The Taranaki Seat.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7959, 24 October 1905, Page 2

The Taranaki Seat.

MJt 11. OJvBYi'S CANDIDATURE. There) was a fairly) large attendance at t.lio Theatre Royal on Monday evening, when ill- 11. Okey addressed thi! electors. The. chair wa« taken by,the Mayor (Mr K. Cock). INTUOIH'CTOUY. The candidate, who spoke foiv over an hour ami a half ami was I'rcsjjicutly npplaudwl, explained that he had promised at last «l«ot-it-n ■ to funic forward again on the present occasion. Dealing .with his political altitude, the- candidate wont on to make it clear that be canio forward as an Independent,, with a leaning! towards tile Opposition, mainly on account of their land policy. Since he stood Jor the last electirn 'he bad continued to take an active interest in public matters, ami was convinced that if the town uiifHiHslnet 'Wore to advance it must be 'by 'a progressive land policy. He was nod a great believer in parly Government, believi'ng that as thv people electa! l'aiii'anvent, that 'body should elect

the Ministry.,' It 'W"dKy a humiliating spectacle,! to) s-ee [numbers sinking their principles on the freehold question ah the ■dictate of the Premier, some members apparently considering that their pledge to the Premier was of more account than that to constituents, lie maintained that the party must take second place to the country. In speaking on the political questions he would avoid personalities, because as the business of the House w-as to »i large 'extent done in the lobby, it was unwise to introduce personal feeling. Mr Okey

explained that he had 'delayed meeting the electors as he considered the sitting niem|l«ei'. should give an 'account ol'i his 1 stewardship. While criticising the Government' right and left, the candidates who toad previously spoken wound up 'by declaring themselves Government supporters, and the present moinbeilwas known as a 'OSoverumeirt supporter no matter what was put forward. LAND QUESTION

The main question that concerned this district was Mho settlement oi native ami Crown lands, and he nvaiirtainod that the Government had tan found (waiiling! in this direction. The Opposition, imade this question one of the leadfng plants of their plalfor-m, anil he would support thi'ir land policy. Tire Governnient policy on i this' iifueslion] had been one of stagnation, land u change was necessary- Prosperity could only come to Taranaki 'by u progressive jjolicy of bjriivgiing into cultivation , the thousands of acres of waste and idle iands. As only half the lawls in Nvw 'Zealand wern occupied) tile possibilities were very great, and live districts retjuired more representation by those in sympathy with the producers. lie favoured the repeal of the Alaori Council Act, and the'Urrnging into force of a measure to deal will) Maori 'lands, on the lints now ,'being discussed, at the earliest; possible 'moment. Jlewa.s a strong supporter of '.the fix-chokl, and favoured the re-iniroduelion ol lite deferred payment system, under which Inglewood was settled. The payments should be extended over a period of 'M to 2~> years, instead of JO or It years »r in the past. This gave the man- with .small capital a belter chance of success. The holders of land under (lease in perpetuity should 'be placed in a position! to tic-fore the freehold, as they were under tco great ai) disadvantage. They should pay one per cent, interest and cmnpiooiwl interest so as to put them on (be same fooling l as the optional right <:f purchase selectors, 'and tiie colony would 'be no loser by the transaction. |Those who advocated pay limit cm the pres ent market values had no idea of encouraging i'he fanner. il« favoured the West Const leases 1/eing converted to freehold, and a scheme of workmen's homes. At the sanii lime the scheme must not cost the workman more than six or seven shillings per week.. He condemned the extravagance' a-nd incapacity of the Government in l regard to the Kpolswood Settlement, and asked it the new scheme could be entrusted' to the Govern men i. The candidate dealt! with I'he whcukJ, land question most comprehensively, showing a practical grasp of (tire subject. ROADS.

ilr Okey considered that when a! block of html >was cut up an estimate should 'be 'nia-cre as ?0 the ccst of making a road to each section, ami a guarantee given that, the section would have, a metalled . road io 111 by a. certain time. The funds for this purpose should be made available, even if .'. higher price were placed on the land in the first instance. Half Ihe cost of this roading should come out of the consolidated revenue by way of a subsidy, and the balance advanced under the Loans to Local Bodies Act for 'l7 years. The electors should vote for a utau who had a good knowledge of the bnclcblocks: settlers' hardships-, 'and hail 'their interests at heart. LOCAL GOYF.UIXMEXT.

The candidate, coul-d see no justification for -any alteration of the franchise in live election of local In/dies of any kind. lie considered that only ratepayers should Ire allowed to vote, Rdgarding the constitution of Land Boards, 'he'thought that at least two of the nenbers of each Hoard should 'be -elected'by the Crown tenants of | the 'district. At present t'hc'Hivd.mtyci's of the Ua'nd Hoards carried out the policy of the Ministry, /wil'boirl |payiivg stillicient attention to the varying conditions. The terms ol advances iniigh-t with safety also lx\ made more liberal than, at present. Kni'CATIOX. The speaker said that 'at the present lime the K-ducatiou Hoard, virtually appointed the leacher, ami -he considered j-thv whole of ('lie Applications should be sent on to Hie school commit tee with live Hoard's suggestion. We should encourage (lie bes-l of our sdvoliiis to go in 'for the leaching profession, and the pay of pupil teac-hors might with good iv suits 'he raised -a- lit Mr. ' Tcch'n'ical and higher cdueal ion must be encourugvd, and facilities all'orded for if to be. put to practical use. The. colony required I he services of hninetraincd vetvrin-ai-y surgeons, dairy and agricultural experts, and expect knowledge in everfl direction. Willi education of this class on a proper fooling there would he no -mrd to send abroad for such men. JIAItHOUK EXTIOXSIfIX. To make 'New Plymouth -the port il should 'he. liolh for exports and imports. Mr Oke.v favoured a -b'oKl policy of extending the breakwater. Jf elected..he would have great pleasure in assisting'lt he Board to oUttain further borrowing powers, as the financial position, 'ho denionstraled, was very sound. LICMXSIiNU. On this suhliccl -Hio'candidate considered the nret'hod of settlement bj the poll as at present' 'the most cllicaeious, but he would like-to see the queslion made one of colonial prohibition. (IF.XKIiAL. A scheme of universal old age pension . Io persons attaining the age of (i.*i. or Io persons disabled through Mcideivl, was -approved by the enndiilale, who thought n system of crmtributions towards the fund might tie devised. If this was unworkable the'extra "amount should be made up •in the Customs revenue.) A 2:, years' residence qualification would lie fair. A Civil Service Hoard, to consist of three appointed Irjj tin- House and I wo by members olj live service, was -n-eeil--1 ed for 1.-lve cllicient and impartial control of the service. Merit would be then rewarded, 'and political influence, put. to (light. Local (lovernment was a subject necessary to Ire considered liy, the , next Fai'linim'tnt. lr.ftnv of thn Acts -were ■rfirite out of dnle.' A move which he advocated was I'r transfer lo tlve Government of (he main roa-ds, especially wilert. Micre was no railway to relieve the heavy vehicular tnillic, A more, li'lj-

oral scale ofj subsidies should bo paid lo those districts so situated Unit they required to impose extra rating-. Tho alteration of districts to ensure, a community of interests ought to receive attention. He.favoured making -a main road district of lands abul't'ing on the main road, the rates therefrom to 'go towards maintenance, l'he\| 0 overnment contributing the balance out- 'of coi> solidnted revenue. " Borrowing for I the purposes of developing the country by means roads and rai.ways was a wise (policy, 'but tho mode of obtaining money on short dated debentures was too expensive. CONCLUSION.

In conclusion the candidate pointed out that his whole interests were centred in the town and 'district. 11l considered hisj long experience in connection with local bodies in some measure lilted him for the position he sought. Ilv had I'been Chairman of the County Council for nine years, and after fii.ing' the office of president of the Agricultural Society, for a number of years was now a VicePresident. He coutd not claim to bo of independent means'; if we required to put ex,tra energy into our business we must keep clear of the independent gentleman. If elected, ho i promised fcp work in the. intwesUS of all classes. (Applause.) A number of 'cjuestions were asked by Messrs Green, V. Goodacre, Tregellis, Christopher, Stevenson, ami other gentVomen. The candidate denied that he had ever said that 5s was a sufficient wage for a working man ; M lieWl the view that low wages were bad for thel'whole community- Thel member should take good 'care that the votes on the estimates were expended', and not allowed to drift on from year to year. He was against , compensation for jno-liceiiso. Ho advocated tho OpunaHe railway and the railway deviation ; and was against the prm ciple of the referendum. Votes -of, thanks] to the candidate and chairman concluded the meeting. _^______