THE BYE-ELECTION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 3 May 1907, Page 2

THE BYE-ELECTION

.Mil DOCIvIULL AT NEW I'LY-MOUTIi

ill- E. Dockrill, the Government candidate, addressed a large gathering ut electors at tile Thcaitj itoyal on Thursday night. l)r ilcCleiand presided, ami ia introducing the speaker referred to liis lengthy services lor the public weal.

Mr Dockritl, who was loudly cheered j on rising, opeue.l by expressing iiis r.'"lvfc at the accident which had deprived Taranaki of its member in Parliament. Jle paid a warm tribute to Lhe memory of the late Mr E. M. Smith. They could all admire his patriotism to this district. lie mentioned the invaluable service rendered by tlie lute member in having lhe harbor cleared of .sand which had accumulated there, and which hid tiui-i'd a return to the old surf boat service. i'liat was tli;.- starting-point of the uf Inc. harbor. (Applause), j lie .stood as THE UliEllAL CANDIDATE

and tile (lovernmeni candidate. 11c was proud of the honor if il were due til his belief in the Liberal policy and his unswerving eU'orU to put the eral Government 011 the benches and .(> j keep them there. He had been in file district for ;!U years, ,>iii[ had speni a good deal of time in iile public inter c-t. Dining the whole of lliat time no act of his had been prompted by sollish |or improper motives. (Hear, hear), rile lii'st real iberal utterances lie could remember were from the late [sir George (irey. But his following was not strong, and he hail to leave olliee. The next great Liberal was the late .John liallance, who had striven hard to lift the colony out of us slough of despond. Then followed liielmrd Seddon, who had made this colony the envy ot its neighbors. Among the measures which had contribuied to the prosperity ol the colon v was the

ADVANCES TO SETTLERS ACT. (loud applause), which had given relief—money at i'/ 3 per cent —ill place of the 10 and IS per cent mortgages then ruling, anil had compelled private lenders to lower their rates oi interest and to reduce the expense of borrowing money. This was a very Socialistic A el, bat it had done more to raisu the colony than any other, mid the present prosperity ;would not have come but for the introduction oi this measure. Though the Act hall been in.iumieed iby .Mr Scddon, Sir Joseph Ward, then Colonial Treasurer, had worked out the details of it. Those men, too, liad rendered a great service to the colony wfien incy kept the

HANK OE NEW ZEALAND

from l'uiu. The failure of the Bank would have thrown the colony 'so far back 1 hat it would hardly have recovered in ten years. The Bunk was now one of the soundest in Australasia, and all this had been accomplished without cost to the people of this colony. (Applause). The Government

ASSISTANCE TO DAIRYING

had raised the industry to its present position. The appointment o£ instructors, Government-paid freezing of produce, and other assistance in this direction had contributed to this success, and had been instrumental ia placing our butter second only to Danish on the London market. The Government recognised that farmers then were not geiLing the best from tlieir laud, and started

EXPERIMENTAL STATIONS.

This was an unpopular move at the time, but it had been fully justified by results, and the value 'pE these {anus was recognised by the farming community. The Government Intended to establish a dairy experimental station, and if returned he would urge that it be started immediately. The

WORKERS' CUALPJfiNSATION ACT wits also introduced by ilie Liberals, and had proved a boon to many, who had been unable to lay aside for the rainy da\ which came with unfortunate aceitL'iiU. He mentioned the Superannuation for railway servants, and Said it was the duty of the State to provide a competency for men who had given the ;l>e>t of their lives to the work oi the country. The same scheme now applied to school teachers, and he would favor a genenil

CIVIL SERVICE SUPERANNUATION

scheme. (Applause)

the harbor.

Nothing affected the Tarauaki people so much as the advancement of the lutrbor. A safe harbor for ocean-going vessels would spell prosperity for tlie whole district. He puw a warm compliment to Mr Connett and the Harbor Board s members for the excellent work now being (lone, wituout going to the conn: ry for a loan. Although he often heard people complaining qf the action of the < Government in having nominees on tin: lioard he thought it as well to mention that it was a Government nominee. Mr Joe Ward, who instituted the present extension scheme without borrowing. In the past, as a thorough believer in Liberalism and Liberal principle, lie had supported the candidate who bad advocated the Liberal mea-, sure* he had mentioned, and ho would if returned, continue to work on those lines. He would endeavor to make labor and capital go hand in hand, as it should do. No one would Say that these measures had been injurious to the capitalist. A grievance in this district which should be put right was the

HATING ON NATIVE LANDS. These lands were suojeet to rates, .but there ",vas no machinery to enforce payment of those rates, and the Maoris did not pay their sh»re towards the cost of maintenance of tke roads they used. Ile would endeavor to have some means devised to jovereome that dillicultv.

lie was sorry to hear that a state-, mcut was being industriously circulated that the

LAND BILL

was merely the thin edge of the wedge that would deprive landowners of their exi ting freeholds. It was a scandalous proposal, and God forbid that any Government should ever endeavor to do such a thing. He hoped the ilag which was the emblem of freedom and justice would never be sullied by tile enunciation of a proposal of the naturo that opponents were attributing to the present Ministry. It mattered not where he was placed, he would always be found lighting such a diabolical proposal as long as he had hreath. (Applause). Ho regarded the freehold tenure as inviolable. They vere all agreed on one of the objects of the Bill, and and that was the

IU'STHICTION OF AREA

of holdings. (Applause), Tliat policy had Iji'i'li put into practice, and even the Leader of the Opposition had no fault to iiml with it, merely sii; •. i::g auollicv means of achieving I: end. H'heiher l>y the Land Bill. i,y a progressive land tax, or by the French o stein spoken ot by Mr Massey, this juilicy of preventing the aggregation of largo estates should be carried 0111 in a way Ilia I would give the least trouble to tliu people aUVcted by the measure. Tile present Land liill was not I lie Ltnd Bill that had been originally introduced. The Hon. Jlr MeNab had largely modified the Hill, and Mr Dockrill hoped that ilie Minister's friends would induce him to still further modit.v it and make of it a useful measure, ile was not prepared to agnv to the Bill as it stands now. KUHKUOLD J'OU NATIVE LANDS.

Dealing willi ilip proposal that nil Maori lands >l].ou Id bo handed over to ilio Government to deal with, lie mentioned that there way a' Commission now sitting with a view of setting aside enough lands for the natives of the colony, and handing the rest to the Government to he disposed of in the interests of the Alaorß Tlirse lands, lie was informed, would bo thrown open under the optional tenure system. Thai policy received his hearty endorsement. The Land Hill proposed nlso to deal with about seventeen million acres of unoccupied Crown lands, oE which only three millions (according to Mr Massey) were fit for close Settlement. The proposal was to set asids this laud as ENDOWMENTS for hospitals and charitable aid, education, and old age pensions. It was very desirable that there should be some such endowments, else tliey would toree

to pay llin whole excuse of those ser- j vices directly out of pocket. In England hospitals mid schools were largely endowed, principally liv bequests. In New Zealand tliey could no; exp:'d auyI thing of I hat kind, for the tendency was to limit estates .so that any liequests must of necessity lie small, lie opposed UIC whole, of the Crown lands being constituted endowments, and he would advocate that all Crown linds lefl after making provision for endowments, should be disposed of on the 0.U.1', system. He referred to ille policy of the late Premier in gvtting trained nurses for country districts; to tile great advance in primary, secondary and technical education; and a system of scholarships so thai the bright child, of poor or rich parents, could get tile highest education in tiie Inn,l without expense 10 his parents. 1 hese tilings took money, Mat unless endowment's were set apart they must be paid directly out of the taxpayers' pockets. OL1.) AC 10 PKNMO.VS.

This w.ts the coiling stone of .Mr Scdtlon's great political career. It was dearest to his heart, ior list felt that by passing that Act lie had done more for suffering humanity and helpless hum-m----il v than in any other of his mea-ur's. Till! speaker fell that the Act would keep .\lr Scddon's iik-mory green in a wav thai no monument of S one could possible do. (Applause.! 1 here should l>> endowments to provide those pensions if for nothing eb.c. Some system, as of endowments, limsi 'be devised to prevent these old age pensions being reduced or curtailed in any future time of depression. 'iHe people did not feel any drain from pensions, for the money' was spent and circulated in the colony.

-COXSim-TION OF ASSKSSMKNT

(JOl'ltTiS.

lie considered that Assessment Courts ill respect to land assessment and valuations should be composed of men who lmd knowledge of land. Tile system of arriving at rental value was wrong. They should reckon the total yield ol land, deduct expenses and losses and interest on capital invOfvcd; and the result would give the correct rental and capital value, lie guaranteed that under that system there would be no rackrenting, which was only a little worse than the system of putting leases up for competition. lie considered the capital value of this country must be kept up, to show 'the Loudon moneylender that there, w\-« ample security for loans; but rental value was different altogether.

RECIPROCITY. Air DockriU then dealt with the Imperial trade reciprocity proposals. Such a scheme would show foreigners Britain was self-supporting and self-contained. Then i£ they, could induce preference to increase the irade of the Motherland, and to draw the Old Land and the colonies closer together, it would be mutually beneficial. They had shown that the sous of the Empire beyond the sons were prepared to stand by Britain in time of war. DEFIiNCK Whilst he believed in promoting peace and commerce, he considered they were entitled to maintain a state of armed efficiency to warn off foreign interference. CONCLUSION.

Having thus briefly touched on the principal beneficial measures introduced by the Liberal Government, Mr Doclcrill appealed to the electors not to hand over to the Conservatives this Taranaki scat which had been liolil by the Liberal Party so long, lie felt sure they fully appreciated the work of the Party (which, in conjunction with the energy and industry of the people, had brought about the present prosperity. Mr Alassey, by quoting Biblical history, has insinuated that Sir Joseph Waru was running the colony. Yet during the past year, exports were larger than ever before; customs duties had swelled considerably; the railway revenue was greater than in any previous year; and the Post Office Savings Bank figures demonstrated conclusively that the people were wcaltheir, and had more hard coin at their command, than ever More. There was, too, a record surplus. The day had passed when the Opposition jeered at the Government surplus, saying it was a surplus 011 paper only. Year after year half a million of money had been placed in the Consolidated Fund, and the amount was so large and so regular that they didn't hear much now of paper surpluses. So long as they entrusted the destiny of this colony to such a Government as at present, who would follow in the footsteps of the late Hight Hon. R. J. Kedaon, they could depend on a continuance of the present prosperity.

Jlr Dockrill resumed his scat amidst loud applause.

IJL'IiiSTIOXS,

In answer to questions, Mr Dockrill j reiterated that he would, if elected, insist on the GovcmmeiiL offering for settlement under the optional tenure all Crown lands not set apart for endowments, (Mr. Jennings; And I'll help you). .lie was in favor of L.1.1', tenants being given the freehold at a price to be arranged between the tenant and the Crown.

He had no objection to placing primary schools on the same basis as secondary schools in the matter of terms and vacations, bfclieving that greater uniformity would be beneficial, and that by dividing the year moro evenly it would be better for the children. He did not know whether the originator of the workers' homes schemes had been recompensed by the State. He would see that he got fair plav. If endowments were created for special purposes, he wouid have the money ear-marked so as to ensure that it would be put. to the purpose intended. If the Government adopted a leasehold policy, he would be foiiml with the freeholders, voting agaiuat the Government. (Applause). He could give no definite promise in answer to a question as to whether he would favor a measure providing for quarter-pay to day laborers in wet | weather. He" would be glad to assist the workers, however, in any way that lay in his power, and would support the Minister for Labor in any measure that he brought forward for the better- i luent of tile workers of the colony.

I A question as to whether the candidate was entering polities for the ;Hd- | vanccmont of the colony or for the £3OO a year honorarium, was drowned in laughter. A local question was asked relative to the payment of overtime to Borough Council employees, iur Dockrill said lie would not ask any mail to work without paying him. If men worked overtime, tliey should be paid for it, and in any case that had come under his notice payment had been made.