Political Addresses.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 144, 22 June 1904, Page 4

Political Addresses.

SXK WILLIAM ltl'SSl xi, AT HASTI-NCiS. XAPIEII, luik> 20. Sir William Russell, M. 1.R.. addressed his constituents at Hastings to-night. He briefly reft.rLd. in terms of regret, to the d«j»arune of Lord Kanfurly on the completion of his term as Governor, and i.lso to the illness of the Premier, who, he was glad to learn, was recovering. Ho alluded to the present prosperity of the colony, which, however, he attributed mainly to the industry ' and enterprise of the people, and not wholly to the efforts of one political party or another. Sir William said the battle of the next election would ,t>e the question of the freehold ten • lire versus the leasehold. Compulsory expropriation of settlers from -their lands had never found favour with his party. It was tyrannous and unjust. The taking of land un'der the Public Works Act was, oi course, necessary, but taking one man's land to give to another was 'not just. He considered the freehold better than tho leasehold, as no man would improve the land so much unless he had a freehold or right of purchase. He thou-lit i! U ' present system must inevitably break down of its own weight. J!e iJiewu j n the idea of putting- the ino.de on the land, though the co.-i a tadi case wuj: absurd; but if ihe policv was for one or two ii must be right for all. His idea wnw lo allow X0.000.00U for under the Land for Settlement Art. Every Crown tenant should e ihe right to acquire the fru'.-.M of his land when he thought m '■ , pa.\ing part of the principal wlun.-ur he was ai.l-. and thereby seeming - a reduction in his ■ rent. The principal so paid should not bo put to the general account, but a fund for the purchase of more land. The Government had announced themselves in favour of the leasehold. At the same time they had a Fair Rents Hill in their pockets which was only an insidious attempt to gut behind the 999 years' lease. The question of license would be brought up when Parliament met. and the sooner it was settled the better. He believed the only way lo obtain a satisfactory Legislative Council was by some form of eloc- , tiou. The Premier had stated a time back that the Legislative . Council was useless, yet out of a total cf 46 members 82 were appointed by the night Hon. R. J. Seddon. The question arose as to what would happen if tho Premier wero compelled to resign his position. He thought that if that was probable there would have to be a reconstruction, as Mr Seddon was the foundation on which the whole Ministerial superstructure was built, and his? removal would mean the struction of the edifice. He could not say, however, what form the reconstruction would be likely to take. He criticised the railway administration, and quoted the net profits .for tho years 1901, 1902, and 1903, which he stated were not calculated upon a proper basis. There should lie an amendment written ofT each year for deprecation, and moreover there were items charged to capital account which should have been charged to revenue account He stated that when all these wer«i taken into consideration it would be found the railways were not earning a profit at ail. He compared them with the Mauawatu line, the administration of which was on business lines. Captain Russell was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.

MR MASSEY AT HI'XTLY. HIJNTLY, June 21. The Littler of the Opposition, speaking here last night, expressed the hope that .Mr Seddon's health would he so improved as to enable •^ v to do justice to his position during the session ; but whoever was leader of the Mouse the Opposition would do its duty courteously and considerately, but firmly and thoroughly Mr Massey referred to Mr Seddon's statement that ii a majority oi lhe House curried an amendment on tho Land Act to provide for the right of the freehold being to Crown tenants he would ask for a dissolution. The Leader of the Opposition said ho did not think the deieat oi the Government 011 any one U/iestion, however imjiortant, was sufficient to justiiy dissolution being asked lor by the Government or granted by tho Governor. iie explained full.v his position on tlu.-I'ree-hold question, ami t.aid he took it as that the. .Minister for Lands has protnisitl to introduce a Homestead Pill, which the Opposition had advocated in and out of Parliament, lie advocated putting money from the sale of Crown lands into a land fund to be used for the purchase of more land, as the necessities of .settlement required. Mr Massey was prepared to stand or /ail by the freehold, and he would never rest until the settlers on Crown lands, speaking generally, had the opportunity of purchasing tho land they occupied. He urged that Maoris should K- placed legally in the same position as Europeans, • tyifunintJ with 'the old settled districts and gradually extending *,to the whole colony. Mr Massey also dealt with the finances of the colony, contending that in the past borrowed money had been spent on fads and extravagances, and that for the future borrowing should be resorted to only for absolutely necessary purposes. He believed if ever there was a time when economy in public affairs was necessary it was now. fie condemned the present system of Parliamentary parties as wasteful and corrupt, and advocated paying Government subsidies to local bodies in proportion to the rates they collected, giving the highest eufasidy to the local body that struck the highest rate. He condemned the Government for legislating last session to ]>rovide for a second local option poll when a first was declared invalid, and closed by claiming that tho Opposition had as much sympathy with the working man and was more liberal and democratic than the Government. At the close Mr Massev was accorded a vote of thanks.'