THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10257, 8 June 1911, Page 5

THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

ADDRESS BY MR A. H. HERBERT.

IN THE MASTERTON TOWN HALL. Mr A. H. Herbert, a Reform candidate for the Masterton seat, opened his campaign in the Masterton Town Hall last evening. There was a largo attendance of electors, and, j the chair was occupied by His Wori sliip tie Mayor (Mr .J. M. Coradine). Mr Coradine (briefly introduced the candidate, and bespoke for him a patient and attentive hearing. Mr Herbert, who was received with applause, stated that he felt a degree of nervousness, in this, his maiden speech. At the same time, he fob confidence when he saw such* a maguiacent audience before him. He know that he had entered the fight against an old campaigner—a man who had been for many years in Parliament. He felt, however, that the time had come when a change was necessary. Mr Herbert explained' 1 that he was practically a Native of New Zealand, and had spent nearly , the whole of his life in fSe Masterton district. POLITICAL HISTORY. Mr Herbert, in tracing the politic-! history of the Dominion, stated tbx: "years ago he had been a support- • of the Liberal.Government He hj: 1 supported the 'late lamented JoL ; Balliance, and his successor, the late Mr Ssddon. He believed, however, that the time had'arrived when there should be a change. The present Government cared for nothing but the retention of office. If returned to Parliament, he would vote every time to nut them out. LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM. The candidate declared himself to be a true Liberal, and asserted that the Government had became Oonserv- - ative and autocratic. Its Liberalism was no.w nothing more than claptrap. It had' estranged'.itself from the people, and had no right to claim the name of Liberalism. The Prime Minister had claimed that his Government had been responsible for tho prosperity of tha country. Had the Government been responsitee for the opening up of the Forty-Mile Bush ? Not a hit of it. Those responsible for the prosperity were the men and women who had gone out into the hackbloeks to develop the resources of the country. (Applause).

AUTOCRACY. Dealing with the autocracy of the Prime Minister, the candidate referred to the gift of a Dreadnought by Sir Joseph Ward consulting the people. The only people ed had been the newspapers of the Dominion. Was this government of the people, lor the people, -which was the true essence of Liberalism? THE WORKING MAN. Mr Herbert claimed that New Zealand was not now the place for the working man. He^could not live on 8s & day. He was taxed on everything, The date Mr Seddon had told them to keep their cradles full, but how could the working man do this and live ? Years ago (the speaker had been able "to live on £2 a-week and keep a wife. It was impossible for a man to live iondiay . on that money. The working man was in a worse position than he was twenty years ago. Why was it? Last year

the 'speaker had .bought boots in Melbourne at 50 per cent. less, than they could be bought in New Zealand. (A voice: They have a Labour Government there!) Mr Herbert stated that he believed a Laibour Government w r ould do better for the country than the present Government. They .would,' at anyrate, be lionest. (Applause). BORROWING. In dealing with the finances of the country, Mr Herbert stated that 26 per cent, of the revenue went in interest on (borrowed money. Last year they had borrowed 6j million® of money, and they had authority for another 4| millions, which would mean about eleven (millions, in two years. He would like to know where this money was going to. Wa£' it ,being.expended upon public works? He did not'think' so. Where was it going? In -ten years they had paid over twenty .millions of money in interest alone. The self-reliant Government which the late Mr Ballance had spoken about had added something like £47,000,000 -to the National debt of the Dominion. Was there any wonder that people were leaving the .shores of this country for Australia and other parts? SURPLUSES. . Mr Herbert stated that the Liberal Government had a penchant for creating surpluses. These meant an unnecessary tax upon the people. The late Conservative Governiment did not find surpluses of a million. They expended the money that they received. The present Government, however, created surpluses by unnecessary taxation, and the unfortunate taxpayer wa« paying. THE CUSTOMS DUTY. The speaker, in referring to the taxation of the people, stated that the working man was being crushed out of existence, and being kept with his nose to the grindstone. The working man was being hoodwinked by the Government. Mr Herbert stated .that the ifarinaceous food was taxed, the perambulator was taxed, every item of food was taxed, whilst the motor car of the squatter came in free. This, he claimed, was an iniquitous thing. (Applause.) MiHerbert pointed out that the Government had increased the taxes on mining and farming machinery, and on woollen goods, while it reduced' the Customs duties on silks, satins, and laces. The speaker did not agree with every member of the Opposition party. He was not-a; Conservative. But be was going to join hand in hand with the Opposition to oust the present Government. He quotcxl from Hansard to show that the Opposition, had endeavoured to get tt" duty taken off the pound packets of tea, but the Govrnment opposed it,. ■ COMPARISONS. Mr Herbert .proceeded to compare ■ the Customs duty of New. Zealand with that of the Commonwealth, where there was a Labour Govern*

ment. He .believed that the time was coming when this and all other countries would be governed by Labour, which was in the majority. The Opposition in our Parliament to-day did much more for the working man than the so-called working man's Government. The taxation per head in the Commonwealth was £3 7s 2d, whilst in New Zealand itwas £4 lis lOd. THE DEATH DUTY . Mr Herbert did not object to death duties, but he thought it wrong that people should be taxed upon every pound they left behind them. The Government, however, knew that the man (had no vote when he was dead, and so it did not care:( Laughter.) ELECTIONEERING. • The candidate proceeaed to discuss the public works expenditure during reecnt years. He quoted figi ures to show that the expenditure during election years was very much in excess of what it was during other years. The Government, he claimed, employed electioneering agents to go about the country and tout for votes. RAILWAYS. Mr Herbert dealt with the railway system of the Dominion at some length. He declared that the railway .service was seething with discontent. So far as the Midland Railway was concerned, a sum of over £1',000,000 was being expended, for no" other purpose than to cai'ry coal (Hear, hear.) Could the railways compete with the steamers in carrying coal? He did not think so. While this enormous sum was being expended on a useless railway, a linr like the Masterton-Pongaroa -.ould not be secured because, forsootn, the land was not settled. A request had been made that the Rimutaku railway be deviated, out they weie told that this line did n.,t p:>y i».!egrease. The candidate qiiote.l fig ties which he ,had obtained from a reliable source to show that the traffc | on the Wairarapa line more than .'ompared with that of the Manawatu !i le He said that the man who said r.he Wairarapa line did not pay was rot onlv a. "colossal bluffer," hut he did not tell the truth. (Applause) 'in Hon. R. McKenzic had stated that thev could take from 150 to 200 trains more per day than at present on the Manawatu line. This statement was absolutely ridiculous. lb couid n.-t doit. Mr Herbert maintained tb:>t the Manawatu line was already fully taxed, while the Wairarapa w as being neglected. As a matter of fact the "Wairarapa district was being punished because one of its members was an Oppositionist, and the other had left the Government fold. (Laughter.)

LAND AND AGRICULTURE. The speaker proceeded to deal with the industries of the Dominion. He claimed that there were practically no manufacturing industries in the country /and they wanted more. The chief industries, however, were those of the land. It was the butter, and cheese, and wool, and frozen meal that brought prosperity and wealth to the country'. (Applause.) He wanted to see more men on the land. In Western Australia, and Canada, and other parts they were practically giving the land to the people so that the country might be settled. But what were they doing in New Zealand? They were doing nothing to assist settlement. While they could give away £2,000,000 for a Dreadnought, they could not find money for ..roads to the backblocks. (Applause.) The speaker claimed that while the lawyers and other professional men paid only 2J per cent, taxation on incomes over £3OO, the small farmer was taxed on almost everything he used. Ho compared New Zealand with Denmark, which was only one-seventh the size of this Dominion, and had yet an enor- i mous export trade. The recent census showed that the population of the towns of New Zealand was larger than that of the country. He would like to know what was going to come of them, seeing that they depended upon the country for their very existence.

HIGH COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE. Mr Herbert proceeded to deal with the High Commissioner's Office in London. He claimed .that, this, being in the street of officialdom, was practically useless. It was not advertising the Dominion, nor was it inducing the people to come to the country. Other Australian States did the work differently. New Zealand , was starving for population, and yet it could not get it. ~ DAIRY REGULATIONS. • The speaker referred al some length to the dairy regulations; wdiich' he had thought might have been necessary, and which was going to find employment for quite a number of inspectors. A few people, however, ihad grumbled, and the regulations had been withdrawn. What could be .thought of a Government .which, after a few people objected, withdrew regulations which had been prepared for the good of the people? t MR FOWLDS AND WOOL. Mr Herbert proceeded to deal with a statement made by the Hon. Geo. Fowlds that a drop of a penny in iWool did not matter much, as it affected only the wool kings. The drop in wool a- year or two back meant a ! difference of £3,000,000 to the Do-I

■minion. A large portion of this .would have been expended with the •worker. Any drop in wool or other produce seriously affected every section of the community. Mr Herbert announced that he was every inch of him a freeholder. He would *give .every man a farm who wanted it. The national debt and taxation were being piled up because the Government was borrowing money to buy land from large owners and to dispose of it on credit. voice: .What about aggregation?)- The Government should cut up the land and offer it on the deferred payment, and make provision that no man should be able to acquire more .than a given area. On another occasion lie would deal more fully with the land question. CONCLUSION. In conclusion, Mr Herbert stated that ho wc\i an out-and-out opponent of the present. Government. He wa ■ not a follower of the old Conservative party. Ho hoped to see a New Zealand' party rise at the forthcoming election —a party of reform, of which he would be one. (Applause.) He would give the freehold option ic holders of leases in perpetuity and renewable leases at the original price j plus a certain percentage. He did not think the Government should hold land for lease. .It did not pay the country that they should do so. lto-' ferring* to'the Native land question. Mr Herbert said the lands" at prescvt held by (ho Natives should be taken over by th j Government, administered by the Public Trust Office, and leased out to Europeans, so that they might be made troductive, He was aware Uhat the Age had advocated this proposal, but he had himself thought of it years ago. He thanked the audience for its patient hearing, and stated that ho had come early in the field that those who may not know him would ha.Te time to discover what manner of man he was. He was wellknown throughout the. electorate, an i he hoped to be able to visit every part before the election. Mr Herbert resumed his scat amid applause.

QUESTIONS. la answer to questions, the oanti''date state! that he favoured a second Legislative Chamber, but he chtl not belie/e in the Leglsfative Chamber as at} resent constituted. He was in favour of an elective Upper House. (Applause.) H; favoured an issue concerning State control being put before the people on the licensing question, but ho would not trust State control undar the present Administration. In the event of a strike, ho did not think it would be necessary to call out the military. He would never, send out the military unless blood was going to be shed. He was a believer -*n the Referendum, but lie did not think that such a question as land nationalisation should be put to the people. He was disappointed with the Referendum in Australia. lie was a candidate in tiie interests of the inform Party, but he did mot care whether lie was selected as the candidate of the Reform Party or not. He was going to the poll, and was going to be selected by the people. (Applause.) He denied, having stated at a meeting of the Reform Party that he held the workers of Masterton in his hand. (Applause.) He was of opinion that Civil Servants should have the same political privileges as other people. (Applause.) THANKS. On the motion of His Worship the' Mayor, a very hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Herbert for his address. '.'".• ' . : A vote of thanks to the Mayor ter-.] minat-ed- the proceedings. . ;