POLITICAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 263, 30 October 1908, Page 4

POLITICAL.

THE STRATFORD SEAT. JJ THE GAUNTLET DOWN AND THE 1 1'] GLOVES OFF. I „ Air. J. B. Hine, the Opposition caa- « didate for the Stratford seat, address-h, ed a packed audience in the Stratford f. Town Hall on Wednesday night, when u the candidate delivered a reply to the utterance of Air. W. Symes, the Govern- 1 meat candidate. The -Mayor of Stratford, Air. Geo. t Sangster, presided, and stated that Jlr. lline was going to "open the ball in the ; second round." ! i:r Hine was greeted with loud ap- | After expressing his pleasure '. i.t meeting such a large concourse of people, and for their pleasing reception of him, Air, Hine said that those who had heard his first speech in this campaign would grant him this —that he had not once mentioned either of his opponents. He had hoped thai the election would lie conducted without personalities or reference by one candidate

to another. But now Air. Symes 111 1 thrown down the gauntlet and lie (Mr. Hine) was quite ready to TAKE THE OLOVES OFF. There were two or three items in his speech that seemed to have aunoved Air. Symes very much. First, there was the fact that he claimed to be a LiberalOppositionist. Air. Symes was evidently at a loss to know what the term meant, and had asked if any elector had ever heart of a Liberal Tory. Air. Hiue said that he had. What was a Liberal-0:)-positionist? Perhaps Air. Symes didn't know what a white violet was, but he must be deficient in his education. He I would define a Liberal Tory as a man

having the virtues of both without the vices of either. (Applause). He hoped he was that sort of mau. (A voice:

That's right. Blow your own trumpet). He claimed to be a Liberal, and as a Liberal he believed in giving equal rights and privileges to every individual. But Air. Symes appeared to claim the patent rights of the terui "Liberal." This Government was supposed to l e down on monopoly—it was their chief creed. But Mr. Sy.mes had had a nionopolv of this seat for twelve years. (A voice: He'll get it again), aud now te wanted the monopoly of the term "Liberal." Why, he was the biggest oid Tory tliat ever walked. (Laughter). Jlr."Svmes'had 'been talking a lot about his opponents. When he was not sure of the author of a statement, or when he wanted to make a covert insinuation without any cause against the speaker, Mr Symes always called him "his op-i ponents." He had said that his opponents were making a house-to-house canvass to ascertain how people were voting. So far as he himself wa-s conecined, he gave the statement the lie direct. (Applause). If any man could bring along a person whom he had asked to vote, he was prepared to retire from the contest. (A voice: Give us politics). Mr. Hine came to the REMISSION OF TAXATION.

The great Liberal Government claimed to have reduced taxation by so many hundreds of thousands of pounds. Now he would depend for his figures on the Official Year Book, compiled by the authority of the Government by their own officials, and there was nothing but what redounded to the credit of the Government, of course. There they would find in tabulated form the cost of raising loans for the past five years. The figures were, in 1902, £88,000; in 1903, £87,000; in 1904, £23,000. All th-it was shown in table form, so that the Government could brag about the way in which it was reducing expenses. They didn't show in tabulated form how they had raised the rate of interest to lower ■fche cost of wising the loan, nnd they didn't tabulate the increase in the Tate of taxation per head. Yet it could be found in this liook that the taxation per head of population increased from £3 13s lid in 1898 to £4 14s 7d in 1907, a rise of £1 0s 8d for every man, woman, and child in the Dominion. Yet they were told that the Government had reduced taxation. What sort of a Government was that ? They claimed credit for revising ' THE TAEIFF. In doing so they had increased the duty on dairy machinery from a to 20 per i cent.: the duty on locomotives had been ! raised from 5 to 20 per cent. They had also raised the duty on boots and shoes,, particularly the working classes' boots and shoes (the completion of the sen-, tence was drowned in clamorous o'j-' jection and counter-criesHosieiv, such as ladies' stockings, had had duty increased, but the »ilks and satins for the upper classes now came in at lesser customs rate. The Government h.i 1 raised the duty on the poor mail's bike, but the rich man's motor car—or most parts of it—came in free. There lud been a pro|>osition to admit all motor ear-, free, but tlmt had been blocked by the Opposition. That Party had aht moved in the House to have the duty removed from one-pound packets of tea. but the Government luid stuck to the duty on the packet that the wording man bought and admitted free the five-pound liox that only the rich man could afford to buy. Thcv reduced the tariff on billiard-tables, and clapped it on to the working man's l>oots! What sort of a Government was this? He thought fhe people could not afford to trust such a Government any longer. They had had recited to them a great long list of the beneficial measures (hit the present Government claimed to have put on the Statute Book, and particular stress had been laid upon five of The Factories Act was claimed as one of the Tesults of the Liberal policy, and that t'he Government had made the first attempt to regulate the wages of females, and so on. Xothing of the sort. The late Sir Harry Atkinson had been the author of the "Employment of Famales and Others" Act, and other mea-! sures. Yet they were told that this Go verniuent had brought it down. That was the style of thing that lie had to fight. Then there was the ARBITRATION ACT.

He had been misrepresented in hio remarks iiiion this measure, lie was reported ill tlie papers to have said that wages lwd decreased. What lie really lad said \va3 that when the wage stopped rising the employees had gone out on strike, and lie repeated it. He would also repeat tliat the Government had not treated employer and employee in tlie same fashion, and t'hat Mr. Dixon, the Auckland employer, had been sent to prison for breach of an industrial award. The miners, on the other hand, had been let oil because the Government had been afraid to set the law in opera-' tion against tliem. H amounted to this, that the employer was usually reckoned to have some money, and if lie did not pay he could be sued on a judgment summons and sent to gaol if he did not pay. The worker, however, if he pleaded pauperism, could avoid the law, and this was being done. There was a form of class distinction. He was not pleading (for the imprisonment of working | men for debt, but he wanted to emphasise the Government's failure and in-, capacity to administer the laws as laid' down and brought down by their own policy. What sort of a Government, re would like to know, was t'hat? (Applause). Tlie factory liveasures were not- the only measures brought down bv Sir lfarry Atkinson for the benefit ot the people. There was the l'riemlh Societies Act. which gave the people power to aid one another in times of distress. There was the Inspection of ..Machinery Act. and who would, say they had ever had a better policy of roads and bridges construction than they had then? Aiid it wasn't with borrowed money, either. (Interjection: Thev had Sir .(ulius Voxel's money I. The late Sir Harry Atkinson wouldn't stoop to Ikmtow a quarter of a million right 011 the eve of an election: not he. He had never borrowed more than £3OOll or t-MOO for public -works. Xow thev had millons.

The same old voice: They had th-» | soup kitchens then. i Air. Hine: And you had the soup kitchens in Christchureh last winter. You had them »ix montlis ago. Only one. ? " ' Yes. One to feed fellows like yo.i, who do no work. The voice: But nobody came for the soup. *Mr. Iline continued. There was the Old Age Pensions Act. He believed in that. But the idea wa-s contained in Sir ITnrrv Atkinson's National Ann-ii-tie* Bill' At this stage the chairman liad 'o ask a dinuuiitioii of the interjection!?, but Mr. Iline asked that Mr, Syines'

"advance agent' be lol't alone. "lie's! doing me good." Sir llarry Atkinson had, continued Mr lline, almost staked his political re- | putation upon that measure, but the j then Opposition passed it out. Yet they I were told that previous administrations had done .110 good for the country. He would not say -thai, of this liovernuieir., lor 110 set of meu could stay in olttsc for seventeen years without doing some measure of good. The voice: Why didn't Sir llarry Atkinson puss the Bill?

Air. lline: because he couldn't knock uense into people like you. Continuing, Air. lline quoted Air. Syiiues' statement that 'he believed the Blackball miners were justified in stnkI ing.

The voice: There are .110 strikes in New Zealand.

Mr. lline: Xo strikes! Why, there were 18 strikes in the past IS niontis. But if the men were all like you there would bo no strike. You wouldn't strike when a man wanted to light yo'i in lnglewood last Saturday. You wouldn't 'have a "go." .My secretary ii was. (Hours of laughter). Reverting to his political speech, Mr.

lline advanced the remark that it was | disgraceful that Mr. Symes should haie voted for the Arbitration Bill, and then stated openly that men were justified in striking. The Government put legislation on .the Statute Book, and then its members encouraged men to break it. A man that would do that was unfit to represent an intelligent community like Stratford. (Applause). But he didn't want to turn Mr. Symes upside down too much. A voice: You can't.

Mr. lline: Xo? You wait till polling day conies. Then you'll see all about it. He repudiated Air. Symes' allegation that he had made any representations to an "illiterate Pole." It was an insult to the l'oles of this country to ta!.fc about "illiterate Poles." He challenged Mr. Symes to produce the "illiterate Pole" to whom he (the speaker) had said that under the new dairy regulations there was to be a tax of live shillings a head on dairy cows. As a matter of fact, he had never discussed the dairy regulations -with ,any 'Pole. It wis | also alleged against hhn that lie had made direct charges against Government inspectors. This he denied, lie reiterated wh-at lie had previously staled, that he thought there were already enough inspectors to do the work of inspecting dairies, and so on, but one of his opponents had ■started sonic street tittletattle to the effect that he had said some of the inspectors ought to be out . of the sex-vice. I 'lMie Government took credit, too, for

having appointed the first daily produce I grader. But the first was Mr. John ,Sawers, and be was appointed away back in Sir Harry Atkinson's time. Yet they were told that the country had no grading system until this Government took office. Utter bosh! Mr. Hine had a few words to say on that remarkable topic of the Egyptian Consols, and quoted from Mr. iSymes' speech where he said: '"With regard to Mr. Hine's statement as to the £BOO,000 invested in Egyptian bonds in Egypt many people might have supposed that this had been a new departure. But as a matter of fact it had been inaugurated in 1873 when an amount of £BOO,OOO had been invested in Imperial debentures at 2% "per cent." He adhered to his previous statement. It was a new thing. If they (had £BOO.OOO at Home there was certainly no need to borrow from the Post Ollice Savings Bank at 3y 2 per cent, to lend at 2%; per cent. Mr. Symes was referring to a loan raised in 1870 which matured on June 30 last and which the Government paid oil' with the accrued sinking funds, which were actually borrowed money. If they had £BOO,OOO in England why send another £800,000? Could they imagine why? If they would look up I Hansard they would find that Sir Joseph Ward said the original ,£8000(10 borrowed had disappeared. Tills «.;* the great financier. He admitted himself that it 'had disappeared and t!i ~ another £BOO,OOO had been borrow-d to pay it oft'. This was the sort of > thing that was going on. and now they ! found themselves in a tight corner and took £BOO,OOO from the workng man's "1 savings and sent it Home in time of ' | financial stress here. If they only knew i} the ins and outs of that money—could II only get at the bottom of it—he believed it would be found it had already i been used to pay interest. His oppon- ■, ents had lately been ridiculing Mr Mas- - sey, the Leader of the Opposition.- a , regard to the Workers' Dwellings and ' Advances to Settlers OHlces. About ' the middle of .September. lH0(i, Mr. - Massey moved, tile addition of the iol--1 lowing clause to the Government Ad- , vanees to Settlers Bill:—"When a loan t is required for the erection of buildings 1 on urban or suburban land which is r not subject to any incumbrance, the r cost of erection (not exceeding £4OO , on the whole and not exceeding four ' times the value of tile laud) may f the discretion of tile Hoard be advanc- ) ed by instalments as the erection of - the building proceeds.'' Tiie committee s divided and Mr. Symes voted against i the proposal.. The Government would ; not accept it and made a party i]iiest tion of it. Fourteen months after Siyjo- : scph Ward grabbed the thing and 'put ! it on record, taking the whole credit > fur it himself. When it was brougiit before the House "Mr. Jla=sev called t attention to certain points of resemb- ; lance to what lie had moved pi'cvi- ■ ouslv. THE NAT NAT " FA 111 Y TALE."

Air. Mine said that Mr. Symes had described as a little fairy tale the speaker's account of the purchase, of the Xai Xai estate In" the Government. Tlie 1 Minister in Charge of the Departme.it did .not call it a fairv tale, hut admitted that the transaction had resulted in a loss to the Dominion. But than the Minister, the Hon. J. A. Milhr, Was a man of some sense. This estate was purchased by a private individual' ill 1003 ifor £IO,OOO. In the next year lie offered it to the Covernment at £2OO per acre, which .meant. £28,000, or nearer £30,000. The offer was not accepted, .and was withdrawn. In 1995 the estate was offered to Government, this time for £l5O ail acre, and the Government closed, ipaying £21,000 f.ir the property for the workers' dwellings' scheme, although the hind was to a very large extent swampy. Mr. Symes said tliat was a "fairy tsile," lmt it was no fairy tale for the man who sold the land'. It was a nice little plum for liiin. Now, the 'Minister, Hon. Mi'. Millar, was questioned about the purchase, and lie admitted that the laud had heeu ]turelrased lor workers' dwellings. This' was What he said: ''There was lit'.le chance of its being acquired for purpose for which it was purchased. It seemed to he situated so far away that he admitted it was unsuitable, for tin* purpose, and not a property for the Department to retain." That was the report of the Minister after a visit to the place with Mr. Kensington, who hail been '.it f the Board which acquired the land, an;? | Mr. Kensington, too, after buying the land, admitted that it was not the right land ifor the purpose of workers' honus. A newspaper reporter had gone out to look at it, and this was what he wrote to his paper:—'"Generally speaking, the land is of poor and inhospitable appearance. anil it seems likely to be as W 't for many months in the year as it undoubtedly is at tlie present time. It is expected that the cost of drainage and other work necessary to prepare the land for settlement will add another £IOO per acre to the purchase price." That was Mr. Synies' so-called "fairy tale''! Now, when Hon. Millar had gone out to look at. the estate it hid

already ben surveyed and sub-divided into -370 allotments, but 'he found it quite unsuitable for the sites of workers' dwellings, and lie was going to band it over to ithe Laud for Settlement Department to be disposed of as fanning lands. But who, be would like to know, wa.s going to farm land that cost -£250 an acre? But they need nut j>o to Wellington to itnd expensive mistakes in, ! pureh'asing unsatisfactory lands for the purposes of dose settlement. There was the KpoUwood settlement fit Xew Plymouth. and another at Tok'». where land acquired by the (ioverniuent and offered, for had -failed to find a tenant, and the neighbors were fanning the, land rent free. j LAXDS F(»ll SKTTLKMKXT. I This -wonderful compilation. the Ofli*! ekil Year Book, gave 'a statement of l bow the Lands for Settlement poliev of the country was earned out. Last year . the sum of £117.000 was expended bf j the Government in the purchase oi es- I

tales in New Zealand, and how muihj did they think it cost to administer that? He would guarantee, that not one person in the hall would guess within ~C 30,000 of it. it cost j;7(i,800! He.'e it was, in the Government's own printed record, ilie Government had expended • £117,1)1)0 in 'lands for settlement, he would le[teat it, and 'it cost JK7U,i)OU to expend it. They never had that from the (ioverument candidate, hut he thought they didn't get all that they should get from liiiu. Probably M.'. Symes would call this a, "fairy tale," like the other.

This Government claimed to lie the working man's friend. It claimed to provide land for the landless, and they expected tlie working man to believe that, just as if the working man could not think for himself. There was move business capacity in the average working man than in the representative for Stratford. They would be surprised if he were to tell 'tliem some of the conditions under which lands were allotted ior settlement, the conditions statid that the applicant must be landless. But he must not be penniless. Oh, no! He had to prove that he had .so much lnonev iu the bank before the State would accept him as a tenant. An elector: And quite right, too. A voice from the front seats: Scandalous, scandalous! Air. Hine said that a Taranaki man. then an opponent of the speaker, had applied for a section of this land. Bui. as he hadn't enough money the Government insisted 011 his getting a backer. So he backed out. "YVliat .do you think tliat man is doing now'!" lie asked. "He's working for me all he kno.vs how." (Applause). lie asked his headers not to forget the action of the lloil. Jlr. McXal) in the South. It was especially provided by the Legislattu'e that when the Government acquired an estate for settlement preference should | be "iven to any workman on the estate if he were eligible to hold Crown laud and had worked for live years 011 the property. One nuui had had the temerity to make such a request when the Crown acquired the Otekaike estate in Otago. The Laud Board approved the application, but Jlr. .McXab "passed him out like a dog," saying lie was an ablebodied man and lit to work. That was the Übcral policy, and that was the work of a l/beral Government. Alii. SV-.MKS OX LAND TENURE.

Doming to land l enure, Mr. Syanes had told tlit'iu Unit In; was n freeholder, always luid lieen, aiul always would In. A voice: Except when there's a vote on it. ,

• Mr. Iline said that if his hearers would look up Hansard they would find Mr. Symes claiming to have a leasehold, hut that was doubtless his own private business, into which ho did not' wish to enter. Mr. Symes in Parliament had. certainly voted .sometimes for the freehold, but lie had dodged a lot of divisions, too. The same old inter, jeetor at the back: The freehold was never a party division. (Laughter). But whilst Mr. Symes claimed to be a freeholder, lie supported the present Ministry, and these were some of .the views which had been, expressed I.y members of the Ministry on the land question. Mr. E. McXab, 'now Minister of Lands, was reported to have said: "i am one who regretted that when wc were arranging 'for compulsory purchase we did not adopt a scheme bj which we might have periodical re-val ua-tions. If the Fair Rent Bill comcf into operation, we shall have much tin same result as would have been accom plished by periodical .re-valuation, and so far, of course; that difficulty will b( removed." See how he harped on tie Fair Rent Bill, and yet Mr Symes woult support a man like that. (Applause). The Hon. Jas. MeGowaii, Minister fo; Justice had said: "Crown lands shouli not be sold, but should remain the pro per.ty of all the people for all the time. 1 The Hon. W. Hall-Jones, Minister fo Public Works, expressed himself thus "l should be glad to see a shorter lease with .periodical re-valuation. On tli. question before the House I can sa; candidly that I <lo not believe in sellinj Crown land-." On another occasion h had expressed the opinion that a i! years' lease was sufficient. See, sat Mr Iline, how they all harped 011 re-va! uation. These members of the Ministr; all wanted to break existing laws. Then they came to Mr, Ceo. Fowlds now Minister of Education, and lie ha. said in tlic House: "The arrogant as sumption of a few farmer bodies wh had found their way into the Houi was amusing." Arrogant assumptioi indeed! Possibly that sort of talk a 1: pealed to .Mr. Symes, for lie was a farmer. Of course, Mr. Fowlds knew El'l about it. Again, Mr. Fowlds had said: "The railways ought to be run absolutely free of cost, and the expenses of running them should be collected by a tax upon land values." What a picnic |> *■■- pie would be having. And lio.w nice it would be for the farmer, for the .poor farmer would have to pay the piper. -What should be done," said Mr. Fowlds in another speech, "with all the remaining Crown lands was that they should 1»' set apart and fixed definitely for some specific object. He desired to impress upon his hearers the desirability of as soon as .possible, awl as fully as possible, having an increase of the present land tax. lie repeated that the land uix ought to be increased by Id in the £, and, further, exemptions ought to be done away with," That was from Jlr. Fowlds. Jf anyone eared to go to Auckland and enquire about Ml'. Fowlds, they would find that he held the freehold of one of the finest blocks in the city, lie would do away with the freehold for the farmer, but not for the cities. "That is the Government that Mr. Symes supports. I say he won't suport it .much longer." And now for the climax, in a speech by Mr. J. A. Millar, now Minister of Lands: "The action of the Farmers' Union in demanding the freehold at its original cost was the act of political highwaymen. I do aiot intend at any time, so long as I retain a seat in this House, by a vote of mine to allow one acre of land to be sold. I say we have a right, as trustees of the people, to say that the death of the tenant terminates the lease, but we pay for the interest and 'improvements. There is 110 contract broken. The contract is -between the, 'lessee and the Crown, and the lion. ge;i'llenian cannot show that there can be -any breach of contract when the Crown ■never touches the lease -so long as the. -tenant lives." An 11011. member: "Lives for <l!l!) years';" Mr. Millar: "However long he lives, lie has .still, got it; but if •lie dies, there is a fresh -contract." An ■lion, member: "Then you rob his widow." Mr. Millar: '"Von do not rob his widow.'' All lion, mcniiber: "But vou ■propose to." Mr. Miliar: "Vou do not 'propose 10. You did .not make a coil-, ■tract Willi the widow." ' The candidate Was interrupted lr.l Series of 'Shamel" Mr. Symes, he said, .was a freeholder, and he supported a- man like that. '(l'proar). Jlr Millar had said in ISKJ'j:. "If I .stayed here for the next three months no such tiling as the freehold would go through—if only half-a-dozen 'members would support me. ... I have always been against the freehold. I liave said it in every speecii I ihave ; made 011 any platform in the country." So that if a inian died and left a widow" and family, the Government would stop ■in and rob them. That was the Government that Mr. Symes was support!))?, ■lie said he wasfreeholder, and at the same time voted to keep the crowd like that ill office. FACTORIES ACT.

Mr. lline reverted to the Factories Act, "which, he said, was supposed to 1 'have been brought in bv this Governi 'incut. Rut the measure was there •when they went in. and all they had •done was to tack on amendment after •amendment, until now nobody knew 1 •what or where the Act was. Let thorn look into the administration of tho Act.: There was a tobacconist in Stratford,! who had. had to go to New Plymouth ■for a day. It was the half-holiday. During the afternoon his assistant was* 'standing outside the door, when the inspector came up and a*ked him if h'j could get a packet of cigarettes. ffho 'assistant supplied the goods, and then the inspector •'•pulled him before tho beak.'' Let them go and ask the dressmakers about the factories' legislation. They would toll of the inspector dodging around the workroom doors—ite might really to keep away from the dressmakers-to see that tile girls got their half-holidays, t« set? that the shops -closed on Thursdays, and that the girls' •got a half-holiday ou Saturdays. So now the girls, unto the existing law, got two iialf-holiday.s (per week. The 'girls preferred Thursday, but the inspector said they mu*t have Saturday. Ami they got both. Ueverting to the proceedings against the tobacconist. Mr •lline said that anyone who had happened to be iu Court when the charge Was heard wonhl have been struck i>v the demeanor of the Magistrate, who. it could be plainly seen, was against the procedure but had to administer -the law. 'lie would sooner have put the inspector iu prison for adopting such tactics encouraging the man to break the law and then prosecuting him for it. (Applause). MU. C. K. BELUUNGKU. Now they could take a look at New* Plymouth. Mr. C. E. Hellringor, evidently the Government •candidate for the Taranaki seat,liad been kind enough to attack what he (Mr. lline) had said in 'his first spe'ecli about the Government •bringing men on to the Strutford-Qn&u-

rue railway. Air. lline said that he had 'two opponents iii the electorate, but Air

liellriiiycr was not content to leave him to llieir tender mercies. Perhaps they

were not good enough. Now Mr. JJuJlringw hml said that Mr. lline liml not I the interests of Taranaki at heart when lie objected to the Government jerryliuniitleiiiiy so auaiiy men ou to the Ktratford-Ongarue railway. He claimed to have done his share of public duty in Taranaki, or at least to lnive tried to do so. What had Mr. Bellringer done ■for New l'lyjiuouth J He had done absolutely nothing, lie had not been ou any ■local body or on any other public body. Mr. Bellringer liad said he would put a thousand men on the line. He evidently knew just about the number of -votes wanted to save Mr. Symea from ignominious defeat. There were SOU men there now, anil 700 more would just ■about do it. (Laughter). Mr. Jied'ringer was candid enough about it. lleinomber, he was president ot' the Nolicense .League, and all knew how these co-operative jnen. would vote 011 the li censing question. So Mr. Bellringei ■would sacrilice the No-license eause ti keep .Mr. lline out of .Parliament and to keep tile "lrudi>" in the district. A voice: Did you tell them that when you were out there the other day! Mr. lline: 1 did, and more. 1 toul tliem what they needed, anil they gave me a vote of confidence. (Applause). Those men wanted fair treatment. They wanted to be treated like white me'.i. and they were certainly not treated like wliite men now. l'hey wanted to be allowed to choose their own mates, ami they were not allowed to. Tliey wanted to be told the amount of earth thev shifted; but, .110. They had to accept the dictum of the inspectors. "Who do you think gave 111 c that vote of confidence! The workers. And who gave Mv. Symes his vote of confidence? The [ men that don't want to work." He

estimated that when the numbers went up the, numbers of votes on the co-oper-ative works would lie very evenly be- - tween Mr. Symes and .himself. KEI'IIODL'CTIVE BORROWING ? « At his last meeting Mr. \V. Morrison J hud asked him if he would give a statement showing how much the Liberal Ooveniment had burrowed, and linw much of the borrowed money was ; spent in reproductive works. He would ' endeavor now to answer the question. During its term office this Uovernnient had borroued 28 millions sterling. (Cries of "Oh!") That was the Government that had come in on a self-reliant noil-borrowing policy, the self-reliant, lion-borrowing policy initiated many years ago iby the real Liberals, and speedily departed from by the scallywag Liberals. IJvery year the whole of the Departmental expenses had to be paid out of borrowed .moiiey. Expensed, salaries, from Under-Secretary to ofliceibojy Jhad to be paid out of loans. How would they like to be able to run a ibusincss like that, paying everything out of 'borrowed money, and calling all earnings surplus! It was easy enough so long as they could borrow, but what then! Borrowed money was being used in the purchase of native lands, and hundreds and hundreds of acres of it were being sold for cash, -but the Government did not put those receipts towards paying oil' the loan. Oh, no. They ■paid the money into the public .exchequer, and called it surplus. They called that reproductive, and so it 'was, reproductive to be used again, and doled out «s a surplus. Then £5,000,000 was spent in lauds for settlement, and loans to local bodies ,had a share, and the ■ Advances to Settlers Office, one of the , best measures that the Government had 1 brought about. Mr. Symes had ridi--1 culed the speaker's suggestion that the I '£Boo,ooo invested .in the Egyptian stock could have been with advantage ' transferred to the Advances to Settlers 1 Office, saying: "Doesn't Mr. Hine know - that the Prime Minister could not do ' such a thing without the sanction of f 'Parliament?" Of course., he knew about ; it. And lie knew, tooj that Sir Joseph , Ward had aiot been able to send that i '£Boo,ooo to England, either, witho.it ' putting it before the House. And ! couldn't he have just as easily got one i authority as the other? He considered I tliat the Premier had displayed a want I' of tact and a want of foresight in send- - ing that money out of the country 'nf stead of placing it to the credit of the Advances to Settlers Office. The result > was that now no one could get a penny I out oi the Advances to Settlers Depart- - nienfc. for there wasn't a copper there, i He really believed that that was tiie c reason why the. election was rushed i, this year. The sheepowners were all - broke

A voice; We're going to bust. Mr. lline: If you put good men in, we'll see that the country doesn't "bust." Continuing, he said that £300,000 of borrowed money had been expended in the purchase of preference shares in the Bank of New Zealand, and more had been expended ill New Zealand Consols, railways, and £10,000,000 in public works. That money certainly was not reproductive. A million of that money was expended in public buildings, and would anyone tell him that money spent in erecting public, buildings was reproductive ? No depreciation was allowed, ami the buildings were not insured—what a tremendous risk for the Government to take! He called it money wasted. Would they call the Midland railway reproductive? A questioner: Who started it? Mr. Hine: Mr. Seddon started it, and it 'was carried on by iSir Joseph Ward. He would like some further information about the public works expenditure, but he wasn't in Parliament and not in a position, therefore, to get it. He had to depend on the Government records, Parliamentary returns A voice: And Mr. Massey? Mr. Hine: Yes, and Mr. Massey. We're not ashamed of our Mr Massey, my friend. The speaker then referred to the fact that it had cost £1,230,000 to borrow this £28,000,000. They called that reproductive. Then £748,000 was spent in the conversion of loans. He didn't' know what .that was. It was a Chinese puzzle to him. Query: How are you going to rectify it?

Mr. Iline: When we get in wo won't convert any. That's how we'll do it. The voice: Who converted the first loan?

Mr. lline: Yes, who did? The Voice: The Atkinson Government. Mr.' Hine replied that the Atkinson Government had paid off its loans with sinking funds, and they paid a small balance into the general exchequer. He absolutely denied that Sir Ilarry had converted any loan. But the Liberal Government had, and they had converted them to release the sinking funds, which tliey grabbed. An interjector: Wages wore 3s fid a day. It would be found in Hansard of 18Sli.

Mr. Hine: You could find it on cooperative. works now, 5s 4d a day. | The Voice: And you'd find others get lis 2d per day. Mr. Iline said he had been reliably informed that one gang of men. on the co-operative works had shifted 13'W yards of earth in one. month, and 800 yards next month, and the pay did not alter. The co-operative men had told I liim themselves that they were entirely

at tho mercy of tho inspector, ami ill'';.* never -know "what they wore going to get. (A Voice: Give us polities.) Whenever lie pot a sting on to the Government supporters tliey said, ik polities."' Tho Opposition was sitting ou the Government wow. (Yes, fifteen of you.) Of the borrowed moneyi ■ £1.770.000 was borrowed to set aside I !as sinking funds for other loans. That was tho work of sir Joseph Ward, Air. Synics' '• Wizard of Finance."' There was 110 need for a man to be a wizard to 'borrow one loan with which to pny oft' another. Sir Joseph hail borrowed this money at 4 : per eent. to let out again at I) 1/: P«'i eent. (A Voice: Ttow would yon remedy that?) (Answer: Why. by borrowing at 4 per eent. and getting ,V,<. per cent. for tho money.) Naval and military settlements had absorbed L' 27.000. and advances to dairy factories—how nuich did they think there was for that?—il was a fine lump reproductive, anyhow. That was the extent to whieli the Government was prepared to help the fanner. Another 'CI M>,ooo had lieen expended in two Stale coal mine-;, the profits from one being needed to compensate for the Iosm". on the otlier, which was an nU.»r failure, yet the Government kept it going. Why didn't the Government conic to Whanuaniomona and develop the eoal deposits there? The Scenery Preservation "Department had abosrbed another G20.000. That, was the way the .money went. The Government claimed that fil pel' cent, o'f their borrowed money was reproductive. "We suv that every penny of borrowed money should be reproductive. No partial successes fur lis. We would ma'l>o a success of every penny,'' said Mr. 1-line, amidst 'Considerable applause. That, -be said, would be honest and statesmanlike. The Liberal policy was condemned by its own words, and he did not think Llio j people could trust them any longer.

"Mr. W. Morrison said that Mr. line had omitted the amount advanced for loans to local bodies. Mr. lline said he mentioned it, but' the meeting assured him to the contrary and he gave tho figures at £2,400,000. Mr. Morrison interjected that that money was reproductive, anyhow, Ho

complained that Mr. lliue had not told theui how much of the borrowed money' was reproductive, and that was what ho | had asked for. Jlr. Iliue said the Uovernnient claimed it was all reproductive. But lie had enumerated various amounts and showed .what was unreproductive. Surely Air. Morrison could subtract thai from the total and arrive at the result for himself.

PERSONAL Mr. lline then dealt with personal natters, lie regretted very much tluit ie had to do this, but Mr. Syuies had ntroduced the subject, lie desired to

thank Mr W. Morrison for his statement at Mr. ■Symes' aneeling that he (Mr. nine) had' bad nothing to do with, procuring the material used by Mr. Hemingway on the public platform, lie complained that the I'ost bad not treated him fairly when it omitted Mr, Morrison's statement from its report, aid then it had written a leading article in which it was stated that the production of that letter was a huge tactical I blunder on the part of the Opposition party. The party, he might say, was not' actually responsible for the incident, but- a's the representative of the party he was quite willing to take the blame and the responsibility. Hut what did Mr. Symes do? On top of Mr. Morrison's explanation he went to Tot), the speaker's home, and told the dec-

tors that .Mr. Hemingway was secittary to 111'. Mine's Stratford committee, licxvould have been proud to have hiin in that position, but unfortunately Mr. Hemingway was not the secretary this year, -because his time was taken up in preparing to pass an examination to enter a profession. Amidst a host of interjections, Mr. Hine .said he had written to ill'. Hemingway six or seven weeks ago, telling him that he could not allow him to take part in the conduct of this campaign, believing that to allow liim to so devote his time would be unfair to his wife and family. The chairman called for order, but

111'. Hine claimed that the interjections wore doing liim good. His friend -Mr. Byrnes' advance agent was "doing worlds for him." (Laughter.) He coutiiLUod that lie could not let Mr. liemin'nvay jeopardise his chances at the examination by working in a political struggle. Yet Mi'* Symes was trying to get hini mixed up ill this thing. And the local newspaper was trying to mix him up, too. At any rate, they were blaming the party, and lie was going lo be its representative. Now, how about a paper that would print a portion only ox a letter that was not 'private, and confidential, and which was read at a public meeting? He could tell them a sequel to the "private and confldeitial" letter. The then manager of the

Post, after Mr. Symes' refusal, went to AVellington and had an interview ■with the Minister, not through Mr. Symes' introduction, tat through Mr. Jennings, and they got the Government advertising, as they deserved, and as they ought. But did anyone think that Mr. Jennings charged commission V _ No. Mr. Jennings' politics were of a higher standard than that. He would guarantee that he never received anything for what he had done for any paper or for any constituent. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Iline said that now he was going lo read a letter written by Mr. Symes, M.P., with a view of getting it into the Press. They had heard a good deal about the freedom of the Press lately, with the Second Ballot "gag" clause. But what sort of a policy did the paper have which had refused him fair play? He could adopt an old -verse to meet the case: "What are your mv pretty inaid? My pocket's my politics, sir, she said." (Laughter.) He would ask the Taranaki Daily News to mark the date of the letter, tor the News had blamed Mr. Hemingway for not indicting air. Symes pl'ior to the last election, when the so-called incriminating letters were unearthed, lie hoped the Taranaki Daily News would climb down now and tell the truth next tinn. lie then read the letter:— "Stratford, 28th July, 1000. ••]). Lysaglit, Esq., Executor lute J. 1!. Lysaght's Estate.

j "Sir,—-My claim against the abovementioned estate for 17 7s 3d dated' :20th .March last for getting refunded to the estate arbitration costs incurred ill 188!) of £347 5s 4d, also my letters' [ ' to you of the 20th April and Ist June 1 last, still remain unanswered. . . . I Von did nothing beyond signing the petition which was prepared at my ex- '• pcitse. Your claim was forwarded by i me to the propel' quarter. . . . Don't' ' forget that your own claim is not yet paid, neither is that of your brother Mr. F. Lysaght, and I hold tile key of the position. 1 alone have all the infonnition, and at the proper time shall know ' how to use it. All the other lesse.'s to whom 1 sent a claim have paid cheer- ' fully. 1 am preparing a petition for' II those lessees who did not sign the last' ® one for presentation this session, but 1 l ' .ml take good care that, your ungentlemanly conduct Bhall lie rewarded by ® keeping your name oil', also that of your ' brother. —Yours truly, Walter Symes.'' The following' account was attached: "Executors James 1(. Lysaght's Estate, ' llawera, Dr. to - Walter Symes, Strutlord—To commission at 3 per cent, foi' '> procuring £347 5s 4d, amount of costs " paid for lifting award under the West " Coast continued leases, £l7 7s 3d. The l ' above commission includes stamps, telcgrams, stationery, and 'imc devoted in hunting up documents and evidence, pr<s■paring petition, and attending bciorc 1 the Petitions Committee and giving ofi- ■ dence at length on two occasions." 1 Now, hp thought a member should ' take a higher stand than Mr. Symes 1 had done. He should view this transac--3 tion from the point of a member's duty, " not alone to his constituents, but to the colony. Take the colony first. A member of Parliament was returned b/ • the colony and paid £3OO a year out of > the Consolidated Fund, not by his constituents. It was his duty to guard ' over the interests of all the .people of: the Dominion. Wasn't that his duty?- ' (Cries of assent.) Wasn't it his duty to prepare and present petitions to the ' 'House for anyone and everyone? It ! was not his duty to attend to these petitions and get them; through parliament' in the hope of obtaining mhj. : 'luere for himself. Ho hoped he would/never g?t ; to Parliament if he had to associate with that class of men. There was a : higher standard of politics than that. All M,P. was a guardian oi the publicpurse, to see that all just claims on it were fairly ,met, and not to attempt to pass through any unjust claim in the hope of a commission for himself, What were the Opposition standing for? They stood for a pure democracy, and they were going to pass out this sort of thing. He had not been anxious to discuss this question, but the challenge had been thrown down, and he had taken it up, and he would show up the business. Now, was it fair for a nnv.i- , bcr to charge for services rendered to a constituent? (Cries of "No.") If , this sort of thing went on where would , they be'; They would have a class of men trying to make money out ot ■ people whom they assisted by' means of j their presence in Parliament. .Air. Syni's ( hail declared that he had never received any commission from anv of his constituents. But thc.v bad another lett -r c of Mr. Symes' lo }Jr. Lysaght. in which „ he stated that P. Wilson and T. Frere ( were the only individuals who had paid t him. He produced the roll of the iPatea a electorate of 1003, and read the name a of Temple Frere, of 'Waverley. Now, (| Temple t'rere had been one of the „ lessees interested, and as Mr. Symes ~ had represented Wavcrlcy for six yea"s Mr. here must at some time or other have been one of his constituents. The Taranaki Daily .News had said that "h-i.T it been proved that Mr. Symes us.'d his oliico as the people's representative ill Parliament to enrich liis private pocket, Stratford could have done one

thing and one tiling only—refused liiiu ike opportunity of again offending." Here it was proved, if the electors ivere going to allow this sort of Ihing' to continue, then thoy were not doing their duty to themselves uud to the "country. (Questioner: flow are you going to Tjctter: it J ' Mr. Hiue (hotly.): Uetter it V By not i taking eomiuissions, oi course. Do you' think I would take a copper from a man for whom ] .passed a petition through'l the House'; I'd sooner hang myself. (Cheers.) Alen of high moral holier 1 found it hard to understand this sort of thing. He was prepared to believe that lir. Symes had done this in iglior-! anee of what his political duties were. He would not like to think he had done it wilfully. The worst feature of the whole transaction was the member's threat to penalise Air. F. I'. Lysagiit because Mr. 11. Jjysaght had not paid

the claim for commission fur services Tendered. Sow, if the Government recognised the justice of one claimant's representations, should it not follow Unit other petitioners in the same matter should be paid without having to" engage a man to pilot the petition' through Parliament! I'nless a better "public conscience were aroused a bad state of affairs would be brought about that would go hard with the colony. He claimed that, ior his own part, i.e was doing his duty to his parly and to the colony, and lie would continue to | do it when elected. XO-Lll'liNSE. In conclusion, He wanted to warn the electors against the huge organisation which in this town and all over the electorate and over the Dominion w.is working against certain candidates. The publicans of Stratford were against' him.

Cries of '•You're wrong," "You'ri! right," "Kot," and "Go on," and a que;'/ "Isn't it fair play?" Mr. Hiue admitted that it was fail' play, and it was fair play for him to' appeal to the people to check the move. (Hear, hear.) The publicans were wonting tooth and nail to keep hhu out of Parliament. A voice: No need to do that, You'll 1 keep yourself out. Mr. liiffie said that if the fact of his' giving voice to what ,jK>litica should be were going to keep him out, he would 1 be quite content to stay out, for he wasn't going to do dark and dirty work? for anyone. Ho would not say the publicains were on Mr. Symes' committer, but lie had it oil good authority that Mr. Symes had had an interview with them." Now, what could be the object of that! There was a. danger of the licensing laws being altered during the coming Parliament, and the publieani were anxious, of course, to pack the House with men who would alter in their favor. He wanted to warn the people to stop the, alliance of the Government and the publican partiei II? asked tlieiu to slidk to the liuin oil the right side, and if they did that he had nothing to fear. Mr. Hine resumed his seat amidst load 1 applause.

QUESTIONS. Several questions were asked and

swered. The meeting was inclined lo get out of hand, and there were sever.il warm exchanges concerning the subject matter of the letters that had been circulated and produced on the platform in, reference to the alleged payment of commissions. Mr. Hine denied having prompted the move, or having been concerned in it, but as the representative! of the party lie was quite prepared to stand the brunt. He further stated that •the letters had. been shown, round the constituency by some of Mr. Symes* ierstwhile supporters, who were heartily ashamed of them.

Mr. W. P. Kjrkwood, on behalf of the Licensed Victuallers' Association, gave an unqualified denial to the statement' that the association was working for Mr. Symes, or against Mr. Hme. The ■licensed victuallers had not asked Mr. Symes for any interview. The association was taking no part in the political' campaign, and espousing the cause of no particular candidate, the members being 1 left to vote as tliey pleased.

i Mr. Hine was very pleased to accept' the .explanation. He had made his statement on what he had thought good authority. But he. quite expected the publicans to oppose him. . The NoLicense vote would be solid for him. ■ Mr. J. D. Morison questioned his authority for th,at statement, and denied' that the No-License people as an organisation or as a. party was taking any part in the political' contest. Mr. Hine: Then I'm all alone. I'm' between the devil and the deep sea. But ■if the No-License party want to maintain the present licensing law they will ■vote for me at the forthcoming election,

Til a discussion with Mi-. W. Morrison, I Mr. Hiiic said that the remission of thj

duty on sugar had not greatly affected its price, for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company had reaped the benefit. Upon the motion of Mr. T. C. Fookes, a hearty vote of thanks to the candidate was carried by acclamation.