The Taranaki Seat.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7977, 14 November 1905, Page 2

The Taranaki Seat.

JIK li. AI. SMITH'S CAiNUIUATUII'E.

The 'theatre Koynt was' tilled to overflowing' on . MomUiy evening', when tlu-t member for the district, Mr K. M. Smith, addressed till* electors. 'five civair was taken liy Mr J. I!. Conned, who spoke appreciatively of Air Smith's services when the

electors wanted any tiling done lor the ■district, lie) emphasised live (act that Mr Sm.ilh was the selected lateral candidate, and .said ft behoved thu electors not to get tripped up by tlu> fact of there being' numurous candi. dates in tho field. The Chairman expressed '.'lie opinion that 1o "stick to tlii' (iovernment" meant progress. II was only wise to ret urn (he party tiny knew, ami which had done scwell lor (he colony, rather than those who were 'unknown and mitred. (Applause. l ) All* Smith was greeted) with acelamatioiT, and iris speech of an 'hour and a half's duration was punctuated with outbursts of applause.

| JNTKOIH CTOKY. I Aftvr tendering -his sincere thanks j for the splendid gathering that evening, he apologised to the electors for the Pact that, owing to causes' over which he hivd >ru> control ho. hud been unable .to address them at im earlier 'date. . As the Chairman had said, he had represented /this consi ituency on I'onr 'different' occasions, ami he could safely say without fear of contradiction that he had performed his duties as member "-truly, wisely and well." , (Laughter and applause.) HIS DISTRICT RECORD, li'is political opponents had asserted that the Covenvmont mvmllviTs ol Taranaki had returned to their consi ituenciof) empty-handed and got nothing from the (loverniment in the way of works, (endowments, and grants. This was a base falsehood, as ho would prove. In order that the newcomers, might become acquainted with the true facts in lvis owiFcnse, he would enumerate a .few of the things he had] done for the district—to enumerate them all would occupy the whole evening. (Laughter and applause.) lie stated thai his first achievement was -in connection with obtaining the Crown'grant for the hospital site. "T soon got round the Minister," lie said,) "and did in one year what my opponents could not do in six years." He had get the new 1 Court house, also the new building now used ns the sergeant's residence. t'p to that time £200.000 had been expended on tho harbour, but if was in such a state from silting up that the Takapumi :ouk! not come alongside the breakwater. "I was »oi going to stand that," explained ,Mr Smith, '"and he consequence was that 1 succeed■d in obtaining £51)00 to put th,: harbour in proper condition." A person 'in authority had remarked at tho time that if la? never did another thing, for that alone he deserved la be their representative in Parliament 'or tlu; term of his natural life."~ .Laughter.) Mr Smith wont onto refer 10 (lie offer made in connection with an endowment ami prison labour, which he> had 'been able to have put forward, but which had b.eii refused by the local authorities. Had the Harbour .Board spent tlvir money in this direction and connect ed tho Sugar Loaves together. .Yew Plymouth would have had a harbour with .V> feet of water and a safe bottom. Ik: was still hopeful til' his ideas one day being brought into effect, lie also claimed credit j in getting the old ramshackle railway slat-ion replaced with a magniI.cent structure; the grant of a portitm 01 land at live of Marsland Hill where there was road material worth , thousands 01' pounds : and ,the last grant to erect an up-to-date mountain house in place of the old inadequate building. "Assistance has, of course, been rendered by outsiders," added the speaker, "but the mainspring in securing the provision of all tlnse tilings has-been your humble servant." (Laughter and applause.) Further service rendered by the (Jovei'iiiiient was the removal ol' old Mount Kliet, by | which the Harbour Board now 'benefited l« lie extent of .-t.IOOOj per' annum on their properties.; .In) former times, when this constituency extended le UieMokau factory, Mr Samuel had caused thousands of pouods' to he spent in road work, but 'lie {Mr Smith) had followed! this up by getting the -bridge and punt, and the Kgnalling and x pilot* station established in I the interests of shipping. He had also !j)fen instrumental in getting the bridge Tontraporutu. even though it was not built until his successor's lime, and another further on."' .Hut- jail this is nothing compared with what J did previous to this,"- said the speaker, who proceeded to relate his hazardous journey to open up the "Moknu, the newspapers predicting that lie and his tellow voyagers would -never return, as no white man -had ever been there lor. to .wars, and the natives were considered hostile. Of nine amateurs in the surf boat, only one of them understood it, he explained. "and we nearly got left oii the bar for good and all." The venture proved successful, however, the esult being that (the country was •pemd up and settled. ,and 10-day sheep farming, flax mailing, sawmillng, dairying, and coal mining were ; ..Togivssing, ami rtho /district was opened up* all along the line. Mi j commented on the fact that '.he men who never risked one night n Ihe open, nor a sixj*enee in cash, but who followed in his wake a few years afterwards, bought land at ;»s dd iter acre and re-sold it at £7 ,>cr acre, were among his ll'adueers to-day. This was only another instance of j -hop.vj the 'Speeulsi;l i.vs repaid the piomvrs, for their work This country was ,we|) 'worth developiog, and if the railway line had -one up through ,Moknu -ns'he advocated, instead of traversing so much poor country, it would have opened ip 2('o miles of good district, embracing huge coal and lime deposits. "With lime in these, tquantities availible you would have had no occasion to suffer from potato blight," When this const ituency 1 extended ir. the Tarata 'district there was not a yard ofmrUil from Tnrala to I'u'rangi, and he induced the floVernmenl to expend £S<)OO on the road, which paved the way lo progress, itr.d it had also been continued to likorajigi. At Opunake the <Jovernnunt had, (on his representations, erected a post ollice and residence, and b,\J means of , torpedoes toad blown the obstructing rocks in the harbour to "smithereens." Further, the (lovern.ment did not <gel any sleep until a new 'bridge had 'been conceded. Alter mentioning more . recent 3 J-ants, Mr Smith remarked thai it was audacity on the. part of -his opponents to say I-hat he came -hack jnipty handed. ( Applause.)

Til 10 MISJOHAL I'KOUH.ViMJIR. 'l'll'." eandiduto then dwelt u|ion Iho liberal and progressive spirit -that mil marked the SnUUm 'administra, Hon. Tin" dovt'i'iiiuvnl had I'orinuliit- .'(! a policy thai lux! put land within I lit* reach of every num. A \..i>v U'oiii. the tear ; Whv 'didn't you f! ick lo it V Mr Smith : Ask mo that al. Hie end of my address. and I'll slick to yi.u. (Laughter.)

Coni iniiii, Air Smith pointed out Hint he had been a supporter of the deferred payment system, and still favoured it under the easy terms I'orJ merly in torce./. lie had supported [every proposal to put the people on I he land, and the (Juvernment deserv'e(l every eeedil| lor assisting- the struggling settler in the way "of g'iyl I in- him road work, paying' him for fi iicing his own hush, supplying- him ! with fencing- wire, and advancing hi oney to build house. The ■whole system : ol] advances to settlers lad been a great iioou to t.hu eouul ra ml was si great -factor i u de\ e'or'e ; Hi,. colony. Yet in th.lace oi ~li ibis there were men going I to contest the seat against ("overnmeiit CiUtdidiites ou the grmiiul lluit I

tlic Government hail not done enough lor them !j Thu Opposition -had tried to trap Parliament by bringing in a motion to give the Crown tenant the freehold, and tucking on a clause to the efiect' jlhat |/thc Government had forfeited the confidence of live people of the colony. ']'f was not going to have that," explained Mr Smith. "Don't jinake any mistake aboull me.| 1 was the party man returned to support the Government, and I supported tliein) through thick and ,thin. I The Government would not have got into half their troubles 'il' they had taken my advice." (Laughter and applause.) Lately 'a local isettlflr hud asked the Government to .set aside ft block of *l<M| or -.(ibo acres of land, adjacent to the town, railway, and port, for the purposes of an experimental dairy farm. The Minister of) Lauds had complimented the promoters on their scheme, and promised that immediately after the' election lie would -oiiii- up hem and render every assistance; in his! power to the project. The Minister would not come before, as many would .be , only too hapj.y to stigmatise il| as an electioneering dodge, lint he was sincere in his desire to assist in the establishment iof a modernly tfpiipped and .scientifically] conducted dairy farm for the guidance of those engaged 'in / this Important industry. "Would not that be a good tiling for the district T\ inquired the candidate. '"if you don't send me 'back you will run the risk of losing it." (Applause, and laugfitcr.) l\ paternal Government had advanced, v _t o settlers throughout Taranaki, upwards of ,10ne >, .million sterling. Would, a Conservative 'Government have done that for the producers ') Such had 'been tile benefits of cheap money that the Opposition had been forced lo concur with the Government's loan proposals, lie had been told that certain men had borrowed money at '1 per cent, from the G(f vcrnment and practically loaned it out at (i per cent. This was a crying shame, and steps should be taken to call the money in and prevent the repetition of it. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the prohibition question, it was the present liovermmut who gave the' peaple tile right to decide the question themselves. Some of the Prohibition people did not give the Government the credit due to them. Tile Government had made it an olTeuce to supply native women with liquor ; prevented tile carriage of liquor to tile King' Country, or tile;supply of %uor to the palis during a tangi ; and closed the refreshment bars on .the railway stations, fie had supported tile Government measure lo give women the right to vote, and would, like to poinL out to the_wonien that they could have their choice of candidates and still vote for Prohibition, as the issues were in no way connected. To vole or n man because he was a Prohibitionist was J nonsensical, as the man who went into Parliament with only one idea in his 'head was no good for the constituency. The essential thing iwas let leave the hiw : as it stood and allow the people lo work out their own destiny. (Applause.) 'live line service done bv the Government fin assisting the dairying industry was descanted upon by tile candidate, ,who'did not however, altogether agree with the system of grading. The importation ot dairy stock, ami encouragement to agriculture were mentioned by the speaker. lie was favourable to the referendum only in tile event of Parliament disagreeing on, three occasions, or for the settlement rf the vexed question 'ol religious instruo lion in Stale schools and abolition of the total'i;wi(tor, (but only -wii'th these restrict ions, as Parliament was representative of the people, lie was a supporter of -Mr Prank Watt's scheme of cheap homes for .working men, which the Government 'had tak■>n up in a mo'dilied form, and thought Iha t every \vorkn,an ought to,rail} round Mr Watts and present him with a testimonial for his admirable scheme, lie believed that thu next move would he to adopt' 'the remaining clauses it contained., dealing with a system of insurance tind pulsion. Other subjects dealt- with oy the speaker were the railway .service, olil age pensions, 'Government tire insurance, teachers' superannuation, education, and the lveed for tie- 1 veloping industries so that 'New Zealand should 'become, a self-contained colony,: and not have all,its eg'gs in on;.; basket." .lie supported the nisliing on of /railway works, and had hopes tor the future in regard to a railway to Mokau. lie was in favour of the gradual Ml land ifex. income tax, amf succession duly. I lie only true way of reducing taxa?ion was by tile, influx of popula-

PIORSO.VAr., Ihe candidaie said his opponents got 1 'H' start ef him simply because he. was- engaged in the House alt ending lo the business of live electors. lie had spent 85 years of his lile and all the money lie possess- -•< lin endeavouring to make a suj;-c-'ss of the ironsaiul. industry. llt> -ould not have ollered to engage, the hall only ihat.a good l.lljeral had come forward .! to pay the expenses. "There is no , v call'ing the past," mid Mr Smith, "end „iy 'best energies have been 'devoted to the iiiteresis ol t'his district. ' In asking l for their votes, and) JJ'eforj'i'ii'g' # ,'Uo the candidates, he warned the electors to Single out tho New Liberal candidate and beware of him.

In reply to (piestions, '.Mr Smith said he was in favour of the profit made from advances to settlers for the last year, C.'il, 11T.. iK'ing diverted I'nnn the Public Trustee'back to till' mud. The Public. Trustee Ollice had grown too Ivig for one man, and should) bej administered bv a Itoanl. This Oll'tee had been respoie sible for locking up much of the native land of this district, l>irt llml world he remedied under the new Act. lie would no! favour pressing the flitrvester Trust to the ex-lent <3 making fanners pay unduly for machines that could liol, be manufacturer! in tho colony/ 'Thoi'e wus m; ined to abolish the I pper Ifouse. or <> 11 v (.: Ju I c it on ivn elective basis, if the (ioyernmenl woukd nominate men ol brains 'irrespect i\'e of wviilth. If the riovernment did not exercise lile right properly they should be turn ed en I.

MV .1. Smith. Omata, proposed a vole of (hunks and zonfidence, which was drflai'cf! carried. A vote thanks to tin; Chairman concluded the meeting'.