow then read a number of quotations from Hansard to show that the membevs q$ the Cabinet col-

lectively and individually were enemies of the freehold form of tenun and supporters of the leasehold. The statements showed that the country settlers were dictated to by the town element that sought to destroy the freehold. Were the settlers to bo satisfied with such a condition of affairs? , . ~ Referring to the education question Mr Gow admitted that the Government had done excellent work. Ho wanted to see New Zealanders, v hereever they went, able to reflect credit upon the country where they were horn. Still the education of the children of the country settler was neglected. There were no facilities for the children to reap the full benefit of the system of higher education and further encouragement should he given to settlers to send their children to secondary schools bv the Government showing a willingness to assist parents to maintain th<# scholars white they were enjoying the benefits of higher education. (Applause.) He also thought the Government should subsidise medical men to give advice, and assistance to the settlers in tlic backblocks. The country was suffering from a lopsided Parliament, lor in order to have good government it was necessary to have a balance between the parties. The men who were administering the country were but human, •and it was not wise to give men such unlimited poVer that they would forget they were'the servants of the people ; hut to show them that- in a case of had administration the scale could he turned the other way, and he hoped that at the ballot box the people would return a more balanced parliament that would care for the happiness and true prosperity of the people. (Applause.) In answer to questions Mr Gow said he did not think it was necessary to provide free school books for children," hut thought uniform school books could be adopted. That if Asiatics were given citizenship in the country they should be under the same laws as other people ; hut it was for the people to say if the Asiatic should he given at al'l. He thought the limit of the. freehold should be varied 'according to the needs of the settlers, and ; there should be a law to prevent the undue aggregation of large estates. He was in favor of elective land boards, and against the Government ruling the Board by the appointment of Government nominees. On the motion of Air AY. K. Chambers. seconded by Air «J. A. Caesar, a vote of thankswas tendered to Air Gow for his address. Air. J. B. Gow addressed the electors at AVhatatutu last night. Air. M. P. Poole occupied the chair, and the candidate, who had a most attentive hearing for an hour and a half, was accorded a hearty vote of thanks at the close of his address. Mr. AY. D. S. AlacDonald will give an address at To Kaha this evening. Air. D. London, Independent candidate. will address the electors at Wliatatutu this evening. Mr. J. B. Gow will address the electors at Te Ivaraka this evening..

THE AYRITS—CLOSING THE

ROLLS

[Special to “Times.”]

WELLINGTON. Oct. SO

It is expected tlmt the writs for xhc elections will be issued to-morrow. The rolls will be closed on the day of the issue of the writs. There are many applications for enrolment still reaching the Registrars. It is pointed out that the closing of the rolls on t Saturday will be somewhat awkward. seeing that the final supplementary roll must be printed within three Jays. As Sunday comes into the three days there will be a day lost to the registrars in making personal enquiries to verify certain applications.

THE NAPIER SEAT.

[Press Association.]

NAPIER. Oct. 30

Mr. A. L. D. Fraser, member for Napier, gave his opening address of the campaign"to-night- There was a large attendance, and tlie candidate was well received. He spoke in support of the Government policy, and received a vote of thanks and confidence.

THE OROUA CONTEST

[Press Association*.]

FEILDING, Oct. 30

A meeting of delegates of various branches of the Farmers’ Union was held here to-day to consider answers o questions submitted to the three candidates for the Oroua- seat, Messrs Pleasants (Government), Guthrie "Opposition), and Horublow (Independent). All tlie candidates answerxl all the questions in the affirmative, Air. Pleasants adding: in refer'uoe to Customs duties that they should be for revenue purposes and not inimical to existing local industries. The meeting decided not to choose between tlie candidates, but to keep the questions as a cheek upon the candidates,.

THE SELWYN SEAT

[Press Association.]

ASHBURTON

Oct. 30

Mr. Daniel O’Connor Brick has retired from the contest for the Selwyn ;eat. Tlie fight- is now between Air. 0. A. C. Hardy (Oppositionist) and Mr. J. Ivess (Liberal).

THE ASHBURTON CONTEST

[Press Association.]

ASHBURTON, Oct. 30

Air. David Jones, one of the three Opposition candidates for the Ashburton seat, has received an official Vttcr from Air. Martin, Opposition organiser, naming him on Air. Alas--ey’s behalf as the Opposition nominee.