THE REPRESENTATION OF MANAWATU.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 66, 16 August 1879, Page 2

THE REPRESENTATION OF MANAWATU.

The Town Hall was ei-owderl on Wednesday night, on which, occasion Mesirs. Snelson and Halcombe appeared before feh» electors, of Manawatu. The object of the meeting was to express the desirftbility of either, of 'the two above-named gentlemen retiring from the candidature for the representation of the county, so that the strength of the North shonlrl not be divided. Mr. Henuy. M'Neii. was called upon to preside, and npon tnkipg the chair, said he could have wished, that the duty had bt en allotted to some one move conrersanf with electioneering matters than Tiimnelf. However, having been elected to the position, it only remained for him to use his best endeavors, and fill the office to the best of his abilitj. He might inform those preapnt that a meeting hncl been helrl a few clays previously, of which, he had been chairmnn, and, at that, a deputation liacl been appointed to confer with both the candidates, m order to induce one to retire. Mr. Haleombe declined to do so, and Mr. Snelson was to give his reply next morning. At th» time appointed he staled that he had made up his mind hud tho Session only been for a year and a half to retire, so as not to put the constituency to tho worry of a contest : but that m th« interim he had discovered that the election would be for five years, and therefore be -w^uld give his final answer at the meeting of electors which, had been

convened. He would ask those presepfc to give the speakers a fuir and impartial hoar ing, and ho would also ask candidates to conform as much as possible to the recognised rules of debate.

Mr. Snelsok then came forward amid loud applause, and said that lie. (bought that at that point some explanation of the circumstances might J>e advisable. It was pretty generally known for some time past that he intended being a candidate at the next election, and it was equally well known that Mr. Haleombo had similar intentions. Whan the probability of a dissolution became apparent, m considering the matter, he reasoned as to the inadv inability of two candidates from the Northern end going into opposition, and|it was but fair to say that m his own mind he had come to the conclusion to give way to Mr. Halcombe, sooner than endanger the interests of the district. When, however, that resolve had been taken he was under the impression that the dissolution of the House meant noth- j ing more than sending representatives to their constituencies to get the public opinion upon the political situation, and that those returning to Pai-liament would only hold their seats until the present Parliament would hare expired by the effluxion of time. He discovered, however, such was not the case ; an that it was unconditional dissolution and that the members chosen at the coming elections would take their spats for five years Under .these circumstances lie. considered the matter had assumed a phase which precluded his disposal of it. He felt that he had no authority, nor justification m handing over the representation of that particular portion of the district to the keeping of any man, without the electors first being allowed a voice m the matter. He had thus placed the true facts of the case before the meeting, and it was for it to decide whether he should come forward to represent the intei'ests of Manawatu for the next five years, or leave it m the safe-keeping of Mr. Halcombe. If it were the will and the wish |of th« meeting that he (the speaker) should contest the representation, he was quite willing to do bo (cheers) ; if not, he would give way to Mr. Halcombe. He would, however, earnestly impress upon them the necessity of having a ]ocal|representative, and as he had been informed that Mr. Johnston intended entering the field, the danger was that by having two Northern candidatea the vote* would be divided, and so give fcho outsider ; a chance. He would therefore ask the Chairman to put the question to the meeting — If it were the general desire, of the electors that Mr. Halcombe should be. opposed ? Mr. Dam&ymble thought the question was a most improper one, and should not bo put to the meeting. Mr. Dunqau failed to see the slightest impropriety m the request. Mr. Suelson had given his reasons for declining to decide the point for himself, and it certainly did ! not redound to the credit of any elector who took exception to the proceeding. Mr. Halcombe then came forward, and claimed the indulgence of the meeting, stating that his reason for the step was fchafc he imagined if the audience would listen to his views, it might m a measure solve the point at issue. He might say that he appeared before them at the invitation of Mr. Snelson, and before proceeding further he would take the opportunity of thanking thai; gentleman for the courteous manner m -which he had acted towards him. Whether the contest were fought out to the p.oll, or one should retire, he felt sure the struggle would j bo carried on m a fair, manly spirit, for he j felt convinced that neither himself, Mr. Snelson, or Mr. Johnston — whom he knew to be a gentleman — would either on the platform or thejpublic prints descend tolrayr thing personal. He might say that at a meeting which he had had with Mr. Snelson some few dayß ago, ha (Mr. Halcombe) had asked him whether upon the present occasion he should address the electors briefly oc at some, length.. Mk. Snelson had advised that he should do so with some preparedness, and consequently m then proceeding to do so, he trusted the meeting would kindly bear with if he went somewhat into detail, recollecting that the fiald over which he had to travel was a large one. He. would preface his remarks by stating that he *ould divide his address into three . parts— general politics, matters more immediately affecting Manawatu, and personal matters, referring especially to himself. Dealing! with the first, thet, it was pretty well known, what had been the cause of the dissolution— that the Ministry had not been defeated upon a question of policy, but upon maladministration, and that by the largest majority ever recorded against a colonial Government it had been decided that they were totally unfit to govern the country. He might say that he heartily and thoroughly agreed with that majority. He would! then touch a little more upon the general policy of the G-overnmeut. When Sir George Grey went before the country with his Liberal programme it embraced universal suffrage, triennial Parliaments, and a representation upon a population basis. It was proposed to give the franchise to every man m the colony upon a residential qualification of six months, but the Government inserted the most objectionable clause providing for two votes to the Maoris, and although the Lower House passed it, it was thrown out by the Upper, and then because it would not be carried through m its objectionable form, Sir George Grey dropped it like a hot potatoe. A similar Bill was then introduced by a private member, and although the Ministry were informed that if it were made a Government question, it would carry a majority, they refused it any support whatever. So that it could be seen they openly deserted two of the cardinal point 9of their policy. Tliis year, however, a re-hash was presentod, but it was very properly treated with contempt by the House, and considered m the light of a catch-vote to go to the country. His own opinion of the franchise was that the men who were, as, he might say, the bone and sinew, or the material of the colony, ought to have a voice m the representation of the country. He was quite willing to accept the Bill at it then stood, but he would much prefer to see the residential clause extended from six to j twelvemonths. With regard to th,e duration of Parliaments, he was m favor of the tenure of representation being reduced so that there should be triennial election*, fully agreeing with the fact that 1 m a .new. country, subject to ever varying political, and other changes, it was highly judicious that representatives should be brought before" the country at least every three years. Regarding representation upon a population, he could by no means agree with the, measure upon the proposed basis, as the country districts— which decidedly represented the permanent and real interests of the colony. — wore sacrificed for the benefit of the towns. The proposed Bill provided that the. towns should require twenty- five per, cent, more, population lo claim representation than the country ; but that concession by no means represented the very great disparity of the relative stakes involved. Unless the twentyfive per cent, were enlarged to fifty per cent., the Bill would have the effect of placing a monopoly of representation m Wellington and other large cities. The naxt matter on which he would engage their attention was finance. When the Atkinson Ministry held office, two years ago, the country had just undergone one of the "most important chauges which it was possible for a country to experience — ay. alteration of the Constitu-

tion—a change which required political rest. Provincialism had been abolished; the country wee co ninitted to a large extent m borrowing for works of pubjic utility j there was a strong Government with a good policy, whose administration was directed to the working out of that policy, and jit was necessary that it should be seen how the County System was going to work before they made any alteration m any other direction. Then it was, at that most critical time, that agitation was resorted to, the new policy promulgated, and the minds of men filled with Utopian schemes and fanciful ideas wliich were nover intended to be carried out or put into execution. Had more care been exercised m the administration, and less talk indulged m, the present danger which hovers over the colony might have been averted. Both m finance and Maori matters they were standing upon the brink of a volcano, and it was only owing to the good sense of Te Whiti that an eruption had been avoided (dissent anid hisses). He saw that some gentlemen did not agree with him, and possibly did not follow his meaning. There could be no doubt that it was entirely owing to the restraining influence of Te Whiti {;hat an outbreak 'had ljeen . preTented. Did they imagine, that the Natives would have allowed over two hundred of their people to be taken prisoners by the police and sent away to a distant prison unless some great restraining influence was at work ? No, the object of Te Whiti was by quietly submitting to the law, and permitting his. people to be taken away m bondage, to appeal to the weltknown British love of fair play, and by having the cases openly investigated m th* Courts of equity, to have their grievances mado public and redressed. Touching tho financial changes which had taken place during the past two years under the, regime of Mr. Ballance, whose cry %as tq relieve the working man by putting the burden upon _the shoulders of some one else., he would tell them what had been done. Certain Customs duties had been remitted whilst others had been imposed, and this iras done, it was alleged with a view- of providing the people with a Free Breakfast Table. Well, the duty was taken off of flour and grain, but he failed to see how this went to accomplish the desired end, inasmuch as it opened the ports to, the influx of foreign grain, to the very great disadvantage of local produce'rsT The grain from California and elsewhece was rushed into j the market to the very great and serious j injury of the agricultural interest. Next came bacon and hams, artisans' tools, and building materials, which were handicapped to the tune of, £160; while on timber— which certainly appeared tohim one qf the first essentials m building— the duty of two shillings per hunderd feet were taken off. And what was the result of thjt step ? Why, that timber from California and Oregon poured into the country, and having the remission of the two shillings^ the colonial r^ills w.eys uifable to compete with the imported article. * This district m a great measure relied upon its timber as the source of its prosperity, and unless the duty which, had been insanely taken off was re-impos*d, the result assuredly' w>tdd b,B that half-a-dozen mills would have, to close. This was all done for the sake of £161," and he held .that the Ministry which would thus open the floodrgates, of jdestr.uo.tion, w.as unworthy of either confidence or support. Another little item which was |to benefit the breakfast table was photographic materials, also baskets, perambulators, steel, but thes* were things which could not' well be produced m the colony, so it did not much matter. Then there had been the large remission of £5,000 on fencing wire, with a j halfpenny a pound off tea and sugar. He did not know whether the last step had been the means of making, matters cheaper or better for the poor man's table, but he rather thought Buch. was not the, case, Qn the other, hand', that most iniquitous measure tbe Land Tax bad been imposed, and there could be no dqubt that it pressed most heavily and unjustly upon the people, and exercised a f retarding influence upon the opening up of the necessary roads throughout the country. It was calculated to destroy the profits of the farmer, as the;, land was assessed at ♦fi' i titiou* values m order to make the tax as large as possible, a,nd by way of consolation they were informed that that was merely the thin end of the wedge. It was estimated that, the amount which that tax would add to th* revenue was £100,000, while the machinery for its working had so far cost the country £30,000, and they had not by any means as yet seen the last of it. He would give them ■ an example of the glaring hardships which the. measure was calculated to inflict «upon the struggling farmer. He would suppose the case of- a man who m the course of a number of years had managed to, put £1,000 together, and with that capital he had purchased a piece, of land for £2,000, the amount of- which, he had been short having been borrowed on mortgage. The conoequence was that while he had to pay heavily for the use of the money, as the land was assessed at it 3 full value, he had also a double portion of tax as the mortgagee went entirely free. Then, again, although, there were certainly such things as courts of appeal as far as most people were concerned, they were simply a farce, at m order to invoke their aid or to avail himself of their assistance, a man was. put to such expense, as made it far better policy to let them alone. But there was still another sting m the tail, for it was well known that farmers were not up m the nece»sary procedure for making appeal, and m many cases where the cause of objection was of such a nature as to compel a resort to the Appeal Court, £1 had been charged for filling,, m the document. If the constituency did him the honor to return him as their representative, his voice would be raised m earnest protest against the perpetuation of so iniquitous a measure. Dealing with taxation generally, he w»B of opinion that if rigid economy were exercised, there would be no need whatever for further taxation. It was entirely owing to the incompetency and extravagance of administration that such a step was at all' necessary, for it 'had been shown by the .financial statement of the Treasurer that the revenue of: last year bad exceeded his estimate by £190,000. This was m the face of the fact that there were large tracts of land down South— -which, had been made of more value by railroads rcity ning through them— now open for sale and settlement, beside large, blocks of Maoriland which had come into possession of the Crown, and would be placed m the market within the next twelve months. With such a prospect he saw no reason for further taxation, and considered it was eren more than possible to make both ends meet, without having to resort to such a step. The general revenue of the colony was ra? pidly increasing day by day ; the railways, upon which about £8,000,000 had been, ex-,: ponder 1 , had been prove,d to berepTorluctive, for five-eighths of the lines were paying the full interest upon the cost of their conBtruction. He believed the. policy of the past m that respect should be the policy of the future, that such reproductive works as railways should be constructed, but when he said that, he. did not mean political railways, if; further taxation were absolutely neceßsary,\'v,? held that it should assume the shape of an income or property-tax generally, and not be levied- upon the la»id, or upon one class of the community. Coming to the matter of loans, he did not consider it would be wise toibppose the system of

borrowing which had been inaugurated. H* held it would not bo true policy to do so, having Jihe raw material, magnificent climate, timber, and other products, whioh wanted nothing but 1 capital to develop, He thought that m long as the money loaned wm judiciously infested, they should go into tbe market and borrow all thej oould. Since he had gone to Palmerston that evening he had been informed upon very good authority that there were £120,000,000 of hard cash at the present time m the Bank of England courting investment. He wa* not aware that the amount was so large. His own impression was that it was £60,000,000, and he ' would be satisfied to take the smaller sum. From that it would be seen that there was the enormous sum of £60,000,000 of bullion lying useless, without there being the slightest probability of - it being utilised. Wifh even a small por* lion of that amount, what . incalculable) good might be effected m developing the enormous resources' of this country, and so he said that the. true policy of the Legislature was to stall, go into th,e market as a borrower. Last year the Ministry hod humbugged the people by bringing down a programme which they knew very well it was utterly impossible for them to carry through^-*) railway was to be constructed right through, the Taranki p ountry.. But there was •- canny Scotchman amongst them, aid he very shrewdly determined to work the. scheme tpshm oyrn_ advanfcje. He put £1,5000,000 bathe Estimates for the Wiu^j kato Railway certainly, but he also putjhtf similar amount on the Estimates forlines^ down South, but while he left the formes, to look aftea itself, he took care to let the contracts for the immediate construction of the latter. And this, it should be borne m mind, while it was impose^* to - get the miserable sum of £15,000 required fob the survey of the. West Coast Khe, * The Minis* : try had not the. shadow of a justification" for putting the, i*ord* in,to the mouth o*. the Governor as to the, construction, of the*. Northeim line, .while a corresponding amoupt had been spent m the South. There was no concealing the fact, the North had been sadly neglected, and Northern men should do battle for their rights, or they would go still further to the wall. He himself hai been down South lately, and he eouloV safely assert without fear of contradiction that the Northern country would boar. favorable, comparison with any of, it . The . Native question wjui one, which indirectly affected every member, of the' obmmu*n)ty, fo? although those present' might be! personally free from the. dangers of the war. their pockets would be touched,.., for what affected one. part of the community would exercise an, influence, more. or. less, upon the other. The Native affair Ipji now been got into such an extreme, muddle, that ifc would take the ablest, most honest and be** men to get them out of it. It wo«ld never da to be playing fast and loose -with, the Maoris, and matters, would never be right until that pernicious secrecy, w,h',ieh hitherto had been its distinguishing feature, had' been swept away. It would not now do to tireat them as children. It should be reog. nued.that by the Treaty of Waitangi they. Tferp. masters of their own land; but still tie same law which we* dealt; but to the white, stttleps should be put m force against. themj and- tha land which was wanted by the Grown should be taken fcam them after^ an equitable settlement, as" was the case with the rest of the population. He was" not very much versed, m. Maori matters, but what was wanted was a programme whichV if ould , satisfy both Maoris* and Europeans, and that could only be brought about by sweeping away the Native Department as at present constituted, having no bribed agents male or female, and letting the proceeding* wi \ the Native < flice be open- ebove bo rd*. and free to the criticism of Parliament* This brought him to what more immediately, interested those. present, matters pertaining, to Manawatu, and the West Coast Railway." As they werja aware^ through the culpable . negligence^ of. the^r representative and the. shuffling of interested persons, "the name of the line had been changed-to the Wellington*. Foxtoa, Eine, but such a contemptible* manoßurv*. would, it was to be hoped, have, no bearing or, influence upon the ultimate" destination of the route, It was, a, matter' of too muoh importance— one affecting the interest of the. colony at large— to be thus settledby a sid,e-win'd or Jbaek, stair*, influence. The land which would beopen'ecfup by the;. Fitzherbert route was a. Usage of enormous... extent aud v*lue, beside whioh it would, be by far. the cheapest r^ute, passing as r it wouid through thatirange of rich busKcountsy lying between the sandhills and the/ foot of the ranges, capable of receiving, thousands of setters upon it. It we*, simply a disgrace, l^bai &, complete andj thorough survey of the respective route* had not taken, place during the past year/ so that the coming Parliamenji would have' some reliable data upon which to go. He himself had"been over every portion, [of the. country, which the lins would have, tot traverse, and with competent engineers would assert that there was not the slightest eifgin3ering difficulty to be encountered m the] Palraerston route ; as fait down as Paikakiriki it wae as plain aa ABC. He knew that m the coming Parliament, as m the. past, a strong and strenuous* opposition, would be encountered with a view of *di« verting the line, and were neglected as their, representative, it would be his earnest endeavor to frustrate such designs. All he. wanted was an impartial survey, and he wait, not afraid of the result He wonld also use, his efforts to have the line commenced simultaneously at the Wellington and Palmerston ends, as, by suoh a step it would give the Government an opportunity of get* ting a ready supply of sleepers from this district, which couldjbe usid asjtbev wjrkrj*^ their way southward. The.-c \ %•© >mj many arguments which might be urged iff favor of the route be was then advocating, but? the, principal one was that between Palmerston and the B^angitikei River there was an almost inexhaustible mine of wealth comprised m its timber, which,*undercertain protection, would completely shut out the importation of 'foreign timber, into Wei* lington. If the duty were, re-imposed it would give, a vigorous impetus; to that very industry, but if ' not, he would tell them what would be the result. The importation of 1,000,000 feet of timber into the colony. meant nothing mpre.nor less than a loss of work for thirty, men for twelve month*. Free all very good, but there we*; a great deal of bunkum uttered m con*. nection|with it. Some people took up John" Stuart Mill andjfastenedi upon one particular, sentence which mayhap may fall m with their ideas but even that great political, economist was only m favor of . free trade, when qualified with a limited .protection. Mr. Halcombe. then proceeded to say that, he considered it the. first duty of the Government to v tackle the land, ijo open nntp t new. blocks of land for,, sale, and to open, th ese up to. a certain, extent by roads'bef ore placing them m the market. He would, also further urge that tho land should. be_ disposedof upon the deferred payment principle, as he considered both of- the courses suggested would prove a great incentive to settlement and help to the settler. There, was just one other matter, and that wa? the. unpardonable blunder being pnade m having the surveys |m a straight line. He maintained if pw>per*snrveys were taken before, the subdivision^ suiTey had taken place, thousands of pounds and no end jof ineonve^

the third part of his programme, which dealt "with: personal matters. He did not think he could be considered egotistical ■when he said he that he thought he had qualifications and abilities whi«h precluded his desire to win their suffrages being termed presumptuous. He was no novice, m political matters ; he had bean 'engaged m publtc matters for the last fifteen . years* and he flattered himself he had done good serTice m; assisting m the "develop-' ■ meat of Manawatu. Twenty-five years ago he had come to the colony, and had settled yrifchm a stone's threw of Manawatu. For ' twelve' -years' he had looked upon it as a closed country, and as was natural under su*h circumstances, he had m his own mind clothed that closed country with ell the attributes of a second Eden. He had often wandered along the cliffs of the Rangitikei'^River, and longed for the time when it w6uld he possible to get : into it, and settle upon its smiling bosom a prosperous community: He had- the honor, m times past, to represent a portion of the Coast m the Provincial Council, and as Provincial Secretary he had something to do with the purchase of .the other half of the block. When it was acquired,- he had advocated that it should be settled under the deferred payment principle, with what results it was needless for" him to mention. He would then tall them a little m connection with theScandinavinn settlement m the County. 'In 1871, "Dr.; Featberston was the Agentthe Public Works policy had just initiated; and that gentleman, m obedipMpto instructions, hadrdespatched, by way of experiment, two shipments of Scandinavians. He :(the speaker) had occasion to call upon the members of the General Gtorernment during a Cabinet meeting, and he found the whole body m the -greatest consternation concerning the expected arrival of the immigrants. The picture was a pitiable one, there was wringing of hands and tearing of hair, -when he made the proposition that the Government would settle them on the land jn If anawatu, alongside the tramway, work would be provided and the difficulty thus settled. The suggestion was eagerly clutched at, the advice taken, and hp might say that fchat,was the first real itart that settlement had m the Manawatu. He thought he had said sufficient to prove to them that he was hot one of those who would be satisfied to rest quietly with his hands m his pocket. That was not his policy. He had been cony nested with Fielding, and he was proud of it, for notwithstanding thb sneers and taunts which had been uttered regarding it, it etoodthnt day m a proud/ position. He knew that a feeling of suspicion existed m flome^men-e- min'ds'agalnst hiinj but lie '***% ■uttßrlyyat »40BB't» r account for it, and he ' challenged any person to toy that he had ever been f else to a trust placed m him. If lie/had worked for Peilding, and he acknowledged he had, honestly and faithfully, that was the best guarantee they could have of Ilia- energy and zeal if- they reposed their trust* in him. He thought he could say without egotism that he had never, been charged with anything unfair m public matters, or acting with a view to hie own private interest. When he remembered the very many opportunities which he. had possessed during the lastrtwenty-five years, of acting interestedly or selfishly, withput having done so, he w<»B positively astonished «t himself (laughterjY The reason why. he had not gone forward- to contest the last flection was that he was not then m a posiJtion to do to, and he felt that the first duty he owed was one to his family. ' He thought it better to avoid politics until he were m a position to take part in' them at a sacrifice which he could afford, jand he was glad to~ say that that time h^^ien arrived, for he happened to be in vsuenr a position that it would not pay him to take office. There was just one other matter to which he fished to allude, and then he would not trespass upon their patience further. He referred to the 'work of opening' the country right up to Morim.otu. (Applause). Mr. Halcombe concluded his address, heartily thanking, his audience, for the very, patient and uninterrupted hearing which they had fjivenhim. - . . v ~ Mr." Snexsoh was about to come forward, when - • ■•■■'■■ "'''". ' - ; ''■ '.'■' ' Mr. Haxoombe said he thought- it was a somewhat invidious position m which to place Mr/Snelson.. .. JTorluß'-own part were euch a suggestion made at Feilding with regard to himself, he should certainly feel it very much. ' , ' '■-.;■ Mr.' Aibxaitobb M'Donam>, of Awahuri, said that before that step being taken, he would wish to make a few remarks. He had gjnlj that day arrived by . the coach fooni Wellington, and consequently was net going to detain the .meeting with a speech; but »s an individual elector he wished to give them the latest information. He. himself had Heard nothing of the meeting until he had cbmetbPalmeTston, and although Mr. Johnston had travelled with him m the coach from Wellington, and he had learned that that gentleman had been telegraphed to the three days before to attend the meeting, he had nev^r uttered .a word about it. As far m he was individually concerned he. would not support Mr. Johnston for a reason which he would have explained had that gentleman been present, but which he would, not state m his absence ; «,till it he put man appearance m Palmerston to address tbe elector*,' lie (Mr. McDonald) would be there to meet him. Whilst m Wellington he had learned that Dr. Buller was not going to stand, and that all the support which the Government could give to Mr. Snelson, as the Liberal Candidate would be given to him. As no doubt Mr. Johnston would be m Palmerston, perhaps it would better that Mr. Snelson should defer his definite, answer until that time. He certainly did not agree with either Mr. Hal-. v combe or Mr. Dalrvmple that there was the /^■pst impropriety of putting the matter to '. the constituency, and he might give as a precedent the. action a few evenings ago at a Wellington meeting, -where Mr. Levin, who had only attended as an elector, was, upon the voice, of the. people, put into candidature. Mr. DTOHJAIir said that although he perfectly agreed with Mr. M'Donald upon one point, he did not upon another. He failed to see how Mr. Snelson's appeal could be construed into placing him m an invidious position, inasmuch as it was he^ himself who ■ought the verdict of the electbrsV ' With regard to Mr. M'Donald'e suggestion, that action should' be deferred until- Mr. Johnstone' put m an appearance, he would ■trbtistly oppose any auch ; proceeding. Wi\ M'Donald had been away m Wellington for some time, and was consequently ignorant of what had transpired at the meeting held" last Thursday. He therefore might explain that a week before that meeting he, (Mr. : Duhgan) had telegraphed to Mr. Johnstone the plain question— "Will you. or not stand for Manawatu ?" A shufiling reply was returned, but no answer to the question. Mr. Johnston was then coquetting with Wellington City and it did not ■nit his book to declare his intention. Since then he had studiously ignored the constituency and treated the electors with contempt. They had heard that he was m Foxton at that moment, but although he bad bten telegraphed to to at fend the meeting, he had not done ao. Both Mr: . Halcombe dnd Mr. Snelson had publicly declared their intention of. contesting, ar-d their' respective declarations to that effect were published for some time; -and he consethought it was toomiich to ask the . .to '.oytraJLt appe^aaco of Mxi

Johnston, who had treated them with studied contempt. (Applause). Mr. Macxib wished to ask Mr, Halcombe what his opinions were wijbh regard to the education question. - Mr. Halcombe replied that ho wou?d be , ft supporter of the present system, believing as he did that it was the only one by which J all parties could meet upon a common, platform. ' •■' ' Mr. LrNq?OK said that he thought they were drifting away from the object of t'ae meeting. As far as Mr. Johnston was, concerned he thought that gentleman l:ad exhibited a very commendable wisdom m keeping away from the meeting. He had nothing very particular to urge against Mr. Johnston, who for an absentee member had served them tolerably well m the past. But Manawatu was then m a position to be represented by a local, man, and the only difficiilty they had apparently to contend with, was that they had two good local men 1 offering themselves. He did not see much use m asking the meeting if they wished Mr. Snelson to stand, for they might rest assured that if such a question were put, it would be unanimously answered m the affirmative. He thought the best way to decide the question was to appeal to the ballot box. "'• Mr. CoißMAir said that the main point to consider was the advisability of being locally represented, and as there were two local candidates m the field, the next question was to select the better of the two. He had been all over the district within the past few days, and he was perfectly astonished at the amount of support which Mr; Snelson would receive from outsiders. _ Mr! SNBisov then came forward and ssid that he would definitely settle the question by publicly declaring that he would stand. (Loud and prolonged cheers.) When he had succeeded m obtaining a hearing, he intimated that he would take earliest opportunity of addressing the electors at Palmerston, Feilding, Halcombe, J?oxtbn, and Sanson. (Applause.) Mr. Ettsbblii asked Mr. Halcombe whether he thought that incomes derived from interest should be more heavily taxed than those from capital", and those from i capital more heavily than those from labor ? j Mr. Haxcombb replied that the question was one difficult to answer, without consideration, but he would vote so that labor should bear the lightest burden of taxation. Mr. Uuasßi."& wished to know if the candidate would endeavor to secure part ofthe proceeds of the Wellington Eeclaimed Land for the district. '.'.-' '■: Mr. Haicombb said that -if the questioner cad referred to the reports of the Provincial Council, he would find that m that assemblage he had advocated the very point m question. • . Mr. Bbttoic asked if he couM do anything for Fitzherbert, and. Mi*. Haicombb was heard to reply that he would do all he could for the outlying districts. Mr. G-eobgb ■RicHA.BDSOK drew attention to the wholesale slaughter of cattle by_ the "railway engines, and Mr. Faicombe intimated that he would be m favor of fencing the lines. , Votes of thanks to both "candidates and the Chairman terminated the proceedings.