POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 404, 14 October 1911, Page 5

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

MR W. FORBES AT TE KUITI. -Mr W. Forbes, who haa announced himself as an Independent Oppositionist for the Taumarunui seat, delivered a political address in the Town Hall last evening. There was a fair attendance and the candidate received a good hearing. MJ. Boddie (Mayor) presided. Mr Forbes commenced by remarking that he was a stranger amongst them and that he was seeking their votes at the forthcoming contest. However, whether they returned him to the House or not, they would see more of him in the future. There was a political crisis in the country and he wanted to face it by opposing the Ward Ministry, lie was not prepared to nail his colours to the Opppositiun mast. There were farmers and settlers who were Oppositionists, but tlv. j y were Liberals! ' Mr Massey, he considered, was a true Liberal. As a young man with a future before him he did not feel inclined to tie himself to any party but would be prepared to practice what he preached, He would vote with Mr Massey on a no-confidence motion in the Government, but if Mr Massey introduced anything that was a retrogressive step for the small farmer ho would oppo=e it. The time had arrived when the welfare of the country had to be considered. He would "address a Te Kuiti audience again before the election, when matters were more tuned up. At the present in Auckland, Government candidates were advocating measures

brought forward by the Upposiuon party. He was not a party man, and would like to see the day arrive when every private member would be free to criticise. The. position of members of Parliament at present was to endeavour to secure as much as they possibly could for their own districts in order to secure the support of electors thereby using the Public Works funds as a lever to secure support. A judge of the Supreme Court had recently stated that the people of this country were living in a fool's paradise. People seemed to be absolutely blind to their political security. Parochialism had been fostered by the carrying out of the business of "the county in such a way. The result was that it had become a kind of a natural spirit leaving out all thought of the country at large. When the people of this country had awakened from their political sleeping sickness they would recognise what they had permitted to be carried out unthinkinglv and blindly for such a period of time. They had iin illustration in the history of the Maori, who, by a similar kind of parochialism with the object of securing local advantages with the result that they were brought under domination and the extinction of the race. The day had arrived when the people must awaken and show a more national interest in their country. He was con-

vinced they were at the parting of the i ways. There was too much financial ; juggling and the system cf carrying i out the civil service was muddlesome, < extravagant and ridiculous. The elec- < tors had it in their hands whereby they could mend the matters of the : country. If the present was not a i good Government then it was their < own fault. It would be well for the < country if the present Government was i turned out even only for three years in order that a true statement of the position could be attained. I Economy of administration was a | very vitafquestion. On the eve of the second ballot for the Wellington North election Sir Joseph Ward said_ that there was no need for economy in administration, yet shortly afterwards he introduced a retrenchment scheme whereby 900 were dismissed, and, unfortunately, it was the small man who had to suffer, whilst the big men had their salaries increased. What he would propose in the way of economy was that he would not start on the small man but on the high salaried men. That was one of the ways in which he would set about the reform of economy. The Civil Service was being used as a of patronage for political purposes. Political influence was practicsed on a large section of the community for the ends of the party in power. There were many men at the heads of departments drawing big salaries who were incompetent of carrying out the work required of them. Voice: Name any incompetent head of a department, Mr Forbes: Police Commissioner Dinnie had proved a failure and was afterwards made a judge of the Native Land Court. That kind of thing showed there was something lacking in the administration of the Civil Service. He beileved in a Civil Service Board. If such was carried into effect the service would be free from political control and its servants would be entitled to take an act ; ve and intelligent interest in their country's we'fare. 'Voice: Have not Civil Servants the right to enter politics? Yes, if they open their mouths the right way; but if they bark the wrong way they will know all about • it. Last election a Government ser- '. vant stood in the Opposition interest and he was asked to hand in his resignation. Yet, at this election there ! was a Civil Servant standing and : nothing was done, i Voice: Where? Mr Forbes: You are very much be--3: hind the times. _ ; Mr Forbes, continuing, said that > with regard to the land question he > had been brought up behind the > plough and had served his time at - farming. He was not exactly sure - whether the Opposition should be supi ported in its entirety on account or the fear of landed monopolies, and 1 therefore that was one of his reasons t for not nailing his colours to the Opnosition mast. He believed in the de- '- ferred payment system and cited how - successful the Danish settlement at b Inglewood had been. They all had e homes of their own. He- declared o himself a freeholder and considered the deferred payment system the most

liberal for land settlement. If returned he would endeavour to get that Bill placed on the Statute Book again. By giving every man the right to own his own property was an incentive to industry.

The question of Native lands, continued Mr Forbes, was most important. There was no doubt but that there was a very large area tied up. Sir John Findlay rnd recently been advocating that the Maori should be hrougnt into line with thu white, man and his lands dealt with as his was. He had been advocating that for years. They had an illustration in their midst of how the Government put the cart before the horse, as regards native lands, inasmuch as they had taken the Main Trunk line through a large tract of country which was being enhanced in value by the hard work of the European. If the land alone the Main Trunk had been acquired by the Government and thrown open for settlement the railway by now would have paid for itself three times over. The policy was a dog in the manger business, and taihoa. It should be brought to an end. He believed in absolutely abolishing the Native Land Court. He referred to the Mokau estate and said that it had been allowed to go into the hand of a syndicate. Nothing would be done by these people to make the land productive, and it would have to come back to tinmen who worked it. The estate had been purchased at 10s 4Ad per acre by the syndicate. The genuine settler should have been given the opportunity of taking it up and doing what he could with it.

With regard to Public Works. Mr Forbes said that i f cost the country a nice little sum. He was opposed to the co-operative system. He had seen j samples of it on the Stratford-Ongarue railway works. He had been along them up to his waist in mud and reminded him of a fishing expedition. Voice: You are fishing now. Mr Forbes: The man that spoke is fishing for compliments from the audience. Mr Forbes, continuing, said that he believed the co-operative system educated men to do as little as they possibly could for the most possible rr.onev. Railway construction was costing .£3OOO to £4OOO more than it; should. Voices: Rot! Mr Forbes: You say rot, but I can prove it to you. Continuing, he said he believed in the contract sytsem. Settlers would be enabled to enter into competition and keep the money in th? district. Under the co-operative system men were brought from various parts of the country who earned the money and took it away with them. The people of New Zealand, with regard to their railways were living in a false sense of security and a j fool's paradise. On the eve of last election the Colonial Treasurer assured the people that the position was sound and that a reduction in railway travelling would take place. What has happened since then: To travel 426 miles in 1008 it cost for a first-class single fare 30s Id, to-day it cost 53s lid. For a return fare of the same class at that time the cost was 78s 2d, to-day 101s Sd. In the second-class rates had gone up similarly in 190S the fare was 21s 2d. to-day 35s lid. return fare at that date 42s 4d, to-day 71s lOd, an increase of travelling rates by almost one half. Those facts should awaken the people to a sense of duty and was but an example of how they were being bought and sold With re gards to excurison fares only tho?» in the towns and cities were able to benefit by them. He related how city members had been advocating that, tramway men should be granted excursion ticket during the slack time. He did not think that that was light. What about the small farmer and the man on the 'and. He considered that they should be granted excursion rates on the railway at whatever period of the vear was their slack time. Take, for "instance the dairy farmer. He was, tied up by duties with the exception of a few months in the year. Why should not that man if he wanted a holiiay have the right to an excursion rate on the railway. He was entitled to it and earned it.--(Applause). Dealing with compulsory military training he believed in no form oi conscription. He had served on the battlefield in South Africa, and he knew what it was to feel possessed of the spirit of s. volunteer. The measure was forced on the people who did not know what it meant. When the original proposal was brought down there was to be a training camp centrally situated in both islands. That id"ea had now been abandoned and was but an example of how little the auhorities were aware of what the scheme would entail. Ho beileved in the volunteer system. The cost of defence to the country was reaching large figures. The territorial scheme cost £384.573 plus £50,000 for equipment without any allowance for travelling: £150,000 per year towards the -Dreadnought and £IOO,OOO per year towards the upkeep of the navy, making a total of £684,573 per annum. Instead of the compulsory system he believed in handing out rifles to Rifle Clubs with ammunition at cost price in order that the people might be taught to worship the rifle. What the country wanted was men that could

shoot. Mr Forbes referred to the increase of taxation during the past five years, which was £2,220,763, the increase for last year being £1,000,000. When taxation increased at such a rate it couid easily be understood why the cost of living increased. The increase for last year was practically £1 per head, yet the revenue was £lO per head for every man, woman and child. In England the revenue was only £4 per bead. The position in this country was that industry and thrift were being taxed to the highest possible degree. If the man on the land improved his farm taxed on the improved value. Some steps would have to be taken to combat such a state of aiTahs. The national debt was also growing at an alarming rate. In 1907 it was £61,000,000, and to-day it was

£81,000,000. Taking the debt in periods of five vears--ir. the first period the increase was ■' ■■- millions, in the second o y , nndin \b- third 12J, and the last live years IS?, million!?, ile characterised the Prime Minister as a "jubilee phmircr.'* and said that if the Prime Mniisi. r was sen! back to power that he weald com inne ; a the same reckless manner. As a psoot Oi that there was a shortage oi money in the country, sir Partes ssm ihai for the two years endim: March. P'es. the sum of .V0.0T7. Liu was borrowed. out. of which only 11 .not'..'.ms haa to be procured from abroad: for the succeeding two years ,V-1 0. tiOii. Oii(» wen' borrowed of which ,S7. buO, 000 had to be got from abroad. Those tacts showed thai for every A'b borrowed in 100S, AM could be raised in the country whilst for lite next '- wo years ior every •--•> borrowed only :Ms coti.d be jirocured in the onun-ry. ' hat was an example of wiiat wa.s nkmg place in the financial position of : i,e country to-day and must be nommm.i. Voice : What tie yea suggest. Mr Forbes: That you keep quiet unf il I have finished. Continuing, he said ihai a tapering off of the borrowing policy must be commenced. it could be done by selling all the idle land, the proceeds (o l.i e used for reading and railing it. If a financial crisis took piscc. what would be the result: in this country? He thought that H the Government could not carry on its of; airs tn a selfsupporting manner, then the sooner they were out. of power '. h ■■• bitter. Dealing with the Local Bodies Reform Bill, Mr Forbes drew attention to the length of time thai such a measure bad been promised by the Government. The reason that this important matter was not. being- dealt, with was because it would give the local bodies the right to control their own finance, which would burst up the at. present one-man show. iTie Local Bodies Reform Bill meant, extended powers and assured tinance. He considered that there was no one who knew the wants of their district better titan the local man. As regards the hquov euoslnm ,ur Forbes considered it- shoulu be apart from party politics, but, unfortunately, it was not being trcaicci as such. He was against the trade, hut, would not give no-license a bearing. He was in favour of universal prohibition on the majority basis. Either close up all the hotels or none at nii. The Legislative Council, the sneaker declared," was but a dumping ground for political friends of the present party, and he favoured it being made elective. Mr Forbes sain that a great, injustice was being dene to the country by the diverting of public mom y. in the cites massive structures were being erected at the cost of the country. He considered thai this money should first be spent in the country n,ud develop it and the cities wouiu follow in due course. In conclusion (be candidate said that he was definite as regards his utterances and sommt the suffrages ef the electors on his merits. Applause. A number of etiest one- wen Pin ;o the candidate, which were more or loss satisfactorily answered. A vote of thanks to the speaker for his address was carried by acclamation, and a similar vote to Mr Boddie for presiding concluded ine meeting.