POLITICAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 259, 26 October 1908, Page 4

POLITICAL.

-UK. W. SYMES AT LNGLEWOOD. Mr. \V. Symes, M.l>., the Government candidate for the Stratford seat, a.ldrcsscd a packed meeting at lnglewood on Friday evening. .Mr. H. li. Curtis, Mayor of lnglewood, presided. Air. Symo, who was accorded an excellent reception, thanked the electors for venturing out in such large lumbers on a rainy night. He was no stranger to them, having had the honour of representing this district for sixyeuis prior to the last general election, an-1 the oniy reason why he was not still their representative was that the boundaries of the electorates had been changed so that to represent the town iu which he resided he had stood for Patea. Now, with the latest adjustment of boundaries, he was back seeking the suffrages of his old friends. He, like his Liberal-Oppositionist friend .Mr. [line, had been brought up in Taranaki, and was proud to style himself a Taranaki boy. He claimed to be closely identified with the lnglewood borough, having piloted the lnglewood Borough Bill through the House.

HIS OPPONENTS. He had two opponents this time—Mr. Hine standing as a Liberal-Oppositionist and Mr. King as an Independent Liberal. He would deal with their politics, but he wanted to make it quite clear that he had never traded in personalities, and he was not going to. At the same time he remarked on the strangeness of Mr. Hine's chosen designation, a "Liberal-Oppositionist." Evidently tlu good old Opposition was not good enough, so they produced 'this hybrid variety. For his part, he had never previously heard of a Liberal Tory. THE TARIFF. Referring to the tariff, Mr. Symes said that the Liberal Government, by its revision of the Custom s duties in the Tariff Bills of 1800 and 1907, had given remissions amounting to £503,250 per annum. That was a pretty failamount, in which fanners and townspeople shared, but it hud not affected the prosperity of the country. The CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION" ACT

had uot done all tlmt could be hop.'d for it, but he did uot conceive it to be possible that any law could absolutely prevent strikes. His Liberal Opposition opponent had claimed that the Arbitration Act had been a dismal failure, and claimed that it had been of use only so long as wages had kept on increasing. As soon as wages started to go down, said Mr. Hine, the employ- > ees refused te obey the awards of tli;| Courts. Now, had any of his hearers I heard of a fall in wages lately to bring about the failure that Mr. Hine spoke • about? He himself had not, and lie didn't want to, for poorly-paid workers meant a poverty-stricken, unhappy country. Altogether there had been i 9 strikes since the Act came into forts, affecting 1117 strikers, and rendering 2389 people idle on 316 days. The employees' wages lost to them totalled £17,667, and it was estimated thut £15,688 was lost to employers, ill'. Hine had said it was a one-sided measure, and complained that workmen were let off their fines whilst the employers had to pay. The statenieut could not be borne out by statistics, which proved that employers had paid 88J4 per cent, of the fines inflicted on ttatau, and the workers 84 per cent. That wasn't very one-sided. Mr. Hine had either intentionally endeavored to mislead the people, or else he was absolutely ignorant of what lie was talking about when he stated that a Mr. Dixoa, of Auckland, had been sent to gaol for breath of au award. Mr. Hine ought to have known that Dixon had been paying his employees less than the awarded rate of wages, and was prosecuted and fined, but he did not pay. A judgment summons was issued, and he was ordered to pay the money, in default the usual imprisonment. He didn't do it, and was sent to gaol for contempt of Court. As for the assertion that the Government should have sent the Blackball strikers to gaol, it was absurd. Acting on the C'cpwu law ofiicres' advice, the Government had prosecuted the unions, and when that was found to be the wrong procedure, they sued the strikers individually. Tlie men paid their fines, so why should they have been sent to gaol? Those men had struck in order to draw attention to ,their complaint that they were treated worse than black men. They admitted they broke the law, and they paid the penalty. .. AX OPPOSITION CUV

was that this country was being ruined owing to tlie Government's protection of the workers. It might interest them to know that in England the compensation for accident legislation was stricter than ours, and there the provisions had been extended to all farming operations a thing which progressive New Zealand had been unable to do. On top of that there was in force in England a law which provided for a level penny rate to assist distressed workmen, and even to asnist them in emigrating to other lands. THE DAJUY IiEUULATTONS.

Jlr. .Syiues said the issue of the dairy regulations had been used by the Opposition for electioneering purposes, and but for the fact that the general election was approaching there would have been mighty little stir about them. They had been brought in at the request of the dairy associations, and the)' were mild compared with the regulations previously in force. The Minister could have gazetted what regulations lie chose, hut instead of that, he had a draft of them made and published in order to ascertain the farmers' opinion of them and any suggested alterations, with a view of achieving some real good. They were referred to the Stock Committee, and the committee took evidence from practical farmers from all par's of the Dominion. Those fanners had their expenses paid by the Government, too. The whole object was to secure a set o_f regulations that would tend to the helping and uplifting of the dairying industry, and instead of the Minister receiving praise for such an effort, hi was subjected to the abuse of the Opposition. The same cry had been raised by that party when and dauy experts 'were first appointed, and that criticism had hardly been justified by the results, had it? lie was a farmer himself, and he had never yet heard o:' a farmer who hail been ruined or even injured by an inspector. One candidate in hi-> own electorate, with a view of inllueneing an illiterate Pole against the (iovernmeut. has assured him that the Government was going to collect a ; ' gistration fee of live shillings i„i- every row in his herd after the first live. What, did his hearers thing of those tactics 1 He instanced the English dairy regulations, which compelled every supplier -of milk to furnisb to the inspector a list of the source., from which he got his milk. So that tho-.e people who voiced the "Hood Old England" cry, and wid there were no such restrictions theie as in this country were hopelessly tut of it. Mr. Synics reckoned that tin system of inspection in New Zealand had done immeasurable good for the country. Years ago. for instance, the sheep-owner- had had to lie rounded" uii lie inspectors in order to eradicate scab in sliecp. Of later date was C:c crusade against tuberculosis in Taraiiaki. Waitara was then shipping away practically half of the frozen meat exported from New Zealand, and if it had got abroad that Taranaki herds were i;ifected with tuberculosis, it would have had the effect of killing tin- trade, which would have been a serious thing for the whole of Tarauaki. That inspection, too. had had its opposition. Then came the blackleg scourge, that all the fa--mers knew about. The usual howl of impending ruin ro,e upon the (Joveii: ment's nuarautine regulations, lm( he defied anyone to prove that any farmer had been injured therein-. Hut this an 1 the rigorous inspection had jrot the disease under, and it had been almo.i. stamped out. Again, would it be urged that the farmer* would clear noxious weeds without an inspector to enfonc the law? THE FACTORIES ACT I

was anolher of the GovcrnmenCs beneficial measures that had been bitterly opposed bv the Opposition. Uefore that Act was passed there no less than 000 girls in the Dominion who ■were working in factories T receiving no wages, and learning nothing. The Factories Act, if it had done nothing else, had put an cud to that --ort of thing, which enabled the; big manufacturers to sweat their em-1

ployees in order tlmt llicy themselves J might live in palatial residences. (A,jiplausc). Tin' worker nuil th« honest j nntnuiacturer were now being protected J against competition In his wealthy and ;. unscrupulous compelitiors.

THE LAND. The most important topic connected with the prosperity and progress of the Dominion was the laud, lie was n believer in the optional tenure, and considered that a man taking up land on the leasehold tenure should Hot in any way be hindered from changing to freehold. Jt was the duty of the Govorunient to do everything to develop tin) resources of the country, to assist in increasing its production, and the one way of doing Unit was to give'every worker of the land the opportunity of owning it. in the good old Tory days they didn't believe in that .sort of thing. They passed legislation so that no man could take up les., than 2(1 acres. So they would cut up numerous Jlltj-aeru holdings around it big block. The big block would lie taken up by a wealthy Tory, who would 'promptly "■-«|iiiit" on the lU'/Vaci'e sections rent free, and eventually ••collar the lot.'' That, they said, was the best land tenure New Zealand ever had. The ■•twelve apostles'' who bought up nil the land in llawke's Bay no doubt thought that | was thi' ideal system. Others claimed supremacy for the deferred payment, lease-in-perpetuity, occupation wiih right of purchase, homestead system, each man according to his own fancy. I'ersonally he liked the l.i.p. tenure, bat Parliament had decided that whilst it might be good tor the individual, it was not so for the State, and there would be no more land leased on that tenure. The Opposition claimed to have stopped ' thu Land Bill, but it was tlie work of the

''country party," of which Mr Symes was a member. The Opposition, consisting of 14 out of 80 members, could hardly lurve done it. Under the new 66 years' renewable lease there was Die important provision for registration o; the state of the land when taken u,), so that improvements could be fairly assessed when the time for renewal came round, lie believed iu ENDOWMENTS

for education, but not for hospitals or charitable aid. He could not say whether -Mr. Hine was right in stating that the lands reserved as endowments were all mountain peaks, for he had not been

over these seven million acres as Mr. Hine seemed to have been. Ho believed in LIMITATION OF AREAS, but believed, too, that this could have been brought about by the operation of the Land and Income Assessment Act, If a man insisted on having a luxury in the shape of a big landed estate, lie should be taxed accordingly. The system of valuation could be much improved. Valuers should be compelled to recognise that there was a value of improvements other than that included in the boundaries of the section, lioads, .halls, dairy factories, and so on, should be assessed as improvements and not added to the unimproved value, for they were the direct outcome of the holders of the land, and, in the case of roads, were made out of money raised with the land as security. He and others had tried to bring this about, but had been defeated. The Bush and Swamp Act, giving Crown tenants free occupation of bush and swamp lands for thrje, four, or five years, had his support. I Twelve years ago he had advocated some such measure, asking for seven yea's' exemption from payment of rent. M: Hine was wrong in his statement that this had been abolished. As a matter of fact, the terms were likely to be still further extended. LANDS EOK SETTLEMENT.

His Liberal-Oppositionist friend had ] told them that the operations of the Land for Settleriient Act were going to be stayed, but as a matter of fact the policy of the Government would be a more rigorous one than ever, as Mr. Hine would have known had lu 1 tiuii.-. vored to keep himself posted in tin- ;■;■ gress of all'airs. It was strange to hear the Opposition pressing for a more active lands for settlement policy, seeing that when the scheme was inaugurated they had opposed it tootli-and-nail. stating it would ruin the country; that only Government supporters would be able to get the land, and that no Government would dare to collect the rents from it 3 tenants. One bright example of the success of the policy was the Cheviot estate, which had supported 70 people under the squatocracy and no-.v, having been acquired by the State a.i 1 opened for close settlement, was occupied by 1300 souls. Mr. Symcs quoted Mr. A] L. D. Eraser, M.P. 'for Napier--a man who was looked upon as a Maori expert; a man who knew more than anyone else about native affairs—to dispose Mr. Hine's allegation of the "taihoa" policy of the Native Lands Commission. Mr. Eraser had opposed the Government on every native land measure ill the past, but now lie said: ''Tlie work of the Native Lands Commission has been excellent." KOADS AND BRIDGES.

Ho considered 'J'aranaki got a fail' share of the voter; fur roads and bridges, anil had Jiis own. electorate always pretty near the top. lie didn't believe, in this system of grants, or in th • graduated subsidy system, hut so long as grants were, to be obtained lie wis "going to be in tor bis share and .is much of the other fellow's as he could get." Main arterJßi roads should be made out of borrowed money, as the railways were, and maintained out of the Consolidated Fund, leaving the byeroads entirely to local bodies. THE ADVANCES TO SETTLERS Department was one of the finest departures ill the history of the country, notwithstanding that the Opposition had condemned it as a ruinous scheme ■when the present Premier introduced it. Under this scheme £8.804.81)0 had been lent out to 24,511 settlers, and only £5,000.000 had been borrowed to do it, the repayments having provided the rest. Mr. Massey had condemned the proposal to extend the Act to urban and suburban lands, but later, in Auckland, had urged such a policy. ignorant of the fact that the Government had so extended the provisions of the Act six years before. He would advise Mr. Hine to start early if he were going to teach Sir Joseph Wa'd finance, for the latter had forgott"ii more about finance than the LiberalOppositionist ever learned. WORKERS' DWELLINIIS.

Mr. lliuc had stated the Workers' Dwellings scheme was an absolute failure, but then he condemned everyithing. The story of the land at Nai Nai was "a hit of a fairy tale.'' The present Government had improved on the Worker-' Dwellings Act hv passing the Advances to Workers' Act, lending money to the worker so that he could build where and as it s uited him. EDUCATION SYSTEM.

was a grand system, whereby any child could go right from the primary school to a Rhodes Scholarship. He ' favored paying tin l greatest attention io primary education, without neglecting secondary and technical schools. The recent amendment wdiich had increased teachers' salaries had his warm support, and he was in favor of removing the disabilities of (he profession, such as making teachers' salaries dependent on the average attendance, which in the backblocks really meant dependent on the weather.

FARMERS. It was often staled that the Government paid undue attention (o the towns at (lie expense of the country. The Government, he though!, had done a good deal for the farmers. Some people conveniently forgot that the farme's shared in the foti.'l.OOO reduction in Customs duties. Under the Liberal policy, too, there had been great reductions in freights on agricultural requirements and products. Frozen meat freights ha*}, been lowered by A") per cent.; grain, wool, and live stock, 20 per cent..; bacon, buiiev. Max, peas. etc.. 1.-i per cent.; fruit, from 2s (id per Kill miles to Is: animal manures from 7s ltd p-r 1111 l miles to (is: artificial manures, from Rls ml to !)s Sd; lime from 7s lid ner (on (o free carriage (applause): factory butter and cheese, from 2(! s (id to lis fid: milk reduced i, v 23 per cent,, and skim milk returned free instead of being charged as fnrmerlv: pa-scmicr fares reduce,! by half: agricultural show judges at special rates; ami so on. He mentioned that under the Tory adininisl > .-,- tion freights on manures were very high. 2lis (id per ewt on lots id less than lice lons. That, was (lie wav I lie Conservatives had helped the small farmers.

lie marvelled at -Mr. Hine making political capital out of the fact that the Government had kept its promises —made at Whanganioinona a few yeir.s ago by Air. Scddou, and more recently by the present I'remief—to transfer the workers from the Main Trunk line to the Stratford-Ongarue railway. APPEAL TO WORKERS. Mr. Symes, appealing to the workers, said that not one single measure had been passed by the Tory Administration for the advancement of the workers, and the Opposition could not point to one of ths Liberal measures that j had acted against the true progress of the Dominion. Vet every measure ■brought down by the Government for the amelioration' of the conditions of the people had been strenuously opposed by the Opposition party and condemned hy them. The aim and object of Mie present Government was to work for the benelit of the whole community and not for a class.

PERSONAL. A word in personal explanation. He had nlw:iy* fought fair and square, but I his opponents had, been acting towards J him in a most mean and underhand way, slabbing him i u the back and in tlio dark by menus of a photograph of a letter written by hiin in the coui'm.' of his business. lie didn't

know if they had had this thing in lnglewood—(cries of "Yes, we did")but if there was any champion of that dirty business here let him come on the platform, and the speaker would deal with him as he had done with Stratford's champion of it. QUESTIONS. In answer to questions, Mr, Symes statedHe did not think it possible for one inspector to attend to weeds, dairies, bees, orchard-, and so on. He believed in the co-operative system, but the men should be allowed to choose their own mates. It must be remembered that the system was introduced not as a high-wage system, hut as a means of enabling any man to get work and be paid accordingly. A navy for New Zealand was not possible vet. The time would doubtless come whin New Zealand and Australia would combine in this.

lie believed that every child sliou'd be trained iu ride-shooting, and greater encouragement given to volunteer companies and rifle clubs. Every man should be provided with a rille and ammunition depots established for the distribution of ammunition at a cheap rate. In fact, shooting should be made the national pastime. He was opposed to conscription. He favored quinquennial instead ot triennial Parliaments.

He favored the second ballot to a certain extent, but personally he believed that every M.P. represented the whole of the electors in his constituency, whether he was elected by a majority

or not. He favored maintaining the present system in regard to the licensing question. He was opposed to the bare majority proposal, but favored Dominion option. He would not increase the duty on Oregon pine, but would favor any measure to restrict or prohibit Chinese im-

migration. Mr. Todd moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Symes and of confidence in hi'.'i; and a vote of confidence in the Government.

Mr. B. U. Xicholls seconded. An amendment was moved that the vote, be one of thanks only. There was considerable confusion, tk-3 chairman losing control of the meeting, hut eventually the amendment was declared carried by twelve vote 3 to six out of a crowded hall. The usual compliment to the chair concluded the meeting.

THE TARAXAKI SEAT. Mr. Malono, in spite of a very wet night, had a "bumper house" at Albert Road on Friday night. Mr. Kims was in the chair. Mr. Malonc's speech, on lines already reported, was well received, and evidently made him many friends. Ue urged the electors not to allow themselves to be inllneneeil by narrow cries founded in bigotry or cla-s prejudice, and to do their own thinking. He'referred specifically to the cry used by Mr. Ok.-y himself at the bye-elect i >ji and now most industriously circulated by many of his (the speaker's) political opponents, the cry being that theie were too many lawyers in the House; the suggestion being that although it was well known that Malonc was a practical farmer with 25 years' expedence, that because he had made himself, a lawyer as well he was not a fit poison to represent Tarauaki. The people who used that despicable cry did not know that there were 21 tanners and four settlers as against onlj nine lawyers in the House. It was the layunn and not the lawyers who tangled .is Acts, lie ventured humbly to say that his combined (nullifications of farmer and lawyer should make him an ideal legislator. Vote s of thanks to speaker and chairman concluded a good meeting.

Mr. D. \V. Mason has been appointed Registrar nf F.loclors for the electoral district of Stratford. Mr. .1. li. Ilinc, Opposition cnndubitc fur Stratford, is to reply to 'Air. W. 'Nynies in tlic Stratford Town Hall un Wednesday evening. A correspondent reports that Mr. Dive, one of the Opposition candidates for Kginont. has spoken recently at I'ungarohu, liahotu, Kahui road, Oannui, Upnnake, CardilV, Rowan, and Mangawlicrp road (Auroa). Good meetings took place at every centre, and at one of them practically the whole audience (numbering about thirty) formed themselves into a committee to work on ilia behalf. ' : Mr. W. T. Jennings is receiving a great reception along the Main Trunk line. He is evidently in the pink of condition, too, for he addressed no le-s than seven meetings in one day, and also voile ISO miles in the backblocks is order to ascertain the extent oi the damage done by the recent bush (ires. Mr. Jennings addressed an enormous concourse of elector s at Oliakune, at the conclusion of which he received a unanimous vote of thanks anil confidence. Mr. X. J. King bad a very busy time during last week addressing the electors in different parts of the Stratfo,\l electorate. On Monday Mr. King spoke at Waitui. Tuesday at Kaiiniro, Wodnesdnv at Ratapiko, Thursday at Xorfolk Road, and Friday at Toko RoaJ. The meetings 'Were well attended, and the speaker met with a most cordial reception at all the places he spoke at., Mr. King has long been assured of go id j solid support both in Stratford and Inglewood (says the I'o.st), and his chances in the country and outlying dis tricts are dailv growing brighter. • Mr. .1. 11. Ilinc addressed a large and enthusiastic meeting at Tariki on Friday evening (reports the Post), anil in spite of the stormy and boisterous weather ipiite a number of ladies tamo from long distances In hear the Opposition candidate. Mr. Knowles occupied the chair, and in introducing the canr.iitate emphasised the pleasure it gave him to -preside at a meeting when the speaker was one so intimately associated with the productions of 'the soil. At the conclusion Mr. Chapman proposed a hearty vote of thanks and eonlidence in Mr. Ilinc, which iv:i s seconded by Mr. Stevenson and carried aiuidsl

loud applause with one dissentient. Mr. C. K. Major. M.l'., writes to the Waiigamii Chronicle: "Mr. Hutchison, when addressing I lie Wanganui eleelors. is reported in your column; to have said Mr. Major liail made a statement at ITawera when addressing the electovs there to the effect that he 'was to lie Mr. Hall-Jones' successor as Minister fov '■Public Works.' The speaker was wrongly informed. I did not say so. I did not mention the Hon. Mr. Hall-Jones' | name or refer to the vacant portfolio. I said constituents would lie better served by a representative who possessed the ambition to allain to the dignity of Cabinet rank, Ihat [ possessed such an ambition, ami hoped s ome dav to realise it. The question of „ lv .pialilicntion is nul for Mr. Hutchison to decide." The Wairarapa Dailv Times, until iv cently one of Ihe strongest upholders (>' tin' old Conservative parly, has thrown the open avowed supporter of (he (ioveriiiueill. candidate, Mr, J. T. ,\|. Hums. by. This is another vcrv strong ~,, lion of |h„ wav the polilieal Hind is blowin- Wairarapa, be it reieembcre I, is a liiy farming consliUiencv, and wlen m a eoiistiliieiicy like that the erstwhile Conservative newspaper supports the Coverniiieiit candidate it i : , plain thai Ibe lasl props of Conservatism are fallii"„' away. There will be vcrv few cum ■ ; !iliienc ; e. ; in t he Dominion {.-ays a Soul hem e\eluruge) which will elect up-1 position candidates, and those who arc I returned will feel vcrv lollelv.

'There is reason for baling j J,-,(, t ],,, writs ],„• the election „f the new Parliament will be issued on 2nd November, which i s tantaniouni, to saying that no enrolment oj electors can take nhce after that date,

Speakim; n> a man who expressed « candid (i|iinic.ii. Mr. Thomas Mackenzie lul.l (In- electors nl Viiiliohi last week llial if Mr. Masscy wore paid accordia;; to tin- amount of work lio iliil in the House his salary |n-r annum would bo :C2I)I)», ilr. .Tamos .Midi's .C-"SHO or .•CI (WO. while tin- Premier would !-i----vindorpaid at ,£SOOO per annum. Private individuals, many of them, have 1

not the slightest idea of the amount of work members and Ministers have to go through, concluded "Tarn." Christehnreh North has not yet.emerged from the stages of rumour and speculation. There will probably be almost a straight-out contest between I Mr. Gray and Mr, T. E. Taylor, tinSocialist candidate, Mr Eoroyd. being a negligible quantity. Mr. Taylor's supporters have met, and his campaign seems to be woll-launehvd. The man in the street inclines to (lie opinion that Mr Taylor should win, but the contest must lie a very keen one and Mr Taylor's majority, if any, will be a very small one.