THE ELECTIONS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1638, 24 September 1887, Page 3

THE ELECTIONS.

MR TWOMEY AT PLEASANT POINT. Mr J. M. Twomey addressed a crowded meeting of the Gladstone electors at Pleasant Point last evening. The chair was occupied by Mr Gregg, who briefly introduced the candidate. • Mr Twomey* spoke for over two hours, and was frequently applauded. Mr Twomey commenced by saying he did not think it wouid be necessary to aßk for a fair hearing at Pleasant Point, although it was said be had fewer supporters at Pleasant Point than in any other part of the district. There was only one thing that would make him believe this statement, viz., that the-

people of Pleasant Point had always been trying to kiil him with kindness, *nd possibly that was the way thoy bad of shewing their opposition to him. It was only ' seven weeks ago he addressed a meeting in that hall, and on that occasion ha had received from them an expression of confidence in him. Since then he had addressed meetings in every centre in the district, and wherever he had been, with the exception of Burke's Pass, that expression of confidence had been endorsed. He could certainly say that the people of the electorate had treated him with great kindness throughout. He did not think his popularity was due to anv merits of his own, but to the fact that he was supporting the ablest and most liberal leader New Zealand had ever seen—Sir Robert Stout. It was from Mm he (Mr Twomey) derived his popularity ; it was from him he derived any merit he possessed, and if elected he should consider his success largely due to ths fact that the people .'■ recognised Sir Robert Stont as a truly Liberal leader, every pulsation of whose heart.beat in sympathy with the wants and requirements of the people «t large. Second speeches, like the present, were generally speeches of explanation ; but he was glad to say that he had very little to explain. He had entered the contest with the full determination to do nothing unworthy of the position to which he aspired, an*! ke had, as far as possible, adhered to that resolution. He hud, however, been met at every corner by the supporters of other candidates, who had left do Btone ncturned to expose any weakness In his armour. He was glad to say they bad always failed, and that he had always anftwered the questions put to him to the satisfaction of his audiences. He could also any that he bad treated Mr Rhodes with the greatest consideration ; far belter than some people knew or thought. From the very commencement of the campaign \ he (Mr Twomey) had, however, been attacked in every possible form. The Timnru papers had never given him anything like fair play. They had given the meanest and most paltry reports of his meetings. He had in fact the best authority for saying that one of the reporters bad received instructions to turn his meetingß into ridicule. Froui time to time there bad appeared in the Christchurch Press and the Tiroaru papers anonymous attacks of the most contemptible kind. He thought at first that Mr Rhodes had nothing to do with it,

But to hie (Mr Twomey V) great astonishment he (Mr Rhodes) took the responsibility f° r everything npon his own Bhoulders by producing a broad-sheet into which he had collected all the abuse to which he (Mr Twomey) had bf-en subjected. Now he had treated Mr • .Rhodes well, and would continue to do so until the end, but he did not think tt was wif» for Mr Rhodes to try to seen re bvt«ipothy in this way. His object waa to nake it appear that he had been wronged

in the columns of the Temuka Leader, but the only instance of that he could show was that Jhe (Mr Twomey) had not published a letter abusing one of his| friends as soon as he (Mr Rhodes) wished. This constituted the great crime of which he (Mr Twomey) had been guilty, and he did not think it a very serious one. The first appearance of Mr Rhodes' circular mot with stern reprobation, and even Mr Rhodes' own supporters disapproved of it, and its tone had to be changed. Some of Mr Rhodes' supporters were trying to excuse him on the ground* that he was young, and that he hud been misled. It appeared to him (Mr Twomey) that these two reasons showed Mr Rhodes' unfitness for the position ho Bought. They had arrived at a very serious time in the history of the colony, and it was not young men who were so weak as to allow themselves to be misled by stronger minds who would be able to save the colony. He would not, however dwell upon that point, but would direct their attention to a paragraph which appeared in the Christchurch Press, and which was undoubtedly written by one of Mr Rhodes' chief supporters. [Mr Twomey then read the paragraph referring to the 60-called intimidation at Kerrytown, particulars of which hava appeared before.] Even Mr Rhodes wa? ashamed that such a lie should have been circulated, for he explained the circurriß | -nnceß in his circular. He merely referred to this to warn them against lies. He could siy without fear of contradiction that nothing could possibly be said against himself. Mr Rhodes and his supporters wore also on all occasions flaunting their money bags in his (Mr Twomey's) face, and saying because he had not wealth he would have no influence in the House. Even the Christchurch PreßS had said that Mr ' Rhodes' wealth wou'd have great influence in the House. He thought a meaner cry could not be raised. Each and all of them knew that their vote would have exactly the same we'ght at the booth on Monday next whether they were rich or poor. It counted one and no more, and in a division it was the same, whether the vote of Sir Robert Stout or anyone else. The question of weight had nothing substantial in it. It was foolish and absurd, and ho did not think it would weigh much with the electors at large. He had very little to say about Mr Rhodes himself. He would have little difficulty in replying to him if the question were between their two selveß, but all that wealth and influence could do had been imported into the contest. It was not only Mr Rhodes but Mr Scobie Mackenzie (of Mount Ida), Mr Bruce (of Marton), and Mr Rolleston be had now to answer. Their views had been circulated throughout the land, of course with a view of exercising influences over the minds of tbe electors. With regard to Messrs Bruce and Mackenzie it was a strange fact they supported the Governraent when they were doing wrong, and now when they had brought in a policy for the benefit of the colony as a whole, they had turned over and become the most ardent opponents of the Government. There was nothing in Mr Bruce's speech except his remarks about Freetrade, and they were absurd and silly. Mr Mackenzie's speech was a violent attack upon thu Government because of personal extravagance. Mr Twomey then read from Mr Mackenzie's speech, which showed that the personal expenses of the present Govert were £3478, and quoted the following sentence :—"I do not hesitate to say that they represent for some time back—not all of tbem, mark you, for when a Minister is compelled to travel upon public service his actual expenditure shall be paid—l say that the expenses represent the spoil, legalised it iray be, but . still the spoil brought home upon the laden backs of an organised band of political maurauders, who are totally ignoring the toiling and sweating taxpayers, and periodically setting out upon

a fillibustering expedition against the people of New Zealand.' He (Mr Twomey) thought any respectable sensible , man inust reprobate <the using of such strong language against the Ministers of the Crown and of'the country. Thiß, and its use hnd earned for Mr Mackenzie, the toubriquttte of "Lcrubby " Mackenzie, (Laughter and applause). He asked them to mark the words "not all of them." These were intendel to fix their suspicions on Sir Julius Vogol; He (Mr Tvforney) had there a return which showed that Sir Julius Vogel to.-)k far leas money for personal expenses than moßt of the others. Yet the inuendo of Mr Mackenz ; e would lead them to the conclusion that he (Sir J. Vogel)- was the cause of all the corruption. Mr Twomey' then quoted from the speech of the Hon. Mr Ballance,*tD show that that gentlemen held the portfolio of Native Minuter, Defence Minister, and Minister of Lands, ard that in 2 years he spent only £lll2, while Mr Bryce, who was only Native Minister in 1882-83 spent £1355. He also quoted from Sir R. Stout's reply to Mr Mackenzie as follows :—" He regretted exceedingly some phrases Mr Mackenzie used in his speech, and felt sure that when the heat <sf the e'ection was over, Mr' Mackenzie would also deeply regret there. The leaders of political parties in New Zealand, M«jor Atkinson and Sir John Hall, had addressed* public meetings and neither of them hacraccused [ the Government of personal corruption or personal jobbery." Mr Mackenzie: " Not personal corruption." Sir R. Stoat: " But it was. In the speech they were accused as a Government of being an organised baud of political niaurauders; men totally ignoring the toiling, sweating, aud needy taxpayers, and men who periodically set out opon a maurauding expedition against the people of New Zealand. Was not thit personal corruption ? Since the abolition of the Provinces it was certainly necessary for Ministers to visit every district in order to learn the requirements of the people and to ascertain their wishes, aDd that they Bhould not merely depend upon officers sent out to report. If an officer were sent out, aDd the Minister did not accompany him, the officer's travelling expenses were charged as much against the colony as if be had, but it did not appear in the re'urns. The total obtained by Ministers for travelling expenses last year was £1493 17s 61, snd there were also coach fares to be deducted. Mr Larnach took round with him Mr Gordon, Mining Engineer; that w, B put down as *spen*es against the Minister, I but if Mr Gurdoo h«1 not gone, it wouitf have been carried ag»iu*t i»»" MminU-r «ili . I the saran." Sir R. Ktout continued ro speftk of ho* he hart mvi«r.-l , cases as Attorney-General, monK'UUt »••• [ ttll>8«, for whioh.be jeceived no fees.

They could see from this the malice of Mr Mackenzie's assertions. Mr Mackenzie accusal them of taking £3478 personal expenses while the Parliamentary paper and Sir R. Stout's speech showed that they only took £1493 17s 6d. Such unmanly misrepresentation showed Mr Mackenzie to be unworthy of credence and to be a calumniator and perventer of the truth.

MR ROLLEBTOV. He had now to apeak of Mr Rolleston. That gentleman in addressing a meeting at Temuka at the last possible moment showed much cunning and duplicity, and was evidently afraid of criticism. He went to Temuka avowedly for the purpose of addressing the Raugitata electors but undoubtedly to influence votes in favor of Mr Rhodes. Had Mr Rolleston gone a week sooner he (Mr Twomey) would have found no fault with him. Nothing would have given him greater pleasure than to cross swordß with him, but he had waited till the eleventh hour. His speech was published in that morning's papsr and would go up country, and it was impossible for him (Mr Twomey) to publish a reply to him in time to send it up country. Had there been time he (Mr Twomey) felt pretty certain that he would not have been very proud of his visit to Temuka. As it was he scarcely thought he had scorad many points with the audience present, for a number of questions were put to him which exposed the maladministration of hia Ministry, and held up in a ridiculous light the cries which they were now raising. These questions, however, were conscientiously kept out of the Timaru Herald, for, of course, it was the policy of the Timaru Herald to show only one side of politics at the present time. That paper was dead to all instinctß of justice and fair-play. It was, as Mr j Turnbull had said, a disgrace to J the district. (Loud applause). The first charge Mr Rolleston made against the Ministry was that they had a deficiency of £200,000. But according to the financial statement the deficiency was £92,293. The Customs yielded £124,235 less than was expected, but was that the fault of the Government 1 If people did not drink as much whiskey, and did not use as many imported ait'cles as hitherto, surely theGovernmentcould not be blamed for that. One would think by Mr Rollcston's speech that the present Government had borrowed every penny the country owed, and that they were the cause of the great mess in which they found the colony. Considering that previous to 1884 Sir Julius f ogel was nine yearß out »f politics, Sir Robert Stout five years, Mr Lamach five years, and Mr Ballance three years, he thought it was nothing but consummate effrontery to try to saddle them with blame for all. It was evidently hard to please Mr Rolleston. He conderanod the Government for having reduced the property tax in 1884, and thus putting £130,000 into tbe pockets of the wealthy classes, and now he condemned them again for having increased the property tax so that the wealthy classes should contribute to the revdnue. Ho condemned the Government for having given subsidies to local bodies in 1885, and now he condemned them for having reduced the subsidy to local bodies by £75,000. It was evident from this that they could do nothing which would satisfy Mr Rolleston, and that nothing could be done right unless he Lad done ic at a pay of £1250 a year. Mr Rolleston'a speech was nothing short of a despairing cry of an office-seeker trying to gel back into office. (Laughter.) There was not one solid argument in his speech from beginning to end. It was altogether a tirade of abuse against the Government, and the people did not get ai much as one glimpse of what the polic}' of the Opposition was. His great objection to tho Ministry was their financial proposals, but when questioned it was evident the Ministry had done nothing but exactly what his Ministry had done previously.

«CSTOMS DUTIES. As regards the Customs duties, Mr Twomey read the questions put to Mr Rolleston in Tercuka. The questions caused some amusement, and showed up in a ridiculous light Mr Rolleston'a great objection to the increased Customs duties oow. ** gHBTRADX AND PROJECTION. As regards this question he quoted from Major Atkinson, whom he certainly considered the best authority en Mr Rolleston's side of tha "House as regards finance, to show that further taxation would be necessary. The only question, therefore, in this cry of Protection was whether they should adjust the Customs duties in the direction which would promote local industries, or whether they should tax themselves for purely revenue purposes, as Messrs ftolleston and Co. did in 1879 and 18821 tie (Mr Twomey) was completely opposed to Customs duties if it wer6 possible to do without them. There was not in New Zealand a greater Freetrader than he was, but the circumstances of the colony were not suitable to Freetrade, and consequentty he was in favor of Customs duties bo as to preraote industrial deve'opment, find employment for the people, and increase the wealth of the colony. (Loud applause.)

THB IT7HS. With regard to the. runs, both Mr Rolleston and Mr Rhodes made great efforts to show that eteryfching had been settled in connection with them. But if so it was most remarkable that Mr Rollaston said that the future dealing with them would require skilled administration. If all had been J settled, where was the neoessity of skilled administration, and what was the use of making all the noise about it ? He (Mr Twomey) had said very little about the runs from beginning to end. He only mentioned them incidentally. AH he had to say in eonneotion with them was that he preferred the skilled admiaistration of Sir Robert Stont rather than the girdironing administration of Sir John Hall. Mr Rhodes said at Hill on that all the Crown lands north of the Rangitata had been net aside fo' the purpose of the East and West Coast railway, and Mr Rolleston said nt Woodbury that it was the land north of the R kaia. To show how untrue all this was, and how these people were trying to gull the public he (Mr Twomey) would read for them the clause in the Act dei.ling with these lands. Mr Twom'-y then read from clause 7 of the B>st and Wesi Coaot. Hallways Act, showing that n-> block should have a greater frontage to the line than one mile* and that every alternate block -hould S>' Uken for the pur, pr.™ ~f t,h» Wr»l t'o'Pt rsilwivy. Thai, therefore <nppnrentlv l.'ft, h* f !he Crown lands referred io in fch* bard* of the Government. Bui. of i-our;o it suited those gentlemen to »ii»chas liti le importune* as possible to the fact that the leases of Ihfsa runs were immediately to fall due. (Applause).

KETREHCHMENT. With regard to retrenchment it was purely an election cry, and interded to delude the public. The present Government was the first Government to attempt retrenchment. In spite of their severest critics, they still showed that they bad retrenched to the amount of £85.000, and compared with the action of tajwir piedecessors he thought they had done well. The Atkinson Ministry came in in 1882 with a surplus of £230,000, increased the expenditure in four years by £447,000, and went cut in debt at the enrl of two years to the amount of £152,000, thus increasing expenditure in two years by about £BOO,OOO. Were these the men to bo entrusted with retrenchment 1 Could they not more rely upon the men who had commenced the retrenchment, and who had undoubtedly effected a saving; of £85,000! For his part, if they elected h'm he would always vote in favor of bona fide retrenchment, for he believed it to be absolutely necessary. He never would, however, vote for a reduction in the salaries of civil servants uoder £250 per annum, but should for salaries over that amount. He did not believe in cheap wages. It would curtail the spending power of the people, and as a consequence when the people had not the money to buy, the produce of the soil would be cheap, and farmers would suffer as well as anybody else. The only people who would gain would be large landowners, who thought that the beginning and eod of all Government was Cluap Libor, Cheap Gjoods, and De«r Wool. He believed in a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, nnd felt confident that the policy of the Government would tend in that direction.

LAND ACQUISITION. It wan moat riaiarkub o that Mr Rollcaton, who always claimed to bo greitly in favor of settling people upon the land, had not a single word to say for or against the Land Acquisition Bill. Many of the other candidates denounced this measure on the ground that it Was confiscation, Bnd would lead to jobbery. He (Mr Twomey) could assure th«m that whatever else it was it was eo framed that jobbery under it was impossible, The Hon. John Ballance had made jobbery under the Act impossible. The initiative steps under the Act were not taken by the Government at all. The Act proposed that an Association be formed, and that this Association should select the land upon which they desired to settle, and then intimate to the Government their desire to acquire it. The Government would then communicate with the owner, and if the owner was willing to sell the whole thing was settled smoothly. In the event of any dispute arising it was referred to a Court of Arbitration, so that the Government had in fact very little to do in the transaction. The most they did was to act in the capacity of agents between the owner and the Association that intended to settla upon it. Under these circumstances corruption and land jobbery was impossible, but of course any cry was good enough for the monopolists who objected to the measure. The question for his hearers to decide was would they vote for this. For years they had been crying out against large estates. If they voted against the cutting up of the large estates in this form could they ever agaio consistently clamour against large estates t Toey must either vote for the Government proposals nsw—and to do so they must vote for the Government candidate—or vote agaiost them. It did not matter who he was, or whether they liked him or not. If they believed in this they ought to vote for him, or else never again clamour for cutting up large estates.

JDTJCATION. With regard to education, they knew hid views upon that question. It had been reported that he was in favor of raising the school age to seven. That was untrue. He was not in faTor of it, because it would shut up a large number of the country school*. JORBOWIN«. This was one of the cries raised against the present The Premier had said he did not propose to borrow more than £2,000,000 in ten years, or at the rate of £200,000 a year. Although he (Mr Twomey) was opposed to farther borrowing under any circumstances tbe proposal of the Premier was not enough to frighten him (tbe speaker) aw ay from him. IMMIGRATION. It had also been said that he vas in favor of Immigration. He was not. He had been for years opposed to it, and should resist further immigration to the utmost of his power. CONCLUSION. He would ask them not to allow themselves to be deluded by any side issues, Tbe present contest was a contest between capital and labor, a fight between the rich and the poor. They had only to look around them and see that from end to end of the colony all the n'ch men were opposed to the Government, and all the poor men in their favor. Did they think there was no cause or reason for this? Did they think the classes had divided themselves without a cause f It was impossible that they should do so. The reason was the prasent Government were administering the affairs of the colony in favor of the people, aad extending tbeir advantages instead of playing ic to the hands of the monpolists as Governments had hitherto done. Mr Twomey then briefly explained how the present election had come about. The Ministry put before the country their proposals, their Graduated Property Tax, their Customs Tariff, their Laod Acquisition Bill, and tbeir other Reforms. Th 9 proposals of course frightened Ike monopolists at once. They thought their privileges were being trecched upon, and they succeeded in carrying a vote of do confidence in the Government ia Parliament, and upon this being carried, according to constitutional usages, tbe Government appealed to the people. It now rested with the peopla whether they vould replace them in power, or band over the administration of the country to the tender mercies of Hall and Atkinson. That was the whole question, and besides this all other questions sank into insignificance It was net a question as to whether he or Mr Rhodes was the best mao. A new member would Dot mould the policy of the country—-that was moulded by the Ministry, and the rank and file of members could only support or oppose that policy. The question for ihem wa«: "Did ihey approre of the policj of Sir R. Stout, or did they think it dflßirable to have a change I" Sir fi Stout had never had a fair show. Since th>3 very day he took office, bis h»r>ds had been manacled. The cry had ever since

been " Keep the Ministry in, and their measures nut." How was it possible for any Ministry under such circumstances to effect many reforms? His opinion Whs it would be unwise now to turn out a Ministry which promised to do so ranch for the country, und had done so mucli already. Let them give the Ministry their loyal support. They had never hud loyal sipport. Many of their supporters were actuated not by feelings of loyalty towards the Government, but by feelings of dislike towards Major Atkinson and a selflab deserve to see the West Coast Railway measure carried, and the District Railways bought. The great question for them w&8, Would they support the present Government with their Graduated Property Tax, their proposals to buy up lnrge estates, and their efforts to develops the industrial resources of this country 1 Would they trust them to administer the runs in 1890? Had they more confidence in them than in fie* Hall-Aikinson Ministry t If so let them record their votes io his (Mr Twomey's) fa Tor, and by so doing, they would be recording them in favor of Sir R. Stout. The candidate then sat down amidst great applause. There were no questions nsked, and Mr Acton rose and said he was highly pleased with Mr Twomey's speech, but did not think it right to give new candidates votes of confidence. He moved s vote of thanks to Mr Tworaey for his excellent address. Mr Howell seconded the motion.

Mr Crawford moved as an amendment, a vote of thanks to, and confidence in, Mr Tworuey, and also a vote of confidence in the present Government. Several persona got up to second (he amendment, but the Chairman said it was seconded by Mr 3ibsoß* On being put the amendment was deolared carried, only about 8 or 10 hands being held up against it. The meeting terminated with a vote of thanki to the chair, proposed by Mr Twonify.