The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1884. THE WORKING MAN’S POLICY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1201, 8 July 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1884. THE WORKING MAN’S POLICY.

It would be most amusing, if it were not mischievous, to witness the extraordinary efforts candidates are now making to secure the votes of the working men. The indebtedness of the colony is painted for them in very dismal colors ; bright hopes of immediate prosperity are held out to them provided they olaca themselves once more under the guidance of that financial genius, Sir Julius Vogel ; land monopoly is pointed to a’s’ the great curse of the country ; and 3 the property lax is held up as a tax upon industry. Working - men are, we feel convinced, amenable to reason, and consequently we ask them to separate the chaff from the corn, and throw aside the nonsense that has frequently been talked to them for the purpose of securing their votes. Now we ask working men who have no property what have they to do with taxation 1 Not one bit, except as regards the Customs duties, audit would be to their interests if these du ties were raised instead of lowered. It is all very well to talk about a free, breakfast table, but it would be very little use to have the breakfast table free if there were nothing to put on it. The meaning of a free bieakfast table is that no duties are to be charged on the necessaries of life imported into this colony, and the meaning of that is, that we shall not manufacture anything which other people cap manufacture cheaper than we can ourselves. The meaning of increased Customs duties is that we shall develope our own resources, foster our industries, and find employment for ourselves, even if the goods cost a little more. Free trade means languishing industries, undeveloped resources, aad j no employment. Protection means local industries and plenty of employment for everybody. Victoria is a colony ia which protection is carried to great extremes, and what is the result ? Industries are flourishing there, the population ia rapidly ,

increasing, and the cost of living is so low that a man can get a good dinner in a restaurant in Melbourne for sixpence. Why need working men be afraid of Protection when such is the case? Do they want a cheaper breakfast table than that ? The working men should not bother about taxation, except to see that they will support the tax that will fall lightest on the farmers. On the farmers the whole of the country depends, and consequently every effort should be made to render the condition of the farmers as prosperous as possible. There is no tax that suits the farmers so well as the Property Tax. The great majority of them are mortgaged, and under the Property Tax it is the mortgagee that has to pay the tax. Under the land tax the farmer would have to pay, and the mortgagee would escape scot free. Now let any man ask himself, is it not the mortgagee who in reality owns the land, and ought to pay ! Is it right that the farmer should pay all, and that the mortgagee should escape ! Certainly not. Then the Property Tax is the right one. Then comes the land question. It is all very well to fly off at a tangent about large estates, but supposing their owners cut them up now who is to buy them? Has anyone the money to do so I There are hundreds of thousands of acres for sale in all parts of New Zealand, and there are not people to buy them. Then what is the good of talking about breaking up large estates ! Suppose the Government compelled the large landowners to sell their lands, and that it was all thrown into the market, what would be the result 1 ! Simply that there would not be sufficient people to buy the land ; that the present owners would be ruined, and that the country would not be one bit better off than it is at present. What the working men ought to try for is not to min the present landowners, but to secure for themselves homes. Let them exact from the candidates a promise to recognise that each man has a right to a home in the country. Mr Twomey in his address to the electors of Gladstone put forward this idea. He suggests that the Government should buy six acres outof every 200 acres of land in the country and lease them for life to working men at 5 per cent on the purchase money. No one has, before (his, recognised the principle that each man had a right to a home of his own. Sir George Grey and his followers talk nonsense to the people, but not one of them ever suggested that a homo should be found for each workingmen. Here is a scheme put forward now which is for the good of the farmer and the working man alike. It gives the working men extraordinary advantages, on terms that will be very acceptable to (he present owners of land. Under this system the workingman, who is now paying 10s a week in towns- fora two-roomed cottage, would get'six acres of land in the country for about £3 a year. Why do not the working men stand out for this, and elect to Parliament men who would secure it for them !