The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1887. THE TRUE QUESTION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1616, 9 August 1887, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1887. THE TRUE QUESTION.

In' the short speech delivered by Mr Thomas Ley at Mr Rhodes’ meeting last Saturday night at Pleasant Point the exact question now at issue was put in a most forcible light. Mr Ley said the contest was not between Messrs Rhodes and Twomey, but it was a fight for fair land settlement against land monopoly. He might have added it was a fight between the rich and the poor—the Haves, and the Havea-not. The present Government, finding that all lands fit for settlement were locked up in the hands of a few monopolists, have come to the conclusion that there are only two courses open to the people—that is, either to buy up large estates and settle the people on them, or surrender the country altogether into the hands of the monopolists. Day after day they have seen estate after estate, and farm after farm, falling into the hands of the Banks and the Mortgage Companies, and doubtless they have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to take immediate and active steps to prevent the whole country from becoming the happy hunting grounds of greedy monopolists. The Government have therefore resolved to purchase large estates, cut them up into suitably-sized farms, and lease them in perpetuity to suitable tenants. What an advantage this would be to the colony. 'What an enormous amount of work the cutting up of these estates would make for working men. The offering of such enormous advantages as would be obtained under this proposal would result in attracting a large number of small capitalists to New Zealand; increased production would increase traffic on the railways ; the increase of population would decrease the burden of taxation. How any man who is not a monopolist or the servile toady of monopoly can vote against this proposal is incomprehensible. Let people not make a mistake. This is the question : Are we to promote the interests of land-sharking monopolists or govern the country in the interests of the people. Up to the present time it did not so much matter that land should have been held in large blocks, but now, when the popu- j lation is increasing,'and the indebted- J

ness of the country has become almost intolerable, something must be done to increase production and give the people employment. _ The proposal of the Government is therefore one which must commend itself, and the poor man who votes against them in the coming election will live to regret it if they are turned out of office. Mr Twomey represents the Government in this district, and Mr Rhodes the Continuous or Grain-Tax Ministry, and it does not appear to us that people will under these circumstances have much difficulty in making up their minds on the subject. The point raised by Mr Ley with regard to Customs duties was novel and forcible. There can be no doubt but that the Customs duties fall heavily on the poor, and the great object the Political Reformers have in view is to increase them on tea, sugar, tobacco, and salt. Resolutions affirming this principle have been carried in almost every Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand, but the Government refused to increase the duties on tea, etc,, Last year a general election was held in New South "Wales to decide whether they were to have Freetrade or Protection, and the Freetraders won, with the result that they greatly increased the tax on tea, sugar, and tobacco. If the present Ministry are defeated there is not the slightest doubt about it but a similar thing will be done here. Mr Ley rendered great service to the Liberal cause by his very clever speech, and it may not therefore be uninteresting to his Liberal friends in Temuka to know more about him. Mr Ley is a farmer who has studied politics deeply, and the telling, forcible way in which he put the few remarks he made before the public showed that he is a gentleman capable of grasping political questions in a masterly manner. He has had presented to him a numerously signed requisition, asking him to offer himself as a candidate for Gladstone, but before acceding to the request of the requisitionists he came in a straightforward manner and consulted Mr Twomey. Finding that Mr

Twomey’s prospects were more than good, Mr Ley said that in that case he would not split the Liberal vote, and declined to stand. Mr Ley has thus sacrificed his own inclinations and desires in deference to the interests of the Liberal party, and has thus set an example worthy of imitation, and is undoubtedly deserving of credit for it, Mr Twomey may well congratulate himself on having such an honest, earnest, and able supporter in a part of the district where he is not well known.