The General Election

Horowhenua Chronicle, 25 October 1911, Page 2

The General Election

MR.MQNCKTON'S CAMPAIGN.

MEETING AT MANAKAIJ

THE LAND QUESTION

Mv 0. A. W. Monckton, Reform condidate for the Otaki Electorate, addressed a public meeting in the Town Hall, Manakau, last evening. Considering the state of tlic weather, there was an excellent attendance. Major Tatham, who presided, briefly introduced Mr Monckton. w!io. lie.said, had served his country well, and had' done a little 0111])ire building in British Now Guinea and in other parts of the Empire, and who had been honoured by the greatest societies in England." Ho liad now sett-led down in New Zealand, -and would tell them something of what the .socalled Liberal-democratic Government hod done. Mr Monckton, who was cordially received, said that they were very persistently told by tlio Government supporters that the Reform party had no policy but that of criticism. That was only half a truth, and the false half at that. They all knew that a lie that was half a truth was always the blackest of lies. (Hoar! hoar!) The assertion could only come from one of two reasons, ignorance or a- wilful attempt to deceive. Proceeding to deal with the functions of tlw Government find the Opposition, lie said that the function of a Government was io have a. clear, definite line of pnlicy on every question of first rate importance, and to stick to that policy until they iliad carried it out. or were defeated on some important planks. Tlio function of the Reform party was firstly _ to criticise Uliat policy in all its points, to point oil it weaknesses, and to amend -where possible; in fact. to be a check on intemperate, partial, or hasty legislation. He claimed that llio Ward Government had treated them to all these descriptions of legislation. Tn the first place it had passed Sir Joseph Ward's famous Libel Bill which struck at two fundamental, principles of BRITISH LIBERTY. on to criticise the administration of the Cook Islands, and said that the recent inquiry was a secret one, the evidence was unsworn, and the report was given to a Minister instead of tilie Government. That was a relict of the dark ages. ■ (Applause). Then followed the Mokau inquiry. That inquiry was a scandal and nothing else. In this case, by an Order-in-Oonncil, which, it should not be forgotten, was informal, a huge block of land was handed over to a gang of land sharks and speculators. Another matter that Mr .Monckton dwelt upon was the Government's financial policy. <S'uddenlv a C 0.000.000 loan was floated on the London market. T-hev did tin! know the commission that was paid, what brokerage was paid, or j anvtSing oho When Sir Joseph AYard was questioned in the House of llopro<-rnit'itives by the Reform nartv on the subject, he told them it was a political insult to do so. Turning to Mr field's and Sir J. Carroll's recent Levin speeches. Mr , M :!ick+ on exprcss-d surprise that a | man like Mr Eiohl. who was a verv j good friend of his, could have made

TFF R El] ROUS'. lie :lid in that speeci!i. Afcordino; to Mr Russell. a member of tJn> Government party, land settlement in 111 i« country \\ii.s aUsoluto!y ill a si 'indstill. Neither Mr Fioi<l nur Sir -lamps Carroll told them that, ii'ir that thai statement was borne out by three other prominent supporters of t'lie Government. Tihey forgot to toll t.lio per>]>!c! that fclio Government had Cooo,ooo to spend each year for closer settlement, and Mini in 1910 (hey oiidy spent C2!io.000 out of that amount. In cistoms and excise Xew Zealand, at tlio present time, wns the mcst heavily taxed country in the world, ■and in .support of this lie rj noted •a list of the countries of tlie world and their respective customs and excise taxation per head. The Ward Government liad. however, reduced taxation. in several wows. For instance, thev had reduced it on motor cars, billiard tallies, silks and .satins—(loud laughter). Those articles wore _ evidently considered necessnrv articles by a newly created aristocracy. (Renewed laughter). Rut the Government had put taxation on roil(ih hoots, bicycles, barley. flour, sugar, coffee and cocoa. When Mr Seddon died our national debt, was CGO per bead. At the present time it was £80 a head! It was stated at Levin that no Government had passed more measures for the benefit of the masses than the present Government. Rut it was not said that to have £330,000 for the Dreadnoughts and other purposes, t-lio Government had imposed fresh taxation to the extent of £'118.000. He denied that -Mr Massoy's insurance scheme was borrowed from that of Mr Lloyd George, and said that it was founded upon the principles of German legislation. Mr Lloyd George's scheme was entirely different. Tt aimed at crushing the Oddfellows, the Druids, Foresters, and Friendly Societies in general. The whole taxation of this country Was reallv b'irno 1)v the

SMALL FARMER am! the working moil. To lu's nund the only really fair ivsteiii of taxation v.a.s that upon income. AVhi.ther it was derived from land, I rem commerce, from mines, of from n-uv other source. They could graduate an iiK-onio tax so that it 1 -1 fairly and evenly up.":! t!;--« who'community. (Cheers'). !<"• i- fnstance, they could heuin wii.h an exemption up to £200 a year, a ad from that- flop oil the tax on n steadily inncasinii .scale until they kept the <>xt remel.v rich man constantly doicfr sums to find out how much of his income was left after his tax was paid. (Loud laughter). "Witi'i regard to the land question, Mr Monckton said possibly some of his hearers might ask, '"'How

would you prevent the reaggregation of land if you are against the graduated tax?" He would do this very simply. Ho would classify tho lands vtf the dominion ; he would lis the area, of each claw any ono person might own, and as that person subsequently acquired more than his prescribed area, the title to. THE SURPLUS LAND should automatically become null and void, and the land revert to the State. Provision, of course, would have" to bo made, allowing persons acquiring bind by inheritance or gift, and not their own volition a reasonable time to sell .such land. Personally, he did not like ueing a tenant of the State or any other landlord." He. or any other man in that, hall, would sooner own straight out ;>OO acres than lease twice the a,mount. He could not see any logic in the arguments against the freehold. The State still retained the right to raise .money by taxation upon the income derived from it. (Cheers). Mr Monckton severely criticised the railway administration, which lie characterised as "rotten to the core." The Teal object of railways was to cheapcn ami quicken transport and increase commerce, with all iihiat implies in the way if reduced cost of living, etc. The rnlioy of the Ward Government, f-> . ever, was to firstly use tho railways as an instrument for rn'SM-g revenue, tv'.lly taxation purpoTS 2. as a m-Mivs of dispensing | < ( |,li cal patronage; .3. as a means of 'bribing constituencies by expending huge sums in entirely unnecessary, work, for instance, the Otira tunnel—a thing thai would nov |av for axle grease. Mr Monckton said that he considered that the management of the railwavs should be removed from .Ministerial control, and placed in the hands of a thoroughly qualified general manager responsible to Parliament. Appointments should be made by a public service board responsible in Parliament. fn conclusion Air Ale,nekton urged them to rally round the Reform party and return it to power, because in doing so tliev would not only personallv be benefiting ihemselves, but the whole of the dominion. (Loud applause). There was only one question pu(. It was: Has Air Byron Brown .settled his liabilities in this case with: von ? Mr Monckton: Well-no. He lias asked for time. (Loud laughter). A vote of thanks and confidence in the candidate closed the meeting-