Page 3 Advertisements Column 4

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 4022, 18 November 1881, Page 3

Electoral

HOUSE OF BEPEESENTATIVES. TO THE ELECTOES OF THE THAMES DIBTEICT.

/^BNTLEMEN,\Jf I have the honor to solicit your votes and interest in my candidature for the Representation of the Thames Constituency in Parliament.

I hare been influenced in a great measure iit offering myself as a candidate by a knowledge of a fact very generally recoguieed by Thames electors —namely, that ihe interests of the constituency can be best conserved in the future by the return of a local candidate; a person intimately acquainted with the wants and requirements of the district, and devoted to the interests of the people—such qualifications I believe 1 possess. From the nature of my occupation, I must of necessity make myself acquainted with all questions affecting the welfare of this district, as well as those touching the well beiug of the colony at large ; and while it has been to my interest ever to advocate measures calculated to promote the general good, and particularly such as affect the Thames and surrounding districts, as your representative that interest will be increased. That I have been a peraietent supporter of such measures in the past, and a warm ad to cate of all questions touching the interests of the working classes, the columns of the journal under my superintendance abundantly prove. It is not sufficient, however, under present circumstances, to content myself by a general reference to my past exertions, either as the editor of a local journal, or during the time I have occupied positions of public trust, that of Mayor of the Borough, and as a member of the Municipal Council. I may, however, be pardoned in referring in any way to the manner in which I discharged the duties of the offices just mentioned, w lien it is borne in mind that I am now asking you for a further mark of your confidence, in that I solicit your votes to return me to. Parliament: and one means of judging a man's fitness for a high office is to enquire into the manner in which he discharged the duties of a lower official position. During the time of my mayoralty, I was instrumental in securing for the residents of the Borough of Thames, many advautages; I may mention a few—the endowment of 2000 acres on the Waihou river; the securing of the entire right to the Domestic Water Supply, besides a right to receive from the County Water JUace, an unlimited supply of water for domestic and fire purposes ; and the reduction of Borough liabilities at the Bank of New Zealand.

It is, however, expected of me as a candidate for the House of Kepresentatives, that I give my views "upon other questions of interest to the constituency at the present time, and being most desirous that no misunderstanding should exist in your minds regarding my opinions, 1 wish to enter somewhat fully into the consideration of such questions. Holding strong views upon the desirability of having political parties in the State well defined, believing that the better administration of the affairs of any country is thereby secured,l declare myself a Liberal, a supporter of the principal measures advocated by Sir George Grey ~and should you honor me with your confidence, and return me to Parliament as your representative, I shall consistently support all measures which have for their object the advancement of the welfare of the Colony, the equalization of the incidence of taxation, and the granting of equal rights to all classes. My first care shall be the welfare, the progress, and the advancement of the Colony as a whole, but the requirements of the Thames would call for my special care; measures calculated to advance this much neglected district I beliero to be of vital importance, ami to such it would be my duty, as well as my interest, to give the closest atten tion. I shall approach the consideration of all -questions with an independent mind, and a determination to do what is right. If we may judge from the treatment the North Island has received in the past at the hands of the members of the Middle Island (and that in a House where their numerical majority was not so large as it will be ia th 3 future), the day is probably not far distant when Separation may become a necessity; but until experience has shown that? the North Island is being still unfairly treated, and defrauded of a just proportion of the expenditure of public money, I am not prepared to favour Insular Separation.

I am in favor of a tax upon land, and such a one as woujd yield a fair proportion of the revenue of the State ; and also an income tax on all incomes above a certain sum. While upon the land question, I may say that I believe alterations in the present land laws of the Colony are urgently demanded, and in the direction of doing away with some of the uudue advantages attaching to the acquisition of large tracts of land : such a subject would have my most earnest attention. I am opposed to the present Property Tax.

I am in favour of a reduction of the Custom duties, believing it possible to raise sufficient revenue for the requirements of the colony without the imposition of the present heavy duties upon the necessaries of life.

Local Self Government, in its widest sense, I am in favor of, as I hold that until the people are asked to take a greater share than at present iv the management of local affairs, and are entrusted with extended powers, local requirements • will continue to be neglected. While a believer iv Free Trade principles, I cannot but perceive that iv order to foster and encourage the establishment of local industries, it will bo necessary either to modify the present tariff somewhat, and impose for a time heavier taxes upon such articles at present imported, as can be readily manufactured in the colony, or grant substantial bonuses to aid local producers.

It is scarcely necessary for me to refer to the question of Education, as for years I have been an advocate of the present secular, free, and compulsory system, aud if elected will strongly resist any attempt to alter an Act which has been found to place within the reach of every child in (he colony the means of getting a good liberal education, and which has since its introduction bestowed such blessings upon the youth ot New Zealand. I am in favor of Triennial Parliaments. I am not in favor of any further Loans ' bcinc raised; uolcsaifc bo thy the ■ ww).sfcynp-