POLITICAL ADDRESS. MR T. THOMPSON BEFORE HIS CONSTITUENTS. Auckland, May 22.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 371, 25 May 1889, Page 3

POLITICAL ADDRESS. MR T. THOMPSON BEFORE HIS CONSTITUENTS. Auckland, May 22.

Mr Thos. Thompson, M.H.R. for Auckland North/ addressed the electors of Auckland North at the Temperance Hali, Albert-street, last evening. Thero was a fairly good attendance, and Mr J. J. Holland occupied the chair. Mr, Thompson, on coming forward, was' received with applause. He said that he proposed to refer to somo of the leading events of the past two sessions, in order that thoy might judge whether he had redeemed promises mnde when last before the electors. Then the colony was in a serious state of depression, and certain matters received particular attention at the hands of the elector*. Theresults of the last election attirmod that it was not desirable that the late Colonial Treasurer should entor upon another term ot offico ; that very drastic retrenchment, beginning at the top of the tree, was desirable ; and that protection was of vital importance. There was also considerable discussion as to whethor we wore to continue borrowing or whether the borrowing system was to be tapered off. He (Mr Thompson) pledged himself not to support any Government if it included the late Colonial Treasurer, to support retrenchment and She protection of local industries, and to oppose further borrowing. When Parliament met, a meeting of those pledged against the return to power of

SIR JULIUS VOGEL was held, and the present Premier was present at that meeting. It was agreed that there wab no man who could form a Ministry in the Houso with a working majority except Sir Hairy Atkinson, and Sir George Grey was of rhe same ouinion. The present Promier formed a Ministry, and one of the first questions gone into ' was the reduction of the Governor's salary and the salaries of the members of both Houses, An attempt was made to upset the Government by forcing hasty legislation in the direction of protection, and a meeting was held for that purpose at which a resolution was passed. He (Mr Thompson) objected to the word •' insist"' in that resolution, beeauso he had, with others, pledged himseli to support the Premier, on condition that he promised to deal with the tariff early in the following session. A deputation was appointed to wait upon the Premier, and he repeated this promise.

FINANCES, at this fcime, were rather in a mess, and it was necessary that an effort should be made to make up deficiencies, and to provide for works which had previously Deen charged to loan. Consequently the Customs tarifl, as revised by the Government, while having in view protection of local industries, was necessarily regulated to some extent for revenue purposes.

REDUCTION OF SALARIES. Early in the session efforts were made t° effect retrenchment in salaries, and tteh c greatest difficulty was experienced. After considerable opposition from various / quarters material reductions were made in the Governor's salary and also in the salaries and travelling expenses of Ministers. (Applause.)

THE REPKESENTATION ACT. During the session the Representation Act was passed, and reduced ths number of members in the House by 21. The number was formerly 95, and it was now 74, including the native members. He (Mr Thompson) voted for that reduction, which he considered reasonable. He 1 did not think further reduction wise. It was said that an attempt would be made to reinstate the old numbernext session, but he did not think it ad*.* visable that this should be permitted.

CUSTOMS DUTIES BILL. In the Financial Statement the Premier stated that the Government had given every attention to the Customs Duties Bill and to retrenchment, by which they had made consideiable reduction in expenditure. He did not think they had gone so far as they might have gone, but he gave them credit for having made a step in the righc direction. (Applause.) A committee was formed to watch the reduction of the estimates, etc., and they were known as

THE "SKINFLINT" COMMITTEE. ■ He believed that the object of some of ' the members of that Committee was to em- ] barrass the Government by an amendment ] which was brought forward by Mr Withy, < of Newton, "That the Government be '• requested to reduce the estimates by £100,000." It was pointed out by the Premier that this could not be given effect to unless small salaries were interfered ' with, and that he did not think this ( was the desire of constituencies. Some ' of the Committee were satisfied, and ( Mr Withy asked leave to withdraw his j amendment. Others declined to grant Mr ] Withy leave to withdraw his amendment, ' j and he was placed in the peculiar position of having to vote against his own resolu- ' tion. Some of the members who were then ' crying loudly for retrenchment were not- * able for extravagance on subsequent occa- ' sions. One member, for instance, voted 1 for Mr Maxwell's salary remaining a,t ( £1,000 instead of £800, as stated in the ' new Bill. (Dissent.) 1

NO FURTHER BORROWING. The last loan that; was raised was supposed to square up all outstanding matters, and a piomise was then given tfoab 'there should be no further borrowing for three years. It was not understood that there would be an attempt to upset that decision, and he (Mr Thompson) thought it the duty of members to strenuously oppose any move in this direction. (Applauae.) He had opposed any increase in the tea duty, and in reference to

EDUCATION, he said it was the last thing that should be meddled with. He thought that secondary education should be made self-support-ing before the primary system was interfered with, and he had opposed both the proposed decrease of the school ago and reduction ot standards. (Applause.) He preferred the former alternative, but had a decided objection to interfere with either. (Applause.)

PROPERTY Y. LAND TAX. He was entirely opposed to the property tax, and would substitute a land tax and, if necessary, an income tax. (Applause.) He had been told by a speculator with £60,000, that, after learning of the operation of the property tax, he declined to invest in property here, and took his money elsewhere. Reference had been made by Mr Cadman, M. H. R. , to the Kapanga Goldmining Company, and their assessment at £106,000, the result of which was to deter capitalists from coming to the colony. (Applause.) Sir Charles Clifford, a very old colonist, speaking at a meeting in London, made special reference to the Government tax upon the investment of capital in New Zealand. (Applause.) His feelings were the same now as they always were, and he thought it urgent that members should press for an alteration in the incidence of taxation. So far he had given the Ministry a gene-

ral support, but when a straight issue on this question was put before him he- would vote for the abolition of the property tax and substitution *of a land and income tax no matter what should be the result to any Government.

INCREASED PROSPERITY. Ib was gratifying to note chat bhero had been an inci'eased prosperity in the colony throughout the last year, and that a great deal of land had been taken up. He thought the village settlement scheme •had answered its purpose, and that it would still prove successful if the right people were placed on the land. T^hey were told that there had been a saving" in expenditure and an incjreaso in revenue with an available surplus of 1)77,000. Whether that was a surplus or not he could not say, but the money was there, and "a rose by any other, name would smell as sweet."

HATING ACT AMENDMENT. There was a necessity for an amendment in the Rating Act in consequence of the losses sustained by properly-owneis through the sale of land for rales without due care having been taken to inform i them of their liability. He knew of instances in which property had been unnecessarily sacrificed in this way. There were people who would not pay rates, and ho had no sympathy for them, but he thought it very wrong that the local bodies should be able to uso the Act for collection of their rates, lie hoped that something would be done in tho direction of amending the Act. (Applause. )

PERPETUAL LEASE. ' He wished in passing to say a word aboub the perpetual lease system. The lapd taken up under tho perpetual lease system was greater than that taken up under all the other systems of the colony throughout the year, and he recognised that the perpetual lease system was the most advantageous in many respeccs.

RAILWAY .MANAGEMENT. The question of railway management had received due consideration. He (Mr Thompson) had stated that lie was prepared to give Mr Vaile's scheme a trial, and he did all he could do to make it compulsory upon the Commissioners to give that scheme a trial. He pressed the matter to a division, but failed. He regretted that- this was so, because the railway management had been so bad that he thought any new scheme should have a trial. Regarding the appointment of Commissioner he (Mr Thompson) did not approve of the selection made, especially as two of the number were Civil servants. Ho would have strenuously opposed Mr Maxwell's appointment, and he felt; sure that the House would never have passed that Bill had they known that MiMaxwell was to be one of the Commissioners.

EARLY CLOSING. The Shop Hours Bill was introduced by Mr Joyce, a Lyttelton member, bhe object being to compulsorily close shops, with very few exceptions, at 6 o'clock. While he (Mr Thompson) was at Wellington he regretted to say that his friends were led to believe fchafc he was opposed to the Bill. When Mr Joyce iound that there was strenuous opposition to the Bill he set about amending it, and the outcome of the whole matter was that Mr Joyce pleased nobody and lost the Bill into the bargain. What he (M r Thompson) objected to in reference to the Bill was that it would compel struggling tradesmen in the outskirts who employed no labour to close their places of business at 6 o'clock. (Applause.) He wae prepared to go this far, however, that the Bill should deal with all shops and establishments where labour was employed, which should <be closed at six 'o'clock. (Applause.) He had always yofed in favour of the Eight Hours Bill, and would always do so.

ROCKS AHEAD. They had heard different opinions lately as to' what the' next session would bring forth,, and there 'were no doubt a good many , troubles -ahead for the Government. One "was the Electoral Bill, amalgamation the city electorates. He was opposed to this Bill, believing that the single electorates were more desirable, on the score of expense in the contesting of elections. There was also the split in the Cabinet and the Te Kooti affair, which would cause a good deal of talk, the appointment of a Chiet Judge and of a Customs expert (Mr Shannon). These were troubles ahead upon which he had suspended his decision. There would also be a deal of trouble about the property tax and about the Charitable Aid Bil'.

NOT A DISSOLUTION. The question as to whether there would be a dissolution had been discussed. He (Mr Thompson) did not believe there would be a dissolution, for one reason — because there were twenty-one members who knew they would not go back, and because there was no cohesion amongst the Oppo&ition. The Ministry were doiny fairly well, probably because it was pressed upon them, and there were men of considerable ability in the House. They only lacked experience, and he believed at the next general election young New Zealand would take a very prominent place in the politics of the colony. (Applause.) In Canterbury the young men took considerable interest in politics, and were making their mark.

PROMISES FULFILLED. Looking at the past two sessions from all points of view, he felt that he had fulfilled all his promises, and also' that he could give the present Ministry a general suppoit upon all questions barring 1 the property tax. (Applause.)

QUESTIONS. The Chairman theninvited questions, and several were handed in, the answers being as follows : — He thought it reasonable that there should be an export duty on unsorted gum if it could be shown that any large quantity was sent away in that way. (2) He had already moved re an export of baulk timber, and the Ministry had promised to deal with the matter when ib became serious. (3) He was opposed generally to monopolies of every kind, but could not fairly say thab he would oppose the Gas Company's Bill until he had seen a copy of it. (4) He was nob avvaro that indecent pictures had been raffled by a Civil servant, and he thought such charges should be sent to the proper quartors, not made, anonymously. (5) He objected to the alienation of any part of the Domain for charitabloaid or other purposes. (6) If the Harbours Bill for the purpose of dealing with New Plymouth Harbour were brought up again, he would vote against it ; he did nob think local bodies should be encouraged to raise money to pay interest on loans. (7) Ho did not get £100 a year for his services as Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee, that payment Having been abolished. Mr Simmonds proposed, "That this meeting returns a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Thompson for his able and instructive address on the proceedings of last session, and expresses its satisfaction in Mr Thompson as its member." The motion was seconded by MrQuinnand carried unanimously amidst applause. Proceedings terminated with a vote of thanke to the Chairman, '