Mr Fraser's Meeting.

Manawatu Herald, 18 November 1893, Page 2

Mr Fraser's Meeting.

On Thursday evening Mr Donald Fraser, one of the candidates for the representation of this electorate, addressed the electors at the Public Hall. There was a large attendance. His Worship the Mayor took the chair and briefly introduced the candidate, saying it gave him much pleasure in taking the chair as he had known the candidate for the last 40 years. He (Mr Fraser) was one of the oldest settlers in Rangitinei and was one of the old band of Pioneers who had built up New Zealand. (Applause.) Mr Donald Fraser who, on rising, was received with applause, said — There was no one more surprised than himself to be before them this evening. He had not intended to contest the seat two months ago, aud had therefore very little time in which to post himself up. He was no orator but possessed common seuse and was capable of judging the laws that might be proposed, and could judge if they were fair and would suit the settlers. As the j chairman had mentioned, many may i not know him, but many did. It i whs 42 years ago since he had first set. his foot in Foxton, and he was proud to notice the progress of the '> district. As an. old settler he was j well aware that later arrivals who travelled by rail and steamer in the colony did not know what the earlier settlers had to pnt up with. His appearance as a candidate was owing to the request of his friends and not from a desire on his part. If he was returned .and he, found he was not capable of doing his duty he would resign and let the electors put in a better man. However, he asked for a trial. He had always found Mr J. G. Wilson a gentleman in every way, and though differing politically it would make no difference in their prh ? ate friendship. HIS MANIFESTO. He would follow down the programme whioh had been published in the papers and therefore read by his hearers. Most were aware that the CIVIL SERVICE was carried on at a great expense for the small population. The machin my would answer for a population of millions. It might appear he wanted to pare down too much, yet there were many persons who could get no roads to their properties. He desired that all salaries above £600 to be reduced to £600 ; salaries from £600 to £500, reduction of 10 per cent ; from £500 to £400, reduction of seven and a half per cent ; from £400 to £800, five per cent. No reduction below £800 'Jhe Governor'd salary to be reduced from £5000 to £2500. This enormous saving to be spent in reproductive work3, in opening up the country, andabaorbipg^ tbeunemployed labor. He also advocated a" reduction of honorarium from £240 to £150.. Whilst making these reductions he thought i| w.aa right there should, be an Kinorariumr though personally he di i not care, but there might be bettor men who could not do without some salary. There were many calls upon a member for subscriptions, &c, but he did not see why there should be, especially if hft cannot afford it ; it ought to be sufficient if he gave the ejectors his time. .... In the Civil Service it was found thai the receivers of the smaller salaries did generally the largest 'work' suppose a man .repeiyel £1000 a year and he retired or died, the nextman at a lqwerr^aiary,. reeeivediJhe 1 ? appointment 6nii '"was founfl* equally capable of carrying on- the world He would not say. the Oivil servants were not worth their salaries, bat in

this colony we can not afford fco give such large ones. In the Land and income tax he proposed an increase on the gaduated tax upon those who could afford it. and would take the tax off the necessaries of life. He thought, however, the valuations were" not made by those most qualified to do so. Whilst we pay Land and Income Tax we also pay a Customs duty. If, for example, we take two blocks of land of equal size, of say 10,000 acres. One block is owned ly one and the other block by twenty men, there would be twenty homesteads and twenty families on the one block, and only a few shepherds on the other. It might be said that one block of 10,000 acres was occupied by twen ty people the other block by 200 people. Supposing the land tax paid was the same, in t'ustoms duty one block would pay £80 and the other block £400. He maintained that it was fair that the large3fe owner could pay a little more and take some of the Customs duty off the other small owners. RAILWAY MANAGEMENT. He thought a Board pf three Directors with a Minister as chairman would be best for the railways. If there were three directors they could outvote the Minister if he wanted to do anything wrong. He would not go into the matter further as ho had not given it a great deal of thought. CROWN LANDS. Crown lands limited to an area of first class land to 1000 acres for one family. H© would retain the ballot and have perpetual lease, with right of purchase. The Land Boards should be elective. EDUCATION. He advocated the retention of the ! present system of national education, with the following improvement : — The Boards to be elected by the I householders instead of by committee. In districts where there is not sufficient accommodation in the Board Schools capitation to be paid for children otherwise educated. Now there is a good deal of agitation about education. He was creditably informed in tho large centres of New Zealand there were many children educated outside the State schools because there wa3 no accommodation for them in the schools. There were other instances in the country owing to distance of the schools. It would be fair he thought to allow people capitation, such having been done in the old days. Heihad^notiieWi child to the public school for the last sis years-; lie preferred, to educate I them at home. There was plenty of room, however, at the school, which was within two miles •of his home, and therefore he would riot be e'n^itleH to the proposed capitatjon. ....,.,. i NATIVE LANDS I Native lands they would expect to hear something of from.: him. Native lands, that is land held ijijder j native custom. The owners. to.-havs tho option of either selling or, . leas.'ing to the Crown, or individualizing their titles. Lands Crown granted to be treated as land held by Europeans. Land held .under Native custom was held -under many owners, and it would be difficult to tax, but land Crown granted ought to pay and the owners should be allowed the same privilege's 'a's 'the European. At present natives could not sell or lease without- the Govern?-- 1 ment's peruu'ssipir a^.wa^ than subject to a ten ; peiice6t tosd JtfcJwb a hardship: to the Natives;'; ( „.; M LEGISLATIVE COUNCILLORS. * . Under the former system Cdniicillors were in for life, since then the term had been . reducediiiifltSQven years;;.; jba,t:'h^^i^^^^topp|*ix years, as : Coun'cUi^^p|ttl%; : be* elected- by the people • : §f^^P^Blofio • tion could be held xm l-^o^^ of elections for the Houfe, .^plff^!; he . believed. ; rarap^pDp^|^^H|eeif should not be det»rr^'fi|6jn'^p^He was in favour of;^|fie^^p^eto by a bace majonty^ftn^pj|»E!ilisation. He vras pleased to |bt|fe6l|hat drunkenness was ceasing^a|d* he hoped tft<£ time migb^ people could i govern ' themselves without ibhese lawsr;;; :~' f^ssf v: ; ' FEMALE fFßAiw|g|^ M^^ He confessed tie was pot jplavour of the Female Pra^lp^.v. He thought the majority of women would have refused the power, -bufr now having .the power reveryf Jadj anil ever/ .male > should fcslwiae/i&elr votes. He noticed many who did the most grumbling were too lazy to go a short distance to registrar their •vdtea:-, He though^ ljrf|ts ©igfc wasifegfr ading. For over over thirty years he had been a considerable employer of labour and/.fce,. Vcoojd state he never asked a man to vote. STATE BANKS. ' ! .. : i State Banks were now being agitated. A great many men /Whoivere qualified to jjudge, had^Jljptight the B|nk waslheeded and Wj&a^ thought ill would "b¥ a Benefit to the colony he wpuid aupport^tf f A ff u;ir ' ::Vi >Yi .uo.H.EBESONAt.-i^f^uk^J — ; He did not pose as an old poli. he was qualified or f l\oTh^WQpl^4j)^ih|s utmost to do his duty, and if nLOjb Capable he would not stay and ocoupy the seat of a bettor maa. Aay attain tf fa* w*r

returned, tbafc was before the House, he thought he wou'd be well qualified to judge.. His maxim was the greatest good to.' the greitest number. PROPERTY TAX AND LAND AND INCOMETAX. He would now give them a few . comparisons as takunf/om ihe office where:/fcbey were recorded. A holding ofb4 acres under the Pnpertytax paid £2 9i2J, undnr the Lind.Wx.it paid 4d. A holding of .150 acres, unimproved value £3, and improvements £10, paid £5 12? 61 the" Property-tax, and £1 15s 4d under the Land-tax ; 600 acres paid £27 Is 8d under the Property- tax, and £15 under the Land-tax A holding of 8,800 acres acres paid £154 8s 4d under the Property-tax, and £145 12s under the Land-tax. A holding of 20,000 acres under the Property tax paid £987 18s 4d, whereas, under the Land-tax it paid £1,883 6s Bd. These few com parisons would serve to show that the L'-tud.tax assisted all below a certain area, and came a little heavier upon those who held the larger areas,, and which were ho doubt better able to afford ic The number, of people and companies who paid under, the Land and Incometax was 16,808, paying a total of d»874,088 ; and the number of people who paid und<nr the Property-tax was 20,827, paying a total of £854,167, and a difference of about £19,000 and a difference in persons paying of nearly 1100. MB J. G. WILSON. He v referred to Mr Wilson's position and urged that by statements made in that gefcleman's Otaki speech he belonged to no party. In his speech were these two paragraphs; which he read :— 11 He announced himself an opponent to the present Government. Opposition was doubtless necessary to good government. He predicted that the present Government would be beaten at the elections, and that Sir Robert Stout would take a very high position with a large following." <! It had been said that every man has his price. He believed it true. He had his price, and that was that the Government he supported must be pure and its administration wise. He ; asked the electors to return him an&ieave hini with a free hand to deal with the questions that might be brought up when tb.9 House assembled in a fair and impartial manner, and to support such party as he believed conducive to the good of the country." By this it. would be seen that Mr Wilson was not a staunch supporter of the Opposition but was sitting on a rail. ■, - ■ ; FINAL. He hjid nothing further to say and only regretted they had to listen to such a] meagre statement. He would have been posted up had he known that he had intended to be a j catf«sij|eV (Applause). j TC§e 'Mayor then invited questions. I Xirl^nneßsy— Have you given any con. ■ideVaiion-I'6 the proposed Levin-Greatford railway ;f • - ; Mr Fraaer— No. I know the country and know the advantages that would accrue to tho country by its being made. I would very ntuoh like to see it carried out. Mr' Hennessy— Would you be prepared to take up some shares in the company ? Mr Fraser— l think that is not a public but more a private matter To give a decided answer, 1 say I would like to see the prospectus. If the thing was going to pay! should' be likely to take some shares. Mr' Hennessy— ln case where schools arft built'^y different denominations and they atlo\ved Gbyernment inspection, would you be in favour of their receiving capitaflanf""" . \ , Mr. Fraser—^o, not if there was room in the public schools. . . . Mr Hennessy— Do you think this if fair ? Mi? Frfeier^r sympathise -with the denominations TBt9,-i but one' religion is as good as. another .to me , . , ;-. jStr/McClpß^eyr-la Mr Eraser or is he not in favour of t^e abolition of the totalisator. Mr Fraser- No, J am not in favour of the abolition.,of.the totalisator. There are two evils and pfr the two choose.t^e lesser. The bookinakers are the greater. You caßnbt make" 1 tfief 'inhabitants -of any country *tbofai : or ''sotfer I>y legislation. Thej mn»t help themselves. Me MoOloskey— Are you in favour of MfeFraser-r-r would be against legalising sweeps.' -.. ".•:-,. .■■-■.- • ■ Mr Dudson— Would you do anything to assisiLthe . , „,,.. MrTraser-T-^w,oulcLao anything I could. I look upon it as* a most important industry.' iSWbOp too little .'for the bonus offered^eeing haw .much the country had gained; £10,000 would not have been too mudf.'""" "-■•'. ' . Mr.Pudsbn— Does Mr Fraser think that an efficient Government Service should be kept up ? If so; does he think that lowering the salaries itf men of ability is the right way, to'gq abqut it Mr* Ffliser— Ybs ; I think they can be, and in many instances aro overpaid. M»'DticUonf— Does Mr Fraser think' thai men. ljriUl equal ability in the Government Rervje£ auould not! have as good a screw a3 men tfmployed by private firms . . Mr Fraier— No ; I think a private indiviAfl*ofcrl pay what he likes, but we are all the^ChJve*rnrnent. The voice of the people shtJafd^iHeas. *• Mr Dudson — Does Mf Fraser think that Government will be able to procure the services of, the' ablest men for £600. per year? "*'./' . Mr Praser'^-Yes. I think efficient men oonld.be prooured .for £600. Mt^puason^f Mr Eraser admits that there is 6r ought tp be aB good men in the Government servioa as there is out of it, vrouid b^h&in favour of lowering private inbomeß - to'the same as he Droposea for Government servants, this vast saving to bftgntn Lftni r^fT"^ " n tltttLjanrk a. unA. nponi ng t op the land for the people. Mr Fraser— No. It is a speculation as to fchat.a man cain get and is worth. Mtflenneßsey— Would you be in favour of gmntingftibonusof so muoh a ton on the nwdttotion of rop«o tvrio« manufactana 9i^JL flat ia. t oolony tt> - toi« "

: courage ft manufacture ? Mr Fraser — Yes, but not- -permanently, only to assist the start of the industry.-' . : | Mr Border Would you be in favour, of ' women directing the destinies of na iona I tn -an becoming members of Parliament ? Mr Kraser -No, I don't. Mr McClo.sky— Ar j you in favour of a tax on bachelors ? Mr Fra^er-^Now that the ladies had got the power I think that might be very well left to the ladies MrT. P. Williams —Would you be in favonr.of gpttiDg part of the Horowh^nua j Block made a Special Settlement 1 I >Mr Fras^r - Tne Government have pur- ! chas d 1500 acres and they propose to k;-ep 1000 acre* for a State Farm and 500 acres . for settlement. There are 10,000 to 12,000 acres more that would be available, in the • hands of the Natives, and now the ice is broken, it was possible the land would be obtainable. I would say that if there are numbers who want land in Foicton the Awahoa block up the Bangitikei was lit for i settlement not in small 50 acres but from •200 to -000 acres. I would recommend it and. would.be- glad to assist in any way I could whether lam returned or not. Mr Hay \» onld you vote for or against State Aid to denominational schools ? ,M.i.' Ffuser— l -.ypu.lcl.vote against State Aid. Mr Dudson— Do you intend to vole strictly on party lines. Mr Eraser— lf you belong to a party you must act wi:h them, but rather than, vote against my conscience I would leave the: ( House. Mr Dudson— Do you think Sir Robert j Stout or Mr S -ddon is the. best man to lead the Party ? Mr -Fraser — Mr Seddon. Sir Robert Stout was too much of a faddist. If Mr Seddon wanted modifying down he would have to be or bu disposed. After the questions, Mr George Gray proposed a vote of thanks and confidence in Mr Fraser, which was ! seconded by Mr G. Spring: | As an amendment, MrT. Mitchell ; : proposed a vote of thanks only, and j this Mr McCloskey seconded, i On being put the amendment was I lost by a large majority, and the j original motion was carried with applause.. ' Mr Fraser moved a vote of thanks to the chair. * j