OPPOSITION DEMONSTRATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81848, 18 September 1906, Page 2

OPPOSITION DEMONSTRATION.

PRESENTATION TO. MR. H. J H. OKEY. ADDRESSES BY PROMINENT OPPOSITIONISTS. GOVERNMENT LAND POLICY TRAVERSED.

The Theatre Royal, New' Plymouth, was well filled on Monday evening, when a presentation was made to Mr Henry J. H. (Jkey, in recognition of his public services and in respect to his recent candidature for the Taranaki seat. His Worship the Mayor, Mr E. Dockrill, presided, and amongst those on the platform were Messrs W. F. Massey, M.H.R., Leader of the Opposition; Mr J antes Al len, M.H.R. for Bruce; Mr Lewis, M.H.R. for Courtenav; Mr H rdy, M.H.R. for Soiwyn - 'and Mr Malcolm, M.H.R. for Clutha. Prior to the commencement of the speechmaking, Garry's orchestra played some capital selections.

The Mayor announced the object of the gathering, to make a presen- | tation to Mr 11. J. H. Okeyl who had given to the people of Taranaki many years of his services on several local bodies, and who had twice, as the Opposition candidate, contested the election for the Taranaki scat. As chairman of the Taranaki County Council he had never spared himself in the discharge of his duties, and had always done his work in a most efficient manner. He had also served on the Franklcy Road Board, on school committees, dairy factory directorates, and in all these positions ho had carried out his duties in a thoroughly satisfactory fashion. And on these occasions, when he had stood as a candidate for Parliament, wjiejther agreeing with Mr Okeyfs politics or not, everyone must have admired his manly and straightforward manner of-lighting. The Mayor heartily congratulated Mr Okey on the honour conferred on him by the attendance of Mr Massey and the other members of the Opposition. He then calld upon Mr Massey to make the presentation.

MR. MASSEY. Mr Masse/ was received with great enthusiasm. Opening, he said that on the last occasion when he had the privilege of speaking in New Plymouth, ho, had had nopes that the eiectois oi Taianaki Would have re turned to Parliament a man on the same side of politics as himself, but late—or the e.ectors—had willed otherwise. He wou d make it plain right at the outset that he and Ins colleagues had no intention of reflecting upon the member for the district. They wouid not strike below the belt, but when the proper time came would fight harder still—he hoped with greater success—to have the Taianaki electorate represented by a member of the Opposition, lie had noticed it stated 'in the Press that at this meeting he would lay down a new policy for the Opposition ; that was not so. "Wo arc here to honour your friend and our friend, Air Okey," said Mi Massey, describing the guest as a man, a use fill citizen whom he could worthily honour. As a politician, Mr Okey was a man after his own heart, a straight-goer, abov»» any chicanery or trickery, a credit to the country to which he belonged. It was quite safe to predict that ere long Mr Okey would have an opportunity of doing honour both to himself and his constituents as their representative in Parliament. (Airp.ausc.) At last election the Opposition had been beaten and bauiy beaten; but they would not take their beating lyingdown. They had been beaten by superior organisation, misrepresentation*, and implied prohi,ses of giants oi public money to districts which re turned Government supporters. At next election they would have better organisation, and the peop,e wou.U understand tne Opposition belter than before, and would know them as the representatives of the most genuine and real form of Liberalism, ile believed in equal opportunity to all, and in promoting' ! uie interest, not of one section, but of the whole of the community.

Smcc tae election there had been a great change in New Zealand politics, causd by the death of Mr Soddon, which they all regretted. The same party was in power, but witu a fresh Administration. Sir Joseph Ward, the Premier, had placed his policy belore tne country wiieu ne delivered his Financial Statement. One of the principal points of interest lay in tne tact that the Government now included in its policy a provision for placing all Siate revenue directly under the control of the Audit Department—a thing that the Opposition had fought for in session and out of session for ihe past fifteen years. Then the Government aisb appropriated an Opposition plank by providing sinking funds for non-pro-ductive loans, and also by passing a sort of "Mental Appropriation Act" (laughter), had accepted their opponents scheme tor providing national annuities. The Opposition would support the Government in these proposals. They had more in stuck, more demands lor retoim, which would be forthcoming at the proper time and place. At the same time, Mr Masscy strongly resented the ac lion of the Government in thus appropriating tne Opposition policy, declaring it to be the first time in New Zealand's history when the party in power had been so barren of ideas that they had to borrow part of their policy from their political opponents. (Applause.) THE LAND LEGISLATION.

Mr Masscy strenuously cppi.sed the new Land Bill, which he held was simply meant to prevent any scttieij acquiring the freehold of tn'e .and on which he lived and worked. U he asked Ins audience what had been the most successful land settlement scheme so far as Taranaki was concerned, u.ey would answer "tne optional system.'-' Jle would agree w.th them there. But under tne proposed legislation Ihe optional system was lo be done away with, under the pretext—and it was a transparent pietext—that the Crown lands i'emaining were to be reserved for other purposes. The lease-in perpetuity was to be done away with, also, and what was to be substituted/ A bo yea'is' lease, with revaluation at the end of Ih'e term. Speaking as a practical man to men who had doubtless had much experience in land settlement, Mr Mast,ey slated " that thp form of tenure proposed would not [ suit the sturdy setters 0 1 this colony. (Loud app ause.) Men would not go on to the land under such conditions— there was no security of ten ure. The loss'of that iriost < important factor ifi land settlement was a disappointment. Without security of tenure po pari pi the colony, city or country, could prosper, and the id'e Crown lands would never be settled under the proposed conditions. The Government should endeavour "o ease the hind settlement conditions instead of making them worse for the .settlers. When a Crown lessee had cnniplid with the improvement conditions imposed by the Land Act, the Government should say to him, "The land is yours.'' That policy would produce good setters, and good set tiers were the best asset this young colony could have. It would pay us as a community, from the point ol view of a commercial transaction, lo have the lands settled oil the lines he had indicated than to have them lying idle until some more liberal meafiuc th,jn was at present on the Statute Bo:i|,, or in t! t n land proposals of the Government., was made law. The proposal to limit the property of I any single owner to unimproved value wou'd affect very few — only two—estates in Auckland and J aranakt provincial districts. One wan a irus( estate and the other the lands held bythe Aswtd Board, which must be subdivided in any case. But he was opposed to the scheme, holding that there shouM be no subdivision at anv time that would cause an injustice or a haidship to 'andown r.s. lie would iv I lake up any lime in criticising Ihe proposal of the Govcrn'ment to limit to a thousand acres of first - class land, for ' he believed that the clause \you 4

do more good to lawyers than to any other section of the community. Mr IVJassey averred that tnc Government, in its land po-icy, had surrendered to the leaseholders and the land naiionaiisers, and was in the interests of those people, and not in the interests of the whole community. The policy, he thought, would not even benefit these f°'k, but it would certainly please those who be Moved a community of rent-payers was better than a race of freeholders. He believed in the freehold. (Applause.) Let every man have a chance of becoming his own landlord. Hundreds of thousands ot acres in this co'ony wou'd never have been settled had the present land proposals been law, and thecountiy wou d have beenthe poorer in consequence. Mr Massey drew attention to the fact that it seemed t'.iat the national endowment proposa's would affect the New Plymouth Harbor Hoard's revenue. As it was proposed by the Bill that the gross revenue from the Crown lands (national endowments) was to be paid into a National Endowment Account, the Board wou d lose its present quarter share of moneys accruing from that source. There was at any rate a danger, but neither himself nor his colleagues would stand by and see such an injustice clone to Taranaki or New Plymouth, or the colony as a whole.

tie had Jieaul it said that as tlie| Government had adopted most of the Opposition programme, the latter party might just as well go out ol business as the Opposition party. He pointed out, though, that the duty of the Opposition was to look close after the expenditure, to see that the country got good value for its money. But he would leave finance to one of the ab'ost financiers in the colonv, Mr James Alien, who, by his criticism, nad saved the colony tremendous sums of money. It was the duty of the Opposition to point out detects in the Government policy, as they were now doing with the Land, Bill. l..ey had on many occasions saved the Government from themselves, and, he added, parenthetically, from the electors. The Opposition alwavs placed first the interests of the colony as a whole. Now for what the Op position intended to do in the future. THE FUTURE POLICY.

ihey did not intend to seii tlie.i pivnoapies lor any puce wjiattivci'. ihey wanted tu see tne Country governed honestly. They wanted to see both branches of the Legislature made more directly repiosentative oi : the people. f'hey wanted to see Civil servants appointed on account oi mem and fitness and not by political mnuence. Xney wanted to see tne na Hve lands settled and occupied partly by tiie whites and partly by tne Maoris, and the Mauris raised to a luucn Higher plane oi civilisation man appeared to be possible undei tne present system. "Tne pa'ce 01 liberty," quoted Mr Massey, "is eternal vigilance''• and that eternal vigilance was not mere.y the Opposition watching the Government, but every individual elector doing so also. By so doing tney would tne more tu.-) value tne work of a capable and vigorous Opposition, which shou.d be appreciated by the country to which that Opposition belonged. . THE PRESENTATION.

Returning to th e more immediate business oi the evening, Mr Massey loci up a purse 0 f sovereigns, and belore handing it to Air Okey, com mented o n its weig.it, and hopeu I'tat witu ns contents me recip.ont would purchase a souvenir, wiiu, wouicl become a heirloom handeu

down 110 m generation to generation, so that the Okeys of the future would understand from it how much Mi it'nry Okey had been appreciated by Ins friends and neighbours. (Applause.) l n conclusion, he hoped tins enthusiasm and v appreciation would induce Af r Okey to say in his reply m,- a M,l hc hrSt °Pl>oituniiy he would olui nis services 10 tne electors 01 Paranaki. (Cheers.) Mr Staney Shaw was the next speaker. Ji o was not thero t(J a political address, but as a county ratepayer he wished to voice the appreciation all the ratepayers throughout the district felt of the manner in which Mr Okey had carried out his duties during the time he had been identified with public affairs, and particularly during the nine years he had been chairman of the Countycouncil. Ue mentioned that Mi Okey had taken charge 0 f affairs when the roads were in a deplorable condition, and contrasted the condition of things then obtaining with the e XI stmg state, instancing how, in former days, it took the speaker seven hours to get to Kahotu. when at the present time he could reach that IT ln M, ln al i ,ou , t ? h ile shmred »°«' Mr Okey had instituted a policy cf strong and sound finance; how despite its unpopularity, he raised 'over ,4.1000 a year by means of toll-gates with the result that the roads were now amongst the best in the coionv (Appiause.) His was also a progressive policy, as was shown bv the manner in which he dealt with" the i'ltzroy roads and by his taking advantage of the Bridge Loan Act, bv wmch means a good many of the bridges were re-built, mostly in iron Mr Okey had saved the ratepayers hundreds of pounds, Mr Shaw went on, a fact which few ratepayers seemed to realise, and had never charged the county otit-of pocket expenses 11, cases when he would have been jtistihed in so doing. Mi Shaw concluded an able and forceful speech amidst applause.

On rising to speak, Mr Okey was entnusiastically received. U e thanked the previous speakers for their appreciative references, and the people tor the manner.in which thev had recognised his public service. |-| e then went on to refer to the way in which he had been led into public life He joined the Frank ey Road Board when 23 years of ago, and had been chairman ever since. The work connected with the duties of chairmanship m those days was varied. He had to keep the books, do the engineering work, superintend things, and the like. Afterwards he had been e'ect?d to the Comity Council, alter which ho became, associated willi politicsmid then he got into trouble. (Laughter.) The temperance people wanted a man. I| e was persuaded to stand But the teetotal'ers were not satisfied with him. Because lie did not touch whisky the other side—the publican party—would have nothing to do with li'.m. He was b.tween two stools wit.i the inevitable result: he fell be' tween thrm. (Laughter.) Still, he was ff !ad to say that he had made no enemies to his knowledge, but, on the contrary, he made manv friends. Mr Okey proceeded to refer to the p'anks of the. policy he had supported as a candidate, mentioning in this connection the cstah ishmem of a public stirvice, board, reform in the old-age pension system, making pensions universal, and the optional sys tem of land tenure. ||c did not see why frugal pc p'e. who had saved a few pounds, shoii'd be debarred from enjoying a pension, and he linphd the Opposition won't) succeed in the'r endeavour to amend the Act in this direction. Speaking of land tenure no said he would not favour do ; ng away with the leasehold, but he certainly thought a man should have ihe opium of acquiring the fnehold. (A voice: What have you got?—Mr Okey: A freehold, and 1 don't intend lo give it in exchange for vour 'ease hold!) (Laughter.) lie found fa„!t with the Land Bd! just brought in and criticised some of its c'auses. particularly lho.su_ pertaining to the 'fib years' lease, with rcva'uation at-end ol term, a form of tenure, in his opinion, which would not work out lu the best settlement 0 f t | u , co 'o n j.. ||,. contrasted the tenure with that'of the fieehod, and in conclusion thanked the visitors fur the compliment thev had paid him in coming up aM the way from Wellington. Mr Masscy had made mention of his (Mr Okov's) oiienng I, iS services again. Well, the p sit on he i.Kik up was (hat he did not wish lo thrust himself on the community or the Opprsilion partv; if it were thought he was the rigid man, he wood rivet the'r wishes. (Applause.) B U I if, ,m Ihe ether hand, tiny thought anyone c'se would si rvo them better than he, wed, he wou'd wink just as hard to gel him elected as he would work for himself, (fro' hinged applause.)

MR. JAMES ALLEN. Mi J. Allen M.11.R. for li'ruro. ,•„. m.iirt-ivl ihnt Mr Okoy must foe! «-sll rewarded fcr Ids past labours by the sight of this largo and enthusiastic

meeting. Mr Okey had said he fell between two stoo.s. What the speaker wanted to know was, whicli stool had since repented? JJe hoped both would do so, and at next e.ection they would vote as they should have done last time. (Laughter.) Mr Allen strongly criticised the action of the Government in raising the rate of interest charged on loans to local bodies, and considered the policy should bo to reduce the interest so that the settlers would get their roads and bridges at the lowest possible rale, even if the' colony as a whole had to bear part of the burden. He would endeavour to have this change effected, and so end the present wretched scramble for public works' votes. But he was "not going to be drawn on finance." He was as much in the dark as the audience as to the intentions of the Government. lie knew the old slate had been wiped clean, the soft strokes of the pencil had disappeared. But there remained the impression of the hard pencil wrought into it in years gone by. He did not know whether the degrading influence which had damaged our political morality was to continue, or whether the new policy was to make a self-reliant people. There had been a little reform in finance, but he considered actuarial investigation into the various superannuation schemes should be made immediately; they were not on a sound basis. He considered the people had grown too fond of luxuries, and their had been extravagant expenditure of public money, mentioning the ,£40,000 spent on the Dunedin railway' station. That money would have done more service in making roads and bridges. He feared there was not sufficient strength of character and self-reliance in the Cabinet to face the various defects in the Government's policy, and to set them right. New Zealand wanted a race of self-reliant, hard-working people; but these would be forthcoming only when a man could earn a reward foi his labour by becoming the owner of his own home. The Government allowed the freehold in the towns, why not in the country ? After referring to Mr Okey's long service, he hoped the electors would send him to represent them in the councils of the nation, and the Opposition would welcome him as a good, sound) self-re-liant man.

MR. HARDY, Mr Hardy, M.H.R. for Selwyn, played on the fact that he was the ''silent member" uf the House, and, having- spent a couple of clays in New Plymouth, filled in a few minutes in praise of New Plymouth's beauty spots, pretty nouses, beautiful fern glades, and so on. He had visited the cemetery, and in St. Mary's Church had not.cej tha hatchments erected to t,ie memory of those who fell in warfare here. He asked his hearers to remember and revere the illustrious dead, who had fought here for hearth and home.

MR. LEWIS. Mr Lewis, M.H.R. for Courtenay, asked leave to associate himself with ail that had been said ab.,uc the object of their visit to New Plymouth, i'he members of the Opposition were just as proud of tlieir seats as those of their opponents who had floated in on a wave of feeling that so few of them had done anything to create. The numerica. strength of the Opposition in Parliament did not neany represent the proportion of electors in the colony wno were opposed to the Government. Mr Lewis deplored the increase of that "bane of public life and curse of politics, the purely professional politician. These men would support a Government to its Inst minute of office, and be found voting with the new one immediately afterwards. These men had been known to reach Cabinet rank I There were, unfortunately, more of them in the House now than he had ever seen before. Hie only school of Liberalism to which they belonged were "winning-siders.'' At the same time, Mr Lewis recognised that no New Zealand Parliament would be complete unless it contained the most advanced thinkers on the Radical Liberal side. Mr Okey was not a

"winning sider," but a man who would nail his colours to the mast. If he continued in that course success would be all the sweeter when it came. Mr Lewis thought there was nothing in the threatened dissolution, except as a means of bracing up the professional politicians, but urged the Oppositionists to organise, in case of accident. MR. MALCOLM. Mr Malcolm, M.H.R. for Clutha, said he experienced great pleasure in making this visit. First, there was the honouring of the guest; second, the scenery, and, thirdly, the fact that he'was in the district in which had lived one of the greatost man and statesmen that New Zealand had produced—he referred to their old citizen and comrade, Sir Harry Atkinson. He was proud to meet the people who had honoured that statesman with a lifelong con hdence. Mr Maleo.'m denied that the Opposition were out of sympathy with the honest needs of the working man, and stated his opinion that long tenure of office by any one party always led to abuses, mistakes, corruption. He considered the Opposition was doing the colony untold service. If the day came, as some seemed to wish, when there would be no Opposition, the colony, and not the Opposition party, wou.d be the sufferer. Mr Burgess (Warea) moved a hearty vote of thanks to the Opposition members, and eulogised Mr Okey, mentioning that the Coast dis tnct had always supported him well. Mr D. Hutchen seconded the motion, which was carried by acclamation. ' -

Mr Massey returned thanks, and at Ins instance a vote of thanks was accorded the Mayor for presiding. Afterwards an adjournment was made to the Burlington rooms, where a light supper was dispensed, and an hour spent in general chatting.