THE MASTERTON SEAT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3045, 16 November 1908, Page 5

THE MASTERTON SEAT.

| MR HUNTER AT MASTERTON. AN OPEN-AIR ADDRESS. SOME FACTS ABOUT OREGON PINE. On Saturday evening Mr J. Hunter addressed an open-air meeting at Masterton from the balcony of the Wairarapa Age office, a crowd of several hundreds of people collecting to hear the candidate. Mr Hunter said he was pleased to have the opportunity of again addressing the electors o± Maaterton, and especially as the time was almost at hand for the people to exercise their votes. Whether his hearers and the electorate at large was prepared to concede that he had justified his candidature he wouid leave them to say on Tuesday. On the great question which was of so much importance to the Dominion

—THE QUESTION OF LAND SETTLEMENT—

Mr Hunter considered that the progress made by the country was not what it should have been in this respect. It was a question which affected the country settler and the town worker alike, and he ventured to say that when there were locked up in the Dominion no less than five million acres of Native lands,growing nothing but rabbits, and the noxious weeds, it was time the Government did its duty, and made this greatarea available for the purposes of closer settlement. With the large tracts of sparsely settled country round Masterton it must be apparent to residents of the town that the population of the place could be doubled. (Hear! Hear!) It must also be apparent to the community at large that the Dominion could never take its proper station until the whole country was put under a more effective system of closer settlement, and one of the chief hindrances was undoubtedly the large area of Native lands. He was pleased to see that

MR HOGG BLAMED THE LAND

PURCHASE BOARD for the failure of the Government to realise the wishes of the people in the way of closer settlement in this district. If the Land Purchase Board was to blame, the best thing to do was to alter its constitution —and the sooner the better. The speaker looked to fee if Mr Hogg had suggested any remedy, but no, he had not, yet it was, he considered, Mr Hogg's duty when political head of this electorate to have endeavoured to find some remedy. If the Land Purchase Beard was blocking the proper settlement of the country, should it not ba swept off altogether? Mr Hunter came forward with a suggestion that w hefi the _ G-avwn-tnaifc proposed to pulcnaa: an featatr; it should obtain the opinion of five or six fanners in the district itself, who knew local conditions, and would therefore be able to give a reliable estimate of the value. They with the Commissioner of Crown Lands as chairman could furnish a reDort to tha Government on the suitability or otherwise' of the estate under review, and being practical men more faith would be put in their opinion than that of the present Land Purchase Board. This seemed to the speaker a feasible solution of the difficulty, and it would give the Government something definite to work upon. Mr Hunter declared it was

A COMMENTARY ON THE LANDS DEPARTMENT ( administration to' hear such an at sertion from Mr Hogg, regarding the Land Purchase Board,- and if it was j true the Bosrd Adiild not be al- ! lowed to exist a day longer.- Regard- j ing the board vvhifrh 1 the speaker | suggested as a better*dne£>when it had done its work it could' dissolve automatically, and the Government could proceed as it thought fit. Mr Hunter again quoted figures to show how the Wellington Land district had been neglected in the way ot land settlement. How was it, asked the speaker, that out of 2,419 applications for land in the Wellington Land district only 328 people were able to be supplied? There was something somewhere that needed answering, and those who deserved land for settlement purposes should be entitled to get it to a greater extent than was now the case. (A voice: Where's the money to come from?) Mr Hunter replied that it was not necessary to resort to the old way—borrowing anyhow. He contended it was possible to do all we were doing now in the way of settling the country and not borrow at all. (Hear! Hear!) Produce, not borrow, was the speaker's motto. (Applause). The Government had up to the present borrowed five and a half millions for closer settlement. If the Government would but give the farmer the right to acquire the freehold of his land, it would be possible for the present land policy to be carried on without the borrowing of a single penny. The amount which would be brought into the treasury every | year, if only 10 per cent, of the farmers' converted leaseholds, would be £500,000 per year, and this was the amount now spent by the Government on its land settlement policy. That was where the money would come from. "For every £IOO,OOO more per year we produce," said Mr Hunter, "that much less do we require to borrow." He was the last to advocate a stagnation policy and was out for progress. (Applause). His firm conviction was that the country's interests could be advanced at a much faster rate than at present if the Government only adopted' common-sense means of so doing. As he had said previously he could, if given sufficient money, run any business in the Dominion, but it was on sounder progressive lines than the present ones that the Dominion looked to for future prosperity. If reproduction were but more encouraged the country would be in a few years on that sound basis prophesied by John Ballance. (Applause).

OREGON PINE. Mr Hunter said he had something important to say to his hearers in connection with the matter of the into New Zealand and sale of Oregon pine,, a subject concerning which- some controversy had occurred between' himself and Mr Hogg. The latter had said that by admitting Oregon pine into New Zealand free rents would- be cheapened

on account of the lessened costs to builders of erecting houses. Now as a matter of fact this American pine had been coming into the Dominion for four years and had it cheapened rents? Could Mr Hogg or anyone else point to a single instance where house rent was cheapened on account of the importation ot this pine? j

THE IMPORTATIONS. Up to the present 27,000,000 superficial feet of Oregon pine has been imported into New Zealand, and for that £135,000 has been sent out of the country to either Canada or the United States. Of this amount £70,000 represented wages, a direct loss to the New Zealand labour world of that amount. The loss in freight to the revenue was £33,000. "Yes," said the candidate, "we are sending out of the Dominion £135,000 per year for the maintenance of a foreign timber trade worked by Chinese and Hindoos in the interests of American monopolists and capitalists. Where are the people who advocate a white New Zealand, while all this money is goine out of the country, to the detriment of our own workers for Chinese and other Asiatics?" Mr Hunter said that what was being done was that the importers were simpy adding 100 per cent to the cost to them of the timber, and so instead of the users getting the benefit of the cheap importations the merchants are. If there were any good whatever derived to the masses for this foreign timber if free there might be something in favour of such an idea, but on the other hand it meant that the amount imported would keep twenty-seven mills going for twelve munths. Was it right to throw

THREE THOUSAND MEN OUT OF EMPLOYMENT in New Zealand in the interests of foreign capitalists and coolie labour? (Cries of "No!") Mr Hunter agreed, and said more so when it meant that the wage paid to the hands who produced this Oregon pine averaeed about 3a 9d per day. He for one was not on for dragging the New Zealand worker down to the 3s 9d per day level, and yet that was what it would come to or the men would have to walk the streets. Mr Hunter said he had made these statements right throughout the electorate during the campaign, and no one had come forward to ..deny them. On the contrary, corroboration of his contentions was found in the statements of Captain Home, superintendent of the very line of steamers which conveyed the timber to New Zealand, who had declared Oregon pine to be the production of coolie labour. He appealed to his hearers to assist him to "wipe the Asiatic stain from the old Liberal flag." There may be, those, fimong his hearers who were riot timber workers, but tney could. rest assured that the question affected them too lit some way, as by the mills being thrown idle the hands engaged in them Were thrown back in a great many instances on the town labour market. In Rangitteei the wages bill for the mills per month had gone down from f :3,0n0 to £ti,ooo. Could the coun y afford to allow this state of a ;r ,urs while it meant the benefit : ng of aliens and monopolists. (A voice: "What about the timber ring?") Mr Hunter: "We hear a lot of

"CLAPTRAP ABOUT A TIMBER RING,"

but I have seen, and I daresay many of you have too, members of this 'timber ring' working, wi:h their "oats off and sleeves up, with their r-ands to make the business pay." (Hear! Hear! and applause.) Was it rational to allege that this ring was really keeping up prices, when it was plain that foreign timber was crippling the business and shut i g down the mills? No, it was fol yto make such an assertion. Mr Hunter said he had no psrsonal interests in the trade in any way, and his only desire was to conserve the interests of three thuusand workers in our own land when they were jeopardised in the manner stated. If the present condition of affairs continued for about another twelve months, it would mean the mills of the Dominion would be corroding and rotting where they stoud. He had heard the cry "conserve the forests," but there were many acres of land needed for cultivation, and was it not better to cut and mill the timber on this than to burn it? If it were absolutely necessary to import Oregon pine, the speaker said he would compel the i merchants to

IMPORT THE TIMBER IN LOGS, so that our owi< millers would be on an equal footing with the importers, and, moreover, New Zealand > labour would get the benefit of the breaking down of the logs. (Applause.) THE FREEZING WORKS PROJECT.

The time was believed to have arrived by some farmers in the district for the establishment of local cooperative works. The speaker thought that infltead of establishing such an industry on their own account, they should first endeavour to come to an arrangement with the Canterbury Co-operative Freezing Company, to see if that Company would not establish a branch works here. Instead, then, of having to worry about the matter in the way they probably would,the I'ocal farmers could*get the benefit of an established company, whose brand enjoyed worldwide popularity. It would be necessary for the sheep-farmers of the Wairarapa to give a guarantee of sheep before works under any circumstances could be established, but the speaker believed that if the Canterbury Co-operative Com pany were given a sufficient guarantee that Company would establish works in the district, and the initial difficulties would thus be overcome. This matter was of great moment to the people of the district, and it was obviously better to have local freezing works than to allow two Wellington companies to monopolise the freezing trade of the district. (Hear! Hear!) In concluding his speech, Mr Hunter said he was very well satisfied with the result of his campaigning so far. If he were not successful in having won the confidence of the electors, he would always remember the battle with pleasure, as he had made many new friends on his tour.

THE NO-LICENSE ISSUE. A question asked Mr Hunter was whether he thought No-License would have a beneficial effect on the I town or otherwise? He replied that if No-License were carried he be- ' lieved it would be the best thing that ever happened to the town. (Loud cheers.) He had always been a NoLicense advocate, and would always continue so. (Applause.) Mr Hunter announced that he would speak in the Drill Hall tonight, and thanked those present for their attendance. The speaker was subjected to some good-natured interruptions, which Mr Hunter did not take seriously.