POLITICAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 139, 4 August 1911, Page 7

POLITICAL.

MU JOSEPH McCLUGGAGE AT WHANG A. (Special to “Stratford Post.”) Mr Joseph McCluggago, J.P., who on tlio present occasion is in the held as the Liberal candidate to oppjse the sitting member (Mr J. 13. Hine, M P ), for tlie Stratford seat at the coining General Election, addressed a crowded and enthusiastic meeting in the Public Hall last night. The chair was occupied by Mr AAk A. McCntchan, who briefly introduced Mr McCluggago to the audience as a man already well and favourably known to most of ilieiu. introductory. Mr. McCluggago, who was well received, said he came before them that •night for the first time to solicit their support in the coming Parliamentary election contest, and to outline the policy lie should advocate. In the first place he was a Liberal, and always had been one, and if returned as Member for Stratford should, give his strongest support to the present administration. Ho would do so because the present Government’s policy was progressive, that it was a sound and settled policy and that it had placed legislation on the Statute Book that had benefited the whole of the people of the Dominion. Since coming 10 the dh.lriot some eighteen j years ago, he had always taken 'a keen interest in opening the backcountry for close settlement with good roads and bridges. The reading of : tlio hack country at the present time j was of the utmost importance to enable the farmers to successfully compete in the markets of the world, and lie would always . ho found supporting a progressive reading policy. Land tenure was nothing compared to good access to enable the .farmers to get their stock in and out to the markets and to get " their produce to the ' sea-board.' They had been well treated by the policy of the Liberal Government. Twenty years ago two or three men held all the land between! (I’pko and the AA Thangamomona Saddle. The Liberal Government came into power in 1891, and John McKenzie passed his famous ’92 Land Bill, which altered the j whole phase of land settlement as far as Taranaki’s hack country is concerned, and the AA’hangamomona settlement was a standing monument to that far-seeing statesman. Land Policy. >. The Conservative Party would tell thorn that the present Government had no land policy and that intending applicants cannot get tile freehold j from the present Government. There was no truth in these statements. The position was that two tenures out of three in the 1892 Land Act gave the freehold tenure, and two tenures out of three in the 1908 Land Act gave the freehold tenure. Any person of 17 years of age, landless men getting preference, could apply to the Crown and take up 060 acres of first-class hind, nr 2000 acres of second-class land, or 5000 acres of third-class land as the case may lie, under purchase for straight-out cash, that was the freehold absolutely; or secondly to take up an 0.11. P. lease with the right to purchase, practically the same as the deferred payment, only with, much hotter terms for the fanner, as; he only pays 5 per cent, on the capital value of the laud, and after ten years and up to twenty-five can purchase tiie freehold jthirdly, a man could take up a lease for 66 years with a perpetual right of renewal for further successive terms of 66 years, at a rental of -I per cent on the capital value, and if the present lessee did not wish to renew the lease the State guaranteed and paid him compensation for improvements. Under the old Act the Slate did not guarantee any com- j neusation for improvements. Tins j would ho a serious loss to the out- ■ going tenant, rts in bush country if i t;«o land were idle for twelve months ilia improvements disappeared to a certain extent throng!! fern and scrub coming up. The Land Board had power, with the consent of the Minister of Lands, to offer land under the improved F.S. conditions. Under this system landless men without capital got hind without competition. The Government found the land and allowed them the current rate per acreto fall tire hush, found them the grassseed and allowed the current rate per acre to sow it, and allowed up to CMO to build their first wnare to make a start with, the whole amount being capitalised and the tenant paving I per cent on the total. 'i here was no other country in the world whore a man with a family had such good chances to got on the lan k ’! hen tlio lands for settlement tenure was for men with money. The Government purchased large privately-owned improved estates, cut the land up in-

to suitable areas, roadod it and offered it to tlio farmers' ai a rental of 5 per cent on the capital cost This had been done more lor land settlement in the South Island, whore the land was hold in larger air-as than any other tenure, and had proved very successful for the formers. There was also the Land Settlement Finance Amendment Act, whereby five or more intending settlers with plenty of farming experience and little capital could negotiate for a block of land of not j less-than 2;30 acres and, provided that | the Government A'aluer agrees upon the price, the Government will purchase the land, the applicants only finding 4 per cent on the capital cost, getting twenty years to pay off the balance. They only pay ki per cent, interest on tho money and 1;J per cent sinking fund, making a total oi G per cent altogether, and tho whole lot is paid off in twenty years. Tho settlor can individualise .his title, or hold it in common just as it suits him. There was no truth in the Opposition cry that intending settlers cannot get the freehold of their land. There were tenures and terms to suit all classes, whether they had money or not. The Opposition put tho position very unfairly before the country. He would strongly support giving L.I.P. settlers the freehold of the land, under the following conditions, j viz. 1 pm’ cent mi the original value i of the land, that would put them in i the same petition as the O.Jtt.ik set- ! tiers . The people who went into our hack country years ago, and underwent all sorts of hardships and privations, and, with their wives and families, cut off from all social intercourse for months at a time, deserved every consideration from the country, but his honest opinion was, that a farmer with an L.I.P. lease was very foolish to convert it. It was, without a doubt, the best tenure in the world for a tenant: a 999 years’ lease ’at" a peppercorn rental, and no revaluation. However, if those people want the freehold, he said let them have it, as tho Government had always got the right to tax the land and stop the aggregation of largo estates going on again. The Lend Beard. Ho had been helping to administer the Crown Lands of Taranaki for the last ton years as a member of the Taranaki Land Board, and could say, without fear of contradiction, that the Government had done, and was doing, all it possibly could to get and keep genuine settlers on tho land. He held that residential conditions should not he relaxed to allow a registered substitute to comply with the residence clause,, which would enable tho sons of farmers and townspeople to take up land who, for domestic and other reasons, could not reside, while it would not handicap other settlers who wished to reside. The co-openl-tive works, tho advances to settlers, and tho Crown lease had done more to successfully settle the Crown Lands of the Dominion with genuine small settlers than all tlio land legislation ever passed or suggested by tho Conservative Party. AVhon did they ever spend one hour in their lives in trying to get at a workable scheme to put men on the land without capital? .They never had. In fact they laid always done the opposite by consistently voting against and condemning all the useful measures passed by the Liberal Government to successfully settle the lauds of tho Dominion. He would not favour touching t'nc National Endowment kinds, as he hold they could not have too many endowments for such purposes as for the education of their children and old ago pensions. There was a feeling with banks and money-lenders, that the L.I.P. was not a good sernn’ty to lend money on. red tea ay a I';:’ race had been severely handicap;', d an that a.enuni. rlej

Viuuiu the (joxej-jim.mt ! Advances to Settlors Office lea., >ll ■ > ! Crown i .smuts uj> !•' ii* pe ■ cent >h , the value ot their land, uisum! of three-fifths as at present. That would put the Crown tenants in as pood a position as the freeholders, financially. Sir .James Carroll had been - blamed by the Opposition for not throwing open the native lands for land 'speculators and syndicates, but he was sure that the historian of the future would give Sir James Carroll very great praise for the masterly way he had administered the native lands during the time that ho has been Native Minister. What was the position? Say the Native Minister had allowed free trade in native lands up the Main Trunk line fifteen years ago, the whole of that vast area would have been mopped up by land speculate.)s and syndicates, and future settlers would have had to pay many pounds per aero goodwill to get on the land. The natives would not have benefited and the

Dominion would not have benefited, although tho money to build the railway came out of consolidated revenue. Ho was sure that the Native Minister’s land policy had boon a good one for the people. Native L~nds Act. The native lands of the Dominion were now dealt with, except in a few exceptional cases, under the Native Lands Act, 190;), the main feature of which is the throwing open of all native lands, by removing restrictions from Crown grants, etc. A procedure for alienation can bo arranged for as follows: Firstly, with the native owners; secondly, by Maori Land Hoards as trustees for the owners ; thirdly, a committee of incorporated owners; fourthly, by a resolution of assembled owners. To prevent the aggregation of large estates by individuals, and deciding classification, etc. Roughly speaking, the area of the Dominion was 60,000,000 acres. On December 31st, 1908, only 7.500.000 acres were hold in the interests of tho natives, and on the 31st December, 1910, the amount was reduced to 6,037,128 acres. Of this area, 3,232,676 acres were being properly occupied, leaving a balance of 2,801,d02 acres, which area was now being dealt with by way of survey, there being over seventy survey staffs in the field, cutting up tho balance. When it was considered that there arc 41.000 Maoris in Now Zealand there was thus a very small area per head of unused native lands. If Mr Massey knew whore all this native land was, why did ho not tell the people P Simply because it docs not exist. co-operative WosKs. He believed in the system of carrying out Public Works on tho co-op-erative system, which was the fairest for the men, and the cheapest for the taxpayer. Ho was speaking with seventeen years’ experience on these works, and knew all tho virtues and all the weaknesses of tho system, but if properly carried out it was the best. It materially helped small settlers, just when a few pounds of ready money might be urgently required. Pic admitted that the men on these back country, works wore not paid sufficient for their work, when one took into consideration tho high cost of provisions and the hard way they had to live. What was the use of, say, 8s per day in the Tangarakau Gorge, whoyc tho cost of provisions was so high ? After years’ experience on these works it was mighty hard for a married man to pay In’s way and bo honest on 8s per day, and wet weather time stopped, was all he could say, and tho sooner this was recognised the better. If returned ha would use his best endeavours to induce the Government to pay the same rate of pay to the co-operative workers as private individuals in the district pay, which was not being clone at the present time. Still, with all these drawbacks, the co-operative works wore easily tho fairest for the men and the cheapest for the taxpayers. To prove this, in some cases where the Government called tenders for Public Works, tho prices asked for are such that they were refused and tho work done under tho co-operative system and the work done more cheaply. It was proved by statistics that whore wages are good the fanners are doing well, and the farmers arc the backbone of tho country. When tho farmers and workers are doing well the business people and the rest of the community must bo prosperous and doing well also. Reading nr.d Bridging. Ho would strongly advocate tho Government borrowing more money or issuing State notes to carry on tho development of our back country, and to expedite tho opening up of the same, and tho spending of, say, half a million a year on these important works. It would take half a million to open up properly Taranaki’s back country, and all this large area in first class grazing land. By doing this the Dominion would ho making a good sound investment, and it would l)e good business also for tho settlors,. With our hack country properly opened by good roads and bridges, the railway running through it, and the harbour completed at New Plymouth, it is easy to picture what a prosperous and contented province Taranaki would be. He had always been a strong believer in the future of this favoured province, but they must get the back country opened up more quickly. They bad a splendid future, better than most people realised. It only required a forward reading policy to bring about increased prosperity. Under the Workmen’s Wages Act workmen can now Ire sure of getting their wages in full, by tho wages being made a first charge on tho contract, and making the principals responsible for thirty days alter the completion of the contract. This was a vast difference to what it was previous to the Liberal Government passing this Act. when any man could take a con Tact, put on a hundred wages me . and work two Months, then draw 75 per cent of all work done and do the Pacific slope, lotting the storekeepers and wages men whistle for their money He had been treated like that himself once and so know all about'it, 1 hen take the position of girls and young women in factories previ ni-.’y 1( tho Factories Act being passed ly tin Liberal Government. Girls were tak-

eu on at nothing per week lor six to twelve months on probation. AI the end of their prohati a mry period they got half-a-c Town per week fm six months with the promise of a further rise of 2s Gd per woof: at the end of that time. But what happened When they asked for their first rise of 2s Gd per week they generally get dismissed, and another hatch engaged at the old rate of nothing at all. Since Hie lAutoiier; Ae! was passed hy Ihe Liberal (irvernment, no hoy or girl was allowed to work' in anv factory

under the minimum wage, and a halfholiday per week was given, and work was done under proper sanitary conditions. He knew of strong, healthy young women whose health had been rained through working long hours in factories under insanitary conditions in the good old Conservative days. The Liquor Question. Speaking on the liquor question, lie said it was not necessary to say that lie had always been a temperate man, and had no sympathy with the abuse of strong drink, but bo thought all great reforms were worth some sacrilico, and he would support a bare majority on the national vote, provided the hotel-keepers got seven years m which to close up, and no further licensing poll to be taken >or sm eii years after that. He though; that last year’s Act should lie given a fair chance. He thought that more strict supervision should bo bad to er hotels by appointing inspectors and allowing them to enter any hotels any hour, and take samples of liquor from the bar and store room, and seal up in the presence of the licensee and send the liquor to Wellington to lie analysed, and if, upon being analysed, it was found to bo adulterated with anything injurious to public health, ho would cancel the licensee’s license and prosecute him in addition. Experimental Farm. Ho would support, and strongly advocate a State experimental farm in Stratford. These farms arc of exceptional value to the farmers from an educational point of view, and Stratford was the centre of the largest area of dairying land on the coast, and with the railways, soon to run north, south ,east and west we should have a State farm in Stratford. The Hon. T. Mackenzie, who was a good, live Minister for Agriculture, a man who had done an immense amount of good for the farmers of this country by exposing the beef trust at Home some years ago, deserved the thanks and confidence of the farmers of the Dominion for all time, and ho thought that if Mr Mackenzie were apnroached he would see the advisability of starting a State experimental farm in central Taranaki. That would mean Stratford. l.'e vor Id support the creation of a Department of Forestry to encourage and control the growth of our new forests, to replace the ones that are fast disappearing. From a climatic point of view, also, this would be good business for the Dominion. Immigration. Ho would support the Government bringing out a limited number of British immigrants every year, and thought that people who were already in the country and who had relatives at Home wishing to come out should be allowed to nominate them here and bring, them out free of cost. lie had mot several people on the Public Works at Whangamomona who had told him they had 1 strong healthy young brothers and sisters at Home they would like to bring out only the cost was 100 great, and he thought that in those cases those people should lie allowed to bring their relatives out, free of cost,, providing they are healthy and strong.' Nurses for Back-Blocks. The Government has gone a long way in humanitarian legislation, but in back-country isolated settlements they should go still further, by way of providing registered and qualified nurses in midwifery. Ho knew from experience the anxious time it is for married' people, where the mother lias to go a long way to a centre, and most cases to leave a family of young children behind with no domestic help, and lie would advocate the Government setting aside endowments of land up to 1000 acres, scattered over our hack settlements, the rent to go towards paying the salary, any deficiency to bo made up by the Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards out of rates. The Ministry. They had a Government in power in this country at the present time that any country in the world might I>o proud of. Where would they get a.better financier or a more humane man than the present Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, a man who had used tho whole of his wonderful ability and energy to uplift tho people of his country, and where would they get a better man than the Hon. J. Millar, Minister for Labour P Mr, Millar had fought the battle of the workers twenty years ago, against tremendous odds. Ho was a man who knew both sides of the picture of life, and his sympathies were as strongly with the workers to-day as ever they wore. Where would they get a more energetic or • better farmers’ man than the Hon. I. Mackenzie? Mr. Mackenzie had spent tho whole of his political life in the interests of tho farmers of this country. Where would they get a more practical man than tho Hon. R. McKenzie, Minister for Mines and Public Works, and so on with all tho Ministers. They were good, sound, practical, connnonscnso men. Tho Opposition was going round flic country, not giving the people politics, hut imputing ail sorts of impure motives to the present Government and its supporters. Ho said where you get a body of men in public 1 ito that cannot sec any good whatever in their opponents it showed that, they have not got a mind as big as a pigeon’s, and therefore they were not capable of looking after the destiny of this enlightened an 1 democratic country. Other Matters. Mr McClnggr.go also dealt at length with taxation, the public debt, and other financial aspects, contending that the Government was adopting a sound business policy in its finance. He supported (lie present system of education, hut behoved teachers to he underpaid in country schools. He

did not think the Upper House could bo improved upon, so far as tire system of nomination war. concerned. He did not think a Civil Service Board would he in the best interests of the Civil Service or of tiro public. He considered the railways wore, all tilings considered, well run, but would support obtaining a General Manager from America, as that country was so far ahead in railway' matters. Mr. McClr.ggage also traversed the Opposition platform and compared it with the Government’s policy. Ho also spoke at length ou the country’s prosperity, giving figures and tables in support of his statements and thought tho facts be adduced ought to bo a sufficient answer to the Opposition that the country was going to the dogs. In conclusion, they would pardon him for saying that 'luring the seventeen years he bad been amongst them he had never, knowingly, done any person a disbnourablo action. He may have differed with muiio of thorn, but he had always gone on the lines that if ho could not do a man a good turn he would not do him a bad one, but would leave him severely alone. Ho intends to fight this election free from all personalities, so whether ho won or lost, no person could say that be had treated his opponent in a contemptuous manner. He was a Now Zealander, and, if returned, he would do his very best at all times for the Dominion as a whole, not forgetting Taranaki. Ho bad finally 7 to thank them all for their very kind reception of himself, and l or their attendance that evening. (Applause.) On resuming his seat, Mr McCiuggage was cheered loudly, and the Allowing resolution, proposed by Mr W. G. Glceson, and seconded by Mr J. Barry, was carried unanimously 7 sir debt applause:—“That this meeting express its best thanks to' Mr Joseph McCluggage for his able and instructive address, and has every 7 confidence in him as being worthy to represent this constituency 7 in the Liberal I'arty's interests.”