Mr John Stevens at Foxton.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 4 November 1890, Page 2

Mr John Stevens at Foxton.

+ LARGE MEETING. VOTE OF CONFIDENCE PROPOSED. THE MAYOR EULOGISTIC. Mr John Stevens, one of the candidates foe the representation of this electorate, gave his first Foxtou address in the Public H all on Saturday night. There <vas a very large attendance by the time the meeting was half through. His Worship the Mayor, Mr J. W Gowor, took the chair, and stated that he had great pleasure in iutro ducing Mr Stevens to the meeting, who might be to them a stranger, but to him was a gentleman very well known and esteemed, and was a native of the colony. He did n t come before tivm as an unknown or untried man, as he had a ready represented Rangitikei in Parliament, and had defeated such a well known old politician as Sir William Fox. He was sure that sill Mr Stevens said he would do, he would do, and that to the best of his ability. Be asked for the speaker a fair and impartial hearing. (App'ause.) Mr John Stevens, on rising, was very well received, and started with thankiug the Mayor for the opening remarks he had made. On one point Mr Gower was a little in error, as he had known Foxton years before there was a town, at the time when it was better known as Te Awahon. Since he announced his candidature he had been asked tho question from time <o time by persons who, he presumed, were not exactly favourable to his candidature, what right he had to con'est the election. His answer to thit was thnt he was a free and independent elector, and he had been asked by other free and independent electors to represent tlv-m in Par iarnent. In his opinion every elector had a perfect right, when requested to do so, to come forward as a candidate, and with the electors themselves remained tho privilege of saying at the ballot box whether ho was a iit and proper person to represent them. But whatever way the election went he trusted ifc would not estrange the frie dly fee 'ings that now existed. He would ref . r now to what was termed party Government. Id his opinion there wero no true party lines in co'onia politics. The administrative ; usiuess of this colony should be carried on in the same manner, or rather on the same lines as a board of works. The object of men entering Parliament should be to go there to do the best they can for the colonj' at. large, ap :rt a'togethor from ihe claims of party feeling or influ nee In his opinion, tho country had suffered greatly through party government. He felt sure the Parliamentary business of tho country dM require to occupy tho 4^ months which a session frequently occupied, if the business to be transacted was only gone about in a practica manner. The chief "bject of p;j.rty L-oveniment did not appear to bo how to rule wisely and we 1, but how to obtain power and retain that power when onco obtained. He read oxtracts from a manifesto by tho H >n. John Bryco, which ho Ir.id addressed to the olectors of Waikato, which showed that, Mr Hry^e's opinions coincided with his own in a great degree on that subject. If ho were roturnod, he would not foel that he was doing justico to his constituents wore he to follow any of the three parties now in the House. His chief hope was that out of t\w present election a practical party would bo brought together, either by coalition or otherwise, whose policy would be to administer the Government of the colony in a practical way ; and to such a party he would, if returned, give his support f-omeof the supporters of the other candidates asserted that ho hud come out na a nominee of Mr reliance's but he would prove that he was not, first, by mentioning that Mr Ballance had tnken up Mr Pi rani, and secondly, hi- newspaper had a suo-'cador the reverse of complimentary concerning him. It was admitted on all s ; des that all Wealth cmes originally out of the laid, aid therefore Imw best to administer and deal with the land

ou^ht to be the greatest and most; ] importaut considerati >n in thd minds ' of those wli . seek the ho •>■ v- an I re \ ] spousibility of repres* nti M, >m el ■«•- j toratH. Upon the successful opening up i if the coun ry tor settle > ent de- | pended almost altog ther the advancement < f the cou'itry at large and the welfare of every section of | the cotnm may, as all were directly in f e sted in this most ini|>onaiH matter. In his opinion previous | Gover ments had b«en excee Uujl y ax a id iudiffere t in th- tuator o opening up the land in such a way as to enable those willing and anxious to do so to settle upon the land, make homes for themselves, and so add to the future prosperity of the country. This, in his opinion, should be the highest aim and consideration of true legislation. It was too much the custom for Government to look up billets for persons from Homo bringing letters of introduction, to the neglect of the more impor-

taut considerations which should attach themselves to government In his opinion, it was the pioneers and workers who should receive the chief consideration , instead of finding, as at present, so much difficulty in obtaining redress for their complaints and attention to their reasonable requests. Lately ho had heen in Western Australia, and he hud been surprised to note the large number of people who had left New Zealand to settle in that coun ry. For himself, he would not give one acre in >ew Zealand for three in Western Australia, because he could produce more from the one acre than he coull from the three. But then, th ■ CrovernmenD over there pay attention to the land laws, and fostered settlement by offering inducements to bonafde hard-working settlers to go over there and take up land and make hornet for themselves. His idea w s to amalgoraate into a propose<l District Laid Board as many County Counci s as would be necessary, and so 'orm a b'<d\- to administer the land, the motnberd of which, through themselves being setters, would thus know the requirements of se tiers, and would th s be most likely to administer the lands to the best advantage. Bodies so constituted would have a practical know ledge of the chief requirements of the settlers, and as the members would be elected by the people, there would be a gaarantea th .t the work of administration would be faithfully carried out. The District Boards could also include the boroughs within their limits, so that every section of the community would be represented. This body wou'd raise revenue for making roads. Sectional surveys would first hive to be made. He was also in favor of the Government making advances to struggling settlers, charging them a moderate rate of inter* st say from 10 to 15 per cent repayable in 5 years, S'> they could at once sett'e up m theirsections iv liich they had purchased, instead of having to go elsewhere to work in order to earn sufficient money to get their bush felled. The industrous bona fide settler would thus bo enabled to get his land more speedily umler cultivation than he otherwise would and thus enhance the prosperity of the community. (Applause). On th" Education question he was in favour of the state only giving Primary education up to the sth or 6th s'anilard, and to give up the attempt to rnnko Astronomers, and G-eoligistsout of pupils more fitted for the plough. He would have provision made for good scholarships, to carry clever children from tho State Schools to the higher studies He was in favour of taking the lands set apart, in the old provincial days, for the primary schools, thmgh at prosent they are being used entirely for secondary education. As to technical education he feared that at present it was too costly, and instanced the oxpens'3 of ni^iiitaing the Canterbury Agricultural Co lege with its 40 pupils. He declared that this was only used as a class schoo for Canterbury settler?. (Applause). He foaivd, however, that a- a mutter of fact they would lequire to adjust al denominational differenres be'ore the vexed quo-tion of secular versus denominational education was finally disposed of. He was in favour of assist : n'» the Eomtn Catholics if it could be douo without hurting the present system, and thus do justice to all, (Applause) Hp thought the state had no business to interefere with the religious belief of any sect, and we can only maintain the system if we had sufficient money, and he believed tho only pan to get sufficient was by lopping off the top branches. (Applause) Mr Stevens then went into very careful'y prepared statistics showing the income and expenditure of the colony, proving that out of a 1 the tho amounts mentioned there was only left £332,000 with which to open up Crown Lands, defray the cost of legis'ation and other Government departments, which latter sum is exceedingly small for the cost of the several serv ces upon win h it is to be expended. In view of this he trusted that the greatest caro would be exercised in any proposed alteration in the incidence of our taxation. He would nut maintain that no alteration could be mndo wi'h advantage, but he believe 1 it would be a wis" policy if we were to make the necessary changes as gradually a 8

p^ssibe In 'his connection he beli ved if th y were t<> impose a reasonable ainou.it upon ail unimurovedlinls in ttieoo'.o.iy <>elonging t-> th-ise whom h» d scribed as absentee, not only on tho c who d> not reside in he Colony and own luid which they nei her occupy nor' «rnpr ye, h will pro^e wise an<l be efk-ial le^'s atior*. He repea*d that, he ilid ot believe in an. 1 ra ical j r au Hen « iauv?es in the mci lence of taxation, ;s a 1 s eh sho tli be made grad ally a d wth ;ru ence. As regards the property tux, many escape taxation who are in receipt of large incomes such as salaries, rents, and he thought that taxation might be imposed on them with fairness and advantage. All the necessaries of life should be admitted into the Colony with as little taxation as can be legitimately imp ised, but luxuries should pay their fair share of taxation He

considered it would be possible to effect a fair readjustment of the fiscal policy of he colony. He next referred to Capital and Labour, and admitted the very great changes that have and are taking place between employers and employees. Ho advocated the establishment of boards of arbitration. He advocated the 8 hours day being the time for heavy manual labour, (app'uuse) but there were certain classes who cou d not possibly come under such a law, mentioning harvesters cooks, and horse tenders. He then gave his views on defence, deprecating the expenditure on fortifications t ut advocating the commencement of a navy, hi conclusion he was grateful for the patient hearing which they had given him, and he would be ready to answer to the best of his ability any questions which any of the electors present might desire to put to him. Before sitting dawn, he would like to assure them of this, that should they reject him, such would not make the slightest difference in their existing personal friendship, (applause). QUESTIONS. An excited but slightly unintelligible elector commenced the proceedings by wanting Mr Stevens' opinion about 9 hours work for shearing, and his opinion of the Feilding Special Settlement. Mr Stevena having said he thaught the Block had been a great success, the disappointed one arose afresh, waved an arm above his head, and said that if that was what he thought he had heard enough, and wished the speaker " Good night " and " God bless you," and walked out. Mr Stevens, in reply to an elector, stated that there was a law of nations preventing ft country which was defenceless being attacked, but only so long as the treaties existed. If war was declared the treaties would naturally be broken, so that there j would be no protection. Mr Go wer— Supposing then that we had no fortification we should be in danger of I any nation attacking. ■ Mr Stevens — Yes. I In reply to an plector as to what was the I meaning of the single tax Mr Stevens replied that he believed the \ tax meant one on all lands, and to make ' | all lands pay alike, ami to raise from that source enough to pay the whole revenue of , the colony. Mr Howe wanted an opinion as to the present classification of education throughout the colony. Mr Stevens admitted that the Boards had different curriculums and had different \ school books. He held that every district . should have the same kind of books. (Ap- ' plnuse ) ! Mr W. Cook— Are you in favor of sewerage being carried into the Manawatu River! , Mr Stevens— l cannot give a direct answer, as it depends up n whether such ' action would have a bad effect upon the • water. It is a question for experts to dei termine. | Mr Thynne— Are you in favor of preventing, by legislation, the pollution of rivers and streams by sewerage. Mr Stevens — As to that, I am in favor i of preventing the pollution of any waters , that may do damage. [ Mr Spring— Are you in favor of compensation to publicans. ; Mr Stevens Yes. If any section of the ' community iuvest their money under the laws in force for the time being, and are deprived of their licenses from no fault of their own, and it is thought right to deprive them of their licenses, then I think they are entitled to compensation. In reply to an elector, Mr Stevens thought that the flax industry did come under the description where work could be more than 8 hours a day. Mr Wilson— ls not the 8 hours work an un- ritten law in the colony. Mr Stevens— Certainly, but there have been many law suits about the matter, and also a great deal of dissatisfaction because there is no law to legalise it. Mr Blake— Would you be in favor of erecting a bridge at Wirokino. Mr Stevens As it is the nparest connefltion with the railway for a large number of people on this coast, 1 think from a public point of view it is necescary to have a bridge, and for the travelling public's convenience it would be a great advantage. One ought to have been ere. ted som year 9 ago I will do my very best, and will ask the Government to accede to your wishes. Mr Neylon — Would you be in favor of giving capitation to Catholic schools. Mr Stevens— lf it can be done in any way so as not to interfere with the present system it will have my hearty support. Mr Wilson — How would you deal with Native lands. Mr Stevens— Formerly there was the Crown and Native Lands .Rating Act, but this has become obsolete. I think the Government should acquire lands from the Natives, and sell and 1 ■ ase it to the settlers. An elector wanted Mr Stevens' opinion on woman franchise, and Mr Stevens said that he thought their intelligence entitled them to it. He would be in favor of giviug a vote to spinsters and widows, but he thought the chief duty of woman was at home. An Elector— What is your opinion about the Bible in schools. Mr Stevens— The only way to get over that difficulty would be to grant the Catholics all they required, and so make the State schools, Protestant schools. Mr Olphert— Are you in favour of given state aid to all denominational schools. Mr Stevens— No I am not. Mr Gibson— You would give aid to one demonstration and not to another. Mr Stevens— Only one has as yet asked, we miwt wait to sep if th? others nek ftu4

if so they will b>? pntitlml to cons-'Watnn. Mr Spring— Wliy ib von think th > Catholics are iro : c prftled than oilier bodies to cmsulTation. Mr Stevens — ]>cfiuso tlfeiv f'ith does not justify th°>n giving th^i- chil.lren ciln M ion in tho Na<i">na seV'K M'- Olphert W-nvl voi be in favour o p abolishing the Ma'isatni 1 . Mr Stevens — I a n of thp opinion that all eo-irnuui' ies fond of «vnrt. vnuM always have racing. Of the two, viz.. b^kninWs aid totalisatovs. no dinV. th° latter \va= tV le^ evil, and he coull n->t se • that much be \v >nl<l h° obtain°d by its abolition. Mv S i- >ri ■><! -If hoise-racin 1 ? was run sinipU' to improve the iwvl of horse would totali^nto" 5 he rnijni'vd. Mr Stovna— V- s, ti find jituipv for prizes for thosii who run the horses. Ho - ever I doubt if the present system of running does improve horse breeding. I would have suggested that th" local racing dub should have longer races with t n n stone weights up. Mr Blake -Do you think the totxhsator is an evil to those who do not invest on if. Mr Stevens— No. All gambling is ovi', bat I consider the totalisator is tho mo 4 fair of any gambling. An elector hern rose and proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Stevens. A voice from the end of the hall, " and confidence." An elector — Yes, and confidence. Mr Stevens thereupon rose and said that he was much obliged, but he would ask the gentlemen to make it only thanks, as he would rather receive their confidence on the polling day. After some demur, the elector agreed to propose a vote of thanks, when the Mayor (Mr Gower) said before putting the vote to the meeting he desired to say that he thought Mr Stevens had made an excellent speech one with which he. was very much in touch with and he fully approved of his land proposals. He deserved a vote of thanks, if not more, and he trusted it would be passed with acclamation. The vote being put, was unanimously carried the Mayor leading the applause. Mr Stevens briefly returned thanks and moved a vote of thanks to the chair, remarking how much the town was to be complimented on having so able and popular a gentleman as their 'Uayor.