MR. JONES AT THE VOLUNTEER HALL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1306, 14 June 1880, Page 2

MR. JONES AT THE VOLUNTEER HALL.

Mr. George " Jones, one of the candidates for election to the vacant seat in the House of Representatives for this district, addressed a meeting of the electors at the Volunteer Hall on Saturday evening. The audience was the largest ever seen in Oamaru. The hall was densely packed, even standing room not. being obtainable. The 'consequence was that the porch was also filled, and still many were unable to gain admission and had to content themselves with an outside position. The candidate was listened to very attentively, though at times a little goodhumored "chaff was indulged in. There were a few interruptions and a little impatience was manifested, but this was only to be expected as a natural consequence of the crowded nature of the hall and the length of the address, Mr. Jones having spoken for an hour and threeauarters.

* On the motion of Mr. Wansbrough, Mr. George Sumpter was voted to the chair. After a short delay, to allow of the audience being comfortably seated, The Chairman said that in the absence of the Mayor, who was in Dunedin, he had been asked to preside over the meetin «•. By consenting to do so, he did not identify himself with the candidate or the views that he might express. He need scarcely introduce the candidate, as he was well-known to most of them, He would, however, ask them to listen patiently to what Mr, Jones had to say, and as the audience was so large he would impress upon them the greater necessity for keeping order. He would notv call upon Mr. Jones to address the meeting. Mr. Jones, on coming forward, was loudly applauded. He thanked them for the hearty reception they had given him. It encouraged him to go through the most trying ordeal that he had ever experienced. He was no doubt known to all of them as a newspaper man, but he was certainly not known to them, or to anyone else, as a public speaker. Public speaking was not his foi'te ; indeed, it was not the/orfeof anyman until he had had a large amount of practice. He hoped, therefore, that 3,ny defects that might be noticeable in his address lyould be attributed to the neryojisnjess .copse.quent iipon his standing for the first time in his life before a large audience, the nervousness of a man wlio had to address an audience of intelligent men. When gazing around the room, he felt constrained to ask himself, " Am I competent to tell these men anything they do not know already?" He had tajcen upon himself the task and he must go through with it. With their help he hoped to go through it tolerably well. He was not new to them as an advocate of the Liberal cause. For ihrge aijd a half years as he had told them on the hustings he had conducted the Oamaru Mail, and no one could say that during that time he had on any occasion deviated from the principles he had espoused. He had not put on Liberalism yesterday, as a man puts on his Sunday clothes. His candidature was the result of his principles—his principles were i)ot the result of his candidature. Nothing was so mean as political weathercocks who went round with every change of wind—who changed their principl.es jn order to gain the sympathies of the country. They reminded him of that incident in Holy Writ, >yhere Jacob obtained the blessing of Isaac under false preteuces. That was the position some candidates occupied at present.— (Cheers and hisses.) Let him have his say > they could hiss as much as they liked on thpir way home. He would tell them why he was a Liberal, He was a Liberal because he b.elieved in the principle that all men should haye an opportunity of progresging-=-of improving their positions—in accordance with the amount of intellect, industry and capital that fchey possessed. He objected to the lavish expenditure of the Government. He objected to the mal-administration of the native lands. He objected to the Crown lands of the Colony not being opened up for settlement by the people. Let him carry their memories back to tjie session of 1877- They would remember that the Atkinson Government were then impeached by the Liberal party. The overflated bubble had burst, and it was found that the Atkinson Government had been guilty of practices of which honorable men would be ashamed. When the Atkinson Government was brought to book for their wrong--doing3, Major Atkinson said it was all right, and that all the country required was a little political rest. Political rest! He should think so, indeed, when all the money had been spent in bribery and corruption. It would be remembered that when the people pried ojit for measures which would compel those to pay who had been benefited by the gigantic expenditure of public money., the passing of thosu measures had been burked by the Atkinson Ministry. The Grey party had stood forth and fought their battle well. They said t.h*.t the then Government must either pass these measures, or they must go out. They would remember that during the reign of the Atkinson Government the expenditure had been allowed to exceed the revenue by about L 200,000 year after year np-til it amounted to L 1,000,000, which sum had row been added to the permanent debt of th.e .Colony, The Atkinson Government, while they had money to expend, conducted the government with a grand flourish. They reminded him of the remittance man, who, while he has money, stands treat to his friends, and afterwards fasts for a week. At length his friends at Home become disgusted,and he receives no more money, i This was the position whiGh the Atkinson Government and all Governments allied with it had occupied. They had stood treat for their friends until their funds were exhausted, It proved a difficult task to oust the Atkinson Government, surrounded as they were with fast friends who had been well paid for their support. The fight was (strong and sharp, but the Atkinson Government went out nevertheless. When the Grey Government came into power they passed the Land Ta?f Act. That Act it was thought would be a means of making those who had reaped the benefit of the expenditure of public money pay their fair share of the taxation rendered necessary by the borrowing of millions. But the passing of that Act sealed their doojp, Thg landed proprietors had cried out .that the Act wag a piece of class legislation. From this time the Ministry were more than ever opposed in every measure that they brought into the House. The Opposition watched every opportunity ; they magnified peccadilloes I into grievously wrong transactions. They I said that Jth.e fitoyernment were guilty of maladministration, .corruption, and everything that was bad, and that they were not fit to hold their positions, Thesp were only the cries of men who had atuek to office like limpets—of men who longed for the flesh-pots of Egypt. They would reuaeijjber how the Grey Government had to give way &t last, that a dissolution was granted, and that Parliament went to the country. A cry was then raised that they were all Liberals. The Opposition said, (t J?ut us in office and we will pass the measure# thftt the Grey Government were unable to pass." \Vhen Parliament reassembled, after the elections, it was found that alarge number of Conservatives had |been rejected and that but fear Liberals had lost their seats. Parties in the House wer.e pretty equally divided. Mr. Hall was elected leader of the Opposition, and no sooner had ho attained to that position than he brought in a vote of want of confidence in the Government. That vote was brought forward in this way: "That the liouse has no confidence in the Ministry as at present constructed." Thi« led to tlio bollpf that it Wffl Rot

intended that Mr. HaH should attain to I power, but. that there should be a coalition I Ministry; that some of the weaker) members of the Grey Government—and he was compelled to say that it did include many weak members—should be supplemented by better men. Mr. Hall, however, got into power, and then many of those who had assisted to put him there repented. Shortly afterwards it was found that the-Hall Ministry was in a minority. But they did not resign. They bought over four Auckland members for L 165,000. This sum was given for works in the North. Not because those works were needed ; but in order that the Ministry might be enabled to retain their seats. That money had been improperly taken out of the pockets of the people. There was not the least doubt about the truth of this. It was a matter of record, and anyone who turned up the files of the public journals would find that he was correct. What had the Hall Government done for them? No sooner did they come into power than they abolished the land tax and substituted the property tax. This was the only measure that they could lay claim to as their legitimate child. The other measures were the property of the previous Government. (A voice : "No.") ; An elector had said "No," but he (Mr. Jones) said " Yes." He plight mention the Electoral Measures and the Triennial .Parliaments Bill. These were measures which the Grey Government had endeavored to pass, but the passage of which had been frustrated by the Opposition.. He gave the Hall Governnjent s,ny_ cpedit that might be dupto then} for passing"the Property Tax Act, But what would be the effect of that Act? (A voice : " The Assessors know.") The'Assesors .did not know. No man could understand the Act in all its ramifications —No man could forsee the evil of the measure, or the extent to which it would embarrass the country. They had heard a great deal about the property tax. They had heard the large landed proprietor say that it j would bear heavily upon him ; they had ! heard the storekeeper say that' it would I press heavily upon him ; and they had heard the poor man say that he would be overburdened, as everything he wears and eats would have an additional tas put upon it. Whatever might be the effect of the Act there was this about it—it would certainly put a wet blanket upon our local industries and trade. When the Bill was originally introduced it only provided for exemptions up to L2OQ. The Liberals said this would not do,—that it was unfair to the poorer classes of the Colony, and that the exemption should be extended to LSOO. The Conservative Government objected to make the concession, but they were compelled to give way. The Bill, as brought into the House, also proposed that agricultural implements should be taxed. Again the Liberal party objected, and urged tliat this was unfair towards the agricultural class. It was not until after a struggle that the Government gave way, and agreed to the compromise that the tax should only be paid on agricultural implements not actually in use, whatever that might mean. However, whether agricultural implements in the hands of farriers wore tax6d or not 3 it was certain that they were in thp workshops where 'they were made. Another of the obnoxious features of the Bill was that wool was taxed upon the sheep's backs, that the machinery which made the wool into cloth yyas taxed, that the machinery which made the' cloth into clothing was taxed, and that the clothing was taxed in the clothier's shop. This was what he understood, and if he was in error, he courted correction. Who paid this quadruple tax ? The man who wears the plothing, (Applause). Again, how are £he (government or the Assessors going to arrive at the correct valuation qf a stock-in-trade? Take for example a stock of general merchandise, ' The 'storekeeper was supplied with a form whifsh he was supposed to fill up faithfully. He did not know the exact value of his stock, and it was scarcely likely that he would take stock, because to do so would cost him, perhaps, L2O. He, therefore, simply made a guess at it, taking care to be on the safe side. If his stock was worth LIOOO he would put it down at LpOu, and no one could blame him either (applause), for it must be taken into consideration that it was almost universally felt that the tax was most iniquitous, and that it should never have been imposed. Every business man knows that in almost every stock-in-trade there is an accumulation of dead stock, the value of which deteriorates year "after year. In assessing the value of his stock every shopkeeper would take this into consideration. Again, how was the value of a pastry-cook's stock to be ascertained? (Applause and laughter.) The pastry-cook turned over his capital sevprai times in a year, and it appeared to him th;jt the man who did this was much better off than rho mau who did so perimps mice in one, t\yo, or three years. From whatever point they criticised fhe Act, it would be found that it would bear unfairly upon all classes, from the farmer to the laboring man. From the preamble to the imprint it was faulty—a coach and four might be driven through every clause. The Government contemplated abandoning taxation upon furniture and personal effects ; but that would not be a concession in the right direction so far as he could see. For this small mercy the Government deserved no thanks. It would npt relieve those who felt the burden, it would not benefit the working man, . It would simply benefit those who had a large amount of personal' effects, and who could afford to pay. The concession, like other concessions made i by the Government, was a blind, and was simply made to enable them to retain their seats. They were told that by this concession the revenue would lose L 40,000. That sum of L 40,000 would then be taken off the shoulders of those who could afford to pay. He was of opinion that if the Act was to remain in force, the portion dealing with personal effects shoul4 be maintained in its 6ntirety. The question was, What should be done ? He'proposed that the property tax should be abolished, and that in its stead should be substituted a land tax and an income tax, (Applause,) Then people would pay according to the benefits they received from the expenditure of public money. Professional men, tradesmen, farmers, and others would then pay upon what they made, and not upon the materials by which they were assisted to make money, At present a man might have a large stqck, and yet, through depression of trade, he 'might hpt be ftfclg to piake any profit—he might even be losing money. Therefore yon tax that man upon the stock which he cannot tax that man upon his misfortunes. (Applause.) Mr.-Reid had said that the land tax was unfair, for this reason : (Supposing that two men came into the country each having L.IOOO, and that one laid his money out in country lands and the other in land in the town, tfre npn who invested his. money in town escaped, while the other who invested in land in the country land was taxed. He (Mr. Jones) could not see how that could be. The investors in town and country land were taxed alike upon the value of their land nfter the improvements had been deducted. It was not the area but the value of the land that waa subject to taxation. There was another objection which he had to the property tax, and w/jts that shipping was exempt. Why was it exempt ? '|'he Premier was asked the question the other day, an.4 his reply was that if shipping was taxed it would bo driven from the country. Where wouJd it go to. (Voices : Horn,e, Africa, &c.) Had the Premier said that if shipping was taxed Mr. George M.'Loan would be driven away, he (the Prejnier) would fcW fc>oep pewpF tho ipark.

Mr. George M'Lean, he might remark, had been a member of the Atkinson Government and was a strong supporter of the Hall Ministry. The tax was also objectable because of its Paul Pry character, and its unfair incidence. If shorn of all its imperfections-and objectionable features nothing would be left of the Act but the blank paper upon which it was printed. Mr. Hall claimed that his was an economical government, and upon that.cry'his party went into office and hoped to remain there. " The ( Grey Government was not an economical Government." But it should be borne in mind that they had nothing to spend and they spent it. (Laughter.) Mr. Hall virtually said, If you put us into power we will save more than that. (Renewed laughter.) Let him compare the estimates of the two Governments —the economic Hall Government and the profligate Grey Government—for the year 1878-79. He then read the figures as follow :

Total £2,244,733 £2,158,469 It would appear that on the last item the Hall Government's estimate for . defence wa'3 much lower than that of the Grey Government, but the Hall Government's actual amount was L 357,929, for they charged L 140,000 to loan, Now, considering the altered circumstances of the Colony, the estimates of the Hall Govern- j ment should have been lower than those i of the Grey Ministry. Yet they found | that the latter's estimates were lower than those of the Hall Government. But that was an economical Government. It was pretty generally known that the Colony's indebtedness amounted to L 30,000,000. Upon this they had to pay annually L 1,500,000 interest. Now,- reckoning the population at 450,000, this gave an indebtedness of L 64 per head for every man, woman, and child in the Colony, While on this he wopld institute a comparison between the Colonies of New South Wales and Victoria and New Zealand. The national debt of New South Wales was L 11,700,000, with a population of nearly 700,000, or Ll7 per head ; the national debt of Victoria was, in 1878, L 17,000,000, its population nearly 900,000, makiug an indebtedness of Ll9 per head. Our railways cost L7SQQ per mile, and pay barely per cent. on the cost of construction, registering a loss of L 200,000, or about 2J per cent. The New South Wales railways cost L 14,000 per mile, and pay 4'22 per cent, on the cost of construction. The Victoria railways pay 4 per cent. Then, again, the bare cost of government in this Colony amounted to LlO per head, while the government of Great Britain only amounted to L2 7s 6d per head ; but of course they should take into consideration the very superior government which they obtained for the money. (Loud laughter.) He would now say a few worbg with reference to railway retrenchment. They had been told by the Colonial Treasurer that a saving of L 36,000 had been effected in the cost of working the railways by the present Government. What was the fact ? Of the amount named, L 30,000 had actually been saved by the Grey Government- by the substitution o,f colonial for Newcastle cqal on the railways. ; .He did not think it was fair of the Hall ment to rob the Grey Government of fhe credit for this saving. They had gone quite far enough in robbing them of their measures, and they might well aliow_ their predecessors the credit of having effected this saving of L 30,000 in the cost of coal. It had been asked why Sir George Grey's Government had not carried out retrenchment in the railway They would remember that during the time the Grey Ministry was in power trade was much brisker than it had been since. There was not therefore the same pressing necessity for economy as there was now. Indeed, he doubted if the work could then have been carried on with fewer hands. In this, as in every other department of the public service, retrenchment must be effected. How wa§ it to be brought about ? He understood that the Government proposed to reduce all salaries by 5 per cent. This would be unfair, as there were many men in the service who received a mere pittance, which would not bear reduction. If they had proposed tq reduce all salaries over L3§Qj or thereabouts, a year, their proposal would have been much fairer, and a similar saving would have been obtained. They had two Commissioners of Railways in the Colony, receiving high salaries. He thought that one such officer would be sufficient for the Colony, A saving might be effected in this direction, It was stated to be the intention of the Government to charge higher rates on the railways all round. Such a step would be unjust. When the public works policy was first introduced it was provided that, if the railways did not pay the proprietors of the lands through which they passed shoyilcl he taxed to make up the difference, Where were the unprofitable railways ] They were the political railways on- the West Ooast —railways that were made to secure support—railways on which travelled a man, woman, and boy once a week—railways that start nowhere and end nowhere. These railways had been of great assistance in keeping the Ministry in power, but they were a drag on til? system. Where were the other railways that did not pay? (A voice : Duntroon.) No, he did not thiiik that the P.untroon line could be included in the nmnbei'. !£t fyad been said tljaf the branch l|nes die} not pay, but that statement was not correct. These branch lines were of great value as feeders of tlm main line. Take, for instance, the Shag l?oij)t railway of only two miles jn length, jt w£*s true that that line did not pay on its own merits, but they had to take into consideration the amount of traffic that it contributed to the main line. The Shag Point coal now travelled to Invercargill in the south and Christchurch in the north. (Here some person gave utterance to some expression of dissent, and there were cries of " put him out," a number cf those present proceeded to carry out the suggestion}- E|e (Mr. Jones did not in "the least onject'to these interruptions, They gave ham- time to think. (Laughter). In computing the amount earned by the various sections, the main liue was credited with work done by the branch lines in contributing to the business done on the main line. If they cut off the branch lines where would the work powiQ from f°V the raw line. If they cijt o|£ thp jiribufaries pf a strpatn they would ; Jessen tli§' volume of wq,tei\' | The same argument applied to the railway i system- They could not tell which of the branch lines were or ivere not paying until they computed carefully the amount of business that they contributed to the main line. He now came to the question of education, to which he would briefly refpr. The question, he thought, laid in a nutshell, ft was yery pyicjenj; thst the educational system phpulcj. be made to contribute go some'extent towards its own support. They were now paying about L450,000a year foreducation. Hecouldnot interfere with primary education, but hp thought fees should bo charged for the Higher branches.. The mopey tq support tho present system was drawn from the consolidated fund, towards which they all contributed. The majority of children

left school at 11 or 12 years of age, while others remained for 'three or four years longer. Those who left at 11 or 12 years of age did so to learn some trade and to earn something towards the support of the families to which they belonged. Those who remained a few years longer at school did so in order to acquire a knowledge of superior subjects to qualify them for professions. Now, as they all contributed towards the fund from which the mcneyfor educational purposes was drawn, it" was manifest that the parents of those children who left school at 11 or 12 years of age contributed something towards the education of those who received instruction in the superior subjects. He then referred to Bible reading in schools. He thought this was a question which might well be left to school committees. If a committee introduced the Bible into schools against the wish of the people, they , might depend upon it that the members of that committee would not be returned when the time for re-election came round. He thought the Bible should be read without comment or explanation half an hour before or after the ordinary school hours, and that a conscience clause should be introduced into the Act under which those parents who objected to their children being present while the Bible was being read need not send their children to school during that time. They were told that the subsidies to local bodies were to be stopped, and this too in the face of a beer tax and property tax. What were they to get in place of those subsidies ? Under the Financial Arrangements Act it was understood that these subsidies wero to be. continued until 1882. A number of Municipal Councils and other local bodies had entered on works that were not yet completed, and where the money was to come from to complete the works goodness only knew. The Government thought they had propounded a scheme for getting over this difficulty, and had given permission to the people to tax themselves to any amount they thought proper, and to borrow any amount at any rate of interest they chose. The Government f had also given them permission to tax native and crown lands by which means they in this district would obtain the munificent sum of about L 5 per annum. Some provision was made for the formation of new roads, and the repair of damage done by floods, in counties. Counties were to receive grants-in-aid froffL a Board consisting of the Minister of Public Works and two or three Government oflicials. Those grants were to be made to the extent of three-fourths of the cost of any work, and the remaining forth was to be provided by the County. In this district they were thrown pretty much on their own resources, but in those distriots in which there was a large amount of native and Crown lands, this difficulty would not occur. They would be in clover. He thought that the land fund and the revenue derivable from rating native and Crown lands should be consolidated, and distributed amongst the local governing bodies. As the County Qounoils would have no money, they should be abolished. Fortunately they will no longer be required. The Road Boards had done good work in the past, and were capable of performing their own work and that of the County Councils. He had been favored by Mr. John Thomson with a scheme for effecting reform in * our local self-govern-ment. He (Mr. Jones) then read the proposal as follows :

The counties should be abolished. A Central Board should be established, consisting of delegates from the several Road Boards of a county. These Boards would be represented on the Central Board in proportion to the numbers of their members. The duty of these Central Board would be to. carry pa works in the county in which more than one Board would be interested. The Central Board would handle none of the funds. The Road Boards would be held responsible for the payment for all contracts entered into by the Central Board, each Road Board paying a quota of the expense of performing county works in proportion to the amount of benefit it received. ' The servants of the Road Boards would also be the servants of the Central B,oard- The present machinery of the Road Boards would be almost sufficient to administer to the requirements of this new system. The saving that would be effected by abolishing the Councils and adopting this plan would be LIOOO a year. If the same amount could be saved in each county, you will see that the saving would be considerable.

If the same amount could be sayed in each county the total saving would be considerable. The Government had introduced a measure to amend the licensing system. One of their proposals was to do away with the bottle licenses, There was more in this than appeared an the surface. The bottle licensing system was productive of great evils, Whence did the young wife and mother get her bottle of spirits. (Laughter.) It was too often smuggled into her home covered by articles af grocery, and not unfrequently entered on the bill as groceries or scrubbing brushes. (Cries of " No, no," and applause.) He knew this to be the case—(Applause.) When suoh evils existed no titan should be afraid to say so. When they knew that a system tended to evil it should be avoided if possible. The Government also proposed to institute club licenses, and to charge for the same L2Q per annum. If they were to have club.s they could afford to pay as rough as hotels. Let them make as muoh money as possihle out of the liqensing system. Another good thing wag proposed by the Government, His hearers would see that he was prepared to give credit to the Government where they deserved it. The alteration referred to was that the barmaid system should be abolished. The Government suggested that their place should be taken by the wives or daughters of the. proprietors. Why not by the proprietors' mothers or mothers-in-law ? (Laugher). The barmaid system was a pernicious one, and, had been productive o,f great eyils\. (Marks of disapprobation and applause). He was aware that many of the best women of the Colony were, and had been, barmaids, but, as in the case of bo.ttle licenses, the system was attended with evil, ai}d had' better b.p Lqcal option was a burning question, and had occupied the minds of Parliament of the Old Oountry for years. He thought that the principle of local option should be applied to new licenses, some said that it should also be applied to old licenses, and that hotels should be abolished at the will of the people, without compensation. IJerg was a difficulty. Eyeq Mr, Gladstone'had said recently that lie did not gee hisi'way to, ggt oyer this difficulty,' He (Mr. Jones) thought that the Good Templars and those who thought with them ahould be satisfied if. the principles of local option were applied to new lioenses only. The oessation to build hotels and the withdrawal of licenses from proprietors who misconducted their houses would soon make the hotels not only fewer in proportion to population, but better, and thg wishes of the Good Templfti'S and their sympathisers Would be thereby attained. There was another subject closely allied to this one, He referred to the constitution of Licensing Benohes. At present a Licensing Bench was a nominated body. He thought that the members of a Licensing Bench [should in some way be elected by tho people. He knew of instances of mon being placed on the Bench who h)id no, right to be th§re, as thoy wore interested in tho liquor traffic! One such instance had lately occurred in Oamaru. He did not refer to this because he did not appreciate the man, but because he did not approve of the principle involved. A gentleman in Oamaru, connected with tho liquor traffic, had recently been appointed to'the Licensing ilench. (No, no.) He ljelieved lie \yas wrong. He was informed that that ggntjeman had boon made a

Justice of the Peaco. Well, that was just

as bad. (Laughter.) If it was not tho case here, it was the case in other parts of the Colony. It was just as wrong for a man engaged in the liquor traffic to sit on the Bench as a J.P. as it was for him to sit on the Bench. The same principle was invohed and the same difficulties might arise. (A Voice : " How about a newspaper man?") He thought they could not put a bettor

man on the Bencli than a newspaperman. (Laughter.) He would refer shortly to the question of distilleries. Sir J lilies Vogel, shortly before he went abolished —bought out—the two distilleries established in the Colony. He did so because he thought the amount of tho Customs revenue had suffered. This was a short-sighted policy. (Hear, hear.) If they must have whisky let it be made in. the country, and let them know what is in it. Let it be made of grain grown in the country. (Applause.) What would be the effect if they had a distillery hero or in Dunedin 1 Our farmers who wero

now selling slightly discolored grain at n> loss would be able to dispose of it profitably. With regard to the readjustment of representation, he thought it should be effected on the basis of population, and that in this district there should bo two members for the country and ono for the town. Ho would refer briefly to the Native offico. Perhaps they would ask what had thoy to do with the Native office. A groat deal.

He referred to the question because it was said that the Grey Government had fostered a largo Native Department. The contrary was the case. That Government had discharged a number of Native Office officials. Sir William Fox charged tho

Government with having acted, unfairly towards these men, but his opinion was so biassed that it was worthless. This same gentleman, when reference was made to> the fact that his Ministry had not taken action in regard to tho Maori murders,, remarked in the House that the matter -

was unimportant—that a few young Maorii bloods had gone out during tho shooting season to bag game. This, was the language in which he referred to the murderers of Todd and Sullivan and the Poverty Bay maßsacro. A man who would talk thus coolly of such

horrible occurrences was not fit to be in Parliament. Mr. Reid had said that 11© man who was too poor to do without tho honorarium should be allowed to outer Parliament; that if a man was so poor as to require the honorarium he waß too poor to be honest. (" No," and cheers.) That was the purport of Mr. Reid's remarks. Mr. Reid had said that a poor man would be open to bribery, thereby implying that a rich man would not. Now, what did they find ? That the men who had been guilty of bribery were not poor men, but those who belonged to the wealthy lower orders. Supposing they admitted for tho sake of argument that a pocr man was liable to bribery, were not rich men also liable to bribery, and would it not bo better to pay the poor man's bribe of a. few pounds than tho rich man's bribe of several thousand acres of land. _ (A. Voice.—" Yes, make a railway for him.") Many of the best men that have ever been in Parliament were men who would never have been there had it not been for tho honorarium. While it was not sufficiently large to tempt a man to enter Parliament merely for the sake of its acquirement, or to undergo the trying ordeal he was then undergoing—-(laughter) —it was about sufficiently large to pay his expenses and to recompense him in some measure for the loss he incurred. Brains and riches did not necessarily go together. Ho had met. many men in the district who in point of intelligence would put to shame manw'' members of Parliament. Why s.houl'l such men be shut out of Parliament T IP' Mr. Reid had suggested that th,e honora-* rium paid to members of the Upper House, should be done away with, he would have* gained their sympathies. Of this h.e waa quite sure. He would now raako that suggestion and hoped to gain their sympathies, (Laughter.) These dregs of continuous ministries, whose only qualification is that they have supported someMMinistry should be satisfied with the bare Ipwor. He thought that the present system, of' nominating members of the \Fpper House, should be abolished, a.jy?, that should be elected fyom the Lower Ho.u,ae.

Supposing that fiye members were elQQtqd from the Lpwer House every year, an 4 five old members balloted out, would that not be a really good system, 1 Surely members of the House of Pepresentativea would know who in point of intelligence and honesty were best fitted for seats in the Upper House. That waa the reason why ho should prefer members of the Upper House being eleoted by the House of Representatives instead of by the peopl.Q. This system would also be less troublesome and less expensive. Referring tp, the electoral laws of the Qojoipy, hi?, there was in the meager $ brought forward by the Hall Minify owe. that b,Q would like to s<?e deleted, that was the property, qualification of X 25 whereby a political' schemer owning properties of that value in each of the electoral-dis-

tricts of the Colony could vote in asj lft\any. of those districts as he could 9A polling days. He could therefore out-, vote the roan who, minded his o.wn ness and simply reported his single voto. Tl\e question of land for the people was aii important one. Had Mr. Macandrew's soheme for constructing railways through the Crown lands of tho been carried out we should not, Uavo heard the cries raised by the uu en M?l o yed. this system the lands through which the railways tp, pass were to, be sp.ld tp pay a portion, of- the expense of Qonatruct-? ing these lines. The lands woro to be sold in agricultural areas, and village settlements which were t.a be alienated. On these latter wuuld be settled farm laborers whq would be available to farmers when required. He would tell them something? abo\\t the land transactions of the Atfcin-i son and Hall Governments. Three years, , ago the Atkinson Ministry were oJiarged with allowing speoulatora, acquire largQ I blocks of' native lands. An article was [published in tho Mail charging Mr. Whitaker with having used, or, rather, abused,| Wa position as Attorney-General to favor the acquirement of these lai\da, Out of this charge, which was at first reckoned a breach of the privileges' of tho House, arose a criminal against thft writer of the article iu the Mail which cost the Grey Qovernment came into, power they ; issued a proclamation closing land's to, privatei speculators, and they i should' only be alienated tp the Government. But when the Hall Government supplanted them they abrogated this proclamation, and the land rings resumed their operations. One of the blocks that the land speculators were attempting acquire was called Patetere, Vra^ situated north of consisted of 300,000 aaros. attempt was latyty. made to pass this blpck through tl\o Na* tiye tSourts, but in conaequonoe of errors'in the survey, he understood that only 100,000 had "been passed through.

Other blocks oalled Petere and Murimoto

engaged the attentions of certain of thesq speculating rings. These and other bloc,kg comprised about 1,000,000 aorea, and werej worth in round numbers about L5,00D,000. Why should any qot of men fee 'permitted to acouiro thege land's and soil them tq agriculturists at'an enormous profit 1 Why should' not the Government buy ths9Q lands as the Qrey Government intonded to do and pp,cket any profit that might be realisable in order to pay something towards the dobt incurred in constructing

railways and carrying out other processes of colonisation'( Those lands belonged to the country, and not to lang rings, They had all heard of the Piako Slwamp transi aotion, 'Jplie Atkinson Government had beon charged with having improperly sold this laud to Mr, Thomas liussell, Mr,

"Whitaker, and others, at half-a-crown an acre Thi3 Government said, m defence, that" the land was-worth nothing, and that those who were making the gieafc outcry would not take it at a gift. Bnt this land had been bought for L 13,000. It consisted of 78,000 acres, and, including t.ie whole of the purchase-money and improvements, cost the purchasers LBi ,wu. Vet it had been sold by them to an English company for 1300,000. (Sensation.) That was villainous ; it was robber. A man who puts his hand into Vpocket and extracts therefrom a few shillings i 3 punished, while men who ha robbed the country of hundreds of thousands of pounds were allowed to govern or, rather, misgovern us. (Applause.) They should rise as one man. and put down such practices. I.t.was not a question of policy. What did Sir. Whitaker say during the debate on the breach of privilege to which he had referred He siid that either Jones or he should be in the building on the hill, meaning the "Wellington Gaol. He (Mr. Jones) was aconitted, and Mr. Whitaker was adjudged nulty, and, by his own confession, should be in the building on the hill. (Applause.) In reference to the Murimotu block, he said the speculators had for years endeavoured to acquire it, but without success so far. The other day Major Kemp, who had a large interest in this block, who was a loyal native, and who fought during the native war in a manner that did honor to the darkskin, opposed these land speculators in the acquirement of this block, and w~s dismissed by the Government, at the instigation of the speculators, from the public service. It was a shame that such a man, for sticking up for his own rights, should be dismissed from the service. (Loud and prolonged applause.) He had not yet done with these land transactions. There was the Te Aroha block. Mr. Thomas Russell, during the reiiin of the Grey Government, applied foAo,ooo acres of this estate, basing his claim upon a promise which he alleged had been made by Mr. James Mackay, native lands purchase commissioner, during the reign of the Atkinson Ministry, that if he withdrew from the purchase of a block of land which the Government was endeavoring to acquire from the natives, he should have the 40,000 acres referred to as compensation. When they came to consider that the principal portion of the lands bought by the Atkinson Government were clay hills, and that Te Aroha block consisted of some of the finest land of the Colony, it would be apparent to them that another most wrongful act had been committed. The Grey 3 Government did not, of course, acquiesce in this unreasonable demand ; bnt it was believed the matter was being considered by the present Government, ami they would no doubt know all about it after the block had gone.—(Laughter.) Sir Boyle Roach once said, " I smell a rat; I see him floating in the air.—(A Voice, " Where, where, where.") _ When he (Mr. Jones) heard that Mr. Whitaker had introduced into Parliament the Native Lands Contracts "Validation Bill, this sayin" occurred to him. He supposed the effect of this Bill would be to enable speculators to acquire the blocks of land npon which they had set their affections. There could be no doubt that if the present Government remained in power, these blocks of land, that would prove so tempting to the agriculturists of the Colony and onteide of the Colony—these lands, some of which the agriculturists whom the Lincolnshire delegates represented would gladly acquire—would go from us for ever. A great deal had been said about tin#Waimate Plains fiasco. The Grey jj'A.nment had attempted to obtain possession of this block, which was confiscated at the conclusion of the Maori war ; but the natives carted off the surveyors, and a great cry was raised that the Grey Government had caused native disaffection. When the Hall Government acceded to power, they sent the Constabulary to make roads at a cost of LGOO & ([ a y—roads the total cost of which, if completed, would be L 1,500,000. They anid, "We will settle the native difficulty." For this purpose not only did they proceed with this road, but they sent a Commission to investigate the dispute, which carried out the intentions of the Government by returning the whole of this land with the exception of some thickly timbered portions, which were reieived for agriculturists to settle upon. Thi3 was quite good enough for agriculturists, the only drawback being that it would cost L2O per acre to clear. He now say a few words about the Commissions. The Government were weak indeed when they delegated their duties to Commissions, and had exceeded their powers when they appointed these men at a ci at of nearly LIO,OOO to the country. Mr. Pyke had jn the Hiouse comically expressed his opinion of these Commissions. He said that the Ru.fi way Commission had gone to his district. He did not know wliy, because there was but one railway, and that had been sanctioned by Parliament. After travelling through a portion of the district in a closed vehicle, they proceeded to the top of what is now tailed Mount Pisgah, and with the Clntha, jshjsir Jordan, flowing below them, they viewed the land of promise afar off. They Bamped under the shade of a rock, where they left a number of porter bottles as a monument of their visit. Before leaving the district, they sent a delegate to inspect his house through a hedge, and they departed on the morrow before sunrise. With regard to the Local Industries Commissioners, he (Mr. Joues) thought a little local industry would do them good. (Laughter.) He had now arrived at the end of hia speech. (Loud applause.) He wished to be allowed to say that he reciprocated the happiness just expressed by them at the prospect of his speech being concluded. In conclusion he would Bay they had now heard the three candidates g?pres3 their opinions. They were now abld to form some idea of their merits. Be trusted they would act according to tfieir own judgment. If they thought him the best man, they should choose him—(applause); if not, they should phooge either Mr. Reid or Mr. Roberts. If it ere desired that he should retire irora the contest, he would do so with the greatest of pleasure. If they desired him to f* to HVeUington, he would be happy to them to the best of his ability. [Mr. Jones resumed hi*3 seat amidst loud and prolonged cheering.]

The Chairman then said that the candidate *l3 prepared to answer any question that might jas pat to him. He (the Chairman) that only one question would be put' at a time, and that questioners would pome forwarct to the platform. Aiter a pause, Mr- Robert Blair came forward, and proBssed a vote of confidence in Mr. Jones as a fit and proper person to represent the district ia the House of Representatives. This was seconded by Mr. Watson. The Chairman remarked that Mr. Jones tail no desire to burke any questions, and jnvited anyone who a question to ask to com., forward. An elector at the back of the hall asked if Mr. Jones wa3 in favor of the re-imposi-Koq of the tea and sugar duties. Hi*. Jone3 replied that if it were fonnd Receaaary, for the purpose of raising revenue to carry wi the work of government, he w ould not oppose the re-impo3ition of these Katies. He did not think the workingman would suffer if the duties were re-imposed, an d did not believe that they had gained anything by their removal. In reply to a question as to closing the Agent-General's office, Mr, Jones said that the Colony must be represented in some way at Home; but a v «y great saving in the expenditure which flow obtained might be effected by dismissing the numerous emigration agents travelling over the Home Country. He was in favor of a cessation of immigration until tte present surplus population had been wsorhed. (Applause.)

At this point an excited elector asked if, seeing that a holiday had been granted to the school children to attend the steeplechase, the candidate was in favor of engaginc a book-maker in the public schools. This was the signal for considerable uproar, which was again renewed as the elector stepped forward, waving his hat and gesticulating wildly. As soon as order had been restored, the fame elector asked, "Is there any analogy " but the remainder of Ilia remarks were lost amidst the laughter and stormy marks of disapprobation of the audience. Two or three times he endeavored to put the question, but the audience did not allow him to do so. Mr. Timothy O'Halloran then asked if Mr. Jones was in favor of granting aid to Catholic schools. Mr. Jones replied that his views on that question were well known. ere it possible, without damaging our rational education and without entailing additionnl expenditure, he would have no objection to giving assistance to the Catholics to educate their chidren in their own manner. The motion of confidence was then put, a show of hands being held up in its favor. Thi3 was followed by three cheers. On a show of hands being called against the motion, only one hand was held up, and the Chairman declared the motion carried. The announcement was greeted with three cheers* Mr. Jones, in thanking them for their vote of confidence, said that it more than compensated him for the trouble and anxiety he had undergone during his candidature. If they elected him, as he had no doubt they would do —(cheers) —he hoped they would never have reason to do other than cheer him. (Renewed cheers.) He then proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman. This was followed by three cheers, and the meeting terminated.

Mr. Hall's Sir G. Grey's Govt. Govt. Colonial Secretary's £245,243 Department £232, S53 Colonial Treasurer's Department 25,950 *22,400 Postmaster- General's ; Department 2S1.269 269,795 Native Department... 47,191 46,221 110,286 Justice 123,707 Customs . ... 101,177 S6,7S2 Stamps 26,163 25,4.65 Education 263,114 246,015 Surplus Land Fund 199,721 'Account ... ... 228,409 Public Works 726,971 6S4,701 Defence 137,929 215, S40